East Grinstead & District Athletic Club was formed in 1978 and has taken part in a variety of competitions since then. We are typical of many small town athletics clubs with a number of dedicated administrators and coaches. We are a friendly club where we all know each other – whether we sprint, throw a discus, jump as high or as long as we can, run on roads or run over cross-country.

A number of our members have won Sussex Championships (and one or two in Surrey) and over 100 athletes have represented Sussex in inter-county fixtures. We have not as yet produced any international athletes but one of our members was close to representing Canada in the 1988 Olympics. But we have undoubtedly introduced athletics to a considerable number of children in East Grinstead.

Since October 2001 we have been using the new Athletics Training Facility (ATF for short) at Imberhorne School in East Grinstead for our weekly training, although for our first 22 years we trained at Sackville School. The ATF consists of a floodlit 6 lane 130m straight and has full facilities for all the field events - both jumps and throws. We are now also able to use a well-drained grass 400m circuit. The Running Track Directory has a good piece on it if you want more details.

A history of the first 20 years of the club was written by Club Chairman John Rogers, with a comprehensive record of leading performances by club members. Copies are still available at a cost of £8.

As well as organising our own training and coaching, we organise the annual East Grinstead and District Primary Schools’ Cross-Country Championships. This event is held in and around the East Court Playing Fields in early October. There are separate races for boys and girls, and there can be as many as 150 in each of these races. This is an exciting day for all those running, for their teachers and for their parents – and all the necessary arrangements are made by East Grinstead Athletic Club. One of the winners from many years ago has since represented Great Britain Under 20s We aim to get the full results onto the website by 9pm on the day of the races.