Category: Club news

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DRC Grand Prix 2018 Update – FOD Spring Half Marathon

The latest DRC Grand Prix series tables are now available to view.

Click here for the latest league tables >>

This update includes the first two marathon results submitted for this series. Well done to Steve Barnes and Matt Read who finished at Gran Canaria and Manchester respectively and currently take the top points in this category. Remember, this can all change as more results are submitted up until the end of September!

Also, well done to Tony Woolridge who was the only DRC runner brave enough to take on the Tour of Torpantau fell race picking up maximum points by default!

The re-arranged FOD Spring Half Marathon took place last Saturday. Following the cancellation earlier in the year entrants were offered a place in on the rearranged date or a place in the Autumn Half Marathon on 30th September. Therefore the Autumn Half Marathon will be now be added to this years series which provides another opportunity for runners to complete the 8 races needed to qualify for the series prize giving.

Pete Chaffer and Tony Wooldridge still lead the way in the men’s league, with Matt Read now replacing Mike Crompton in 3rd just one point ahead of Andy Probert.

In the women’s league Alice Lewis remains on top, however Annette Heylings has closed the gap to just 10 points following maximum points at the FOD Spring Half overtaking Eileen Hieron who now sits in 3rd place.

The next event in series is the Frenchay 10k this weekend, followed by the Marlborough Downs Challenge Ultra and the Stroud Trails Half/Marathon. Details and links to entries for each can be found on the main Grand Prix page.

With quite a few of the big city marathons happening over the coming weeks, don’t forget to enter your time using the short form also found on the Grand Prix Details page to make sure its included.

As always, please feel free to get in touch with Mike Crompton or Tony Freer if you have any questions on the Grand Prix.

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DRC Juniors Weekly Round Up

Some great photos of the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, we waited for some better weather and it paid off. The Juniors were able to test their map reading skills and were rewarded with mini eggs.

We have started planning for the summer now and should be putting our Summer Athletics dates out soon so watch this space; they will be Thursday 6.30-7.30pm sessions at the Rugby Club. We have also agreed to put on our first ever Mini Athletics for 4-7 year olds, so if you know some younger budding athletes then watch this space for that.

And finally a reminder of our Orienteering event 12th May 12 noon at Rednock. We are opening this event up to all 7-18 year olds in the area as a chance for others to find out about us. The plan is to have a bit of a display and have cakes available after the orienteering. So if anyone is able to come along and support us or make cakes for us that would be great.

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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

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Safeguarding and Social Media Reminder

The safety and welfare of our club members is our number one priority when we arrange activities and provide services. This includes how we manage our social media activities such as our Facebook pages.

I want to remind all club members of some key messages from the club’s code of conduct and expand on how we expect our members to continue these behaviours when using the internet. Our code of conduct requires all members to:

  • Respect the rights, dignity and worth of every athlete/runner and coaches/run leaders.
  • Act with dignity and display courtesy and good manners towards others.
  • Avoid swearing and abusive language and irresponsible behaviour including behaviour that is dangerous to yourself or others, acts of violence, bullying, harassment and physical and sexual abuse.

In addition to the code of conduct principles our safeguarding policy also states “Photos published will show individuals in a state of decency, and not imply any condition that may be damaging to reputation.”

This means that we positively encourage club members to share positive news stories, post race photos and share run achievements. We like to celebrate success. Please consider any Facebook post, What’s App message, Messenger message or any other message before you share. Ask yourself: are you upholding the club values?

We will not tolerate inappropriate usage of social media that may be associated with the club and if any club member feels uncomfortable with any posts/messages we encourage them to let us know so that we can investigate further and take appropriate action.

My mission is to ensure all club members remain happy and healthy. I look forward to continuing to read about all of our running, tri and junior successes.

If any club member does have a safety or welfare concern please contact us, you can email the club email account secretarydursleyrunningclub@gmail.com, or contact one of our Safeguarding trained representatives directly.

Safeguarding Lead: Caroline Jones
Club Chair: Dave Durden
Safeguarding Officer: Annette Keevil
Safeguarding Officer: Nicky Grant
Safeguarding Officer: Chris Sweet

Thank you very much for reading this message.

Caroline Jones
DRC Safeguarding Lead

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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.

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Membership subs payments now due

Dear DRC member,

We hope that you are continuing to enjoy being a member of Dursley Running Club. It’s now the time of year when club membership renewal payments are due. Please complete the renewal form and pay your subs by 31 October 2017 at the latest (£5 surcharge applies for late payment).

Renewal form >>

Details of subscription fees and how to pay are on the form. Please complete the form as well as paying, as we need to keep our membership details up to date. If you joined after 1 July 2017 or are a Life member then you do not need to pay. Junior membership renewals will be requested after the club AGM (29 September 2017) and there will be a separate form for this.

Many thanks in advance,

Dursley Running Club Committee