Walking – Val / 12 min – Amel/ 10 min – Hugh/ 9 min – Chris P / 8 min – Hannah / 7 min – Ben
Tea Rota
17/11- Sam Prescott / 24/11 – Paul Saville / 01/12 – James Marshall / 08/12 – Mike Bennewitz / 15/12 – Xmas do. No tea.
Bulletin Goes Monthly
From now on the full Bulletin will be monthly. We will continue to send out a short e-mail with just the names of run leaders and tea rota for the following week. The next full Bulletin will be the beginning of December
13/11/22
Race report written by George Evans
It’s wet and cold so it must be cross country season again! The first race of the 2022-23 series took place at a damp, windy, yet beautifully autumnal, Cirencester Park. Despite the recent heavy rain, ground conditions were an improvement on 2021 making for a faster course.
Thornbury fielded a slightly leaner turnout than 2021…perhaps because Jo Plumbley couldn’t make it, so everyone knew we’d be down on cakes.
Holding up the women’s team was Hannah Hamilton finishing in a very respectable 80th position (field of 192) with a time of 34.20.
He has more records than the KGB and Nick Langridge didn’t disappoint at Cirencester, finishing 109th in the combined Ladies and +MV65 race…only narrowly missing out on age adjusted 1st position by 3 seconds!!
The men’s race saw a field of 208 (and a lot of them looked like they could run). Top 3 from Thornbury were led in by Ben Bohane finishing in 48th (41.20) followed by Andy Wilson in 68th (42.38) and David Hobbs 83rd overall and 6th in age category (43.32). Conner Vidal-Cocker notched up a very respectable first cross-country race in 101st place with a very respectable time of 45.22.
Sweeping up the rear for Thornbury was George Evans (107th in 45:46) and a “pretty much straight off the operating table†Jim Godden (137th in 48:22). Given his only very recent return to training, Jim was looking very strong and finished 4th overall in his age category. This season see’s Jim entering the next age category (undisclosed) and based on this performance I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more age adjusted podium positions this season….no pressure Jim 😉
Walking – Val / 12 min – Nigel/ 10 min – Arthur/ 9 min – Ashleigh / 8 min – Mel / 7 min – Rob
Tea Rota
10/11 – Hugh McPherson / 17/11- Sam Prescott / 24/11 – Paul Saville / 01/12 – James Marshall
What’s On …
Important Changes this week
From next Thursday (10th November) we will go back to meeting inside ready for 7:00 pm, and not meet in the car park. We will now meet in the Severnside Suite (1st floor TLC Conference area) accessible via the Conference Centre doors (opposite car park steps). We will have brief announcements before going for a run, and you can leave your bag in the room. If you have anything you would like announced please e-mail captain@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk with the details before the night, as this will help keep announcements short and get us running asap. Post run tea and chat in the Severnside Suite. Please leave your wet/muddy shoes at the top of the stairs outside the room as the room is carpeted.
This is the last Weekly Bulletin, as from now on the Bulletin will be monthly. We will continue to send out a short e-mail with just the names of run leaders and tea rota for the following week. We will make announcements and recognise run achievements before we run in the Severnside Suite and use the WhatsApp groups as necessary. The next Bulletin will be the beginning of December
We are back at WISE track for Tuesday coaching on 8th November at 7:00. All the updates to the venue have been made so we can now get back to some track training on 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. Hannah is leading the session on 8th.
Each year the Club receives one London Marathon place to award to a Club member. To be eligible for consideration you need to have tried to enter the 2023 event and been rejected. If you would like to apply for the Club place please read the eligibility rules here. Any Club Member who wishes to be considered for a Club place must provide the Club Secretary secretary@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk, by 30th November with (a) A copy of their London Marathon rejection letter/e-mail following the ballot as proof of failed entry (b) Answers to the 8 criteria listed under ‘Procedure’. The winner will be announced on Thursday 15th December at the Xmas Lights Run & Food.
