This week there were two festive races to report on. The first was the Winchester Santa Fun Run in aid of Naomi's House and Jack's Place. Over 900 runners charging round the streets of Winchester dressed as Santa. As always Winchester Fit Club had a large contingent taking part. It was a fantastically fun morning all topped off with a festive medal and a mince pie!
Also on the Christmas theme we had Alice running teh Reindeer Run 10km (ish) at Moors Valley. This was in aid of the RNLI. A hitch with a marshal near the start meant that some of the field ended up running 11km and the other part of teh field ended up running 7.5km. By all accounts no one actually ran 10km!! Despite this Alice had a good morning and it was all for a good cause!
Just a quick note to say that the Stubbington 10km and the Romsey 5 are both now sold out. The Winchester and Eastleigh 10km races still have spaces but they are filling quickly so book now to avoid disappointment!
parkrun summary – 30th Nov
This week we had 28 registered Fit Clubbers at 2 different parkrun venues. We had 26 members at Winchester and Stefan and Lucy at Alice Holt.
There were no PBs this week but we did have Matt M making his debut as a Fit Club registered runner and we had Adam S returning from Poland for a guest appearance! We had Shelley celebrating the 1 year mark of her run streak and this week also saw Jenny L and James W run their 50th parkrun of 2019!
After parkrun we headed to the Bishop on the Bridge for a team brunch, which was an excellent way to round off a lovely morning!
Congratulations to everyone who ran and thank you to everyone who volunteered.
Here is a link to the consolidated club report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2019-11-30
If you have yet to register as Fit Club then all you have to do is go to your parkrun profile (link in the results email) and select Winchester Fit Club RC as your club. You will then appear on our results!
Spring Challenge returns!
At the start of this year we ran a 12 week challenge to kick start everyone's running in preparation for the Spring race season. We will be running it again in January 2020! The 12 weeks are split into 3 blocks.
The first 4 weeks you just have to predict the number of runs you will do each week.
The second 4 weeks you have to predict the number of runs and the length of your longest run each week.
The last block of 4 weeks you have to predict the number of runs, the length of your longest run and predict a time for a target race or distance.
Points are awarded for achieving your goals and deducted for each run missed, each distance not hit and how far away you are from your target time.
Please let me know if you have any questions and if you would like to take part. It will start on the 6th Jan!
Race Reports
Gosport Half by Jenny Leishman
Shorts or leggings? That was the decision I was faced with when I woke up bright and early on Sunday 17th November. I don’t tend to get anxious about running a race, but I do worry about being appropriately dressed for the weather. It was freezing outside, but it was only 7a.m. and the Gosport Half wasn’t due to start until 10, so it could warm up. However, the race was due to take place along the seafront, so it could be quite windy. In the end, I decided on cropped leggings. After spending far too long deciding on what to wear, I just about had time for a big bowl of porridge and a cup of tea before Sarah H arrived to pick me up. We then picked up Katie and before we knew it we were on the motorway on our way to Gosport.
When we were about five minutes away from Gosport, we received a message from Anna and Mike to say that they had arrived and that they were going to collect their race numbers. We arrived at Lee-On-The-Solent and were reassured that we were heading in the right direction when we saw the 12 mile marker. We joined the traffic queue to the carpark, and were soon parking the car and heading towards Bay House School to pick up our race numbers. We soon found Anna and Mike and had enough time to get our numbers, pop to the toilet and eat a banana, before heading towards the start line. By this point the sun had come out and it had started to warm up a bit. The cropped leggings were a good choice!
‘Fast and flat’ was how Gosport half had been described to me. It is a two-lap course that takes you along the seafront at Lee-On-The-Solent. The race started very promptly at 10 o’clock and we were all on our way. I didn’t really have a plan for the race, I was going to see how I felt once I started running, but I was hopeful, that if it felt good, that I would be able to match my time from the Winchester Half in September. I looked down at my watch after about 400m to see what sort of pace I was doing. I realised that I was going quite fast, but it felt good, and I knew that I would slow later on, so I decided to go with it and stay at that pace. By mile 2 I felt like I had really settled into my pace and was really enjoying it.
At mile 4 we were greeted by a samba band, which you pass 4 times during the race and enjoyed having a little dance each time I passed them. I love entertainment during a race, I feel it keeps me going. Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point and running around a cone to start my second lap. The good thing about a two-lap course is that you know exactly what to expect the second time round.
As I approached the halfway point, I looked at my watch, to realise that I’d run the first 10k in under 50 minutes for the first time. I was so pleased! Unsurprisingly, the second lap was a little harder than the first, with my legs starting to get a little tired, but I was still managing to keep a great pace. The views of the sun on the sea kept me going. It really was beautiful. At around 12 and a half miles, my legs started to speed up a little to get to the finish. As I approached the finish line I could see Mike and Anna cheering me on, and was amazed to see that the time on the clock was 1:46.
I crossed the line and collected my medal and an amazing bag of goodies. Sarah and Katie soon crossed the line and we were joined by Mike and Anna and we all congratulated each other on a great race. When our chip times came through, a little later on, I found out that I had completed it in 1:45:34, a PB by exactly seven minutes! I couldn’t believe it! I was so pleased.
The Gosport Half was a great race. It was mostly flat, with a couple of very small ‘upwards flat sections’, but what goes up must come down, so there were a couple of small downhills too. The weather was perfect. Despite the cold start, the sun coming out and lack of wind made for perfect conditions. The views over the sea were glorious. As a child, I frequently went on day trips to Lee-On-The-Solent with my grandparents as it was my late Grandad’s favourite place. Running along the seafront brought back fond memories and it felt like he was cheering me on. I would definitely run this race again. It was very well organised by the Gosport Road Runners, although I felt that the water stations could have been more evenly spaced. I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering running it in the future.
With Sarah away I had to entertain all three kids for the weekend and so first order of the day was finding a suitable new parkrun to visit! The nearest parkrun I hadn't visited was Melksham, however that doesn't allow buggies, so I went to my second closest... Littlehampton Prom.
We packed the car up and set off at 7:15am, arriving just before 8:30. The car park is right next to the start so we could see teh volunteers setting to course up. It was horrible weather though so we sheltered in the car for a while before venturing out into the wind and rain.
The route is two laps of an out and about course along the prom, which meant half the route was into a strong wind whilst being pelted with rain, with the second half being wind assisted! Olivia used myself and the buggy a shield on the way out (bit like Kipchoge) and then utilised the tail wind on the way back.
Despite the fast and flat nature of the course the field was relatively small with just over 100 runners, meaning that it never felt crowded.
After the run we headed straight for the pub they meet at for breakfast. It is a Harvester pub and very reasonably priced (although the quality isn't the highest standard).
I would recommend this parkrun to anyone wanting a smaller field but a fast run. Check the weather first though as any kind of wind makes it more challenging.
General Announcements
Dates for your diary:
5th Dec - Abbey Gardens
12th Dec - Dean Lane Park
19th Dec - Abbey Gardens
26th Dec - NO SESSION
Sally's Marathon Journey
You can follow Sally B's Marathon journey in her blog: http://sallymarathon.home.blog
Sally is also fundraising for Winchester Hospice. Her JustGiving page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/Sal
Winchester and District Sports Awards
Every year the Winchester District Sport & Physical Activity Alliance recognise local clubs, organisations and residents who have been recognised for going above and beyond whether individually or as part of a club or team.
WFC parkrun Club
Winchester Fit Club RC 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 RC and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.
WFC Runners WhatsApp Group
There is a WFC Running Club 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.
There is a WFC Runners Facebook page where we put the blog posts, news and race pictures. Follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/976444695871618/
If you are a Strava user there is a Winchester Fit Club RC page. This can be accessed here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/WFC-RC. 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
Race Reports
Gosport Half by Jenny Leishman
Shorts or leggings? That was the decision I was faced with when I woke up bright and early on Sunday 17th November. I don’t tend to get anxious about running a race, but I do worry about being appropriately dressed for the weather. It was freezing outside, but it was only 7a.m. and the Gosport Half wasn’t due to start until 10, so it could warm up. However, the race was due to take place along the seafront, so it could be quite windy. In the end, I decided on cropped leggings. After spending far too long deciding on what to wear, I just about had time for a big bowl of porridge and a cup of tea before Sarah H arrived to pick me up. We then picked up Katie and before we knew it we were on the motorway on our way to Gosport.
When we were about five minutes away from Gosport, we received a message from Anna and Mike to say that they had arrived and that they were going to collect their race numbers. We arrived at Lee-On-The-Solent and were reassured that we were heading in the right direction when we saw the 12 mile marker. We joined the traffic queue to the carpark, and were soon parking the car and heading towards Bay House School to pick up our race numbers. We soon found Anna and Mike and had enough time to get our numbers, pop to the toilet and eat a banana, before heading towards the start line. By this point the sun had come out and it had started to warm up a bit. The cropped leggings were a good choice!
‘Fast and flat’ was how Gosport half had been described to me. It is a two-lap course that takes you along the seafront at Lee-On-The-Solent. The race started very promptly at 10 o’clock and we were all on our way. I didn’t really have a plan for the race, I was going to see how I felt once I started running, but I was hopeful, that if it felt good, that I would be able to match my time from the Winchester Half in September. I looked down at my watch after about 400m to see what sort of pace I was doing. I realised that I was going quite fast, but it felt good, and I knew that I would slow later on, so I decided to go with it and stay at that pace. By mile 2 I felt like I had really settled into my pace and was really enjoying it.
At mile 4 we were greeted by a samba band, which you pass 4 times during the race and enjoyed having a little dance each time I passed them. I love entertainment during a race, I feel it keeps me going. Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point and running around a cone to start my second lap. The good thing about a two-lap course is that you know exactly what to expect the second time round.
As I approached the halfway point, I looked at my watch, to realise that I’d run the first 10k in under 50 minutes for the first time. I was so pleased! Unsurprisingly, the second lap was a little harder than the first, with my legs starting to get a little tired, but I was still managing to keep a great pace. The views of the sun on the sea kept me going. It really was beautiful. At around 12 and a half miles, my legs started to speed up a little to get to the finish. As I approached the finish line I could see Mike and Anna cheering me on, and was amazed to see that the time on the clock was 1:46.
I crossed the line and collected my medal and an amazing bag of goodies. Sarah and Katie soon crossed the line and we were joined by Mike and Anna and we all congratulated each other on a great race. When our chip times came through, a little later on, I found out that I had completed it in 1:45:34, a PB by exactly seven minutes! I couldn’t believe it! I was so pleased.
The Gosport Half was a great race. It was mostly flat, with a couple of very small ‘upwards flat sections’, but what goes up must come down, so there were a couple of small downhills too. The weather was perfect. Despite the cold start, the sun coming out and lack of wind made for perfect conditions. The views over the sea were glorious. As a child, I frequently went on day trips to Lee-On-The-Solent with my grandparents as it was my late Grandad’s favourite place. Running along the seafront brought back fond memories and it felt like he was cheering me on. I would definitely run this race again. It was very well organised by the Gosport Road Runners, although I felt that the water stations could have been more evenly spaced. I highly recommend it to anyone who is considering running it in the future.
Wendover Woods parkrun by James White
Olivia and I were visiting the Warner Bros Studios for the Harry Potter tour and had decided to leave early to get a new parkrun in. I asked Olivia what she wanted and she said she wanted a one lap course and it had to be hilly, so I asked the Facebook Tourist group and Wendover Woods came out top.
We arrived around 8:15 so were able to chat to the team before we started. It was a beautiful crisp autumnal morning and the sun was just starting to burn off the early morning mist.
The run started pretty promptly and we were off and running. It was only a small field and thinned out fairly quickly. The route immediately started heading downhill along the woodland paths. With the recent rain and the trees losing their leaves it was quite slippy underfoot so some caution was needed.
What goes down must come up (or something like that) so as soon as we hit the bottom of the downhill the course started back uphill. In fact there was almost no flat on the entire route, it was either up or down!
The uphill sections seemed to run along the side of the hill and so every so often there would be a break in the trees with a beautiful view over the Bucks countryside. It was such a lovely course, kind of like a really hilly version of Moors Valley, if you have run that.
Olivia ran really well all the way round and finished really strongly in just over 31 minutes.
There is ample paid parking onsite and toilets and a cafe close to the start.
I would really recommend this course to anyone who was in the area. It's not a PB course, but it is a beautiful route and great fun to run.
We arrived around 8:15 so were able to chat to the team before we started. It was a beautiful crisp autumnal morning and the sun was just starting to burn off the early morning mist.
The run started pretty promptly and we were off and running. It was only a small field and thinned out fairly quickly. The route immediately started heading downhill along the woodland paths. With the recent rain and the trees losing their leaves it was quite slippy underfoot so some caution was needed.
What goes down must come up (or something like that) so as soon as we hit the bottom of the downhill the course started back uphill. In fact there was almost no flat on the entire route, it was either up or down!
The uphill sections seemed to run along the side of the hill and so every so often there would be a break in the trees with a beautiful view over the Bucks countryside. It was such a lovely course, kind of like a really hilly version of Moors Valley, if you have run that.
Olivia ran really well all the way round and finished really strongly in just over 31 minutes.
There is ample paid parking onsite and toilets and a cafe close to the start.
I would really recommend this course to anyone who was in the area. It's not a PB course, but it is a beautiful route and great fun to run.
Littlehampton parkrun by James White
With Sarah away I had to entertain all three kids for the weekend and so first order of the day was finding a suitable new parkrun to visit! The nearest parkrun I hadn't visited was Melksham, however that doesn't allow buggies, so I went to my second closest... Littlehampton Prom.
We packed the car up and set off at 7:15am, arriving just before 8:30. The car park is right next to the start so we could see teh volunteers setting to course up. It was horrible weather though so we sheltered in the car for a while before venturing out into the wind and rain.
The route is two laps of an out and about course along the prom, which meant half the route was into a strong wind whilst being pelted with rain, with the second half being wind assisted! Olivia used myself and the buggy a shield on the way out (bit like Kipchoge) and then utilised the tail wind on the way back.
Despite the fast and flat nature of the course the field was relatively small with just over 100 runners, meaning that it never felt crowded.
After the run we headed straight for the pub they meet at for breakfast. It is a Harvester pub and very reasonably priced (although the quality isn't the highest standard).
I would recommend this parkrun to anyone wanting a smaller field but a fast run. Check the weather first though as any kind of wind makes it more challenging.
General Announcements
WFC Running Club Calendar
Dates for your diary:
5th Dec - Abbey Gardens
12th Dec - Dean Lane Park
19th Dec - Abbey Gardens
26th Dec - NO SESSION
Sally's Marathon Journey
You can follow Sally B's Marathon journey in her blog: http://sallymarathon.home.blog
Sally is also fundraising for Winchester Hospice. Her JustGiving page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/Sal
Winchester and District Sports Awards
Winchester Fit Club and Mike D have previously been recognised, If you would like to nominate Fit Club or any of its coaches, or any other local sports organisations then you can do so by following this link: https://www.winchester.gov.uk/sport/sports-awards-2019
Nominations close 3rd of January, with the awards on the 6th of February.
WFC parkrun Club
Winchester Fit Club RC 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 RC and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.
WFC Runners WhatsApp Group
There is a WFC Running Club 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 Facebook Group
There is a WFC Runners Facebook page where we put the blog posts, news and race pictures. Follow the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/976444695871618/
WFC Runners Strava Club
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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