QUIZ NIGHT – 20th February

It appears that the wrong email address for Andy Spriggs was published in the last newsletter so anyone wanting to enter a team for the quiz has not been able to contact Andy. The correct email address is andyjspriggs@tiscali.co.uk

The date for the quiz is 20th February 2016 at 7.30 pm at Warnham Village Hall, Hollands Way, Warnham RH12 3RH. £10 per person to include supper (bring your own drinks). Maximum of 6 per team. Tickets from Andy Spriggs.

The Hampshire Hoppit – 19th June

This is a new trail race that has been announced this week (a marathon and half marathon) and it is being organised by Basingstoke and Mid Hants Athletics Club. The date is 19th June 2016. It is mostly off-road on the chalk downs of North Hampshire including Watership Down. It is over 9 months away, however it might be a good time to start planning into the race diaries.

The Start/Finish is at Kingsclere (8-miles from Basingstoke and Newbury). It is a single-lap, well-marked route, along scenic footpaths and trails. There is a website – www.hampshiretrailmarathon.co.uk – with further details and online entry.

LONDON MARATHON TRANSPORT UPDATE

So far 5 members have expressed an interest in supporting a club minibus to London therefore it will not be viable to run it unless more members join us. If you are running or supporting and want to help fill the final 11 seats available, please email info@horshamjoggers.co.uk.

Brighton Marathon transport

One of our members, Caroline Lowe, has asked whether there is any transport organised by the club down to the Brighton Marathon. If several members are interested in this then she would look into hiring a minibus to just drop members off at the race (they would need to make their own way back). If anyone is interested in this can they please email the HJ mailbox – info@horshamjoggers.co.uk.

Edwin Cooke

Pete O’Connell has passed on sad news that Edwin Cooke has died. He was a former member of the club and supreme runner (56.02 10miles, 1.16.09 half marathon as a 50 year old!!). Many of us remember him, he was a good friend of Val and me also living in Wisborough Green so we kept training together talking about his hey days.

Steve Wilson also knew him and added the following anecdote :- A great runner and very pleasant bloke. I remember when he joined joggers – I thought I had my age group all sown up then along he came – older than me and much faster! He was in a different league! I remember him pacing me round the Itchingfield time trial to my best time. I was gasping for breath and Edwin was chatting and encouraging me all the way! That’s two top class HJ’s who have been taken from us far too soon. Bill Clancy sadly passed away quite a few years ago. He ran brilliant times in the late eighties and early nineties – like Edwin he was extremely talented, yet very modest and helpful to the rest of us.

Dates for the Diary
31st Jan – Worthing Splash Point 4 (WSFRL) – note online entry only – closing date 27th Jan
7th Feb – Chichester 10k – note closing date 22nd Jan
14th Feb – Worthing Half
20th Feb – Quiz
28th Feb – Brighton Half
6th Mar – Eastbourne Half (SGP race)
15th Mar – Learn to Run Course starts
28th Mar – Lewes Easter Monday Race (WSFRL)

2016 CHALLENGE TROPHY
At the recent committee meeting we agreed to keep the existing four events within the hj Challenge Trophy (Chichester 10k, Haywards Heath 10m, Barns Green Half and The Steepdown Challenge 5m) despite Chichester 10k losing it’s SGP status. The rational for this being that Chi10k is ideally placed within the spring marathon build up and is usually well attended by hj’s finest. Also, no other 10k events fit the calendar as well as Chi10k! ***PLEASE NOTE: Closing date for Chi10k is 22nd Jan 16 with NO ENTRY on the day!***

For those who aren’t familiar with the Challenge Trophy and want to take part; each year we select four events (10k, 10mile, half marathon and WSFRL) and those members who take part are automatically entered into our “internal club championship”. Prizes are awarded at our annual hj awards ceremony at the end of the year. Awards are given to the overall club winner (Shield and trophy) and each five year age category winner from Seniors to V70’s. So if you enter any of the selected races, you could win a trophy! Why not give it a go?

LONDON MARATHON TRANSPORT
Last year we didn’t run a minibus to London due to poor uptake over recent years. However, we did receive some feedback from London regulars who felt that this service should still be offered by hj. If you are running London in April and would benefit from transport to and from the event, please email info @hj to express an interest. If enough joggers get in touch and it becomes viable to fill 16 seats then we will review the decision whether to run the bus up town!

QUIZ NIGHT
Sandra and Andy Spriggs are organizing a quiz for the Motor Neurone Disease Association with Alan Swetman as quiz master. This event has sold out in previous years and so tickets will be sold on a first come basis, so book early to avoid disappointment.

