Committee activity

We met again on Wednesday 26^th February with three guest members and discussed the usual club finances, kit orders, new members, social media stats as well as, committee vacancies, the member survey results, club rules, Jogger and Volunteer of the year nominees and the South Downs Way 100 mile Relay invitation. More on some of this later. We agreed to meet again on Wednesday 1^st April and you are welcome to join us by arrangement.

A few words from Chairman Phil

Well it is less than 2 months to go now to our AGM and the end of 5 (mostly) enjoyable years as Chairman of this fabulous club. The inbox for offers of a new Chairperson is looking emptier than a hermits address book though!

Now before you stop reading this, please indulge me for a few minutes and read this little note as it is not just another request for someone to give some of their spare time for the club, but a wider note about sharing the love generally! People have said to me recently “you do such a good job, it would be hard to replace you..” and “ I wouldn’t know where to start…” so let me let you all in on a secret. When I was first approached by my predecessor Tony, I didn’t have a clue either and when he did a handover to me I felt like Homer Simpson staring intently at him hardly understanding a word he was saying! But I have made it work for me and I would like to think I have done an OK job.

The role itself, as the job spec we put in the newsletter last month says (Find it HERE) is not that involved, a normal week for me is; The Week@ on social media on a Sunday, then imparting most of that on Tuesday at the club and then it’s just anything else that may come up! You would host the Awards Evening and AGM and chair meetings, once every 6 weeks or so and take any actions that might arise out of it. But it is really about being a good people person and communicator.

So that’s the sales pitch for my role but there are other positions on the committee that need filling as well. A common question I have been asked on this is “if I do it, what would my role be?” Well, someone once said “if you have to question what your role would be as a volunteer, then you aren’t ready to volunteer”. By joining the committee you are making yourself available to give your fellow club members a voice initially and help out where needed. But as most roles do, it evolves over time into whatever you want it to be and as committee members who have joined over my tenure have found, the roles are there you just need to step up and volunteer for them.

We are a club that has just broken the 600 membership barrier for the first time and, as our recent survey showed, we have a lot of talented people out who are interested in helping. So, as my time is coming to an end, please consider stepping up and joining the committee or even consider being our new Chairman (or Chairwoman!). Over to you and thank you for reading this.

Phil.

The Results Round-up

A relatively quiet period for team hj but even this relentless stormy weather couldn’t put some off! Compiled mainly from the race reports by Chris Yeomans, your regular results fix of who has been doing what can be found HERE

Member Survey results

An incredible 278 members took the time to respond, which is a fantastic 56% response rate. Far greater than we expected! Huge thanks go to Margaret and Guy for setting this up and processing the data so far. Obviously with all that feedback, we need time to filter all the points made and form an action plan to address and implement where necessary. Those who have made individual comments, suggestions and offers of help should by now have received an acknowledgement by email. We will be back in touch with you soon to discuss how we intend to follow this up.

Injury Clinic Drop-in Clinic

Following the recent drop-in clinic, Tony at Hands On has kindly offered members another FREE 10-15 minute drop-in session between 5 and 7pm on Tuesday 10^th March. So, if you are upping your training miles in preparation for a marathon or have been ignoring a niggle for a while, why not pop in before your run with the club for some free help and advice. There’s no need to book. Just tell The Bridge reception staff that you are there to see Hands On and they will allow you through to the 1^st floor treatment room. Dependent on numbers, you may need to wait for a bit before seeing Tony. Any subsequent follow-up treatment will also be discounted for club members. https://www.handsonsportstherapy.org/

Challenge Trophy/WSFRL update

Unfortunately, Crawley Run Crew had to postpone their 1st “Run Your Heart Out” 8k due to the weather. The new date for this club challenge event will be 29^th March and we are aware that this clashes with some other local races. If you entered and can no longer attend this race, please let us know and we can carry your entry fee over to another WSFRL race later this year or arrange a refund. Entry to the revised race is now open again. Full details of 2020 fixtures can be found HERE and races are listed in chronological order on the MemberZone.

Sussex AA Christ’s Hospital Road Relays – 4^th April

Team manager, Pete O’Connell is looking for team members to join him for this annual event. It’s great fun and not at all competitive (?!?) with a strong camaraderie between team members completing 2 miles each. If you want to join the fun, please contact Pete direct – purpledrummer@sky.com

South Downs Way 100 mile Relay

Horsham Joggers has again been lucky enough to receive an invitation to put forward two teams for this incredible event. The club covers the cost of team entry and team manager, John Wilcox has put together all the other details that you need to know HERE

Kit orders

Please note that any pending kit orders or new kit orders won’t be processed or delivered between 31^st March and 21^st April. Apologies for any inconvenience. Please plan ahead if you need kit during this time. We politely remind you that we are run by volunteers, not by Amazon!

