WFC Runners: January 2020

Monday 27 January 2020

WFC Runners - Romsey, record session, parkrun, Abingdon 10km, challenge wk 3

News

The big race this weekend was the Romsey 5. This race is set at Broadlands house in Romsey and is a 3 lap race (2 small laps, 1 larger lap). It is fast and flat, on a mix of excellent paths and less excellent paths. Despite the weather being bad in the lead-up to the race and immediately following it, the actual race was run in near perfect conditions.

There were some superb performances from the team. The times were as follows:

Glenna Greenslade - 50:00
Trish Heaton - 46:24 - 1st time
Simon Robinson - 36:21 - 1st time
Sarah Robinson - 38:16 - 1st time
Elise Gilbert - 38:46 - PB
Philippa Drew - 41:25 - 1st time
James White - 34:05 - PB

Look out for the run reports in next week's blog!

The other big news was the record breaking Thursday night session! A whopping 38 runners were out doing a slow-fast-faster session in Barfield Close, followed by a couple of team relays. Coach James reinforced the technical points started the week before with the runners focusing on arms driving backwards (pocket to socket), standing up tall and working those high knees.

It was a superb session and the growth of the club is phenomenal. Thank you for your ongoing support.

parkrun 25th January

This week we had 28 registered Fit Clubbers at 5 different parkrun venues.

We had Glenna and Dave at Kingston, Vanessa at Seaton, Elise at Queen Elizabeth, Rachel and Simon at Cannon Hill and 22 at Winchester.

Continuing her excellent form in 2020 Vanessa ran a course PB at Seaton of 22:46. Congratulations Vanessa!

We also had Mike H complete his 100th Winchester parkrun out of his 124 total runs. Great effort Mr H!

Lastly I’d like to give a special shout out to little Maisie Mandelbaum who ran her 10th parkrun aged just 5. Definitely a future Fit Clubber! Congratulations Maisie!

Thank you to everyone who ran and volunteered.

Here is a link to the consolidated club report: https://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2020-01-25

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!

Race Reports

Abingdon 10km by Katie Johnson

On 12th January I took part in the Abingdon 10k. It was an interesting experience. The 10k was based at the sport centre in town so there was plenty of parking, toilets and cafe facilities. The event was only small, approx 300 people were there. The 10k was based on laps around the sports track and then around the sports fields. It was a very cheap event- £16.50 and you did get a medal!!!

The info told you to get there at least 45 mins before however when I turned the people were just setting up the event, so actually 15 mins before would have been fine. I got my number only 30 mins before and you could even sign up on the day if you liked. I was doing the race on my own so not knowing where to go I started to chat to some of the other runners in the leisure centre reception. One runner who had done it last year did admit there had been a lot of complaints last years due to the state of the course and he hoped it had improved. I was wondering what it was going to be like.

At 9.55am people started to file out for the race which started at 10am. It was all very chilled and relaxed. We just lined up on the race track, there was not an actual start line or even a flag saying where the ‘actual start’ was. I stood in the middle of the crowd which then turned out to be right at the front as people kept moving backwards.

We had a park run style race director, but without any form of megaphone/loud speaker, who told us about the route which had been changed due to mud! 5 laps around the race track and 4 around the grounds.

And then a countdown and we were off, Strava on!!! The track was ok but the fields were very muddy in some places. I had to walk up some muddy banks and on one section of the field, I actually climbed a little bit of a tree on each lap I ‘ran’ past as I didn’t want muddy water to fill my trainers.

However it was alright until the end. The finish point was back on the race track however running towards it I saw lots of runners re-lapping the track. Confused I looked at my Strava and I found I had only done 5.4 miles. I couldn’t remember how many kilometres were in a mile and as my Strava is new I didn’t know how to find that out on it. This led me to getting my phone out and googling, while running, and finding out that I needed to run further to make up the 10k. I was worried that I might have miscounted laps but due to the amount of runners re-lapping I felt this was definitely more an event error rather me not being able to count. However it didn’t bother me I just ran round the track but I felt I had to do 10k to get the medal.

Taking everything into account it was a fun event but people who want PBs or fast times may get annoyed from a lack of organisation. However if you fancy a VERY chilled race which you can turn up just before, want good facilities and get a decent medal, then give it a go!