The date is 20th February 2016 at 7.30 pm at Warnham Village Hall, Hollands Way, Warnham RH12 3RH. £10 per person to include supper (bring your own drinks) Maximum of 6 per team. Tickets from Andy Spriggs : andyspriggs@tiscali .co.uk

A donation will be made to St Catherine’s hospice.

LEARN TO RUN
The next Learn to Run course is due to start 15th March 2016. Flyer and booking form attached below.

Learn to run flyer Summer 2016
Booking form blank

We need volunteers for the learn to run course every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Anybody who would like to volunteer please send an email to info@horshamjoggers.co.uk

Run Away Weekend
The weekend of 9th/10th July sees our first ‘Run Away Weekend’. The concept was to find a location not too far away offering a parkrun with a local race the next day.

This will be in the New Forest with the Brockenhurst parkrun on the Saturday morning and the New Forest 10 (miles) the following morning, also at Brockenhurst.

Those wishing to go will be responsible for obtaining their entry to the New Forest 10 and finding accommodation. The NF10 starts at 11:15am so reachable on the morning from Horsham for a day trip but best to get there in plenty of time because of the traffic. There are also fun runs for all ages from 10am.

For any further information or to let us know if you intend going please speak to Paul Chandler on a club night or email info@horshamjoggers.co.uk

Brockenhurst Park Run
New Forest 10
New Forest Visitor Information

HJ KIT UPDATE
Race vests and t-shirts are available at Up & Running in Horsham. The race vests are £20, and the t-shirts £22. You’ll need to pay by cash or cheque. PLEASE NOTE: the race vests and t-shirts count as official club kit for races, and must be worn at any league or cross-country events in which you might earn points for Horsham Joggers – e.g. West Sussex Fun Run League or Sussex Grand Prix events. They’re pretty smart, so why not wear them for other events too, and spread the word about our club!

HJ Hoodies: you will shortly have the opportunity to order a new HJ hoody. Look out for the survey link on facebook soon. Orders must be placed and paid for by 14th February, and the goods should be available a few weeks later.

HJ caps and EventClips: caps are available to order at £12 from Fiona Clifton, and Paul Chandler has a stock of HJ event clips at £2.15.

Black track jackets: we still have several black HJ jackets available in sizes XL and XXL, at a special price of £15. Sizes S, M and L can be ordered for the full price of £25. See Fiona Clifton for details.

WSFRL: Worthing Lido 4
Our next WSFRL race is on Sunday 31st January. Because of the large numbers of runners entering this race, the organisers have said they may not be able to offer entries on the day. To avoid disappointment, please make sure you enter in advance – online entries only this year. The online entry form is available through the link below – remember to enter as a Horsham Jogger to get your reduced entry fee (£3 compared to the £7 full price).

Worthing Lido 4 Mile Fun Run

Horsham Joggers’ WSFRL race (the ‘new’ Valentine’s Run)
As we’ve mentioned in a previous newsletter, we will not be staging the Valentine’s Run this year as the Committee have decided to relocate the event to a course and HQ that can handle the ever increasing number of runners we are attracting. The committee was considering a new date either in March or the autumn and at the Committee meeting this week, we have now opted for the autumn. This will allow us to trial alternative courses, and plenty of time to get the necessary permissions from the council and relevant landowners.

We will keep you updated as dates and details firm up. We will of course also need a new name for the event, and will be asking for suggestions in due course.

HANDY WEBSITES FOR YOUR MARATHON TRAINING from Raff Vitale
As it’s the period of Marathon fever, thought these would be appropriate for this month’s newsletter.

13 Rules to follow for marathon training:
13 rules for marathon training

How to run your first marathon:
How to run your first marathon

Marathon training – treatment offer
Suzanna Frisby, Horsham Jogger and local osteopath, is making the attached treatment offer available to Horsham Joggers training for a marathon.

marathon offer

Next newsletter
If you have any articles for inclusion in the next newsletter please send them to info@horshamjoggers.co.uk by 31st January.

DATES FOR THE DIARY:-

5th Dec – Worthing Christmas Cracker
8th Dec – Handicap and Awards Night
18th Dec – Joggers Party – email James Munden re tickets (munden888@yahoo.co.uk)
22nd Dec – Santa Run
27th Dec Marathon training starts
1st Jan – WSFRL Hangover 5

New Wednesday 8pm run

If you struggle to make a 7pm start or just want to get in an extra run, come and try our new Wednesday night sessions! Leaving at 8pm from Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre, we won’t be going far but will instead focus on sprints and hills to build cardiovascular fitness and strength. All abilities welcome. Any questions? Email Catherine on cath@cathbooth.co.uk.

