November 2024

By: Mark Watts and Gary Hunt

Welcome to November’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 first episode of the 2024/25 season. We look at some club events coming up in the near future, including some parkrun tourism near and far, some Christmas racing and ADMFs first social fundraiser. There are club merch updates and we quickly review the recent AGM and the comings and goings of your new look committee. Cross country dates are now live and in the achievements section the marathon was definitely the theme. Gary Hunt has added a small section on trail races should that take your fancy!

Dates for the Diary and Events:

November 2024

• Wednesday 6th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
• Saturday 9th November:Gwent XC League – Llandaff Fields, Cardiff
• Saturday 9th November: parkrun tourism
• Sunday 10th November: Sodbury Slog 10 Mile, Chipping Sodbury
• Wednesday 13th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
• Saturday 16th November: parkrun tourism with Southville RC to Bushy park.
• Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th November: Bath Skyline 5K and 10K Trail, Bath (night and day races)
• Wednesday 20th November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
• Wednesday 20th November: ADMF Bingo night
• Wednesday 27nd November: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
• Thursday 28th November: Weston Prom 5 Mile – Race 3
• Saturday 30th November: Gwent XC League – Blaise Castle, Bristol

December 2024

• Wednesday 4th December: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups)
• Sunday 4th December: Christmas “Chilly” 10k and Christmas mile
• Wednesday 11th December: Club run at 19:00 (4, 6, 8 and 10 mile groups), additional Brailsford lights run for those that wish (7ish miles)
• Saturday 14th December: 12k’s of christmas, trail 12k in Dursley
• Sunday 15th December: Weston Christmas Cracker
• Sunday 15th December: Westonbirt house festive 10k
• Wednesday 18th December: Christmas lights run and quiz/raffle
• Thursday 19th December: Weston Prom 5 Mile – Race 4
• Friday 20th December: Run and Rave 5k
• Wednesday 25th December: CLUB IS CLOSED
• Wednesday 25th December: parkrun special event day
• Thursday 26th December: Clevedon 4 miler

October Race and Achievements Report

Done something you are proud of? Then please share it all! Look out for the monthly calling post on facebook and give us all the news, and pictures!

Clare Meraz represented England at the Chester marathon! An epic 3:22 in the white vest!

Kate Matheson and Janine Cooke completed the slightly undulating Eryri marathon. The finishers “Medal” is a piece of welsh slate. Definitely one of those bucket list races and one to look up if you are unaware of the race! The ballot for next years race opens on December 1st.

Ian Haynes and his partner Nic completed the Ljubljana marathon. Nic, a first time marathoner and whilst she’s not a second claim GWR member yet, we’re working on it. She supported Ian with the long run Sunday group and Towpath series marshalling. Ian has written his own article, coming to the GWR blog very soon so look out for that!

A distance somewhat shorter than the marathon, Will Gillett joined the blue t-shirt club at parkrun with his 500th run. 10 years of early Saturday mornings! Incredible effort.

Trail Runners Corner

It’s not all tarmac and energy gels here at GWR, a few of us also like to get muddy out on the trails.  Thought we’d share a few races (some near, some far, some short, some far…..) that we were represented at this month in case it appeals to your dirty side

• Mother Tuckers – a lovely little 10k race run by our friends over at Somer AC (a few miles south of Bristol for all the Northerners).  Rolling Hills, and a couple of steep ones.  Cider and cake at the finish line.
• ColyTen – a little further afield, a great little 10 miler down in Devon run by Axe Valley runners.  They also organise ‘The Grizzly’, which is a brute of a race at 20 miles worth looking out for in 2026 (’25 is already sold out!!)
• Mendip Muddle – just short of a half marathon across the Mendips, taking in the beautiful views, past the Mendip ponies, over beacon batch (highest point on the Mendips).  Our own Katy Sutcliffe coming in as 2nd lady.

• The OMM – time to get your passport out.  2 days of muddy fun in the Scottish Highlands.  6 choices of course catering for beginners to elites, with a mix of running, hiking, orienteering (though no-one did that as soon as they left school, right??) and near mountaineering at times.  The herds of Deer running through the heather was a particular highlight, the bag-piper wake up call at 6 am not so much. They also do a summer version that is a little more relaxed if you prefer the idea of that.

