City of Portsmouth Athletics Club mourning the loss of stalwart Pat Butcher

The club stalwart, who was a long-serving middle-distance running coach as well as holding various other roles, has passed away aged 83.

Pat's association with COP began after being encouraged to take her son Greg, a keen runner, for additional training having displayed great potential in the 1970s.

It was from that point the Portsmouth-based athletics club would become a huge part of her life.

Across a near 50-year connection with City of Portsmouth, Pat's positions included middle-distance coaching and young athletes co-ordinator, along with taking on responsibilities as the club statistician.

Club runner Paul Bleach first met Pat when he joined the club as an 18-year-old in 1984.

He said Pat, who lived in Cowplain, has left a lasting legacy on the club she dedicated so much of her time too.

Remembering Pat, he remarked: 'Pat was very genuine and very passionate about youngsters.

'She was not influenced by whether you had ability or not. The Pat deal was to help you flourish with whatever you had.

‘It wasn’t just flourishing to your potential athletically, but as an individual.

‘With her background as being a school teacher for many years, she was very good at the child psychology thing.

‘If someone joined, for example, and they didn’t know anybody they would be immediately chaperoned.

‘She would look out for the quiet ones or those that needed a little bit of assistance.

‘It’s those along the way so she created an army of generations that still connect with her as opposed to up-and-coming.

‘A lot of us still run, in some ways, because of Pat as she enlightened us to how much fun it could be.'

Bleach estimates Pat would have worked with well in excess of a thousand athletes during her time at COP.

Many of those were of differing abilities but she did have some particular standouts who spent time under her stewardship.

Pat played a part in helping nurture a high number of athletes to reach national and international successes.

Michael East - a Commonwealth Games gold medal winner in the 1,500m at Manchester in 2002 and an Athens 2004 Olympian - and senior national cross-country champion Justin Pugsley are on that list.

Health issues meant Pat did not have a close connection with the club in the final few years of her life, but Bleach said she'll be fondly remembered by all at COP.