Hello BPJs,

Well here’s my first newsletter since being voted in as your club chairman. I hope to make these a monthly feature to keep you informed on various club matters. If you have any suggestions on things you’d like to see here, let me know.

Treasurer

After being voted in at the EGM, James King is now the club’s treasurer. I’ve been working with James and Clive to get everything handed over. Please bear with us while this is going on. Changing over the banking mandate isn’t the easiest of tasks. A big thanks to Clive for all his hard work over the years keeping the club finances in check.

Marketing

Tracy Kennish has been doing a great job of writing news for the website and even getting articles in the paper. It takes a great deal of time to compile all the information and photos to produce the articles, so thank you Tracy for your hard work. If you haven’t already read them, check out the news page.

Meeting at Perdiswell

I had a meeting with Sarah Hughes, the site manager at Perdiswell Leisure Centre to get to meet her and discuss our future at the centre.

The leisure centre are happy for us to continue using the parking and facilities. Parking is a lot better now the new car park is open, so please make sure you park in proper spaces and not on the side as you enter or by the island. We don’t want any complaints coming through.

Now that the bar is gone, we discussed potential areas to meet inside as the weather gets worse and the days shorter. Unfortunately at the moment, there isn’t anywhere that can hold us, but when the new facilities open (some from January and the rest from March), we’ll have a better idea of where we may be able to meet.

Gym membership

The leisure centre are happy to offer free passes for BPJs to try out the facilities and also a good discount on monthly membership fees. If you’re interested, let me know.

Post-run refreshments

The Blackpole Inn have been very welcoming since the closure of the bar, so if you didn’t already know, please come and join us there for a post-run beverage and a chat. Food orders are usually taken up to 8:30pm.

The Wild One

This year’s Wild One event went down well, although numbers were down compared to previous years. There has been talk of moving it back to Perdiswell next year and maybe changing the format. Nothing has been decided yet, but once Croome is out the way, we can look at discussing it in more detail. Perdiswell are keen to help support the event next year.

Group etiquette

It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure the success of a group run. Please help your group leader by:

  • Mustering, which if you didn’t know is turning round and running to the back of the group if the group gets too spread out, so that runners at the back don’t get left behind. Don’t just stop ahead and wait for them to catch up.
  • Call out for a muster if you’re near the back of the group and feel the front runners are getting too far ahead.
  • Crossing roads safely. Don’t just follow the person in front of you if they cross a road.
  • Shout back to runners behind you (keep left/right, etc) to warn of oncoming obstacles or pedestrians.
  • Try and leave the leisure centre with the faster groups first to avoid congestion and potential danger on the way out.

Holiday time

I’m away on holiday in Italy from 7th and back on the 24th. Jo and I have even planned our itinerary so we can do a parkrun while we’re there! No club finances were harmed in the making of this holiday before you ask!

If you’re going away, don’t forget to send through your photos of you wearing your BPJ club colours for our photo gallery.

Next committee meeting

We’ve pencilled in a date for the next committee meeting as 5th September. If you have any issues you’d like to raise with the committee, let me know in good time so I can add it to the agenda for us to discuss during the meeting.

Special mentions

I’m going to look at how we can acknowledge the great efforts put in by our volunteers and the achievements of our runners in a better way rather than being lost on the Facebook group or missing those that the committee don’t hear about, but as I write these newsletters, I’d like to use the opportunity to mention a few that have stood out to me…

  • Alan Southwick: Alan has been coaching Ashley Taylor recently, taking him on training runs, efforts sessions and to and from many different parkruns. A great example of the friendly, supportive club ethos. The results of their efforts can be seen in Ashley’s Run Britain ranking rocketing over the last few months and taking a big chunk off his parkrun time. Go Ashley!
  • Jason and Eleri Green: These two come to support so many races, come rain or shine. Always staying to see the last BPJ through to the finish, with offers of Percy Pig sweets (which have become a staple of many in marathon training thanks to Jason) and their huge BPJ flag (also featuring Percy Pig to the confusion of many – if you’ve met Jason, you’ll understand his sense of humour). From Cardiff Half to the iconic London Marathon, the Greens always find an ideal spot to encourage you to the end.

Dates for the diary

Don’t miss out on important events. Here’s a summary of what’s coming up:

  • Sunday 14th August: Wilkins Way 10K (nice local 10K organised by Mark Dillon)
  • Sunday 28th August: Pershore Plum 10K (nice local 10K organised by our friends over at the Pershore Plum Plodders)
  • Saturday 3rd September: Joust 24hr (local solo and team-based multi-lap ultra event, come for the running or just camp and enjoy the social side of it)
  • Monday 5th September: Next committee meeting (proposed date)
  • Sunday 18th September: Worcester City 10K (the big race organised by Steve Cram)
  • Monday 14th November: AGM (a chance for you to have your say on important club matters)
  • Sunday 27th November: Croome Capability Canter (our sell-out annual club race, please help marshal if you’re free)
  • Saturday 3rd December: BPJ Christmas Party (the last few years have been a blast, keep the date free)

There’s always lots of races coming up. Check out Run Britain, Runners World or ask around on our Facebook group if you’re looking for a race to enter.

All the best,

Paul