Club news - 16/03/19
Very busy in SHAEF quarters right now. See below for more details, but here are some upcoming dates for the diary:
Main SHAEF club group run: 4th April
Green Belt Relay: 18-19th May
AGM: 23rd May
Night of the 10,000 pbs: 6th July
On the running front, many members took part in the big half last weekend. Despite the windy conditions there were numerous excellent performances; well done all! Lots of those who didn’t take part in the big half made it down to the big tree in Bushy for 9am and Not The London Marathon. There were around 50 people in total doing anything between 1 and 7 laps keeping each other company and encouraging those on long runs despite the wind. More hay in the barn for those training towards a marathon!
Prior to that, several of us took part in the SHAEF memorial run from central London out to Bushy Park to recognise 75 years since it was established. Thanks to Rodney for organising.
Lots more events coming up soon; there’ll be good turnout at the likes of Kingston Breakfast run (8/16 miles), Ranelagh Half, Staines 10k, Battersea 10k, Maidenhead 10 miles and Turks Head 10k. Best of luck to all and especially those of you racing for a time! The Shield will be up for grabs! If you haven’t yet got your name down for one or more of them, then what are you waiting for…
Further ahead, with several racing London Marathon we will be co-ordinating some on-course support for those not running on the day. Banners at the ready! There are also a number of people heading off to watch the Night of the 10,000 pbs on 6th July. Put that in the diary if you are interested in watching and mingling. Given the IAAF Diamond League changes proposed you might not get to watch many more races of this distance in the future!
Another date for the diary is 23rd May, when the club AGM will take place. Look forward to seeing as many club members down as possible on the night to recap on the first full year of the club and also look ahead to 2019-20 plans. Full agenda to be shared beforehand. As the year comes to an end, memberships need to be renewed both for the club with EA and individually for each of us. Membership prices will remain unchanged, £10 for club only plus £15 for EA membership. Owen and Louise are working through the logistics for payments as I type and we’ll confirm ASAP.
Several of you have been asking about plans for the Green Belt Relay. There will be another separate communication out on this to firstly get numbers interested and then to settle on a team. We have one team entry for 11 runners, plus drivers, and ideally all 11 will commit to the full weekend. Estimated cost is £60-70. Final 11 will be decided on active club membership and full weekend participation. If we are oversubscribed (hopefully the case…) places will then be drawn randomly. We will also need reserves on standby, based on experience of late injuries and drop outs. We are entering to try and have the most fun possible and show the club colours off. Speed is not a factor in picking the team but enthusiasm is!
Kit orders are available direct online, and it has been great to see so many out wearing them lately. As a result of the size of the initial order, we were able to secure some additional club vests. If anyone is looking to buy a vest please reach out to Owen who should be able to sort you out with one of these, with the money all going back into club funds and you saving on postage. Win-win!
At the club committee meeting this week we also agreed to reinforce that the first Thursday of the month is the main club group run from Teddington Gate. The next one of these is 4th April so please put that in the diary too and hopefully see a good turnout. With winter weather, dark nights and targeted training numbers have dropped and keen to boost again.
Lastly, we also want to reemphasize the use of Slack as the primary means of communication amongst club members, especially for racing and training. There are several members not in the WhatsApp group and they miss out on things discussed and organised using this medium. Please try and stick to this, and discussions and kitkats and yorkies can remain in WhatsApp.
Until next time,
Ian.