Castle Point Joggers was started in 1975 by Alan Perkins, one of the top runners in the country at the time along with fellow athletes, Stan Cox, Mary Green (nee Tag) and Andy Green.

They wanted to put something back into the sport and decided to get some people together to run for fun & fitness. 

So Alan placed a small advertisement in the local newspaper for anyone who would like to join him for a run on a Sunday morning, this was a new idea at the time as only athletes were known to go out and train , these sessions eventually evolved into castle point joggers with Alan as chairman.

A Wednesday run was started and after a while this became the main meeting point at the sports centre at Runnymede and the rest as they say is history...

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Mary Green nee Tag

Mary was from Norfolk and settled in Essex in 1965. She achieved great success as a 400 meter runner. Representing GB many times as a track athlete which included the Mexico Olympics in 1968 where she recorded her best time of 53.6 secs. She made the semi-final where she finished 5th behind Lillian Board. If she had been in the other semi-final she would have finished 2nd and would have made the final. She rarely ran 800 metres but ran 2 mins 8 secs. She finished 11th in the Women’s National Cross Country Champs.

Her brother, Mike Tagg, also went to the Mexico Olympics in the 10,000 meters, which was rather unique for a sister and brother to make the same games. (Mike won the National and International Cross Country in the early 70s)

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Stan Cox

A British athlete who competed in two Olympic games in 1948 and 1952. Born in Wood Green, England, he served with Royal Air Force in World War II before competing in the 10,000 metre event at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Unable to participate in the 1950 British Empire Games, he returned to the Olympics in 1952, although he did not complete his event, the marathon, due to the flu. At the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, he suffered sunstroke and collapsed within two miles (3 km) of the finish. He retired from running in 1956, but continued to work with UK Athletics for several years and was due to participate in the ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

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In 1948, Cox was the British six mile (10 km) champion, with a time of approximately 29 minutes. In the Men’s 10,000 metres competition, he did not receive a medal, placing 7th. He later claimed that he was told by 1924 Olympian Harold Abrahams that he had run an extra lap due to confusion caused by Emil Zátopek, and should have placed 5th instead. In 1952, he was due to compete in the marathon event, but after riding in a drafty aeroplane to the competition, he awoke the day of the race with a paralysed left side. It was later discovered that he was suffering from the flu

Cox was a Great Britain International from 1939–1956. He had qualified for the 1950 British Empire Games, but his employers threatened to fire him if he attended, so he remained at home. He did, however, compete in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in the marathon event, but did not receive a medal. During the race he, along with fellow athlete Jim Peters, was afflicted with severe hyperthermia and was taken to hospital after running into a post, with only two miles remaining. His personal best time in the marathon was 2 hours and 18 minutes.

After retiring from running in 1956, he worked as a judge with British Amateur Athletics Association. During his tenure at this job, he was hit by a javelin while judging the throw of another competitor, an incident that nearly killed him. Cox, who lived in Felixstowe for nearly 30 years, was seeking to take an active part in the 2012 Summer Olympics and a campaign began to make him a participant in the games’ ceremonies. He led a weekly walk group to remain fit and active, walking an average of four miles (6 km) a day, until a year before his death on 27 June 2012.