Were you out in the countryside this month, or got some muddy fun in the diary over the next few?  Let us know……

Misc. Updates

AGM Debrief

The club in the recent month held its annual AGM with an audience of 34 attendees. We were treated this year to a digital format by making use of the large TV in the club room. We heard from all areas of the club, from the chair’s report, membership, finance, welfare and of course alongside our young athletes that we’ve supported over the last 12 months and some of their highs and lows throughout the year. The club are looking to create a more regular blog on the clubs website to keep up to date on the progress of the athletes.

We said a fond farewell to Callum “Good morning” Moore as he departed the General secretary role, along with Richard Barnett and Rosie, so I fully expect the content and funniness of these newsletters to go rapidly downhill. Thank you all for your efforts in the previous year.

But, as one door closes, another opens as we welcome back John “towpath Legend” Cox to his former role of general secretary. John brings years of experience to the team and will certainly help in the sound decision making of the coming year and beyond. Victoria Davies and James Healey join the team as non-executive members. I think the balance we’ve added is really good with Victoria’s length of service to the club and James who will bring new ideas. So welcome all!

Health and Safety

 Stay visible this winter!

With the darker evenings approaching, we kindly remind everyone to wear bright, reflective gear during runs. While we ensure our winter routes are reasonably well-lit, it’s a good idea to bring a head torch for extra visibility as the nights grow darker.

The latest on the proviz hi-vis tops are that they are now in stock and are coming out at £40 per unit. With limited interaction on the recent Facebook post highlighting these I think the idea will probably be shelved, however it’s something I would like for the club so if we can order on smaller numbers or try and find something else that’s suitable I will explore it, as they do look really smart I think.

40th Anniversary t-shirts

Good news. They have been ordered! Again, the numbers weren’t quite what we were anticipating so the price has risen slightly to slightly over the £10 original cost. The club will soak up this increase though and hopefully soon you can be the envy of your peers at club!

ADMF Bingo Night

The first in a series of planned events by the ADMF committee. November Wednesday the 20th will see the fund host its own bingo night at the Redland Club.

Eyes down at 8:30pm, Tickets are £10 for 2 games and there are many prizes on offer with 100% of the money raised going straight to ADMF. Non-club members are also invited to come along to the event so they don’t even need to like running to get involved.

Xmas Lights run – Save the Date

One for the diary, the annual Christmas lights run, quiz and raffle will take place on the 18th of December at the Redland Club after a short festive run. Costings and timings to be released when we know more. If you could potentially offer a raffle prize then please speak to Mark Watts.

Cross Country Dates

The dates for the Gwent league cross country have been released so if anyone fancies a few free miles in character building mud then please speak to John Hargreaves at the club on a Wednesday and he can get you all signed up. The first race has been and gone by the remaining dates are below. It would be really nice to see a big crowd at our home event Blaise castle, there’s always a great vibe, and great cake! It would be a shame to see this drop off the club’s radar as a lot of its history has been created around these events.

• Saturday 9th November 2024 – Llandaff Fields, Cardiff
• Saturday 30th November 2024 – Blaise Castle, Bristol
• Saturday 8th February 2025 – Margam Park, Port Talbot
• Saturday 1st March (or Sunday 2nd) 2025 – VENUE TBD

parkrun Tourism

Our monthly parkrun poll is live on the facebook group so take yourself over there and give it a little vote if you have a preference. (Shepton Mallet, Rogiet or Clevedon) It’s a great way to meet other club members in a non race pressure environment. There’s always brunch after at a local eatery so that’s definitely a winner!

Ever ran at Bushy park parkrun? No? Well this could be for you. Southville RC are putting on a day trip on the 16th of November to the home of parkrun, Bushy park! It costs £30 and comes with an early 5:30 am depart and a promise of a return back to their Southbank club by 16:00pm.

Click here for all the info. If you have any questions see Mark Watts.

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.

Kit 

For club kit and leisurewear (including club-branded running gear), please see the website here.

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!