Royal Mail Runners

Having chatted to Comerade Postie we thought that it might be a nice idea to start a thread for the many employees of RM who run but are unable to join clubs due to difficult shift patterns.

We would like to begin by congratulating Loughman on his FLM debut with a storming time of 4:25 given that he only started running properly a year ago

Any other posties going to Abingdon this year? 

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Comments

  • Not doing Abingdon Im injured

    Lets talk about our pensions..........maybe not

  • Another postie here, but live in N.Ireland, so not doing Abingdon.

  • goldbeetle spent most of last year injured but recovered in time for Abingdon which was called off so did Henly instead.

    Are the pensions the bit where we pay in all our hard earned cash and never see it again?

    Nice to hear from you in N. Ireland Runningbhoy 

  • PP hello Royal mail as well but not a postie work in pond street if you know where that is please be nice if not don't askimage whats Abingdon?

    p.s. don't deal with pensions

  • I'm not a postie but I managed to be an active member of a running club while I was in the Police for six years and worked shifts. It can be done!

    Anyway, I applied online to become a postie back in January, and they didn't ever get back in touch. (what's that bl**dy online sorting test like!!!!) Spoke with local postie who said "OH god you don't want to join the Royal Mail do you?" Says he wouldn't recommend it and they are really bad for not getting back to applicants! 

  • There was a Pond st in Sheffield which did pay etc but no one knows if its still there sinse reorganisation.

    Abingdon is my local marathon so I feel it would be a sin not to try it sometime.

    Hill faery we are a communications industry what do you expect! 

  • Hill Faery - You got a lucky escape by not getting getting a reply from RM.  It's not half the job it was about 5 or so years ago.  But it pays the bills (just about)

    Postiepostie, the pensions issue has never really worried me, I've about 35 years left to get anything back, but now starting to regret joining the thing in the first place.

  • Hill Faery as above and curse those billsimage 

    PP it's still there, to be honest wish it wasn't the way everything get's messed about every 3 months.

    I'm a computer monkey for when your line manager sends off something daft, but do ops about 1 weekend in the month depending on what's going on at the local mail centre so could be considered a honouree postie.

    Are you chaps aware there is a royal mail running club? One of the people I work with is a member no idea if they are useful but can find out the details if anyone is interested.

  • Hey all, I've been a postie for 6 years now (just long enough to remember how it used to be...) although I'm not sure I can class myself as a runner yet, I'm still on a walk run programme so got a way to go yet.

    Started running since I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a way to improve my health and hopefully make my diabetes easier to manage. Been on and off with the running for a few monthes now, but cracking on nicely now and go running 3 times a week with my missus (also a postie).

  • Always thought that there ought to be a RM running club but could never find anything out, must be that communicating thing again.

    AR5 Comrade postie is at a similar stage to you as he's only recently quit smoking so needs plenty of support.

    The original idea for this wasn't supposed to be exclusively for posties so all contributions are greatfuly received! 

  • Hi,ex postie.Did 25 years and watched it go down the pan. Now doing shift work so can I join?
  • Aha and avast, shiver me timbers and all that, comrade postie here (ex pirate)(so i'll run the pension thingy)

    Big congrats to comrade Loughman, but next year he's doing it on a Friday, with screwix and English heritage mags strapped to his backimage

  • being a postie is like being a pro runner, great weekday running schedule

    Mondays =  1 mile runimage

    Tues = 1 mile fun runimage

    Weds = 10k  runimage

    Thurs =  half marathonimage

    Fridays  =  Marathon (sometimes double marathon)image

    Saturday = half marathon againimage

  • My ex-postie was a runner.  Used to come with the mail at 6.30 a.m  two big sacks on his back.  I was half dead in bed, but he was quick march.  Then in the afternoon  he was out running, and at the weekends snaking up all sorts of hills and mountains - a bit older than me too I thought

  • http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1270000/images/_1272697_steve_jones150.jpg


    British marathon record holder, London marathon winner ....................................... and postie
  • Rob Joy from Dereham Post Office did a 2:29 on his debut in marathon running on Sunday
  • stemakastemaka ✭✭✭

    I spent 15 yrs as a postie.I am now a driving instructor.I used to love been a postie until it started going down the pan.Even now a part of me wants to go back as a postie and do driving instructing part time,but i think i am looking through rose tinted specks of when delivering letters was a good job.Probably best not botheringimage.While i was a postie (1988-2003) i spent all that time cycle racing(started cycle racing,mainly time trials in 1982 last season was 2000,then became a runner).Between 1988 and 1994 i won the north east "25 mile"champs (now defunct) every year.In 1992 i won the post office National 25 mile Champs (now defunct) in 52 mins 17 secs and was royal mail sportsman of the year that year.

    So i swaped cycle training to running training in 2003,so as well as walking 7 mile a day i would do an hr or so run too.

