Blog Posts

August 2018

1/8/2018

Highlights in the July edition included some serious distances run in the heat of midsummer!
Sarah Francis reported in from the Lake District where she took on her first 100 mile ultra.
Alastair Higgs did his first ultra with the 50Km Round Reading.
Andrew Lowden did his first trail marathon at Chislehurst, apparently a race with a fairly short route, but one where to do the marathon you have to go round, and round, and round .......

We also celebrated our Couch to 5K Class of 2018 reaching their graduation with their first parkrun. And our own Relays and BBQ.
Read all about it at https://sway.office.com/jQRAIEzDTUzgRSsU

July 2018

1/7/2018

The July newsletter was full of stories of great derring-do!
The Endure 24hr event had taken place with three Windle Valley teams excelling, and two individual members running for the full 24 hours! 😮
Hills seemed to have been the order of the month too, including the race called "The Hurt", the Hampshire Hoppit Marathon, a hill race at the Hogs Back, and many more besides.
Read all the stories at https://sway.office.com/yoX2YEOCrfecarFZ

June 2018

1/6/2018

In our June newsletter, we revealed that our members' marathons hadn't finished in May,
We had a report from the Regensburg Marathon, and results from Great Howgills Fell (yes, it is a tough one!) and from Edinburgh - and what a result, as ladies' champion Dawn Godwin set a new PB and a new all-time club record 🤗🏃‍♀️
And in the shorter stuff, Dawn was also Ladies' Winner in her hometown Bracknell Half Marathon - quite a month!
Elsewhere, one of our newest runners revealed her innermost thoughts about running, and chief coach Mike Brock revealed why he was running for Sandhurst Joggers (?!^*&%) during May.

https://sway.com/1tOEu3bUOzv0diA9

May 2018

1/5/2018

As is usually the case, May was all about the April marathons.

A scorching hot London saw some struggles and some great performances.
Our Brighton runners fared better. Captain Dawn sent in a race report from the day, and Joanne told us about how she progressed from Couch-to-5K to completing 26.2 miles.
There were PB's at Manchester, and we had reports from Rome and Boston (UK)
https://sway.com/2sxbA4gIsRT4BS1o

April 2018

2/4/2018

The Beast from The East struck just in time to ruin many people's marathon training plans for March, but there were still many great race performances to report.
Hans Lagerweij reported on running in Miami, and the big feature of the month was an interview with our two club champions, Dawn Godwin and Phil Young. Smoking behind the bike sheds - who knew!?

https://sway.com/Y70WJ8LXo6TdOTnV

March 2018

4/3/2018

The chilly pictorial theme of recent newsletters continued as March opened up on a distinctly cold note. And Sarah and Oki were once again our cover stars, 12 months after their last appearance.
Inside, the content was a lot warmer, as we celebrated winning the Thames Valley Cross Country League for the first time. The main feature was the report from our annual awards dinner, celebrating our 2017 champions and award winners.
Coach Mike was musing about old age and deciding it's not all bad.
Race reports included Wokingham and Bramley - in the latter our ladies won the team prize.
Read on: https://sway.com/kbGbbMvgFY62Gonf

February 2018

12/2/2018

Do you want to learn how to activate the muscles in your butt? All in the interests of running better, of course! Then in our February newsletter coach Mike tells you just what you need to know.
Would we win this season's cross-country league? More good results from January were putting us closer then ever!
Elsewhere, heroics on the road and at parkrun, pictures from Romania, and lots else to keep you fascinated.

https://sway.com/453dSWlKWnEcuOTg

January 2018

1/1/2018

Once more, our cross-country team's successes were our main news, as we stayed top of the league going into the new year.
December had seen lots of achievements in other areas too, including a new Club Record at parkrun!
This was also the very first of our newsletters to feature Zippy, the Pink Panther, Santa and a Stormtrooper. Probably the last one to do so too ....

https://sway.com/D4UrOPuQPYgz10yF

December 2017

18/12/2017

We were reporting about an exciting November that had seen our cross country teams continue our frankly amazing start to the new season, with two more race wins to see us stay top of the league table!
In addition, we entered the Camberley AC cross country open races, where we won prizes galore - you can find the full details in here.
Head coach Mike reveals the secrets of off-road running, and why you definitely should.
Our parkrun tourists brought some sunshine into our lives from faraway

Read it all here: https://sway.com/OMFjmkwxICgKfbXd

Plus our Christmas Running supplement .....

12 runs in two weeks!
We will have earned those mince pies 😋

https://sway.com/646FAZydyLePEcRZ

November 2017

1/11/2017

There was only one subject to talk about in November - the incredible feats of our cross country team, who gained our first ever overall race win in the first race of the new season - and so put us top of the table for the first time ever 🥇
Actually, that's a lie, this wasn't the only thing to talk about, there was lots more too - lots of October marathons, loads of half-marathons, many many race PB's
Plus, our latest couch-to-5K group reached their graduation runs at Frimley Lodge
And much more besides
https://sway.com/CukM0pgNqkY5eSKs

October 2017

1/10/2017

There was so much to celebrate in the October issue.
- The first lady to ever reach 500 parkruns
- Dozens of PB's including a 76 minute half-marathon
- Race wins and parkrun wins
Plus, could be the start of something big - the Windle Valley Agony Aunt column!

https://sway.com/eR3VRFoGnt2J7ErB

September 2017

1/9/2017

After a summer break, the newsletter resumed service with new editors for the September issue, with so much new content that it was published in two halves.
Welcome to new editors Lisa Norman and Veronica Scott!