Jogger and Volunteer of the Year nominees

In a change to recent years, your committee has selected names of those we feel should be nominated for JOY and VOY. However, you will still get the chance to vote for your favourite. Please look out for a link to Survey Monkey coming to you by email soon! Awards will be presented to our winners at the AGM in April.

MemberZone profile

Did you know that you can access your own profile on the MZ? Just login as usual and then hover again over the MemberZone tab along the top menu and click on “my account”. Here you will find a list of all the orders you’ve placed, your personal details like name, address etc and you can also change your password as well! Enjoy! More features will be coming soon!

Race for life

In aid of Cancer Research UK, the annual Race for Life will take place in Horsham Park on Sunday 7^th June 2020. Full details can be found HERE

Good news, race stories, new PB’s?

We are still looking for new material for the newsletter or to shout about your achievements in the local press. If you have something to tell us about your weekend running achievements there are numerous options – EMAIL US or MESSAGE US or POST IT TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – So, don’t be shy. We all want to share in your success!

And finally…………………

After a good few years as your newsletter editor, Paul is standing down from the role after the April issue goes out. We are looking for someone to take this on and bring their personality to the role with a new, fresh approach! It involves monitoring weekly race reports, collecting material throughout the six week period, engaging with social media and “stealing” members photos! The committee can provide a summary of what needs to be included after their meeting and our website manager can post the content to our page in time for publication, with a link to the new post going to all by email. If you’ve got what it takes, please CONTACT US.

Dates for your diary

1^st Mar – Eastbourne half marathon

1^st Mar – Witterings 5 and 10k

1^st Mar – Steyning Stinger half and marathon

7^th Mar – Winter Nuts Challenge, Dorking

8^th Mar – Surrey half marathon

15^th Mar – Balcombe Bull Run

29^th Mar – CRC Run Your Heart Out 8k (WSFRL & Challenge Trophy)

29^th Mar – Mel’s Milers 10k, Christ’s Hospital

29^th Mar – Hastings half marathon (SGP)

29^th Mar – Cranleigh 15/21m

4^th Apr – Sussex AA Road Relays, Christ’s Hospital

4^th Apr – South Downs Way 50

5^th Apr – Lancing 10k

Ed – Happy New Year! We hope you had a wonderful festive season and have set some new running goals for 2020? We have some exciting news to bring you so lets get cracking…………………….

Committee activity

We met again on Wednesday 8^th January with two guest members and discussed the usual club finances, kit, new members, forthcoming event etc as well as the member survey, challenge trophy series, committee vacancies, twinning and injury clinics! More on some of this later. We agreed to meet again on 26^th February 2020 and you are welcome to join us by arrangement.

 The Results Round-up

A shorter round-up this time, what with the run up to Christmas festivities. This is compiled mainly from the race reports by Chris Yeomans, your regular results fix of who has been doing what is HERE!

Committee vacancies

At the next AGM, we already know that four of your committee members will stand down after many years of service to the club. Chairman Phil, Secretary Sue and committee members Fiona and Paul are all vacating their seats. So, we have vacancies on the committee and if you want to give back to the club in anyway, please let us know. The club constitution stipulates that we require a Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer along with up to 8 other members to form a maximum committee of 11. With our new treasurer in place and a new secretary already shadowing Sue on the run up to the AGM, the key role to fill is that of Chairperson. Phil has kindly summarised what this involves HERE! Volunteering provides an opportunity for your voice to be heard and for your ideas and input to influence the direction of the club in the future. Please CONTACT US if you feel you have what it takes or if you want more details.

Member Survey

Barring a few ping backs, all members should now be in receipt of our 2020 member survey, hosted by Survey Monkey. Take a look in your inbox and spam folder and, if you haven’t had it please CONTACT US. Your feed back is important to us and can influence the direction of the club and future initiatives. Please take a few minutes to complete it before the 29^th January end date. Just answer the first question and it will take you through to the complete survey.