So far only 9 volunteers. The Riverbank Rollick has become well recognised by the participants as an event with friendly marshals! – “Thank you Thornbury Running Club, you raise the bar very high, if there were “Oscars†for races you’ll win by a landslide in all categories! Amazing effort everybody!â€. The club organises three events each year from which we hope to make a profit. To deliver these events successfully and safely we need a lot of club members to step forward and marshal. The profits allows us to fund ‘Run & Rehydrate’, ‘Xmas Light Run’ food, pay individuals cross country entry fees, discount on T-shirts, EA membership subsidy etc. Your help makes all this possible. THANK YOU in advance for volunteering to help with the Riverbank Rollick. Volunteer here.
Do you have a company notice board? Anyone work at Airbus, RR, BAe etc? Do you have friends who run? Then we need your help please. Your personal recommendation and word of mouth is very powerful. Please help promote our race series by telling everyone you know and if you need a poster for your Company notice board, please contact captain@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
We have 178 entrants for the Rollick, 51 for the June 2023 Thornbury 10k and 49 for the September 2023 Oldbury 10 mile. Most events are struggling to get entrants post COVID and we need to work harder to get entrants. For Oldbury 2022 10 miles we didn’t get enough entries and made a financial loss. We are using Facebook, Instagram, directly contacting Clubs, e-mailing past runners (2,000), posters and race event noticeboards etc to get entrants. All info at https://thornburyrc.fullonsport.com/event/search Any question please contact events@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
Its nearly time again for the annual Club Xmas lights run and food on Thursday 15th December. Once again we will meet at Thornbury Cricket Club (The Clubhouse, The Ship Field, Thornbury Rd, Bristol BS35 3LG) for the run and food. Chief Elf Steve will be selecting an Xmas lights filled route around the area. Please can you let us know if you plan to attend and please also tell us about any specific dietary requirements you may have so we can make sure we get the catering right. Count me in. We need to know by 8th December latest. Please note that the Club will be paying for food only, not drinks. We understand that things change. If you sign up and then find you cannot attend, please e-mail captain@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk as soon as possible to let us know. Otherwise, the club ends up paying for your food. Thank you.
After round 5 of the PMC, Stroud Half, Phil Blackburn has a narrow lead over Paul Harrod with Chris Foley creeping up in the men’s competition. In the men’s age adjusted Nick Langridge is just ahead of Chris Foley with Paul Harrod chasing. In the lady’s competition we only have 5 entrants. Hannah Hamilton has a convincing lead over the rest of the competitors in both competitions. All results here.
06/11/22
Walking – Val / 12 min – Caron/ 10 min – Ellen/ 9 min – Kev C / 8 min –Kevin W / 7 min – Nick W
Tea Rota
3/11 – Carol Mosses / 10/11 – Hugh McPherson / 17/11- Sam Prescott / 24/11 – Paul Saville
We have moved our meeting room for Tea to the Severnside Suite on the 1st floor of the Leisure Centre Conference area. We can use the main Conference Centre doors (opposite the steps from the car park) Otherwise you have to walk through the main building past the stairs to the old room. As the Severnside Suite is a carpeted room please leave your wet/muddy shoes at the top of the stairs outside of the room.
What’s On …
The Riverbank Rollick has become well recognised by the participants as an event with friendly marshals! – “Thank you Thornbury Running Club, you raise the bar very high, if there were “Oscars†for races you’ll win by a landslide in all categories! Amazing effort everybody!â€. The club organises three events each year from which we hope to make a profit. To deliver these events successfully and safely we need a lot of club members to step forward and marshal. The profits allows us to fund ‘Run & Rehydrate’, ‘Xmas Light Run’ food, pay individuals cross country entry fees, % on T-shirts, EA membership subsidy etc. Your help makes all this possible. THANK YOU in advance for volunteering to help with the Riverbank Rollick. Volunteer here. If you would like to help with the event organisation, please contact Jo Emerson or Arthur Renshaw (07810 300025).
