About

Welcome to the Campbelltown Joggers Club

The Campbelltown Joggers Club, established in 1976, is Macarthur's premier running club. Campbelltown Joggers welcomes runners and walkers of all abilities, with the main emphasis being on having fun while keeping fit. The club has an extensive variety of regular weekly runs on the road, track and in the bush. New members are welcome to turn up and try with no obligation to join. 

About The Campbelltown Joggers Club

The Fishers Ghost Fun Run was already in existence in 1975 as part of the Campbelltown Festival and many local enthusiasts provided official assistance in this inaugural event. The time was ready for a jogging club to emerge. These were the so called hey days of jogging when literally thousands of sweaty head band wearing contestants entered fun runs. It was the era of the fun runners. The Fishers Ghost Fun Run was therefore the forerunner to the formation of the Campbelltown Joggers Club.

The Campbelltown Joggers Club (CJC) evolved following an inaugural meeting between running enthusiasts at the Civic Centre on  December 6, 1975. The club’s first President was Ross Field. The first club run was held on Sunday morning 11th January 1976 commencing from Bradbury Oval. This tradition has endured continuously over the past 40 years and still stands firmly as the main weekly club run.

Ever since its inception the club has organised the Fishers Ghost Fun Run in conjunction with the Campbelltown City Council’s Festival of Fisher’s Ghost. This fun run has seen a few different venues from Ingleburn Army Camp, to Menangle Road, to Mt. Annan Gardens and in more recent times to the grounds of Western Sydney University.

From the outset the club established a series of monthly handicap races from which the Club Champion would emerge. Each competitor would be awarded points for every race completed, based on his finishing position after corrected time. At the end of the series, the points would be tallied for each runner allowing the runner to drop his worst two performances. This handicap system also has endured over the years and remains essentially intact to this very day! It has also been a proud tradition of the CJC and Club Champion a much-coveted goal, as is the red singlet-prize for handicap winners. 

The CJC still has two members who have run continuously with the club since its outset- Mike Limbrey and Alan Banfield – with both having completed over 250 handicaps!

The Club Today

From its inception the club has had an amazing array of healthy committees and capable presidents – a measure of the calibre and discipline of its members. 

Today the Club boasts around 250 members. Not all are runners and not all compete regularly in the handicap series. Members vary in age from 1 to 80 years, both male and female. In recent years there has been an increasing number of keen junior members both with the introduction of our Junior Cross Country Series in conjunction with our regular Club Championship series.

The main competitive focus of the club calendar is still the traditional series of nine monthly 10km handicap races run from February to October from which the club champion is derived. 

There is a huge diversity of speed in our members. They range from those who can complete a 10km race in around 35 minutes to those who finish in around 70+ minutes. Whilst some runners are extremely competitive, completing regular training sessions and competing in a wide range of fun runs, others have less competitive goals such as general fitness, social contact, losing some excess weight or simply seeking a feeling of well being.

The main club run starts traditionally from Bradbury Oval on Sundays at 7.15am sharp. The Sunday run (or walk) can be anywhere from 5km to 15km. Tuesday Track Night is our most popular weekly event often with more than 50 runners. 

CJC is an extremely friendly and social club. Following Sunday runs, the club provides coffee and morning tea. This activity provides members with the opportunity to relax and chat. Whilst much chat initially focuses on running (which understandably is our main common interest), the conversations drift off into all directions. Some members have been seen chatting away untill just on lunchtime! Many members have formed lasting friendships amongst members of the CJC.

Today the club also plays a key role in implementing the now very popular local event - the Mt. Annan Challenge Walk. For some members club activities have become a way of life and where all members of a family run, they compete and engage in club activities together.