Now that Spring is starting to show signs of appearing very soon, I want to start this newsletter by bidding farewell to another successful cross country (XC) season for the club which has allowed us to stay in Pool A of the North Essex and South Suffolk (NESS) XC League for another year.
A special thanks to Ladies Captain and XC Race Director Meera for organising us all, but also thanks to everyone who ran (whether that was in one fixture or all of them), marshalled our race at Hilly Fields, or helped with gazebos, scoring, hot drinks etc. It works because we all come together as a club – so thank you and well done to all. And by the time your next newsletter arrives, it’ll be time to start thinking about who you’ll be voting for to receive this year’s coveted XC Runner of the Year award!
Much the same is to be said of our half marathon which took place on the first of the month. Huge congratulations to Marion and Nina on their first event as Race Directors and thanks to all for another huge team effort for the club!
And now to look ahead, to longer days and sunnier months of running …
News and Notices
Annual General Meeting (AGM) and new officials – Wednesday 1 April
We’d love to see you at the upcoming AGM on 1 April at Great Bentley Village Hall, starting at 7.00pm. This is a chance to meet other members, hear a summary of the club’s activities over the past year, choose officials for the coming year and have open conversations about the club. Results of nominations for positions will also be announced at the AGM, so come along and meet your new committee for the year ahead. We hope to see many of you there!
Essex Road Relays – Sunday 22 March
If you signed up this event, you should have received an email about team allocations. If you think you signed up but haven’t received this, or you’d like to be a reserve runner for this event should anyone become unable to take part, please email lisabriggs416@gmail.com.
Easter Bunny Doubles – Monday 6 April
Scott is organising a fun pairs event called “Easter Bunnies” on Easter Monday, running 5 laps of a 2 mile course divided up between you in your pair. This event is open to all and is a family event with an Easter egg hunt and bouncy castle (for the children, I might add!).
More information and pre-registration is here. The event starts at Great Bromley Village Hall, with a warm up lap at 9.00am for a 9.30am race start.
Mickey Edwards Series – starting May
One of the best events in the club calendar kicks off on 6 May. The Mickey Edwards 5k series aims to help you improve your 5k time over the course of a baseline race followed by five handicap races. You can read all about it here.
This year’s dates are as follows – please save them in your diaries, as we’ll be looking for marshals as well as lots of runners!
- 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
Parkrun Tourism for March, April and May
The parkrun tourism series continues at the following dates and locations – come and join us to expand your parkrun horizons on a new course.
- Saturday 28 March – Basildon parkrun
- Saturday 18 April – Raphaels parkrun
- Saturday 16 May – Chelmsford parkrun
Friday 5 Series – starts 22 May
This local 5 mile race series starts on 22 May, and finishes with the Great Bentley Friday 5, hosted by our club, on 3 July.
The full list of dates can be found here. Entries are now open via myraceresult, but please don’t enter our race on 3 July, as we’ll need volunteers to put on the race. If we get sufficient volunteers, names will be drawn to give some volunteers the opportunity to run as well doing some pre-race volunteering.
Ipswich Ekiden Relays – Sunday 5 July
Just a reminder to save the date for this club relay event. Which team will take the club trophy this year?! Let’s make it the biggest turnout yet!
February races round-up
The month kicked off with our very own Great Bentley half marathon, and well done to our runners James Eyre, Pacian Andrews, Tricia Stacey, Piers Markwick, Tim Clifton, Larina Marsh and Helene Tyler, who no doubt completed the course to rapturous applause from the very best marshals going!
Parkrun tourism has again been busy, including Ekebergsletta in Norway (Donna Harris), Aachner Weiher in Cologne (Dan Palmer), and Sandhurst Memorial parkrun (Donna Parker-Evans). Closer to home, some of our runners experienced the inaugural Walton Promenade parkrun on 28 February, and we were all pleased to hear of Rob Dyer’s return to Felixstowe parkrun after a recent health scare.
This month saw our final two cross country races at Gosfield and Wix, and massive kudos to those who represented us at these fixtures, as they always fall at a busy time in the racing and training calendar. Our juniors Angel and Charlie also finished their spectacular seasons on a high, achieving 11th and 12th places. The future is bright for them in their first senior season next year!
In other race news:
- Mark Crittenden jeffed the Rochford Half Marathon
- Zoe Wolff conquered 20 miles of hills at the ZigZag Valentines Challenge
- Mary Ann Taylor set a 10km PB of 59:47 at the Cancer Research London Winter Run, where Donna Parker-Evans and Lorraine Adams also got a lovely cuddle with a mascot (bet they needed that to warm up!)
- Tim Clifton added yet another marathon to his list at the Hare and Tortoise ‘Rayneing Medals’ event.
- Magdalena Komorowska was the sole blue at the Tarpley 20, finishing in 2:46:25.
Don’t forget to add your race photos and results to the monthly pinned thread on our Facebook group – your captains and teammates really want to see what you’ve been up to, whether it’s a PB, a race for fun with friends, or some parkrun tourism!
Runners of the Month
Our choice for ladies runner of the month has been an absolute stalwart of the ladies XC team all season. I can’t in good conscience say she absolutely always does it with a smile on her face, but she is always there for the team come rain or shine, giving it her all and supporting her teammates. We absolutely couldn’t have done without her this month and this season. Ladies ROM is Deborah Hollidge. Well done, Debs!
Men’s Captain Charlie:
Continuing the XC theme our men’s runner of the month finished off a fine season in blistering form, with a fantastic performance at the final fixture at Harwich. This young man finished fourth overall in a strong field, a result that places him sixth in the club’s all-time top 10, which is a superb achievement. A great way to round off theXC season – well done, Flynn Eyre!
Great Bentley Running Club 