Arrows Running News - December 2024

Details

Category: Club Schedule

Published: Sunday, 01 December 2024 00:00

December News

Welcome to the December edition of Inflight. Lots of things for you this month. As always lots has been going on, and you never cease to amaze us - there's a recap of the month below, but for now, some announcements:

2025 and the Committee

The team have already started planning the Annual Dinner, thinking about the AGM and looking forward into 2025. It is with some sadness that we'll be saying goodbye to a couple of stalwarts from the committee next year in Lyndon (Membership) and Graham (without portfolio and master of many). Graham has always been on the committee and did at least 6 years as Chair and Lyndon has been on the committee since 2019 and meeting and greeting many of you as the Membership secretary. Both have been trusted hands and advisors, but it's time to move on for both of them.

We are on the hunt then for new people to join the team. Lyndon has said that he can oversee the renewal process for this coming April, but really wants a safe pair of hands to leave this to as soon as possible. No one in the current committee has the capacity to be able to take this on at the moment with work, life and other commitments. Graham's tasks have been mainly handed over in the past years and we'll make sure in the last few months nothing else falls through the cracks.

Please do come forward. The Committee meets every 6 weeks or so for 90 mins. It's pretty efficient and the focus is on what can we do better and/or more of at the club. Don't want to be on the committee - but can lend a hand? That could work too! Please do consider something. Talk to one of us on the committee or contact Sharon or Speirsy. Please do come and help.

Runleaders

We want to thank as always our wonderful Run Leaders for their amazing support. Thanks to James Blackburn, Mark Pattison and Josh Mann who have recently started leading some sessions. You may have noted that we sometimes struggle for run leaders. As the new year approaches, we are calling out for help. If you would like to become a run leader then please do make us aware or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

You do not have to commit to lead every week, it's on an ad-hoc basis, depending on availability with some flexibility for last minute change of plans / train delays. As a rule of thumb, if you join and can take on the lead of a run every two months (approximately six per year) that would massively help. Any help (less or more) is wanted. We can always "buddy" you up with an existing Run Leader who can explain how things are done.

Talk by Russel Stocker

Will had to reschedule the session planned for November which will now take place at St Georges on Tuesday 10th of December. The subject will be "Does exercise burn more calories?" It will be following a shorter run time of approx 30-40 minutes and start at 8.15pm and use the normal location upstairs.

Xmas Lights Run

Will take place on Tuesday 17th of December. Please join us at St G at 19:25. Run Leaders will lead a 5k run and we then come back to St G for 20:15 for some Xmas festivities. Do please join us and don't forget to wear your Santa hats and other Xmas accessories.

Parkrun Tourism

Join Julie and the team on Saturday 21st December for our Xmas parkrun tourism. The venue will be Houghton Hall. Please wear your Arrows t-shirt plus your Santa hats / other Xmas accessories.

Ed's end-of-year Curry Night

Please join Ed's Curry Night on 29th December. There are polls in both the WhatsApp group and on Facebook. Please answer just one. We will meet at Inn on the Green at 19:30 and then move onto a local curry restaurant for 21:00.

Club Xmas and New Years sessions

Please note that there will be NO Club nights on Tuesday 24th December, Thursday 26th December, Tuesday 31st December and Thursday 2nd January. We will resume from Tuesday 7th of January 2025.

Club Standards' Awards

Don't forget to please submit your claim form by the 31st of December 2024. You can find the form under the Awards section here - you are looking for the Awards Claim Form 2024. All awards will be presented at the AGM / social evening on Saturday 8th of February.

Arrows AGM / Social

Advance notice of this event. The date is Saturday 8th of February 2025 and the venue is Harpenden Common Golf Club. Further details will follow in due course but please do make a note in your diary.

London Marathon 2025

As a Club, we will receive via England Athletics one place in the 2025 London Marathon. As we normally do, members will be given the opportunity to apply via our raffle which will be drawn at the Xmas Lights Run on Tuesday 17th of December. Please refer to the email sent to you on the 8th of November. Further details will be sent by the end of November.

England Athletics Sports Shoes

You may be aware that England Athletics has a new discount with us, offering EA-affiliated members 15% off in-season products at SportsShoes. As of November, the monthly discount code will change to match the England Athletics offer, therefore it will no longer be possible to use the code on older products.

For clubs with England Athletics affiliated members, you can now link your England Athletics membership with your SportsShoes ULTRA account to receive the discount automatically at checkout. This prevents the need to enter a code at checkout, making receiving this discount from us a lot quicker and easier. You can find out how to set up your account to receive the discount here.