So far we have 152 entrants to the Rollick, 43 for the June 2023 Thornbury 10k and 42 for the September 2023 Oldbury 10 mile. Most events are struggling to get entrants post COVID and we need to work harder to get entrants. For Oldbury 2022 10 miles we didn’t get enough entries and made a financial loss. We are using Facebook, Instagram, directly contacting Clubs, e-mailing past runners (2,000), posters, putting the event on race event noticeboards etc to get entrants. Your personal recommendation and word of mouth is very powerful. Please help promote our race series by telling everyone you know. All info at https://thornburyrc.fullonsport.com/event/search Any question please contact events@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
XC is back. All info regarding the events is delivered via the WhatsApp group. If you would like to be added to that group please ask XC captains Hannah or Jim G. Not sure if you are on that group (!), if you didn’t get a message about entry payments this week you are not on it.
Some of our older members may remember Tom who was a member for many years during the 1990’s. Unfortunately Tom had been suffering from cancer for a lengthy period and he finally passed away last week.
30/10/22
During September and early October, the amazing Chris Foley has turned up at just about every major road race in the calendar to string together an incredible series of results.
When combined with his training efforts, he has surely run 500 miles. Considering the Proclaimers only walked it, and even then had plenty of Irn Bru breaks on route, Chris’ is surely the superior feat of endurance. Although walking/running 500 miles is losing its cachet as the ultimate romantic gesture. I offered to do it for my wife, but she said she’d prefer it if I just loaded the dishwasher and took the bins out once in a while.
I’ve already reported on Chris’ excellent effort at the Great North Run, with a run well inside two hours for the Half, and just missing out on a top-10 age-category finish.
Yet that was just a mere warm-up for the main event, the London Marathon, the capo de tutti capi of all road races. Chris completed the demanding 26.2 miles in under four and a half hours and flew the TRC flag alongside the wonderful Hannah Hamilton. Hannah was the deserved recipient of the club’s guaranteed marathon entry this year, and she made the most of it, and should be absolutely delighted with her sub 3hrs 30 min run which demonstrated just how well her training plan came together for the big day.
The lactate was still stiffening the sinews when Chris dusted off the daps and turned out on the streets of Bath for the long-anticipated and much-rearranged half marathon. A mere fortnight after London, Chris ran a brilliant 1 hr 55 minutes to beat his time set in Gateshead. Roger Glew also ran at Bath and should be very pleased with his 1 hr 51 minutes, which is a good two minutes quicker than his time at Bristol the previous month. The fastest TRC performance of the day went to George Evans – the Kington Kipchoge – who also improved on his Bristol performance with a brilliant 1 hr 23 mins 31 secs. This was an average pace, per mile, of 6 mins 22 secs.
However, Chris wasn’t done yet, and just seven days later, turned up at Stroud for what was, by all accounts, a foul day with howling wind and lashing rain. Yet Chris ran 1 hr 51 minutes to slice another sizeable slab of time off his effort of the week before. So there you have it, boys and girls, forget resting and tapering and carefully scheduling your efforts – just run marathons and half-marathons every week and you’ll get faster and faster! Until you get injured of course, but hey, this isn’t a coaching column!
The Stroud Half was the latest in the Pete Mainstone Challenge series, and aside from Chris’ heroics, there were some other excellent performances from Thornbury members. Nick Langridge was the fastest TRC runner on the day, running 1 hr 39 minutes, which for his age-category equates to an 81% score. It goes without saying that he was the winner in the category too. Nick is looking strong favourite to retain the overall race-series title he won last year.
Jo Plumbley was the only Thornbury lady to take part, and she ran an excellent 1hr 44. Not many of our ladies’ team have taken part in the PM Challenge this year, but with several races to go it looks like it could still be a very close contest to see who secures the title. Richard Jackson is improving all the time and he ran a fabulous 1hr 40 minutes; all the more impressive considering the conditions. Hugh McPherson was just outside the 2 hr mark but would still have finished high up in his age category.
