JANUARY CAPTAINS NEWSLETTER

Some of you may remember the popular 90’s children’s TV program ‘The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers’ if not allow me to remind you. When faced with a powerful foe the rangers would combine themselves to become one giant unstoppable Power Ranger in order to defeat the enemy.

We, as team captains and vice captains we have done something similar in joining forces and combining our literacy skills to create a singular information packed newsletter each month.

I have the honour of penning the first joint newsletter of the year, so no pressure…………

Everything Cross Country

“The hills are alive with the sound of Great Bentley” well they will be on the 9^th of March when we hold or leg of this season’s cross country league over at Hilly Fields in Colchester. Ladies team captain Meera is feverishly working away in the background to ensure this event goes a smoothly as a silkworm’s tie. It would be great to see a sea of Blues on the day but we do also need Marshals so if you are able to help and haven’t put your name down yet please click the link below to enter your name.

https://shorturl.at/5OkqD

Then on the 23^rd of March is the final race of the season hosted by Halsted Runners at Gosfield school, this is the rescheduled date as it was postponed due to one of the plethora of storms we had last year. Parking is notoriously tight at the venue so car sharing is well advised.

Friday 5

Thank Crunchie it’s Friday, well the Great Bentley Friday 5 anyway.

As I’m sure you are all aware our Friday 5 is part of a series of 5-mile races which take place on a Friday evening in various villages of Suffolk and Essex throughout the summer. Having run a few, I find they are a great thing to do at the end of the week and kick start the weekend perfectly, ours obviously being the best of the bunch. This year it’s on the 4^th of July please keep a note of this date as I am sure that sooner or later race director Matt will on the lookout for willing volunteers.

More information about the series can be found at The Friday 5 Series

Ekiden 2025

Hot on the heals (see what I did there) of the Friday 5 is Ipswich Jaffas Ekiden event on Sunday 6^th. The Jaffas have been holding this event for over 20 years now and it is always a great day. Ekiden its self is a team relay where teams of 6 runners cover a combined distance of 26.2 miles broken down into legs of 1 x 7.2km, 3 x 5km and 2 x 10km. Keep an eye on your inbox and Facebook nearer the time for details of how to enter.

Essex Way relay

On Sunday 7^th September there is the Essex way relay race in all honesty it’s not a race I have done but from what I can gather it’s a lot of fun, I have “borrowed” some information about the race directly from the website.

This race covers the 82 miles of the Essex way from Epping Station to Harwich Old Lighthouse in 10 stages. The route is mostly cross country and can be difficult through crops and across ploughed fields. Nevertheless it is a very enjoyable day out in the most attractive rural parts of Essex (with an excellent fish and chip shop and pubs waiting for you at Harwich). The course is NOT marked and it is essential for all competitors to have reconnoitred their section before the day to avoid getting lost.

Pubs, chips and the outside chance of getting lost I told you it sounded like fun!

Micky Edwards

Our very Micky Edwards handicap series returns again this year and is for all members of Great Bentley Running Club. It is a series of five 5km runs, with the first race being used to register benchmark times for all competitors. This years series begins on 30th April and will be on every other week until 25^th June. It would be nice to get as many of you as possible to enter this series as it’s a great way to improve your 5K time in a different format to a standard training session, also the more that enter the more there are to chase down. Also, even though these are short races they take as much planning as their longer counter parts it would be good to show your support for the guys and girls that plan tirelessly in the background to make these races happen.

Parkrun tourism (back by popular demand)

Last years monthly Parkrun tourism was a great success, so we have a list of dates ready to go with the first four based on the simple theme of A.B.C.D. and the second group being more coastal, who doesn’t want to be beside the seaside in the summer. The first one kicks off this month on the 22^nd at Alton water, the other dates are listed below,

AGM (Annual General Meeting)

This year’s AGM will be held on Wednesday 2^nd of April, there is normally a token run before hand then down to business, please come along if you can as it is a great way to get an understanding of all the behind the scenes workings that keep our great club running as smoothly as it does. One of the main elements of the evening is to establish who will continuing to hold all the various committee rolls going forward. An email will be sent nearer the time in order for you to vote for who will be taking us forward in 2025 or to put your name down for a position should you want to. Two very important roles that have already become available are membership secretary and half marathon race director. Nick and Mel who held the roles both did exceptional jobs in these positions but have sadly had to step away from them this year. I think we all owe them a massive thank you for all that they achieved in their time.

