Hi there
Hope you had a good Christmas and are looking forward to 2022.
We are back running at the Rugby Club at 6:45pm on 4th January.
Before I do a quick review of 2021, can I say a big ‘Thank You’ to all of our Lead Runners and committee members who put in a lot of work behind the scenes to keep the club running. We couldn’t do it without you! If anyone would like to become a lead runner, then please talk to me or your lead runner on the next trip out and we will let you know what it entails.
If you want to help out with the committee, our AGM is on the 13th January 2022 at the Rugby Club at 7:45pm. Please come along and put forward ideas and suggestions. You are all welcome!
2021
I’m not sure where we were this time last year. All the lockdowns and restrictions seem to merge into each other. We did manage to run in groups of 6 and more often than not, there were 2 groups of Easy Runners and Gentle Joggers going out each week. Whilst in these groups, trips to neighbouring villages were also planned and added some variety to the sessions.
We eventually moved back to the Rugby Club and started running in our groups again. It has been good to see new runners join the club.
We also started back up the Thursday night sessions. During the summer months, we did these on the Rugby pitches. Kate introduced us to various games and techniques which made for a lot of fun and also improvements in our running! Once the nights drew in, we went back to interval sessions at Prince Rupert Road and Kate has run a popular hill technique and tips programme as well. Thanks, Kate!
Back in April, we put on a version of the Magnificent Eastnor Castle 7 as an event rather than as a race. This went down very well with the local clubs and runners as it was one of the first events of the year to take place. Thanks to Chris Law to getting this arranged and to everyone who volunteered on the day.
The cross-country season has started again with 3 races taking place already. See the diary for the dates of the next ones. Thank you to Neil Grinnell who is our representative on the Herefordshire Cross country committee , for his input and his continual encouragement to get us out to these events!
2021 hasn’t always been about the running. We have had a number of social events. We have enjoyed our pub runs this summer (and the chips afterwards!) We had a Rounders event, paddleboarding and also a Christmas Meal. Thanks to Jo Taylor-Greig for organising these for us.
Once restrictions were lifted, there has been a lot of races taking place. Rachel Bannister and Jayne Cresswell have kept the newsletter full of reports and photos. Thank you! We are in the process of updating the website to include a Race Report section. We will add in last year’s reports and look forward to it being full from the events of 2022 as well.
And so onto 2022
League Championship
This year we have the return of our league championship. The format is as follows:-
We have a number of nominated races. There is a male and female championship. The first male and female Harrier home each get 25 points, the second gets 24 points and so on. The Harrier with the most points at the end of the year is the winner. Now you don’t have to be the fastest to win this event. If you enjoy taking part in events, then you could win simply by taking part in most of the races.
The races for this year so far are:-
16th January – Kymin Winter Race
13th February – Muddy Woody
12th March – Newent Park run (to coincide with the C25K graduation)
27th March – Pendock Spring Chicken run – any distance
4th May – Hereford 5K Series
8th June – Malvern Joggers 10K
July – summer cross country run. Date to be confirmed
28th August – Pershore Plum 10K
Couch to 5K Course
Our latest C25K course is starting on the 11th January. There are posters around Ledbury and there will be a publicity campaign as well. If you know anyone who would like to take part in the course, please get them to email info@ledburyharriers.org.uk for further information. The cost is £25 and they will receive a t-shirt on completion plus a celebration meal od sausage and chips at the end!
Magnificent Eastnor Castle 7 – provisonal date 3rd April
Please keep this date free as we will need marshalls and other volunteers to help with this.
Up coming Races
9th January – Fladbury Festive 5 https://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/2QS
9th January – Herefordshire Cross – country League race at Rotherwas
16th January – Kymin Winter Race Race details
20th January – Rogue Runs night race Chepstow Race course Race details
30th January – Not the Roman XI http://www.stratfordac.co.uk/
6th February – Stourbridge Stagger http://www.srclub.co.uk
6th February – Herefordshire Cross-country League race at Presteigne
11th February – Rogue Runs night race at Beech House Forest of Dean race details
13th February – Muddy Woody – Haugh Wood Wye Valley Runners
20th Feb 2022 Hereford 10 Mile Race https://www.entrycentral.com/hereford10mile
Hope to get a web page with all upcoming races on so please watch this space. If you know of any other upcoming races, please do share the links on our Facebook page and also let me know so I can add them to the next newsletter.
Here’s to a happy, healthy and successful 2022 for you all.
Helen