Autumn seems to be setting in quickly but that doesn’t mean it should curtail your training! Just remember to dust your high-viz off if it’s going to get dark on your run – be safe, be seen! There are spares in the club house or if you fancy yourself a Newcastle branded jacket, please speak to Gareth or email him garethcopley@mac.com for further info.
It also means it’s getting closer to cross country season. They’re hugely enjoyable and a great way to mix with club members you don’t normally get to run with. We’re hoping for impressive turnouts at events across the country this year, whether that be at the North Staffs meets, Birmingham league or anywhere else. The majority of these races are paid for by the club so they’re completely free for you to run, just remember you need to be an England Athletics affiliated member to take part. Dates are below.
Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held at the clubhouse on Monday 9th October. This is an opportunity for you to have your say in the running of the club. If you’ve got a topic you’d like to discuss, are interested in joining the committee, or just becoming a bit more active in the day to day running of it please let us know prior to the AGM. Email me at ojclarke@outlook.com.
Recent Events
Three NSRRA races took place since the last newsletter although two were only reserve races. We had 7 careening through Trentham for the Dave Clarke 5k, 5 hardy members tackling Leek half marathon and 5 even hardier ones the South Cheshire 20 mile. All performed brilliantly over the different courses and results have been posted on Facebook.
Congratulations to Michelle Buckle, Lindsay Dixon and Carey Dyer who competed in the British Masters half marathon championships in Northampton. Newcastle (Staffs) took a clean sweep in the V40 category with Michelle claiming gold, Lindsay silver and Carey Bronze. This mean that they were also crowned V25-44 National team champions!
Two of our u/17 Men travelled to nuneaton to compete in the Midlands Track and Field Championships on the 19-20th August. Lewis Nagington came 9th in the 1500,, just missing out on his pb with a time of 4:31:81. Jacob Droogmans competed in the 300m and finished in 8th with a time of 10:20:60. Congratulations to both athletes for finishing their track seasons in the top 10 in the Midlands!
Tracey Johnson-Knowles completed her first half marathon in Wolverhampton in a time of 2:10:39 – congratulations Tracey. Wil Chung has been globetrotting around competing in obstacle races including the Wolf run in Leamington Spa and Tough Viking in Stockholm! Adrian Lucyk and Jane Holt both completed the tough Gritstone grind – a 35 mile trail ultra marathon along the gritstone trail in Cheshire.
Clothesbank Relays
We ran a race with a difference on Wednesday 30th August – the inaugural Clothesbank relays! We had 5 teams competing over 3 miles and the winning team of Ben Bewley, Martyn Davies and Mark Cooper came in with a cumulative time of 6 minutes and 50 seconds after taking all donations into account.
Upcoming Club Events
The annual Andy Webster memorial run is on the 11th September. It’s a 5k where the winner isn’t the fastest but the one that finishes closest to their predicted time. Club members only.
Ken’s chippy tea is on the 18th September – always a good turnout for a chip butty!
We are hosting our annual parkrun takeover in memory of Steve Askey on the 23rd September. If you can volunteer please speak to Mark Cooper or email him at markcooper84@gmail.com, if not please feel free to come and run in your club kit. We should be done and dusted by 10am.
The 31/29 run is on the 25th September.
We are starting to look forwards to the club’s annual pilgrimage to Conwy for the half marathon. If you’re thinking about going, I’ll be setting up a Facebook group so that hopefully we can all meet up for something to eat the day before and arrange for a club photo before the start.
Upcoming fixtures
NSRRA
- Ipstones 5 – Saturday 9th September
- St Thomas 7 – Sunday 17th September
- Congleton Half – Sunday 1st October
- Werrington 10k – Sunday 15th October
NSCCL
- Winsford – Saturday 30th September
- Park Hall – Saturday 28th October
- Stafford Common – Saturday 18th November
- Staffs Uni – Saturday 16th December
Midlands Road Relays – Saturday 23rd September
National Road Relays – Saturday 7th October
Midland Cross Country Relays – Saturday 21st October
National Cross Country Relays – Saturday 4th November
Conwy Half Marathon – Sunday 19th November
Newcastle Dales Dash – Sunday 3rd December