High Viz.

As the nights are once again drawing in please remember your head torches and high viz. REMEMBER to charge up your headtorch if it’s the first time you’ve used it this year.

Not a (frequent) Facebook User?

We've now also got a WhatsApp group you can join where we announce what runs etc we do. It's just for members so please don't share. Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact a committee member to receive the share code to join this group.

Club League update

Following Royston and Trent Park cross country races and Hatfield 5 (picture below).

With two races left, the ladies competition is down to KC and Lynne. Phil now tops the men's league with Brian and Steve catching Muiris for third place. It's all now down to the last XC race (Buntingford is full).

1 - KC Lloyd - 497
2 - Lynne Miles - 458
3 - Audrey Zillox - 391

1 - Phil Dean - 606
2 - Mark Pattison - 583
3 - Muiris O'Connell - 476

Cross Country

These have now been published at runherts. Please also see below for dates and venues. Issy / Steve Green will keep you updated as we approach each race - just keep an eye out on FB and your email communication. We do have a little gift for anyone able to achieve 2 XC races this season - an Arrows branded bobble hat. Some lucky participants (and run leaders) have been given theirs already - come and claim yours if you've done one already, or do the last 2 remaining ones to be eligible.

Lastly

If you have achieved anything during the month, please do let a committee member know, or post on our FB page, and it will be included in our monthly publication.

All the best, Sharon & Speirsy.

Arrows at Hatfield 5 - collecting their League points. See the current podium standing above and how you are faring here.

For now, this issue contains:

1. What's been going on?
2. What's coming up?
3. This Month's Club Timetable
4. General Notices and Reminders

As ever, please do join the Facebook group as we may have missed something and post updates about any proposed Parkrun tourism or other festive events.

1. What's been going on

Highlights for November were:

• XC took place at Trent Park. A beautiful course with no mud!! However, we did struggle to get full teams but hopefully, you'll be able to come along to the next two at Stevenage (15th December) and Watford (16th February).
  
  
• Tempo Tuesday took place on 19th November. We had 9 attendees on the first of a few cold nights but warmed up at the Inn on the Green.
  
  
• 6 Arrows took part in the St Neots half marathon.  Well done to you all on your fantastic times.
  
  
• We had a great turnout of Arrows at the Hatfield 5 (picture above). Great running from everyone in what were very windy and challenging conditions.
  
  
• parkrun for this edition has some simply marvellous achievements:
  Scott Clarke on reaching 450 parkruns, at 334 different locations
  Taras Huzar reached 300 parkruns, Julie Horrocks 200 and Nigel Douglas 100.
  
  
• The Club ran its now annual Halloween Special. Great evening with some great outfits, all finished off at the IOTG.
  
  
• Brian Yates and Janice Nisbet have been on their travels again. This time they have been to Japan for the Middle and Long Distance Orienteering championships. Janice took both the W70 first places. On the parkrun both Arrows took 1st in their age groups.
  
  
• The quiz night on 29th November held at the Aldwickbury Scout hut was a great success. Thanks to Sharon and Helen for hosting!

We're sure there's more to potentially share or crow about - drop us a line for next time!

2. What's coming up

A number of things to take note of for the coming months!

1. XC DATES have now been published - please make a note in your diary:
     15th December - Stevenage
     16th  February - Watford
   
   We need 8 men and 5 ladies to make up the teams as a minimum so please do support these events if you are available. (See the note above about eligibility for Arrows branded bobble hats).

2. Sunday 1st of December - St Albans Festive "Double" Sixer. 12 miles to run visiting 6 pubs.

3. Sunday 8th of December - 5 miler Festive 5.

4. Tuesday 17th of December - Xmas Lights run.
   

5. Reminder - 2025 Marathon Weekend. Next year Arrows will be travelling to Vienna so please make a note in your diaries - 4th - 7th April 2025. We currently have 30 people attending - 4 running the full marathon, 10 for the half marathon and 5 relay teams. If you are interested in joining this group please make contact with John Rowlands who will be able to give you all the details you need.

6. Stevenage Phoenix Running Club have asked us to let you know about an event they will be running on the 11th of May 2025.
   2024 was the first time they held the event and it had such a lovely friendly atmosphere. It is a great 5-mile route. In 2025 they plan to host a kids mini mile to try to encourage children to join in.
   Entries are now open so please sign up to ensure they do not miss out.

