Arrows Running News - April 2024

Details

Category: Club Schedule

Published: Monday, 01 April 2024 00:00

April News

Another fun month of running and many achievements as always. Please see below under section 1, the highlights of the month. But for now, some announcements:

Arrows Club League Update:

After the unfortunate cancellation of the Royston XC race, we have no league races until May. 

Mark Pattison has very kindly put together a list of several of the races, highlighting which are now open to enter so please see below an update on the year’s remaining races:

• 15th May – MWRRL Stevenage
• 19th May – Wheathampstead 10k – entries open here.
• 6th June – MWRRL Royston
• 9th June – St Albans Half Marathon – entries open here.
• 19th June – MWRRL Harlow
• 27th June – MWRRL Trent Park
• 7th July – Ware 10k – entries open here. (NOT the 10 mile!)
• 10th July – MWRRL Welwyn (mob match)
• 4th September – Hatfield 5k series Race 2 – entries open here.
• 24th November – Hatfield 5m – entries open here.
• 29th December – Buntingford Year End 10m
• Dates TBC
  • October – Herts 10k (if it runs this year)
  • October / November / December – various XC races

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 our website.

Tempo Tuesday & Social 23rd April

We ran for the second month “Tempo Tuesday and Social”; this is instead of running the “old” format of the Club 5k / cake and social evening. The event was well attended despite the very rainy conditions. Feedback from those who attended was positive, saying it was nice to run as a group, so we will run again on Tuesday 23rd April.

If anyone has any ideas on how we could enhance this event, then please contact Simon via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

London Marathon – Sunday 21st April

Yet again we have a number of Arrows running. Good luck to everyone participating. We look forward to hearing your stories and adventures post-event at the Inn on the Green.

For those running, if you wish to join the Striders bus, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your contact details. The coach will leave the Harpenden Arms at 6 am, St Albans City Station at 6.30 am and costs £15.

If you wish to join the group of Arrows who go along to cheer on our runners, then watch this space for more information but we normally meet just past the tunnel at Blackfriars (mile 24). You can easily get the train from Harpenden.

Run & Presentation / Talk by Russell Stocker 30th April

As we did a few months ago, Russell has said he can do a 15-minute talk plus Q&A back at St Georges. We'll go out running and return for 8:15. Slightly shorter than normal, but it leaves us plenty of time to get refreshments and learn about "Tendinopathy - symptoms, causes and remedial activities.'.

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.

We look forward to seeing more of you in 2024 at one of the events we run as a Club - we've made a start putting a schedule together with the standard runs - and will put the club league events, etc on soon.

All the best, Sharon & Speirsy.

For now, this issue contains:

1. What's been going on?
2. What's coming up?
3. This Month's Club Timetable
4. Dates for the Diary
5. 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 March were:

• Results from the Sunday league XC series with 2 Arrows picking up third place overall in respective age categories. Congratulations to Janice Nisbet FV65 and Brian Yates MV70. 5 Arrows attended each of the 4 races – Lynne, Janice, Brian, Taras and Phil.
  
  
• parkrun tourism for March unfortunately was cancelled due to the course being water-logged.
  
  
• As always there has been great representation at parkrun. Some courses have been very challenging this month, due to the extremely wet conditions. We’ve also had two groups travelling to Belfast and Zamek w Malborku (Poland).
  
  
• Congratulations to Lynne Miles who ran the Lee Vally half marathon (24th March). At the same venue Muiris O’Connell and Tom Honnywill ran the Gade Valley 17 miles whilst Jo Davies, Audrey Zilliox and Mark Pattison ran the Gade Valley 20. Great running everyone.
  
  
• On the same day Louise Crosby, David Green and Ian Bryson took part in the Oakley 20. Hilly with added strong head-on winds for the up and behind on the down. Well done to Ian who finished in 8th place.
  
