(TLDR. On Tuesday, we have two runs – one from the Hockey Club at 7pm, and one from the reservoirs at 6.45pm. We have a Halloween challenge from the Hockey Club on Thursday at 7pm. The weekend brings with it the Guy Fawkes 10, so plenty of bags to be packed and runners to be marshalled. Read on for other information about intervals, the championships, and the awards night).
It’s nearly Halloween and everybody here is very excited indeed. Oh yes, there are many a thing to go bump in the night at Nidd Valley House. To be fair, that’s normally Sylvia when she comes home in the early hours after a night out, thinking she is as quiet as a mouse but in reality making a hell of a racket as she tries to get her keys in the door, bumps into the ornamental vases and leaves the detritus of a takeaway as she stumbles up the grand staircase on her way to bed. At least she went into the right bedroom the last time, so we must be thankful for small mercies.
But yes, Halloween is a-coming and we’ve got plenty going on this week that’ll be sure to give you the willies. Emma and Carolyn are busy carving pumpkins, we’ve said that Dazzler can go out trick-or-treating, and Dave is running around with a bedsheet over his head. So there’s plenty to look forward to, and I can think of no better place to start than with a round up of the results from this past week.
Results from the Week That Was
The results system from the Yorkshire Marathon seems to have righted itself, and so I can now proudly bring you the results of the Nidds who I missed last week. So it’s a heartfelt apology but an even more heartfelt congratulations to Sam Wheeler (3.49.07) and to Sarah Mkindawire (4:18.58). Very well done to the both of you.
I’m also delighted to bring you the results from the Grewelthorpe Multi Terrain Race from last weekend, as they have now finally found their way through the ether to the results team here at Nidd Valley House. Fiona Deacon (1:17.11) led the charge for the team, with husband Mike (1:19.50) taking close orders. Jill Hornsby (1:49.20), Liz Ahmed (1:49.26) and Lianne Coiley (1:54.20) also put down some great times on what is a challenging, if not beautiful, course. Still Grewelthorpe is one of those names that makes me think of a Dickensian orphanage, so it’s always a pleasant surprise to see how beautiful a place it is.
Ah, now this makes very interesting reading indeed. Kat Woodhead and Katherine Dolman decided that a bit of nocturnal running was just what they wanted to do with their Saturday evening, and so last night headed up to take part in the Hardmoors Sutton Bank Sizzler. Katherine(1:53.59) and Kat (1:53.58) finished up in good time, finishing 33rd and 34th out of a field of 66 runners.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it. The fell championships have come to an end. FRP has come back to Nidd Valley House from the Lockton Limping Fell Race and (keep this to yourself, will you?) he’s absolutely distraught. He didn’t even take off his fell shoes, and is storming around the place in a proper old strop, slamming doors and leaving a trail of mud wherever he goes. We’ve not seen temper tantrums like this from him for years. Of course, this being fell running, the results haven’t yet appeared out of the mists from whatever lonely mountain top they found themselves today, so we will get those to you as soon as we have them.
In the world of the weekly parkrun, Kev Dalton was up near the Yorkshire Riviera that is Scarbados with a trip to the North Yorkshire Water Park Parkrun, while Philly Thompson also kept it suitably coastal when she did the Cinder Track Parkrun at Whitby. Sylvia Morten and Andy Todd – as you would now expect – were at Chevin Forest and Millfield, respectively.
Pauline Hogg was down in the East Midlands but still found a chance to do a parkrun with a spin around Wollaton Hall. FRP and Fiona Robinson were up at Jesmond Dene in Newcastle, getting themselves bonus points from this chairman for doing their parkrun in the finest city of Planet Earth. Hannah Kempson was doing in London doing her parkrun round Tooting Common, and we were all surprised to see Kev Nicholas put on his tightest green tights (leaving nothing to the imagination, I don’t mind telling you) when he ran the Peter Pan parkrun near Hull (one for the MallettMap, I think?).
Vicky Thomas was down in Barnsley for her weekly 5km, Laura Francis was over at York, and we had all of the usual larger numbers at Harrogate, Conyngham and Fountains. You can have a look at those results with the quickest of clicks: https://tinyurl.com/47nsmxd6.
Our words fill up the pages / Fill up the days with songs for the ages / Still, those vows that we all speak / We break them like concrete / And just make our words cheap: chair@niddvalleyroadrunners.co.uk.
The Fixtures for the Week Ahead
And so to our spooky week ahead.
Tuesday comes with a choice! The first option is a headtorch run around the reservoirs with our ghoulish friends at Nidderdale Fell & Trail Running Club. Be at the Yorkshire Water car park by the dam and ready to run for 6.45pm, and we’ll be stopping for drinks and snacks in the picnic area after the run. There’ll be the choice to run both reservoirs (which is about 10km) or just one of them (which is 5-6km, depending which one you do), so there is something for everyone. Hope to see you there.
