It didn’t take Margaret Hollamby and her partner Alan Thomas long to realise that they’d landed on their feet when they moved to the Cotswolds two-and-a-half years ago.

That’s because they soon joined Bourton Roadrunners and they haven’t looked back since.

So much so that Margaret, a qualified running coach, is club secretary at the go-ahead club while Alan is the club’s vice-chairman and has just taken on the role of membership secretary.

“We used to live in Surrey and were members of Haywards Heath Harriers,” said Margaret. “We wanted to get away from the M25 and I wanted to move closer to my sons.

“We chose Bourton because there was a running club and there was also a gym in the village. The gym is just 350 metres from where we live!”

Margaret, who is 63, used to be a triathlete and a pretty good one at that, competing for Great Britain in age group triathlons. She won gold in the European Championships in 2014 and silver in the world duathlon the same year.

And although she’s got plenty on her plate on the admin side with Bourton Roadrunners, she’s hoping to get back on a bike and start doing duathlons again some time soon.

So how did she come to get the job of club secretary at the Roadrunners?

“The previous secretary wanted to give up the role and asked me how I’d feel about becoming secretary,” she chuckled. “I said if no-one else wants to do it I’d do it. That was it really, it was a done deed.”

It’s a role that keeps her pretty busy, of course, but she still finds time to run a jogging group as well.

“I set that up over a year ago,” she said. “Initially it was outside the Roadrunners but now it’s a part of the club. We meet every Wednesday morning at 9.30am and the group is growing. The runners are beyond ‘Couch to 5K’ and we usually run for about three miles across different routes.

“We sometimes do a bit of hill or speed work and it provides a foundation to running for fitness.”

As introductions go, it sounds jolly good and Margaret is certainly enjoying life since she introduced herself to Bourton Roadrunners.

“It’s a lovely club,” she said. “We’ve got 70 adult members and about 80 in the junior section and it is a very friendly club. We’re not too big although we’d like to grow.

“Anyone who can run for two-and-a-half miles can join the club sessions.”

As with so many clubs, there is a team of volunteers working behind the scenes to make sure that everything works smoothly.

“Ian Shoemark is one,” said Margaret. “He organises the hugely popular Bourton 10K which takes place in February, a fast flat course that prepares for the race season ahead. The last 10K sold out in 37 minutes! In 2017 we had James Cracknell and Chrissie Wellington, who is a top triathlete, taking part.

“My background is as a triathlete so I’d say Chrissie is a much bigger star than James Cracknell! I was marshalling for the 10K and I didn’t see Chrisssie – no-one told me she was competing!

“Gill Carrick organises the Humphs Hilly Half in June and then there’s Lynn Hudson who looks after all the ‘comfort runners’ – the club’s slightly slower runners – and was membership secretary for about 12 years before recently handing over the job.

“Chris Dry is our chairman and he is keen to bring in new members and a build on the qualities of the club while social organisers Graham Lane and Linda Edwards give us a variety of activities outside running such as Bacon Butty runs and quiz evenings.

“Chris Hartley and Richard Bufton are working tirelessly with our junior section, helping many young athletes reach county standard.

The club also have some outstanding runners.

“Susan Hunt recently represented England in the marathon,” Margaret said, “and Mike Smith is always highly placed in races as well as being a regular age category winner. He recently ran one hour, 21 in a half marathon in Kiev.

“Several of our members have achieved ‘Good for age times’ for the London Marathon and we’ll be following their progress next April.

“But the great thing about our club is that there are a real mixture of standards, we welcome all.”

The club meet at Cotswold Leisure in Bourton for training nights every Tuesday (7pm) and Thursday (6.30pm).

For more information about the club, visit www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk