Summer Roundup and News
Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:00
Summer 2024 Roundup and News
If this is the first roundup you have received, then welcome to Emily’s quarterly (ish) ramblings celebrating all things RunTogether Canterbury. If you have received our round up before then you know the drill, grab a tea and enjoy. If you don’t want to receive my ramblings anymore, I believe there is an opportunity to unsubscribe although I’m not entirely sure how – if you want to and can’t just let me know and I will see if I can do it my end.
As we have made our way through September and October it really feels like a very tangible transition into the autumn season. As I sit here thinking about how to round up a splendid summer, I have a backing track of heavy rain and a view that would delight a waddling of ducks and yes that is just one of many lovely collective nouns for ducks walking on land – I know – cute! Anyway, I digress, lets dive straight into a roundup of all the best bits of summer, the start of autumn and a little sneak peak of what we have lined up over the next few months.
Welcome to no less than 24 new members to the group in the last 3 months alone. This reassures me that we are continuing to provide valuable and accessible running opportunities for local people to run socially. As the dark evenings approach these social run nights are even more important for safe running through winter so arm yourself with some high viz (more on that below) and let's face the winter months head on and maintain our fitness and friendships.
Congratulations to our newest Run Leader Tony on completing your Run Leader qualification with England Athletics and passing the dreaded video test. We are so glad to have you on the team to lead and to inspire as I know you will continue to do. Tony, for those who don’t know him, is our parkrun guru and the person who collects the back runners in races (me) and supports them with water and motivation to the finish line. Everyone needs a Tony in their corner!
Tony joins your Run Leader team, consisting of Hannah, Carolyn, Kerry (also a walk leader), Laura and I, so get to know us all if you are new to us, we are all equally lovely people and more than happy to help you. Check out our website homepage to learn a little more about your leadership team.
We are pleased to announce that we now have charitable status as an Unincorporated Association with a signed Constitution and an official group bank account with three signarories, myself, Kerry Laker (Secretary) and Sally Ritchie (Treasurer). This will allow us to apply for small grants and funding to pay for runners to become run leaders and continue to develop our group. Watch this space for group fundraisers and events in the future.
RunTogether Canterbury turned 3
Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate our 3rd Birthday a few months ago. This group started as a bit of a whimsical idea back during COVID and has turned into a fabulous group of like-minded individuals who share and care and it’s everything I wanted it to be. I look forward to celebrating many more Birthdays with you all in the future.
Summer picnic (by Laura)
We had our latest social on a sunny Sunday in September. New faces and old faces came together to have a picnic with well needed conversations about new jobs, parenthood and achievements in the workplace. Wonderful change of pace to just sit and enjoy the weather and company! Our next social will be our December end of year night out with dates and places tbc. It would be lovely to see as many of you there as possible to celebrate the year!
Run Successes
We had a record 9 RTC members take part in the Sporting Events UK Wingham Run this year. Going forward we want to make this our annual group event as the route is lovely and there are two distance options. If you haven’t run an event before it’s a great one to start your event running experience, so think about it for next year.
I would love to name everyone who has achieved in their chosen big races this summer but there are just too many and I would definitely miss someone out but well done to you all. Its been SO lovely to read about your successes on the #rtc-events-and-races channel on slack. On a personal note I just love reading about your runs and seeing your pictures – we have a very talented, brave and gutsy group of runners, joggers, jeffers and walkers in this group and that spirit is inspirational – keep it up everyone!
Upcoming Running/Walking Events
Keep your eye out for events and races that members of our community are sharing on the #rtc-events-and-races slack channel.
Halloween social run and drinks - Thursday 31st October at 6.15pm.
Following a poll it has been deemed that a Halloween run be led as part of our regular Thursday social run. Come along with something spooky whether thats a full costume or a nod to the Halloween theme but please do still ensure that you are visible to traffic and pedestrians.
Mental Elf – Festive Fun Run - Sunday 24th November at 10am.
A few are already booked to take part in a family friendly event called this year and we plan to make it our group festive event this year. It is a 5k and you can run, walk, skip, hop or jump round so don’t be put off by the distance or worry about the time. Fancy dress will be encouraged, and the course will be along the flat Chartham path so suitable for all your non running family members and friends to join in. Keep an eye on the slack channel for more details soon. Entry fees apply.
Andy’s Christmas Run Tour - Thursday 12th December at 6.30pm.
It's that time again and Andy is preparing to take us on another of his wonderfully informative and festive Christmas running tours of the City. The event is bookable and we are charging £6 to pay directly to Andy so please bring this in cash and hold it until after the run. Emily will collect it and hand it over to Andy on the night – so no IOUs please. We encourage you to wear a santa hat, Christmas jumper, festive adornments or lights but this isn’t mandatory. This event is open to RTC members, and we are inviting our friends at Whitstable Road Runners to join us too – there is no better time of year than Christmas to extend the hand of friendship to our fellow social run friends.
Run roundups
Monday Intervals (formally known as Speedplay) – managing run leaders Carolyn with Emily supporting
You may have seen that our Speedplay sessions paused over the Summer – this was for Carolyn and I to have a break and a reset. We are going to restart this imminently but need your feedback as it is a session which is not well attended. We are not sure if this is because of the day we hold it, the session itself, the locations, the mosquitos, or something else. We obviously want to make sure that you are getting sessions that benefit you and you are keen to attend so if you have ideas then let us know. Carolyn and I would love to hear your views so please share on the slack channel #rtc-intervals channel.
