Well, there hasn’t been much of the Spring sunshine we’ve all been hoping for so far, but they do say April showers bring May flowers so I’m hopeful for an upturn after this bank holiday weekend. The cold and the rain certainly haven’t stopped you being very busy ladies, and maybe it even helped with a few PBs along the way (the sooner you get to the finish line, the less wet you get?) A round up of those performances later, but first – the essential news and notices!

News and notices

Membership subs

Just a short reminder to pay your membership subs for the coming year if you haven’t already done so. You should have received an email from Nick, our Membership Secretary, with a link to pay via STRIPE. If you have any problems with making the online payment or need help with paying your annual membership fees, please email greatbentleyrc@gmail.com.

Mickey Edwards 5k Series – starts on Wednesday 3 May

Our annual club 5k handicap series starts this week. It is named after Mickey Edwards, a member of the club who sadly passed away in 2001. The winner of the series will be the person who improves the most, and not the fastest runner.

The series starts with a ‘baseline’ run on 3 May (registration is on the day from 6.45pm, to race at 7.20pm, at Great Bentley Village Hall), and the races (to try to improve on your ‘baseline’ time) will take place on 17 May, 31 May, 14 June and 28 June.

The series is open to club members only and is a fantastic way to improve your 5k time over the summer, so please do come and take part. Even though you need to run at least 3 races to qualify for the overall series, you’re welcome to just do one or two races and not be included in the overall series standing. You can also miss the baseline and join in on a later date. 5k times achieved at Mickey Edwards count can used for club performance standards and club championships.

If you’re not able to run, please do consider marshalling (and thanks to those who have already volunteered their time). You can email Fraser to put your name forward: fraser@thisisbosh.com

Full information about the series can be found on our Mickey Edwards Series webpage.

Geoff Day Memorial 5k – Wednesday 19 July 2023

Another date for the diary is the club’s annual 5k race, in memory of club member Geoff Day, who passed away in 2010 and still holds the majority of the top spots of our ‘top 10 GBRC performances’.  This will be a great opportunity for a PB after the improvements made during the Mickey Edwards series and, again, can used for club performance standards and club championships. There’s also a trophy for the first male and female finishers. It’s always a really nice evening, with Geoff’s family and their friends joining us to take part in the race, and with refreshments afterwards. Please support the event if you can!

More information can be found on our Geoff Day Memorial 5k webpage.

Ekiden relays– Sunday 23 July 2023

Meera and I are now collecting names for another major event in the club’s calendar, the Ipswich Ekiden relay event. If you’re not sure what Ekiden is, you can find out more on our Ekiden webpage, but the short version is that it’s a really fun team event not to be missed!

The email gives full information about the event and how teams are being organised, so please read this before putting your name forward via this google form by 1 June.

Friday 5 series

A reminder that entries are open and selling fast for this popular local series of Friday evening 5 milers. They are:

26 May – Kirton
2 June – Sudbury
9 June – Framlingham
16 June – Bury
30 June – Stowmarket

We host the final fixture at Great Bentley on 7 July. Please do not enter this one, as club members will be asked to volunteer with the running of the event.

Training          

You can always find our training sessions for the week on our ‘Training’ webpage and our Spring training schedule runs up to 12 May. The doodle poll is sent weekly by email. Signing up to a session isn’t compulsory and you can always turn up the day, but it’s really helpful for those leading the session if you can sign up on the poll if you know you are able to attend.

Note that some Wednesday training sessions at Great Bentley will be replaced with a race in the Mickey Edwards series. Thursday intervals sessions continue but only take place on the cycle track at the Northern Gateway once a month during the lighter months, with other sessions being held either on the gravel track at that location or once a month at Westlands Country Park.

Our Ladies’ Squad

Welcome

A very warm welcome to Fiona Burfoot, who joined us this month. Hope to see you at training soon!

What we did this month

In April, we’ve been racing at Sudbury, Little Bromley, Brightlingsea, Layer and around the London landmarks, to name but a few. Marathon season has also been in full swing, with our ladies going the distance in Brighton, Manchester and London. In terms of team events, it was great to enter three ladies’ teams in the Essex Road Relays even though it clashed with another local race. Parkrun tourism was also as busy as ever, with our ladies ‘parkrunning’ at locations such as Bushy Park, Raphael, Cliffe Castle in Yorkshire and Koszalin in Poland!

Inspirations

Another month where we’re spoiled for choice with inspirational performances!

Anyone who completes a marathon has done something outstanding, but our ladies really showed the distance who’s boss this month! Kathy Bishop, Mags Komorowska and Caroline Dyer all achieved PBs at the London marathon, and the amazing Helen Coe ran two marathons this month, which included a PB and her first sub 5 hour marathon at Brighton. Emma Levett-Welham also overcame a foot problem to complete the Brighton marathon, along with Zoe Reynolds who shaved an amazing 2 hours off her previous time!

You were equally impressive over other distances. Debs Hollidge got a 5 mile PB and a 4 star award at the ‘Sudbury Fun Run’ on Good Friday. The Bromley 10k brought PBs for Andrea Markwick (56:39), Larina Marsh (56:51), Marion Simmons (54:19 and a 4 star award) and Hien Hoang (47:28), and it was lovely to see that Bev Shortley acted as a pacer and motivator to help some of these ladies achieve their goals.

Last month’s ‘Runner of the Month’ Laura Cook achieved another huge half marathon PB at the London Landmarks half (2:09:49), at which Nina Simmons and Janine Simpson also ran brilliantly and finished in just over 2 hours.

Runner of the Month

There were many deserving candidates this month, but this lady stood out. After showing amazing commitment to her training plan, she absolutely smashed her very first marathon at Manchester with a time of 4:33:25 – at the age of 60! Our Runner of the Month is Norma Smith, who I think you’ll all agree is an absolute inspiration. Congratulations Norma!