Arrows Running News and December Schedule

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Category: Club Schedule

Published: Tuesday, 05 December 2023 00:00

December News and Schedule 

We hope you caught sight of the fact that we had two guest coaches/speakers who came in November. We had Russell Stockley (physio) come in and he's promised something for a prize draw that we'll do before Xmas and then there was Will Hague-Blundy who coached about 18 of us at Stockwood. We might see more of them if there is interest in 2024.

During November, there were more achievements, more PBS, winners of the Club Leagues and still more races to come to the end of the year including one more XC, a track session, club 5k, Xmas lights run and carols plus several socials including a curry on 29th Dec.

If you have achieved anything during the month, please do let a committee member know, or post on our FB page, and we'll try to include it in our monthly publication.

Please do make time for the Xmas lights run. This is our annual run to look at all the wonderful Xmas lights that are put up around Harpenden. It's a jolly trot around Harpo to see the lights with paces to suit all and we will then head back to St George’s for a few Xmas carols and some mince pies. And a great way for us all to be together before the Xmas break, well worth planning in your diary. If you can't make that, do join us on the 21st (or at the pub) and/or the curry on the 29th of December!

All the best for the festive, Sharon & Spiersy.

November highlights

• Winners of the Club Leagues: 

  • Early on Jo Davies won the Women’s Club League for 2023, with three races remaining. A wonderful achievement from Jo reflecting her dedication to the Club which has seen her miss only one race this season.
    

  • At that time, we thought for the men it could go down to the wire with Muiris O’Connell, Brian Yates, Mark Pattison and Andrew Bracey all in contention, however, Brian stole it by the end of November with him completing the Hatfield 5m race.
    

  • Well done to both of them - but see what you can achieve before the end of the year (not forgetting you may be able to bag an Arrows award). See where you are here.

• A whole group of Arrows participated in the Hatfield 5 race. Well done to KC Lloyd, Audrey Zilliox Herrbach and Aisling Patterson for winning the Silver County team medals, a brilliant achievement, and for all of the other wonderful running. The usual de-brief took place at The Inn on the Green to share stories and parade medals.
  

• We had 11 Arrows competing in the St Neots Half Marathon. Congratulations to Paul Goodwin who achieved a time of 1.20.20 and was the first Arrow home and to Claire Watts on her first half marathon in a time of 2.26.11. Well done everyone.
  

• The Club 5k race took place on the 21st of November. We had 12 runners running the winter course with three first-timers – welcome everyone. Thanks, as always to the volunteers. Afterwards, we were joined by visiting speaker Russell Stoker. He discussed with the group injuries, prevention and cure, strength training, stretching and “not stretching”, perimenopause, women and men-specific injuries and much more. Watch further communication on further sessions.
  

• We had three Arrows – Taras Huzar, Louise Crosby and Peter Thornton took part in the Victoria half marathon on the 12th of November. PBs for both Taras and Peter – well done guys.
  

• The XC season continued at Trent Park on the 5th of November. Another great turnout from the Arrows. Well done to everyone who took part and for some great running times. See below for details of future races.
  

• As always there has been great representation at parkrun. The tourism event took part at the Thames Path in Woolwich (complete with curly-wurly) on the 25th of November with 11 Arrows participating. It was a rather early start from Harpenden on the 0652 train, but a great breakfast was had by all post the event.
  

• A special mention goes to Scott Clarke, AKA Mr parkrun, on reaching the incredible milestone of 400 parkruns. To put this into context, out of circa 9 million registered park runners, only around 3,400 have done as many as Scott. Even more impressive, only 68 people worldwide have visited more than Scott’s 289 different events. Well done Scott on such an achievement.
  

• Congratulations to Sharon Stanley and Andrew Livesey on reaching 50 parkruns. Great efforts.
  

• Jillian Russell organised a charity shoe appeal to One Impossible Thing. Most of the shoes will be given to refugees through Herts Welcomes Refugees. Thanks to everyone who donated!

What's going on:

1. London 2024 Marathon – You should have received an email from Graham Harper on the 15th of October entitled “EA Place for London Marathon 2024 – Advance Notice”. So hopefully, you got your request to be included in the ballot by the end of Nov. We will do the draw at the Christmas lights run.

2. Track nights – We are back at Stockwood Park on Tuesday the 5th of December for the last session of the year. Please aim to arrive at 6:45 pm for a prompt start at 7 pm.

3. Club 5k / Social – This will take place on Tuesday 12th December. We will be running on the winter course so please arrive at St Georges at 6.45 pm for a 7 pm start.

4. Social – Social at the school after the club 5k on Tuesday 12th of December. Hoping you can drop by for cake and drinks. Please feel free to suggest impromptu socials post-events or even attempt a pub run.

5. Social –The annual Christmas Curry Night which will take place on Friday 29th. Facebook will likely contain the details - get in touch through email to any of us on the committee if you don't use it and want details.

6. Sunday League Cross County Races – the season is now well underway with just 2 races left so please join us. Each event will be posted on the Arrows Facebook event page with all the organisers' details.
   

   Cross country is great fun and should make you faster so do give it a go. No entry required, just get there in time. Wear your Arrows top/vest, run, pick up a token, note your name, and finish token number on the Arrows sheet. If you can’t run, do consider coming along to support or marshal.
   
   - 17th of December – Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage
   - 18th of February – Royston Heath

7. Quiz night – The date is confirmed for Friday 12th January 2024 at the Engineer, Harpenden. Further details to follow.

ADVANCE NOTICE

AGM / Social – advance warning that the Committee are looking into options for this event. The date is Saturday 3rd of February 2024. Watch this space for more information. You will have seen that Anita White has prepared a poll on Facebook. If you’ve not already done the poll or emailed us, please do so we can gauge everyone’s interest in this event.

Just a quick final reminder that high viz is going to be required on club nights, as sunset is well before our meeting times. (Go to the club shop and get a branded Arrows top.)

For now, this issue contains:

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

As ever, a combination and variety of running is available. We're trying to offer 4m, 5m, hills and/or speed sessions. Is there 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. As the nights are now dark 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.
Club 5k: 6:45 for a 7:15 start
Track: start at 7:00

Track Nights at Stockwood

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

2. Dates for the Diary

Look out for special announcements on email or Facebook for the XC and other events.

Upcoming Races

• Parkrun Tourism - Venue: Rickmansworth - Saturday 9th of December
• Club 5k + Cake Night - Tuesday 12th of December
• Sunday League Cross Country - Fairlands Valley, Stevenage - Sunday 17th of December
• Xmas lights run - Tuesday 19th of December (7:25 pm from St George's)
• Buntingford Year-End 10 mile - Saturday 30th of December
• Herts Cross Country Championships - The first race will take place on Sunday 7th of January. If you are interested, please let Steve Green know.
• FredHughes 10 mile - Sunday 21st of January. As there is no XC in January the Club is considering putting Fred Hughes in the 2024 Arrows club league. This is a popular event so if you are interested you need to book quickly.
• Final XC - Venue: Royston - Sunday 18th of February.

Tuesday 12th of December

Arrows Club 5k Handicap, Winter Course + Cake Night LAST OF THE YEAR!

WINTER COURSE - ROAD RUNNING

Do come along, this is your monthly chance to get together with fellow Arrows, run a FREE timed 5km, and afterwards join us for a great social over a slice of cake! For the run, 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 the same time!

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. General Notices

Free t-shirt for RunLeaders

We've distributed a few and got a few more on order - 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.)

10% OFF SPORTSSHOES.COM - December 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 is changed monthly.

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 July 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 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.

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.

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