Stroud and District AC Newsletter

Stroud & District Athletic Club Monthly Newsletter

View this email in your browser

Stroud & District Athletic Club Newsletter

Chairmans Message

Dear <<First Name>>,

Happy New Year everyone. 2019 has started with a bang and there is a real buzz of activity around the club, on club night, at races and behind the scenes.

Martin Wood gave us the perfect end to 2018 by winning the Seven Sins Immortal Race in the Forest of Dean and we had a great turnout for the Gloucester 10-mile race where Chrissie Horak was first senior lady. The first race in the 2019 Glos AAA race series, the Linda Franks 5m, saw Mario McNamara first MV50 and Penny Howard first FV55 and another great turnout from Stroud.

There have been two Cross Country events since the last newsletter, Wotton in December and Rendcomb in January. Rendcomb hosted the County Championships where, Alan Pitt, Jane Wassell, Gwen Kinsey and Geoff Trueman all became XC County Champions in their respective age groups. (Full results are here).

We have also been well represented at the Doynton Hard Half Marathon, renowned for being marvellously muddy and hilariously hilly, the Bath Skyline races (where two of our Nov beginners were amongst the participants!) and the Gloucester Half-Marathon, Marathon and 50K races.
We are now looking forward to the various team events coming up during the year – the Midland and National Relays, the Welsh Castles and Cotswold Way Relays. These are such enjoyable events and you can read more, save the dates and join our teams here.

On 11^th Jan I was invited to the Glos AAA award ceremony to see Mario McNamara collect the 2018 Race Series MV60 award to add to his 10k County Championship, Chris Brown collect the Athletic Achievement Award on behalf of Tom Mortimer and Annie Testar the Bob Hussey Memorial Award. Great recognition for a brilliant season for all three.

Ryan Major’s Nov beginners’ group is going strong with some completing their first 5k and 10k races and we now have a second group working through the 6-week programme led by Faye Ingram, assisted by Helen Hurn and Jan Chinnick. It is great to see so many new faces enjoying their sport.

Behind the scenes the new online membership scheme has been launched and everyone should have had an invitation to log on to the system and check that your details are correct before we start to issue invitations to renew your membership. Please contact Ian Cutler if you have not seen your email.

Dates have been set for our Club races and entries will be open 30 Jan for the new Roger Briers series with its unique medals. Club members will have the opportunity to enter Frampton 10k one day earlier to beat the rush. Instructions will be emailed to you. We have also drawn up a list of races that will form the backbone for our new Club Race Series from which our annual awards will be presented.
We are also planning a Field Sports taster session on 30 March when you will be able to try your hand at Javelin, Shot Putt, Hammer at our field in Stonehouse. More details to follow.

Club kit is selling well (hoodies and beanies are now available too). Please see Helen Hurn if you would like to buy a Club vest or T-shirt as there is a new order going in shortly.

Please send me your feedback or Newsletter contributions to share your enthusiasm for running, ideas for races and running routes. If you have any favourites that you think others would enjoy, please let us all know!
We still have a vacancy for Social Secretary on the Committee. Jo Stevenson kindly organised the pre-Xmas skittles social evening which was a great success and Ian Slater is organising a Karting evening in Bristol on 15 Feb. The previous week, 8 Feb, Steve Andrew and Alison Robinson are hosting a quiz evening at Cainscross RFC – all welcome, details here. If you would like to contribute the social activities of the Club, perhaps as part of a small team, please let me know.

And finally!... the New Year is time to set your goals (or dust off the old ones and make sure they still meet your needs). Here are some tips to help:

“Little wins add up.
Small goals may seem insignificant, but can actually bring the most joy.
Write your goal down, put it somewhere you will see it every day and tell as many people as you can.
Push your comfort zone.
Jump at opportunities to try something new - even if it's daunting at first”.

Keep on running,

Jim

Nominated Club Charities for 2019

Following this January's main committee meeting we have now selectd the 3 charities that the club will support during the year. Thank you to everyone who nominated a charity to go into the hat. The charities that were successful were:

Teckels Animal Sanctuary

401 Foundation / Facebook

We will now look at how we can support these charities through our activities and races.

If you have any good ideas or would like to help out raising money for these charities please let us know.

Any money donated will be split equally at the end of the year between the 3 organisations.

New Club Membership System

You will have all received at least one email from our new system by now.
Do please log in and check your details are correct, especially those emergency contact details.
Membership renewals for 2019/20 will be sent out on February 8th with payment due by March 31st.

Sharing Success - Runner of the Month Award

After a very close vote, congratulations are due to Pete Law who won November's Runner of the Month.

Pete Law for the enthusiasm he is displaying for all aspects of being part of SADAC!

Runner of the Month Roll of Honour

2017
March - Ryan Major
April - Tom Mortimer
May - Jan Chinnick
June - Jo Fifield
July - Jo Stevenson
August - Sabrina Pace-Humphries
September - Richard Crampton
October - Alan Pitt
November - Jim Adams
December - Alastair Campbell

2018
January - Darren Jewell
February - Sharon Stevenson
March - Annie Testar
April - Sabrina Pace-Humphries
May - Lee Stopford
June - Helen Hurn
July - Mario Mcnamara
August - Bill Chandler
September - Hayley Stockwell
October - Jack Turner
November - Peter Law

2019
January - ?

Runner of the Month

Don't forget to email Jim with names for next months Runner of the Month.

The winner of this months award will be selected by a vote in this email.

