DFR Club Vest - Genesis

When Durham Fell Runners was formed, the magnificent seven divided up tasks between them to get DFR off the ground. Stuart Ferguson agreed to design the club vest. Stu sketched out two designs - mud splat and mountain. Graham Jordison of Inov-8 has a canny knack of interpreting Stu’s sketches and came up the graphic design that you see today. The two designs were put to a vote and the choice made was the mountain design we now have. To register the club colors, purple and white were submitted on the registration form, Palatine purple being of historical importance to Durham University.

Stu’ s goals when setting out to design the vest were -
* Different to any other vests around.
* Relevant to the core member’s activities.
* To be photogenic.

Did Stu complete the goals he set out with?
* Yes the design is very striking and very different. The comments from other clubs’ members endorses this.
* Yes – Members compete in Mountain Events worldwide from Everest Marathon, Marathon des Sables, European Races such as Matterhorn, Kitzbuel, Chamonix Cross, World Mountain Running Association events, Leadville 100 in USA, never mind the climbing and skiing action some members participate in.
* Yes – you can spot a member easily in the FRA magazine photos and also the many après race photo slideshows.

At present, our vests are made by a major manufacturer of sports wear in Shildon, in the heart of County Durham. The firm is TSM and there is a link to their web site under the picture of the vest below. TSM make a variety of products, in the main football strips, but they also have a healthy athletics division including the Bingley vest.

One question that comes up on occasion is ‘where are the mountains in Durham?’ Well, just have a go at the Durham Hewitts round and you will see.