April Newsletter
I hope everybody in the club is fit & well, staying at home observing government guidelines, fingers crossed it’s not too much longer until we can all run together again.
Virtual National Road Relay Championships round up
First of all a big thank you to everyone who donated on the just giving page, with £90 going to ‘The Myton Hospices’. 27 members of the team registered their times; with the quickest time going to our new member Lewis Knight coming in at 16:37. I’d personally like to give David Packer a huge well done for finishing 16th in his age category with notable mentions going to Michelle Peach, Anne Counter, Debbie Monroe, Sharon Packer & Laura Sullivan all finishing inside the top 100 of their categories, this is a huge achievement given the event had over 5,000 sign up & 3,778 register times. There were some ‘unofficial’ personal bests too from Lewis Knight, Matt Goode, Chris Kemp & Neil Wills, with Neil also breaking 20 minutes for the first time. I’m sure we can't wait to get back to doing weekly parkruns.
Off the back of the road relays, there is a local ‘Northants Virtual 5K Road Race League’, if you want to sign up for this make sure you enter by 06/05/20. Whilst this entry is FREE to enter the organisers are supporting the charity Motor Neurone Disease Association. This event will be 4 weekly 5k virtual runs (social distancing rules to be observed etc). The organisers have also decided to use a handicap system to make it competitive for all ability levels based on your recent 5k/park run results. Can we beat our team of 27 from the National Championships? More details online - https://www.facebook.com/events/1580445942130046/
Website and social media
Stuart has been working extremely hard on the club website www.daventryroadrunners.com adding lots of new content, including profiles for the new committee members. There is lots of information on the run leader sessions & also a membership form for anyone who’d like to join/rejoin. There is also a list of all the club discounts added that you are entitled to as a member of DRR. In addition to the website Becky has been doing some brilliant work with our social media platforms, did you know we are on Instagram and Twitter as well as the popular Facebook and Strava groups? Give us a follow on @davroadrunners Keep an eye out for lots of new stuff coming over the next few weeks including #DRRMedalMonday
Free home workout e-book!
Are you feeling a little unmotivated at the moment given the current situation with covid-19 and wondering how to vary your training up a little bit? Our new club secretary and UKA qualified coach Josh Schofield has written an e-book with 10 different workouts included. Josh is more than happy to share these workouts for free with DRR members. If you would like your free copy send him a direct message on Facebook or email him pgc1coaching@gmail.com
The 2.6 Challenge
DRR member Maisy Radford is running 260km in 26 days to raise money for The Reach For Health Centre based in Daventry where she is a Rehabilitation Coach. They had to close the centre on 21st March due to Covid-19. As a charity they would love to be back up and running as soon as possible. Give Maisy a follow and lots of kudos on Strava & if you’d like to sponsor her the link is – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/the-reach-for-health-team-s-2-6-challenge
Getting to know Keith Moreman
Have you ever wanted to ask club legend Keith Moreman some questions about his running? Well I got in touch with Keith and did exactly that, here is what he had to say…
How long have you been running and what made you start?
I started running in April 1988 when my daughter asked if I would go for a run with her, I said yes, and we did 1.5 miles and then walked back. I had never done any sort of physical activity, 4 weeks later I did Rugby 6 in 38:35
How long have you been a member of DRR? I ran from 1988/89 with DRR, then joined Northampton Phoenix in 1990. After that just dabbled in it due to my shin splints, I started again with DRR in 2001 until the present
What is one bit of advice you would give to a fellow DRR member? Be good to your fellow runners, except in race, take no prisoners. I always found time to train with other runners no matter what their ability...as long as they didn’t beat me!
Have you ever had any big injuries and to anyone struggling with niggles at the moment what would you say to them? Now we are talking!!! Shin splints, from almost the beginning and the training to get me to sub 50 minutes for 10 miles took its toll, which made me all but finish until I joined DRR again, then in 2011 my calf became a big problem, still had the shin splints, so I was out for 2.5 years, eventually got rid of the problem after a total of 7.5 years, so as you can see with injuries don’t give up, I am living proof.
What would you say are your biggest strengths as an athlete? My biggest strength was my gitness and determination to push on, think it came from being a self-employed brick layer, my nickname was ‘money packer’
When getting ready for a big race do you have any specific preparations? If I was doing a marathon there would always be a long run Sunday mornings if it didn’t get in the way of a race, other than that and looking back I probably didn’t fulfil all my potential due to not doing any specific training, perhaps if I had got the help you all get now maybe I’d have achieved my goals.
What has been your favourite race over the years? Sorry but there are 3 favourite races, first Barking Road Runners 5k, I went down on my motorcycle to run it in and do the race, I had met the race director in Berlin, the course is the one they use for parkrun, I finished 2nd in 15:27 and eventually got 2 small prizes 2nd and 1st V40. Next is 1989 Corby 10 mile, I took the lead on the second lap of 2 and had my first outright win, also first time under 53 minutes. The third race is Nene Valley 10 miler, I finished 7th in 51:40 and went through 5 miles in 25:19, so I slowed down a bit.
How many World Marathon Majors have you ran and what is your PB? I ran my first 2 marathons all the way then the other 5 I’ve walked at some time. I’ve done 4 big city marathons, Berlin once in 1989, which was my PB in 2:34:49, in 291st place, then I’ve done London 3 times.
Finally, what is your favourite distance and who is your running idol? My favourite distance was 5 miles into half marathon because they were so easy for me, only did one 5k until 2009/10 when I did Blisworth 5k, hate that distance. My running idol has got to be Mike Fromant, number 23 in the Weedon photo, he won everything around here back then and he was a great guy. Once when I went to do MK half marathon he asked me to warm up with him, we did 6 miles at 6 minute mile pace, I had to change my kit before the race, he won it in 70 minutes I came 4th in 72 minutes he asked if I wanted to warm down, I said no.
Big thank you to Keith for answering these questions, I’m sure you all loved reading what he had to say.
You should have all now received emails about membership renewal, if anyone hasn’t or you need any help please get in touch with membership secretary Paul Barker. Hope you’ve enjoyed my first newsletter.
Joseph Shirley
Club Captain