Walking – Val / 12 min – Carol/ 10 min – Jim W/ 9 min – Kevin W / 8 min – Hannah / 7 min – Ben
All runs now require Hi-viz and head torches.
Tea Rota
27/10 – Leighton Prescott / 3/11 – Carol Mosses / 10/11 – Hugh McPherson / 17/11- Sam Prescott / 24/11 – Paul Saville / 01/12- James Marshall
What’s On …
Entries for the Club’s 2023 Race Series have been open 4 weeks now. We typically need about 170 runners to break even from an event. For the last event, Oldbury 10 miles, we did not reach this number. Personal recommendation and word of mouth is very powerful. Please help promote our race series by telling everyone you know. All info at https://thornburyrc.fullonsport.com/event/search Any question please contact events@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
https://www.entrycentral.com/glosxcleague1The dates and venues for the Gloucestershire Cross Country League 2022/23 season are: First round Cirencester Park Sat 5th Nov
Click here to go to the entrycentral.com entry page for the first round.
12.30 U17 Men and Women/U20 Women/Senior Women/Masters/ Men over 65 (6.5k)
13.30 U20 Men/ Senior Men/Masters (9.5k)
We are looking for volunteers to be part off the TRC Group that organises the Rollick in January. Anybody interested in helping organise please contact Jo Emerson or Arthur Renshaw (07810 300025) in the next week or so.
Next week we will be starting to look for volunteers to help on the day – we need about 80 volunteers in order to run the event on the day so if you can, please put your name down to help.
24/10/22
Walking – Val / 12 min – Amel/ 10 min – Suzy/ 9 min – Jim W / 8 min – Lizzie / 7 min – Rob
All runs now require Hi-viz and head torches.
Tea Rota
20/10 – Ellen Perrett / 27/10 – Leighton Prescott / 3/11 – tba
We need more volunteers to help with Tea and biscuits on a Thursday night – please see Arthur Renshaw
What’s On …
A reminder that in addition to the Tuesday Coaching Group that meet at the track or Aztec West there are three other small Groups on a Tuesday:
Entries for the Club’s 2023 Race Series have been open 3 weeks now. We typically need about 170 runners to break even from an event. For the last event, Oldbury 10 miles, we did not reach this number. Personal recommendation and word of mouth is very powerful. Please help promote our race series by telling everyone you know. All info at https://thornburyrc.fullonsport.com/event/search Any question please contact events@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
Captain Kevin Wood is away in Japan until the end of the month.
16/10/22
Thursday Club Night Leaders (new)
Walking – Val / 12 min – Nigel / 10 min – Arthur / 9 min – Chris / 8 min – Mel / 7 min – Nick
All runs now require hi-viz and head torches.
Tea Rota
13/10 – Steve Dimond / 20/10 – Ellen Perrett / 27/10 – Leighton Prescott
What’s On …
In addition to the Tuesday Coaching Group that meet at the track or Aztec West there are three other small Groups on a Tuesday:
If you are on the TRC Tues Coaching WhatsApp group you will have already seen this message – Thank you for your votes on track night. The clear preference was Tuesday at 19:00. Due to yet more delays in WISE building program our restart date has been put back to Tues 8th November. We will meet at WISE on 2nd & 4th Tuesday at 7:00 and all other Tuesdays at 7:30 (most likely Aztec in the winter). We will confirm each Tuesday morning, via the TRC Tuesday Coaching WhatsApp group, the time & place. We will continue to look at other options.
