Swinton Running Club S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

T H I S M O N T H

Race Reports

Race Advice

Race Results

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Steve Prescotts’ Challenge 1

Blackpool 10K 2

City of Salford 10K 4

Worsley Woods Trail Race 5

The Paras’ 10 7

Gawsworth Fun Run 8

Robin Hood Half Marathon 9

Garstang Half Marathon 10

Improving with Age 12

CLGP Series 14

Manchester Area XC Series 15

Up and Coming Races 16

Committee Minutes 17

Caption Competition 18

Social Events 19

Race Results 21

Contacts 22

Swinton member David Burke is putting his best

foot forward to run four marathons in four days.

The event is in aid of a fund set up by his pal, former

Great Britain Rugby League star Steve Prescott who

is suffering from cancer . Eric, son of ex-Salford for-

ward, is also taking part in the gruelling 104-mile run

from Hull to Old Trafford – arriving in time for the

Grand Final on Oct 2. Worsley-based Dave, a 58

year old granddad, is a former sports editor of the

Salford City Reporter and has run more than 50

marathons in a best time of 2 hours and 39 min-

utes.“That was a few years ago,” said Dave, “and

I‟ve had three knee operations since so we won‟t be

going for any record times that‟s for certain!.

“Steve is an inspiration and has already run the Lon-

don Marathon since being diagnosed with the illness.

But this will be his toughest challenge – and mine! ”

Dave, a former Rochdale Hornets RL player added,

”Steve is the Jane Tomlinson of Rugby League and everyone who meets him can‟t fail to be

impressed by his remarkable fortitude, enthusiasm and bravery.”

Dave cycled almost 1,000 miles from Perpignan to London last year with Steve and raised

£1,500 for the charity. He is looking for sponsorship for the latest energy-sapping event and

anyone interested should contact Dave on 07970 836721.

Steve, MBE, played for St Helens, Hull, Wakefield, Ireland and Great Britain before being

diagnosed with a rare form of stomach cancer in 2006 and given months to live. Following a

number of operations and treatment Steve, married with two young children, is still fighting

the disease.

The Steve Prescott Foundation was set up in 2007 to raise money for two charities - the

Christie Cancer Hospital in Manchester and Try Assist, the Rugby League Benevolent Fund.

More details on Steve Prescott and the Challenge can be found on his web site.

http://www.steveprescottfoundation.co.uk/Home.aspx

Steve Prescotts’ Engage Mutual Challenge Four Marathons, Four Days - 28th September to 1th October 2010

Dave pictured with Steve Prescott at Wembley after finishing a 1,000 bike ride from the South of France last year

P A G E 2

Race Series Report

Blackpool Hilton Illuminations 10K, 4th September I‟m still not quite sure why I entered

this race, as Blackpool is certainly not

high up on my list of favourite places

to visit. Mike recommended it – he ran

it last year – so I guess he‟s the one to

blame. It didn‟t start well; Adam and I

managed to find ourselves right in the

centre of Blackpool and appeared to be

driving round in circles seeing the

same repulsive sights far too many

times for our liking. We eventually

found the Hilton, met up with Rebecca

and straight away spotted several A&T

runners. Do they get everywhere? As it turned out, there were far more Swinton runners

than A&T, so that in itself was a victory. We made for quite an impressive sight on our

group warm up, I was told by Carol as she and Lisa joined us at the starting line.

At 11am, we were off along the road out towards Bispham – the first two miles were

surprisingly undulating and I started well, probably too quickly if I‟m honest. I passed

Garry from A&T quite early, however he was to be the only one of their runners I man-

aged to catch. After about 2.5miles we turned back towards Blackpool and ran alongside

the sea wall. At that turning point, there was an old car rally taking place (now you all

know how much I love rallies / fetes etc- not!) and the announcer there was kindly ask-

ing his car enthusiasts to, „Keep out of the way of the MARATHON.‟ I must admit to

having a minor panic when I heard that word. Thankfully, it was his mistake, not mine!

