July 2024
By: Rosie Clarke
Welcome to July’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.
In this edition, we look at the club’s upcoming events, including the club’s well anticipated 40th anniversary, and brand new shiny Thursday Track sessions with Southville Running Club! We also have many individual race successes as well as the pivotal London Marathon rejection results ballot day. Stay tuned…
Dates for the diary and Events:
July 2024
- Wednesday 3rd July: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Thursday 4th July: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club at 18:30 (Bristol Family Cycling Centre, Bamfield, Bristol BS14 0XA… read more about this later on in the newsletter!)
- Saturday 6th July: GWR at Cotswold Way Relay (10 legs totalling 100 miles)
- Tuesday 9th July: Sri Chimnoy 3 x 1 mile ice cream relay race
- Wednesday 10th July: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Wednesday 17th July: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Thursday 18th July: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club at 18:30
- Wednesday 24th July: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Thursday 25th July: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club at 18:30
- Friday 26th July: GWR Towpath Series 10K Race 3
August 2024
- Wednesday 7th August: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Wednesday 7th August: Bitton Road Runners 5K series Race 4/4
- Thursday 8th August: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club at 18:30
- Sunday 11th August: Lightning Bolt 10K
- Wednesday 14th August: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Thursday 15th August: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club at 18:30
- Sunday 18th August: Frome Running Festival 5K, 10K and HM
- Wednesday 21st August: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
- Thursday 22nd August: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club at 18:30
- Friday 23rd August: GWR Towpath Series 5K Race 4
- Sunday 25th August: Severn Bridge 10K (please note there is no HM option this year)
- Wednesday 28th August: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
GWR TOWPATH
We are proverbially “Over the hill” with 50% of the series now completed. Thank you so much to everyone that has contributed to the event being a success whether you’ve volunteered, raced, or shared the social media posts. It really helps, so let’s keep up the good work and momentum for the rest! If you are free on the two below Fridays and want to get involved in representing the club, then get in touch with Awais to volunteer, or sign up at a bargain price here!
- Friday 24th May: Race 1 (including MobMatch) [Done]
- Friday 21st June: Race 2 – 10K [Done]
- Friday 26th July: Race 3 – 10K
- Friday 23rd August: Race 4 – 5K finale
Again, please like, comment and share the Towpath Race Series page on Social Media as it really helps to advertise the event and to gain the interest needed to make it the wonderful event it is.
GWR Social – 40th Anniversary
Keep your calendars free – on Sunday 4th August, we will be hosting a summer barbeque to celebrate 40 wonderful years of the club!
Gates open at 16:00 at Redland Green Club and we’ll be welcoming members past and present with food, drinks, activities and more. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more details as we release them…
June Race and Achievements Report
Welcome to June’s recap celebration of racing carnage, chaos, and shenanigans complete with some pretty impressive escapades in our highlights section for last month…
Kate Matheson returned from the Injury bench after 8 weeks with broken ribs, back in time for some summer weather and a parkrun around Mallards Pike – it can be tricky coming back from injury, so this is one to celebrate!
Below we can see members who were rewarded for their character of completing all nine Weston prom runs with a certificate. Big thank you to Alice Doggrell for sorting, and if you haven’t collected yours then get in touch with her!
This month saw the last 2 mile race in the Sri Chimnoy series with plenty of silverware being handed out. There’s a 3×1 mile relay in July, so if you fancy a short lung buster then get involved!
GWR @clevedon 10K!
The monthly parkrun tourism returned over the bridge to Newport parkrun (Tredegar House). A big thank you to everyone who attended and represented the club in our kit. A big thank you also goes out to Awais for his co-ordination. The current parkrun tourism poll is currently live on the GWR Facebook page, so head over there and get your votes in! Awais is always taking in suggestions for future Parkrun Tourism contenders, so speak to him if you have a suggestion.
Whilst the London Marathon ballot is a contentious affair for 98% of us that enter it, we did manage to get at least one person through the door. Congratulations to Andrew (Andree) Holliday who received the coveted “You’re in!” email (yes, they do actually exist!). Congratulations to anyone else who made it through who didn’t comment on the Facebook post – we’re only a little bit jealous. Any club places we receive for 2025 will be communicated in due course…
June 21st saw the Towpath Race 2 pass without a hitch, despite fallen trees and path diversions. Another great series event was delivered with some amazing age group prizes on the night (Lucy Ellis and Karen Walsh – your prizes will be at the club on a Wednesday ready and waiting for you)!
See the write-up of the race in Mark’s blog post here.
ADMF Good News
Great news – 2024’s grants have now been awarded! Over 10 young people have been awarded grants of around £2000 enabling them to thrive in their training. We now look forward to hearing how they are getting on throughout the year and especially at the AGM where we get to hear first-hand the incredible difference this support makes.
ADMF is always looking for people to support, donate or fundraise in any way that you can to support the wonderful initiative. Ideas on fundraising support and events can be discussed with Kelly Dicks at the club.
Thank you to all those who continue to support this wonderful initiative – the success stories wouldn’t exist without you all! For more information about ADMF and how you can contribute, see more information here.
Misc. Updates
Membership
Membership is now due. Please note that if you have not yet renewed, you will be removed from the club and EA database, and it means you will have to apply to be a member again to receive the emailed newsletter. If you require assistance, please see Martin Bennett or Janine Cooke.
Welfare
After passing the EA courses (Lead) David Honeywill and Karen Wills take up these Welfare Safeguarding Officer roles with immediate effect; any welfare concerns can be communicated to our representatives either in-person, or through the email address below: welfare@greatwesternrunners.org.uk
No Food at the Club
An advance warning that there will be no regular hot food after our runs on the 3rd, 10th and 17th of July as the kitchen staff are unavailable, so please make other arrangements if you usually have food after your club-run.
Good news though, on the 10th I’m assured there will be a “Pizza Wizard” van arriving at the club from 7pm to sell us their carbs. We like carbs!
Whitchurch Track
There is currently a petition to save Whitchurch Track, which is at risk. It’s around 2500 signatures strong but needs around 3500 to be discussed at a council level. South Bristol is in need of these facilities so please head over and sign the petition here.
Any further details on events planned to save the track will be communicated in due course when we hear about it!
Track Sessions
In light of the above news, Great Western Runners have spoken to Southville Running Club about the possibility of our runners joining their Thursday Track sessions – it’s something we (currently) don’t offer, so this is a wonderful opportunity to get to know other runners around Bristol, and to have some structured speed sessions that don’t clash with Wednesday club nights. There is no need to book on, just turn up with £3 to join the session!
What: Track intervals sessions with Southville Running Club
Where: Bristol Family Cycling Centre, Bamfield, Bristol BS14 0XA
When: Thursdays at 18:30 (sessions will continue from now until 12th September except for July 11th when coach Rob is away)
Who: All abilities welcome!
Price: £3 per session (for use of the track and inclusion in Rob’s structured session)
The headline teaser for the upcoming session is listed below:
Thursday July 4th at 18:30, the mile session: 1 x 800m (2 min recovery), 4 x 1609m (2 min recovery between each), 1 x 400m, plus an optional 2 x 200m
We can’t wait to see some of you there!
Sportsshoes Code
Short on running gear? Fancy a discount at sportsshoes.com? You’re in luck! The committee hold the code for 10% off the whole range on orders over £50, complete with free shipping, valid until August 2024. If you’re a member, this code will be sent directly to your mailbox.
Kit
For kit (including club branded running gear) enquiries, please see the website here.
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!
