Dear all,
Congratulations to all members who have been involved in races over the past few weeks.
Our club members have competed in Ultra Marathons right down to the quick and fast paced 800m track event, with over 40 runners taking part in Manchester and London Marathons. We have also supported our local races such as the Bulmer’s Bash, the various parkuns, and impressively over 100 members took part in the Crowle 10K. This is a great way of showing other people in our area that running is becoming increasingly popular locally and that it is inclusive to all. Well done!
I would like to thank all members for the regular photos of club events which get posted on the FB page, special thanks to Ant and Mick Ward for their recent updates.
The good news is that we can keep this momentum going forward into the summer with so many different events in the offing, it’s like waiting for the 144 bus, and then they all come at once! But I still have to ask the question, why are there so many races taking place in such a short time In July, you can run Droitwich 10K, Timberhonger 10K (the love or hate race) Gloucester 10K, Evesham 10K and all within 4 days of each other! Our Club race ‘The Wild One’ falls on the same day as the Worcester Pitchcroft 10K. This is something that we are looking to try and change into the future to ensure that as many people can participate in local races. We need to develop communication between local clubs to help us achieve this aim.
There are three Wednesday night 5km races at Stourport [Fast and Furious] and also the Worcestershire Club midweek series, as well as the Malvern 10K on the 10th June.
Fun events for your diary this summer include attending the Ladies Day at Worcester Race Course 6th June, a BBQ at the Chestnut Pub 3rd July. The annual Monday night meet at Croome Park which is also open to other running clubs in the area. This year we will be asking for a donation of £1 per person all money raised will go to the National Trust, all being well this run will take place on the 13th July.
We are looking forward to welcoming Liz Yelling, Olympic athlete and former training partner of Paula Radcliff. Liz won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and she is delivering a coaching session followed by questions and answers in the bar on Monday 8th June 7pm. There are limited places available for this event so I would be sure to register your interest as soon as possible for what should be a very popular evening. There is a small cost of £5 for this evening which is partly subsidised by the club. Thanks go to Steve Jones for organising this for us.
In September the club will be holdings it’s AGM. As I will have served my two years as Chairman by this point it will be time for me to offer up this position to other members of the club. Nominations for the position of Chairman will need to be submitted in writing to the Club Secretary, Claire Shacklock, by the 1st July 2015. In the event that nobody comes forward the committee and I are happy to continue in our present roles.
As the club keeps growing I would like to thank all group leaders for their continued contributions but also ask for more people to step forward and lead groups. The summer is a great time of year to get used to leading groups as you can keep the runs off-road and the light evenings help prevent the loss of group members! If you have a route and a pace in mind please see Martin at the start of the night. Please can we all try and help keep the group sizes down to 15 and remember we do share the roads and pathways with others.
Mike