The next 3 miles were by the sea wall, running against the wind so any thoughts of a PB

ebbed away pretty quickly. After what seemed like an age, a short but steep hill brought

us almost back to the start. Unfortunately, the race had rather a cruel ending as we had

to run past the start then double back on ourselves. It was here that I spotted Andy Land

and was not going to let him catch me this time (he had passed me just before the post

two weeks earlier at Birchwood) so I managed to put a last spurt of effort in. I was

pleased with my time of 44.05 and although it was nowhere near my PB, it was my best

10k time this year and about a minute faster than Birchwood.

Only after I had finished, did I spot Adam cheering in the finishing runners. Those of

you that know me well, will know that I am a „tad‟ competitive and this is tenfold when

racing against my husband. How on earth had he passed me? Had I been so concerned

with staying ahead of Andy, that Adam had whizzed by and I hadn‟t noticed? It was

about to be major sulk time, until I realised that he had actually picked up an injury and

unfortunately had had to drop out. Please understand, I was not happy to discover that he

was injured, but I have to admit to slight relief that he hadn‟t finished the race before

me!

All in all, I enjoyed the race and even though it is in Blackpool, will give it another go

next year. Another fantastic turnout from Swinton, great support from the Hart family

and well-deserved PBs for Andy Land and Paul Shier. Well done all!

Full Results Available Here

Lauren

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Blackpool Hilton Illuminations 10K, 4th September

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B Photographs - Steve

P A G E 4

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Race Report

City of Salford 10K, Sunday 5th September I have to admit that I only entered the

City of Salford 10K because of the entice-

ment of a „goody bag‟ and t-shirt. But

having entered and ran the race I am

pleased that I did and would certainly rec-

ommend it as one of the club runs. It was

another lovely sunny morning, obviously

a curse of running with my fellow racing

chum Emma. There was a great turnout

from the Swinton ladies, Emma, Dawn

and Sue and we all arrived looking glam-

orous as usual in the Swinton red with

matching painted nails.

The race field was fairly impressive with nearly 700 runners taking part, with all ages and

abilities participating. It started off outside the Lowry theatre and headed off over the

bridge to Trafford Park where we ran on mainly closed roads around Trafford Park. As the

roads had been closed and coned off I did think that the squashed dead rabbit could have

been moved, unless of course it was murdered by one of the many runners who were ahead

of me.

The scenery in Trafford Park is not the most inspiring and a real downside to the run was

having to pass through the godforsaken place that is named „Old Trafford‟. Not being a

Manchester united fan I did find that my pace improved as I passed by the ground in a bid

to be away from the place as soon as possible.

The second half of the race was to do a loop back which took me back past the road kill but

did mean I got to see the other Swinton runners. Heading back up towards the quays was a

definite improvement in scenery and there was also a lovely cooling breeze to counter effect

the blazing sunshine. The course then did a few more loops before heading back over the

bridge with the finish line in sight, but alas there was yet another detour along the opposite

side of the water.

Soon enough the finish line was in sight and I sprinted as fast as my dumpy little legs could

carry me to try and beat a runner from an opposing club but to no avail as she crossed the

line just in front of me. This didn‟t bother me too much though as I was pleased that I had

beaten my personal best 10k time from 2 weeks previous by over a minute, not an insignifi-

cant amount in my eyes.

There were more PB‟s earned that

day and I want to say congratula-

tions to all the Swinton runners who

took part. I will definitely be enter-

ing this race next year and hopefully

obtain another PB for myself.

Sharen

Full results available here

P A G E 5

This was a local race with the promise of homemade cakes, bouncy castles and a race me-

mento and I was sold. 11 Swinton runners (and three Swinteenies) descended at Roe

Green on Sunday morning to be greeted by a sea of mud. The course was different from

the last couple of years (so I was informed) but there were plenty of steep hills, a stream

crossing, stiles and some slippery wooden bridges (it was like watching Bambi on ice see-

ing me going over them). After negotiating the course myself and Sharen were then heck-

led at the finishing line by our three Swinteenies (Jessica, Patrick and Daniel) „C‟mon la-

zybones!!‟ Charming!!

