{"id":4556,"date":"2026-03-29T00:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T00:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/?page_id=4556"},"modified":"2026-05-13T01:04:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:04:31","slug":"richard-grays-memorial","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/richard-grays-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Gray&#8217;s memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_7.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:cover;width:1024px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Richard Gray 27 August 1953 to 14 December 2020<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tuesday 5th May, 6.30pm<br>Field open from 5pm<br>Totley AC pavilion<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"links-btn\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/H_results.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Results<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Family friendly event to celebrate a former Totley Member so full of life and lost too soon<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This year Colin\u2019s Handicap will be run in honour of Richard Gray. Richard and his wife Dorothy were keen members of Totley AC and friendly faces known to many. After Colin\u2019s handicap there will be a prize giving ceremony and fish and chips. If you don\u2019t fancy running there will be an opportunity to walk some of the&nbsp;route with Richard\u2019s wife and friends. If you don\u2019t fancy either of those options, please do come along for fish and chips and a drink afterwards. Partners, children and dogs are very welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A fish &amp; chip van will be on site for everyone&#8217;s tea from 5pm.<\/strong> Families there to spectate can get tea earlier whilst other members are running and then get their partner&#8217;s tea or pint from the pub when they&#8217;ve finished running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Arrive from <strong>5pm<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>6pm<\/strong> &#8211; parkrun challenge live draw with Colin Alexander and the Splendid Chicken (recorded for those who can\u2019t make it).&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Walkers start <strong>6pm<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runners start <strong>6.30pm<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prize giving <strong>8pm<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Race format<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-right:0;margin-left:0\">This race is open to anyone, even if they&#8217;ve not done it before. The race will start shortly after 6.30pm and follow the <a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/bmoor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blacka Moor Chase route<\/a>. Every entrant is given a handicap based on their actual (or estimated) Blacka Moor Chase time from the last two years. Start times are based on your handicap, with the slowest runner off first. The fastest runner sets off last and tries to catch everyone else.&nbsp;<strong>Please <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSfjVmF40SwiPp7366HAwl2n7ntTf0ZB-bitkevk7RUp1ECBNQ\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sign up<\/a> by the 1st May to give Colin enough time to work out your handicap.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The handicaps should ensure that everyone arrives around the same time, and the winner is the first runner to finish. We will award the trophy to the first runner with a handicap based on a Blacka Moor Chase time from 2024 or 2025, or a time from Colin\u2019s Handicap 2025 or a parkrun time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prizes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Winner (male)<br>Winner (female)<br>Best new fell runner (male)<br>Best new fell runner (female)<br>Spot prize for the person who cycled to the event&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Richard&#8217;s Bio written by his wife &#8220;Perfect for Me<\/strong>&#8220;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-5 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_5.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_5.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_6.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_6.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_8.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_8.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" id=\"Revenge\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_9.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_9.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Richard was born in Sunderland Durham and was a sportsman from an early age. His first love was football until he was given a road bike. At the age of 13 he rode with Wearside Wheelers from Sunderland to Durham via Houghton Cut and back. He was exhausted on his return home but jubilant. He had made the journey even if the older boys and men had got back before him. A new sport was discovered and in typical fashion he applied himself to improving both speed and journey length. His career with Wearside Wheelers was not only an education in cycling. Trips into Weardale with the club involved stops at hostelries for a&nbsp;refreshing pint of beer &#8211; or half for young ( and underage)&nbsp; Richard. He was fascinated by the conversations and discussions of his older companions who were both considerate of his tender years and encouraging of his burgeoning talent. He began a lifelong friendship with his best friend Rod Dawson through this sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1968 along with teammates Geoff Edwards and David Aisbett he was National Schoolboy Relay Team Cycling Champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rod and Richard enjoyed walking adventures in the Lake district. Also walking 27 miles overnight to raise sponsorship money for Oxfam \u2013 their aim was to be first round the course. Trips to the Lakes were made affordable by hitchhiking there separately. On one occasion Rod was given a lift by a climbing guide who offered to take both lads on an introductory free climbing day in Borrowdale. This they both did and Richard found another love. Climbing became a regular pastime as much as school and money allowed. The nearest cliffs then being Craglough in Northumberland when journeys to the more distant Lakes were not possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Richard\u2019s only racing bike was stolen off my parents drive when we were in our A level final year. It was not insured and he could not afford to replace it. That summer we motored to Skye camping in Glen Brittle so he could climb on the Cullin. On our way south we stopped at Rothiemurchus to take in walks in the Cairngorms<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;He took a year off &nbsp;education after sitting his A levels doing jobs such as farm hand; dairyman; dustman