    Looking back i find it difficult to think how i managed it because now i am a driving instructor,am sat in a car all day so no excercise.I try run now and again but need to get my shin splints sorting,so need to see potiatrist.I try get out on bike when i can as well but have a month old baby so time is short.So not so fit at moment.image

  • Lets get one thing out the way first, whoever is considering being a postman, or postwoman, FORGET IT. okay thats sorted  phew !!!

    now lets talk some good stuff image

  • Before talking good stuff, could someone maybe tell me why the job has gone down the pan? I'd be very interested to hear if it's as bad as when I was in the Police, as funnily enough, that went down the pan in the 6 years I was in too!

    Main probs we had was that the powers to be introduced a centralised call centre so the public could no longer call their local station, and gave the jobs to civvys who didn't have a clue when it came to a lot of the calls received so therefore we got sent to more things as they were no longer written off at source by an actual Police officer! It also meant that local Police stations were closed at night time if all the officers were out attending calls!! Then they decided to change the group system within the shifts which basically meant that there were less officers on the street to deal with more calls!! Good thinking eh????

    So as a result we were more at risk. I ended up working myself a lot covering a vast area and if I needed assistance then I was f***ed! Supervisors didn't care...oh no...they were too busy at their computers (while you were out getting beaten up!!) trying to find out ways to catch you out and trip you up....along with your other colleagues stabbing you in the back too! Team work???? Doesn't exist in the Police.

    Anyway...this is supposed to be a Royal Mail thread isn't it......! Just don't join the Police either ok??

    That's fine I've had my wee rant.....and that's only touching the surface of course...but I won't go on.......

    To end on a better note I'm looking forward to my race this Saturday. Its a 15K trail race at Hawkshead in the Lakes. Hope the weather warms up a bit! It's freezing up here in Scotland! My wings are frozen!

    Anyone else racing at the weekend?

  • My next race is the Concorde 10k in Cranford Park on May 11

    I will afford the job of why RM is gone down the pan to Comrade Postie Postie

  • Whats wrong with being a postie?

    Having national managment from asda and the FA in charge who think that we should turn a profit as opposed to provide a valuable service. The problems with Royal Mail are the same as those in teaching, health, railways, policing etc. anything that was a national service with no intention of making a profit but helped people enjoy better lives has been meddled with by those who only value money not people.

    In the past we all knew our limits and worked around them to get the job done and every thing worked fine, now we are told constantly that we don't work hard enough. If we manage to finish our delivary before the end of our shift it is because most posties start before their shift times to ensure that we meet other existing commitments like childcare etc. not because our deliveries are to easy.

    That nice man mr Leighton promised us job and finish which means that once we have finished our delivery we can go home, he has now gone back on this and now wants us to account for every second of our working day increasing our work load at every given chance. This results in more posties going sick with stress related illnesses and a huge turnover of new staff who just can't cope.

    I only have experience of deliveries but I expect other parts of RM are treated the same.

    I still love being a postie but I don't like the way its been run at the momment. Hopefully it will get better.

  • As I have said earlier, this thread is open to anyone so if you want to know why you don't get your post before 6pm or why you always have to collect yopur parcels from an inaccessable delivery office ask us posties and find out the real answernot the propergander from a call center.

    Anyone else doing the Town & Gown this year? as I've just entered.

  • Ah town and gown eh?

    I think Dermot might be

  • Like postie postie said but would add that in the good old days the management was crap and the union set the agenda. So if the union said right all members get green jelly or we are all on strike the managment just caved in. Now the management are all business folks and the union arn't doing us any favours by pretending we can turn back the clock 10 years. It's down to public service or businness where perfer a public service but I'm hardly unbiased because work for the RM

    It's gone from one exstream to anouther, think the rest of the country in the 70's and it's that sort of level. Customer service has gone down the drain a little but not as bad as the tools in the privete secter who are trying to take all the business (and then get us to post it for them) The good news is for everyone else the price of a stamp still doesn't reflect the price of posting it.

     Alway town and gown is that anouther one in Northern Ireland?

  • Sorry assumed Oxford was only town and Gown race-Not one of my favoroutes but is local so why not.

    Cake do you know anything about setting up websites?

    Would it be possible for an RM running site?

    Would uncle Alan fund this? 

  • perhaps the bloke who's taking over from Uncle Alan might fund it

    I heard the Child catcher from chitty chitty bang bang is throwing his hat into the ring, and that was a big hat!!!!

    anyway off to bed, friday tommorow, thats the day where we have so much mail that we take our sleeping bags to work so we can get an hours kip before Saturdays delivery starts.

    See you in morn comrade, wouf

  • Child catcher image Thats far to nice for management.

    Don't know much about websites but the lads and ladies who set up the bad one for RM work upstrairs so can ask them on monday. Might even be able to get them to stick up a link on the interneral interanet as well.

    There is still grants and stuff for funding things like this but from what I saw when we tried to get some cash for the building footie team it's a case of "it's not what you know it's who you know."

  • hi postie,i am doing Stratford Marathon next week,any one else doing it,
  • Bald Eagle thought about it but bottled it due to heavy non work load (family stuff) but will probably enter next year when my FLM ballot fails.
  • We finally got new date for OX5Run at Blenhiem Palace

    1st June

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