Challenge - Week 3

As week 3 of the challenge comes to a close we have 45 runners remaining. We have 36 runners on 100% with 5 runners having played their wildcard so far. This week also say 10 runners do more than their predicted number of runs!! It is great to see runners pushing themselves and really striving for that training consistency. Even running on holiday and in all weather!

We have one more week of this first block, before we move into block 2, where you are asked to predict the number of runs and the length of your longest run each week.

Full Table

Alf Rodway 300

Alfie Rodway 250
Ali Longman 300
Alice Dewsnap 300
Allen Westoby 300
Andy Mant 300
Anne Arnold 300
Ben Howett 275
Catherine Mulrine 200
Catherine Westoby 300
Colin Burville 300
Debs Cotsgrave 300
Elise Gilbert 300
Fran Hansford 300
Glenna Greenslade 300
Graeme Read 300
Ian Cotsgrave 300
Issy Mansfield 300
James Hadden 300
James White 300
Jenny Leishman 300
Jo Hindle 300
Karen Parker 300
Kathy Read 300
Lucy Gardner 300
Lucy Rhodes 300
Lynn McKeague 300
Marie-Clare Menez 267
Matt Mandelbaum 300
Philippa Drew 300
Philippa Gammie 200
Rachel Mills 300
Sally Boyden 300
Sarah Geddes 275
Sarah Lewis 300
Sarah Robinson 300
Sharon Smith 300
Sheelagh Evans 267
Shelley Talbot 300
Simon Boyden 300
Simon Mills 300
Simon Robinson 300
Stefan Kemp 300
Trish Heaton 300
Vanessa Hodgetts 300

Good luck for week 4 everyone!

General Announcements

WFC Running Club Calendar

Dates for your diary:

30th Jan - Dean Lane Park
6th Feb - Abbey Gardens followed by drinks
13th Feb - South Winchester P&R
20th Feb - Dean Lane Park
27th Feb - Abbey Gardens

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/Sally-Boyden

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

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 through the Fit Club website: http://www.winchesterfitclub.co.uk/

Race Calendar

The race calendar is now stored here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/race-calendar-2019-and-beyond.html

Training Kit

The method of ordering training kit will be changing shortly with it all being available through the main website...watch this space!

Monday 20 January 2020

WFC Runners - parkrun touring, Stubbington and Maverick write-ups, challenge week 2

News

No races this weekend just gone, so instead we look forward to the Romsey 5 next Sunday where we have a number of Fit Clubbers attending. This 5 mile race is set at Broadlands estate and is a multi-lap route. Look out for run reports in a couple of weeks!

This week also saw Coach James adding more technical coaching elements into the Thursday session at Courtaney Rd. Despite rain of biblical proportions we had 27 runners braving the elements for some sprint coaching. The session was focussed on three key principles; Standing tall, high knees and arms driving backwards. Over the next weeks and months the coaches will be introducing more of these key principles to help the runners focus on technique with a view to running more efficiently.

parkrun 18th January

With Winchester parkrun cancelled this week the Fit Club runners went on tour! This week we had 23 registered Fit Clubbers at 9 different parkrun venues.

We had Trish, MC and Fran at Basingstoke, Jenny, Katie and Steve at Southampton, Glenna, Anne and Elise at Whiteley, James at Nonsuch, Alf and Alfie at Netley Abbey, Jo at Yeovil Montacute, Sheelagh at Crosby, Matt at Littlehampton Prom and Mike, Anna, Alice, Andy, Kathy, Graeme, Lucy and Stefan all at Rushmoor!

There were plenty of achievements today as well! Sheelagh ran a course PB of 29:51 at Crosby. Jenny ran a lifetime PB of 21:51 and Katie ran a course PB of 24:28, both at Southampton. Alfie also bagged a course PB of 26:47 at Netley Abbey! Congratulations to you all.

Thank you to everyone who ran and volunteered.

Here is a link to the consolidated club report: https://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2020-01-18

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!