and trainee bank manager with Yorkshire Bank. He then decided to reapply to university through UCCA and put his first choice as Warwick. He chose Warwick first as it had a climbing wall \u2013 the only university to have such in 1972. In the first term of his first he lived with another good friend Jeremy Winter in digs while the Tocil Flats ( behind schedule) were completed. Jeremy and he moved into Tocil in the second term with three others and stayed together there for the remainder of their undergraduate courses. The Warwick crew meet for a reunion every couple of years and have been kind enough to let me tag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They all became great friends. Richard spent more time on the climbing wall than in lectures or library and seminars. As President of the Warwick Climbing Club, he organised weekends away to the Ogden Slabs and other venues in Wales; also, Staffordshire; Stannage Edge etc in the Peaks. He spent summer holidays on Snell\u2019s Field in Chamonix so he could mountaineer and climb on snow and ice. There he met other keen climbers of his generation like Alex MacIntyre. Chamonix was his favourite place in the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On graduating from Warwick with an honour\u2019s degree in Politics in 1975 he was committed to being a climber as a living. He did jobs like builder to finance trips to the hills and especially French alps. At this time, he did a first ascent on the Druz above Montenvers and summited Mont Blanc. Richard married his first wife Clare, who studied French at Warwick, in 1976 and they had a daughter Charlotte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Richard did a PGCE at Alsager and started teaching. He completed a Winter Mountain Leadership certificate at Plas-y-Bryn The traditional style climbing continued whenever possible until a trip to the Swiss alps in 1978. Richard was leading a climb with climbing partner Bill when the top peg came out. Richard fell first and then Bill followed into a crevasse. Richard came to find Bill unconscious and his own left arm torn. Eventually they were helicoptered off and taken to hospital in Chamonix. By agreement with Clare, it was decided that major climbing especially on ice and the ambition to be a professional climber or guide should be abandoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Richard continued sport now ellunning,marathons;duathalons,triathalons and cycling and swimming. Clare and Richard moved to Liverpool in 1979 and he joined Merseyside Wheelers. School trips taking students skiing or walking and climbing in Scotland were undertaken. Richard was a frequent cycling Club Champion or Club Vets champion. He completed the Ironman in Hawaii in &nbsp;2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Climbing was his favourite sport, and he took his grandchildren Wiil and Alex climbing in retirement. We did his third ascent of Mont Blanc in 2014 and completed a round of the Corbetts and the Wainwrights. Richard\u2019s time as President of Warwick Climbing club was memorable for his many hours on the wall and on crags in the fellowship of others who became trusted companions. Relationships founded sharing ropes and belaying or leading were cemented in conversations in the evenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of our move from Sandy Biggleswade to Sheffield we researched local running clubs and their facilities. At the time Richard planned to do the Bob Graham round so he was inclined to Dark Peak. How glad we were subsequently to join Totley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Richard\u2019s first fell race was Wasdale. We marshalled it for five years being based on Pillar. It was increasing arithitis and joint wear in his knees that stopped him from doing more fell running and the BGR. Wasdale was his favourite spot in the UK so his ashes are there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;Richard was a keen advocate of social justice and always up for a debate on values as well as sharing reminisces on a day\u2019s exploits in mountain huts and pubs. He volunteered throughout his life from marshalling at races to being Treasurer of Merseyside Wheelers. We did the St Marks soup run together on Saturday nights in Sheffield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Always patient and kind with others, he competed with himself consistently. He trained every day, usually on the turbo trainer plus running. He pushed his physical limits whether doing pullups on door frames or finger presses. He recorded daily times and frequencies so that his training progress could be measured. His last marathon was in Tel Aviv in 2019. He was not happy with his time. He had done better times in this middle years. About three months after our return from Israel his trophy for being second in his age category arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I still have a significant collection of his medals and trophies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was not at all materialistic and generous with both his time and money with others. Seconds did matter to him. He agreed with his Tour de France hero who, when asked how he felt after winning by only three seconds, replied that that two more than he needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For him his most significant achievements were his daughters Charlotte and Emily and his grandchildren Will and Alex. Richard was pleased too with their choice of partners Stephen and Zoe. He was said though that his contribution was second to that of his first wife Clare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We left Sheffield during Covid and our move to Ripon came about as we expanded our search for a house that met the long list of criteria for our forever home. We loved our time with Totley AC. He would agree with me that this chance to say goodbye to Totlies, as well as remembering him is overdue and heartfelt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dorothy Gray<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>January 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-5 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_1.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_2.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_3.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" id=\"Revenge\"><a href=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_4.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/ColinsHR\/2026\/RGM_4.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Gray 27 August 1953 to 14 December 2020 Tuesday 5th May, 6.30pmField open from 5pmTotley AC pavilion Results Family friendly event [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4556","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4556"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4738,"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4556\/revisions\/4738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totleyac.org.uk\/2021_wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}