With the Olympic flame still cooling down, the towpath now re-opened, gold painted postboxes all over the place and McDonalds scratching their heads as to what to do with their biggest restaurant, our thoughts turn to the winter season and some exciting developments at the club. Starting with a short sharp race this very week...
Thursday 20th September - Club champs 1 mile - Start 7pm sharp
Traditionally the start of the winter season, the Flowers Mile will be run this Thursday. It is the first race in the annual Club Championships series (1, 3.5, 10, 20 mile on the road, 5 mile XC). Named after a former club member the course is the classic one mile route adjacent to the clubhouse in Victoria Park. This fast race is over in a flash but great fun. Due to low light levels at this time of the year we must start the race right on 7pm. Registration from 6:30pm, last sign-up at 6:55pm to get the race under way on time. You will need to run with a number which you collect upon registration. There is no fee and current members may invite guests. As usual, we are looking for a few folks to assist with timekeeping and marshalling on the course - please let me know or respond to post on the noticeboard.
Saturday 29th September - Middlesex County 10k, Victoria Park - 10:30am start
It is our annual pleasure to host the Middlesex County 10k road race once again. This county standard race will take place within the park on a certified course and is open to all as an open event as well. It would be great to see a strong turn out from club members, either as volunteers helping out on the course, within the club to assist entrants on the day or of course, competing with pride for this great club. Please get in touch with me or Major Carr if you can assist for a few hours on the day.
More details and entry form on Middlesex AC website - closing date for entries is 22nd September, so get moving.
Saturday 29th September - Club Open Day
If the Middlesex 10k wasn't exciting enough, how about the club open day planned for the very same afternoon? A chance for a ALL club members to come along and get involved in something a bit different, learn a little bit more about the works taking place in the clubhouse, meet some new members and test your changeover skills in a series of relay events. This is also being promoted to other local clubs too. As usual there are more details on the clubwebsite and some of the posts on the noticeboard.
Saturday 6th October - Club Champs 3.5 mile - 10:30am (Provisional)
Lots of Winter Fixtures are already on the website but a special note for the second race of the club's championship will be the 3.5 mile road race. Again, it will be held in the park on the traditional course. More details to follow.
Sunday 21st October - The Art of Running with Malcolm Balk Workshop - Central London
For those interested in learning more about running using the 'Alexander Technique' a club member has let me know about a workshop taking place in Central London in October. Please see the website: http://www.
Thursday 25th October - VPH & TH AC Annual General Meeting - 8:30pm
Full notice, details and agenda to follow but please put the date in your diary now. There will be much to discuss as the club enters an exciting period of works and prepares for 2013 and beyond. Particularly, there are a number of vacancies arising on the board including Director of Women's Road & XC Running, Club Secretary and Director of Youth.
Winter Fixtures - Road and XC
Lots of winter fixtures are on the website now, in addition to those above the first of the Chingford League series will be at the Hog Hill Cycle circuit on Tuesday 2nd October. Check them all out here: http://www.vphthac.org.
Thursday sessions at the clubhouse -
As the evenings get dark it is more important than ever to consider your own and your fellow club member's safety when out training. As far as possible we try to group people together for the Thursday sessions leaving from the clubhouse. Please remember, if you are in a group it is your collective responsibility to look out for one another and ensure that no one gets left behind. It might be frustrating if you discover that your group members all run at different paces but that doesn't mean you should leave your group members behind. If you start in a small group make sure you are aware of everyone's position within the group, particularly if you sense one of your members dropping back. Don't just leave them to drop behind, slow the pace of the group and make sure you agree on the course of action to get you all back. It's not fun being left alone, but, more importantly, it creates unnecessary risk for those who get left on their own. Please make sure you put this in to action next time you are running in a group. Member safety is everyone's responsibility.
Simeon
Men's Road + XC Captain
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