parkrun event on Saturday - Run Free

parkrun are adding fancy dress and cakes to Saturday's regular Easteligh parkrun on 4th June as a Run Free event.
parkrun is a free to enter timed 5K event that takes place at 9am every Saturday morning at venues all over the country. Eastleigh's takes place at Lakeside Country Park (off Wide Lane) - get tehre about 10 minutes beforehand so you have time to park. It is 2 laps, traffic free, mostly on gravel tracks plus a little grass. Pauline, Karen and Claire D are all fans!

Reasons to love parkrun
1. It is free to run, but you must register beforehand (also free) online and print out a barcode to take with you. Don't forget that we are now Southampton Running Sisters.
2. You'll be told how fast you ran via email. You hand your barcode to a volunteer to scan just after you've finished running. The email normally arrives that afternoon.
3. You can see how you are progressing as you can log into your account and compare your times week to week.
4. The organisers, volunteers and runners are all lovely, friendly people - and very supportive of newbies.
5. It is all over by mid morning, leaving you the rest of the weekend to fel smug!

Running report 23rd & 24th May

Gemma and Gillian did 5K on Tuesday - so that's 7 of the recently graduated beginners who have achieved this milestone - fantastic work!

Our Future

Don't forget to vote by 31st May with your preference. The link was in an email all of you should have received - and it's on our Facebook page. All members, including those on a break, can vote & please do so! Give me a shout if the link isn't behaving or if you need any more info. I'm so keen to sort this out so we can focus on the running again.

Saturday's Run to Winchester

9am from the Hub, running to the Old Gaolhouse pub in Winchester. If we have heavy rain today, tomorrow or forecasted for Saturday, I will postpone as it's potentially slippery on the tow path. I will put something here, FB and email those I think are coming if I do cancel. Fingers crossed....

Test Way Run 9th June

Clare L is organising this - contact her via our FB page or via me if you'd like to do a 7km off road run.

Run Around The World

20 of you ran last week, doing 140km between you! We've passed Sofia & are about halfway across Bulgaria already. Do have a look at the map if you haven't done so yet - it's immensely satisfying to see our progress across Europe.

The Week's runs - Downloaded from my GPS:

Mon 7pm 7.6km in 49:48 mins 639 calories

Mon 8pm 5.7km in 47:37 mins 363 calories

Tue 7pm 5.9km in 45:28 mins 409 calories

Don't forget that the GPS isn't bright enough to allow for terrain. Running off road burns more calories than tarmac - typically 10-25%.

See you on Monday (running as usual) or Tuesday.

Gin

Running report 16th & 17th May

Congratulations to Eve, Kristine, Denise, Debbie and Sue - all of whom did their first 5K with us this week! Fantastic achievement.

If you were on the last Beginners' Programme & have missed a couple of sessions, do please feel free to come along to the Improvers' runs. I will ensure that you do a run within your ability - and nobody gets left behind!

Future of Eastleigh WRN

No news still from SRS on the beginner question yet.

Saturday 28th May 9am - Running from the Hub to Winchester

This will be a one way run, starting at the Hub, following the Itchen Way, & finishing in Winchester at the Old Gaolhouse Weatherspoons pub (bacon roll & a drink), hopefully by about 10:20.
From there, we'll either train back to Eastleigh or I have asked Phil nicely to meet us & take some of us back. It's about 11km.
As you know, this won't be much fun in the wet, so I will update this event on Friday night (27th) to confirm that it is happening.

We are out of Serbia!

Finally made it to the Bulgarian border. The virtual run around the world continues - we're heading for Sofia now.

This week's runs

Mon 7pm 6.16km in 41:45 mins 495 calories

Mon 8pm 5.5km in 42:33 mins 405 calories

Tue 7pm 5.00km in 48:40 mins 310 calories (I walked the second half)

Deciding our future

I've had clarification from England Athletics - WRN has indeed folded. I've booked Bishopstoke Community Centre for Thursday 7th April 7:30pm - 9pm so we can discuss our options. Map is here.

If you can't make it - or want to do some thinking beforehand, this summary shows the options as I see them (there are bound to be more I haven't thought of). Either email me with your preference or use this online survey before 6:45pm Thursday and I'll ensure that your views are taken into account.

I'm so sorry that this has happened - it's my aim to ensure that we carry on running, carry on enjoying running and that nobody is left out of pocket.

Running Report 31st Jan & 1st Feb

Don't forget that there's only 1 run next week - Monday 7pm for all standards. And the week after, there's only running on Tuesday - both 7pm (all standards) and 8pm (last beginners session).

We are zooming across Belgium at the moment - we're past Brussels, but I'm not sure if Saturday's planned 10K session will take us over the border to our 4th country. Our progress is looking very impressive!

On Saturday 19th Feb, parkrun in Eastleigh will be making special efforts to make first timers welcome on its regular 5k run. There will be more marshals (you may recognise their hi vis vests) and pacers who will help you to get your speed right - and as usual, it's free. 8:45am briefing at Southampton Uni's Pavilion opposite Southampton Parkway train station. Remember to register beforehand & print off your bar code.

Mon 7pm 6.41km in 41:24 mins, 526 cals, starting near Ghent & finishing just before Brussels

Mon 8pm 5.56km in 47:14 mins, 325 cals, crossing Brussels & finishing at Bertem

Tue 7pm 5.25km in 40:46 mins, 365 cals, finishing at Willebringen

Tue 8pm 4.00km in 31:00 mins, 277 cals, finishing near Landen

On Tue 15th, the Beginners will be doing 30 minutes of running without a walking break.