New WSFRL raceCrawley Run Crew are the latest club to add to the fixtures list this year. The “Run Your Heart Out” 8k is due to be held on 16^th Feb and will start and finish at K2, using the paths and trails around Tilgate Forest and Park. Advance club entry is £3 (juniors go for free) and entry on the day is £7 (subject to availability). Take a look HERE for race details and enter in advance via the MemberZone before 29^th January cut off!

Club Challenge Trophy races for 2020

The committee has made some changes this year in order to increase member participation and mix up the potential winners a bit. The rules remain the same and more information can be found HERE. But remember; results are taken from your GUN TIME and you MUST be wearing an official club race vest or t-shirt to qualify for an award (both available from the MemberZone)!

WSFRL Challenge – CRC “Run Your Heart Out” 8k – 16^th Feb

10 mile Challenge – Haywards Heath 10 – 24^th May

Half Marathon Challenge – Henfield Half – 16^th Aug

10k Challenge – Littlehampton 10k – 6^th Sept

Injury Drop-in ClinicHands On Sports Therapy are based at The Bridge and Tony has kindly offered members a FREE 10-15 minute drop-in session between 5 and 7pm on Tuesday 28^th January. If you are upping your training miles in preparation for a marathon or have been ignoring a niggle for a while, why not pop in before your run with the club for some free help and advice. There’s no need to book. Just tell reception staff that you are there to see Hands On and they will allow you through to the 1^st floor treatment room. Dependent on numbers, you may need to wait for a bit before seeing Tony. Any subsequent follow-up treatment will also be discounted for club members. https://www.handsonsportstherapy.org/

#RunAndTalk eventsContinuing the theme of our popular post-run event in December, our next RunAndTalk evening will be on 4th February, where we will be recognising Time to Talk Day, and again we invite everyone to join us in the bridge cafe for tea / coffee and a catch-up after the regular Tuesday evening club run. This is an informal event, open to all, so please pop in and say hello!

Marathon Training volunteers

James is doing a fantastic job with organising the volunteers to provide a route and water stops each week, but he needs to fill 4 more slots for the 8am Sunday training plan. If you can volunteer, please take a look at the rota HERE and let James know which date you can cover. munden888@yahoo.co.uk

Twinning UpdateTG Lage, our twinned club in Germany, hosted AdventLauf before Christmas and a few members of Horsham Joggers made the trip to take part. Read all about it HERE

Gunpowder Trot Assistant

We may be 10 months away from the next GT event but run director, Margaret is already looking for a 2^nd in command to help her this year. You would be involved in shadowing the event preparations and delivery of another fabulous run in November 2020. If you want to get involved, please CONTACT US.

Brighton Marathon Places

The club still has some places available for the Brighton Marathon on 19^th April. If you want to use one, please CONTACT US.

Good news, race stories, new PB’s?

We are still looking for new material for the newsletter or to shout about your achievements in the local press. If you have something to tell us about your weekend running achievements there are numerous options – EMAIL US or MESSAGE US or POST IT TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – So, don’t be shy. We all want to share in your success!

Dates for your diary

18^th Jan – Sussex Master X-country champs, Lancing

18^th Jan – Fitstuff G3 Race 2, Newlands Corner

19^th Jan – Winter Tanners 20, Leatherhead

25^th Jan – Run through Lee Valley Velopark, QE Park

25^th Jan – Maverick Terrex Original 8, 15, 23k, Amberley Museum

28^th Jan  – Injury drop in clinic

29^th Jan – Member survey end date

1^st Feb – Fitstuff G3 Race 3, Newlands Corner

2^nd Feb – Chichester 10k

4^th Feb – Time to Talk day

9^th Feb – Worthing 10k and Half Marathon

16^th Feb – Run Your Heart Out 8k (WSFRL & Challenge Trophy race)

23^rd Feb – Brighton Half Marathon

Committee activity

We met again on Wednesday 20^th November and discussed the usual club matters as well as #RunAndTalk events, Awards night, Gunpowder Trot review, member survey and woolly hats!  More on some of this later. We agreed to meet again on 8^th January 2020 and you are welcome to join us by arrangement.

The Results Round-up

So much to talk about this time! Compiled mainly from the race reports by Chris Yeomans, your regular results fix of who has been doing what is HERE 

Annual winter handicap and awards presentation

To be held at 7pm at Horsham Cricket and Sports Club on Tuesday 3^rd December, this event takes over from the usual group running from The Bridge. All are welcome and if you give your average 5 or 10k time to us, we will put you into groups which leave Blackbridge Lane at timed intervals on a 4.5mile route. The idea is that everyone finishes at about the same time with some surprising winners in the past! After this we will return to the warmth of the club house for the annual awards ceremony at 8.30pm. As well as making donations to our nominated charity representatives and the all-important marathon ballot draw, this is your chance to congratulate our Challenge Trophy, WSFRL 10, SGP 6, Time Trial and summer/winter handicap winners. All are welcome and there will be free sandwiches and the bar will be open to buy your own drinks!