Marathon Training

The schedule is attached below. We still need volunteers to help with these – please email James Munden (see email above) if you can help.

marathon training 2015

Learn to Run

The next Learn to Run course is due to start 15th March 2016. Flyer and booking form attached below.

Learn2Run Flyer 2016
Booking form blank

We need volunteers for the learn to run course every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Anybody who would like to volunteer can log in to drop box with login details below and then put name down. This should make it a bit easier.

Login email – hjl2r@yahoo.co.uk password – werunfaster

Quiz – Saturday 20th February 2016

Alan Swetman is organising a quiz on Saturday 20th February 2016 at the Barn in The Causeway. This is an event that Horsham Joggers are invited to enter teams and as it is open to everyone you will need to get your team entered as quickly as possible as numbers are limited. Proceeds raised will go towards the Motor Neurone Disease Association. If interested in entering a team please email Andy Spriggs (andyjspriggs@tiscali.co.uk).

Henfield 9 mile run – Sunday 7th February 2016

This is being run in conjunction with Henfield Joggers to raise funds for the Henfield Leisure Centre. It is an off road nine mile scenic course along riverbank and disused railway, flint paths & stiles disabled and less abled athletes welcome if you feel the course is within your abilities please contact us before entering, There will be Changing Rooms, showers and parking, toilets and medals to all finishers. Closing date for entries 1st February 2016. See attached entry form.

HENFIELD_NINE_MILE_ENTRY_FORM_2016 NEW (1)

Race Vests and Race T-shirts

These are now available in Mike’s shop (Up and Running. Queen St, Horsham) – £20 for the race vest and £22 for the race t-shirt (see attached picture). Remember that if you are competing for the club in any of the SGP or WSFRL races then you should wear official club kit (i.e. race vest or t-shirt) in order to qualify for points for the club.

Other kit

The Eventclips have proved very popular and our initial order of 50 packs have already sold out. Another 50 have been ordered and will be with us in a few days.

A total of 70 HJ hoodies have been purchased by members and those not yet collected will be available on 8th December at 6:30pm before the Winter Handicap and 8:00pm before the Awards event.

We have looked into providing hoodies in Junior sizes. These will be burgundy and over the head style (i.e. not zipped). The writing etc would of course be proportionally smaller. Would anyone interested in these (i.e. for xmas presents) please get in touch with me on a club night with details of age and chest measurement. Please get any orders in ASAP for pre-xmas delivery. Prices will be published on facebook when available.

X- Country Championships

Brooks Sussex Cross Country Championships – Saturday 9th Jan 2016 – Little Common, Bexhill

1st race 11.15am u.11’s 1 mile
Senior men 1.30pm 12K
Senior women 2.25pm 4 miles

There are plenty of other races these are just the highlights – all other details on the sussex web site

Sussex Masters Cross Country Championships – 23rd Jan 2016 – Lancing Manor

m50s, m60’s 8k 1pm
w35,45,55, 4 miles 1.40pm
m40s 6 miles 2.10pm

any other questions I’m usually at track on Thursday or feel free to email me purpledrummer@sky.com. The standards are high but there are team awards as well as individuals. Can I set a deadline for Friday 18th December to get the forms in, thanks Captain Pete.

Raff’s Handy Hints

10 things that runners should never do

Horsham Lions Club Swimarathon – Sunday 13th March 2016

Taking part is very easy; there is no entry fee. You will need a team of up to six swimmers plus an adult non-swimming team captain. All ages can take part, from eight to 70 inclusive.

The first member of a team swims one length of the pool and then relaxes while the other members of the team each swim a length of 25 metres in turn. The first swimmer then swims again and so on for 55 minutes.

Enter your team today by e-mailing Lion Tom Osborne :tomosborne1947@gmail.com or ring 01403 241167 for an Entry Form and Information Pack. Alternatively you may visit: Horsham Lions Website.

Next Newsletter

If you have any articles you wish to be included in the next newsletter please send these to info@horshamjoggers.co.uk by the 31st December.

HJ Christmas Party
The Horsham Joggers Xmas party will be Friday 18th December in HAODS house this is opposite the table tennis room in BBH Sports centre. It will be bring your own Booze and we will supply food (& maybe some wine if we have money left!). We will have a DJ for some light music at first and then some dancing. There is also a quieter seating area. Numbers are limited so get your tickets from James Munden £10 each or pay money into the HJ account ( 20-23-97 20523984) with name as reference. Let me know if pay into account so can add you to list.

Thanks and look forward to a fun night!

Marathon training
Marathon training Sunday long runs will start on 27th December 2015 and details will be on facebook nearer the time. We need all who take part to volunteer to provide the run and water/snack stops. Any questions please speak with James Munden.

Club Kit and Merchandise
A new batch of race vests will be arriving at Up and Running in the next week or so. We are expecting the new race t-shirts to arrive at the end of the following week (13/14 November). We had hoped that they would be available sooner, but unfortunately there has been a delay with the order. Probably best to give Mike at the shop a call to check that stock has arrived before you make a special journey (01403 268688).

Hoodies: thank you to the 66 people who have paid in advance for their hoodies. The order has now been placed, and the finished items will be with us in good time for Christmas. More news once we have a firm delivery date. We’ll do another order in the New Year. In the meantime, if you have any comments about the online ordering and payment system, please speak to Fiona or Victoria.

Event clips: don’t forget that we have special HJ-branded event clips available, to make your race numbers look smart! A pack of 4 costs £2.15. See Paul Chandler for further information – or to acquire a pack (or two).

Notes from the committee
After the usual reports from treasurer and membership secretaries, Phil gave us an update on the proposed plans for the leisure centre at BBH. Essentially, whilst nothing has been agreed yet, it looks like a brand new leisure centre will be built next to the existing one, with the track being left where it is, at least for the medium term. The plan at the moment is for the old centre to remain open until the new one is built circa end of 2017. Tony Johnson is still heavily involved and fighting our corner. Other items discussed were the upcoming social events including the awards night and handicap and the Christmas party, tickets will be on sale shortly from James Munden. The other big item for discussion was our WSFRL race, the valentines run. Due to a big increase in numbers last year, the existing venue and route are no longer suitable. A new route is being sought so watch this space.

Worthing Christmas Cracker – Saturday 5th December 10:00am
The Christmas Cracker Chase is an annual women only fun run. It comprises a 5km and 10km event, along Worthing seafront, normally held on the first Saturday in December. The event starts at the Lido and is an out and back course. It is totally flat and traffic free on a variety of surfaces, sea views all the way! We like to think it is a fun, friendly event and would encourage participants to enter into the Christmas spirit and wear something festive. We aim to donate a good proportion of the proceeds to a charitable cause each year.

Trip to Lage
Following on from the update in the last newsletter, our Twinning Co-ordinator Dave Maurice has provided some tips on organising a trip to Lage.

HJ have a long standing relationship with TG Lage, the local sports club of our twin town. Since then there have been many visits in both directions and as a result strong friendships have been built between the two sporting clubs. So you can be sure that anyone from HJ wishing to visit Lage will receive a warm welcome, especially as the majority of the German club members speak at least some English.

However, if you are considering a visit, the first thing to bear in mind is that Lage is not easily accessible for a short visit. The nearest airports are Munster, Paderborn or Hanover but they are all around 60 miles from Lage, so car rental would be essential. It is worth checking flight availability to these locations as, since the British Government closed the Army bases in the area, there is less demand for air transport.

If you are planning a visit by car using either the ferry or Channel Tunnel, one should be looking at 5 days as a minimum. It takes the best part of a day for the journey in each direction. I always go from Thursday to Monday and use the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk. This is the most economical way to get there, costing approximately £88 return for a car and four passengers. If there are enough of you a mini bus may be a better option. In the past we have hired the Forest and Slinfold community Mini Bus.

There are many places of interest within a 10 mile radius of Lage so taking your car enables you to get more from your visit. In August you have the town festival at the same time you have the Shutzenguild Fest, which is a shooting/hunting festival involving much eating, drinking and merry making.

Lage is a small town with just a couple of B&B’s. There are, however a couple of very nice guest houses in the village of Horster around 4 km from Lage. In Lage I have stayed in The Alte Residenz Hotel Garni. It is a simple hotel probably of two stars but it is clean and the rooms are simple but adequate. They serve an excellent breakfast and are very friendly – Alte Residenz Hotel. It is in a convenient location and the prices are good, see web page.

Other accommodation nearby is:
Hoersterkrug Tel. 0049 52328894 double room with breakfast 70 Euros. (4 days Min stay).
Hiddentrup this is an old converted farm house and ideal venue for a group who want to look after themselves. 5 persons 65 Euros.

Next Newsletter
If you have any articles you wish to be included in the next newsletter please send these to info@horshamjoggers.co.uk by the 30th November.