Race Reports

Maverick Addidas Terrex New Forest by Sarah Geddes

For my first running event of 2020 I chose the Maverick Adidas Terrex Original New Forest. Starting at Holmsley campsite, Burley Just a 40 minute drive from Winchester. I love this part of Hampshire, as soon as you turn off the A31 into the forest the views are beautiful.

There was a choice of three distances 6K, 17K and 24K and I did the middle route.

A really well organised event with a very friendly atmosphere. I don’t think I have ever seen so many dogs running it was a bit like being at Crufts at the beginning. There were over 600 runners, apparently making it their biggest event yet.

The start of the race was a bit hectic with so many dogs sliding around in the mud but we then hit more open space. I had been avoiding puddles initially but soon got to a stream that you had to wade through up to the knees, so you just had to go for it. It was a really varied route with beautiful fir trees and ferns to open plains. The trails were gravelly and very wet and muddy after 3 months of rain. I found it challenging but really rewarding and will definitely do it again next year.

It was good to see fellow fit clubber Al Jury at the end for a celebratory beer. A great way to start the New Year.

Stubbington 10km by Alex Humber

Stubbington 10k – first race of the year! Normal arrival protocols were applied; toilet facilities were immediately scrutinised and to many the portaloo option was promptly rejected. I overheard secretive talks determining the location of that prized internal toilet with a short queue; I passed on this intel to my eager comrades. I settled for some intimate interactions in the men’s porta-urinal.

Stubbington was setting the bar high for the year’s races with a quite impressive selection of cakes available at registration. Yes, you read this correctly, at registration. I wonder how much of our influence was at work here?

Whilst we marvelled at our magnificent new WFCRC tops, discussions over breakfast choices revealed some approaches were more considered than others. Most were fairly conservative; I was at that end of the spectrum having the hipster sensation that is overnight oats and dried fruits. Others with me at that end had porridge, fruit, toast, etc. But to my knowledge at least one WFCRC runner started the race having eaten only a chocolate brownie that morning (#highfive).

From the start line the route filtered out of suburbia along some pleasant country lanes between fields and woodland, then down to Titchfield Nature Reserve and along a section of Hill Head beach. I got an uninvited yet refreshing dousing of the Solent’s finest seawater that crash over the sea wall.
Yet much more than the route or anything else, this race was notable for its support. The crowd was highly encouraging, although clear favouritism for local clubs. One vocal chap chanted "Go Stubbies, go Gosport, go Fareham, go… unaffiliated runner" as I jogged past; as yet no mention of Winchester. Something to work on for next year! I pondered the psychology behind one person’s ‘supportive’ approach who proclaimed "I can only apologise for the weather, the sunshine, the views", as some sort of inverse sarcasm.
The real support that really mattered was from fellow WFRC runners. Not being a front running finisher I had the genuine pleasure of a huge hoard of our team in full spirit and voice on the approach to the finish. This massive boost, which was brilliantly caught on camera, remains the highlight for me and encouraged a hearty sprint to the finish.
Stubbington 10km by Sharon Smith

I thought about giving away my Stubbington place many, many times in the weeks running up to it. I had entered after enjoying last year’s run and optimistic for another PB. Unfortunately my fitness nose-dived during the autumn doing very little except C25k. I thought advent running would sort me out but had to give that up when a nasty chest infection hit and I could barely breathe let alone run.

Eventually I decided that running a slow 10k was probably still better than not running at all and I would just see how I got on. Plus it was a morning away from kids with a car full of snacks!

When we got to race HQ in the morning it was busy but well organised and we picked up our numbers swiftly. It was great seeing so many fit clubbers around in their new kit. After the obligatory queue for the loo we managed an almost complete team shot before heading for the start line. It was a chilly morning but dry and bright, perfect running conditions.
The race started well enough, I probably started off too fast but was feeling good so went with it. There's a pretty steep hill around 2.5km in and although I managed it ok, I was struggling to try and increase my pace on the following downhills.

