Twenty five years ago, they were known as The Whitehall Striders, and to gain membership in this particular group of savannah runners, you had to run two laps around the Queen's Park Savannah.
To-day, the group whose membership has changed considerably, is still on the savannah every morning before daybreak, "but we are walking rather than running" says one of the original members, insurance executive Ossie Grey.
BWIA pilot Junior Stoute remembers being the first member "on the savannah, I didn't even have the kind of running shoes like to-day."
And then came men like Grey, George Fraser, Aleem Ali and Albert Knowles, who reached to the New York Marathon. Anthony Smart and Stokely Regis, who have taken part in the Barbados marathon and 10K. Selby Wilson was one of the first to run the Tesoro Marathon from Marabella to Palo Seco, along with Ali, and Grey, who remembered "a couple weeks before the marathon, training included running from Queen's Royal College over the Lady Young up to the Croisee and back to the College, a total of 18 miles."
To-day running is a thing of the past, the now more mature group walks for exercise, which is exactly why the Striders started, "to get exercise."
Other foundation members were Dr George Waldron, Flavia Marin the lone woman, Ian Stewart, Andre Des Vignes, Lloyd de Suze, Mannie Lawrence, Bobby Thomas and Vin Quesnel. Some (with the exception of Quesnel who still runs) walk at their own pace, while others keep up with the fast-moving, fast-talking bunch of newer members led by Regis.
Replacements who now make the more than once around the savannah walk, discussing current events, include Roy Bisnath, Dr Ian 'Sparkles' Prevatt, Dr Mervyn Campbell, Peter Christian, Mannie Singh, Valerie Granger, Dr Earl Brewster, Robert Bastien, Errol //////// and Curtis Mohammed complete with his umbrella in hand. I often wonder how they are able to walk and talk non-stop at one and the same time.
They liken themselves to a friendly society, but at the end of the interview I thought of them as a "breakfast club." Breakfast runs are a big feature. "It is an important factor after cross country and other runs, we have to eat so somebody has to provide the meal or we prepare it at one of the homes" said Smart, "through the years we know who can do what, for instance Stokely makes a very, very good parlour juice, very sweet and watery, so that's his contribution"
Recently they went on what will soon become an annual, an early morning Maracas walk, at the end of which breakfast is eaten on the beach and there is transport back to the city, walking back is definitely not an option for the group where some members are now well over age sixty.
Boredom with the savannah circuit does not exist because the group uses several routes. For instance, on Saturday mornings they walk "a savannah and then up the scenic Lady Chancellor Hill." The steep Mt St Catherine Hill in Chaguaramas is another route, also the old Satellite Tracking Station.
Do the Striders get physical check-ups before these arduous walks, was my question. With a loud laugh Dr Prevatt, a dentist, came back with "we don't need physical checks that is why we are walking, to avoid physical checks, we can't pay doctors. Actually we are just like people going in the gym, this is our gym, good exercise."
They reminisced about previous runs, one of which started at Vin Quesnel's San Rafael Farm, a ten mile run through San Rafael to the Caroni Arena Dam, a circuit in forested areas.
The run from Maracas to Las Huevas to Blanchisseuse with breakfast at Gene Hutchinson's home, "we did that a couple of times" but with age, it seems that discretion has definitely become the better part of valour. "We would also go up to Arima and run from the Main Road to Valencia and have breakfast at Bobby Thomas' home in Arima. Always breakfast we have to eat" said Smart.
The highpoint of the year is the annual early morning Christmas breakfast, held in the open air clubhouse on the bench opposite to Queen's Royal College. "A real Christmas lime. We do a ceremonial run" explained Anthony Smart "nothing too strenous, maybe one slow lap around the savannah. We started with drinks, and developed into an annual with each member bringing a Christmas delicacy from the wives' stocks. As a matter of fact, when my kids were growing up they used to have to wait on me to come home to open their Christmas presents,"
On New Year's morning, there is a drinks session from about 6.30 a.m. and very often the group does not leave the savannah until 9 or 9.30 a.m.
They miss people like Aleem Ali, who used to run "night and day like Frank Sinatra" quipped Regis "his business now keeps him busy, I guess."
And all chuckled loudly, as Christian remarked that "because we sit on the bench near to Tony's coconut cart and have made it a habit to buy from him after every run or walk, the other coconut vendors refuse to sell us."
Recently women have joined the walks to Maracas and Mt St Catherine, "like Yvonne Gordon, who introduced us to Mt St Catherine and Gemma Casimir." The group, like myself, stands in awe of a young woman, Arlene Darmanie, who runs the savannah several times, every morning of life.
Many friendships have developed amongst the striders as they now visit each others homes "just from having met around the savannah, so it has formed a good social bond" assured Grey.