7. Berkhampstead half marathon/fun run - 2nd of March 2025.

8. Ashridge boundary race 2025 - 22nd of March 2025

Arrows Club League

Mark Pattison has very kindly put together a list of events. There are now just two left:

• 29th December – Buntingford Year End 10m - EVENT IS NOW FULL
• Sunday League
  • 15th of December – Fairlands Valley, Stevenage

No registration is needed for WMRRL or XC races. And don’t forget to use the ATW discount code where applicable.

As always full details of the club league can be found here on this site.

3. Club timetable for December

Please take note of the variety and differences this month.

As ever, a combination and variety of running is available. We're always trying to offer 4m, 5m, hills and/or speed sessions. In 2024, we moved the Stockwood/KWS track sessions to the first Tuesday in every month - to help with logistics, run leader support and attendance. Hasn't always worked out though - make sure you keep an eye open for announcements.

If there is any interest in a shorter 5km run - Please let us know. All combinations rely on RunLeaders taking care of existing, new and potential joiners to Arrows. If you don't feel you have the confidence or skills to do this... we'll help. Please let us know.

REMEMBER

1. Once we go back to the darker nights, remember to wear high viz and head torches (don’t forget to charge them up).

2. Any new members - please pre-register on RunTogether, this will help the admin to register you just at the start of each run.

Start times:

St G's club runs: 7:15 arrival for 7:30 departure.
Track: start at 7:00

Track Nights at KWS/Stockwood

Please aim to arrive by 6:45 pm for a prompt start at 7 pm.

4. General Notices

Free t-shirt AND BOBBLE HAT for RunLeaders

We've distributed a few t-shirts and now the bobble hats - but we're always on the lookout for more run leaders to share the load of helping people out with their runs.

If you're good with a route or two and would like to lead runs for Arrows, please let us know! We are always looking for more people to join our core team, either as occasional helpers or as regular run-leaders. All you need is confidence and we'll give you more of that and some of the knowledge to keep everyone safe - it's not onerous and a lot of it is common sense.

If you're interested in leading please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and ask for more info.

Kit Shop: The club shop can be found here:

https://www.iprosports.co.uk/club-zone/harpenden-arrows/

The range of available kit includes club vests and t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, caps, beanies, and a new line of colourful hi-viz t-shirts bearing the club logo.

All kit can be personalised with names or messages on the front, back or both – so no more melting your t-shirt trying to iron on wonky letters (or was that just me)?

If you would like to see or try on any of the kit samples, please come along to our monthly 5km, Kit and Cake night, and speak to our kit secretary, Rowland Hughes. (email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Active Training World 10% off race entry with the code ....

(Sent by email to all paid-up Arrows Members)

We have some exciting news for you - Arrows have obtained a 10% discount for members on all ATW races. Why not use it for entering the Hatfield 5-mile event this November? Fast, flat and local race with PB potential. (Webmaster - and Arrows League points too!)

Just enter the code at the checkout to obtain your 10% Arrows discount. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS FOR ATW ORGANISED EVENTS (there will be a big banner on the site when an ATW event. Please do try to avoid confusion as occasionally ATW provide the booking system/support and the 10% fee is not available on these occasions).

Please do not share the code with non-members. Any Arrows in receipt of the code must not share it on social media or any public websites.

Can you marshal for an ATW event?

Earn £20 and free race entry, or £10 per hour, in exchange for marshalling at ATW events. 

If you're interested in marshalling, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

#JustTurnUp - St George's runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays

If you want to attend any of our regular run groups at St George's, please #JustTurnUp on the night. No pre-booking is required for our regular runs from St George's. 

We will also always adapt any run groups to those that turn up on the night, or if possible form additional groups to suit varied paces. Nobody will be left behind and we operate a *looping policy if we happen to have a wide pace range in the group.

*That means that faster runners are asked to loop back to keep the group together.

Are you struggling?

As a Club we take the welfare of our members seriously. If there is a welfare question that you would like to raise then please use this this contact form or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Our Welfare Officers are Djerk Geurts and Anita White.  

We would like to highlight that if anyone is struggling with the membership fees on renewal, a case can be made to the Welfare team for consideration for assistance. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Safety reminder for Arrows Club 5km events

Please note, for the safety of all members when participating in the Club 5km event, the following advice applies:

No headphones. For your own safety and to ensure you can hear instructions from marshals and cars on the road, headphones are not permitted whilst taking part in any club activity. If you are seen wearing headphones during the Club 5km event, you may be disqualified!

Wear high visibility clothing and/or your Arrows vest - this makes it easy to see you running on the dark roads.

Stay safe everyone, and stay well!

Thank you for supporting your club. If you have concerns or suggestions please get in touch.

Harpenden Arrows Running Club

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.