I really like the Stubbington route, it takes you out of the town through some country roads and then along by the seafront. There's a good number of marshals who are all really supportive and it has a friendly feel about it. The hill leading up away from the seafront nearly killed me but a lady running nearby was reliably informing everyone it was the last one. We'd passed the 7km marker then so the end was nearly in sight. Coming up to the finish I looked out for the rest of the club who I assumed would be in a similar place to last year. It was really great to see everyone and it definitely spurred me on for the final sprint to the finish line.
It was a so-so race for me, I found it hard and finished 2 minutes slower than last year but managed to sneak in under the hour which was my target. What really made it was seeing everyone together in their new kit and being able to enjoy their success. Maybe next year...

Stubbington 10km by Ali Longman

The Stubbington 10km was the first proper run event I have taken part in around four years. Without my usual triathlon swim and cycle to hide behind and a months worth of indulgence I definitely approached the race with some trepidation and at different times considered pulling out in the run up to it. But the knowledge that so many fitclubbers would be joining me definitely made me decide to try and enjoy it and use it as a benchmark to see where I am at the start of the year.

Alex and Eve picked me up bright and early in the morning and despite the recent terrible weather it was a fresh and sunny day! Arriving at the sports hall to collect race numbers was fairly hectic and I suddenly realised what a big event this was. I felt although it was busy the organisers did a good job of keeping everything moving and we really didn’t have to wait too long for anything. Before I knew it we all walking en mass to the start line.

My race plan was to take it out really steady as I hadn’t done much distance training recently and then see how I felt later. With my new aftershocks headphones I started the race determined to enjoy the experience of running in a crowd on such a bright morning. I quickly realised that my pace was much faster than I was expecting it to be but I felt really good so cruised on. There were a few more hills than I had been led to believe along the course but they didn’t seem to bother me too much and the kilometres gradually ticked by.

Around the 7km mark I started to feel some tiredness creep in and I could feel my cheeks glowing bright red from the effort I had been putting in, but it was also around this point that we got to the sea front and I decided to focus on the great views around me instead. By kilometre 8 I decided to allow myself to slow down for this kilometre and pick it back up for the last one, but despite dropping the effort slightly I was still running at the pace I had initially planned to for the whole race! The last kilometres felt tough as my lack of longer distance training showed and I also didn’t really feel I could up the pace again and so instead I waited for the final 400m to push to finish line.

As I came round the final corner to the finish chute I saw the crowd of Winchester Fitclub runners all gathered cheering me onto the end. Crossing the line I struggled for deep breaths after my fast finish and then glanced down at my watch to see I had managed to go under 54 minutes, much faster than I had anticipated even in my ‘best case’ scenario.

I joined everyone else to cheer the remaining runners in and it was great to hear from so many other runners who had had good runs and achieved great times. I am so pleased I did take part in the event in the end as not only was it a really fun morning, but it also gave me a big boost for what I want to achieve with my running this year.

Challenge - Week 2

With terrible weather the challenge has started to take its toll with more wildcards being played and a few targets having been missed. Despite all that a large proportion have still maintained their 100% start, however there is a long way to go

Weeks 1-4 are all about getting into good habits with targets set for the number of runs an individual will do each week. Points are awarded based on the percentage of runs you complete towards that target, with a maximum of 100 points per week. As expected the majority of runners hit their targets for the first week, with 2 runners playing their wild cards.

Full tables will be published from week 3.

General Announcements

WFC Running Club Calendar

Dates for your diary:

23rd Jan - Abbey Gardens
30th Jan - Dean Lane Park
6th Feb - Abbey Gardens
13th Feb - South Winchester P&R
20th Feb - Dean Lane Park
27th Feb - Abbey Gardens

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/Sally-Boyden

WFC parkrun Club

WFC Runners WhatsApp Group

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

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 through the Fit Club website: http://www.winchesterfitclub.co.uk/

Race Calendar

The race calendar is now stored here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/race-calendar-2019-and-beyond.html

Training Kit

The method of ordering training kit will be changing shortly with it all being available through the main website...watch this space!

Monday 13 January 2020

WFC Runners - Stubbington, Maverick, CiRF, challenge week 1, parkrun

News

This week saw the start of the winter/spring race season with runners flocking to one of the club's favourite races; the Stubbington 10km. It was also an excellent opportunity for thE new club kit to get it's first official outing and I think you can all agree that it looks AMAZING!!

In excellent conditions there were some amazing performances...

