RUNNERS in Okehampton are jogging for joy – as Okehampton Running Club is celebrating its fifth birthday.

The first session took place on Thursday, February 5, 2009, and the club celebrated the milestone last week.

In the club's first week there were 30 runners but now the club has grown so much that it has a membership of 156, with around 80 runners taking part in each training session.

Club founders Andy Vallance, Gavin Punchard, Roger Voaden, Bryan Friend and Eric Johnson used to make the 30 mile round trip to train with Tavistock Athletics Club. With the help of TAC and OCRA, the quintet founded the running club.

From one weekly session and three training groups – Coe, Holmes and Foster – the club now meets twice a week and has five groups to accommodate the increased numbers. Each group is led by one of 16 trained coaches who are members of the club. The regular beginners' courses have been a success, and each course has encouraged more people to take up running.

The ORC has revived two traditional races, the Oke Croak and the Cosdon Hill Run, and has also taken over the organisation of the Great West Fell Run, as well as co-ordinating the Sourton Tors Race and a club handicap race.

Many of the club's members take part in races of all types, with distances up to marathon and even ultra marathon. 19 club members finished the London Marathon in 2012.

The club expressed its gratitude to the support of North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team for their support with these events, and donated a cheque to the charity during the club's birthday celebrations.

n Okehampton Running Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start at Okehampton Rugby Club.