Read about what members have been up to over the summer months, Winter Training, Cross Country, find out where the Windle Valley T-shirts have travelled around the world over the summer and lots more..

And with an extra bonus supplement for parkrun and some truly amazing race reports.. So time to get your cup of tea ready and enjoy reading..

https://sway.com/ICZoDW9o4HOtkpRG

and part 2

https://sway.com/mlKbxeNosTvl27GK

May 2017

4/5/2017

Read on for all the news from an exciting April, which saw great performances at every distance from parkrun to Marathon to (blimey) 100 miles!

This included new club records for both the ladies' and men's marathon times by Dawn Godwin and Phil Young!
And as you can see above, we also attracted celebrity supporters, as the prime minister cheers on Lucy Goodwin, and Kelly Cassar gets to run with Rhino Neil 😁

https://sway.com/SCTcrDoUKa0sAr4K

April 2017

2/4/2017

Read on for news about Summer Training.
Look ahead to this month's marathons, and look back at some superb race performances from March.
Our first parkrun tourism reports are here, courtesy of Hans, Ross and Lucy.
Coach Mike has tips on how to smash that race PB, and Jo Penny has given some tips on how to protect your feet.
Plus more of the usual stuff!

https://sway.com/5ThEP6vXSiYVnL2j

March 2017

1/3/2017

This month's theme was dogs - actual canine dogs, and metaphorical top dogs 🐶

Plus, we had a report from the Chicago Marathon - from 50 years ago!

As marathons drew near, head coach Mike turned to the subject of tapering

Plus lots more, as ever!

https://sway.com/9dX2kge3KaakfLkR

February 2017

1/2/2017

A season for declaring our undying love for our members! ❤💚❤💚
Read on to find out the news from our Awards Dinner including who our club champions for 2016 are.

You'll also find the end of season cross-country league report, with our ladies' team achieving their highest ever finish since the separate ladies league was started!
Coaching guru Mike has tips for improving your race speed, and we have loads of upcoming races listed where you can put them to good effect.
There's holiday news, baby news, race news, PB news, and even one or two things that aren't news!
https://sway.com/AhWBRMwVYG08IhoT

January 2017

1/1/2017

The start of 2017 saw us excited by the fact that our ladies' XC team was joint top of the table at the halfway point.

We had check-ins from members holidaying all around the world - Thailand, Holland, Australia, Portugal and Wales.

New head coach Mike Brock started his regular column of coaching thoughts and advice.

Plus we managed to sneak in a cat picture 😸

https://sway.com/Adi1eHFvkeGwurA5

December 2016

1/12/2016

We started this newsletter with a video of them blowing up our local motorway bridge, which never gets old!

Following that, you can read about our members' heroics in November, and look ahead to getting down and dirty with December's cross country races. Cat and Sarah entertain us with their race reports, and if you look carefully you'll find out where to race to get cake and wine included with your entry 😋

https://sway.com/JAUDGN1xOLE7FcsZ

November 2016

1/11/2016

Read on to find out who ran for an orange, who ran for a cupcake, who ran for a beer, and who ran for a big cake.

Find out who's who on the new club committee, and what they can help you with. We have a brilliant race report from Chicago, and lots of other October race news from all around the country.
And, as always, see some of the biggest and best smiles you'll ever come across from happy Windle Valley Runners!!

https://sway.com/IDYjJyNBU8h0h4ER

October 2016

1/10/2016

This month we have loads of exciting news, 90 miles worth of race reports, 12 new members, 1 new baby, 21 birthdays, 5000 parkruns, and quite a lot of other stuff too.

https://sway.com/fYCjETW3GkgqJjCf

September 2016

1/9/2016

For September, we were getting excited about becoming the first club at Frimley Lodge parkrun to complete 5000 runs. And about cakes, again!
We had loads of our members' running pics from around the world, as they went on their summer holidays and remembered to pack their kit. But this newletter also heralded the return of dark evenings and winter training schedules.
Plus, a poem.... oh, and some baby news....
https://sway.com/INDrnOd3J1uvLKXA

August 2016

1/8/2016

This month has seen yet more Parkrun successes, personal best times recorded in various distances and fantastic team performances in two popular and well attended local relays.

With the holiday season upon us the Windle Valley club vest has travelled many miles to warmer climates around the world, as well as being spotted amongst some stunning British countryside.
Read on ...

https://sway.com/K8zXZBKaycAAx5YQ

July 2016

1/7/2016

This month's cover picture is some of our intrepid Couch-to-5K group who completed their first ever parkrun on 2nd July. Three cheers for all of them, including the ones who skipped the photo session!

Read on to find out about Martian-spotting opportunities, a must-run half marathon where you may bump into famous WVR's, Catriona's new warm-up routine that you may want to join in with in 2017, our new website, who ran 147 parkruns in June, lots of races to do in July, and much more.......

https://sway.com/z2Wd2HP73oN88I27

June 2016

1/6/2016

This month's newsletter had lots of news from our Couch-to-5K programmes, with the latest one nearing completion, a celebration pic from its one-year anniversary, and one of last year's graduates taking on her first half marathon.
We also had reports and video from the 3rd running of the Windlesham Pairs Relay 10K in May.
Our race round up saw PB's galore, and heroics getting the Windle team to the Edinburgh marathon, which gets its own report!
https://sway.com/V2z7Sywku6ikzrNg

May 2016

1/5/2016

Well, this one's mostly about the April marathons, where WVR members put in some stunning performances!
And some shorter and longer distances too, including 50 miles and 54 kilometers!!
https://sway.com/IeGM4D3jHOBi24tN

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