Key Dates

Friday 13th December

Sunday 15th December

Tuesday 17th December

Thursday 19th December

Like last year however, to support local runner Richard Hicks with his Run November Charity run we are encouraging members to join the Run November pub run.

Details are on the Run November Facebook page and there is an Event scheduled in the MRC calendar.

James U has provided us with the target schedule so feel free to join all or part of the run!

Last year the group collected over £200 for the Run November charities (Scope and The Brain Tumour Charity).

Fancy dress encouraged...

Meet at Robin pub between 6.45 and 7pm
The Robin to the Masons pub (distance: 1 mile) 7.20 – 7.40pm
The Masons to the Great Northern (1.2 miles) 7.55 – 8.15pm
The Great Northern to the Nags Head (1.2 miles) 8.30 – 8.45pm
The Nags Head to the Vine (0.2 miles) 8.50pm – 9.10pm
The Vine to the Honeycomb (1.3miles) 9.25 – 9.40pm
The Honeycomb to finish at the Robin (0.9 miles) 9.50pm onwards
Total 5.8 miles

Thursday 2nd January

Sunday 19th January

Cross Country Race 2
Cliff Lakes

We had another fantastic MRC turnout with 20 runners braving some very muddy conditions on this new course. It also saw the first outing of both the new, huge MRC gazebo and Adrian’s crazy new cross country spikes!

This was the first time the event had been held at Cliff Lakes, a 6 mile route comprising of a shorter first lap around the outskirts of the lake and a second longer lap.

The second lap included an out and back along a narrow strip of land extending into the centre of the lake, there were 2 hills on each lap, a mainly grassy course with some tarmac track.

As I didn’t run this race I have approached several MRC runners who took part for their take on the course.

Here are some of the comments (A huge thanks to Rowan, Emma and John for their contribution):

• Lovely scenic route
• Very muddy, the muddiest course yet
• I really enjoyed the run backs, a great opportunity to see those in front of you and those behind.
• Party from 9.00pm till 12.00pm
• The out and backs were a great motivator and opportunity to cheer on other MRC runners – a great boost at that point in the race
• A great course, with a mix of challenges and a few muddy climbs
• Lots of insect bites!!!
• Ace cheering squad
• The team atmosphere and support on the side lines was absolutely fantastic

Although I didn’t run, I had a fantastic time cheering on Team MRC along with Zoe and a gang of MRC kids, all doing our best to be the loudest supporters out there. From a spectators point of view this was a great course.

The 2 laps gave us chance to see everyone mid race as well as cheering them on to the finish line. We also had a good view across the lake and could spot MRC runners in various places on the route on the other side of the water.

The results were fantastic; Mark L the first MRC runner to finish in 7th place, then Hannah J 2nd lady, Matt 19th male finisher and Emma 8th lady, with the rest of our runners putting in superb performances and finishing in some brilliant times.

It was difficult to choose a Runner of the Day and in the end I couldn’t decide between 2 people. Firstly, Mark D hadn’t run cross country since running in school over 30 years ago, but he came along, ran a fantastic race and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Secondly, Cherie had only been with MRC for just over 2 weeks but came out to represent the club and again had a great race. Absolutely awesome!

Cliff Lakes is a new venue for the XC league and has already proven to be a very popular course.

There were a few issues with car parking and the café/toilet situation that will hopefully be sorted out for next year as the overwhelming response was that this is a course people would like to do again.

A huge thanks to everyone who ran.

Don’t forget Race 3 is at Shipley Park on Sunday 15th December at 10.30am, full details to follow.

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t run cross country before, if you fancy giving it a go just come along and give it a try.

It really is a team event, the more of us taking part, the better!

Cross Country League Provisional Results

For race 2 (Cliff Lakes) our overall team place was 5th, the men’s team was in 6th place and the ladies finished in a phenomenal 2nd place!

Amazing work everyone.

So, after 2 events MRC is 6th in the Team event, 7th in the men’s and 3rd for the ladies (who have overtaken Lichfield and closed the gap on Derwent).

What an incredible start to the season.

This season, for the first time, we will also be having a Club Cross Country Championship for individuals who have taken part in the XC league.

Once we have finalised details and have some initial results we will put this on the website.

If you would like to take part in the next XC race and contribute to this fantastic team event, the next race is on Sunday 15th December at Shipley Park, more details to follow.

Please come along and have a go, it doesn’t matter if you have run cross country before or not.