Quiz night review 13 teams attended the annual quiz night, under the expert eye of quizmaster Martyn Newton and his assistant Iain Campbell. Held at Horsham Cricket and Sports Club on Friday 25^th October, “Cirque du Sore Legs” came first with “Only 60 Days to Christmas” receiving the wooden spoon! It’s always a great night with the biggest fun coming from the “who brought the best snacks” competition!

Gunpowder Trot Review

Team hj’s volunteers turned out in force for our home WSFRL race on 3^rd November. A huge thank you to all who helped, but especially to Rob, Derek and Richard who went above and beyond the call of duty by clearing a fallen tree from the course before 7.30am! We really can’t do it without you! All WSFRL clubs participated with the largest team of 59 from Hove Hornets. We had 488 seniors and 30 juniors entered into both races and the tea and cakes helped to raise funds for our nominated charities. Congratulations must go to Margaret and her core team for putting on another great event.

#RunAndTalk eventsWe had a phenomenal response to the free talk buy author and marathon runner Phil Hewitt on Thursday 21^st November. Phil talked with passion and emotion about his story and how running helps him to cope with the stress and anxiety which came with it. “Outrunning The Demons” is available in all good book shops (ISBN: 9781472956514).

Our next runandtalk event will be a social on 17th December. Everyone is invited to join us in the bridge cafe after the Christmas lights club run for tea / coffee and a mince pie. This is open to all, so please pop in to warm up and say hello!

Subsidised track use

With your annual subs, the club makes a block booking with The Bridge for you to use the running track between 6.30 and 7.30pm every Thursday. However, this is a subsidised benefit and we do ask members to contribute just £2 to the “honesty pot” left under the benches by our coach(s). In recent months, takings have led us to believe that perhaps not everyone is being 100% honest so please pay what is due.

Club vacancies

As we approach the end of the year, our thoughts turn to 2020 and the next AGM. We already know that there will be vacancies on the committee so if you want to give back to the club in anyway, please let us know. A full list of vacancies will be published in January. One role in particular that we need to fill early in the new year will be a new membership secretary. Sue has completed this for many years alongside her general club secretary role but feels it is now time to step back a bit and let someone else take over. Full training and hand over would be given and you would need a basic knowledge of Excel, email, online banking etc. Time commitment can vary with renewal time at the end of March requiring maybe daily input to avoid it mounting up. Please CONTACT US for more details.

Marathon training organiser

As well as the above, we need someone to step up and arrange the Spring Marathon Training programme starting on Sunday 29^th December. It’s not as onerous as it sounds because we have a well trodden plan (pardon the pun!) but it would suit itself to someone planning to take part in the actual training programme and involves being there on 29^th Dec and making a list of those prepared to organise a weekly route with light refreshments half way (or more) and to ensure everyone makes if back safely. As the overall organiser you would prepare and circulate the rota and ensure that routes/refreshments are shared with the next person on the list. Please  CONTACT US to find out more.

Christmas Socials

We’ve had a few questions from members regarding a Christmas get together and, with our main annual social event now being the Horsham Round in August, we are more than happy for individuals to arrange their own smaller Christmas get togethers at venues of their choice. Opening up a social event to over 550 members at this time of the year comes with its own challenges and we feel that smaller, self-funded groups making their own arrangements to fit their budget is the best way to go forward.

Club kit

With Christmas just around the corner, you may want to buy a new hoodie, cap, number clips or race top (or at least drop a hint to your friends and family!). Kit manager, Steve is waiting for your orders via the MemberZone and still has 1x medium, 1x large commemorative T-shirts from this year’s Horsham Round. £10 – cash only.

Good news, race stories, new PB’s?

We are always looking for new material for the newsletter or to shout about your achievements in the local press. If you have something to tell us about your weekend running achievements there are numerous options – EMAIL US or MESSAGE US or POST IT TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – So, don’t be shy. We all want to share in your success!