After the race it was straight onto the Children‟s one mile fun run. At this point my daugh-

ter is still consulting with trade descriptions as she did not find the run „fun‟ nor was it 1

mile but 1.4 miles. At the end all the children got t-shirts, water bottle, medal and bananas.

(The adults incidentally got a water bottle). This was a really good local race and I am

looking forward to doing this again next year. Well done to everyone who ran, especially

our young budding stars, Daniel, Patrick and Jessica.

Emma

Full results available here

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Race Report’s

‘Athlete Matters’ Worsley Woods 4.5 Mile Trail Race, Sunday 12th September

The young one’s show how it’s done

P A G E 6 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B Photographs - Paul

‘ A T H L E T E M A T T E R S ’ W O R S L E Y W O O D S 4 . 5 M I L E T R A I L R A C E

On a hot Sunday morning on the 12th

September, Jon Mellor and myself took

part in the Paras‟ 10 P Company Chal-

lenge. This is the Parachute Regiments

10 mile endurance fitness test. The

course includes hills called “ Pussy Hill,

Lick Out Hill and Land of Nod” All

competitors have to compete the course

in 1 hr 50 minutes to pass carrying 16kg

in a rucksack and wearing army or walk-

ing boots . Your rucksack is weighed

before and at the end just to make sure

you do not cheat.

The course is lined with Paras all telling you to “run quicker sir”, “pain is merely weakness

leaving the body” all looking slightly mad, but very polite with it. The course is all off road

with the first 4 miles a continual climb. What the Paras call flat Jon and myself call a hill,

what they call a hill we call an ascent. Having tabbed and run to 5 miles, the heat took its

toll, with both of use loosing 2 miles as light headedness and nausea took over. Having got

to 7 miles and taken some water on the race become possible, up to that point both us

wanted to be taken off the course by the Paras no such look as they told us “ to run faster

sir” , “pain is merely weakness leaving the body”. Having completed “Lick Out Hill” at 6.5

miles, gone through the water baths, there was only “Pussy Hill” which involved at 400m

climb hands and feet crawling up, after which you could see the finish a mile down the road.

That would be simple, but being the Paras it involved a short uphill section just to really

finish you off. Jon and myself both made the 1hr 50 mins with ease!!!!. The race has taken

us 4 days to recover and makes Coniston 14, Radcliffe 10 mile and Snowdon Marathon look

flat. Nothing can prepare you for this race except doing. It is the most physically and psy-

chologically demanding event we have ever done.

As for next year bring it on, any one fancy entering a team? Next for Jon and myself is the

infamous SAS endurance test the FAN DANCE up and down Pen y Fan in the Brecon Bea-

cons twice with 18kg in 4 hours.

For more information www.paras10.com

Ian and Jon

P A G E 7

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Race Report’s

The Paras’ 10, Sunday 12th September

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

This is a humble offering of an event – not, I suppose, normally considered worthy fare for

the terriers of Swinton – but bear with me.

Gawsworth is not without charm. It is a quiet, picture-skew, Cheshire village with its own

historic estate (the eponymous Gawsworth Hall), and as fine a collection of strange old

country gentlemen as I have seen in many a year. It also had an entire battalion of the local

WI on parade, directing traffic, offering advice of random utility and sporting the worst col-

lection of casual knitwear since the first mail order catalogue was printed in colour.

Most extraordinary was the deployment of a tweed–encrusted calendar girl to control the

portaloos. Portaloos are vital to runners but the queues can be a bit much. Unless emulating

Paula Radcliffe, they therefore need to be dealt with. Custodian of a fine collection of six

blue portaloos, Daisy (as I think of her) had this off to a fine art. “Number 4 is free” she

would cry, airily waving an arm towards number 3 as numbers 1 and 5 were emptied.

Through spectacles so thick they would stop high velocity bullets, she smiled like a St

Trinian‟s Extra as we dutifully followed her eccentric instructions.