We have buff, bottles and shoe bags available for purchase at £1.50 per item. How can you resist such a tempting offer? This fine array of wares is from our 2022 race series collection and will make you the envy of the running community. Contact Carol kit@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
Entries for the Club’s 3 event race series for 2023 are now open. Please help by telling everyone you know, as word of mouth is super helpful in getting more entries. More entries means more income, which means more for club activities and being able to keep the membership fee unchanged. All info at https://thornburyrc.fullonsport.com/event/search Any question please contact events@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
A new cohort of 16 beginners started their 9 weeks of sessions on Wednesday 5/10. Thank you to Carol and Natalie for organising the sessions and to all the supports Paul H, Hugh, Amel, Arthur, Carol, Mark, Natalie. Emma P and Chris P for helping during the 9 weeks. Nice feedback after weeks 1 “I found yesterday a great experience – having never run in a group beforeâ€.
09/10/22
Walking – Val / 5k – Caron / 10 min – Hugh / 9 min – Kev C / 8 min – Kevin W / 7 min – Ben
All runs now require hi-viz and head torches.
Tea Rota
6/10 – Arthur Renshaw / 13/10 – Steve Dimond / 20/10 – Ellen Perrett
We need more volunteers to help with Tea and biscuits on a Thursday night – please see Arthur Renshaw
What’s On …
We have also linked the three events into a series and are offering a discount for entering the series, along with an overall series prize. Please can you help in two ways to make these events successful and safe:
Any question please contact events@thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
2. Xmas Lights Run & Food
You may notice in the ‘What’s On Section above that the date for the Xmas Lights Run & Food is now Thursday 15th December. Please put the date in your diary and we will ask about numbers and dietary needs in November.
3. Olveston Fun Run
This is a great local community event and an opportunity to publicise the club. Entry available here. Olveston Fun Run is on Sunday 9th October in support of Olveston School. There is a 5k off road run and a 1k run for younger children. It would be terrific to see a good turnout from the club in club kit.
4. Track Time
Those on the ‘TRC Tues Coaching’ WhatsApp group will be aware that, on the nights we go to the track, we will meet at 7:00 and not 7:30. When not at the track we will continue to meet at 7:30. Dates, times and locations are shown in the ‘What’s On’ section above and will be sent out Tuesday morning to the WhatsApp group. We are looking to find another solution and will let you know the options via the WhatsApp group soon.
5. Parkrun of the Month
The date for the November parkrun of the month at Berkeley Green has been moved to November 12th, so as not to clash with XC.
02/10/22
Walking – Val / 5k – Nigel / 10 min – Ellen / 9 min – TBA / 8 min – Kevin / 7 min – Nick
All runs now require hi-viz and the wearing and use of head torches. Leaders have the right to ask you not to run with the group if you are not prepared to run in the dark safely. This is for your own safety, the groups safety and the reputation of the Club. Thank you
Tea Rota
29/9 – Jerry Clothier / 6/10 – Arthur Renshaw / 13/10 – Steve Dimond
We need more volunteers to help with Tea and biscuits on a Thursday night – please see Arthur Renshaw
What’s On …
2. Back on Track 11/10
Great news! From 11th October we will be back at WISE track. We will be at the track on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm. Details are always sent out on the ‘TRC Tues Coaching’ WhatsApp group. If you would like to be added to this WhatsApp group please contact Hannah, Nick W or Kevin W.
5. Fun Palaces – Message from Nick W
We have agreed to host a running session at the Thornbury Fun Palace event on Saturday 1st October at 10:00 am on Mundy Playing Fields . The session will adopt the format of a standard Tuesday interval session, albeit the efforts will be replaced with some more basic fun running shuttles aimed at being all-inclusive, rather than ‘hard’ efforts. This is an opportunity to showcase what our club provides to the local community, whilst also demonstrating that running can be ‘fun’ rather than simply slogging your guts out, which to many may seems like just too much hard work! Nick will be coordinating the event, but could do with a couple of additional volunteers if anybody would like to help out. The running session will only last between 45-60 minutes and ideally will be held soon after 10am to make the most of the parkrun crowd. If you are interested in helping out, then please contact Nick on 07745133524.
24/09/22