(TLDR. On Tuesday we have intervals on Slingsby Crescent, both at 6pm and 7pm, and our Thursday club run takes us to Knaresborough. We’re giddy with excitement about the Awards Night on Saturday, and we have two hangover-busting races on Sunday: the St Aidan’s Beast in the XC Championships and the Runners and Riders in the Fell Champs. I’ve bunged in some useful info below about the AGM, and it would be great if you could read up on that).
So the big day is nearly upon us: the Nidd Valley Awards Night. Everyone is very excited, as I am sure you can imagine. The caterers at Nidd Valley House have been working round the clock and the chefs are busy testing, tasting and finalising the recipes. We’re bringing the finest wines out from the cellar, and everyone is choosing their outfits. Captain Dazzler has opted for a classic dinner jacket and looks very suave, whereas Captain Sarah has gone for a little slinky number. She looks best when she comes downstairs (geddit? Oh never mind….). Fingers Harris has chosen a little sailor suit and, well, he looks quite the picture. He’s very excited as he gets to stay up late and he can’t wait to see you, and neither can we. But before we get to enjoy that, we’ve got some running to do.
The Week Ahead
On Tuesday, we return to Slingsby Walk to crack on with our stamina building interval sessions. Again, we have two sessions for you. Meet at the Hockey Club at either 6pm or 7pm, or down on Slingsby Walk by the hospital for quarter past the hour. The ever-chatty Sarah Stainao is teaming up with James to lead the first session, while Emma Kicks and Karen Mills will be your athletic maître d’s for the second session. Whichever session you do, remember to warm up properly and pump your arms and all of that kind of thing (well, they’ll only tell you if you don’t so we might as well get these basics straightened out now).
On Thursday, we’ve got ourselves another club run on and it’s high time that we had a run out to Knaresborough. For this, you need to be at the Hockey Club with your hi viz on and double knots in your laces for 7pm. The route is as simple as it is well rehearsed: head round the back of the school and down Kingsley Drive and into Starbeck. Keep going over Forest Lane Head and down to Knaresborough, turning right along Waterside and back over Low Bridge. It’s a bit of a slog over Forest Moor, I won’t lie to you, but then it isn’t far back over Morrisons car park and back up from Starbeck. You can extend in Knaresborough, or cut short by staying in Starbeck, whatever works for you. We’ll probably have a couple of scoops and a bag of beefy in the bar afterwards, and you joining us would do nothing but improve the experience immeasurably.
For those of you that want a guaranteed steadier option on Thursday, Graham Hyde will be leading a five mile (he says five mile-ish) run from the Hockey Club to tie in with the club run, but turning right onto Forest Lane, and back to the club though Starbeck. All welcome. But still come for a drink and a chat afterwards, obvs.
If you do a parkrun on Saturday, then don’t hang about because you’ll need your glad rags on for our annual awards night on Saturday evening. We’ll gather at the Pavilions in Harrogate at 7pm for drinks, with dinner at 7.30pm. Carriages at 12.30am, shopping trollies at 2am, and police cars at 4am.
Don’t mix your drinks at the Awards Night, though, if you’re planning on racing on Sunday. We have two races in the offering for you. The first we have is the St Aidan’s Beast near Selby. That the distance to be covered is 6.66 miles will be no surprise to you, given the name of the race. There are points available in the cross country championship for those of you brave enough to take part, and you’ll need both your wits and your grippiest shoes. You can find out more here: https://tinyurl.com/34d3kj5f.
Also on Sunday, the curtain rises on the fell championships with the Runners and Riders fell race at Appletreewick. This is the race where fell runners and mountain bikers line up alongside each other on the start line and aim to be the first round the challenging and boggy course. It’s a great run out and the course is designed to be a close run race between the bikes and runners. The tea and cake in the barn afterwards is a highlight, too. Get involved: https://tinyurl.com/59yxna4c.
Results
Have you seen the results from the NV Juniors at the PECO today? Well, man, they are something to put a smile on your face. In the one mile race, Smiti Chandrashekar (07.31) had her best foot forward, and was joined by Jessica Webster (08.52) and Freya Dart (09.46) in making easy work of the muddy course. In the two mile race, Eleanor Easton (15.06), Preeti Chadrashekar (16.51) and Sophia Khan (17.16) showed the lesser-mortals from lesser running clubs how it is done. Well done to the six of you! We’ve checked with your parents and they’ve said that, as a treat for running so well, you can have whatever you want for your tea, have some fizzy drinks and stay up as late as you want.
