It has come to that time of year again when we hold our club AGM. The AGM is open to all club members and we encourage you to have your say on important club matters. There will be some food provided, so please email secretarybpj@gmail.com to let us know if you will be attending, so we can cater for the correct amount.

The AGM will be held on Monday November 21st at 8.15pm at Old Elizabethans Cricket Club, Droitwich Road, Worcester, WR3 7SN.

Should there be anything you would like to be discussed on the night, at the AGM, then now is the time to inform us. We will discuss subjects put forward before the meeting but not any brought up on the night, so please feel free to send an email to me with your thoughts/proposals by 7th November.

We will be voting for our nominated charities at the AGM. If you would like to nominate a charity, we will need to receive their proposal before the AGM.

Here is some more information about the AGM from the club constitution:

The annual report will be ready and discussed
The audited accounts will be presented
The officers (committee members) will be elected
Motions to be discussed must be submitted in writing to the club secretary at least 14 days before the meeting.
Standing orders or rules may be changed by a majority decision of members in attendance.
The Annual General Meeting shall elect from those present a Returning Officer to oversee any elections conducted at the meeting.
Only members of eighteen years of age and over will be eligible to vote.
The chairman shall have the casting vote.
You can also follow the Facebook event page to keep up with any announcements and notify us of your attendance.

We hope to see you there.

Thanks

Lorraine

I’m pleased to announce that we’ve been accepted into the Midlands Veterans Track and Field League. The league holds four fixtures between April and August on Wednesday or Thursday evenings featuring a range of events. A veteran is classed as 35 or over. Peter Darwen will be our team captain but supported by myself and Steve Jones. We’ll be working together to find our feet as we embark on a new challenge for members to try.

We’ll be in the South division alongside Bromsgrove & Redditch AC, Droitwich AC, Halesowen AC, Midland Masters AC, Sparkhill Harriers, Stratford Upon Avon AC and Worcester AC.

Although the league is obviously a competition, the aim of us joining the league is for a wide range of members to feel they can come and have a go at track and field events as something a little different or a new personal challenge. The primary focus will be on the ‘running’ track events, but members can take part in the field events. There are no plans to take this further and develop into a full track/field or athletics club. We’re hoping that after the success of the regular Wednesday night BPJ track session, this will prove popular.

The league is open to all first claim affiliated members of Black Pear Joggers. We can have up to 3 second claim members as long as the first claim club isn’t already in the league (e.g. if you’re first claim to Worcester AC and second claim BPJ, you must compete for them, not us). If you’re a ‘basic’ member, you would need to upgrade your membership and pay the England Athletics registration fee. To do this, please contact our membership secretary Steve McNelis.

Fixtures

• April 27th – Redditch
• June 15th – Redditch
• July 20th – Stratford-upon-Avon
• August 10th – Worcester (at Stourport)

Interested in taking part?

Pop the fixtures in your calendar, have a think about the types of event you would like to take part in and then complete the Veterans Track League Interest Form. We’ll get in touch closer to the fixture dates to confirm the team rosters.

There’s a mixture of events at each fixture and only one person from each club can take part in each event, so it will take some planning.  Members can compete in a younger category but not an older one, e.g. a 42 year old can compete in V35, V40 and V50 events, but not V60. You can check out past results to get an idea of what events are held at each fixture.

Please bear with us while we work out the best way to ensure as many members can take part in events in a fair way.

Helpers needed

As part of joining the league, we will also need to supply volunteers to help out at each event. You can still compete and help out and volunteers will get plenty of support, you just need to be willing. There’s a range of official courses that you can take part in including track judge, field judge, starter/starter’s assistant, timekeeper, photo-finish and race walking official.

We’re waiting for further dates on official courses, but in the meantime please get in touch with me chair@bpj.org.uk if you’re willing to help out.

I’ll send out further information about the league in due course.

Thanks,

Paul

I just wanted to introduce myself as your new (well sort of) chairman and update you all on a few things since the AGM last Monday. For those that don’t know me I’ve been a BPJ since 2012 and been the club’s ‘webmaster’ for most of that time. I’m commonly seen leading the 7:45 group on Mondays, but I did start off back in 2012 in the 11min/mile group! As part of the committee, I’ve been heavily involved in most areas of the club’s organisation, especially around anything IT/techie.

I was previously club chairman from July 2016 to January 2019 and took a step back when my daughter was born, with Mark Dillon taking on the role until now.

I’ll continue to do this role and support the club for as long as I’m needed and able, but it’d be great to see fresh ideas and perspectives – I’d be happy to support anyone interested in the future.

