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Trentham Running Club was formed in 1989 after a conversation with Potteries Marathon organiser Don Shelley and Dave Filmer who at the time was one of the commentators for the Marathon. A notice was put into the Sentinel inviting runners to a meeting with a view to forming a new running club. The former Trentham Rugby Club in Oaktree Avenue was the venue, and when 60 people turned up it was decided to go ahead. 

Don Shelley was President, Dave Filmer was Chairman and Geoff Bailey was the secretary, Dave Clarke though not on the committee at this time was also instrumental in the club forming. The Club Colours were decided, and also the Oak Tree was to be used as the clubs symbol 

The following Sunday was set for the first group run and around 80 people turned up. This soon dwindled to a core of ten runners, but this small group carried on meeting for runs until difficulties arose at the rugby club and a new home was sought. Many venues were looked at until settling at Hem Heath Miners Welfare Club. 

With numbers still very low an EGM was called to discuss the situation as the club now only had 6 runners, it was decided to give it another six months in the hope that more runners would join. To make matters worse the closure of Hem Heath was announced and so a new home was needed. Discussions took place with the Rugby Club and the running club was back.

In the next six months more runners started to join but Dave Filmer was convinced that the catalyst for the club moving on in both numbers and quality was Dale Colclough who had moved in to the area and was looking for a local club to join. Through the nineties this growth continued and other clubs started to notice Trentham Running Club, and the first major win was in 1995 when the club became North Staffs League Male Cross Country Champions.

The Ladies section at this time was still quite small but was just about able to finish a team in the cross country races. The Men's section was now starting to add quality with veterans from other clubs deciding to join to form a good quality veteran team. Through the late nineties and early noughties they became unbeatable locally, not only winning the veteran team prize but taking the open team prize as well. In 1997 from May until September they embarked on an undefeated run of winning every local team prize on offer. 

Little did they know that the best was yet to come, and in 1999 the vets decided to enter the British Veteran Marathon Championships which were being held in Wolverhampton, and despite temperatures in the eighties Trentham triumphed and were now British Veteran Team Champions. They not only retained this Championship the following year in the Isle of Man but made it a hat trick in 2001 when it was staged in Manchester.

Back to 1999 and another local running club PMAC (Potteries Marathon Athletic Club) were disbanding and talks were held about a possible amalgamation, a fiery meeting followed and to quote Dave Filmer “over my dead body are you changing the name or the club colours". The outcome was most of the runners from PMAC came to Trentham and the name and the club colours remained the same. 

In 2000 the club moved to its current headquarters in New Inn Lane, and a junior section was formed by Phil Greer. Also the Ladies section was now starting to grow. All was running smoothly, but was this too good to be true. The club was starting to get a clash of personalities and most of the ex PMAC runners left to go to Staffs Moorlands along with the junior section.

Even though a lot of quality runners left, harmony at the club was restored and the Ladies section was now starting to blossom, starting a run of 6 years from 2008 to the present day years of winning the North Staffs Cross Country and many individual runners of races.

In 2010 Ryan Proctor announced that he was resurrecting the junior section, and from humble beginnings this has grown to around 50 members. In June 2019 the Club moved it's base to the Trentham Academy which has brought it closer to the community, and the adult section still thrives and boasts of being the friendliest club in Staffordshire and beyond.

In 2020 the committee of the club gave the thumbs up for the Club emblem to be changed, and the dated oak tree derived from our humble beginnings in Oaktree Road gave way to the more fitting Trentham Stag.

Excerpts and images taken from “NSRRA The Second Twenty Years 1995-2014” with kind thanks to Ken Rushton & Graham Fletcher