HJ kit

The Horsham Joggers hoody is available for order. Sizes are as follows: S (38.5” chest), M (42.5”), L (46.5”) and XL (50.5”). Place your order via this link HJ hoody and we’ll send you an invoice. Please make your payment by 11th October if you wish to be included in our first order. The hoodies will be available within 3-4 weeks, so you’ll be marvellous in maroon in time for Christmas! Keep an eye on the facebook page for more details.

The new race t-shirts are on order, and we’re waiting for the delivery date to be confirmed. As soon as Up&Running get them in we’ll let you know.

We also have HJ running caps available, one size @ £12. Let Fiona Clifton now if you would like one of these – we have one in stock at the moment, and more can easily be ordered.

First Aid course

Marion Hemsworth (the Sussex Running Activator) is offering a basic first aid course to anyone interested for only £15 per person, including certification. This is primarily targeted at run leaders, and would also be useful for anyone who regularly marshals at running events. The course lasts three hours and is limited to 12 participants. Date and venue to be confirmed. If you are interested in attending, please contact info@horshamjoggers.co.uk or speak to Fiona Clifton.

The Winter Handicap / Awards Night / Marathon Draw – Tuesday 8th December

The handicap run starts and finishes at BBH leisure centre and is 2 laps of a circuit that includes Hills Farm Lane, Blackbridge Lane and the Guildford Road. Open to all level of runner the faster runners are given a time penalty so that the slower runners have a headstart. The idea is for the faster runners to catch up with the slower runners before they get to the finish. If the calculations are right everyone should be finishing more or less at the same time. If interested in taking part please email the HJ mailbox (info@horshamjoggers.co.uk) with an estimate of your 10k time so that the organisers can calculate the handicap. Alternatively just turn up on the night and enter but remember the first runner will be setting off at 7.30pm.

After the handicap we have an Awards Night in the BBH bar area. Awards given out will include the Time Trials winners, Challenge trophy winners (in each of the categories), SGP and WSFRL winners. There will be sandwiches available.

There will also be a draw for the London Marathon and Brighton Marathon club places. Each year the club is allocated places in these races. If you want your name to be included in this draw then please email the HJ mailbox (info@horshamjoggers.co.uk). Criteria for these places are:-

• Minimum of 1 year membership with the club
• 4 SGP or WSFR races run during 2015
• Help with 2 HJ events

BBH update

Last Thursday our chairman Phil Liberman attended the BBH Users group AGM, this is the main group involved in keeping the pressure on the council for an adequate replacement to the leisure centre (and track) when it is finally demolished. Our previous Chairman Tony Johnson is Deputy Chairman and continues to do a brilliant job on behalf of us all. The proposed plans are now on display in the centre and also through the link at the bottom of this post. If you feel you want to comment please email the council! This proposal affects not just the track users but could affect where we meet on a Tuesday in the future.

BBH Leisure Centre

Christmas Santa Dash – Tuesday 22nd December

A special Santa Running Route has been planned for club night on Tuesday before Christmas. The route will take you round all the houses with Christmas lights on them and to make the run festive we would like everyone to dress in red with reflective bits so that Rudolph doesn’t run you over. We have free Santa Hats to give out on the night and the best Santa look alike will win a prize.

Charity donations update

So far we have given £600 to Springboard, which was the £500 from the 10k/Valentine’s Run race profits plus £100 towards use of their minibus during the South Downs Way relay. We have also agreed to give £500 to First Responders and a cheque is due to be presented shortly.

Final Club Challenge of 2015 – WSFRL Steepdown Challenge, 18th October

The Club Challenge Trophy is a competition to see who is the fastest in the club within age categories over various distances. The last Club Challenge race of the year is the WSFRL Steepdown Challenge, a 5 mile course on the Downs at Lancing. Awards are given at the Club Awards Night in December to the fastest male and female overall as well as to age category winners. Depending on who else is running in your age category, it’s perfectly possible for wide range of runners to win these awards, so why not have a go?

WSFRL Update

Thanks to a combination of good turnouts and the attendance of some faster runners, we have clawed back our position in the WSFRL. Having fallen to the bottom half of the table over the summer, we are now up in 7th place (out of 18 clubs) – the highest position we’ve had in the year to date. Many thanks to the faster runners who responded to my appeal in the August newsletter – I hope you enjoyed the WSFRL atmosphere, and that you’ll come back for more!

