The Rio and Kaunas Marathons

‘My running club, Ranelagh, introduced me to the concept of mob matches. They hosted the first ever such event in 1907, against the Blackheath Harriers. Mobs are informal head-to head-meetings between clubs that take place within an organised cross-country fixture, so as well as the normal race the two clubs have their own private competition going on. Every runner scores points based on their finishing position (1st gets one point, 15th place gets 15 points, and so on). The team that accumulates the lowest points total wins the match

My fellow Ranelagh runner David Wright, who has done 168 of these things since 1974, sums up the spirit perfectly. He says: ‘Mob Matches encapsulate all that is good in sport: hard competition without it being taken too seriously, good banter, team spirit in what is generally an individual sport, a scoring system that means everybody counts, tea and cake and, most importantly, a few beers in the evening, with everyone talking about the race.’ I totally agree with him. Nothing stirs the inner beast more than a call to arms from the club captain for the next mob match, where men and women, young and old, fast and slow make a difference for the team.’ - MICHAEL MORRIS, 47, RANELAGH RUNNING CLUB