A big thank you to all Striders who participated in the first event of the VSL 🙂

The results are now available by following the VSL Results link. There are two clear leaders in the Ladies’ and Men’s competitions (well done Mel and Rob!) but intense competition for second place but it is early days at the moment!

The second event (Route 2) scheduled to take place over the next fortnight is the familiar Denmead 10 k route. Note that, since the start point is nearer the Kidmore Lane car park than the usual Denmead 10 k, the finish line will be approximately 30 m along Tanners Lane before reaching the scout hut. I have marked the finish line (according to my Garmin!) with red/white barrier tape for the benefit of those without GPS devices although there will be some variation in individual’s measured distances as the GPS devices are only accurate to about 1% which translates to 100 m for 10k!

Enjoy the runs and the beautiful Hampshire scenery but don’t forget to take water on these longer runs during this heatwave!

(as a virtual reincarnation. at least 🙂

Not quite the real thing but, in the absence of any HRRL or SCCL races this year, we thought that members might welcome the opportunity for some motivation together with a bit of fun with friendly rivalry by participation in a  “Virtual Striders’ League (VSL)” competition.  This will be held over the summer months (31st May – 19th September inclusive) along similar lines to the usual competition with the same scoring system to that used in previous years based on age and performance.  It will also provide a good opportunity to get back into “racing mode” in preparation for the resumption of the HRRL season currently scheduled to start with the Overton 5 m on 5 th September – see the HRRL webpage.

The competion will consist of eight virtual races – two each of a 5k, 10k, 10 miles and Half Marathon.

Full details of the competition are given by following the links to VSL Rules and VSL Routes.  The first event will be a 5k (essentially the familiar Summer Handicap course) to be held during the fortnight 31st May – 13th June 2021.  All paid up members are encouraged to participate, so don’t be shy, give it  a go 🙂

If anyone has any queries or requires clarification on the rules or routes or pointing out mistakes (for which I take full responsibility!) please feel free to contact Graham. I look forward to receiving your times over the coming weeks!

PS I will acknowledge receipt of all your results so if you haven’t heard from me within a day or so of sending me your times please get in touch. Emails do have a nasty habit of disappearing into the ether!

England Athletics have now provided details of the number of club places which will be available for the 2021 Marathon in October: as follows: “All clubs that had places in 2020 will be offered the same number of places for each of the 2021 and 2022 events, minus their number of deferred club entries from 2020”. Unfortunately, this means that we have no additional London Marathon spaces for this year as they carried over from the lucky people that were meant to race in 2020.  Hopefully, in 2022, we should be allocated 2 places but we will keep you updated .

The club is pleased to announce that, following a successful return to Wednesday training at our Covid secure locations in Waterlooville, summer training will return to the Denmead Lanes on 19/05/21 at three Covid secure locations, a full return to Monday and Wednesday training on the week commencing 21/06/21.

The return to Denmead will be similar to the return earlier in April, the sessions taking place at three Covid secure locations dependent on which level is appropriate for you. Please read the gudelines for return to Denmead for full details including the three secure locations.

Gary has now published the 6-week Wednesday training schedule for the period 19th May – 23rd June inclusive. Monday training will commence on 21st June and thereafter the full summer training schedule will be followed. 🙂

Read all the latest news in March Newsletter!

Hi guys

There has been a social media post about runners around the Berewood area on Monday nights allegedly forcing pedestrians off the path and being in a “group”.

I know a lot of us are still training around that area so would just please ask us all to be conscious of this, remember the government guidelines and, if we are seeing fellow runners, to try to avoid any kind of congregation and also be mindful of the community. I know this is not anything organised by the club and down to the individuals but if you are running in these areas please be mindful that it is one of our training areas and it could be raised with the club and potentially affect future training.

Keep safe guys, hopefully it won’t be long until we can train in bigger circles.

Our very own Julia Revill (Membership secretary & Vice Chairman) has been in touch today and advised she has been kept busy running by delivering your membership cards around the area!

It has really kept her going as her usual cross country routes have been awful and wading through mud doesn’t help speed work!

So why not keep her running by renewing your membership she’d love the incentive to get out and about.

At the moment we have 76 members who have re-joined – a lot less than the total number of paid-up members for 2020.

As a club we appreciate you have not been getting the full benefit of your membership (hence the reduction in fee) but also hope you can see that we have still been trying to motivate and Gary McCawley has been excellent in providing “virtual” coaching for you all via this platform.

With the potential of training coming back into the fold spring time and races by summer/autumn then I hope you will still want to be part of this great club.

Details of how to pay membership can be found on the club website.

Thanks for your support as always guys

This is a gentle reminder to all members that your annual subscriptions were due on 1st January.  As Clare stated in her ealier post, the club recognises that this year you have not had the full benefit of club training sessions so the committee have decided that,for 2021 ONLY,  anyone who was a paid up member in 2020 that wishes to renew their membership will be able to claim it at a reduced rate of £20.

We encourage members to pay by BACS since  we are not currently meeting face to face.  Subscriptions can be paid directly to the club sort code 40-45-26 account number 51233475 (Please don’t forget to  put your name as a reference). However, anyone that does need to pay by cash please contact Julia via email to find out the best way to arrange.

A big thank you to all members who have already paid!