Stopsley Striders Newsletter – July 2022

The newsletter will be made up of recent/key content we post on Facebook and any other messages we need to share.

Club 40th Anniversary

Thank you to all Striders who attended the recent Anniversary events. Thank you to Claire Bracey for organising the party and to Nadia Hall for organising the mementos.  It was great to see so many Striders at this event and also so many support the park run takeover in late June. We also had a great memorial run across the Alf Brown course and it was very fitting for Helen Morris to share some memories of Striders no longer with us on that evening. Photos of all events are on Facebook.

Striders Races 2022

We are so happy to announce that one of our club races is back for the 7th August. The 5 mile and 10 mile races are available to enter via the race website. Thank you to all Striders who have volunteered to marshal and help on the day. If anyone is still able to help please contact Claire Bracey or email chairman@stopsleystriders.org.uk.

Please visit the website for details

Stopsley 5 & 10 Mile Trail Race – Stopsley Striders (activetrainingworld.com)

We will also start working soon on the return for Stopsley Challenge for 2023!

Club Championships 2022

These races have age category 1st, 2nd and 3rd Certificates for all age categories.

5K – Marston 10th June – Entry now open (£2 discount entry for all EA affiliated members)

5 mile – Hatfield 5 November (Date TBC) (ATW Race 10% Striders Discount)

10K – Flitwick – 10th April (£2 discount entry for all EA affiliated members) or Love Luton 30th October (ATW Race 10% Striders Discount)

10 mile – Sandy – 11th September (DATE CHANGE AGAIN!)

Half Marathon – St Albans – 12th June (ATW Race 10% Striders Discount) or Love Luton 30th October (ATW Race 10% Striders Discount)

20 Mile – Any race (not virtual)

Marathon – Any race (not virtual)

Beds AAA County Championships

These races have age category prizes and team prizes for runners living in and born in Beds!

Lets get Striders ruling the County!

5k – Doug Anderson (Bedford Park) – 20th July (£2 discount entry for ALL members at it is an ARC race)

10k – Beds AAA – 8th July – (£2 discount entry for all EA affiliated members) (DATE CHANGE!)

5 mile – There will be no 5 mile County Champs this year

10 mile – Sandy – 11th September (PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE)

Half Marathon – Love Luton 30th October (TBC as County Champs – Maria suggested it to them!!) (ATW Race 10% Striders Discount)

20 mile – Oakley 4th September  (£2 discount entry for ALL members at it is an ARC race)

Cross Country 2022/23

The good news is that CROSS COUNTRY WILL BE BACK IN THE AUTUMN!

Wellingborough, Wootton (Northants), Letchworth and Stopsley will be the venues with it looking like Ampthill being the 5th venue.

Our race’s tentative date is Jan 9th 2023! Save the date please as we will need runners, marshalls, car park attendants, sandwich makers and all sorts of other help during, before and after the race! Charles Nelis is busy organisng this so look out for more information soon.

Beds Cross Country will be on this year in Bedfordshire – Race Date TBC

Race Suggestions – Races suggested by members

PLEASE SEE THE CLUB CHAMPS AND AAA RACES ABOVE!!

Don’t forget to record your race results: https://www.stopsleystriders.org.uk/record-your-race/

For races with the ATW discount please see

Active Training World Events – Active Training World Only Events with ATW as a Prefix to the race name carry the discount

For races that have ARC £2 discount for ALL members

ARC affiliated races

For races that have the EA £2 discount for England Athletics Affiliated Members Only please look out for races that are licensed by England Athletics

Club Kit

We have successfully ordered two batches of club kit with many Striders now wearing the popular T-Shirt in race colours. We also have a snood (or some might call it a buff!), hoody, jacket and hat. We have been taking orders via an MS Form and Spond but we are hoping to move across to the Prestige Website and members will then be available to purchase directly from Prestige.

ATW Events Club Discount

The Club have negotiated the benefit for all club members to receive a 10% discount to all ATW events.

Please refer to email copy of the newsletter for the discount code or speak to a fellow strider/committee member.

Please visit Active Training World Events – Active Training World for a list of their upcoming events.

N.B Only Events with ATW as a Prefix to the race name carry the discount

Charity & Social – July and August (Please see Spond for Events!!!)

  • 31st July and 21st August   Sunday Long Runday
    • Following the success of the Boxing Day run we encourage Striders to run down the cycle path for their long run.
    • Organise your run on Spond
    • Aim that everyone finishes their run at 11am and meets at Starbucks (Luton Retail Park, Gipsy Lane) for a coffee and cake
  • 8th August Barrels Social
  • Social at the Barrels after our Monday run including food provided by the pub
  • Please sign up on Spond so we know numbers of attendance for the pub
  • 25th August Alf Brown Handicap Race and Barrels Social
  • 2 mile Handicap race
  • Aim – All runners to finish at same time
  • Trophy for the winner
  • Please enter here using this form clicking the link Entry Form

This year’s charity is Hospice at Home Home | Hospice at Home Volunteers and the Club Rep for the charity is Hilary Blessing.

Club Suggestions

If you would like to make a suggestion to the club committee please email or speak to a committee member or complete the form below by clicking the link

Suggestion Form

The next Committee Meeting is on Sept 12th at 8:30pm.

That’s all folks…

We look forward to seeing you at a club event in the near future.

PLEASE SEE OUR LADIES CAPTAIN RUN REPORT FOR JUNE AND JULY BELOW – THANKS RUTH AND CHARLES FOR A GREAT REPORT

JUNE

June kicked off with the Queens 70th jubilee celebrations and no races to report that weekend!

