News Release 8th January 2018

Spread the Running WordNext 10-week Beginners Programme starts 16 January

Just a week to go to the start of our next

Couch-to-5k programme. Do let others know;

you can download and print the flyers to post

at work or on your GP surgery notice boards,

etc. This programme will be led by Sandra

Wise, ably supported by a team of other

enthusiastic volunteers.

Looking at the picture on the flyer, it’s great

to see how many of that intake a couple of

years ago are still progressing magnificently

with the club and, in some cases (yes you, Rob

and Emily), are now run leaders at our

regular training sessions.

Where else would £25 buy you a full year’s club membership, ten weeks of structured

training, a passport to fitness, and abiding friendships?

Herts Cross Country Champs

On Sunday 7th January, 13 GCR’s braved the freezing conditions at Cassiobury to take

part in the XC Champs. We had 9 members competing in the men’s 12k race, with Neil

Hume first back in 24th position overall in 44:38. He was followed by James Huish 39th

in 46:05, Russell Casey 48th in 46:47, Malcolm Down 49:25, Tom Wackett 49:32, Sean

Bowen 49:51, Andy Holt 50:17, Patrick Bird 53:59 and Brad Smith 58:21.

Danny Figg (pictured here) represented

GCR in the U20 8k race, which he

completed in 29:42. We’re wondering if

Danny is the first runner ever to

represent GCR in a junior age category?

Just three ladies ran the 8k race, with Martha Hall finishing impressively in 8th place in

32:03. Hannah Ahmet was next GCR in 38:15 and Virginia Bird in 39:55.

Here’s just a small selection of the pictures taken by Tim Cooke of our intrepid team in

full flow at the event.

Neil Hume Tom Wackett / Malcolm Down Sean Bowen

East Hanningfield Marathon

Elaine Giles and Kath Evans

decided it was a good idea to

take on this daunting trail

marathon in deepest Essex. It

is a ‘narrative marathon’,

which starts with the runners

collecting their 6 pages of

detailed directions (see right),

as there are no marshals or

course markers!

Elaine reported getting only a little bit lost, and Kath’s Strava indicates that she

covered 26.9 miles in just over 6 hours. They both look remarkably happy after the

event – and should be very proud of their orienteering skills.

Leverstock Green 10k

DAVE HEAL wallowed in the

glorious mud and hills of this race,

finishing 19th out of 70 runners in

55:39. This was just the second

running of this event and was on

Dave’s bucket list as he grew up in

Leverstock Green, running school

x-country events on the very same

fields.

NHS 1000 mile challenge 2018

Our own Kath Evans has initiated this challenge as a way of celebrating this year’s 70th

anniversary of the NHS. As set out here on the NHS 1000 mile facebook page – “we

think the best ‘gift’ we could give the NHS in the year ahead is to get a bit more active.

Log your walking, running, swimming, cycling, bouncing etc and share your journey to

encourage others to join the challenge!” Do sign up and encourage family and friends

to take part too.

parkrun highlights

Congratulations to Neil Hume on completing his 150 th parkrun this weekend, finishing

in 1st place at Panshanger in 18:00. At the same event, Barbara Kubis-Labiak was 3rd

lady home in 23:32. Meanwhile, at Heartwood Forest, romping through the mud to be

3rd lady was Virginia Bird in 24:49. There were 15 GCR runners at Ellenbrook, led

home in 11th place by Rob Hughes in 22:42.

Away from our local parkruns, we had club members flying the GCR flag in the form of

Celia Pardoe at Sheffield Hallam, Tom Casserley at Oak Hill (East Barnet), Andrew

Holt at Cassiobury, Steve Grout and Asa Moberg Grout at Osterley (Isleworth), and

Laura Dougan across the water in Falcarragh in Co. Donegal.