And finally……………….Woolly Hats! Martine has the following message for you…………

This image shows hand-knitted Horsham Joggers hats. So far, we have sold several to those members who have asked for them and have placed an order. They cost £7.50*, are knitted by HJ member Karen Wigmore with the proceeds going to Sussex Air Ambulance. They are one size and are all made to order. It would be great to get a few orders in the run up to Christmas and it’s a great cause too for hj members to support! I look forward to hearing from you, Martine (martine.burke@gmail.com)

*NOTE: these are only available by contacting Martine and aren’t on the MemberZone

Dates for your diary

24^th Nov – Crowborough 10k (SGP)

24^th Nov – Jigsaw 10k, Dunsfold

30^th Nov – Sussex X-country league, Stanmer Park

1^st Dec – Downland Devil 9m, Lancing

3^rd Dec – Annual winter handicap and Awards night

7^th Dec – Worthing Christmas Cracker 5 and 10k (women only)

8^th Dec – Mouth to Mouth marathon, Shoreham

8^th Dec – Mince pie 10m Peacehaven

8^th Dec – Hogs Back Road Race, Loseley Estate

8^th Dec – Shere Trail Run

17^th Dec – hj Xmas lights run with #RunAndTalk social after

21^st Dec – Christmas pudding dash, Pett nr Hastings

25^th Dec – Christmas Day (just in case you forget!)

26^th Dec – Turners Hill Boxing Day run

1^st Jan – Hangover 5 (WSFRL)

4^th Jan – Sussex AA X-country champs, Bexhill

Committee activity

We met again on Wednesday 2^nd October and discussed the usual club matters as well as Quiz night, Gun Powder Trot prep, #RunAndTalk events, website updates and a member survey.  More on some of this later. We agreed to meet again on 20^th November and you are welcome to join us by arrangement.

The Results Round-up

Some incredible achievements to read about. Compiled mainly from the race reports by Chris Yeomans, your regular results fix of who has been doing what, where, when and why is HERE!

35^th Anniversary celebrations

Over 150 people attended the anniversary celebrations in the park after the annual Horsham Round on bank holiday Monday 26^th August. We had free fish & chips, commemorative t-shirts and a special cake! Phil said a few words and we thanked the teams from guest clubs for attending. The weather was a bit warm and so we lazed around under the trees behind Horsham Bowl and some even drank beer! A fab day was had by all!

Quiz night – 25^th OctoberSlightly earlier than usual due to venue availability so you best start brushing up on your knowledge of all things film, history, sports, music and more as it’s nearly time for the annual Horsham Joggers quiz again! Under the expert eye of quizmaster, Martyn Newton, it will take place at Horsham Cricket and Sports Club on Friday 25^th October. Please arrive at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Maximum 13 teams are required and entry costs £18. There will be a maximum of six players with at least two hj members in each team. You can now register and pay for your team via the MemberZone. There will be 9 rounds in total with a break halfway through. The bar will be open all night for you to buy drinks but feel free to bring your own nibbles to eat at your table. Good luck!

Gunpowder TrotPlans are now in the final stages, and we are fast approaching our own WSFRL fixture on Sunday 3^rd November 2019. Margaret now has enough volunteers and job allocations will be sent out over the next few weeks to those who completed the Survey Monkey link. If you’ve offered to volunteer, PLEASE save the date and try not to make any changes before the event as it takes countless hours to pull this all together. Entry is open via the MemberZone for those not wanting to volunteer.

Charity Donations

In addition to funding the recent celebrations, we are delighted to be able to give two charitable donations of £600 each this year to the West Sussex North Branch of MDNA (Motor Neurone Disease Association) and The Hope Charity. MND is a cause close to hj’s heart having lost two bright lights recently to this awful disease and The Hope Charity is a local organisation run by people who are personally touched by a young person struggling with their emotional well-being. They provide a much-needed resource for children aged 10-18 and their families, who are experiencing the trauma of mental health issues in our society today. We hope to welcome charity representatives to our annual awards ceremony in December in order to present the donations.

http://www.mndwestsussexnorth.com/

https://www.hopecharityproject.org/

#RunAndTalk events

 As mentioned in previous newsletters, we will be starting to incorporate RunAndTalk events within our Tuesday evening programme (initially once a month) – details of these will be posted on our usual social media platforms.

As an introduction to this, your Mental Health Champions, Mark and Geri, will be available for an informal chat at The Bridge Café on Tuesday 8^th October following the regular club run. Please pop in if you’d like to find out more, share ideas, or just to say hello!