I say most extraordinary, but perhaps that is unfair.15 minutes before the start of the 10K,

there is an announcement over the tannoy. They have run out of safety pins. Would the as-

sembled throng be prepared to do with 2 or 3 and provide some spares? Expecting Dawn

French to heave into view at any moment I wondered if Dibley was based on Gawsworth.

N.. n..n..n..n….yes it was.

Speaking of clergy, one of the most colourful contributions was made by Bishop William-

son, who opened the race and was in attendance afterwards. He was, if this is possible, a

cross between Desmond Tutu and George Melly, sharply dressed with a big walking stick

and a bigger hat. Handing out flapjacks at the end of the race with a booming laugh he was

the essence of English countryside weekend pursuits; all innocence and expensive teeth. But

it was a damn fine hat.

Did I say race? Oh yes…. Well, the course was not straightforward, with some gentle undu-

lation, plenty of mud, styles, barbed wire, patrolling rabid dogs (made that bit up), but

seemed to be well marshalled and I thought it was fun. Everybody else moaned about their

times, but this was my first race since I was at school, so I set a PB. That this particular PB

was best measured in weeks is neither here nor there, and there are some 10 years olds who

have been put firmly in their place I can tell you!

Oh – and I need new shorts. Having recently savaged the modern athletic wardrobe for its

utter lack of chic, I stood in a field in Cheshire in a pair of shapeless, stitched together dish-

cloths, rapidly reviewing my own contribution to the debate.

Finally, and truthfully, everyone was really nice and without the WI we would all still be

out there, somewhere in the wilderness, dodging shot from farmers and looking for the loo.

Jon Green

(Linda has a very different take on this race threatening to sue the organisers under the

trade‟s description act as it was anything but fun. Interestingly we all have holes in leggings

and scratches on legs in exactly the same place, from the same craftily placed piece of

barbed wire. - Sarah)

P A G E 8

Race Report’s

Gawsworth Fun Run, Sunday 12th September

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

My preparation for this race would probably not tick any of the boxes on the

what to do the day before a race checklist. I was staying over the night before

with a uni friend I hadn‟t seen in a year so inevitably we ended up going out for

dinner and even more inevitably ended up having some wine with dinner and

then some more wine when we got back to the flat. Then her neighbour decided

to entertain us with some very noisy music played into the early hours!

Race day dawned bright and sunny - I seriously think I might be cursed when it

comes to the weather on race days - if we have a series of unexpectedly warm

days for the cross country events this winter please feel free to blame me! The

Robin Hood Half is part of the Robin Hood Festival of Running which also in-

cludes a full marathon and a fun run. There were therefore lots of runners mill-

ing around the “race village” (which boasted, amongst other attractions, a

bouncy castle I am pleased to report) waiting for the start. I carried out my

usual pre-race routine of several visits to the loos and avoiding the mass warm

up before being sent to my starting pen. First mile was nice and quick, second

mile less so as we hit the first proper climb up to the castle. Between miles 2

and 3 I ran for a little bit behind Tony Audenshaw (apparently he‟s in Emmer-

dale) who was running the full marathon and for some reason seemed to be

dressed as a banana. Embarrassingly he was still soon able to out-pace me!

Despite the early hill I was doing OK on pace until about mile 6 when the

course came to the University campus and a seemingly endless hill. I was wilt-

ing a bit in the heat by then as well and my pace went from OK to only slightly

faster than a walk (in fact walking would probably have been quicker) - I clearly

need to get back into some hill training!

It might have been a bit tough (or at least I thought so!) but the course was also

interesting. As well as the little excursion round the university we also got to

run along a dual carriageway (reminiscent of the big city runs), through a hous-

ing estate complete with small children offering to hose us off and around a

park (another hilly part but with the advantage of some shade provided by the trees!) The

last few miles were all on the road and with very little shade - although the temperatures

were nothing near the horror that was the South Lakes Half it still felt far too hot for me and

I really struggled. I was delighted when we finally turned back towards the finish. The

poor full marathon runners split off and set out on their second 13.1 miles (they didn‟t look

happy!) and us half marathoners were sent onto the field for a quick sprint across the finish

line.