If you don’t fancy heading up into the country at night, then there’ll be a steady club run from the Hockey Club at the usual time of 7pm on Tuesday evening. I suggest we run out towards Oatlands Drive, past the school, turn right and run up towards M&S. From there, you can turn right again onto Leeds Road and come back to the club via the Stray, or you can head further along Leadhall Lane and return via Pannal Ash or Beckwith Road. We’ll sort out pace groups when we know who we’ve got.
On Thursday, Captain Dazzler and yours truly have a bit of a halloween challenge for you. The challenge is to visit business in town that have names that start with the letters in the word Halloween, so you’ll need an H, and A, to Ls, etc, and in addition visit a graveyard or a cemetery (you can do this in any order), before returning to the club house. You can do this either alone or in small groups, whatever works for you, and there may be prizes for finishers (don’t say that we aren’t good to you!). Meet at the Hockey Club and be good to go for 7pm, and we’ll regroup in the bar afterwards as per the normal traditions.
The weekend brings no racing for us as a club, as we are hosting what is without a doubt the finest race in the regional calendar: the Guy Fawkes Ten. On the Saturday morning, we have the bag packing at Ripley Village Hall, which gets underway at 10.30am. Please come and pitch in for half an hour if you can (you’ve even got time to do a parkrun first), as many hands make light work and there is always the opportunity to snaffle a couple of bars of chocolate. Please see the emails that chief marshal Sarah Chalmers has sent out, which detail where people need to be and when on the Sunday.
On Sunday evening, we’ll regroup at the Hockey Club bar for a couple of drinks and some pizza to celebrate a job well done. The club will provide the pizza as a thanks to you all for helping out, but you’ll have to buy your own beer! ;-). We’ll be meeting from 7pm. If you are coming, then please let me know either via the Facebook event (https://tinyurl.com/4jx4h3u7) or via email: chair@niddvalleyroadrunners.co.uk. I’ll be ordering the pizza this week and there will be plenty of vegetarian options but, if you’re afflicted with any allergies, intolerances or whatever middle class culinary affectation is doing the Harrogate rounds this month, then please do let me know.
Further Ahead & Booking Now Open
Well, just as one club championship ends, another one starts, and our 2024-25 cross-country championship kicks off with the PECO CX on Sunday 17th November 2024. It’s only £17 for all five races, which is quite good value, especially if you define value for money in terms of misery and a clinically significant risk of trench foot. All the relevant details here: https://tinyurl.com/ymeaudam.
This is Your Captains Speaking
Emma and Dazzler want to apologise to those of you who missed out on a place in the Snake Lane 10, which will feature in the road championships next year. The race sold out in a day, which is far quicker than anybody had anticipated. If you didn’t get a place, there’ll be plenty of other races to help you complete enough to qualify, and you can also join the Facebook page (https://tinyurl.com/8rf2767y) where transfers are advertised.
Intervals
You might like to know that the club interval training season begins on Tuesday 5th November 2024. That’s ‘like to know’ in the sense that you might like to know someone is going to crack you around the head with a slab of concrete. Anyway, yes, it’s 18 weeks of whatever running drills have been festering in the restless, troubled and sick mind of our head coach, Captain Emma. As previous years, we’ll be offering sessions at both 6pm and 7pm, so you really have no excuse not to turn up.
Awards Night: Saturday 25th January 2025
We have already sold 76 of the 120 places for the Awards Night, so don’t hang around reserving a place for yourself if you do want to come. It’s always a lovely evening, a chance to celebrate the achievements of the past year, enjoy a nice meal and have a bit of a dance. Apparently I need to say a few words, but don’t let that put you off.
Oh yeah that reminds me. I know this event is advertised as a black tie event. Some people do do the whole bow-tie thing, but there is no obligation to black tie it if you don’t have either the clobber or the inclination. We won’t turn anyone away at the door. We do get dressed up, and most of the men will wear suits, but please wear what you feel most comfortable with.
Anyway, before you start fretting about getting the perfect match between your shoes and your bag, you’ll need to get yourself a place, and you do that right here: https://tinyurl.com/4ztnctpw.
Academic Study
We’ve been invited by researchers at York University to take part in a study concerning exercise and nutrition among athletes. Heaven knows why they decided to contact us then, but we are where we are. If you’d like to take part, then here is the link: https://tinyurl.com/5n7j7jrx.
Word to the Wise
Nothing for you this week. Well, there was the comment that Andy Iddon made about people in Harrogate as we ran past the Fat Badger last week but that was a bit harsh, if we’re being totally honest. Never heard language like it. And I thought that Moira was bad ;-).
Anyway, from Andy, from me, and everybody here at Nidd Valley House, have a great week.
Chairman Sam x