Don’t forget we’ve added some additional pages to our website with lots of useful information. Do have a look and let us know what you think – we’d also love to hear from anyone who is interested in getting involved.

Guest Speaker – An Evening with Phil Hewitt.

In tandem with RunAndTalk, we are excited to be joined by Sussex Newspapers Group Arts Editor and marathon runner Phil Hewitt to talk about his new book, Outrunning The Demons (Bloomsbury, 2019), which celebrates the massive mental health benefits of running. Phil will be speaking at The Bridge Leisure Centre, Broadbridge Heath, on Thursday 21^st November (8pm).
As Phil says: “Running can take us to fantastic places. Just as importantly, it can also bring us back from terrible ones. For people in times of crisis, trauma and physical or mental illness – when normality collapses – running can put things back together again”.

Phil will talk of his own experience, after being mugged – stabbed, punched, kicked and effectively left for dead in Cape Town 3 years ago, and how he put himself back together again by getting back to his first love, running….

The book also includes interviews with 34 people from around the world who, as he says, have been to hell and discovered that the surest, safest, quickest way back was to run. He interviewed people caught up in 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing; people who have lost loved ones to murder and natural causes; people who have suffered addiction, alcoholism, anxiety, depression, violent and sexual assault; and sheer bad luck.

The result is a remarkable collection of stories about hope and survival – a genuinely uplifting celebration of the strength of the human spirit and all the good that is unleashed simply through running.

This will be a free event for members, but due to limited spaces you will need to book your place by contacting Mark Aylmore at HJRunAndTalk@gmail.com

Race reports

Chris Yeomans is still kindly producing the weekly report for the local press but ideally, we’d like this to be a shared role with another willing volunteer. It involves scanning the race calendar, results pages, social media etc on a Sunday or Monday and sending a brief summary (with a photo or two) to the local newspapers. If you can help, please CONTACT US

Challenge Trophy Results

All four CT races have now been run and Steve Wilson is pulling together the results ready for the awards presentation. Having done this for a few years, Steve will be taking a break next year and handing the reins over the Miranda Huisman. We thanks Steve for his help and diligence in completing this tricky role.

Possible Twinning Trip

We are looking to organise a trip to our twinned club in Germany next year! Our links with TG Lage have been in place for many years and it would be nice to go to visit one of their biggest events of the year after they visited us during Barns Green last year. The Hörster Waldlauf takes place on Saturday May 9th next year and is a festival of running comprising of a Half Marathon, 10 and 5K as well as child’s races over 1.2 and 400m all taking part in the beautiful Teutoburger Forest. We are checking for interest initially so here is the proposed itinerary:

• We would organise transport on the Friday to the airport (probably Heathrow, Stanstead or Luton), participants would need to book their own flights and hopefully we can match it up so we can either be on the same flight or within a short space of each other.
• We would then organise transport at the other end to Lage (approx 90 minutes).
• TG Lage have a large sports complex with facilities, but the sleeping arrangements would probably be a dormitory style. They would also be happy to give us a B&B arrangement.
• We would then return by the same arrangements on the Sunday.

There is a possibility that some of us could be put up by TG Lage families if anyone was interested. It would be an adventure and we are sure a great event! We are going to gauge any interest and then maybe organise a meeting to discuss it further, so if it sounds like your thing please CONTACT US

Membership survey

Our membership currently stands at 560 and so it’s becoming more and more difficult to ask each member for their views on the club and what they want to get from it. So we are putting together our very first membership survey which will go out in the New Year and we need some help. If you have market research type skills and would like to help put this together, please CONTACT US

Dates for your diary

6^th Oct – Lewes Downland 10 (SGP)

6^th Oct – Heron Way 10k

6^th Oct – Bournemouth Half and Marathon

13^th Oct – Great Walstead 5 (WSRFL)

19^th Oct – SEAA x-country relays

20^th Oct – Hove Prom 10k (SGP)

20^th Oct – Worthing Seafront 10k

20^th Oct – Great South Run 10m

20^th Oct – Great Bottom 5, Arundel

25^th Oct – hj quiz night

26^th Oct – Beachy Head Marathon/10k

27^th Oct – Crawley 10k

27^th Oct – Steepdown Challenge (WSFRL)

3^rd Nov – hj Gunpowder Trot (WSFRL)

9^th Nov – Sussex x-country league, Lancing

10^th Nov – Rewell Wood 5, Arundel

17^th Nov – Brighton 10k

24^th Nov – Crowborough 10k (SGP)

24^th Nov – Jigsaw 10k, Dunsfold 

Don’t forget; if you’ve got something worthy of the newsletter then please let us know!