It wasn‟t my fastest half (by a good few minutes) but despite the hills and the heat I actually

really enjoyed it. I think it benefited from having enough runners to feel like a big event but

not so many that you were fighting for space to run. It also boasted a pretty impressive

looking medal. If I do it again though I‟d put a lot more hill training in!

Rebecca

Half Marathon results available here

P A G E 9

Race Report’s

Robin Hood Half-Marathon, Sunday 12th September

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

It was a wet Sunday morning, rain bouncing back up off the floor by at lease 3 inches - it was also

time to make the pilgrimage up the M61/M55 to a small Lancashire market town which took its name

from the Saxon word "Gaerstung" meaning common land or meadowland! The town stands on the

River Wyre and the Lancaster canal and as we would soon find out, on this Sunday was standing a

little too close to the water.

A total of 5 Swinton runners made the short trip plus Adam and Patrick who came along to stand in

the rain and sample the very upper class supermarket known as Booths - that posh they don't serve

bacon butties for breakfast but ham and cheese Panini's instead!

After a misguided attempt to collect our race numbers from the local leisure centre we were quickly

redirected to the local social club where, after getting out of the car, soon realised that Garstang was

standing a little too close to the water. Walking towards the club we soon spotted a picnic bench half

submerged in water - either the local vandals had thrown it in the river or the heavy rain had been too

much for the river to cope with. As we walked closer it soon became apparent that the river had burst

it's banks and flooded the picnic area. When we collected our numbers we soon found out the flood-

ing wasn't just at the picnic area, the final section of the course was under water which meant the race

had to be shortened from its usual 13.1 down to 11.8 miles. So long as I could make it to the finish it

would be a new PB.

The race was scheduled to start at 11 and we all met at the gathering point 5 minutes before the start

to be escorted down to the start line on the main high street. As we walked down most runners took

the sensible option of taking cover in the many shop doorways from the rain which was showing no

signs of easing off. The gun went off the 200 or so competitors headed down the high street and out

of town towards the many country lanes. The runners soon started to spread out which was a good job

seeing as the pavements started to get narrower and drivers less patient. After about a mile my shoe

lace started to come undone and an emergency dash across the road to re-tie it and avoid getting flat-

tened by the runners behind. We soon turned off the main road down onto the country lanes - for

those that took part in the Great Warford 10 mile run in August these hedge rows were not as long

and boring and too tall to look over. This pretty much set the scene for the rest of the race, long coun-

try lanes with the occasional 'incline' but nothing too major.

By 3 miles pins and needles had set in making my left foot numb, despite stopping to looses my laces

and shake it off nothing seemed to be working. Struggling along to the water station by 5 miles I

stopped for a quick drink - by some miracle a drink seemed to cure the pins and needles and feeling

fresh for the remaining 7 miles of the race. Not so fresh was my IPod which was suffering a little

with the weather and constant rain which decided to shut itself down and not come back to life. By

the time I got to the 2nd water station it soon became clear how bad the flooding had been. The coun-

try lane was completely flooded with 3 inch deep water and no way of passing apart from running

straight through.

Despite having wet socks the remaining 4 miles seemed to go fairly quickly as we left the country

roads behind and started to return to civilisation with cars and houses becoming more frequent. After

a short trip over a humped back bridge over the ever bulging river. We were quickly escorted off the

roads onto footpaths which brought us out in the middle of a housing estate. Passing the 11 mile

marker the 4 or so other runners seemed to be getting closer as I reeled them in one by one. A quick

dash down the main road towards the high street was followed by a diversion onto a footpath that

seemed to start uphill but soon levelled off. Ahead was the big inflatable finish line which I crossed

in 1:49.43 and was swiftly handed a woolly hat and a half drank isotonic drink by Sharen.

Even though the race was cut short it was still really enjoyable. Great scenery, friendly marshals and

a nice course with not much traffic flying past - can't wait to go back next year and I'm sure I won‟t

be the only Swinton runner to say that.

