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Mawnan Fun Run Committee Chairman and Rotarian Rod Allday explains the commitment of the Rotary Club to various causes and what it means to be a modern Rotarian.
Q: How long have you been involved with the rotary club in Falmouth?
I have been a member of Falmouth Rotary Club since 1991 and I was Club President for the year 1999-2000
Q: Can you please explain to those who do not know, what is a Rotary Club all about?
The motto of Rotary is ‘Service above self’ and the object of Rotary is to encourage & foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster
- The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service
- High ethical standards in business and professions
- The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
- The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
To put that into more easily communicable terms, although the image which many people have of Rotary is of us collecting money with our Christmas float, that’s a small part of what we do and we’re much more about what we can do to help people through our vocational skills and contacts.
Q: What have you been involved in with the Rotary Club that you are most proud of?
In 2012 I and another Rotarian visited a rural area of Uganda to investigate the possibility of initiating a project to improve water supply and sanitation, As a result of that our club adopted the project and early this year the $200,000 scheme was completed, bringing clean water and improved sanitation to about 7000 people. A few of us returned to the area in March this year to see what the project had achieved and it was a very rewarding experience.
Q: How many members are currently in the Falmouth Rotary Club?
We currently have 43 members of our club, seven of whom are ladies.
Q: What would you say to anyone who was tempted to join Falmouth Rotary Club? What could they expect?
They could expect a warm welcome into a community of business and professional people in the town and they would have the opportunity to play a part in improving the lot of many of those in the community and worldwide who are less fortunate than us. Being a Rotarian give you access to Rotary clubs throughout the world and you will always be welcomed at any club.
Q: What charities are Falmouth Rotary Club supporting at the moment?
We have our own benevolent fund which we use to distribute monies to worthy causes both locally and internationally. The Rotary Foundation is Rotary International’s charity and it has been instrumental in eliminating polio worldwide. We currently have a final push for funding to complete the scheme and rid the last two countries of polio.
Q: With so many worthy causes out there, how does the club reach a decision on what to support and what not to?
Any requests for funds are looked at on their individual merits. Much of our support goes to locally based causes but, as I said, we also support national and international charities. A locally based charity which we have supported for many years is Shelterbox, which provides emergency relief in disaster areas.
Q: And finally, are you looking forward to this year’s Mawnan Fun Run? Will you be taking part?
I am looking forward to another successful event and hope that the weather is kind to us on the day, as that will have a considerable effect on the number of people who turn out to support the runners. I have taken part several times in the past and I actually won the trophy for first man over 60 in 2009 (I think there must have been a very low entry in my category!). However, having been heavily involved in the organisation of the event since we revived it in 2012, much as I would like to take part I’m not sufficiently organised to be able to spare the time to run on the day!
My Running Path – by Ruth Davis
Let me start by saying “I love Fitness” I love the feeling of improving health, size, shape, strength and general well being, and I’ve tried it all Zumba, Pilates, yoga, boxersize, body pump etc etc I even trained as a BOKWA instructor ( I know you’ve probably not heard of that one, my case in point). That being said Sunday mornings if I was out and about and happened upon a runner, I would question their sanity “have they seriously got nothing better to do? ” I would ask, until 2 years ago a friend asked me if I would like to do the Paris Marathon. My life at the time was already undergoing massive changes so I thought WHY NOT?
Off I went with a runner friend to get my gait measured ( something I highly recommend if you do want to run on a regular basis )and spend my 6 monthly clothes allowance on ONE pair of trainers, feeling quite confident I stepped on the treadmill and off I went, only to look on in confusion when the lovely gentleman measuring me stared at my current trainers with shock and horror, he couldn’t quite believe I’d already completed 3 weeks of my training injury free( injuries such as shin splints are often caused by wearing ill fitting trainers ) wearing them. Apparently running trainers are supposed to be 1-11/2 sizes larger than your normal shoe size (the ones I was wearing were quite old and a little tight to say the least! ) All set in my new and very expensive trainers I knuckled down to some serious marathon training and I won’t lie for the first 3 months the battle wasn’t my health or fitness, it was my psyche, every run I was confronted by a devil on my shoulder asking me why on earth I was doing this, telling me I could just turn around and walk back to my car and never run again. I did however persevere and 2 years on I do now enjoy 85% of my runs and funnily enough it’s the other 15% that are the most satisfying once completed. I have now run in 3 Marathons, Paris twice in 2014 and 2015 and New York once in 2014.
I am still amazed when people say ” Oh I could never do that, I can’t run” unless you are physically incapable of running its like saying ” I can’t breathe”. All you do is put one foot in front of the other a little faster than if you were walking. You may not ever run a 5 minute mile (I personally am a 9-10min miler and probably always will be) but I would encourage everyone to get out there and give running a go, I have seen more of the beautiful Cornish countryside, bonded with total strangers( albeit for a brief moment in my life) and experienced such true joy on MY RUNNING PATH, so lace up those trainers ( making sure they are at least one size larger than your normal ones ) and off you go. GOOD LUCK !!!
Top Tips for Runners – A Beginners Guide!
Whether you are entering Mawnan Fun Run to support local charities, have fun with your friends or are in training for a longer distance event, it is important stay healthy, fit and have fun by following these few simple rules….
1) Warm up! – A common mistake is to stretch cold muscles – but you could end up doing more harm than good. Incorporate a fun warm up into your running routine, whether this be dancing, slow jogging, star jumps or a mixture of it all – and then stretch when your muscles are warmed up.
2) Shoes – if your shoes are wrong, you could end up with horrible blisters and do yourself even ore serious injury. Make sure your shoes fit you comfortably – a good idea is to try shoes on later in the day, as your feet swell up during the day as they will do when running. Some people suggest getting running shoes half a size bigger than your regular size to make up for this!
3) Stay hydrated – We all know the benefits of drinking plenty of water, and most of us should be aiming to drink lots of water every day. Increase your water intake especially if you are regularly exercising – you will be losing water and salt through sweating so it is really important to replace these when possible. We use water to lubricate joints, tendons, and ligaments, and to carry blood efficiently to major organs. Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate!
4) Listen to your body – if its tough, great! If it hurts, not so great. Only you will know the difference – don’t risk injury.
5) Have fun! If it’s not fun, you won’t keep it up!
To enter this years Mawnan Fun Run on Sunday 27th September, please click here.
Run Mawnan 