May Roundup 

This month is always going to be a special month as it sees us celebrating our group Birthday (and mine but that’s just a happy coincidence!).  We have been running as an official England Athletics RunTogether group for two years now and those two years have gone by in the blink of an eye.  My roundups will serve me well in years to come to remind me just how much we manage to cram in! 

Congratulations 

Huge congratulations to Ginny for completing her 25th parkrun this month. Well done Ginny, fantastic achievement! Bring on the next 25 parkruns! 

Congratulations also go out to the Runr Miles for Mind 2023 RunTogether Canterbury Team.  Emily, Tony, Steve, Ginny, Kerry, Jane, Lucy, Jin and Mandy pledged to run 555 miles in May but smashed this target, coming in 2nd place of all teams that entered the virtual event, by running a total of 682.22 miles!!!! Outstanding!!! and an extra high five to Steve who completed 147.86  of those miles - thats the same as running and walking to Redditch, south of Birmingham!  For each person that entered a tree was planted and 1%  of the profits from the event are donated to mental health charities... Watch this space for the October event, we'll enter again so you are welcome to join us!

Run updates 

How to cancel a run: You can do this simply via the RunTogether Runner app by clicking on My schedule (a diary icon) which will list any runs you have booked. Select the run you want to cancel and then click cancel session. I hope this helps. 

Thursday Run Night dates and Speedplay dates and locations are all on the RunTogether Runner app and the website and bookable in advance.  

RunTogether Canterbury Wanderers (walking group) 

Next Wanders walk is set for Sunday 25th June at 9.30 meeting at the Littlebourne War Memorial Car park.  We will set off on a walk of just over 5k .  The majority of the walk will be an indulgent rural trail leading us along a stretch of wetland, look out for a Heron, through Howletts zoo where you might be lucky enough to see some Red River Hog and Elephant, out into meadows, across a pear orchard and into some ancient woodland before returning to the cars and stopping at the Evenhill Pub for a cold drink and a snack if you fancy.   The route crosses a major road in two places and extra care should be taken. 

RunTogether Trailblazers (Long trail running group) 

Next Trailblazers run is set for Sunday 2nd July getting the Train from Canterbury West to Chilham and running back along a section of the Pilgrims Way to the Cathedral finishing with a pint in The Shakespeare Pub. 

Polite request: As always our group is growing so please be patient whilst your Run Leaders safely organise the runs before setting off.

Upcoming Events 

Have a look below at just a few of the upcoming events some of us are running and if you fancy joining us please do come along.  Join our #rtc-events-and-races channel on slack for info, questions, lift arrangements and to see who else is going. Bookable on the RunTogether Runner app or website.

Global Running Day Food Bank Run, Wednesday 7th June, 19.15, Gorrell Tank Car Park 

Join us for this wonderful collaborative event.  We will be joining Whitstable Road Runners as well as other local runners and walkers in the area to run and walk to the local foodbank with our donations.  A few people are coming from Canterbury so lifts will be available and there is still time to donate just contact Emily to arrange.

Bubble Rush, Maidstone, Sunday 11th June at 12.00pm (Wave 3)  

Spaces still available at time of writing – Emily and family and Laura are already booked! 

The website tells us ‘Bubble Rush is a fun run with a difference – it features lots of coloured bubbles!  The course starts in a sea of bubbles and features four Bubble Stations along the route where our cannons pump out coloured foam to create a 4ft deep bubble bath. Every course is family friendly, so you can run, jog, walk, dance or toddle through the foam. Pushchairs and wheelchairs are more than welcome!  The events are not timed, so you’re not racing anyone – the most important thing is that you enjoy your time in the bubbles and finish with a big smile on your face! Bubblers do it for fun with friends and children – and everyone gets a medal at the end!’ 