Mike

P A G E 1 0

Race Report’s

Garstang Half-Marathon, Sunday 19th September

P A G E 1 1 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B Photographs - Adam

G A R S T A N G H A L F M A R A T H O N

P A G E 1 2

It's a simple biological fact that as we get older we can‟t run as fast as we could have when

we were younger. But this doesn‟t mean we can‟t improve and become better runners for

our age, or even set new PB‟s if we didn‟t achieve our full potential in our younger years!

With the right motivation and training, improved running performances can be achieved

long after the prospect of new PB‟s has faded away. But how can you tell if your perform-

ance is improving when your times are getting slower? This is where Age-Grading comes

in.

Age-Grading is a simple but very effective method of measuring your performance, mak-

ing allowances for your age and sex. It gives you a percentage score for each run calcu-

lated by comparing the time for your run with times set by world record runners of the

same age and sex. Benchmark times are collated by World Masters Athletics, the govern-

ing body for track and field, long distance running and race walking for veteran athletes,

and performance adjustment profiles are produced for various distances and ages for each

sex.

The following graph shows an example of how performance levels vary by age for world

record runners at the marathon distance.

You can compare performance profiles for other common race distances on Good Run

Guide with the interactive tool in our main Age-Grading article.

Why is Age-Grading beneficial?

Motivation – Getting slower can be demotivating for runners who are 'past their peak'

even if they are running well for their age. So, rather than focusing solely on how fast you

are running, it can be more motivating to focus on your Age-Graded performance.

Comparing with other Runners - By factoring out age and sex it is possible for two dif-

ferent runners to compare their performance for the same run on even terms, enabling peo-

ple to compete with each other regardless of age and sex.

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Racing Advice

Improving with Age

P A G E 1 3

Long-Term Performance Tracking - Factoring out age enables you to see how

good your performance is at any time given expected norms for your age. Using

this you can track how your performance has changed over the long-term.

Predicting Race Times - You can use you current Age-Graded percentage as a

basis for predicting finish times for races of different distances.

Interpreting Age-Grading Scores As Age-Grading scores are based on a comparison with world record times, don't

be disappointed if your scores are a long way from 100%; you‟ll probably get the

most motivation by aiming to improve on your own scores and by comparing your

scores with those of your friends. But, the following table provides a general guide

to interpreting Age-Grading scores.

Age-Grading on Good Run Guide You can keep track of your Age-Graded percentages in your Good Run Guide Log

Book – scores can be calculated when logging your runs and even compensate for

hills to provide fair comparisons between different types of runs. And, if you just

want to calculate an Age-Graded percentage without using the Log Book, you can

also use our standalone Age-Grading calculator.

Finally, if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and would like to be able to calculate

an Age-Graded score at any time, even without an internet connection, you can

now do this with our new Age-Grading app called “Score My Run” - see the article

below for more information.

Many thanks to Louise at Good Run Guide for allowing us to publish this article

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Racing Advice

Improving with Age

Age-Graded % Guide to Level

100% Approximate World Record

90% + World Class

80% + National Class

70% + Regional Class

60% + Local Class

50% - 60% Majority of Runners

P A G E 1 4

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Race Series Report

The Central Lancashire Grand Prix Series

Race Event Date Distance Entry Forum

1 Lostock 6 28th February 6 Miles

2 St. Annes 10 21th March 10 Miles

3 Radcliffe 10k 18th April 10 Km

4 Haigh Hall 4 12th May 4 Miles

5 Smithills Serpent 30th May 5 Miles

6 Horwich 5 21th July 5 Miles

7 Chorley 4.4 Trail 4th August 4.4 Miles

8 Swinton 10 26th September 10 Miles

9 Gin Pit 5 10th October 5 Miles

U S E F U L C L G P L I N K S

Central Lancashire Grand Prix Web Site

Swinton Running Club Forums

UK Results ( on-line entries )

SportSoft ( on-line entries )

The next and final Grand Prix Race of 2010

Gin Pit 5 Trail Race Sunday 10th October 2010

11:00am

If you can attend the Grand Prix Races please try and do so.

