As I write this, I am sitting wearing two jumpers, so it feels odd to be declaring the summer to be here and wishing you lots of running success as you enjoy the long days. However, I live in hope that we will get a decent summer eventually and when it comes, I hope that you, like me, will be out enjoying it.

[EDIT: as I finish this the sun has come out from the clouds and I am now getting burned, which shows either how changeable the Colchester weather can be, or how long it takes me to type!]

News and Notices

Ladies Morning at Harwich parkrun and XC runner of the season 23/24

On 8^th June we will be heading to Harwich parkrun for our ladies morning. We will then adjourn to Pavilion, which is just along the seafront and have morning coffee / breakfast, a chat, and of course be announcing the XC runner of the season (as voted by you). Please ensure you let me know if you are coming to the social as I will be confirming the amount of space we need in the café in the next couple of days.

Ekiden

As always, I am really excited about Ekiden as it is such a fun day out with so many members of the club there. Lisa has received lots of names and we are currently putting together a draft of the teams. There are still a couple of spaces so please let Lisa or me know by email and by 4^th June if you would like to be included. We will circulate the draft of the teams next weekend, all being well.

Our Friday 5 race

The Friday 5 series for 2024 has started and I know many of you will be taking part in this, and hopefully you will have a great time.

As is traditional, GBRC host the last race in the series and this is on 5^th July. Please do not enter our race online. If you would like to run, we request that you volunteer to marshal and only if all of our marshal requirements are met, those who would like to run will be put into a ballot and runners selected.

There are marshal needs for both our Junior Race and Main Race so please do try and make time to come help out. Matt will be circulating a form to sign up as a volunteer later this week.

Great Bentley Trail Runs

The first of this year’s GBRC trails is on the website here: https://gbrc.org.uk/our-races/great-bentley-trail-runs/

The GBRC trails are a fantastic way to get out and enjoy the countryside and we must thank Rodger for the work he puts into them. If you have not done one before, why not give it a go? The best advice I can give is to take it slow and read the directions carefully.

As a polite reminder: although many of us run the trail runs for fun, there is still a competitive element to them so please try to resist the urge to post the route on strava or social media if you can. This way it remains a surprise for those taking on the challenge later in the month.

Mickey Edwards

The Mickey Edwards competition is under way – well done to all who have participated so far. Don’t forget, you can join in at any point in the series so even if you have missed the first ones, why not come along for the two races that are left? For those that don’t know, the route is 5k and is a fast course so great for trying to bag a PB or for giving yourself a little fitness test.

Geoff Day memorial 5k

The Geoff Day memorial 5k will be on 10 July this year. We hope to see lots of you at Bentley as this is a great club event in memory of a very talented runner. Nearer the time more information will be sent out but I am probably not wrong in thinking there will be some sort of cake involved after the run!

Next XC Season

A couple of newsletters ago I mentioned that we will be needing some volunteers to help take the gazebo to and from XC events, as well as the hot water flasks, tables for cakes etc. I have yet to have anyone put their hand up. As we get nearer to the start of the next XC season please do consider if you could help with this and let me know. I hope to have enough people volunteer that we can have a rota meaning that the job is shared and not too burdensome for anyone.

Training

You are used to it by now – please check the website and poll for details of the week’s training sessions. Where sessions do not get adequate sign-ups they will be cancelled as we want to avoid having our lovely LiRFs standing in carparks on their own for no reason.

Remember to dress for the weather – at the moment that is likely to mean taking a waterproof with you, but under the assumption the summer is coming, please remember suncream, hats or visors, and to take water.

Our Ladies Squad

A warm welcome to new ladies in our squad, I hope you are enjoying sessions with GBRC so far.

What we did

We have inducted some new race reporters, and they are off to a flying start so thank you to them. If you want to see what everyone is up to, the race reports can be found here: https://gbrc.org.uk/category/race-reports/

In summary we had ladies at loads of events this month, including the Stort 10 mile, a Hare and Tortoise event, the Leeds half marathon, the South Downs ultra marathon, parkruns across the region, the Heritage Coast half marathon, the Colchester 10k, a map my baps event in the Peak District and the Halstead marathon. Well done to you all!

Runner of the month

We come on to runner of the month. This month we are celebrating a lady who has really improved in her running since joining the club. This month she ran the Stort 10 mile as well as being at parkrun and getting involved at club training. This lady has actually been in Lisa and my thoughts in many previous months to this; for example when she ran event such as Craig’s 7.5 mile and bagged herself a trophy. So it could be considered overdue when I say congratulations to Kelly Hayhoe, you are our runner of the month for May.