This week the only racing we had was Simon Holman at the Remembrance Day 10km in Portsmouth. This is described as:
"This event, takes in some of the areas most stunning views, over Portsmouth and the Solent beyond.
Run on closed roads, through country lanes and along part of the top of Portsdown Hill.Some of the proceeds from the Remembrance Day 10k will go to Service charities and Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association."
Simon smashed round this superb run in a shade over 1 hour. Congratulations Wee Man!
The Couch to 5km programme has now reached its final week. Last Thursday the team smashed out a 28 minute run to complete week 8. This means that this week is the grand finale, which will see the group running non-stop for 30 minutes. To celebrate next Thursdays final session will see both groups come together, with the normal Thursday night group supporting the final night of the C25K programme. Then on Saturday we will all be at parkrun to support their 5km graduation run. Please make every attempt to attend!
"This event, takes in some of the areas most stunning views, over Portsmouth and the Solent beyond.
Run on closed roads, through country lanes and along part of the top of Portsdown Hill.Some of the proceeds from the Remembrance Day 10k will go to Service charities and Portsmouth Down Syndrome Association."
Simon smashed round this superb run in a shade over 1 hour. Congratulations Wee Man!The Couch to 5km programme has now reached its final week. Last Thursday the team smashed out a 28 minute run to complete week 8. This means that this week is the grand finale, which will see the group running non-stop for 30 minutes. To celebrate next Thursdays final session will see both groups come together, with the normal Thursday night group supporting the final night of the C25K programme. Then on Saturday we will all be at parkrun to support their 5km graduation run. Please make every attempt to attend!
On the 21st of November we will be holding the running club AGM. This is at 7pm at the Cart and Horses in Kings Worthy. The agenda will be released later this week but will include the Chairman's report, the election of the committee, the annual award and the selection of the London Marathon place. Please make every attempt to be there!
parkrun summary – 9th Nov
Despite Winchester parkrun being cancelled, we still had 14 Fit Clubbers at 7 different parkrun venues. We had representatives at Southsea, Wendover Woods, Eastleigh, Fareham, Woking, Cleethorpes and Netley Abbey!
There was a new course PB for Trish at Cleethorpes parkrun today running 27:39.
Congratulations to everyone who ran and volunteered.
Here is a link to the consolidated club report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2019-11-09
Race Reports
Despite Winchester parkrun being cancelled, we still had 14 Fit Clubbers at 7 different parkrun venues. We had representatives at Southsea, Wendover Woods, Eastleigh, Fareham, Woking, Cleethorpes and Netley Abbey! There was a new course PB for Trish at Cleethorpes parkrun today running 27:39.
Congratulations to everyone who ran and volunteered.
Here is a link to the consolidated club report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2019-11-09
The Rivermead 10km by Andy Mant
Lining up at the Rivermead 10K (Reading), alongside fellow WFC runners Alice Dewsnap-Smith and Graeme and Kathy Read, marks the start of what I hope will be a fruitful decade of running (my forties!).
Having only completed my first 10K training run 2 weeks prior, I am relying on my 1 year's parkrun experience, and the 'it's not much further' sentiment to ensure I finish the race successfully. Given it is my first official 10K the PR is inevitable, but I find it striking that I am still haunted by fear of failure and not performing at my best. I know that there will be a point in this race when my brain will point out that lactic acid is bad for me and I really should stop! This is, however, what I run for....that point that proves I am running at my best today, and the only thing preventing me getting the time I want is the determination to stick with my mantra; Breathe.
Well it is 9am, and we're off! Thoughts of coach James clear in my mind, start steady and build into the run. Whilst coach Hastie reminds me to stand tall imagining a helium filled balloon is stuck to my head.
The weather had not been good over the previous few days and so we had all decided to get to the front and have a good go at the first kilometre before settling in to 'race pace'. Running along what can only be described as tractor trails did not prove easy for the first section, but we were soon on the tow path and enjoying the views along this small stretch of the river Thames. We had been warned of congested areas of this out and back double loop course, with some areas being barely wide enough for a single runner, let alone two lane traffic and members of the public! However, everyone ran in good spirits and kept to their side as best as possible.
The main advantage of a 2 lap course is that you get little cheers from your teammates, as the WFC value of mutual support was evident each time we saw each other, even if just the four of us. I did think that Graeme had forgotten this on our second plod through the field loving known as 'the swamp', but it turns out he was wrestling his shoe free from the clutches of the freshly trodden mud, and needed every ounce of concentration to keep an even keel.
Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that we did have a small issue with the ticket machine for parking, in that it printed blank tickets for us! Unfortunately because plate numbers had been entered we could not use another machine to print a valid copy, thoughts of getting parking tickets might not be your usual 'running spur', but it certainly helped to keep us all moving right to the very end.
As mentioned earlier we all run for our own targets, and we all like to cheer on our running mates, but it never ceases to amaze me just how friendly runners are in general. I had to shout to warn the guy ahead of me on the first lap that he was going the wrong way, and we had a good laugh about that at the end (I beat him eventually!). But all the faster runners stuck around to chat and clap people as they finished chasing their own personal milestones, no one taking for granted the understanding that we all feel the same when we have given our best. Today it was an honour to be part of that, but seeing our own Alice finish 2nd female, clapping her in, and lifting her off the ground in celebration is an experience that will stay with me for some time. Perhaps I shouldn't mention that on seeing Alice's trophy Kathy's first words were 'What the f***', but to be fair I think the coaches sentiments were pretty similar on WhatsApp! Thanks go to all the well wishers today, I think my phone was at 60 messages by the time I returned to the car (no ticket, phew!)
