Jim Adams was unattached until the age of 49.


But before any single ladies who knew him 20, 30 or 40 years ago start kicking themselves over missed opportunities, the happily married father-of-two grown up boys was ‘unattached’ only in running terms.

The now nearly 62-year-old, who is chairman of Stroud and District Athletics Club, has always been into his running but didn’t join the club for whom he does so much until the mid-noughties, competing unattached until then.

Born in Gloucester, Jim was brought up in Stroud and went to Marling School.

“I did some cross-country at school and quite enjoyed it,” he said.

He also played rugby but that was not quite such an enjoyable experience.

“I was tall for my age and they always put me in the second row,” he recalled. “I used to keep getting black eyes because I was getting kicked by the opposition props. I didn’t like that much!”

After finishing university Jim remained close to his roots, getting a job working in a bank and moving to Cheltenham.

It was at this time that he rediscovered his love of running.

“I was sat behind a desk and working at a computer all day,” he said. “I knew I needed to be doing some form of exercise so that’s when I started to go running.”

He was lucky that his brother Steve was like-minded and two parts of the Adams family could be seen regularly going for runs around Cheltenham.

“We’d run round the streets of Cheltenham,” chuckled Jim. “It was easy because it was flat and well lit. We’d run a circuit right around the town.”

Like his brother, Steve was unattached although these days he is now a member of Almost Athletes. He joined the Cheltenham-based club after his running mate moved to Stroud a dozen or so years ago.

But although they were unattached, they were pretty good runners back in the day and Jim was confident enough to be putting his name down for his first Cheltenham Half Marathon at the start of the 1980s.

So how did he do?

“I went round in one hour, 56 minutes which I was delighted with because I hadn’t done any serious training,” he said.

Jim was a familiar face at races up and down the county as well as further afield but it wasn’t until he moved to Stroud that he joined a running club.

“I thought I needed to because when we moved it was just country lanes around where we lived,” he said. “They were dark and steep and I didn’t fancy running them on my own.

“I also joined for the camaraderie.”

And he’s certainly never regretted it for a minute.

“I love it at the club,” said Jim, whose wife Tricia is also a member. “I love being out and about and running in the fresh air. There’s such a wide variety of running – Rodborough Common, Selsley Common and down by Stroud canal. I love running places like Randwick and Standish Woods.

“I’m out three or four times a week. The club train on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and I also coach a group of runners.

“At the weekend I compete in events over anything from three to 10 miles.”

He’s run much farther than that as well. He’s a regular at the Stroud, Forest of Dean and Cheltenham half marathons although his best time over the distance was recorded in Cardiff where he ran one hour, 35 in 2010.

He’s gone overseas as well. “Key West in Florida is the most exotic,” he said. Last year he returned to the US to compete in the New York Marathon for the first time, completing in an impressive three hours, 48 minutes.

“I was very pleased with that,” he said. “I loved it.”

He’s also run the London Marathon six times, recording a best time of three hours, 31 in 2002.

So will he run another a marathon?

“I always say ‘no’ when I get asked that question but then I go and do another one,” he laughed.

And there’s every chance he will because he admits that he wants to keep on running “for as long as I can” in the green vest with red and blue stripes of Stroud AC.

He’s got plenty on his plate these days – he’s been chairman of Stroud for a year – but it’s a role he’s committed to and he is happy to champion the club, which boast some 350 members, whenever he can.

“It’s a great club, really friendly,” he said. “We support all abilities from beginners through to competitive club runners.”

So what does his role as chairman involve?

“It’s leading the club,” he said. “I see my role as trying to bring people into the management of the club rather than just running.

“I want more people to get involved in the club and make it buzz. It’s all about motivation and inspiration.”

With Jim Adams at the helm, the future certainly looks bright for Stroud AC.