Race on for Founders Trophy in the Puffaten Race

As the Puffaten Race is fast approaching, the main battle for Kings Langley residents is to become to first person from the village to win the John Cherry Founders Trophy in the 10k race. John Cherry was the founder of the event 30 years ago, and this year, it will be held on June 18. And current race organiser, Kate Chadwick, explained why no-one from Kings Langley had won the trophy before. She said: “It’s not as straightforward as it appears. There are many people with a WD4 postcode who think they live in Kings Langley, but actually live in Abbots Langley or even Chipperfield; similarly those living on the Shendish Estate may think they live in Hemel but they are mostly in the parish of Kings Langley.” Race director, Alan Johnson, added: “The reason for sticking to the parish boundaries is quite simple really. John’s motivation for starting the Puffa runs was to bring running to all ages and, in particular, to the village he loved – Kings Langley. “Not only was he the event organiser, co-ordinating everything from devising the route, to marking out the route using flour through the woods amongst other markers. He also trained many of the villagers to enable them to compete in the race.” Last year’s winner of the trophy was firefighter Terry Funnell, who commented: “I was genuinely surprised to discover I had won a trophy. Fortunately I was able to finish the race before we received the call-out, and to be honest I didn’t give it a second thought after that. That said I am really pleased to be the first person – man or woman – to have their name engraved upon the trophy.” For more information, please visit at www.puffaten.co.uk or through the Runners World website www.runnersworld.co.uk/events