In all, we had 39 members running this weekend, with many other members acting as

volunteers, true heroes in the bitterly cold conditions. Full results for GCRs taking part

on Saturday can be found here. Sean discovered that last week’s link to the

consolidated results for 30 December was wrong, so the revised one is here

You can also take a look at the consolidated results for the festive parkruns by clicking

on these links Christmas Day New Years Day. Special mention goes to those who

undertook double-parkruns on NewYears day, including:-

Steve Grout and Asa Moberg Grout – Roundshaw Downs & Riddlesdown

Sean Bowen – Netley Abbey & Southampton

Andrew Holt – Rickmansworth & Cassiobury

Lauren Potter and Lynette Stewart – Brighton & Hove / Hove Promenade

Hannah Ahmet – Panshanger & St Albans

Helen Moye – Panshanger & Stevenage

Justin Hill, Rob Casserley, Jacky O’Leary, Tom Rogers, Sam Smith, Mick

Wise, Peter Lapthorne, Sandra Wise, Dennis Draper, Charlotte Jones –

Panshanger & Ellenbrook Fields

Avery League The twelve scoring races for the 2018 Avery Competition will be confirmed soon, but

the first two races will be the Fred Hughes 10 on 21st January and the Watford Half on

4th February – for details see the table below.

Forthcoming events

Below is the list of future events. If you know of any others that you think your fellow

members would enjoy, please send details to results@gardencityrunners.org.uk.

If you’re embarking on a training program for a spring marathon, have a look at the

second table for a handy list of events that can help in building mileage to the marathon

distance.

Event Date Time Online entry

XC : Sunday League #4 – Watford 14th January ‘18 10:30am See your captain

Fred Hughes 10

*** first 2018 Avery race ***21st January ‘18 10:00am Click here

Event Date Time Online entry

SEAA XC - Stanmer Park, Brighton

“The Southerns”27th January ‘18 See your captain

Watford Half Marathon

*** 2018 Avery race ***4th February ‘18 10:30am Click here

XC : Sunday League #5 – Royston 18th February ‘18 10:30am See your captain

ECCA XC – Parliament Hill

“The Nationals”24th February ‘18 See your captain

Baldock Beast

multi-terrain half marathon25th February ‘18 10:00am Click here

Welwyn Half Marathon 4th March ‘18 9:00am Click here

Harpenden Half Marathon (inaugural) 11th March ‘18 TBA Click here

Milton Keynes Festival of Running

(5K, 10K, half marathon, 20 mile races)11th March ‘18

9:50am

onwardsClick here

Beaconsfield 5 Mile Trail Run 2nd April ‘18 10:00am Click here

London Marathon 22nd April ‘18 10:00am Closed

Greenway Challenge 13th May ’18 10:00am Click here

St Albans Half Marathon 10th June ‘18 10:00am Click here

Welwyn 10k and 2k Fun Run 24th June ‘18 11:15am

Burnham Beeches Half / 10k 12th August ‘18 9:30am Click here

Hitchin Town Centre 5k

*** only 213 places left ***30th Sept ‘18 9:00am Click here

Herts 10k 14th October ‘18 10:00am Click here

Marathon Preparation Events

Event Distance (miles) Date Time

Gade Valley 12 12 28th January 2018 9:00am

Gade Valley 17 17 25th February 2018

9:00am

Thames Riverside “Race or Pace” 20 4th March 2018 8:00am

Milton Keynes 20 11th March 2018 9:50am

Lydd 20 17th March 2018 10:00am

Windsor & Eton 20 17th March 2018 12:30pm

Oakley 20 20 18th March 2018 TBA

Finchley + Hillingdon 20 18th March 2018 9:00am

Gade Valley 20 20 25th March 2018 9:00am

Join Garden City Runners Do you live in or near Welwyn Garden City? Like running? Garden City Runners is

your local running club. It has over 200 members and encourages participation by all.

The club has a varied training programme to suit everyone, from working up to 5

kilometres and right through to full marathons. Try a few sessions before joining. Membership is only £20 per year. Membership forms

are available on the GCR website www.gardencityrunners.org.uk. Please ask if you

would like a paper copy. If you want to know more about the Garden City Runners please contact Helen Paine

(Secretary) or Sue Fletcher (Membership) at gcr@gardencityrunners.org.uk, visit our

website www.gardencityrunners.org.uk or our Facebook page at

www.facebook.com/groups/gardencityrunners/ .

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