Committee activity

We met again on Wednesday 21^st August and discussed club finances, membership, MemberZone orders and social media hits as well as Survey Monkey, #RunAndTalk, mental health champions, charity donations, Horsham Round 35^th celebrations and Gunpowder Trot preparations. More on some of this later. We agreed to meet again on 2^nd October and you are welcome to join us by arrangement.

Tony Johnson

Hopefully you have all seen our recent tribute to Tony who sadly lost his fight with Motor Neurone Disease on 20th July. A celebration of Tony’s life was held on 6^th August and was well attended by past and current hj members. The committee have been discussing ways to honour Tony’s memory at the event which he grew to love the most during his running journey – The South Downs Way Relay. Over the coming weeks we will be thinking of a fitting tribute and discussing options with Tony’s wife Julia.

The Results Round-up

So who has been where in the past six weeks? Compiled mainly of race reports by Chris Yeomans, your regular results fix is HERE!

Horsham Round – Bank Holiday Monday

21 team entries have pouring in, the t-shirt orders have arrived, the food is ordered for those who asked for it and we’ve even arranged good weather! This year’s Horsham Round and 35^th Anniversary celebration is set to be a fantastic day and you are welcome to join us in the park from 2.30pm to see the teams home. Team captains will now have instructions and maps to follow and will have agreed their start time with James. Remember, it’s a self-navigated 29 mile route as a relay team or in pairs as a minimum. Runners are responsible for your own safety, food, water, sunscreen, support crew, mobile contact etc for the whole run! T-shirt orders can be collected at the finish and, for those who have ordered food, you will be provided with a meal voucher to exchange for your selected food choice at the mobile catering van between 2.30 and 4.30pm. All being well, it will be parked adjacent to Park House, North Street (the old HDC headquarters), a short walk from the park. We look forward to seeing you!

#RunAndTalk

We are delighted to welcome our two new mental health champions and to be firmly involved in England Athletics #RunAndTalk initiative. Mark Aylmore and Geri Smith have been working very hard over the past few months and have put together some fantastic pages and content on our website (https://www.horshamjoggers.co.uk/about-runandtalk/). There’s lots of interesting fact sheets and advice. Take a look, see what you think and drop them a line to let them know via their contact page. In the coming months Mark and Geri will be holding regular #RunAndTalk events. Details of these will soon be added to the web pages and promoted via the newsletter and our social media platforms.

Barns Green Pacer required

This year we will be providing all the pacers for the Barns Green Half Marathon. However, organiser Jason Walker is missing a 1hour 30minute pacer to complete his team. If you can run like clockwork at this pace, please contact Jason (jason.walker1@hotmail.com). Pacers get free entry and a pacer bib to wear.

Gunpowder Trot

Plans are well advanced, and we are fast approaching our own WSFRL fixture on Sunday 3^rd November 2019 but we are already receiving entries from members who haven’t offered to volunteer first! As always, we rely on many volunteers on the day so please, please, please remember to offer your help BEFORE thinking about entering the race.

Group Leaders

We’ve had a couple of new leaders join us, but we still need more to help us provide a better spread of smaller, more evenly paced groups. We can provide guidance and route maps for you so that you can step up and lead regularly or in the event of a shortage on the night. Have a word with your group leader and they can help you to help us!

Race reports

Chris Yeomans is kindly producing the weekly report for the local press but ideally, we’d like this to be a shared role with another willing volunteer. It involves scanning the race calendar, results pages, social media etc on a Sunday or Monday and sending a brief summary (with a photo or two) to the local newspapers. If you can help, please CONTACT US

Ride London Ballot winner

Ian Bradbury rode the Prudential Ride London this year after winning his place in the ballot last winter. He said “I took part in the Prudential Ride London & Surrey 100 today using the Horsham Joggers ballot entry.  I had a fantastic day and really enjoyed it.  Thank you!  I did pretty well as well – 5h14m, average speed of 18.8 mph”.

Dates for your diary

26^th Aug – Horsham Round/35^th Anniversary picnic

1^st Sept – Fittleworth 5 (WSFRL)

3^rd Sept – 4^th Itchingfield Time Trial (7pm!)

