Every sport needs a Sandra Ennis.

Fortunately for those who like to run and jump, athletics is her big passion and she’s been a major player on the admin side at club and county level for more than three decades now.

Sandra, who will be 76 in September, is chairman of the Gloucestershire Amateur Athletics Association and is one of those unsung heroes who does so much work behind the scenes which allows others to prosper in their chosen activity.

And as is often the case, Sandra only got involved in the sport through her children.

Actually, it was through her oldest son Philip, who had shown he’d got some athletics talent in his days as a pupil at Calton Road Junior School in Gloucester.

“He was always good at sports day,” recalled his proud mum, “and one of his teachers, Terry Haines, said he should join Gloucester Athletic Club and it all went from there.”

Haines was chairman of Gloucester AC at the time so he knew what he was doing.

“The only thing he wasn’t good at was the pole vault,” continued Sandra. “His main event was the high hurdles but he also did the long jump and triple jump.”

Philip was 11 when he joined Gloucester AC – he’s 43 now and plays golf – and at that stage was training two nights a week at the club.

Pretty soon he was competing in the Young Athletes League and that’s when Sandra’s role went from being supportive mum to full-on supporter of Gloucester AC.

“I got roped in as team manager,” she laughed. “Myself and timekeeper Arthur Birt – he’s 94 now – used to take up to 50 kids on a coach to compete.

“We’d have under-13, under-15 and under-17 age groups and we’d go weekend after weekend after weekend, we’d go all over the country.”

Philip was one of the better athletes – “He competed at Birmingham and got his medals,” said Sandra – before he left Gloucester at the age of 16 to join the marines.

Sandra was hooked by then, of course, and the more opportunities she got to be involved the better as far as she was concerned.

“I became a qualified track judge and timekeeper,” she said with justifiable pride. “I was also team manager of the senior team and I was club secretary from 1988 until 2013.”

When she gave up the job of Gloucester AC secretary she’d already been chairman of Gloucestershire AAA for a couple of years.

“I tried to juggle the two jobs,” said Sandra, “but it was too difficult. I’d originally been put forward to be chairman of Gloucestershire because I was Gloucester AC’s rep at county level.”

Philip, meanwhile, suffered a bad knee injury while in the marines which meant he returned to Gloucester.

“I remember persuading him to come and watch one of our matches,” said Sandra. “I told him to bring a vest – he came to watch and he ended up doing six events!”

Eventually he got into football – he played in goal for Hardwicke before managing them – but Sandra, who lives in Gloucester, remained very much involved in athletics.

“The people you are with, they are like an extended family,” she said. “My life would have been a lot different but for athletics. I’ve never regretted it, I’ve got so many friends and the family extends well beyond Gloucester.”

What makes her love of the sport all the more remarkable is that it’s not something she has competed in herself for close on 60 years.

“I used to run when I was at East Dean Grammar School in Cinderford,” she said. “I used to play netball, hockey and tennis as well but I’ve not done any athletics since I left school.

“It doesn’t bother me that I wasn’t an athlete.”

Fortunately she found a way to become involved in a sport that is certainly flourishing in this county and beyond.

You only have to see the number of events and races that are organised around Gloucestershire to realise how popular the sport is.

“Yes, it is very popular,” said Sandra, “We’ve got 17 affiliated clubs to the Gloucestershire AAA. People just love to run.”

And thanks to people Sandra Ennis, they can!