Following the theme of last month, August has seen a continuation of high temperatures and even higher levels of club spirit. This was on full display when 60 members took part in the return of the Ekiden relays on 7 August. It was wonderful to watch everyone supporting each other as they slogged out those laps in the hot conditions. As usual at these events, we undoubtedly had the best cheer squad and the best refreshments. I got the impression from the organiser that we might have overshadowed the actual prize presentation with our own much more jubilant one! Congratulations again to The Centurions and thanks again to everyone who helped me to organise the event in advance and on the day.

On Sunday 21 August, we came together to remember Davina doing the thing she loved – running beautiful trails. The route itself was a delight (thank you Rodger!), and it was great to see so many people coming along to take part. Thank you to everyone who made it possible. The money raised (over £1,000) will go to Acorn Village, a cause close to Davina’s heart and chosen by her family.

News and Notices

Essex Way Relays – Sunday 4 September
An email has been sent confirming final arrangements for this event, including timings for the minibus. We’re really excited to have 3 teams taking part. Thank you, Grainne and Meera, for organising this, which has involved a lot of hard work and logistics!

Whether you’re taking part or not, please feel free to join as at Harwich to see in the final runners (Anna L, Barbara and Paul H) and enjoy some fish and chips. They leave Ramsey at 6pm for the final 5.5 mile stage, so a group of us will be there from around 6.30 to celebrate.

Essex XC Relays – Saturday 24 September

I sent an email about this team event taking place at Weald Country Park, with seniors starting at 11am. There is no cost to enter, and there is no longer a time limit to run your 6k leg. I did this event last year and found it really fun and friendly, plus it’s nice to do XC on a shorter course for a change, and early in the season when it’s not so muddy. If you haven’t done much XC, this would also be a great way to sample it. If you’d like to take part, please email me: lisabriggs416@gmail.com. All welcome, and it would be great to field a few teams in blue!

Ladies Clacton parkrun and breakfast – Saturday 1 October

Meera and I have been meaning to organise this for a while, but it seemed better to wait until the holiday season was over. We’re coming to Clacton on this date to parkrun there, and we’d love it if any ladies would like to join us to make it a social event, with breakfast afterwards. Feel free to come along just for one part or both. However, if you’d like to join us for breakfast (hopefully at the Kingscliff Hotel, recommended by Louise!), please email me (lisabriggs416@gmail.com) as I’ll likely need to book a table.

NESS Cross Country League – 2022/23 dates

Vicky has circulated 5 fixture dates so far, with a 6^th hopefully still to be confirmed. They are:

Great Bentley (Hilly Fields) – 6 November (even if cross country isn’t your thing, please keep this date free – we’ll need lots of help with marshalling and other roles to be able to put the event on!)

Gosfield – 27 November

Harwich – 11 December

Springfield – 15 January

Hadleigh – 19 February

Don’t worry if you’ve never taken part before or don’t even know what XC is. Vicky will circulate the “need to know” essentials in advance (and when we’ve all remembered what rain feels like and what mud looks like!)

Club Awards Night – Saturday 3 December

Save the date for our annual awards night at the Village Hall where we celebrate your achievements and enjoy some food, drink and dancing together! Those who can make it can also join us for breakfast and a run the next morning.

Trail Runs

It’s great to see so many ladies taking part in Rodger’s trail runs and enjoying the stunning routes he has put together for us. The results for July were recently added here and 55 of you completed it. A reminder that round 3 has been extended by an extra week – so you have until 7 September to complete this round. Round 4 will then start from 8 September. I hope you’re all enjoying these as much as me – I’ve got my eye on that purple t-shirt!

Training

Our busy training schedule continues, with Clacton hills back on a Monday. For the benefit of newer members, we receive a weekly doodle poll to sign up to attend sessions for the coming week, to give the run leaders an idea of numbers and monitor attendance at sessions. The weekly sessions are also always listed on our training webpage.  You can also see what is coming up in the PDF schedule which runs up to 22 October.

Buffs

A reminder that Meera has a new stock of GBRC running buffs available for £6.20 each. If you would like one, please let her know.

