Since taking over the running of the East Yorkshire Classic in 2003 Martin and I have invested some considerable time and effort over the past 11 years in the name of Hull Thursday Road Club.

We took the event to new highs, the road race which included a town centre start and finish, was considered one of the best in the country.

We secured the National Championships in 2006 for both men and women and again in 2007 although after having done all the hard work that year were let down by the weather at the last minute.  In addition to the road race we developed one of the best town centre events in the Elite Circuit Series: the Beverley event being awarded National Championship status four years running.

We dropped the road race from the weekend last year and decided to focus our efforts on the town centre races for a number of reasons.

We have talked about bowing out from the organisers roles for a while.  Things change in life, commitments such as jobs and families, and to be honest, to some extent enthusiasm for carrying the load.  We agreed between ourselves that we would stand down after 2013, we gave  notice to the committee before last years events that this year would be our last.  We obviously wanted to give plenty of notice in the hope that  some new blood could be attracted to take over the organisation of the events.

Our logic being that anyone wishing to take over the reins could get onboard with us this year and see how its’ done – how it all fits together before taking the lead for 2014.  We are about to start our regular organisation meetings for this year’s events and so far we’ve had no interest.  So this request is to any individual (or individuals) who feels they may want to take a lead role but don’t want to commit until they know more about it.

The events are certainly easier to organise than when we started.  We have a good sponsor base and we’re now dealing with people in the council and Police who know what we’re about, we have built up relationships with them and a reputation for doing things right, so no where near as difficult as when we set out 11 years ago.  We have a great team and a great event, we would hate to see it turn to dust and into a distant memory.

Its a difficult decision but we feel its our time to stand aside in the hope that by giving enough notice we’ll be able to attract fresh hearts and minds to do the next leg.  Martin and I would not turn our backs on the event, we have both said we would still like to be actively involved in promoting any future events and give all the help and support we can.

So the offer is for anyone who wishes to see the events continue into 2014 (Tour De France in Yorkshire year) and beyond and would like HTRC to continue to promote the standard of events that we know only we can, then you’re more than welcome to come onboard with us this year to get a taste and see if its for you.

Many Thanks,
Andy Cawley (cawleya@bp.com)
Martin Cockerill (martinc@abgint.com)