Now, do I take my running shoes to Madeira or not....

The full 10 miles

If you fancy a rehearsal for the Great South, we'll be running 10 miles from the Hub at 9am on Saturday. If parking's difficult, try Church Road (just up the hill from the Anglers) and walk to the hub via the river. It'll be a flattish route.

Summer Solstice 8K

The Wessex Autistic Society are organising an 8K run at Moors Valley Country Park (near Three Legged Cross near Ringwood) on Friday 18th June at 7pm. As this is a nice distance, attractive location and a good cause, Eastleigh WRN will support any of you who'd like to do this race as part of a team of 4 (i.e. will pay for race entry).

Jess, Anita, Cari and me have already expressed interest - let me know if you'd like to join us.

This week's runs - 24th & 25th May

Discovery of the week is that Helena is confident around cows - has even milked 'em! Given that we've had a few runs disrupted by lively bullocks, this gives me hope for the future....

Monday 7pm 6.12K in 40:52, 496 calories

Monday 8pm 5.01K in 39:40, 355 calories

Tuesday 7pm 5.75K in 42:53, 457 calories

Tuesday 8pm 4.05K in 32:09, 295 calories

Beginners next week have just 1 walk break at 15 minutes and total session time is 31 minutes - so close to the 30 minute non stop goal now.

Yes, we are running on Bank Holiday Monday!

Recent Runs & News

I've been tardy on the blog front recently - apologies - so here's some catching up:

First, some news. Our first wedding has taken place - congratulations to Kerry! And our second baby has arrived - congratulations to Caroline & welcome to the world Susie!

Parkrun is now in Eastleigh - this is a great scheme of weekly timed 5k runs. It's every Saturday at 9am at Lakeside Country Park. It's free to enter, but you need to pre register on their website (free too). It's a great opportunity for benchmarking your runs & to work on your speed. If you would like some company for your first attempt, I'm planning to give it a go on Saturday 29th May. There's even the option for a pre run swim in the lake (may give that bit a miss!).

10th May Monday 7pm 6.16km in 45:50, 488 calories

10th May Monday 8pm 3.91km in 36:11, 223 calories

18th May Tuesday 7pm 6.01km in 43:20, 481 calories

18th May Tuesday 8pm Beginners: 4.01km in 33:03, 269 calories

Next week, the beginners will be doing 32 minutes with 2 walking breaks.

Leader Course - 11th April

If you fancy spending a day learning how to lead a running group, Eastleigh WRN will cover your costs. The next local course is on Sunday 11th April at the Holiday Inn in Eastleigh.

I'd love there to be more Leaders - even if you'd rather do it simply to provide back up rather than to lead your own sessions. There is no obligation to turn up more often if you do decide to do the training!

Let me know if you are tempted.

Gin

10k run on Wednesday - time change

The 10K run on Wednesday will start at 7:30pm as I'm double booked! Still starts from Fleming Park.

Gin

Pink band amnesty!

I seem to only have 2 of the pink reflective bands left! Please can you return any that you have - doesn't matter how long ago!

There will be another 10K training run on Wed 10th March from FLEMING PARK at 7:30pm. We'll be doing the Eastleigh 10K route again - all speeds welcome.

Sport Relief Mile - the Southampton events take place on Sunday 21st March and you can choose to run 1 mile, 3 miles or 6 miles. 1 & 3 milers start at 12:00 and 6 milers start at 11am. Pauline, Jess and Patricia are all thinking of taking part. Check out the website for more details.

Don't forget curry night!

Wednesday 7:30pm at the Cricketers on Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, £7.55 for a curry (there is a choice of several) and a beer. It's fine if you'd like to join us later as you collect your own meal - so there's no issue with waiting for all to arrive (if that makes any sense). A table's booked in my name and feel free to bring partners and/or buddies.

Thanks so much to the Monday 8pm group for getting themselves back tonight - and to H for smiling despite injury. I'm hoping for a drama free set of Tuesday runs!

Curry Night

Wednesday 17th February - fancy shelving the trainers for an evening & undoing all the good stuff running is doing for us with a curry and pint at the Cricketers?

7:30pm ish, partners and buddies welcome, and we'll see if we recognise each other when not wearing running kit!

Gin

Festive running

Thanks to all of you who braved the icefields of Bishopstoke yesterday for our Mince Pie Run. Admittedly, it was more of a walk with bits we could run, picking our way across frozeen ruts and boggy bits - and I hope your trainers clean up OK!

Big thanks to my caterer (Phil!).

Normal runs, normal times this week.

Last weeks's runs:
Mon 7pm 6.8km, 45:17 ascent 200m 560 calories
Mon 8pm 5.00km, 43:07, 286 calories
Tue 8pm 3.80km, 30:47, 240 calories

Mince Pie Run

Just in case you've not spotted the invitation yet:

You are all invited to mine on Sunday 20th December at 3pm. We'll make the most of the fading light for a gentle jog in the woods followed by mince pies and mulled wine (non alcoholic alternative too for those who aren't convinced of the merits of mulled wine as a post run beverage). No charge!
Feel free to bring others.

Let me know if you can make it & I'll let you have my address.

Gin