Our Ladies Squad

Firstly, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to a lady who is returning to the fold … welcome back Cherie Hipkin!

Getting to know you

If it’s not enough being a great runner and all-round lovely teammate, Louise Balfour has added another string to her bow – she is now a qualified LiRF (Leader in Running Fitness) and will be taking some sessions for us all. With that in mind, I thought this might be the ideal time to get to know her better …

Age category: 50-54

Occupation: Lucky to be retired. I spent 10 years serving in the Army then ran our own recruitment business for 20 years which we sold 3 years ago.

How long have you been in GBRC for? 15 months I think!

The silliest thing you did on a race: I was lucky enough to get a ballot place in the London Marathon in 2019 and before the start I was in the queues for the toilet as every runner does at the start of a race and was handed a piece of cardboard to which I said thanks but I am queuing for the toilet and the lady said this is the toilet… I turned to the two very young girls next to me and said WTF is this and they both said oh haven’t you ever been to a festival…. It’s a “Shewee” to which I said a What!! I tried to make the “Shewee” into the correct shape and failed massively resulting in me having to run 26.2 miles having piddled all over my trainers and socks!

Favourite distance: 10 miles. I definitely prefer longer distances.

Best achievement: Having just recently qualified as a LiRF (Leader in Running and Fitness). I am honestly so proud of this achievement.

What’s your ultimate running goal: Strangely it is exactly the same as Claire Poole’s which is to run a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Favourite medal/t-shirt and what for: Harwich Half Marathon 2022. I did a huge PB for me 2.03.22.

Interests other than running: I have recently started Yoga which I have found to be a huge benefit to me particularly with the running. Growing all our vegetables, and I have recently rescued a 10 month old spaniel called Barney who is very lively but has really settled in well especially with our other spaniel Poppy.

Favourite & Worst events and why: Favourite event was the Dave Wrights 7.5 mile road race this year as I was first female!

Worst Event was the Stebbing 10 mile road race last year having just lost my beloved dog Archie Balfour 2 days before. It was a tough route both mentally and physically and I cried my eyes out at the finish!

Most challenging event and why: Paras 10 mile Endurance race 2022. This race has to be the most challenging one ever which took you through rivers and an absolutely stinking swamp whilst coming under fire from a group of soldiers that you couldn’t see only hear!! I am really proud of that particular T Shirt and medal.

Most useful running information you can share: This is an odd one but it works for me! I tend to do a lot of my longer runs along the beach in Holland on Sea and I always wear a running visor so that I can move it down which prevents me from seeing how far I have still got to run to either Clacton or Walton Pier depending on which route I have taken.

Something I have definitely learnt through this running journey is every run you do no matter how hard, easy, long or short it is a good run and at the end of every run I always know it has cleared my head, healed my heart and lifted my spirit!

Thank you Lou! I’m not sure with my track record for falling I should start running with a visor over my eyes, but it might work for others … and I have no doubt that sub 2 hour half marathon is on the cards soon.

Inspirations

Although it was a little quieter this month on the races front, you ladies still never fail to provide plenty of reasons for me to be inspired.

At Ekiden, it was wonderful to see Eileen Shadford and Tonie Wilson donning their blue vests and taking part. Both were a little nervous, but they ran brilliantly and more importantly seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

I am also in awe of Sue Wray, who completed 50km at a Hare and Tortoise ‘Outrun24’ event at Layer Marney Tower.

Many ladies have been throwing themselves into their marathon training with admirable commitment. I have also noticed Bee Brent making a strong and dedicated return to her training after injury, and Charlotte Mills training hard for her Essex Way relay leg and upcoming first half marathon.

Runner of the month

This lady has been shining all season, building on a number of 5k PBs over the previous months. Unlike most of us who have taken August to rest and regroup, she’s been out there racing regularly and has been rewarded with a top 5 finish in RunThrough Lee Valley Velo Park 10 mile on 27 August, and a podium finish on a very warm evening in the Colchester Fast 10k on 12 August. Her regular attendance at training is clearing paying off, and she’s always keen to get involved with club events and support other runners. Our runner of the month is … Grainne Hallahan!