Please check the forums for more details

P A G E 1 5

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Race Series

Manchester Area XC Series

The cross country season is almost upon us, it’s time to clean both the mud and the

rust off those spikes.

The series consists of 5 Cross Country races in and around the Greater Manchester area.

Please let Steve Doxey know ASAP, if you wish to run in the series, as Steve needs to en-

ter the teams shortly.

C R O S S C O U N T R Y , W H A T O N E A R T H I S I T A L L A B O U T ? Q: What is XC?

A: Awesome sport in which intelligent people are involved in, that most people don't understand unless

they are involved in it.

You know you're in Cross Country if....

1) All your socks are either stained or torn.

2) You can spit while running.

3) You wake up every Sunday morning in pain.

4) Your Saturdays for the past 4 years were ruined.

5) You enjoy running hills.

6) You think sprinting is for wussies.

7) You don't know what an "off-season" means.

8) You find yourself saying, "it's not really a hill..."

9) Your calves are bigger than your biceps.

10) You run through puddles instead of around them.

11) You can blow nose with your index finger. (Snot Rocket!).

12) You know exactly what a difference .14 miles can make.

13) You have suffered through one too many cases of "runner's nipple."

14) You set extraordinary goals that real people wouldn't be able to meet.

15) Your Saturdays for the next 4 years are ruined

16) It's always a beautiful day for running, regardless of reality!

17) You've become accustomed to the taste of mud & sweat.

18) You count how many people you pass.

19) There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.

20) You knew all of the above and didn't need to read this.

Date Race

Saturday, 23rd October 2010 Heaton Park, Manchester

Sunday, 21st November 2010 Sherdley Park, St. Helens

Saturday, 4th December 2010 Boggart Hole Clough, Blackley, Manchester

Sunday, 2nd January 2011 Woodbank Park, Stockport

Saturday, 12th February 2011 Clayton Vale, Manchester

Up and Coming Races

P A G E 1 6 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

Heaton Park - Park Run Every Saturday at 9am this 5km run is organised - free!!. All you have to do is let them know you're coming in advance.

It has been suggested that it could become a Swinton regular event on the first Saturday of each month. Web page link

Lucozade Sport have a van at the run every 4 to 5 weeks, giving away lots of freebies and advice.

Race Calendar Web Sites

Look for all those local and not so local races on

these web sites

Swinton RC Forum

Fetch

John Schofield

SoftSport

The wonderful Fetch does it all (running log, routes, race log,

leagues, logs shoe miles, blogs, fetchmail & more!!) its a great

place full of nice running types, a proper online community, its the

place to see and be seen, AND its free!! King Fetch (Ian) is very

good at responding to member requests about new site content and

there are now a total of 13 Swinton Members using the site! Fetch

(in my opinion Fetch has the Class!).

Andrew

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Fancy something a little bit different

27th Sweatshop Through the Villages Race - 8.45 Miles

Sunday 7th November at 10:30am

Already a large number of members have signed up for this super race

Sunday 7th November

27th Sweatshop Through the Villages Race

Sunday 14th November

Anderton Arms 10K Road Race

Sunday 14th November

Barnsley 10K Road Race

Sunday 21th November

Preston 10 Mile Road Race

Sunday 21th November

Help for Heroes Fun Run 5

Saturday 27th November

Wesham 10K

Sunday 28th November

The Best 5K Fun Run

Sunday 28th November

Thirsk 10 Mile Road Race

Saturday 2nd October

Salomon Rivington Half Marathon

Sunday 3rd October

Harewood 10 Mile Trail Race

Sunday 10th October

Gin Pit 5 Mile Trail Race - CLGP

Saturday 16th October

Claire Ryder Memorial Watergrove Reservoir Race

Sunday 17th October

Sandbach 10K

Sunday 24th October

Run the Bypass

Saturday 30th October

Standish Hall Trail Race

Sunday 31th October

Accrington 10K Road Race

Committee Meetings

P A G E 1 7 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

Regular meetings are now being held on the second Wednesday of every month at the club after pack runs. Notes from the Au-

gust meeting below. The minutes for September will be approved at the October meeting and appear in the October Newsletter.

