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