CaptainSlog March 2015

Hi everyone,

In last month's Slog, we forgot to include the list of people who had earned their Club Standards in 2014 (see below). These are awarded for competing in events over different distances and achieving designated WAVA (age-related) scores. Full details are on the website under Club Standards and all you have to do is enter your times in fetcheveryone.(Fetch is free!). 

We'd also like to draw your attention to the Club League.  Frequently forgotten about until later in the year when it is too difficult to do anything about it, the League is aimed as recognition of your support of the club and some local races.  Whilst maybe the faster runners do get more points - the best way to achieve most is to 

1. enter races consistently 
2. enter more races than anyone else (even Royston) and 
3. remain uninjured so that you can achieve (1) above

Good luck to all those in forthcoming events, particularly our marathon runners in Brighton (12th April), Manchester (19th) and London (26th). Be sure to look at the training tips on the taper and have a great time.

Happy Running and Happy Easter everyone - hoping you'll burn off some of those Easter Egg calories!

Lou and Speirsy

What's been happening?

Club 5k Feb: 

Congratulations to Gareth who smashed it with a 2m3s PB and 1st place, in 2nd place was newcomer Margaret Cowan, and storming into 3rd place with a 1m3s PB was Louisa. There was also a PB of 8sec for Philippa. Great running! We also welcomed first timers Alex Duffy, Claire Fenwick and Rob King. There were 16 runners in total and thanks to Georgie, Pierre-Louis, David, Jennifer and Sarah for marshalling.  Full results are published on the Arrows website at 5K results

We were sorry to have to cancel the 5k in March, but felt that there was just going to be too much going on at St Georges that night.  A number of people did go out for the normal run and then to The Engineer.  Looking forward to the potential to run the 5k on the Nickey Line soon..  watch out for announcements

St Albans parkrun:

Great to see lots of you doing parkrun this month and especially to first timers Riana and David W. There were PBs for Louisa (26:30), Chris Sach (20:25), John Coyle (22:06) and Margaret (25:39) - well done!

 All results can be found at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/stalbans/results/malepointstable/

It is really easy to join in - all you have to do is register in advance at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/stalbans. They email you a barcode, which you bring with you when you turn up at 9am on a Sat in Verulam Park by the museum. It is FREE, there is no pressure and you can go every week if you want! You can also go to parkruns elsewhere in the country and overseas.

PS the inaugural Luton parkrun is on 18th April and a few Arrows are planning to go.Also check out our mob event in St Albans on 2nd May.

Race results.....

Berkhamsted Half: there were 14 Arrows racing in less than ideal windspeed conditions - unless it was behind you on the ups, which could explain the impressive times on what is a hilly course. 

Congratulations to Patrick, Roger and Michael in Finchley 20 who all did great times, but especially Patrick with a 5 min PB (2:14:50). Also to Ed who was not far off his previous time in the Roding Valley Half Marathon on his first long race after injury.

Milton Keynes Festival of Running saw Tracy get a great sub 2hr result in her first half marathon and Warwick (who has unfortunately moved away now) came 8th overall; Laura and Jamie did the 20. This was a new event and seems to have favourable reviews apart from the hill at the end.

Four Arrows (Ammon, Graham Halkyard , Chris Benson and Stuart Mercer) completed the first Long Distance Battlefield Duathlon in Northamptonshire, which did not sound like it was for the faint hearted! Read the race report below.

Silverstone half marathon:  this speedy course lived up to its reputation for PBs despite the windy conditions and crowds. Hannah T smashed hers with a 3 min PB to come in 1st lady with 84:12 (love the way that speedy people get their time quoted in mins!). There were also PBs for Sarah D (1:40:04), Chitra (1:43:22) and John R (1:46:24),  New Arrow Pippa Hanman came in well under her target of sub 2hrs with 1:58:24. Age category 1st places for Hannah (of course!), Louise and Georgie. Well done to all 15 Arrows who ran - great turnout and great results all round.

Congratulations to Richard Bruce who has been focusing on short and speedy recently and did amazingly well in the Master Champs.

Congratulations also to Jim Heatley with a PB of 1:34:26 in the Palace Half; Georgie with 1st FV70 and a PB of 3:17:57 in Oakley 20; Dawn with PB of 1:39 in Welwyn Garden City half; Helen McF with a PB of 46:46 in Eastleigh 10k and anyone else we have missed!

Race Reports

Please see those below and send your race reports to captains@harpendenarrows.co.uk (if you don’t send them, we are likely to have missed someone! ).

We'll also try and make sure we get press coverage when we can - send to the captains or post on facebook and we'll see what we can do. Needs to be by Sunday evening in order to to write the copy and get to the various Sports Desks.

What's coming up?

Lots of potential races and events on the Arrows website. Some are listed below (Club League races are highlighted in red). http://www.harpendenarrows.co.uk/web/index.php/race-list

12th April: Sandy 10

An optional Club League race with the interesting prize to the club with the most runners racing it or the 3k..... Entries: http://www.biggleswadeac.org.uk/sandyten

2nd May (Sat): St Albans parkrun - flashmob

We are planning a mass Arrows turnout at this parkrun - both for runners and volunteers. It is the bank holiday weekend, but do try and come along if you are here. Those who have recently completed a marathon, please sign up to volunteer and let's see if we can get a sea of red vests all round the course. 

To volunteer, you need to email the organisers on:  stalbanshelpers@parkrun.com.