Anyway, it’s been so great to see the club bounce back after the pandemic:

• Growing numbers and back at the Riverside: Monday club runs are getting busier and busier each week with a wide range of paces. We’ve also seen the return of runs to the Riverside University building on a Tuesday evening led by Lorraine Griffiths. It would be really good to get more members and leaders attending on Tuesdays though. Thank you to the leaders who are already taking groups.
• New home (and a bar again!): We now have a new home and place to socialise after runs at OEs thanks largely to Mark Dillon on our side and Pete Boyle at OEs.
  – The club teams have made a strong start to the cross country season.
• Success at Croome: Our Croome Capability Canter race was very successful thanks to our awesome volunteers. We’ve had lovely feedback from participants. We have a provisional date for next year – Sunday 27th November 2022.
• We’re now at the track: The club now offers an inclusive Wednesday track night thanks largely to Chris Attwood – numbers have been great with a wide range of abilities. Come and check it it out Wednesdays 7pm at Nunnery Wood track.
• Strength and conditioning: We will have stronger, faster and more injury-proof members thanks to BPJ and personal coach/trainer Mark Thomas offering strength and conditioning classes free for BPJs. Mark has an impressive running record with a parkrun PB of 16:25, so he knows his stuff!
• New College running club: Our outreach club for visually impaired runners started back up this term with a band of guide running volunteers led by Cliff Wood. The students have enjoyed a fantastic term with sessions that have included a Magic Mile and working up to running 5K. Cliff stepped down from his role at the AGM. He has been leading the club for 3 years and has inspired many new students to join and guide runners to give the sessions a try. Thank you for your efforts Cliff.

On top of this, next year will see the return of the champions league, which Peter Darwen has kindly taken on the admin on alongside the parkrun tourism calendar. He will announce more details on these shortly. I feel really excited about what lies ahead for the club!

This month sees the return of the BPJ Christmas Party. If you haven’t got your ticket yet.  Grab one quickly! Thank you to Claire Shacklock for keeping the social events going. There has also been an axe throwing night and two curry nights recently!

Here’s some of my immediate areas of focus alongside day to day committee matters:

• Support Jo in her new role as Sunday run co-ordinator to bring back Sunday club long runs in time for Spring marathon training.
• Support Peter Darwen to take on the champions league administration.
• Send out a follow up poll on the club kit (read the AGM minutes for a summary on where we’re at, essentially, more information is needed to make the right decision).
• Continue developing new features on the club website to motivate and inform members.
• Progress the contract with the Old Elizabethans Cricket Club committee and improve communication.

Feel free to drop me a message if you have any questions, concerns or ideas and hope to see many of you at the Christmas party on the 11th.

Thanks,

Paul

Following approval from the club committee I’m pleased to announce that BPJ will be hiring the running track at Nunnery Wood on a Wednesday night 7-8 pm from the 3rd November. We will share the track with the club’s guide runners (NCW).

This will be a great opportunity for any club members to come along and use the track for free to help improve training regimes, improve speed, pace and technique, etc. All abilities welcome.

Lots of ideas such as: effort based speed work, target race training blocks, parkrun improver sessions, magic mile weeks.

Come along and give it a go, free parking, toilets, changing rooms, under lights in a safe environment.

It has come to that time of year again when we hold our club AGM.  The AGM is open to all club members and we encourage you to have your say on important club matters. There will be some food provided, so please email secretarybpj@gmail.com to let us know if you will be attending, so we can cater for the correct amount.

The AGM will be held on November 22nd at 8.15pm at Old Elizabethans Cricket Club,

Droitwich Road, Worcester, WR3 7SN.

You are probably not aware but Mark Dillon is stepping down as Chairman at the AGM.  We are sorry to see him leave the Committee but he will remain an active member of the club.  Mark’s resignation means that we are looking for someone to fill the position of Chairman in the club and nominations for the post of Chairman need to be received by 15th November 2021.

Should there be anything you would like to be discussed on the night, at the AGM, then now is the time to inform us.  We will discuss subjects put forward before the meeting but not any brought up on the night, so please feel free to send an email to me with your thoughts/proposals by 8th November 2021.

We will be voting for our nominated charities at the AGM.  We have received proposals from local charities, Worcester Community Trust and Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club.  If you would like to nominate another charity, we will need to receive their proposal by 8th November 2021.

Here is some more information about the AGM from the club constitution:

• The annual report will be ready and discussed
• The audited accounts will be presented
• The officers (committee members) will be elected
• Motions to be discussed must be submitted in writing to the club secretary at least 14 days before the meeting.
• Standing orders or rules may be changed by a majority decision of members in attendance.
• The Annual General Meeting shall elect from those present a Returning Officer to oversee any elections conducted at the meeting.
• Only members of eighteen years of age and over will be eligible to vote.
• The chairman shall have the casting vote.

You can also follow the Facebook event page to keep up with any announcements and notify us of your attendance.

We hope to see you there.