Remember any member may sit in the meeting.

Social Events

P A G E 1 8 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Caption Competition

“yum that Robin makes the best sausages ever”

So Adam earns himself of the Old

World‟s Finest.

L A S T M O N T H ’ S C A P T I O N W I N N E R

T H I S M O N T H S C A P T I O N P H O T O G R A P H

Entries via the forum or emails to Sarah or Steve. We will be judging and our sense of humour will have the final

word

We are now scanning the internet for the butt of next month‟s humour – if you are

shy/averse to severe „Micky taking‟ let us know and we will make sure any photos

of you are not used in future competitions. Conversely if you‟re game for a laugh

and have a previously undisclosed embarrassing image to share – send it to us!

Social Events

P A G E 1 9 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Pie Night - Last Wednesday of the Month

Special Discount Rate for Swinton Running Club Members

The usual price per session is £35, SRC members, on production of a current English Athletics

card, will only pay £25.

This offer is available at both the Leigh Road and Prestwich clinics. Anyone who wants to access

the service but does not yet have their card can contact Barbara who will contact the clinic on

their behalf.

Please check there website for more details

Last Wednesday of every month.

Pie Night!

Next one October 27th

Special Offer to Members

Social Events

P A G E 2 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Anniversary Disco, 29th October 2010

We are arranging a kids Christmas party sometime in December.

If you would like to attend with your children or grandchildren please

let either Lauren or Emma know.

More details to follow, both here, on the Forums or the Facebook site.

C H I L D R E N S P A R T Y

The Ladies are organising a Christmas Night Out in Manchester on Friday 10th Decem-

ber at the Olive Press in Manchester.

If you are interested please let Lauren know ASAP.

L A D I E S N I G H T O U T

The men are organising a more informal night out in

Manchester on Saturday 4th December.

Adam and Dave Hession are in charge of the organising

this evening to remember.

Please watch out here, the forums or the Facebook site

for more details.

M E N S N I G H T O U T

Christmas Events

The Club’s Anniversary Disco will be held at the Cricket Club

on Friday 29th October.

Disco and buffet.

Please see Jon, Ian or Mary for tickets

Race Results Corner

P A G E 2 1 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 9

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Full race results can now be found on both the Swinton Running Club Website and the forum

If you have ran a race and cannot find the details on either site please let me know.

Secretary

Steve Doxey

Treasurer

Ian Thomas

Membership Secretary

Barbara Bayliss

Social Secretary

Jonathan Mellor

Club Captain

Steve Doxey

Ladies Captain

Rebecca Mills

Web Site & Forums

Steve Hart

Swinton Running club can provide you the opportunity to train and

compete at whatever level you choose. We are affiliated with the

North of England Athletic Association for Road, Fell and Cross Coun-

try running. You can be part of a friendly informal running club with

members from local runners to fun runners - all enjoying taking part in

a sport that provides the chance for everyone to find the event that

suits them best. We regularly compete in local races at all age and

ability levels. Some of us just come down to the club to run and don't

want to enter races but like to train with like minded people and enjoy

the social side of being with a club (we do have a bar !!!).

Website

Forums

If you have any race reports, photos, announcements or any news that would be of interest to the others members

please let just know.

Sarah

We have said it before and will say it again:

We hope that you enjoy this occasional newsletter. If you are sick of it clogging up your in box, let me know and I will take

you off the circulation list.

Steve

S W I N T O N R U N N I N G C L U B

Important Membership Notice

2009/2010 registration fees have been paid to England Athletics. Any member who has not paid will be automatically

removed from the database at the end of June, anybody who wants to continue as a member must pay their fee and I

will ask EA to reinstate them. Cards will be sent out in the next few weeks, if you don't receive one and think you have

paid then please let me know.

If any new members need their registration number please email me - barbara.bayliss2@btinternet.com

2010/2011 fees will be payable in January 2011, instead of October 2010, to bring us in line with EA.