Arrows Running News and April Schedule

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Category: Club Schedule

Published: Monday, 03 April 2023 00:00

April News and Schedule 

Welcome to April, and with it the start of the spring marathon/race season is upon us. Starting with Sandy 10 and Brighton Marathon, well done to those who were out last weekend. To those racing later this month, may your preparation pay off and your taper be injury free.

After the wettest month in 40 years, we hope that April will be kind to you with cool and dry (actually, is there such a thing as?) perfect running weather for all your running, chatty, social or otherwise.

It's also the start of a new club and England Athletics membership year. Although we allow a short grace period, subscription fees are now due if you wish to remain an active member of the club's runs and related activities. If you would like to renew or rejoin please check your email for a renewal email or contact Lyndon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Towards the middle of this month, we will update our 'active members' list and that may see you missing out on information or events if you haven't renewed.

We hope you’ve enjoyed running with fellow Arrows in March, a quick update on some of the March announcements:

1. Track nights - Have been well attended. There are more sessions planned in April. Details below.
   
   
2. Run Technique - More news to come, it's still a bit too cold at the moment.
   
   
3. Change to run times - Keep an eye out for a poll to be sent out soon(-ish). Track sessions and the Club 5k in March were at 7 pm, please ensure you arrive in time for sessions to start at the advertised times.
   
   
4. Social - Please keep an eye out for post-race socials, typically at the Inn on the Green and advertised on FB. Last month's post-5k social with Roger's prop-assisted recount of his epic Spine Race and Jen's World Marathon Majors completion in Tokyo were fantastic and well received.

On March 5th the awards were handed out at a celebratory social event, we may need more space next time, it was rather cosy. Thank you all for attending, collecting your rewards and celebrating all your 2022 achievements. Please remember the club league, two races have been run and the current standing is:

Women's league

1. Isabel Green: 100
2. Jo Davies & Tracey Carr: 95 (shared 2nd)

Men's league

1. Doug Walmsley: 98
2. Muiris O'Connell: 95
3. Tom Honeywell: 89

The next Arrows Club League race is the first of the five Mid-Week Road Races on May 17th.

The AGM Minutes and Presentation and Accounts have been posted on our website.

This month the newsletter contains:

1. News
2. This Month's Club Timetable
3. Dates for the Diary
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.

What a lovely evening! Thank you to our special guests Roger and Jen for the great insights into their amazing achievements! The next socials will be post-race rehydration(s) and the club 5k kit and cake night on April 25th.

1. News

Despite the abundance of rain in March

Arrows have been getting drenched while out running in Red & White. The Highlights include:

• Road races: Cambridge half (15 Arrows), Tokyo Marathon (Jennifer Finlay), Berkhamsted half (5 Arrows), Ashridge Boundary run (10 Arrows), Oakley 20 (4 Arrows) and British Orienteering Champs (Janice Nisbet).
• Parkrun has been as busy as usual with Arrows running in some pretty distant places: Hikarigaoka koen (Tokyo), Mensola (Florence, Italy), Zuiderpark (The Hague) and Katowice (Poland). Congrats to Dean Marley and Djerk Geurts on reaching 50 parkruns and John and June Rowlands, Jillian and David Russell on completing the Alphabet challenge
• Cross Country: Royston - We had a full ladies' team and we think we had enough for a vets team for the men. It was sunny, hilly and a little bit muddy in places, so basically perfect! And Herts Vets on March 26th.

Best, Team Green

2. Dates for the Diary

Upcoming Races

• St Albans Easter 10k, 7th April
• Flitwick 10k, 16th April
• London Marathon, 23rd April
• Arrows 5K Handicap - Kit & Social, 25th April
• Hitchin 10k, 30th April
• MK Marathon, 1st May
• MWRR
  • Stevenage, 17th May
  • Watford, 31st May
  • Harpenden, 6th June
  • Trent Park, 29 June
  • Mob match (Welwyn), 12th July

Track Nights at Luton Track

We have a block booking for 20 people with the ability to exceed this on the night. There will be some plans for the night - but will always have to flex depending on who turns up. We will endeavour to try and keep some runs going at the club too - but again, need to see how it goes and what can be done with RunLeaders and the turn-up and run attendees.