In order to vote, read the nominations and then click the relevant vote button at the bottom of this section for the runner you would like to win virtual Award.

Please note you will only be able to vote once, no matter how many times you click the button.
Also if you are sharing an email address with another member of the club you can only vote once. You can contact our membership secretary to get these updated if you would like your own copy of the newsletter.

This month we will have 2 runners selected, 1 for December and 1 for January.

In no particular order the nominations are:
December Nominees:

Mike Garnett - VOTE 1

Mike Garnett,
Experienced running coach, has had most runners at club run with him at some stage of their journey, never leaves anyone behind, will always return for the slowest. Always at end of phone reading advice based on experience and his own personal achievements.

Sharon Stevenson - VOTE 2

Sharon Stevenson - She has made me feel welcome, given me so much advice and support and organises runs outside club nights. Sharon has given me my confidence back after it was knocked out at me at my previous running club. I look forward to a great future with Sharon her group and stroud athletics club

Adam Tavner - VOTE 3

Adam Tavner, a late bloomer as I can remember when I first met him he was
a confirmed couch potato(Gill T will confirm this). However, he has recently qualified for two age group triathlon world championships......what a great achievement!

For January Runners we have :

Martin Wood - VOTE 4

Martin Wood for a great 2018 culminating in 1st place at Immortal Sinner (14 miles of hills) end of December

Colin Waller - VOTE 5

I'll nominate Colin Wollah this month. He is very group focused, helps Sharon out a lot, and really puts a lot of time into encouraging and developing the newer runners. He also is a genuine caring guy who I have really found a good friend in:)

Darren Jewell - Vote 6

I would like to nominate Darren Jewell, his amazing marathons in his 40^th year and he now is giving back by being on the core volunteering team at Junior Parkrun, and is inspiring the next generation.

Alison Robinson - VOTE 7

I've gradually become aware of the fantastic marathon running of Ali Robinson recently! I gather she's now done 52!!!!! She's also very enthusiastic on the club runs in Sharon's group, helping out with the slower runners! Unstoppable!

So if you would like to take part in the voting for this months Runner of the month please click your choice below.
Mike Garnett - Vote 1
Sharon Stevenson - Vote 2
Adam Tavner - Vote 3
Martin Wood - Vote 4
Colin Waller - Vote 5
Darren Jewell - Vote 6
Alison Robinson - Vote 7

To nominate someone for next month's Runner of the Month all you have to do is email Jim the details or let him know at Club.

Club Races, Relays and Events

Our Race schedule is set out below. All club members will have received an email giving details of how to get early entry access to this years Frampton 10k. Our other club races open on Wednesday 30th @ 19:30

Sunday February 17th - XC @ Pittville Park
Saturday March 23rd - Midlands Road Relays
Saturday 30th March - Field Sports experience day
Saturday April 6th - National Road Relays
Monday June 3rd - Stroud Beer Race - Race 1 in the Roger Briers Series
Weekend of June 8th / 9th - Welsh Castles relay
Saturday June 29th - Cotswold Relay (TBC)
Monday July 1st - Frampton 10k
Saturday in June / July (TBC) - Summer Sports Day
Thursday July 11th - Cherrington Road Race (TBC)
Sunday August 11th - Standish Woodland Chase - Race 2 in the Roger Briers Series
Sunday September 8th - Woodchester Park - Race 3 in the Roger Briers Series
Saturday September 21st - Midlands Road Relay
Saturday October (TBC) - National Road Relays
Sunday October 27th - Stroud Half Marathon

Don't forget we have medals this year for the Roger Briers Race series as well as a Trophy for the 1st placed Male and Female Runner across all 3 races.
You can sign up to register your interest in any of the club relays here.

2019 Club Race League

The club race league will be running during the 2018/19 year.

We have selected the following races to form our 2019 race league for club members to compete in.

Each race will score points for each runner based on their relative place and position.

In order to compete for the age club awards you will need to have taken part in at least 4 races, with your best 6 races counting toward your final position.

We will then publish the league table and results as we go through the year on this page on the website.

Cotswold Way Association

I am delighted to confirm that Club has today become an affiliated member of the Cotswold Way Association after approval at this month's Committee meeting. This charity was established a couple of years ago to ensure that this popular National Trail does not fall into disrepair due to lack of funding. To date its projects include installing handrails and steps on tricky sections of the path, replacing stiles with gates, improving drainage at kissing gates and repairing a well used seat. As a Club we make great use of the Cotswold Way, so anything we can do to help maintain or improve the trail will help us all. If anyone is interested in joining the organisation as a personal member you can find more information here: http://cotswoldwayassociation.org.uk/

Mega Meter Run

MegaMeterRun is a UK charity raising money to help build 2 new community co-operative gardens, supporting 300+ women and vegetable production to improve health and nutrition to over 2000 people in rural Gambia.

They have a number of virtual running challenges for 2019 that you can enter to help them raise money for the projects.
You can read more about then through their website, Facebook and other social media feeds.

The Gambia:, over 60% live below the UN poverty line is a cause close to our heart. Our £10,000 target is to fund two new community farms, helping female co-operatives and schools to grow vegetables to improve income, health a nutrition. Our projects now have support from the Gambia’s Minister of Education, Minister of Agriculture and interest to pilot their innovative garden models for the United Nations (UN) World Food Program (WFP).

You can read more at www.megameterrun.com or across social media: @MegaMeterRun