8^th Sept – Hellingly 10k (SGP)

8^th Sept – Bacchus Half Marathon

8^th Sept – Littlehampton 10k (5-10k group graduation)

14^th Sept – Rewell Wood Running festival, Arundel

15^th Sept – Richmond Half Marathon

22^nd Sept – Tilgate Forest 5 (WSFRL)

28^th Sept – SXCC relays, Goodwood

29^th Sept – Barns Green Half Marathon

6^th Oct – Lewes Downland 10 (SGP)

6^th Oct – Heron Way 10k

6^th Oct – Bournemouth Half and Marathon

Don’t forget; if you’ve got something worthy of the newsletter then please let us know!

Committee activity

We met again on Wednesday 10^th July and discussed club finances, membership, MemberZone orders and social media as well as the Horsham 10k review, Run & Talk mental health champions, charity donations, Horsham Round 35^th celebrations and Gunpowder Trot preparations. More on some of this later. We agreed to meet again on 21^st August and you are welcome to join us by arrangement!

The Results Round-up

Compiled mainly of race reports by Chris Yeomans and other contributors, your six-weekly fix of who has done what, when and how is HERE 

Meeting place at The Bridge

Now that the new facility is fully open, we will be moving our meeting point from the rear undercroft to the main entrance area under the gym from Tuesday 16^th July. This will provide a better focal point for new arrivals, instead of having to walk around the back to find us. Please don’t block the main entrance area!

The Andy Spriggs Running Spirit award

Following the untimely passing of our dear friend Andy Spriggs in December 2017, we honour his memory each year with the Running Spirit Award. This is awarded at the Horsham 10k to someone who demonstrates exceptional generosity, courage, stoicism, passion, perseverance or sportsmanship. This year the award went to Martyn Greaves, who is a regular at the 10k and parkrun. Martyn finished the race in 73:42 and came 396th. We caught up with him at Cranleigh parkrun to present the award.

Horsham Round – Bank Holiday Monday

Entry for teams is now open and, as this is our 35^th anniversary year, the annual Horsham Round on will be something special! A chance to celebrate 35 years of the club with guest teams joining us from other local clubs as well. To commemorate the occasion, we have commissioned a special t-shirt and are pleased to offer this to all members who want one for the subsidised price of just £10! Made from lime green technical hi-viz fabric with black hj and Horsham Round logos, these are now available to order from the MemberZone for a limited period and will be distributed on the day. T-SHIRT ORDERS MUST BE IN BY 31^st JULY!

As well as this, we will be having the usual gathering in Horsham Park from 2pm onwards so that everyone can join us for a social picnic and we will even be providing FREE FOOD to those who pre-order it! We need to confirm numbers and print enough vouchers to exchange for your free meal so, we are asking members to pre-order t-shirts and food options via the MemberZone and we will let the t-shirt and mobile fish & chip suppliers know in advance. Guest teams will be contacted directly to confirm numbers for both t-shirts and food. We look forward to seeing as many people as possible in the park, whether you are running The Round or not.

Group Leaders

If you train with us on a Tuesday evening, you may have noticed a shortage of group leaders recently. This has been due to injury, other event clashes and other volunteering commitments from the “usual” group leaders. To help us provide a better spread of smaller, more evenly paced groups, we need more volunteers to step up and lead a group. We can provide guidance and route maps for you so that you can step up and lead regularly or in the event of a shortage on the night. Have a word with your group leader and they can help you to help us!

Gunpowder Trot

Our 2^nd club event of 2019 will the “Gunpowder Trot” on Sunday 3^rd November 2019. This is a 4.5-mile Fun Run around Denne Park and Chesworth Farm and is part of the West Sussex Fun Run League and we are delighted to welcome Horsham Co-Working on board as our new sponsor! As always, we rely on many volunteers on the day so please, please, please remember to offer your help BEFORE thinking about entering the race.

Dates for your diary

14^th July – Hornets’ Stinger (WSFRL)

14^th July – Beat the Tide Worthing

17^th July – Wakehurst Willow

27^th July – Lunar Tic night marathon

28^th July – Seven Stiles (WSFRL)

31^st July – Bexhill 5k (SGP)

7^th Aug – Highdown Hike (WSFRL)

10^th Aug – 13 The Hard Way

18^th Aug – Henfield Half

25^th Aug – Will Page 10k Newick

25^th Aug – Windlesham House 4 (WSFRL)

26^th Aug – Horsham Round/35^th Anniversary picnic

Don’t forget; if you’ve got something worthy of the newsletter then please let us know!