Evening Nidders,
Just a couple of things before I let you know where we’ll be running this week.
Firstly, next Sunday is the last recce of the Guy Fawkes 10. This run also doubles up as a bit of a leaflet drop, where we hand deliver 400 leaflets to all the houses that lie along the route. Our intrepid Race Director, and former Chair, Sam Fugill will be leading this one, he likes his sleep, so we’ll not be setting off until 10am from the Ripley Car Park. Lots of hands make light work, so hopefully see lots of you there.
Secondly, we’ve had some good news this week. Due to us now having over 200 first claim members registered with England Athletics it looks like we’ll now receive two club places in next year’s London Marathon! As in previous years we ask that you let either myself or Sarah Hughan know if you’d like to be entered into the ballot, we do ask that only those members who were unsuccessful in the official London Marathon Ballot enter their names into the hat this time.
We expect that there will be lots of members applying for these places, so unfortunately anyone who has previously been successful in the ballot will not be able to be included. As always we’ll make the draw at the post Guy Fawkes 10 social gathering at the Hockey Club on Sunday 4th November – more details to follow.
At Wednesday’s Committee Meeting we had a good discussion about our weekly run routes. It was felt that publicising the routes in this email is still the best way to go, it was also felt that the different running groups and paces are a great idea, but maybe we still weren’t getting it right. It was pointed out that sometimes, members end up in a group that could be too fast for them, and they can often get left behind and become detached from their group. This could be through no fault of their own, as sometimes we don’t do a particulalry good job of announcing the different groups, and tend to just set off together.
I think we can all take steps to mitigate against this happening. So we’re going to slightly staggering our set off times, so that Group 1 go first followed by Groups 2, 3 and then 4. If everyone then agress to run the same route, if you do find yourselves in a group which is running quicker than you can comfortably manage you can drop back into the slower group who will be following behind for at least the first couple of miles.
I know I’ve stopped asking for volunteer leaders in my weekly email, but it’s still a really important role that does need filling, and if we have four groups, then ideally we would need four leaders. The club has invested quite heavily over recent years in recruiting new Run Leaders, but even if you haven’t been on a course, you can still ‘lead’ a run by keeping an eye out for everyone running with you. I’m fairly certain with the excellent numbers turning out every week that we should have enough experienced runners willing to lead the group they’re running in.
Here’s a reminder of the paces we run:
Group 1 – if you run 5k in 23 minutes or quicker
Group 2 – if you run 5k in 26 minutes or quicker
Group 3 – if you run 5k in 29 minutes or quicker 29
Group 4 – if you run 5k in 33 minutes
Onto this week’s routes, Tuesday is Knox, heading out over the Iron Bridge and down Woodfield Road with a re-group point at Bilton Lane. Anyone who might want to drop back to the Group behind should wait here for them.
A short run could return from there up Bilton Lane to Skipton Road. Otherwise you can carry on along Tennyson Ave to Hall Lane, then Bachelor Gardens possibly returning along Crab Lane?
If you’d like to run a bit further you can then head down Knox Mill Lane and Knox Avenue to Skipton Road. From there the long route is via the Little Wonder (Dave has pointed out that we’ll have to find a new name for that corner, any suggestions?) Ripon Road and through town with various turn-off points and to Prince of Wales.
On Thursday we’re going to run to the Valley Gardens. Leaving the club via Claro Road, we head into town under the One Arch before arrriving at the Valley Gardens. Anyone who might want to drop back to the Group behind should wait here for them.
From here we’ll run up to the top of Cornwall Road, turning left onto Harlow Moor Road and heading towards Otley Road.
You can cut the run short by heading down Otley Road, and returning to the club via York Place. A longer option would be to turn right on Otley Road, then left onto Beckwith Road and Green Lane returning via Leeds Road or Hookstone Road.
That’s all from me, please remember to wear you hi-viz vests, and if you have them bring your headtorches too. Keep an eye out for everyone and do put you hand up to take responsibility for your running group. Leading a run group is easy than you think, it’s just about keeping an eye out for your fellow runners and making sure nobody is left to run on there own, or worse still, getting lost!
See you all soon
Dan