As ‘good news’ stories go, they don’t come much better than Tetbury Dolphins Running Club.

Set up just 18 months ago, they now have well over 100 members – 133 to be precise at the time of this interview – and the club are quite simply going from strength to strength.

They were formed by Eileen Hodgson and Susan Rawle “because there were no affiliated clubs in this area”, said Eileen, who is the club’s chairman.

“The nearest clubs were 15 miles away in Cirencester or Stroud,” she continued, “we were in a black hole between the two.

“So we decided we’d start our own club, we thought, ‘Let’s give it a go’.

“We spoke to England Athletics and they came down to see us. They gave us a grant – I think it was £500 – to train run leaders.”

And it was money well spent because Eileen is now one of 15 run leaders at the club although her friend Susan is no longer as hands on.

“She’s gone to live in Singapore,” explained Eileen, “but she still keeps in touch. She came back at Christmas and ran the Westonbirt House 10K. I ran it with her.”

Susan obviously played a big part in getting the club established and just as obviously is delighted with the success that the club are enjoying today.

But what was it like on the club’s first training night?

“We met at the youth club pod at the recreation centre in Tetbury,” remembers Eileen with a chuckle. “It was a very dark night, it was raining and blowing a hooley.

“There were about four or six of us and we were just thinking what a terrible idea it was when we saw little lights coming across the recreation field, there must have been 20 people who came along and it’s gone from there.”

It certainly has – Eileen describes it as “amazing” – but part of the appeal of the club is that it is open to everyone and anyone.

“We have beginners, we do Couch to 5K, we have youths all the way up to people in the their 60s,” said Eileen. “We also have quite a few families.

“Our runners do everything from parkruns which are three miles to ultra marathons which are 32 miles.”

And they’ve got some good runners too.

“Nick Moore came to us a complete beginner, he’s been with us for a year and he completed the Newport Marathon in three hours, 31,” said Eileen with some pride. “He’s been trained by one of our run leaders.”

Eileen is a pretty decent runner herself. She has run the London Marathon and has a best time in the half marathon of one hour, 48 minutes.

She moved to Tetbury some 20 years ago and has always enjoyed running – she took part in events like Race for Life – although she was not running for a club before setting up Tetbury Dolphins.

She used to run on her own but these days she’ll meet up with fellow runners four times a week including the club’s official training night on Thursdays.

The club’s HQ is at Tetbury Rugby Club although that may be only a temporary arrangement.

“They’ve been great,” said Eileen, “but it’s not big enough, we need somewhere bigger. We don’t advertise and we don’t recruit but people just keep turning up, it’s amazing.”

Good news certainly spreads fast and the club have recently enjoyed another ‘first’ when they staged a volunteer takeover at Cirencester parkrun.

“A parkrun only happens because of volunteers and our club were asked to provide the volunteers,” said Eileen, who works closely with club vice-chairman Darren Mustoe. “There must have been about 40 volunteers and we had quite a few runners taking part as well.”

Parkruns are a 21st phenomenon, of course, and they are something that Eileen would dearly like to see take place in Tetbury.

“My greatest wish is to set up parkruns in our area if I could find a suitable venue,” said Eileen.

And she has other plans too, which include the club organising their own race.

“The aim is to host a Tetbury 10 next year,” she said. “It would by a 10-miler and a 10K run on the same route.”

Talk to Eileen for just a few minutes and it’s clear how much the club means to her.

Her family, including husband Peter, are all members and she admits she wishes she’d set up the club 18 years ago rather than 18 months ago.

“I’ve met so many lovely people,” she said. “We race most weekends and it’s a great social. It’s great seeing the photos of people with their medals.”

So who is the fastest out of Eileen and her hubby?

“I am, easily,” she laughed.