  
• Ammon Piepgrass has been out and about, this time he was at the Centurion Hundred Hill 50k. Congratulations to Ammon as he managed to shave 20+ minutes of his time from last year for a time of just over 5 hours. What an achievement.
  
  
• 11 Arrows attended the Ashridge Boundary race on the 23rd of March. 17.7 miles of trails, in good condition, leading to some quick times. Nick Acton finished in 15th place and Mark, Ammon and Giles all made the top 40. Unfortunately, Chas had to retire injured. We think Isabel G. was there too and managed to get to the Tempo Tuesday too.
  
  
• Stephen McKee took part in the Alloa Half Marathon on the 17th of March. It's a tough course around Clackmannanshire with the beast of a hill towards the finish.
  
  
• Steve and Issy Green ran a rather soggy and wet Oundle 20 on the 10th of March. The route is run on quiet gently undulating roads that take you through quaint villages.
  
  
• Striders very kindly invited Arrows to join their 20-mile marathon training session. Dean Murley joined the run, which was very well organised, even with a last-minute route change due to flooding on the Alban Way. 
  
  
• Brian and Janice ran in the Gate of Kings on the 4th of March. Janice was the F70 2nd finisher. 
  
  
• 8 Arrows took part in the Cambridge TTP half marathon on the 3rd March. The events started at Midsummer Common with good conditions with the sun actually putting in an appearance!! James Pickett was the first Arrow home with a time of 1.17.38. Mark Pattison improved on his performance by 10 minutes over 2023, and Aisling Patterson moved from 18th to 12th place. Bal Sandhu improved by 4 minutes on his 2023 performance and 6 minutes faster than 2022. Congratulations to Ed and Chas, both first-timers. Janice Nisbet was on the podium as second in F70. Great running everyone.
  
  
• Jo Davies and Terry Atkinson participated in the London Half Marathon on the 3rd of March. Jo achieved a PB and Terry finished 1st in the V50; well done both.

2. What's coming up

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

1. Track nights – First Tuesday of the month, we are back at Stockwood Park on Tuesday 2nd of April.
   
   Please aim to arrive for 6.45 pm for a prompt start at 7 pm.

2. London Marathon – Sunday 21st of April

3. “Tempo Tuesday & Social” – will take place on Tuesday 23rd of April. Social will be at the Inn on the Green.

4. Post-run talk by Russell Stocker on tendinopathy. Run at 7:30 and talk at 8:15 pm. – Tuesday 30th of April.

5. parkrun tourism – please watch this space regarding the date and venue. Julie will post something shortly on Facebook.

6. Arrows Marathon weekend – Will take place in 2024 in Salzburg. Dates are 10th – 13th of May. See FB page (Salzburg marathon weekend) for more information if you are interested. This is a fun weekend, please speak to anyone who has been before if you’d like more information.

7. Brian Yates will be celebrating a milestone birthday this year and as a Club, we plan to celebrate this with a social event. This is also the date for the Wheathampstead 10k so we will plan something post this. Watch this space for further details. – Sunday 19th of May.
   
   
8. June Rowlands also has a milestone birthday. We will celebrate this with a social event post the Club 5k. Watch this space for further details. – Tuesday 25th of June.
   
   
9. The Stevenage Marathon only comes around once every 10 years. There is also a Half Marathon for those who prefer that distance. The date is 20th of October 2024, and you can register now so don’t miss out and register ASAP if you are interested.

Please feel free to suggest impromptu socials post-event or even attempt a pub visit post-run - which has proven successful in these past months.

3. Club timetable for April

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 can still be 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.
Track: start at 7:00

Track Nights at Stockwood

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

4. Dates for the Diary

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

Upcoming Races

• London marathon - Sunday 21st of April
• Tempo Tuesday (Club 5k + pub) - Tuesday 23rd of April
• Arrows away marathon weekend - 10th - 13th of May
• Stevenage marathon - 20th of October

5. 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 - 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 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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