Chairman's annual report 2023

Dear members,

Welcome to the annual chairman’s report. This is an update on many areas of the club's activities and a look back over what's happened over the last year. The club is in a healthy place with lots of great things going on.

Continued success of track nights

Wednesday track nights continue to remain successful, with us now regularly seeing 60+ people there each week.

This is in no doubt thanks to the fantastic efforts by Dan Geisler (head coach at @Club_coaction), who has been leading the sessions for well over a year. This has been great for the club as not only do we get Dan's expertise and guidance, but some of Dan's athletes have joined the club and have even joined the club's cross country team.

It’s great to see a wide range of abilities taking part and encouraging each other round. The track offers a safe, floodlit place to train without having to worry about traffic. Come and give it a go, you won’t regret it - Wednesdays 7pm at Nunnery Wood track.

Track and field league

Thank you to Di Fox and Steve Jones for coordinating the team in the Midland Veterans Track and Field League. It's only our second season and despite us not really being a 'proper' track and field club we placed 4th out of 8 for the ladies and 5th out of 8 for the men. Well done to all that took part, stepping outside their comfort zone and giving it a good go.

New College running club

Our outreach club for visually impaired runners is doing well thanks to our coordinators Mat Capel and Ann Hewlett along with their group of dedicated volunteers. They have struggled to get regular volunteers though, so if you’re able to help out, even if it's occasionally please get in touch.

Sunday runs

Following a big reduction in numbers for Sunday runs after lockdown, we're now seeing numbers grow again - thanks to Gareth Larner's efforts. Sunday runs now alternate between starting at Perdiswell and St. Peter's Tesco and even now some 'alternate' options running over and around the Malvern Hills. This helps mix it up a bit and give some more options for routes.

Champions league and parkrun tourism

Mat and Lucy Capel have done a tremendous job maintaining and promoting both the champions league and the parkrun tourism.

Participation is really healthy and I continue to enjoy seeing the interesting destinations and run reports posted in our BPJ parkrun Tourist Facebook group (and contributing when I can!).

There's still 6 more weeks of parkruns left to tick any events off if you still haven't completed the 'Brum-done' challenge - a medal will be waiting for you if you do.

I look forward to seeing what they have in store for next year's league.

Club standards awards

Jonathan Phillips has done a great job of running and promoting the club standards award scheme over the last year with many members claiming awards - well done! This is a great scheme the club offers to members to help motivate and set targets that most other clubs don’t offer, so please check it out if you haven't already.

The committee

The following committee members will be standing again in the same roles. I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone on the committee for their continued efforts. There's a lot of time and effort spent for the benefit of the club that isn't always visible, but is vital to keep the club running smoothly.

• Paul Evans: Chairman and webmaster
• Lorraine Griffiths: Club secretary and women’s cross country team captain
• Jo Evans: Treasurer
• Claire Shacklock: Race director and events co-ordinator
• Steve McNelis: Membership secretary
• Ruth Bennett: Welfare officer (female)
• Stuart Parker: Welfare officer (male)
• Avril Munday: Kit secretary
• Stuart Munday: Group leader co-ordinator and vice chair
• Gay Grove: Committee member
• Chris Attwood: Men's cross country team captain and track coordinator
• Kirsten Beard: Social media coordinator
• Gareth Larner: Sunday run coordinator
• Andy Cartwright: Committee member

Cross country

The men's team remained out of the relegation zone last season, which is a great achievement as we're competing against a lot of strong clubs. This season is off to a decent start. It's great to see lots of new faces taking part and enjoying the team camaraderie.

The women's team is doing great after their first fixture this season in the Midland Women's League - 6th out of 27 clubs, well done!

Thank you to our club captains Chris Attwood and Lorraine Griffiths for a great job recruiting and managing the teams, ensuring everyone gets there on time with their club kit, race numbers, spikes and pins! If you’ve not taken part, you’ve only missed one meeting, so come and give it a go!

Junior parkrun

This Saturday saw the first Diglis Fields Junior parkrun take place. This is a fantastic addition to the local running community, so please lend a hand and promote it to friends and family with children. The event directors Kirsten Beard and Lucy Capel are BPJs along with many in the core volunteering team, well done - I know a lot of hard work has gone into getting this set up and wish it lots of success for the future.

Get involved

If there’s anything you think the club is missing and/or you have an interest in helping out with anything, please let me know.

Thank you for your continued support.

Paul Evans
Club chairman
Black Pear Joggers