October 2025
By Mark Watts
Welcome to October’s edition of the GWR monthly newsletter!
This is the place where you can hear all about the latest club information including races, save-the-dates, ADMF good-news stories, kit updates, and more… all in one place! This is a great way to keep you all updated on the exciting goings-on of the club, and to celebrate all we have accomplished.
October normally brings in the change as its the AGM! That’s not the only thing that’s been happening at GWR towers this month, we had the club championship race 5! There are some dates to add to your calendar for the months ahead so make sure you read all the way to the bottom, Santa will know if you dont!
Dates for the diary and Events:
October 2025
- Wednesday 1st October: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Wednesday 8th October: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Saturday 11th October: Gwent League Cross Country (Race 1 of 5)
- Saturday 11th October: Five Arches parkrun Club Championship Race 6 Finale
- Wednesday 15th October: Club run at 19:00 (4 and 6 official mile groups)
- Wednesday 15th October: GWR Club AGM @20:30
- Thursday 16th October: Weston Prom 5 miler (Race 2 of 9)
- Wednesday 22nd October: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Wednesday 29th October: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
November 2025
- Wednesday 5th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Sunday 9th November: The Sodbury Slog 10 miler
- Wednesday 12th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Wednesday 19th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Wednesday 26th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Thursday 27th November: Weston Prom 5 miler (Race 3 of 9)
Misc. Updates
Annual General Meeting (AGM) 25/26
As mentioned above the annual AGM will take place next week on the 15th of October. The meeting will start at 20:30 so there will be enough time to run 4 or 6 miles and shower (please) and order some food and drink from the bar.
If you have paid your membership then you are encouraged to attend, even if just to see what goes on. It’s a great way to find out a little more about the club you attend. It tends to last around an hour so you won’t be there all night, I promise!
If anyone is considering applying for a committee role then please make yourself known to the committee ideally before next week. If you have any questions then please send them over to myself or John at committee@greatwesternrunners.org.uk
Kit
Just a little prompt for the training/leisurewear as the cold nights set in. Take a look at what’s on offer,maybe you’d like a nice warm hoodie for those post cold night runs, or a polo shirt so you’re the envy of your peers at the bar post run. If there is something you would like added I will see if I can make that happen. There are no plans for reflective GWR running tops at this time.
For club race kit and leisurewear (including club-branded running gear), please see the website here to pay and then collect your item (s) from the club on Wednesdays. For training and/or leisurewear please see the Macron Store here.
GWR Club Championship
Race 5 is done, we are nearly there! Wotton 10k was the scene and at the workplace of Championship co-ordinator James Healey.
Only 6 GWR runners made the trip, so a great advantage to move up that leaderboard with Katy Sutcliffe cementing her place at the top of the championship and James Healey catching the top 3. Dream team Nadia and Sam were 2nd home and John Hargreaves and Elena Holmes stood on the podium in 3rd, well done all!
A quick run down of the Rules for those who are unsure of how the championship works, I repeat this is a test year and I’m sure it will be modified in future years as we’ll have some data to base the championship from plus the races will change as we receive feedback from the club..
The championship will run for 6 races throughout the summer at local events. You must complete 4 of the events to qualify as a finisher of the championship. By running an event you are automatically entered into the championship. You must be a paid up member of the club to be eligible. Points are scored against your GWR finish place for that event (1st = 1 point, 2nd = 2 points and so on..). The person with the lowest average score that has completed 4 races will be the winner. There will be Male/Female prizes on offer and potentially AG prizes depending on how many runners we have in each group..
The six races in question are:
- May – Sri Chinmoy 2 miler
- June – Blaise Blazer – 4 miler
- June – Nailsea Beer and Banger
- August – Chepstow 10k
- Sept – Wotton 10k
- Oct 11th – parkrun Five Arches
Here’s the current standings after race 5! (Members removed who can no longer reach 4 race finishes.)
