Hi ladies! I can’t believe it’s the end of June already. The summer is really flying by, but there’s plenty more excitement ahead, as you’ll see in our ‘News and Notices’. However, I’ve also been thinking of those in the club who, whether due to illness or injury or other reasons, are not able to run at the moment. Being able to run can never be taken for granted, and we hope to have those people back with us in the near future.
News and Notices
Micky Edwards 5k Series
Thanks to everyone who supported the club’s 5k handicap series, whether by running or marshalling. We are so lucky as a club to have this opportunity to work on our 5k times on a flat course for free!
If you haven’t seen them, the final results and summary report for the series are available here.
Congratulations to the winner, Martin Cotton, and it’s great to see three ladies in the top 10: well done to Lorraine Adams (4th), Andrea Markwick (5th) and Sarah Blewden (10th).
Great Bentley Friday 5 – Friday 5 July
A big thank you to all of those who have volunteered to help with the club’s 5 mile senior race and associated junior race on Friday. You should have received an email from Race Directors Matt and Meera about your role on the day. Your support is so appreciated and allows us to put on a safe race for the runners, and contributes to the club funds that are spent on many activities through the year that we can all enjoy.
Ekiden relays – Sunday 7 July
An email with teams and final instructions has been circulated for this event, taking at Ipswich High School this weekend (7 July), but these could still change so please keep an eye on your inboxes! I’m crossing my fingers for nice weather, even though the week hasn’t been looking promising so far, but come prepared for all eventualities. Whatever the weather, with over 50 of us taking part, it will no doubt be a really fun club event!
Geoff Day Memorial 5k race – Wednesday 10 July
You know you’ve all got one more 5k in you after the Mickey Edwards series … so why not come and take part in the club’s annual 5k race in memory of club member Geoff Day? This will take place at 7.15pm (registration from 6.45pm) from Great Bentley Village Hall, with refreshments in the hall afterwards. It would be wonderful to see lots of you there.
You can find out more about Geoff and the race on the Geoff Day webpage.
Great Bentley trail runs series
These self-navigating trail runs, meticulously planned and arranged by Rodger, started in June. Whether you’re aiming to complete for the ladies’ trophy, or just exploring a new route on a run/walk with friends, I hope you’re enjoying yourselves. The July instructions have now been published on the Trail Runs webpage. This route starts at Langham and is approximately 5 miles (depending how lost you get!) Don’t forget to text Rodger on completion of each run, particularly if you want your t-shirt for completing all of the routes!
Awards Night and breakfast 2024 – save the date – 7 and 8 December
The hall has been booked so please save the date for our annual Awards Night soiree at Great Bentley Village Hall on the evening of Saturday 7 December, followed by a social run from the hall and breakfast the next morning. It’s always a great event, and by confirming the date nice and early, we hope to see many of you there!
London Marathon draw for club places
If you applied for a London Marathon place via the ballot but were unsuccessful and would like to go into the draw for one of the club’s two places, please send evidence of your ballot rejection email to Paul Davison by 31 July 2024: pauldavison22@sky.com. The draw will be made at Awards Night, to add even further to the excitement of the evening!
Clubs Champs and Performance Standards
A reminder that we have a ‘club champion’ award, given out at Awards Night, for the fastest person in each age group for an officially measured race for distances from 5k to marathon. Times must be submitted by within 30 days of the event, and 10 November 2024 is the last date for submissions for this year. You can find out more and view the current standings on the Club Champs webpage. Many awards go unclaimed each year, so even if you don’t think your time is that “fast”, it’s definitely worth checking!
The club also has a performance standards awards scheme based on National Running Standards, with star awards ranging from 1-5, based on age-graded times. After you’ve raced, don’t forget to check if you’re eligible to claim a star award. These can be a really good motivator for upcoming races too – especially if you move up an age category!
Training
The July 2024 training schedule has now been published on the Training section of our website. Head Coach Caroline is taking the opportunity to review responses to the recent training questionnaire that was sent to club members, and these will feed into our next training schedule.
Please continue to complete the weekly google form that is sent by email wherever possible, so that sessions are not cancelled due to low attendance and so that run leaders can plan a suitable session according to the numbers.
Our Ladies Squad
A warm welcome to new ladies who have joined us this month. We hope you are enjoying training with us and already feel like part of the team!
What we did this month
Thanks to those of you who came along to our ladies social at Harwich on 8 June. We had sun, cake and we crowned Kathy Bishop our Ladies XC Runner of the Year for the 2023 season. Congratulations Kathy!
The eager parkrun tourists were out in force this month, visiting Monsal Trail, Thornham Walks, Thetford and even driving 336 miles to enjoy Eden Project parkrun (specifically, Mel Parris and Natalie Martin, who clearly can’t resist a rainforest biome!). Bee Harris got a well-deserved 5k PB at Markshall Estate parkrun, and Kelly Hayhoe headed to Brentwood parkrun as part of the GBRC social. I think my favourite parkrun name this month was Bug Hunter Waters parkrun near Cambridge, which Debs Hollidge visited on 28 June. It sounds like one I could get my small child to attend under false pretences!
Our ladies have been running strongly in the local summer 5k series. As well as many of you taking part in the two June races in our club Micky Edwards 5k series, Inga Hayden-Cooper, Donna Harris, Tricia Stacey and Tonie Wilson flew the blue flag at the June race of the Harwich 5k series.
Anna Lyon, Hien Hoang, Kathy Bishop, Yolande Arnold, Rachel Rodgers and Andrea Markwick were rewarded with a beautiful medal for completing the Stour Valley half marathon, whilst April’s Runner of the Month Larina Marsh took on the full marathon at this event.
However, marathons are short-distance events to Larina, as proven by her performance at the Hare & Tortoise Outrun 24 event, where she completed 85 miles as part of the duo ‘Sexy Ladies’ in 23 hours 5 minutes. Truly amazing!
The Friday 5 series has been in full swing and our ladies in blue have been representing us well. Sammy Cotton, Donna Harris and Kelly Hayhoe have completed three out of the five races, with Caroline Dyer completing two and Hien Hoang and Magdalena Komorowska joining in the fun for the Stowmarket race on 28 June.
In other events, Mags and Inga took part in the High Easter 10k and finished in 47:18 and 48:51 respectively. This earned Mags a county bronze medal in her age category for the 10k distance. Also over the 10k distance, Kelly Hayhoe placed 5th in her age category at a very muddy and hilly Rayleigh 10k.
On a beautiful evening at the Summer Solstice Challenge organised by Craig’s Events, long-distance regular Mags completed 8 laps for a total distance of 26.88 miles.
The summer sees many of you really make the most of your talents in multi-sports. This month, Leoni Harvey completed the Studland Swimrun middle distance event, and Milly Presland won the Sudbury Triathlon. I am in awe of both of you, well done talented ladies!
Not technically running but certainly long distance and very deserving of a mention, Louise Balfour completed the brutal Cateran Yomp Silver challenge – 36 miles in cold winds, with 5,500 ft of elevation and blisters galore. An amazing achievement!
Runner of the Month
She’s a regular year-round racer, and a familiar face at club events and training sessions. Meera and I felt that based on her many cumulative achievements, plus completing three Friday 5 events and her excellent time of 26:02 in the most recent Harwich 5k fixture, she was extremely deserving of this accolade.
June’s runner of the month is …. Donna Harris!
Great Bentley Running Club 