Today's provisional times were
Andrew M - 43:20 (4th overall)
Lining up at the Rivermead 10K (Reading), alongside fellow WFC runners Alice Dewsnap-Smith and Graeme and Kathy Read, marks the start of what I hope will be a fruitful decade of running (my forties!).
Having only completed my first 10K training run 2 weeks prior, I am relying on my 1 year's parkrun experience, and the 'it's not much further' sentiment to ensure I finish the race successfully. Given it is my first official 10K the PR is inevitable, but I find it striking that I am still haunted by fear of failure and not performing at my best. I know that there will be a point in this race when my brain will point out that lactic acid is bad for me and I really should stop! This is, however, what I run for....that point that proves I am running at my best today, and the only thing preventing me getting the time I want is the determination to stick with my mantra; Breathe.
Well it is 9am, and we're off! Thoughts of coach James clear in my mind, start steady and build into the run. Whilst coach Hastie reminds me to stand tall imagining a helium filled balloon is stuck to my head.
The weather had not been good over the previous few days and so we had all decided to get to the front and have a good go at the first kilometre before settling in to 'race pace'. Running along what can only be described as tractor trails did not prove easy for the first section, but we were soon on the tow path and enjoying the views along this small stretch of the river Thames. We had been warned of congested areas of this out and back double loop course, with some areas being barely wide enough for a single runner, let alone two lane traffic and members of the public! However, everyone ran in good spirits and kept to their side as best as possible.
The main advantage of a 2 lap course is that you get little cheers from your teammates, as the WFC value of mutual support was evident each time we saw each other, even if just the four of us. I did think that Graeme had forgotten this on our second plod through the field loving known as 'the swamp', but it turns out he was wrestling his shoe free from the clutches of the freshly trodden mud, and needed every ounce of concentration to keep an even keel.
Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that we did have a small issue with the ticket machine for parking, in that it printed blank tickets for us! Unfortunately because plate numbers had been entered we could not use another machine to print a valid copy, thoughts of getting parking tickets might not be your usual 'running spur', but it certainly helped to keep us all moving right to the very end.
As mentioned earlier we all run for our own targets, and we all like to cheer on our running mates, but it never ceases to amaze me just how friendly runners are in general. I had to shout to warn the guy ahead of me on the first lap that he was going the wrong way, and we had a good laugh about that at the end (I beat him eventually!). But all the faster runners stuck around to chat and clap people as they finished chasing their own personal milestones, no one taking for granted the understanding that we all feel the same when we have given our best. Today it was an honour to be part of that, but seeing our own Alice finish 2nd female, clapping her in, and lifting her off the ground in celebration is an experience that will stay with me for some time. Perhaps I shouldn't mention that on seeing Alice's trophy Kathy's first words were 'What the f***', but to be fair I think the coaches sentiments were pretty similar on WhatsApp! Thanks go to all the well wishers today, I think my phone was at 60 messages by the time I returned to the car (no ticket, phew!)
Today's provisional times were
Andrew M - 43:20 (4th overall)
Graeme R - 49:12
Kathy Read - 59:19
Final thought; I never would have believed when I was encouraged to start parkruns (thanks Alice) and then to join WFC (Alice again!) that running would be quite so addictive, but if what I have written above has conveyed even a small amount of what I have felt today, you'd be left wondering why everyone doesn't do it!
General Announcements
WFC Running Club Calendar
Dates for your diary:
Thursday 14th Nov - C25K final run, both groups combined Hiller Rd Car Park - 19:15
Saturday 16th Nov - Winchester parkrun - C25K graduation run and celebration
Thursday 21st Nov - Winchester Fit Club RC AGM - 19:00
Thursday 28th Nov - Dean Lane Park - 19:00
Saturday 30th Nov - Shelley's 1 year streak parkrun and team breakfast - 09:00
WFC parkrun Club
Winchester Fit Club Runners is set-up as a club with parkrun. If you go into your profile (there is a link to it on the parkrun results email and newsletter email) you can select your club. Change yours to Winchester Fit Club Runners and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.
WFC Runners WhatsApp Group
There is a WFC Runners WhatsApp chat group where we generally just wang on about running, races and cake. If you are not already part of this then please get in contact with Coach James or Coach Mike who will add you.
WFC Runners Strava Club
If you are a Strava user there is a Winchester Fit Club Runners club page. This can be accessed here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/WFC-Runners. Request to join and we will approve!
Booking onto sessions
Booking onto our training sessions enables the coaches to plan the session accordingly. You can book on in the following location: https://winchesterfitclub.simplybook.it/v2/
Race Calendar
The race calendar is now stored here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/race-calendar-2019-and-beyond.html
Race Kit
The full range of kit available to purchase and instructions on how to order can be found in the following link: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/kit-details-and-prices.html
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