DRC Supports the 2.6 Challenge

Run, walk or skip 2.6 miles, hold a plank for 2.6 minutes, do 26 press ups, do 26 squats, cycle for 26 minutes… anything 2.6. Raising money for UK charities who have also suffered during this period; Maggies, NHS Charities Together and Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust Charity.

Follow the link below for more info on the challenge and to donate to this cause:

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Team/DursleyRunningClub

The club reminds all members to stick to the Social Distancing rules; washing hands before and after an outing, keep the 2m distancing and keep to one local form of exercise a day. Please also be careful out there, we don’t want to add to the NHS burden with lots of extra running injuries, just run within your ability and if running alone take a phone with you.

DRC July Challenge – Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better (or Boys v Girls)

NERD alert: A few years ago I analysed the results of various DRC challenges and compared the top ten men’s results against the top ten women’s results. It suggested that on average I would have to make the men run 19% further than the women in order to create a “level playing field”.

I put this to the test with the original ‘Any Way You Please’ challenge in 2016 where the women had to visit four checkpoints while the men had to visit five checkpoints which meant they had to run 19% further. This resulted in a mixed male & female podium in the individual event and a female team narrowly beating a male team if I remember correctly, so I was very happy with the result.
I have just done a similar analysis on the results of this year’s 1st club handicap; with pretty much the same outcome. The numbers suggest that a 19% distance handicap for the men is still about right. Thus the DRC July challenge was born.
So, ladies, you have to run from the golf clubhouse, down the Cotswold Way to Nibley and up to the Tyndale monument, and then back again to the golf clubhouse, a distance of 4.30 miles. Chaps, you have to start at the wooden bench at Drakestone Point, running off the end of the hill and then following the path which leads you back around the edge of the golf course through the walkers’ car park and then down to the Cotswold Way. You then follow the same route as the ladies to Nibley monument and then back again FINISHING AT THE GOLF CLUBHOUSE, a distance of 5.13 miles – a difference of c.19%. This will create two separate leader-boards which I will combine through the magic of an Excel spreadsheet.

There will be an individual podium for the top three fastest runners overall regardless of gender.

BOYS v GIRLS

I will also compare the men’s and women’s results in batches of 5. I will add up the times of the men in 1st to 5th places and compare this with the total time of the women from 1st to 5th on their respective leader-boards. I will then compare the total time of the men from 6th to 10th against the total time of the women from 6th to 10th – then 11th to 15h and 16th to 20th and so on. Every time the men beat the women they will score a point, and vica versa for each time the women are quicker. Once a side runs out of runners the other side will automatically score a point for every complete batch of 5 runners remaining, so everyone’s result will count towards the team effort and it will be important to get a good turnout. The winner of the ‘Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better’ challenge will be the gender that scores the most points. All just for fun of course and not to be taken too seriously!
Let the battle commence.

Women’s route: https://www.strava.com/routes/13669617 (4.30 miles)
Men’s route: https://www.strava.com/routes/13669689 (5.13 miles)

DRC “Spring Special” Challenge

The “Spring Special” challenge is something muddy and hilly and long-distance as an antidote to Everchops. Apparently not everybody is a middle-distance speed demon! So I give you the “Spring Special”, with a bit of navigation thrown in. It is simply this – whoever accumulates the most mileage on the OFFICIAL ROUTE of the Cotswold Way during April and May will win.

Cotswold Way
photo credit: sczscz

To make it worthwhile I’m going down into my cellar for this one and dusting off some decent stuff and will provide a case of 6 bottles of red, white or mixed as preferred by the winner*. Walk it or run it. Winner takes all.

Tasting Table at Tintara Winery, McLaren Vale, South Australia
photo credit: winegod

*non-alcoholic alternative available

You will need to keep a log of your runs (dates and miles) and send it to me every Friday through April and May so that I can validate on Strava. As ever, no ifs, no buts, no excuses, if it ain’t on Strava then it didn’t happen.

This is a great opportunity to get some training in for the Cotswold Way Relay in June. You can run N to S or S to N and if you do an out-and-back then mileage will count in both directions. It does NOT have to be on different parts of CW, you can repeat sections…but to be safe and to prevent someone doing reps along Parsonage Street, I’m going to put a minimum stipulation of 3 miles per run to qualify!

This won’t appeal to everyone, but don’t worry there will still be “normal” monthly challenges suitable for all. It starts on Sunday 1st April and finishes on Thursday 31st May.

If you have any questions please message me on facebook or email me: neil.truelove@gmail.com

November Challenge 2 – “Ever Decreasing Circles”

🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️ EVER DECREASING CIRCLES 🏃🏼🏃🏼🏃🏼

Good news for those who don’t live in Dursley…you can do this one anywhere. All you need is a 400m loop (+ or – 25m). Obviously a running track would be perfect, or you can use a street loop like the Crapen in Dursley, or find somewhere near where you live or work.

This one is all about pacing and progression and judgement. All you have to do is run as many consecutive laps of your chosen 400m loop as you can. BUT BUT BUT…each lap must be quicker than the one before it. If you run a slower lap it immediately wipes out your whole score; none of your laps count; you have to start again. So be very careful!

At the end of each lap you need to ask your legs and your lungs if they can go again and go quicker. If you gamble and don’t make it then you lose! If you manage it, then you’ve added another lap to your score and you have another decion to make. It’s all about judgement and knowing what you’ve got left to give.

There will be one winner, the person who achieves the most ‘ever decreasing circles’ – and a booby prize for whoever runs the most laps but then manages to disqualify themselves by running a slower one. Good luck everyone.

November Challenge – The Ash Path ONE HUNDRED Club

Here is a challenge that everybody can do – fast or slow – run, jog or walk.

The Hill Rep Challenge will run from 1st-12th November and to join the ONE HUNDRED CLUB you need to run on at least TEN different days between 1st-12th November and you have to complete 100 hill reps in all. (One rep is up AND back down the hill).

Sound easy? Well 10 reps = 5km so you will be running 50km in total, but there is no prize for speed so you can do it at your own pace; and because it is well lit, and on a dry, smooth, surface you can do it anytime night or day (but please take sensible precautions whenever you do it.) Everybody who runs on at least 10 days out of 12 and completes 100 reps will join the club. Burn some calories before December.

There will be another challenge along for the second half of November.

https://www.strava.com/segments/13325509

October Challenge

I thought it was time I updated the website with the October challenge (it is half way through the month after all!)

It’s very simple – two laps of the Golf Course, anti-clockwise, starting and finishing by the clubhouse.  Look carefully at the route on the map, I’m not going to give too many directions, it will be up to you to work out your navigation. As long as it is on Strava it counts so feel free to look for as many shortcuts as Strava will let you get away with! (But don’t whinge to me if you try it and it doesn’t count!)

Evenings are drawing in and you’ve got 6 miles to cover so if you want to do it in daylight (recommended) then quicker runners will need to start before 6pm and slower runners will want to be underway by 5.30pm. At the end of the month you will need to go even earlier. You can run it at night with a head-torch if you wish but this is only recommended for experienced and confident runners.

It’s uneven and possibly slippery and some of it is a bit out of the way, so wear appropriate shoes and take appropriate precautions (eg. let someone know when you are going and when you expect to be back, consider carrying a phone, run with a buddy). That’s about it. Have fun and let the doubling commence!

September’s Challenge Extended

September’s challenge – the Flying Mile is on until the end of September.

The trees are proving a bit of a challenge for satellite accuracy, so once you complete the segment I suggest you carefully cross the junction and go another 100m just to make sure it records you as having completed.

Good luck!

Neil