We’ve got 3 more events left until the end of the year so we need to clock up as many points as we can! Remember, you get an award at Club Awards Night in December for running 8 or more WSFRL events, so if you’ve run 5 races so far in 2015, you’ve can still make 8 if you run all three of the next races! Even if you’ve never done a WSFRL event before though, you will still earn us a point by taking part, so everyone is very welcome.

Next and final races of 2015 are:

Hickstead Gallop 8k, Hickstead, 11th October
• On grass, 2.5 loop course at the national show-jumping ground, undulating but nothing scary

Steepdown Challenge 5m, Lancing, 18th October
• up and down the Downs – also a Club Challenge race

Foxtrot 5m, Shoreham, 1st November
• flat course on gravel and grass along the Downslink and Adur river bank at Shoreham

SGP Update

2015 is proving to be a quiet year for Horsham Joggers in the Sussex Grand Prix. With two races remaining the men’s team are currently in 7th place, the ladies team are currently in 7th place, the vet men’s team are currently in 9th place and the vet ladies team are currently in 7th place. Remember, you get an award at Club Awards Night in December for running 8 or more SGP events.

Next and final races of 2015 are:

Bexhill 5K – Saturday 7th Nov 10:00am

Crowborough 10K – Sunday 29th Nov 10:00am

Update on Trip to Lage

As reported in a previous newsletter, we have been working with a local travel agent with a view to organising a package trip to Lage in Germany for the May running weekend at our twinned club, TG Lage. Unfortunately, we have been unable to pull together a package that represents good value for money for members, and so have regretfully decided not to proceed with the idea this year.

There were a variety of reasons contributing to keeping the cost high, including that air taxes alone are currently over £120 adding a significant amount to the price of a weekend away. We have looked at coach travel as an alternative, but the 8+ hour journey either way would take too much time out of the weekend to seem practicable. In addition, Lage itself has a very restricted choice of hotel accommodation, and prices in nearby towns for the weekend we wanted in May were high, with little appetite for negotiation.

It is of course still open for HJ members to travel to Lage independently for the weekend (7 & 8 May). There are lots of running options offered including a trail marathon, half, 10k, 6k and various walking options in the Teutoburg Forest. There are plenty of attractions in the surrounding area too, if you wanted to make more than a weekend of the trip. Victoria Saunders on the committee would be happy to pass on the information about hotels, air routes and attractions in the area that we got from the travel agent we were working with – contact Victoria through info@horshamjoggers.co.uk.

Dawn Piechoczek

We have received the very sad news that Dawn died on Saturday after a lengthy battle with cancer. Dawn, 54, was a keen runner and a stalwart of Mel’s Milers jogging club in Horsham as well as a committed administrator for the county.

Next Newsletter

If you have any articles you wish to be included in the next newsletter please send these to info@horshamjoggers.co.uk by the 30th October.

Final Time Trial – 8th Sept at 7pm

Meeting at Itchingfield Primary School you can pace yourself against an “undulating” 5k road route.

HJ Merchandise

New t-shirt: we’ve made a preliminary order of the new “race” t-shirt and it’s possible that they will arrive in time for the Barns Green half marathon. Listen for announcements about this at a Tuesday club night soon.

Event clips: we’ve had a few expressions of interest – please let Fiona know if you would like to order a set – remember, the price goes down the more we order.

Hoodies: will be available soon.

Black track tops: still available in sizes L, XL and XXL for a special price of £15.

We still have a few 25th anniversary cotton t-shirts available, size Small, price £2.

See Fiona or email info@horshamjoggers.co.uk for more information

Barns Green Half Marathon

Thanks to all those who have been taking part in the BG training sessions. I hope you have enjoyed them. The same pattern of activity will continue for the next four weeks, i.e. a gentle Tuesday run, some hills or interval training on Thursday and a long run at the weekend. The test run of the full BG route will be on Sunday 13th September, to give you a feel for what to expect on the day. After that we’ll be tapering to make sure you are fresh for race day.

I’ll be publishing some thoughts about race strategy on facebook during the week before 27th. In the meantime, if you have any feedback about this year’s training programme please get in touch.

Fiona

Race Clock hire

Did you know that Horsham Joggers look after the race clock for Sussex Athletics Network (SAN). The clock is on hire about 8 or 10 weekends of the year to various clubs in the network and can be hired by other clubs and organisations as well. Hire rates are £60 for clubs affiliated to SAN or £70 for unaffiliated clubs. Full details and booking forms are available from Paul Aylett or can be found here:
Race Clock Hire

Alf Shrub Memorial 5 – Sunday 4th Oct

This is an important event with strong local connections to an amazing athlete who lived in Slinfold. A locally based film/TV producer is planning to make a documentary on his life and extraordinary achievement including footage shot at this years event. There is an additional prize for the best Alf Shrubb look alike. In addition, all finishers will receive a replica medal won by Shrubb for breaking the World three mile record in 1902. With all of this taking place we need to get as many along to take part as we can.

