(TLDR. The Headlines: there’s precious little point in telling you what the plan is for Tuesday night as that ship has sailed. There won’t be a club run from the Hockey Club on Thursday as we’ll be doing an away from club run up at Harewood. I hope you’ll join us. On the weekend, we have our fortieth anniversary snowball run and trip to the pub. Read on for the up and coming events and see which Nidd provides your weekly dose of wisdom…)
Welcome to another week here at Nidd Valley House, or what is left of the week. Sorry about the brevity of the message last night but, having been away for the weekend I didn’t find myself with much time left when I switched the laptop on. Still, it’s great to be back and there’s nothing to lift the spirits more than some brilliant results from the past week and the excitement of seeing what is in the calendar for this week ahead. We’ve got loads on, and preparations and now fully underway as we get ready to celebrate our fortieth anniversary with some running and some partying. You won’t want to miss it. But before that, make yourselves comfortable as we’ve got some wonderful results to celebrate. Read on!
Results from the Week That Was…
There’s not been a huge amount result-wise this week, so far as I can see. Makes for a briefer write-up, though, so certainly no complaints from my end. The first shout out goes to none other than the lovely Fell Running Phil who headed down to Huddersfield (not something you want to say too often, if you can help it) to compete in the Denby Dash. Phil completed this 9km off-road run (oh come on, you didn’t suddenly expect him to start road running, did you?) in a brilliant time of 59.34. Well done, FRP!
We have a wonderful result here for Jo Lane who, in her trip down south, took part in the Pershore Plum Plodders 10km, enjoying some beautiful scenery of Worcestershire along the banks of the River Avon. She did it in 1:06.15, you know, so we’ve got plenty to celebrate. Well done, Jo!
Clearly inspired by Hannah Percy’s athletic train spotting last week, Nigel Scaife also headed down to Wales at the weekend to participate in the Fairbourne Festival Race the Train. On the website, it’s called the Fairbourne Annual Race the Train, or FART for short. And the old fart that is Nigel had it done and dusted in 20.15, coming 10tth overall on the 5km course. Well done, Nigel. We love you really.
In the exciting world of parkrun, we have five new parkruns on the MallettMap this week. In a cruel twist of fate, though, Richard Evans has seen Susy Rhodes snaffle Osterley from him. Richard – working, as he does, in aviation – was keen to be the one to tick this West London parkrun off the next time he got down to Heathrow. Alas! Still, he was pipped to the athletic post and what is Richard’s loss is Susy’s gain. Fiona and Mike Deacon did their parkrun at Endcliffe near Sheffield, whereas Katherine Woodhead claimed the second MallettMap marker with a trip up near Eglington in Scotland. If you’d like to know what she was doing there, then you’ll have to ask her when you next see her down at the club. Rachael Prince joined her above the border, but this time did her parkrun ablutions at Stirling University.
Rob and Louise Kingston got another marker on the map with a trip to Burgess Parkrun near Camberwell. I’m not sure whether they serve carrots with the post-parkrun coffee, though. Phil and Fiona Robinson got their parkrun shizzle together and completed Beverley Westwood Parkrun (Beverley Westwood sounds like some glamorous 1950s film star, if you ask me, probably starring alongside Gregory Peck).
Go west! Life is peaceful there. Go west! In the open air… Yes, indeedy, Kate Morton did indeed go west with a trip to Haverfordwest parkrun in Pembrokeshire. She finished in 24.12 in addition to claiming MallettMap Marker #3, if you’re taking notes. Jo Lane was down south somewhere else when she headed to Tewksbury (that’s #4 on the map), while James Braddon gave the boys another spin around in their pram with a visit to Bradford’s Horton Park.
I’ve been told that Norfolk is really coming into its own, although we shall await confirmation from Ian Hesford and Ben Rosie who were at Holkham Parkrun this weekend.
Hot on the heels of his success in the triathlon, Kev Nicholas found time to squeeze in a quick parkrun at Aplins Weir in Australia, bagging the fifth and final MallettMap marker for the week, although we look forward to welcoming him back to Nidd Valley House here in God’s Own County soon. Also down under, Billy Fox continued his travels with a visit to Wanaka parkrun in New Zealand.