In the boring world of the grown ups, Amy Shepphard (32.17) led the ladies home round Beckett Park, denying Laura Francis (33.20) a tilt at the top spot. Babs (33.31) and Fiona Deacon (34.23) were on the top form that we have come to expect from them, and we are nothing but utterly impressed with the times clocked by Emma David (36.32), Christine Holleran (36.42), Victoria Thomas (38.19) and Chatty McChatface (39.41). Ewa Scott (40.11), Emily Wighton (44.10), and Jill Hornsby (48.04) were the next to show, with Michelle Smith and Liz Ahmad (51.44) concluding the proceedings for the ladies. Very well to you all.
Let’s have a look at the scores on the gentlemanly doors, where Adam Kirk (26.15) was the first to finish for the chaps, with Craig Mills (26.40), Matt Wilkinson (28.23) and Captain Dazzler (28.38) in hot pursuit. Kevlar (28.55) managed to hold his own against Andy Todd (28.57) in a nail-biting finish, and it wasn’t long before we could cheer Steve Newbould (29.12), Martin Lofthouse (29.36), and Kev Dalton (31.26) to the line. It’s always a pleasure to see Jon Easton (32.48) and Nigel Scaife (33.14) out running and today was no exception, and we could easily say the same for Simon Cocker (33.18), Nick Crebbin (34.10) and Chandra Shekar (36.01). Jim Cook (36.43), Chris Morris (37.23) and our Wodger (38.55) were on top form, and – before long – Jonathan Kay (39.53), Dave Seaman (40.04), Marcos Montana (42.27), and Graham Hyde (48.20) had rounded things off for the Nidd Valley Campaign. Well done, everyone.
If you want to have a look at the parkrun results, you’ll see that Adam Kirk ran 19 minutes something at York and described that as taking it easy (yeah, the old show off), while Sam Heathcoate was down in Stevenage (not something you want to say too often, if you can help it, Sam). John Mallett was in Selby, Iain Scott was in Milfield, Mollie Mitton was in Peel, and the Robinsons were in the autumnal-sounding Cinder Track Parkrun at Whitby. As ever, the we had a good showing off Nidds at Fountains, Conyngham and Harrogate, and you can read everybody’s results here : https://tinyurl.com/47nsmxd6.
Waist deep in the big muddy / waist deep in the big muddy / you start out standing but end up crawlin’: samfugill@gmail.com.
Further Ahead & Booking Now Open
If you’ve missed entry for the Dewsbury 10k on 05 Feb 2023, then I’m sorry to say it has sold out. Chin up, though, there will be plenty more chances for points in the road championships.
On 05 Feb 2023, we’ve got the Muddy Boots 10k in the XC Championships. Offering over six miles of muddy and multi-terrain running on farmland around Ripon, this is a cracking chance to get yourself some more championship points and, if you want them, then this is where you need to be: https://tinyurl.com/22u7bcf3.
On 12 Feb 2023, we’ve got the second race in the fell championships with the Windy Hill fell race. I’ve not done this before, but it looks like nearly twelve miles of hilly and muddy joy over Saddleworth. Entry is between £12 and £15 (depending if you’re affiliated to the FRA or not), but all are welcome. Find out more here: https://tinyurl.com/4hz76bhh.
Annual General Meeting: 23 Feb 2023
I don’t need to regurgitate all of the information on this one, as our secretary Plips has already sent out all of the relevant info via email. You can find those details by having a look at your email, or by having a look at this Facebook event: https://tinyurl.com/2cpyrw6z. The bit to remember is that we can’t pass motions and do essential business unless we have at least 20% of the club present, so please make all efforts to attend. We’ll be giving a free year’s membership to one lucky person who attends, and there’ll be pizzas as a bribe, sorry, I mean a thank you for your helpful attendance.
Word to the Wise
An absolute gem from the committee meeting on Wednesday for you this week. We’re discussing all sorts of things, and someone remarks that the Guy Fawkes 10 is actually on bonfire day this year. This leads to the following comment.
“Yeah, but what date is the race actually on?” – Sarah Chalmers, feeling challenged.
So from Sarah, from me, and everyone else at Nidd Valley House, it’s goodnight and sleep tight. Hope the bed bugs don’t bite.
Sam x