What the men have been up to

Despite the seemingly perpetual darkness and the constant cold the boys of Bentley have still managed to get out and tackle a race or two.

Starting at the top of the month we had our very own GBRC V’s Harwich 10 road race with some strong performances all round with Doug MC Gillivray coming in first for Bentley, there were 7 Bentley men in the first 10 runners home on the day!

Jon Briggs was the only man to fly the Bentley flag at the Essex cross country champs in Basildon, Jon did exceptionally well on the notoriously tough course

Then we had a weekend of 15 mile races in the form of the infamous Benfleet 15 and the undulating but decidedly less muddy Folksworth 15. Benfleet can only be described as a humbling course yet undeterred 6 Bentley took it on with Dave Allen and Paul Brazier coming in around the 2 hour mark which is fantastic considering the terrain. At Folksworth Men’s captain Charlie and myself came 2^nd and 3^rd respectively in our age category and Chris Warren fished 3^rd in his, in the words of our team captain “not bad for some old geezers”

Then we had Harwich Runners cross country race at Wix, which was an “authentic” cross country course to say the least! The men did well and are holding mid-table nicely with the ladies currently top, but I’m sure ladies captain Meera might just mention that in her section………………

Runner of the month

It’s the start of the year, a clean sheet so to speak so who will hold the much coveted title of ‘runner of the month’ for January. Well both Charlie and I decided that for his constant improvement since being with the club and for blowing his previous personal best out of the water at Benfleet 15 this year Paul Brazier has more than earned the title of ‘runner of the month’ for January, congratulations Paul.

WHAT THE LADIES DID (guest writer, Ladies Captain)

Well, there appears to have been lots to do this January. The month started with New Year’s day parkruns and that enthusiasm for the Saturday AM 5k continued through the month. Looking at the results I have spotted some age-group firsts (Marion, Anna and Eileen to name a few) and PBs (Eileen at Marks Hall) so very well done to you all.

January then brought the Essex Champs XC at Basildon. I personally love this race, it’s a big County Champs affair and with that you get a disco tent to run through and haybales to hurdle. The Baltic weather must have put some people off as this was the smallest field I have seen at this race, but not put off were Tricia and I. We finished in 43 and 36^th respectively.

The next day was a very wet 10 miler at Great Bromley. Well done to all 13 ladies who took on the rain and ran our 10 miler. Particular welcome to Jennie for whom this was her first club event – welcome Jennie!

Also in the longer distance category is the Benfleet 15. This is a beast of a race and being in January can also get some rather challenging weather. I can’t say well done enough to the ladies who took on this race this year: Amy, Kathy, Donna, Rachel, Andrea, Helen, Larina, Debbie and Sue. I hope you enjoyed it… especially that hill at mile 14 😉

Also going off road were those at Essex Trail Events: Debs, Vicky, Tricia, Claudia, Larina and Andrea. You are braver souls than me navigating your way through Essex in the dark, but you seem to have enjoyed it!

And the longest challenge of them all this month (for the ladies at least) appears to the Vicky and Debs at the Winter Tanners. I hope you are taking a nice rest after a 21 mile hilly effort in less than 4 hours 30!

Finally, rounding the month off was XC at Wix. It had been a long time since the last NESS fixture and conditions were quite different. I cannot say how proud I was of the 13 ladies pushing hard across those awful fields and bagging the first place! It was great to see Emily back, and some ladies trying XC for the first time. It also warms the heart when I see those that have finished support those still out there: this is the GBRC team spirit.

Runner of the month

There were a few in the mix this month (well done to you all, we love it when the squad’s brilliance makes this a hard decision), and we have chosen this person as a celebration of the races she has ran this month as well as dedication to training.
She has been training sensibly and steadily over the last year regaining her running legs after a little time off and we have watched her improvement.

This month she took on Benfleet, our 10 miler, Wix XC and she has been pushing the pace at training sessions as well. Many congratulations Amy Young, you are our Runner of the Month!