Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who came to our Awards night and helped make it the special occasion it was, I hope you all had a wonderful evening celebrating the achievements of your fellow members. Now time to see what’s in store in near and not so near future.
Parkrun tourism
This month see’s the return of our monthly GBRC Parkrun tourism, now in its third year would you believe! Charlie and I have found four more Parkruns that begin with the initials of our club and the dates and destinations are below, please come and join us if you can.
G) Saturday 28th February – Gunpowder parkrun
B) Saturday 28th March – Basildon parkrun
R) Saturday 18th April – Raphaels parkrun
C) Saturday 16th May – Chelmsford parkrun
NESS XC League
It was great to so many new faces at the last XC race hosted by Braintree at the Thorington scout camp, I hope you all had a great time, there are just two more races left in this year’s season and they are,
Sunday 15th February – Halstead (Gosfield)
Sunday 22nd February – Harwich (Wix)
As always with cross country the more the merrier and we need as many of you as possible to help keep us in Pool A.
Micky Edwards
Our very Micky Edwards handicap series returns again this year and is for all members of Great Bentley Running Club. For those of you who are new to the club it’s a series of five, 5km runs, with your time from the first race being used as a baseline from which you try to improve on over the course of the series.
This years dates are,
Wednesday 6th May – Baseline race
Wednesday 20th May – Race 1
Wednesday 3rd June – Race 2
Wednesday 17th June – Race 3
Wednesday 24th June Race 4
5K Road relays
The Essex relays return to Northern gateway on 22nd of March and you should have all received an email giving you details of the event. Lisa and Meera are currently compiling names and teams so if you are interested in joining them, please register your interest using the link attached, this google form
If you have any further questions please email Lisa at lisabriggs416@gmail.com.
Ekiden
Anothergreat team relay event that will also be happening again this year is Ekiden and this year it’s going to be held on 5th July, please make a note of the date for now and more details will follow in future newsletters!
Easter Bunny Doubles
This is not a new event but one that hasn’t been held for quite some time and is now back for 2026, and will be taking place on 6th April (Easter Monday) I have copied the premise of the race from Scotts email and I must say it does seem rather fun.
So the idea is that we pair you up with another runner – one faster and one slower based on your 5k time. You then run 5 laps of an approximate 2 mile course in your pairs, 3 laps for one runner and 2 for the other (obviously the faster runner normally does 3 laps but doesn’t have to that’s up to you and your partner). You can do your laps in any order 1 on, 1 off, 3 laps for one and then 2 laps for the other etc. etc. Again how you do it is up to you.
The winning pair are those who run the 5 laps first. The route is a mix of trail, road and field around Great Bromley. We have the village hall as a base and will be available for us post run for baked goods of a sweet and savoury nature.
As it’s Easter there will be chocolate involved and we would love to see your family in the hall especially the kids. There will be an Easter Egg hunt and a bouncy castle to keep them entertained whilst you’re off running.
Some changes at the top
Those of you that attended our annual awards night might recall that some of committee members are stepping down this year, these people have given their very best to the club over the years and we thank them for their time, effort and dedication.
The positions that coming available are,
• Ladies’ Captain (Meera Rajoo-Oakley)
• Vice Ladies’ Captain (Lisa Briggs)
• Club Secretary (Magdelena Komorowska)
• Friday 5 Race Director (Matthew Laverack)
• Chairman (Paul Davison)
The Friday 5 Race Director role has now been kindly taken on by Scott Young for this year’s Friday 5.
If you are interested in one of these rolls and want to find out more, I am sure that any of the current holders of these positions will be more than happy to discuss with you what each roll entails.
What the men did
Tim Clifton, Malcome Statham and David Balfour all started the year with something long and muddy completing the East Hanning field trail marathon and the Stanstead stagger respectively.
There were some great efforts from those of you who ran in the GBRC V’s Harwich 10 miler including Dean Pepper and Matin Cotton who both got PB’s not to mention new member Jimbo who came in first place.
The Windmill Way Wander is not only a bit of a tongue twister but it’s also a race in which Dan Palmer got himself a PB half marathon time and came in 5th place.
Charlie Keitch and I took ourselves off to Folksworth for a rare 15 mile distance race, a great race to kickstart your year.
R.O.M. (MENS)
So here we are, who will be getting the first Runner of the Month title this year? Charlie and I thought that anyone who can come out of the festive period and get a half marathon pb on a hilly course by 7 minute’s with a time of 1.36.04 surly has to have the title of Runner of the month, so congratulations go to Dan Palmer our first Runner of the month for 2026
WHAT THE LADIES DID
January has been a fairly quiet month (well according to facebook – don’t forget to put your achievements on the pinned post!).
The month started with Essex champs cross country at Basildon. Meera Rajoo-Oakley was the representation there, finishing in 56th and describing the race as very cold.
Other cross country races this month included the Essex League at Hilly Fields where Andrea James finished in 15th and Meera followed her home in 70th position. And then for NESS league we had a joyous team at the event hosted by BDAC at Thorrington: Andrea, Emily Zethraeus, Magdalena Komorowska, Meera, Cheryl Congram, Jess Gould, Deb Hollidge, Katie Collin, and Lizzie Bodmer all took on the three-lapper.
Also right at the start of the month was our GBRC vs Harwich Runners 10 miler. GBRC had 14 ladies running in this. PB’s were noted for Lou Balfour and Mary Ann Taylor – well done to you! The full results for the 10 mile race can be found here: https://gbrc.org.uk/our-races/10-mile-inter-club-road-race/
At parkrun this month we have seen ladies at
· Harwich (Zoe Reynolds, Anna Lyon, Ellie Moor, Sarah Davison, Daniella Harris, Bev Shortley and Lou Balfour);
· Sizewell (Yolande Arnold);
· Ben’s Yard Ely (Donna Harris and Sammy Cotton);
· Highwoods (Andrea James, Magdalena Komorowska, Deb Hollidge, Katie Whymark, Donna Evans, and Helene Tyler);
· Woodhouse Moor (Frances Laverack);
· Colchester Castle (Kelly Hayhoe, Rosie Youngs, Donna Evans, and Claudia Keitch);
· Maldon Prom (Larina Marsh, and Sarah Evans);
· Clacton Seafront (Catherine Ott, Debbie Smith, Fiona Gosling, Laura Cook, Daniella Harris, Natalie Martin, Louise Reeve, and Leoni Harvey);
· Mersea Island (Angel Jasper, and Maddie Clifton);
· Babbs Mill (Bee Harris);
· Bedgeberry Pinetum (Sarah Blewden);
· Felixstowe (Caroline Dyer)
And finally there has been some trail running. The Dark Horse trail was completed by Andrea Markwick and Larina Marsh and was described as very muddy. Well done ladies for not getting lost in the dark!
RUNNER OF THE MONTH (LADIES)
For runner of the month we want to turn the spotlight onto a runner who quietly attends cross country and has been a lovely addition to the club over the last few years. With an amazing top 20 finish at Essex League XC, a first finish at Highwoods parkrun and a win in NESS XC this month we would like to say congratulations to Andrea James!
Great Bentley Running Club 