These events are a lot of fun and everyone who runs will help with our overall team placing.

If you fancy giving it a try, but have any questions, just ask myself or one of the other committee members.

NETFLIX recommendation
LOSERS: LOST IN THE DESERT

Club News

Run Leaders

Welfare Update

Both have completed the England Athletics Welfare Officer training materials, most recently the ‘Time to Listen’ course.

Christmas Party

• Doors open at 7.00pm
• Food at 8.00pm
• Presentation at 8.45pm
• Party from 9.00pm till 12.00pm

Some Common Mistakes Runners Make...

• Too much too soon – basically increasing load/mileage effort too much may seem like a good idea, but doing it too quickly will lead to overuse and thus injury: shin splints, ITB issues to name a couple. If you want to increase mileage – do so in small steps. So, to increase your long run, go from 8 miles to 9, then to 10 the next – then go back to 8 or 9. Oh, and keep it slow, said this a few times, nice easy chatty pace.
• Too hard/Too fast – going out for a hard-fast run is great (as well as running races hard), but without a warm up it will lead to potential injury and burn out. Warm up – gentle running for 10-15mins, slightly increasing the pace will get the blood and heart working. Will loose up the tendons and ligaments ready for that burn phase.
• Easy runs are EASY -said it many times – slow and steady will build up base fitness.
• Training when injured- if it hurts, it is your bodies way of saying – don’t! Listen to your body.
• Incorrect Pacing – ok, this is very much one for those who want to progress with running – but learning how to pace. This applies not just to the easy runs, but for a tempo run, intervals, workouts, 10ks, 5ks, marathons. The first step is knowing how it feels within you, then after a little bit of time, learning to run to pace to aid training.
• Correct Running technique – poor technique will lead to poor performance. Sorry to say, this is one of those I will need to see and advise on, but easy one to understand – tall posture, head up!
• Try and avoid changing the routines – VIP for long runs and preparing for marathons – so, do not race in new shoes, use gels you have never tried or eat different breakfast foods.
• Learn to keep hydrated while running, especially on the long runs. Remember, you are not a camel!
• We all run for different reasons and if we run, we are runners!

Sat 11th Jan

We will go at the pace of the group and be great if another RL could join me so we can offer 2 groups...Meet at the RBL for 8.30am start.

San Quentin's 1,000 Mile Club

'No judgment. We just run'

An incredible story of a sports program in a American prison aiming to end reoffending.

ONE FOR THE GEEKS

VeloViewer

VeloViewer provides new insights, engaging visualisations, motivational goals and in-depth analysis to your Strava data.

They have a free service and pro version which is £10 a year.

DRS Review

As for the individual results, congratulations to Matt B on his 4th, but really the highlight must go to the ladies, with 4 in the top 10 and Hannah coming 2nd overall.

The DRS while it is a great method of promoting running and races in the Derby area (as well as the events the DRS organise themselves), the scoring system is not the best – to be nice about it. While we must congratulate Smalley on winning the club award, are they really the best club in the Derby area? So, lets look at it another way and follow the base guidelines that the XC use.

Overall Mixed – for a Mixed Team of 6 (4 Men, 2 Ladies) the scores on the doors is as follows:

Smalley: 3809
Long Eaton: 3367
Derwent: 4277
MRC: 4495

Oh look, we have won :D – yeah us. Smalley won as they clearly entered on mass the 2 smallest events in the DRS (Sinfin & Shelton), they played the game – so real kudos to them for that!

Looking just at Mens (6 Men to count)

Smalley: 1720
Long Eaton: 3730
Derwent: 2799
MRC: 3071
Beeston: 3343
Shelton: 2676

This time 2nd in this version – again a good set of results.

However, for the ladies (again 6 to count)

Smalley: 4029
Long Eaton: 2332
Derwent:2979
MRS: 4827

A whopping win for them (even bigger if the team was only 4 counters)

Please do take these with a pinch of salt, as it is only an overview if the team system was different. We, MRC, had (ok – mainly with the Men) had members not fully taking part in events – but the same can be said for other clubs it does show how well MRC has done this year and the progress the club has made in such a short space of time.

So once again, well done to all of our members who have run in the DRS – be it 1 race or in all 6!

Just a reminder, the top 3 of the Club Champs will be announced at the Clubs Awards Night with the final tables being published soon afterwards.

PHOTO OF THE FORTNIGHT

Jacqui Mann at Everest base camp!

any finally...