Dear Tanky's Troggers

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that Tanky's Trog cannot go ahead this year. You will of course receive a full refund.


Organisation for the race has always started at the beginning of September and this year, after last years organisation, I was not anticipating any major issues. However several issues have arose which have made the organisation impossible to be completed:

I have been battling for several weeks now to secure a 'Safety Team' for the event after being advised by Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team in early October that they were unable to provide support due to 'operational committments'. After almost 39 years of support from them, for which I and my family are very grateful, having this essential support retracted at such a late stage left me requesting late help from other organisations that are not able to commit to anything with such a short period of notice.


I have also been unable to secure the Marsden sports hall for the start as when I called to make the booking the secretary was under the impression that the booking had already been made for this event although it turned out to be another booking in January and they could not oblige my request for December.

Permissions for land use that were submitted within the normal timescales, in fact, earlier that in recent years, again have not completely come through yet, despite me providing all necessary information and chasing for feedback, possibly as people thought they had already completed the paperwork for this event.

It is only in the last 2 weeks that I have become aware that there is another 'Marsden to Edale' race being organised by some of the previous co-organisers of the Trog.

If I had been informed about this new event, then I would obviously have worked with the organisers to avoid some of the confusion that has occurred and we could have ensured 2 great races were available for runners.


The Stokes family are deeply sadden by these events, as we have lived through Tanky's for all these years. Annually, over 39 years, the time from September to beginning of December has been overtaken by the Trog, which requires a lot of personal effort and dedication to organise. But we felt it was always worth it when we blew the whistle at 9am and then saw the last runners home safe. It will not be the same to not have this event this year in our family. However the safety of our runners comes first and foremost and due to the potential severity of this race, due to the route and time of year, it is just not feasible to go ahead without a dedicated safety team working alongside us and this is the fundamental reason for its cancellation.

The money raised this year was to go to The Alzheimers Society. For those that dont know, Tanky is in the early stages of this illness, of course he is still himself some of the time (!), and it is more distressing to those that love him. Thankfully he has no knowledge of this!

I would like to take this opportunity to officially thank those that have been involved in the successful operation of the event over the many years; Trevor (late) and Denise Briggs, Alan Jones, Rod Hyde, Jim Butley and the Ecclesall Scouts, Bev Franklin and Glenis McCarthy, Mrs Beeney, Mrs Wright at the Edale Village Hall, The Ramblers Inn, You the entrants, The Woodhead and Edale Mountain Rescue Teams, Kate, Esther, Rob and of course Tanky himself!!

BUT watch out for next year - we do intend to find alternate solutions to the problems faced this year and will let you know soon what these are!

We are continually grateful of your support, committment and dedication!

Your entry fee will be posted back to you in due course but please bear with me!

Watch out for Tanky's 2012


Yours sincerely


Clair Stokes