Alex - 57:47
Alice - 46:03 - PB
Allen - 39:17 - PB
Sarah R - 50:38 - PB
Simon R - 47:23 - PB
Sarah L - 56:40
Sharon - 59:31
Matt - 47:33 - PB
Stefan - 41:48 - PB
Lucy G - 51:12 - PB
Kathy - 58:20 - PB
Catherine W - 50:43 - Course PB
Anne - 1:06:25
Elise - 49:31 - PB
Mike - 42:28 - PB
Anna - 46:27 - PB
Lynn - 49:15
Ali - 53:56 - PB
Glenna - 1:03:37
Fran - 1:10:34
Ben - 50:42
Shelley - 50:02 - PB
Eve - 49:40 - PB
Alf - 52:19 - Course PB
Trish - 57:53 - PB

Well done everyone and thank you for representing the club so fantastically.

I would also like to thank Graeme for being the chief supporter and team photographer on the day.

In addition to the racing on Sunday we also had Sarah and Alistair running the Maverick Adidas Terrex Original New Forest race. This race described as:

"All three New Forest routes start in the Holmsley inclosure, with the short route remaining inside the boundary of the inclosure for its length. The medium and long routes snake into and around the Brownhill and Wilverly inclosures, where out on the grassy plains you are bound to see some of the local wildlife. Amongst a mix of trees that are, young and old evergreen and deciduous, the trails will take you on a tour through the beating heart of the Forest. Bats tend to roost in the broadleaved trees and thick young conifers provide shelter for deer, so keep your eyes peeled.

With the trails being moderately smooth and generally covered with a gravel surface, the three New Forest routes are suitable for all level of Trail Runner. But beware, the trails can and do get wet and muddy, and don’t be fooled there are certainly some short, steep slopes hidden amongst the flora and fauna."

Sarah and Al both did the medium course (roughly 10 miles) and their times were as follows:

Sarah - 1:50:39
Al - 1:46:51

Superb running both of you! Look out for Sarah's write-up in next week's blog!

parkrun 11th January

This week we had 22 registered Fit Clubbers at 5 different parkrun venues.

We had 16 at Winchester, Alice and Issy at Salisbury, Matt at Mole Valley, Glenna and Dave at Homewood and Pav at Whiteley!

No PBs this week but I’d like to congratulate Dawn for running her first ever parkrun and everyone who ran. Thank you also to everyone who volunteered.

Here is a link to the consolidated club report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2020-01-11

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!

Coach in Running Fitness

This weekend coach James started the Coach in Running Fitness course with England Athletics. This is a 4 day course over a 6 month period which includes extensive course work and assessment days. this represents a considerable investment by the club and is part of our commitment to you to improve the quality and range of training we are able to offer you.

The course looks in detail at running technique (for both speed and endurance), learning how to evaluate technique, identify issues and inefficiencies, plan a course of action to improve and put that plan into action.

It looks at goal setting, objectives, outcome and process goals and how to start constructing development/training plans. It also looks at warm-ups, cool downs, flexibility and injury prevention.

Whilst the course focussed on individual technique they gave guidance around how to teach effective technique for larger groups.

You wont be seeing any major changes in the sessions you know and love, but there will be small changes coming in over the next few months to help reinforce good technique and running form.

Challenge - Week 1

This week saw the conclusion of the first week of this year's 12 week challenge. This year we have a record 46 participants, all eager to focus on their training and make some early year gains.

General Announcements

WFC Running Club Calendar

Dates for your diary:

16th Jan - River Park Leisure Centre
20th Jan - Track Session, Bar End Track
23rd Jan - Abbey Gardens
30th Jan - Dean Lane Park
6th Feb - Abbey Gardens
13th Feb - South Winchester P&R
20th Feb - Dean Lane Park
27th Feb - Abbey Gardens

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/Sally-Boyden

WFC parkrun Club

WFC Runners WhatsApp Group

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

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 through the Fit Club website: http://www.winchesterfitclub.co.uk/

Race Calendar

The race calendar is now stored here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/race-calendar-2019-and-beyond.html

Training Kit

The method of ordering training kit will be changing shortly with it all being available through the main website...watch this space!