THE late running guru George Sheehan was famously quoted as saying that “the difference between a jogger and a runner is the width of an entry form,” while others would argue that one is simply a faster version of the other.

THE late running guru George Sheehan was famously quoted as saying that “the difference between a jogger and a runner is the width of an entry form,” while others would argue that one is simply a faster version of the other. Those behind last week's Slow Sunday idea (no driving, shopping or internet), would suggest that there is even more to it than that.

Then again a more modern view is that of another running writer, Jeff Galloway, who advises periods of walking during marathons, while still guaranteeing perfectly respectable times, writes Mike Spragg.

Certainly among the members of the Great Yarmouth Road Runners there is a multitude of different approaches to the sport.

The club continues to prosper as an outlet for runners/joggers of all standards and abilities, from 17 to 70-plus years of age, focussing on all sorts of distances and showing a wide range of levels of commitment to running in general and to the club in particular. Two recent events exemplify this.

The first was last Saturday's Gorleston-in-Gear extravaganza, organised so well by John Barnden and his team.

Here the club made many new friends and attracted a great deal of interest from locals and visitors alike, most of them now well aware of the role of running/jogging and similar heart-rate raising activities as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Variety seemed to be the order of the day here, with so many different sports being represented.

The other was the night before, at the Worstead Festival, where seven of the Seasiders were in action in the popular five mile race organised by the North Norfolk Beach Runners and attracting a field in excess of 300.

Here Phil Quantrill and Richard Blake battled it out from the first mile onwards, the former just shading it by two seconds in the run-in across the festival field.

Strong running too were Shawn Mason, Stephen Etherington and John Bone with triathlete Mark Peach and Denise Etherington, with another personal best, also pleased with their performances.

Peach, incidentally, did a great job helping to publicise the club at the following day's event at Gorleston.

The next big event for all of the Road Runners is next weekend's East Coast Half Marathon from Emerald Park.

A large field is expected for a race which has become a must-do for many runners on the local scene.

More about this next week.

Worstead 5: 19 Phil Quantrill 31:00; 20 Richard Blake 31:02 (1st 055), 34 Shawn Mason 32:21, 67 Stephen Etherington 34:23, 89 John Bone 35:35, 128 Mark Peah 38:51, 283 Denise Etherington 50:59 (pb).

Details of and an entry form for the GYRR Great Yarmouth Half Marathon, incorproating the Norfolk Championship, are printed on Sport Supplement page 10 in this week's Mercury.