Closer to home, Sam Fugill ran at Woodhouse Moor, Jon Easton and Matt Wilkinson ran at Roundhay, Martin Luxton ran at Sedgefield (as per), and Christine Holleran ran at Hartlepool. Liz Ahmed was getting his miles in with a turnaround Skipton parkrun, and Adam Kirk took his life in his hands with a trip to Selby. Richard Abbott – new-ish recruit to the Nidd Valley campaign – decided that taking part in Armley Parkrun was just the ticket to enhance his weekend. Laura Francis, Theresa Oldroyd and Emily Wighton were up near the coast at Marshall Drive.
Jeremy Scott and Colleen Gruenwald ran at Roberts Park in Saltaire, Katharine Dolman was at North Yorkshire Water Waterpark, and we had the usual masses at Harrogate, Conyngham and Fountains Abbey. Read all about it: https://tinyurl.com/47nsmxd6.
I walk a lonely road / The only one that I have ever known / Don’t know where it goes / But it’s home to me, and I walk alone: chair@niddvalleyroadrunners.co.uk.
The Fixtures for the Week Ahead
If you came to the club tonight for our Tuesday run, you’ll know that our run was down to Knaresborough. I mean, there’s nothing like timely information to tell you what we will be doing after we have done it.
We have an exciting addition to our bank of away-from-club runs this week, as on Thursday we are being introduced to the delights of an off-road run round Harewood. As if that doesn’t sound exciting enough, this has even been organised by the wonderful Nick Crebbin. Meet by the Muddy Boots Café LS17 9LJ (what3words ///fonts.panoramic.fault) – don’t forget some pennies for the honesty box parking – and be good to run for 7pm. There is a 7km and a 9km loop, with the chance to extend for those that wish to pay a visit to the set of Emmerdale. We’ll regroup afterwards for a couple of pints in the Harewood Arms, and I’d like to thank Nick for working so hard to test all of the beers and ensure that they are up to the exacting standards of the thirsty club that is Nidd Valley. What a hero.
For those of you who will have seen the last reminder from Captains Dazzler and Emma – and, if not, why not? – you’ll know that you can take part in one of the Evensplits 5km time trials at Leeds or York and submit your time for consideration for the road championships. Anyway, if this is the kind of thing that you can get it up for, then the next instalment of the series takes place at Headingley in Leeds on Wednesday evening. All the deets: https://tinyurl.com/9aj6zkd.
And at the weekend, we have what is probably the hottest ticket in the history of small-town running clubs: our fortieth anniversary. On Saturday, we are doing a snowball run from the source of the Nidd, down our namesake valley and to Knaresborough, with a route cunningly devised by FRP to stretch to 40 miles (clever, eh?). All the details are available here on our website: https://tinyurl.com/mv3ht8fp. Please think about joining us, and joining in at a point and for a distance that you feel able to complete. Hopefully, we’ll have a great crowd when we arrive at Knaresborough Castle on Saturday teatime. If you do join us, please be sure to carry the right waterproof kit in the event that the weather changes, and we’d recommend wearing off-road shoes and carrying some snacks to sustain you as you go.
On Sunday, we continue our celebrations at the Empress Pub in Harrogate, where we have the upstairs room booked out. Please come and join us for a couple of drinks and a catch up. It will be great to have you join us!
Further Ahead & Booking Now Open
Next Sunday (8th September 2024), we have the Tholthorpe 10km in the road championships. This is a really popular and local race, and the tea and cake at the end always gets rave reviews. Team Nidd pretty much cleaned up the awards last year, too, so it would be great to see as many out there as possible. Let’s aim for another great year. Get your entries in here: https://tinyurl.com/2sfsbt7f.
Word to the Wise
I’m not sure we’ve ever heard a wise word from Jane Wilkinson but – will wonders never cease?! – here she is with a pithy little insight at the club run this evening.
“I’m not sure I like meeting up at the club house. I liked it when we met down by the gate. It meant a shorter run. And it was shorter on the way back, too. You could easily shave 400 metres off your run…” Jane Wilkinson, with an athletic commitment that makes this club what it is.
Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Chairman Sam x