South Gloucestershire remains in Tier3 and this will be reviewed and any changes will be announced in two weeks on Wednesday 30th December.

Sport and physical activity in Tier 2 or 3
In line with guidance from sporting national governing bodies, you can take part in organised sport and physical activity outdoors with any number of people. However, you should avoid contact in training and, for some sports, avoid contact in all activities. Read the guidance on what this means for your sport.
Gyms and sports facilities will be open for individual exercise and exercise in single households or support bubbles only. Indoor group activities and exercise classes should not take place.
You can continue to do unlimited exercise alone, or in an outdoor public place in groups up to 6.
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A few weeks ago, your Committee unanimously agreed that whilst we could legally recommence the Group runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays we should hold off whilst we are in Tier3. However we did make an exception for the Xmas lights run last night on 17th Dec which was enjoyed by quite a number of Groups (of up to 6) starting at different times and places around Thornbury and all running around the 6ish mile route to see the best of the lights. Eastland Road had the most lights on a single house, Chatsworth Park was the most stylish closely followed by some good displays on the new Badger Estate. Thanks primarily to Mike Bennewitz for organising the route.

The annual Wotton-Under Edge Christmas run on Sunday 20th December is now cancelled as W-U-E is in Tier2.

Note that there will be no arranged runs on Thursday 24th December or on Thursday 31st December. If we are in Tier2 after 30th December the next organised runs will be on Tuesday 5th Jan and Thursday 7th Jan.

Captain Kevin Wood is not intending to post any routes on Facebook over the Xmas and New Year period. However depending on requests and what Tier we are in in January he may start again if Members find it helpful.

1. Club Quiz Night (on Zoom) – Wednesday 16th December
For the 12 or so Teams that joined in the Quiz over Zoom on Wednesday Mark West did a great job as the Quizmaster. The ‘running related’ questions were pretty tough and the lead changed hands a number of times before Jo Emerson and Neil finally came through at the end to be the Quiz Champions.

2. England Athletics Run & Talk Programme – Champions needed
Emma Pritchard has a message for all Club Members….
A couple of weeks ago the committee approved my proposal to apply for the club to join EA’s #RunandTalk programme. #RunandTalk aims to improve mental health through running. The idea is to remove the sigma around mental health, raise awareness and provide support to anyone who needs it. Full aims can be found here: https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/our-programmes/runandtalk/

As part of the programme the club needs Mental Health Champions. These individuals will promote Mental Health awareness within the club and sign post individuals to where they can find support. Champions should have lived experience of a mental health problem, either personally or from a close relative or friend.

I will be one of the Mental Health Champions, I have found running to be a great way manage my own struggles with depression. BUT I am looking for people to join me.
https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/our-programmes/runandtalk/mental-health-champions/

If you would like to become a champion and develop the application with me or want to know more about the role, either email: e.pritchard91@yahoo.com or message me on Facebook.

3. Virtual Riverbank Rollick – January 2021 ( TRC Members are encouraged to enter)
Entries for the Virtual Rollick is live on Race Nation with full details via the Facebook Page.

https://race-nation.co.uk/register/thornbury-running-club/virtual-rollick-2021

This event is open to all TRC Members. To make sure that the spirit of the infamous ‘Rollick’ is not lost, we expect at least half of your run to be off-road and to involve an acceptable level of mud wind and water.

To this end we would encourage all participants to upload photographic evidence of rivers, dirty trainers, muddy faces or any other inspired pictures from their chosen routes on to our Facebook event page (https://fb.me/e/1Mtu7LIaX) to assure us that you have suffered appropriate and traditional levels of discomfort. All participants will receive a medal for their efforts and whilst we will NOT be providing prizes for the speediest runners, we will judge the photos received via Facebook and reward the muddiest and grubbiest accordingly.

• Run your own socially distanced 9.6 mile route
• Run any time between 1st and 31st January 2021 – go on you know you want to do it on New Years Day!
• Follow the instructions and the link emailed to you to in order to submit your elapsed time (not moving time) accompanied by a screenshot of your run from your running application of choice
• Medals will be posted during February as we collate the results and assess the photos
• Places can be transferred using the Race Nation web portal
• Entries are limited to 400 and will close when this limit is reached or at 13:00 on January 31st, whichever comes soonest
• Runs must be completed and evidence submitted before 23:59 on January 31st
This year’s event will be held in support of our two current club charities, to which we will be donating at least 50% of the proceeds. If you would like to make an additional donation, please pay their respective websites a visit:
–
‘Made a Mark’ https://madeamarkcharity.com foundation which exists to ‘make memories for bereaved children’ (This is the main TRC Charity for 2021) and
‘CALM’ https://www.thecalmzone.net in memory of Thornbury Running Club member Liam Jones

4. Events Diary TRC Diary 2020-21

Many of our Members are missing competing in races and the opportunities to enter real races are limited. However if you look hard enough there are still quite a lot of real races out there – attached this week is a list of 31 ‘local’ events over the next few months. We will aim to keep this list updated on a regular basis.

Most of these events are listed by one of the 3 organisations referenced at the foot of the list. The assumption is that if the event is listed on RunBritain or Time Outdoors or DBMax the event has been Licenced and will go ahead as per the dates given in a Covid secure environment.

If you wish to look further afield or into later next year then go to the organisation’s lists directly by copying & pasting the link given into your browser.

5. TRC CoVid Running Code
As you will be running on your own or with small groups whilst we remain in Tier3 our CoVid Officer has developing a code to remind all TRC Members of best practise when out running.
As the CoVID pandemic continues unabated there is increased nervousness from other footpath users vying for the same space as ourselves. This code is to hopefully help mitigate any possible negative reaction towards runners from other users of the limited Footpaths we share around Thornbury.

1. Always run – and be seen to be running – with physical distance between runners and other members of the Group.
2. Try to avoid areas which we know will be busy with people walking. Where possible avoid single track passing places and if you find that you cannot pass with sufficient physical distance, stop and turn around, going back to a ‘safe passing place’
3. When running towards people approaching from the front
• If in a group revert to single file running (and stop talking):
• Be the first to move, creating as much physical distance as you can (i.e. not just 2m)
• Move early & move in an exaggerated way
• Smile at people/wave as you pass (no need to talk) and thank them loudly if they have moved over too, or stopped.
4. If you are approaching people from behind:
• Announce your presence and announce it in good time – don’t want until the last minute to give other footpath users the time to move if they wish.
• Again, move early and create sufficient physical distance
• Find a way which you are comfortable with to let them know you are coming (runners generally don’t carry bells!) so that we don’t startle them.
• Acknowledge them with a wave of the hand
5. If running in a Group and you stop for a break, don’t clog up the pavement to allow other users to get past.

That’s all for this week and we will keep you advised before the end of December if anything changes. Let’s hope we go down to Tier 2 after 30th December then we can restart running in Groups of 6 from the Leisure Centre Car Park in January.

If you have any events to add to the Diary or if you have anything to add or any suggestions or announcements please send by e-mail to trc@rensh.idps.co.uk

Best Wishes for Xmas and the New Year to all our Members from all of us on the Committee.

AR 18/12/20