17th May: Wheathampstead 10k

Our local 10k and a Club League race (not a 'best of'), we usually do very well in individual and team prizes. So, let's see a really good turnout. Enter here: http://www.wheathampstead10k.co.uk

7th June: Whipsnade 10k

It's all happening at the zoo again - a fun day out with a bit of running thrown in, what's not to like? http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/whats-on/zsl-whipsnade-zoo-stampede. An optional Club League event.

14th June: St Albans Half Marathon

This is a Club League event (not a 'best of') so put it in the diary now. http://www.stalbanshalfmarathon.co.uk/

19th June (Fri pm): Marston Forest 5k

This is PB potential flat, scenic course and they usually sell burgers and stuff afterwards. Quite a lot of Arrows have run this over the years and we can thoroughly recommend it. Enter here.

28th June: Herts Hobble

This is a lovely, fun (cheap!) event where you can choose to run or walk the 15-mile or 27-mile course armed with map, directions and a mug. It does fill up quite quickly so download your form from here - quite a few Arrows already entered.

18th Oct: Arrows Away Event - Palma

This year Arrows are off to Palma where there is a marathon, half marathon and 10K. You can fly from Luton and there is a wide choice of accommodation. The weather may be a little warm, so why not make a mini holiday of it?  Enter here

Club League

The 2015 Club League

The League has got off to a great start for our Ladies' Captain who is currently at the top of the leader board, closely followed by four more ladies. It is very, very early days though, so all to play for. A full list of the 2015 League races is on the website Club League 2015 and League races are highlighted in red above.

Go have a look at your plans for the year and see how you can do! We're looking at spicing it up this year - so watch this space! Full results will be posted on the website shortly.

Please enter as "Harpenden Arrows" and, if you do unofficial race swaps, you must inform the captains no later than a week after the event or they cannot count for either party.

Club Standards Awards 2014

Congratulations to the following Arrows for achieving their Club Standards last year....................

Arrow of the Month

Arrow of the month is postponed until April - so whoever it is will be doubly lucky.  But please do go and look at previous profiles here. 

If you think of someone you would like to nominate - please do let the Captains know.

Training tip of the Month

Taper Tips....

Always difficult to switch off as you have more time and energy than you are used to during the long winter months of marathon training...  but a good taper is very worthy.  Even if you pick up a niggle / injury in the final weeks does not always prevent you from doing the event you've targeted if you get some rest and you're healed enough to complete it.  (It'll just be the recovery that will be a bit longer than if you'd tapered according to best practice and plan.)

Here's an article from Runnersworld

Good luck...  next month - "Does my bum look big in this... ?" or are my glutes working properly for a more serious approach....

And what else.....?

Specials and circuits

• Tuesdays in Apr: Slow Run Special 5 miles to be confirmed
  

Socials

• Tues 21st April CAKE NIGHT
• Thurs 30th April  - Engineer after the Club 5k

Arrows Kit

If you want Arrows kit  please download an order form from here and hand it in to Colin with your payment. We have vests, T-shirts, hoodies, hats and caps, but if you have some suggestions on other kit you'd like, contact the captains or Colin. 

If you want some white iron-on letters for your race kit then Louise has them (contact Ladies Captain). There are some in stock and we will re-order from time to time (cost 13p each and full instructions provided).

Supporters' flags

We have 2 large red Arrows flags - great for spectators contact Ladies Captain if you wish to take them to an event.

Happy running,

Louise and Simon captains@harpendenarrows.co.uk

RACE REPORTS

Long Distance Battlefield Duathlon - by Ammon

This was the inaugural event and was held in rural Northamptonshire. Participants completed 2x10k loops first (with one beast of a hill to climb just past the midpoint of each loop) before heading out for an 80k ride on "undulating" country roads and finishing up with another punishing 10k loop (when the beast really reared its ugly head). If that doesn't sound like your cup of tea, there was also "sprint" and "classic" distance duathlons as well as 5k, 10k, and half marathon road races. All seemed well organised.

It was a windy day from the beginning, which was particularly a challenge on the bike, but the long distance competitors also got treated to a healthy dose of rain, making things a bit cold and miserable.

It was a small field (around 40 or 50 in our event?), but I was still happy to be up near the front. I came into T1 in second place and managed to hunt down the guy in front of me about 17k into the bike. For the next 40k I stayed behind the leader, keeping him in sight, before finally taking the lead for the last 20k or so of the bike. Coming into T2 I was surprised to see that we had been joined by another rider. Although I was first off the bike, this newcomer got through transition very quickly and then took off at a terrific pace. I managed to keep him in sight most of the way to the finish, but his lead was steadily increasing so in the end it was second place for me with unofficial times of 1:25:52, 2:38:45, and 44:00 to give an overall finish time of 4:48 and change.

Congratulations to all the competitors, some of whom had to endure the wind and the rain much longer than others ...

ASHRIDGE BOUNDARY RUN - by David White

David and Gareth attended the well-organised, well-marshalled Ashridge Boundary Run. It was a little cold to start with but the sun was out and the sold out (about 250 runners) set out on a very scenic and interesting route on time. The course runs 16.3m around ashridge and can best be described as Royston XC on steroids!! From running through woods to up Ivinghoe Beacon the course and view kept you from thinking too much about the pain.

At the end there were cakes and hot tea which was really welcome. Did I mention the hills?!?! They were never ending with a total elevation gain of 1288ft which is over twice that of Royston!!

I would definitely recommend the race for the future, but be warned it is really tough and felt more like 20 miles!!