Thanks

Lorraine

With the return of club group runs the Committee thought it might be helpful to remind everybody about the club guidance around group runs.

• Group pace – this will be a guideline/average pace for the group and may vary depending on terrain, traffic and size of group. Large groups may run at a slightly slower pace due to the logistics of keeping everybody together. The group leader is responsible for controlling the pace of the group and should endeavour not to run quicker that the advertised pace (unless all group members are happy to do this.
• Distance – based on the pace, runs last between 50-60 minutes. eg 9:30 min/miling will be around 6 miles
• Group size – should be no more than 10 plus leader
• For larger groups somebody may be asked to act as tail runner to help to keep the group together
• Mustering – in any group there may be runners who are capable of running at a faster pace. If you want to do this advise the group leader and agree a mustering point for pulling the group back together
• Mustering – when mustering this does not mean just stopping and having a rest whole waiting for the rest of the group to reach you. You should turn and run back to the group and rejoin at the rear. Remember – slower runners may be more in need of a rest than you!
• Always follow the group leader’s instructions on the run
• Take care when crossing roads – always use crossings where available
• If you are returning from injury, stepping up in pace from your usual pace group or are new to the club and are unsure whether the pace will suit you, speak to the group leader before you start out
• During the run, if you feel the pace is too fast for you, please let the leader know and he will try to adjust the pace to suit you. Remember our club ethos is “Nobody gets left behind”. The group leader may decide to split the group to allow the faster runners to continue at the original pace.
• If anybody picks up an injury during the run and you need to leave the run, the group leader will ask for a volunteer to accompany you back to the start (OEs or the Range normally)
• If you wish to leave the group before the finish (eg because you are running past your house) you must inform the leader so that he/she does not spend time wondering where you are and looking for you. If you run back to the start on your own, please mark on the clipboard that you have returned safely.
• Carry your emergency contact details with you. The group leader will normally be carrying a phone.
• During the darker nights (mid-September to mid-April) you should wear a hi-vis top and/or body torch. The group leader has a right to not allow you to join her/his group if they feel you may not be visible enough during a run. The leader is responsible for your safety so please support them in this. Whilst runs in the dark nights will be on lit roads and paths, streetlights don’t always work or are obscured by trees so parts of the route may be dark.
• We maintain a register at the groups runs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (except for the Mug runs in the summer) and group leaders will sign out the numbers in their group and sign back in at the end of the run to confirm everybody had returned safe and well and there were “reportable” incidents during the run.

The Committee are pleased to announce the return of group runs on Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7pm starting on Monday 26th July.

Whilst there may still be groups available on the MyRunningClub app for other days/times there will be no need to pre-book groups for the 7pm Monday and Tuesday sessions.

We will be reverting to arranging groups as we used to pre-Covid. So leaders will be asked to put their names forward on the night as usual. One main difference will be that group sizes will be restricted to a max of 12 plus leader (inline with EA guidelines) so we may well need extra people to come forward as leaders.

Details for meeting are as follows:

Mondays

Meet at the Old Elizabethans cricket ground at 7pm. Toilets will be available and the bar will be open for refreshments afterwards. NOTE: the changing rooms will NOT be available for use as the cricket club are still not using them. There should be plenty of parking available but it would help if you could carshare if possible.

Tuesdays

We are still waiting for confirmation from the University that we can return to the Riverside so, at the moment, the meeting place will be in the Range car park. Lorraine Griffiths has kindly agreed to organise the groups on the night. Again group sizes will be limited to 12 plus leader.

If anybody, who is not currently a group leader, would like to start leading do please come forward and volunteer. If you would like any advice on what is involved please let me know or speak to one of the other leaders. The only “qualifications” you need to start are the ability to maintain your advertised pace (+/-) and a reasonable sense of direction!

Looking forward to seeing you all again next week.🏃🏃‍♀️

By the way. the MyRunningClub app will remain active for those wishing to arrange group runs at other times, days and locations – so keep your eyes peeled for other runs during the week.

Further to the update we gave last month, we now have details on how to book on to groups using the new app.

Groups will start on Monday 29th March, following Covid-secure guidelines, with many groups already available to book on.

Groups of up to 11 people are available across a range of days, time, locations, paces and distances. Leaders will be free to limit groups to smaller groups as they feel comfortable or depending on the route.

To get started, install the My Running Club app using an iOS or Android smartphone/tablet app store, or from the following links:

• Apple App Store (iPhones/iPads)
• Google Play Store (Android phones/tablets)

Once installed, register an account. When you enter your email address, it will show an orange warning that the email address is not found.

This is ok. You will just need to enter the club code 5f817f76 to link you to the correct club. 

Further guidance

Once you’re set up (or if you don’t have a smartphone), we recommend reading the following:

Further instructions and answers to questions you may have

A big thank you to all the group leaders that are taking groups.