Male Standings
| Athlete | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | No. Races
Completed |
Total
Score |
Overall
Position |
| Will Purcell | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| John Cox | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | ||
| Sam Whiting | 7 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 3 | ||
| James Healey | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 20 | 4 |
| John Hargreaves | 11 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 29 | 5 | |
| Ian Haynes | 10 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 28 | 6 |
Female Standings
| Athlete | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Race 4 | Race 5 | No. Races
Completed |
Total
Score |
Overall
Position |
| Katy Sutcliffe | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | |
| Kelly Dicks | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Alice Doggrell | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 3 | ||
| Nadia Kottegoda | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 4 | |
| Janine Cooke | 5 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 5 | ||
| Victoria Davies | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 6 | ||
| Elena Holmes | 9 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 7 |
If anyone has any questions then see James Healey or Mark Watts.
Winter Running
Just another little reminder for ALL club runners to wear bright/reflective kit and/or a head/chest torch of some description.
It is nearly dark now by 7pm and after we leave for our runs night is upon us so we want to ensure everyone has the safest run in our company.
Weston Prom
This segment was in last month’s version but as the teams need to be entered by race 2 you still have time to be on a team.
Below are the dates and if you are entered/wish to enter and join a team please see Kelly Dicks to ensure your addition.
The dates for your diary are:
- Race 1: 25 September 2025
- Race 2: 16 October 2025
- Race 3: 27 November 2025
- Race 4: 11 December 2025
- Race 5: 8 January 2026
- Race 6: 12 February 2026
- Race 7: 12 March 2026
- Race 8: 9 April 2026
- Race 9: 21 May 2026
The 9 race series comes in at a bargain £50 for affiliated runners and can be found at this link:
https://race-nation.co.uk/register/weston-ac/weston-5-mile-prom-series-2025-2026
Women’s Workshops
In collaboration with the Bristol Running Show, Kinisi Run Hub are hosting running workshops. To kickstart this initiative we are starting with a series of three women’s running events hosted by local physiotherapist and women’s health expert Claire Callaghan.
The Women’s Series will include 3 great events on Friday evenings across October and November. Claire is a chartered physiotherapist with 25 years of experience specialising in Sport, Exercise and Female Health. She supports women and girls by helping them stay pain free, energised and active. The 3 events centre around the following themes:
- Friday 17th October – Gait Analysis
- Friday 31st October – Women’s Running Injury
- Friday 14th November – Perimenopause & Running
Meet from 6pm for a 6:30pm start and projected 8pm finish. Drinks and refreshments will be provided. In order for us to cover the costs of the events attendees will need to purchase tickets. It costs £15 to sign up for all 3 events or £8 to sign up for an individual event. More information and sign up links are available on our website here: https://kinisirunhub.co.uk/running-workshops-womens-series/
Club Runs
I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has helped either a member of GWR or the general public recently when there have been medical situations out on our runs.
You are a credit to the club and we and the families of those involved cannot thank you enough for supporting their loved ones and ensuring they have the best chance of making a full recovery. You all rock!
Don’t mention the “C” Word
Ok, it’s just a “save the date”. The Christmas lights run will take place on the 17th of December at the club. For newer members this involves a fancy dress 4 miles around Clifton and then back to the club for Food, a Quiz and the infamous raffle!
We have held the price to the same as last year, £10. So please I encourage you to transfer your money with the reference “GWR Quiz” before December so catering can order the correct amount of food and GWR doesn’t overpay for people who we anticipate will show up.
Sportsshoes Code
We have an exciting new discount to offer members of England Athletics affiliated clubs!
You can now link your England Athletics membership with your (free) SportsShoes ULTRA account to receive a discount automatically at checkout. This prevents the need to enter a code at checkout, making receiving a discount from us a lot quicker and easier. You can find out more here.
The discount on offer has been increased to 15% off in season products. Some exclusions apply to this promotion, including Coros, Garmin, Shokz, Maurten products and a few shoes.
Please note the old system of sportsshoes supplying a code for discount will cease in the coming months in exchange for the new one.
Welfare
Need some support, a neutral second opinion? Please reach out to our welfare team David Honeywill and Karen Wills via email welfare@greatwesternrunners.org.uk
Everyone should feel safe and supported at the club.
Contact
If you would like to contact the committee about any club run business, suggestions, questions or otherwise, please do get in touch on committee@greatwesternrunners.org.uk
We’d love to hear from you!