On a nice walm Friday evening 10th June, we gathered together at Marston for the 5k which was one of our clubs championship runs. We had 50 striders running which was an amazing number. Christine Lathwell, Charley Snowden, Jill Bywaters, Sam Whaley and me Ruth Doyle achieved a pb. Amanda Rankin, Charles Nelis Andy Durrant, Miriam Linforth, Paul Abrahams, Thom Darby, Zena Ellis, Dave Thompson-Trace achieved an age group pb. Christine, Charley and Miriam were the 3rd ladies team. What a great night. Well done everyone.

On 12th June we had the first of the half marathon club champs. For this we chose the St. Albans 40th Half marathon to tie in with our own 50th celebrations. We had 13 striders running with PB’s for Liz Barker, Jenny Sawyer and Joe Cashman and an age group PB for Sam Whaley.

Also on the 12th was the Albury 5 mile trail race which gave Stuart Read an age group PB. 5 Striders took part altogether. Karen Ashby, Liz Davies, Ellie Davis and Chris Mclaren

On 19th June Theresa Gunnell, Kate Mutter and Hilary Wildman took part in the Endure 24 race at Reading running 5 mile loops as part of a team for 24 hours. Well done ladies.

On 21st June 8 Striders ran in the St. Albans Summer Solstice 10km. This race was in the evening running while the sun was setting on the longest day of the year, followed by a complimentary burger and drink. Lucy Trevelen ran a fantastic time of 44.41 and Phil Jeffrey got an age group PB with 58.58. Great running everyone.

Liz Barker completed in the Round Sheffield Run on 25th June. This is run in stages with a short walk to the next stage covering approximately 24km.

Also on the same day Dean Haywood and Maria completed in the Carboneras 5 mile race in Spain, starting an hour late and measuring well over 5 miles. Well done.

On 26th June Rob Barnes and Charley Snowden completed in the Hitchin Hard Half Marathon. Rob came 2nd overall with a fantastic time of 1.21.35.

Charles Nelis and Ian Pitkin ran in the Welwyn 10k on the same day receiving a nice bright yellow t-shirt for their efforts.

JULY

June ended on a bit of a high, with it being the club’s 40th Birthday Run on 28th. Just under 60 Striders either ran or walked and much alcohol was consumed afterwards at The Barrels.

2nd July just under 50 Striders took part in the parkrun takeover – RED POWER!

On July 3rd, Kallum Wright finished 14th out of a field of 124 at the Chiltern Ridge Half Marathon in a time of 01:51:55 – well done young man!  On the same day, Leigh and Nick Betts took part in the Goodwood Half Marathon, Leigh finishing in 2 hours 26 minutes and Nick achieving a PB of 1 hour 44! Great stuff! Both Kate Neale and Calista Strange represented Striders at the Hitchin Sprint Triathlon with James and Amanda Rankin helping out with the marshalling.

In the early hours of 8th July, quite a few Striders took part in the Luton Airport Runway Run, many of whom can be glimpsed on YouTube! Thank you to Nikki Cox for supplying a post-run breakfast.

On July 10th, Leigh and Nick Betts were at it again! They completed the Dunsford Aerodrome Half Marathon, where the track temperature was 44˚C!

July 15th saw the massive Stopsley Striders 40th Birthday Party at the golf club. Everyone had a great time with alcohol and food being consumed in vast quantities! The last-minute guest speaker was inspirational (thank you to Thomas Darby for organising) and Claire Bracey did an outstanding job as event organiser.

16th July saw a great turnout for the beginners graduation, our first since 2019. Many Striders either ran or marshalled (some nursing hangovers!) and a few of the beginners have already applied to join Striders.

17th July saw Leigh and Nick Betts up North, taking part in the Blackpool Music Run 10K. Leigh finished on 1 hour 8 minutes and Nick grabbed another PB, this time of 47 minutes.

On 20th July, Gez Fallon, Adrian Copp, John Chapman, Andy Reid, Karen Ashby, Calista Strange, Martin Ball and Kate Neale represented Striders at the Doug Anderson 5K, coming away with a good set of results:

Gez Fallon, 3rd MV 50, 20:17 (2nd, Beds County Champs)

John Chapman, 2nd MV60, 20:30 (2nd, BCC)

Andy Reid 3rd MV65, 25:47 (2n (3rd, BCC)

Karen Ashby3rd FV60, 27:13 (3rd, BCC)

Adrian Copp, 3rd MV50 BCC, 20:24

21st July saw the return of the Fairlands Valley Relay. 30+ Striders took part, a great time was had by all, some Striders ran two laps, with Shaun Mutter running three! Many thanks to Andrew Durrant for being our point man, making sure that everyone had a team and that everything ran smoothly. On a personal note, I did feel disappointed that some clubs appeared to be indifferent to their slower members as they finished – while Stopsley Striders waited en masse to cheer everyone over the line, I did feel dreadfully sorry for runners from other clubs who got little or no support.

23rd July saw Nick Betts take part in the XNRG Humanity Direct Chiltern Challenge 50K, finishing 37th out of 46 in a time of 06:32:05 – another PB for the collection.

On July 24th, Ian Pitkin kicked off his holiday running the All-Out Dog Days half marathon in Denver, Colorado in 1 hour 55 minutes. Running at 5,000 feet, Ian came third in his age category – great work!

Parkrun updates: congratulations to Thomas Darby (100 parkruns), Leslie Rodd (50 parkruns), Amrik Singh (50th volunteer), Phil Abbitt (100 parkruns) and Kate Mutter (100 parkruns). Well done all. Special congratulations to Martin Ball – 100 different parkrun venues across 7 countries, and he’s got the t-shirt to prove it!

Stay well, Ruth and Charles