Equinox 24 – Sept 19th/20th

Jayk Valentine O’Connell is organising a team to do the 24 hr Equinox race. It’s a 24hr race held on September 19th/20th at … Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. We had a team of 8 but unfortunately 3 of our team have had to pull out. We are looking for people to fill the places. If anyone feels up to it, Kirsty Anstee-Brown, Matthew Anstee-Brown and Caroline Banks are looking to transfer their places. Myself and Graham Clarke will be organising a run/drink to sort out the preparation soon so if you would like any additional info please get in touch. Email Jayk on jaykthunder@icloud.com

Handy hints – hydration

There are so many articles to choose from, but maybe we start with a link to simple tips to Hydration. Its short and snappy:

Hydration

Horsham Round: Bank Holiday Monday 31st August

The Horsham Round has been generating lots of interest this year, with several teams quick off the bat to enter. Teams entered so far include one comprising the graduates from our recent Learn to Run course, with several of them running each leg to make it a truly team effort to cover the 29 miles of the course.

With the Round only 3 weeks away, it’s time to firm up who you’ll be running with and get your entry forms sent in. Entry forms, and full details, including an FAQ to help with planning are available on the HJ website at: Horsham Round

If you’d like to take part but aren’t sure who to run with, you are more than welcome to e-mail info@horshamjoggers.co.uk and we’ll help you find team.

Remember, this year the Round starts and finishes in Horsham Park, and we’ll be having a Club social event and BYO picnic from 2.30pm onwards. Members, friends and family are welcome to come, whether or not you plan on running.

Equinox 24: 19 & 20 September

A number of Horsham Joggers have already registered to take part in the Equinox 24, a 24 hour relay event in the grounds of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire on the weekend of 19th and 20th of September. This event recently won Runner-Up for the best Endurance Event in the 2015 Running Awards, and is well known for its laid-back family and festival atmosphere.

The run starts at midday on Saturday 19th, with relay teams running 10k laps on stunning scenic trails until midday on Sunday 20th. Teams can be as big or as small as you like, from one person running for 24 hours solid to big teams where you each run only once. It’s a laid-back event so you can run as many – or as few – laps as you want over the 24 hours.

More details can be found on the Equinox 24 website
on the Horsham Joggers’ Equinox 24 Facebook page
or talk to Graham Clarke.

South of England Relays 19th/20th September

For the 28th Year at Rushmore Arena, Aldershot the South of England relays will be held on Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th September 2015 (a week before the Barns Green so a perfect warm up!)

Ladies races are all on the Saturday and men’s races on the Sunday. There are further details on the seaa web page ( www.seaa.org.uk) or just follow the links from sussex races or see Pete O’Connell any time ( purpledrummer@sky.com). Please let Pete know by the end of August if you would like to be a member of one of the teams.

WSFRL update

Participation at WSFRL events is staying healthy, and we had a fantastic turnout for both the Roundhill Romp (Steyning) and the Highdown Hike (Worthing) this month. We have a growing band of regular WSFRL attendees now, who are seeing the benefits that hill training and cross-country bring to overall running fitness (or maybe the attraction lies more in the homemade cake stalls at many of these races?!).

Although attendance has been healthy, we have been a bit short of faster runners compared to last year. This means that although our team participation points have been good, our team performance points have been on the low side at some races. We have just slipped down into the bottom half of the overall club rankings now, in 10th place out of 18 clubs.

There are 6 races left for 2015, so we’ve got time to improve our position – remember everyone who runs scores one participation point for HJ, and our 6 best placed finishers also score performance points. Mal Thornton, Paul Adams and Lorraine Treadwell have man- and womanfully been scoring us perfect 10s in recent races, but I’m sure they’d be glad to see some of our other fleet-of-foot team colleagues joining them on the start line for the remaining races to even the team load.

Next events are:
16/8 Tilgate Forest 5m, K2 Leisure Centre, Crawley, 11am
23/8 Hove Hornets’ Stinger 9.5k, Waterhall Rugby Club, Brighton, 10.30am
6/9 Fittleworth 5m, Fittleworth Village Hall, 11.15am
All races £3 in advance; £5 on the day.