Tuesday run night – managing run leader Hannah (and Carolyn during school holidays) and run helper support
This social run is for the speedier runners amongst us (5.30 per km) who also like a longer distance (7 – 10k). Hannah is leading this herself during term time and is not able to provide regular sessions but keep an eye on the runs this week posts on social media and the app/website. As soon as she knows she is available she will list a bookable run and you’ll know by the Sunday before. This session has been as popular as ever for those who like to run a little further and faster so we will continue to provide it as much as possible. We are looking to train up another ‘quicker’ runner to assist in leading this in the near future. This session is not suited to beginners due to the increased pace and distance. If you have any questions join #rtc-tuesday-runners on slack.
Thursdays social run night – managing run leaders Emily, Hannah, Carolyn, Laura and Tony with run helper support
We have recently returned to our regular city loop runs now that trail runs in Blean are no longer an option in the dark. We have a variety of routes and will alternate these to keep things as fresh as possible, but these are our maintenance months so see this as your regular social night to catch up with friends and get that bit of bonus exercise into the bargain. High viz and lights will be mandatory again soon so see below for how to get your high viz tops and start scouting amazon for lights or dig out the charger for the set you have.
RTC Wanderers Walking Group – managing leader Kerry and walk helper Theresa
Our Wanderers walks will continue this month, through Autunm and into Winter. October's walk will take us to Stodmarsh Nature Reserve and a couple of stops in the bird hides as an added bonus. Kerry and Theresa will continue to list the walks as they are arranged so keep your eye out. Our walks are available to all including the runners amongst you and give you the opportunity to enjoy a change of pace and chat to those you maybe don’t get to talk to on runs. The walks always finish at a cafe or pub for tea, coffee, cake and you are invited to join us or not as you wish. Please note that our November walk won’t be bookable as we will be joining the rest of the RTC gang for the East Kent Mind Mental Elf event on Sunday 24th November. We encourage you to bring friends and family and don a santa hat or similar for added festive cheer! Entry fee applies.
Trailblazers – managing leader Hannah with run leader and run helper support
Hannah will continue to arrange these weekend 5 – 10 mile runs as and when her diary allows, they are popular with the distance runners amongst us and are, as with all our sessions, very social and treated as such with the pace staying slow and steady and allowing for plenty of photo opportunities. Again, they tend to finish at a pub for a drink and bowl of chips or similar and often include a trip on the bus or train at the beginning of end of the run.
parkrun – managing group helper Tony
We know that many of you are huge parkrun fans but there is no huger (?) fan than Tony. Tony is a parkrun tourist aficionado and if you have any parkrun questions, he is your man.
For those who are new to parkrun do get in touch with Tony on slack and he will talk you through registering. We try to join a local parkrun as a group at least once a month for a regular timed 5k opportunity. You can run it or walk it, it's completely free and the runs are held every Saturday morning nationwide. Tony lists the parkruns we are attending as a group on the website and app so take a look and come along.
As always to book a run or walk download and use the RunTogether Runner app or through the website.
Couch to 5k 2025
If you know anyone interested in joining our next Couch to 5k programme starting in January please do forward this link to them to book the block of sessions.
Canterbury 10 Water Station Volunteers - Sunday 26th January 2025 at 9am (ish)
Calling all members who are not running in next years Canterbury 10 mile run. As always, and in our efforts to give back to the local running community, we are hoping to gather enough volunteers, 20 ideally, to man the water stations along the event route. There are a number of you who have done this over the last couple of years and have really enjoyed it. If you are interested in knowing more with no commitment expected immediately, please join the #rtc-canterbury-10-volunteers slack group.
Mental Health Champions update from Kerry and Ginny
Our Mental Health Champions and RtC team hold a list of support services in our area, please contact us if you need support. You can also contact NHS 111 and select option 2 for Mental health support.
Annual volunteer committee meeting
We have recently held our first annual volunteer committee meeting combining our leadership team and what was the development team. Everyone is encouraged to join our annual meeting and voice any ideas or thoughts they might have for how we might improve this wonderful community we have created.
As a run group that it now looking forward to being able to apply for grants and funding as an unincorporated association (a small charity) we want to ensure that the runners have a ‘voice’ with regards to decisions we make. If you are interested in being part of that voice, please speak to Emily. Your commitment to this committee would include attending 1 meeting a year (possibly 2) and to be part of the private rtc-volunteer-committee channel to contribute your vote when we make decisions.
RunTogether Canterbury Kit
We have ceased using our kit supplier and have looked closer to home to provide you with a quicker service and of course support the local business. Our new supplier is called Print Matters who have recently moved to their new premises at Unit 9 City Business Park, Canterbury, CT1 1DX. They are preparing us a catalogue which I will share as soon as I have it but, in the meantime, if you want to order anything Chloe has all the details and will be happy to help you. 01227 765031
Fantastic fundraisers
Wendy Smith is running for the Stroke Association. She will be running the Marathon Eryri, Snowdonia on the 26th October. Find her fundraising page here.
Jessica Snell is running for Mind. She will be running the London Marathon 2025 whilst singing Karaoke. Find her fundraising page here.
If you would like your fundraiser shared here next time please let Emily know.
Runner information
Please do refresh yourself with the Runners information page on the website.
Google reviews please!
If you haven’t already, please review the group on google. It really helps others to get a better picture about what our group is about and whether it would suit them, so your opinions are valid and helpful. Thank you in advance!
https://g.page/r/CQAmgzD-y5SREAI/review
As always if you want to contact me, please do, via slack, WhatsApp or give me a call 😊
Emily 07770 479589