Bramley Newspaper Articles

SRC County Runners

I have mentioned in a previous article that you have a great sense of pride wearing your club vest when taking part in events, but that must be felt even more when you represent your county and don the Nottinghamshire green vest. Two of our very own Southwell Runners, Dan Wheat and Sam Hatton (formerly Ward) had the honour of representing Nottinghamshire as part of a team in the recent Intercounties Fell Race. They were selected off the back of their performance at the Wolfs Pit Fell Race earlier in the year. Every year different races are picked to host the event and this year the Flower Scar Fell Race in Todmorden was chosen. Dan and Sam were up against some of the best fell runners in the country and they did themselves and Nottinghamshire proud. The Nottinghamshire mens team had their best ever finish, coming 14th out of 20 teams and the ladies team came 10th out of 10 teams. Not bad for a county that doesn’t have very big hills. There are also so many other things that happened during May, SRC held the first of our in-house club Grand Prix series. 19 members took part and newcomer Adam Carney pushed Steven Rice all the way in a great race. There was also the second of the Summer League races where SRC put in a great performance through our 14 runners. If you are keen to learn how you can also take part, then please go to www.southwellrunningclub.org

For many SRC runners it is the mid-season break between the cross country and summer league road season, but there are still lots of club members who are training and racing hard. It amazes me how much training goes into getting ready for a marathon and also the races that people take part in as part of this process. Michael Mather is training really hard for his first marathon attempt in his home town of Manchester and he has been really well supported by Steven Rice. Both Michael and Steven ran the Coventry half marathon, clocking impressive times of 1 hour and 34 minutes. They also took part in a new event, the Nottingham 20, which Kate Baker also ran in as well as taking part in the Ashby 20. A popular event for preparing for a Spring marathon is the Ashby 20 and this saw eight SRC members run this 20 mile road race. Bruce Danby and Penny Durance were both second in their category and Katy Simpson posted an excellent time of 2 hours and 28 minutes. A special mention goes to Sam Ward who has been picked to represent Nottinghamshire in the Intercounties Fell Race. Sam was picked after an excellent performance in the Wolf’s Pit Fell Race, which several other members took part in. I wish all SRC members and anyone else taking part in a marathon the best of luck. I am sure all the hard work will pay off!

The Obsessive Runner

Be Inspired

I believe the amazing thing about running is that there is not one single achievement for everyone. It depends on what your personal goal or target is and this can range from anything that includes running your first 5k park run, completing your first half or full marathon, finishing an ultra, fell running for the first time or beating a personal best. The SRC runners’ feats during February have not disappointed. I will start with the amazing accomplishment of our very own Richard Andrews who took part and finished the ARC of Attrition Ultra Marathon. Not only does this take place during the extreme conditions in February on the Cornish coastal path, it is also a 100 mile event with over 4000 metres of ascent and has over a 50% drop out rate. Richard completed this in a staggering time of 31 hours and 47 minutes and this is with no sleep along the way. Also, in February Eddie Alder took part in, and raised over £500 for the Tomorrow project, by finishing the Montane Grizedale Trail Marathon. This a challenging course set in the Lake District and Eddie completed all of this with mild hypothermia and bad knee after falling at 25km. If this has inspired you or if you want to meet some great people and get help and support in achieving your running goals, then join us at SRC www.southwellrunningclub.org. I can certainly testify that this a great place to accomplish your personal goals.

The Obsessive Runner

New year, great start for SRC. 

There was no easing the way in to the New Year for some Southwell Running Club runners as several members of the club took part in the Nottinghamshire Cross Country County Championships at Wollaton Park on Saturday 5th January. The conditions were dry by cross country standards, but this did not make it any easier on a challenging course against the best runners from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. SRC runners certainly did not disappoint as the Men’s vets team consisting of Jim Semmelroth, Paul Woolhouse, Paul Orton and Dan Wheat took the bronze medal. Both Paul Cregg and Jane Matthews got the silver medal for their respective age categories, so all in all not a bad day and start to 2019 for SRC. The cross country fun did not stop there as there was another race at Bramcote the following day which saw some crazy members take part, after only just completing the race at Wollaton the day before. However it was great to see some not so familiar SRC faces at a cross country race and I am led to believe that Michelle Hall and Kate Baker thoroughly enjoyed it and will be back for more. 

Members who are eager to see the back of dry January have organised the first Thursday night pub run of the year in Oxton on the 21st February. These social events are a great part of the club and are testament to how friendly and welcoming SRC is.

The Christmas period is a well known time for over indulging - drinking far more than normal and eating more than your own body weight in food.

Whilst I am sure there was an element of this for Southwell Running Club members, it didn't stop people taking part in plenty of events during the busy December period.

There were events that the club held, one being the Upton Predictor and another the Halam Hat Chase. The latter involves runners being set off at different intervals to tackle the six mile cross country course. The slowest runner sets off first wearing the Santa hat and then other runners are released to begin the chase to get the hat. The winner of this event is the person who finishes first wearing the hat and the award went to Jane Matthews this year (but not before the hat changed hands a few times!)

There was also the aptly named festive race, The Turkey Trot. This is a half marathon in Keyworth. I believe no actual turkeys took part, but ten SRC members did, including Penny Durance, Ian Beadles, Chloe Lucas, Brendan Parkinson, Katy Simpson, Darren Corbett, Bruce Danby, Samantha Ward, Anne Stefaniak, and Caroline Loom. All ten clocked impressive times on an undulating and difficult course. Congratulations!

If you are feeling over indulged and your New Year's resolution is to do more running, then why not join us at SRC? View our website www.southwellrunningclub.org to find out how you can get involved.

The Obsessive Runner