HJ KIT

We have the following items currently in stock:
– 25th anniversary t-shirts (cotton) @ £2: 8 in size Small
– HJ running caps (technical) @ £12: 2 (one size)
– black track jackets in the following sizes: 1 Large, 8 XL and 10 XXL. These have been hanging around for a while, and are taking up space in my garage, so please can I encourage any XL or XXL runners who might be interested in one to take them off my hands. To this end, those sizes will be offered at £15 rather than the normal £25
– ladies’ black 30th anniversary t-shirts @ £5: 1 Large, 2 XL

Coming soon: we are commissioning a new t-shirt which will have the same design as the race vest, and will count as official club kit for league events. Once this is available, the white “learn to run” t-shirts will be discontinued.

Coming soon (2): the HJ hoody. We have a design and are waiting for a firm price. Watch this space…

And finally… HJ Event clips.

These are like little poppers that you use to attach a race number to your race vest. They come in packs of 4, are reusable, and avoid the problem of safety pins making holes in your clothing. See the photo attached for an idea of what they look like. The price will be £2-£3 and will depend on how many we order. If you are interested on this or anything else from the list above – please email info@horshamjoggers.co.uk or see Fiona at a club night.

Entering Races: Reminders

Remember to write ‘Horsham Joggers’ on your entry form!
We have had an increasing number of cases in the past few months of Joggers forgetting to put their club name on race entry forms. If you don’t write down your club name, you won’t appear in the results when anyone searches them by club, and so we will miss you out when we post results on Facebook. Also, if it’s a points scoring race like WSFRL or SGP, the Club will miss out on the points you score – and we need every point we can get!

Invest in a Vest!

As you’ll have read above, we are commissioning a new short-sleeved T-shirt to match our current race vest, with maroon and silver side panels. The race vests, along with the new ‘race’ T-shirts, are the only tops that count as official Club kit for WSFRL and SGP races, for county competitions and for most UKA licenced races.

Although as a Club we have a number of other HJ T-shirts that have been issued in the past – the white ‘Learn to Run’ T-shirt, the black 30th anniversary T-shirt, and the grey cotton T-shirts – none of these are ‘official’ Club colours. We have to register our competition colours with UK Athletics, and the design with the maroon and silver panels is the only one registered as ‘official’ Horsham Joggers strip.

In theory, there are a range of penalties for not wearing ‘official’ Club colours, including disqualification. In practice, disqualification is very unlikely, but it is not unknown for race organisers to deduct points from athletes not in official strip.

HJ race vests cost £20 and are available from Up and Running in Queen Street – payable in cash only. The new race T-shirts will be coming soon – details in a future newsletter. If you only race occasionally, or are new to competition and aren’t sure you are ready to invest in a vest yet, it’s usually easy to borrow a vest from someone else – just ask around, or post a request on Facebook.

Hold the Date: HJ trip to Lage – weekend of 7 & 8 May 2016

Horsham is twinned with the town of Lage, in Germany, and Horsham Joggers has a long-standing association with Lage’s running club, TG Lage. For many years, there were regular exchange trips between our clubs, but in recent times this has dropped off, although you may remember we had several guests from TG Lage at the HJ 30th anniversary celebrations last year.

The HJ committee thought it might be a good time to reinvigorate the links, and so we are looking to organise a club excursion in 2016, to participate in TG Lage’s running event over the weekend on 7 & 8 May. This event offers trail races through the local forest at marathon, half marathon, 10k and 6k distances, plus children’s races and walking routes at half marathon and 10k distances.

We are working with a local travel agent to organise a package trip, to include flights, transfers, hotel accommodation and race entries. Since Lage itself is a very small town, we will be staying in a nearby town called Bad Salzuflen. This is a very pretty Victorian spa town (a German version of Harrogate?!) where it’s possible to bath in the hot springs, as well as enjoying the town’s large country park, shopping and restaurants. There’s also a train station, if you fancy exploring further afield, as beautiful medieval towns like Hanover and Hamlin (of Pied Piper fame) are within easy reach.

Please hold the date in your diary and we’ll be publicising full details including timings and prices in the autumn.

X-country dates

Several members have enquired about the dates for the Sussex County AA – Winter fixture list. Attached is the latest list but many events have yet to be confirmed so please assume all events are provisional unless there is a “Yes” by the event.

Provisional winter fixture list 2015 – 2016

You will see that the three major cross country fixtures in the New Year (South of England, National and Inter-Counties) all fall a week later than this year.

Next Newsletter
If you have any articles or information you would like posted in the next newsletter please send them to info@horshamjoggers.co.uk by 30th August.