The start time is 7 pm, please aim to arrive 15 minutes earlier so we can check people in and brief before heading out to the track at 7 pm. Track closes at 8:30 pm.

We'd encourage lift sharing. 6:30 pm meet at St Georges and there will undoubtedly be chat on the Facebook group to organise. Ping This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. an email if you're unsure

To run at Luton, there is a form to complete for a LutonActive card. If these are sent ahead of time, we can forward them to reduce the form filling on the night and speed up the issuing process. For April, please send the forms to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we'll forward to the track admin team. Please don't leave it to the last moment if you can. You do NOT have to send these in advance, but it'll help speed up the process. We may not be able to delay the start of the track session for all others for late arrivals. The form can be found on the home page (near the bottom) or here.

Tuesday 25th April

Arrows Club 5k Handicap, Summer Course at St George's School

SUMMER COURSE - NICKEY LINE

Last month's pub social was great, but this month we’re back at St George’s for cake after the 5k.

Do come along, this is your monthly chance to get together with fellow Arrows, run a FREE timed 5km, and afterwards join us for tea, cake and a chance to try on or order Arrows kit. We do it on a handicap basis so slower runners go off first with the fastest last. Timed to perfection and everyone running at their expected pace - everyone could come over the line at exactly the same time!

Cake bakers and marshal volunteers - if you can help on the night please join our "Arrows Club 5km Organising" WhatsApp group by clicking this link Arrows Club 5km Organising WhatsApp Group.

Please also see our Facebook events page.

PLEASE NOTE SOME RULES ABOUT RUNNING AT THE 5K IN THE GENERAL NOTICES BELOW.

3. Club timetable for April

In April there are two Luton Track sessions booked. We've got a block booking for 20 Arrows and can pay extra for anyone else who turns up. The start time is 7 pm and typically might last an hour in total. Track closes at 8:30 pm. We'll try to offer other runs on those nights - but very dependent on who remains from the RunLeader group either willing to miss or logistically can't get to Luton if they want to participate.

Club 5k is on the fourth Tuesday in April starting at 6:45 pm, 30 mins earlier than normal! Pushed back by a week to allow for fortnightly track nights and avoid the Easter holidays. It will be the first time back on the Summer Course. There will be no other training sessions on this Club night.

Other Club nights. On remaining Tuesdays and Thursdays we will try to offer a selection of turn-up and run groups including 4, 5 & mile road groups as well as trail runs. If there is interest to have a 5k run or other requirements - please let us know and we'll see if there's interest to get a group together and could be covered.

RunLeaders. We'll try to offer hills or speed as an alternative to Track sessions on occasion, but runs are set up and led according to demand and RunLeader availability and will be pre-advertised on the Facebook group. 

4. General Notices

Free t-shirt for RunLeaders

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 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 in 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.)

10% OFF SPORTSSHOES.COM - April code

If you haven't found what you want from the Arrows online kit shop, we have secured a 10% discount code specifically for Arrows, plus there's free shipping for orders of £30 or more from www.sportsshoes.com.  

This is redeemed via a unique discount code, which will be changed each month.

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.

This month's code valid for April 2023 has been sent by email to paid-up members. 

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-organised races.

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.

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 the club 5km event.  If you are seen wearing headphones during the event, you may be disqualified!

We strongly advise you to please wear a head or body torch - some of the roads are very dark with parked cars and uneven pavements and a lot of leaf litter currently.  A head or body torch is strongly recommended for your own safety.

Wear high visibility clothing and/or your Arrows vest - this makes you easy to see 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.

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