Bring your family along for this one, it’s going to be a fun family affair and we’ll very likely stay and have a picnic afterwards if the weather is nice. 

https://bubble-rush.com/maidstone-bubble-rush-2023/ 

Great South Run (GSR) 10 mile, Portsmouth, Sunday 15th October at 10.00am (meet the gang at 8.45am) 

The website tells us ‘The Great South Run is probably the world’s favourite 10-miler, with inspiring history, salty air and glorious sea views guaranteed. Portsmouth’s supporters will keep your spirits and motivation up the whole way round, with blaring music, cheers, high fives, fist bumps all part of the incredible Great South Run experience. Plus, there’s a medal, exclusive finisher t-shirt and bragging rights at the finish line. There’s a reason 99% of runners say they’d recommend it to a friend – lots of reasons, in fact.’ 

I would recommend that you find somewhere to stay the night before down there.  Those who have entered to run already are booked into the Holiday Inn, Portsmouth North. 

Great South Run | 15 October 2023 | Great Run 

If you are looking to enter an event do let us know about it – the local ones tend to be quite popular, and having the chance to have a running buddy, meeting up before and after and grabbing a post run coffee and cake is a big motivator for those who appreciate a bit of support and encouragement. 

parkrun news

Next parkrun is the Deal and Walmer parkrun on Saturday 10th June meeting at 8.30 near to the start.  CT14 7HE.  Join the #rtc-parkrunners channel for any parkrun related updates and chat.  Book on the app or website if you are joining us (you might need to extend your search area on the app for the this run to be shown). 

If you haven’t run a parkrun they are very low key and uncompetitive weekly runs all over the world and held in towns and cities across the UK on a Saturday morning at 9am.  If you want a run buddy someone from the group is usually available to run with you so please just ask.  You’ll need to register and have a barcode to have your run recorded.  You can do this at parkrun.org.uk but it’s not compulsory and if you just want to come along to see what it’s all about and join a run before deciding to register, you are welcome to do this too. 

Parkrun takeover 

Please join the #rtc-parkrun-takover if you would like to support RTC taking over Canterbury parkrun for a one off week occasionally.  parkrun take overs are 'a thing' where local running groups support their local parkrun occasionally by taking all the non-professional voluntary roles.  We are building a great relationship with our local parkrun in Canterbury and its important to give back so join the slack group #rtc-parkrun-takeover to find out more. Date potentially 2nd September but this is to be confirmed.  

Parkrun for the NHS 75 

To celebrate the NHS’ 75th anniversary parkrun will play host to celebration runs up and down the country. As one of many NHS employees in our group we are proud to be leading, supporting and taking park in the parkrun in Canterbury on Saturday 8th July. We are inviting as many of you as possible to join us for this celebratory event either by running, walking or volunteering as a marshall.

parkun say ‘parkrun for the NHS’ is an opportunity for parkruns and their local communities to acknowledge the huge contribution that the NHS makes to the health of the nation and celebrate all the staff and volunteers, past and present, who have made the NHS what it is.’

Join the rtc-parkrun-for-the-nhs slack group for updates. 

Mental Health Champion News , by Kerry, Mental Health Champion 

This month has seen RunTogether Canterbury supporting Mental Health Awareness week, which this year the theme has been anxiety. 

The Mental Health Foundation tell us “Anxiety is a natural human response to stress or perceived danger. It’s a feeling of unease, worry, or apprehension that can be caused by anything from a big event or major change to something as simple as a work presentation or meeting new people. In fact, anxiety is part of the body’s natural ‘fight or flight’ response that helps us react quickly to potential threats”. 

For Mental Health Awareness week, we went ‘Green in Blean’, where our amazing runners ran in the woods at Blean dressed in something green, raising awareness of mental health and anxiety.   

We really enjoy getting the opportunity to operate as a #runandtalk group and feel proud to get involved raising awareness and reducing the stigma around mental health.  If you would like to get involved in future events, let us know. 

For mental health support information please check out the Mental Health tab on our website. 

Developers group 

The developer’s group is a team of people who would like to be involved in the development of RunTogether Canterbury. The more brains behind the groups’ development the better so I am grateful to anyone who can support us.  Join the #rtc-development group if you would like to know more.  Anyone with experience of running a business/charity would be really useful. 

We are planning to hold a meeting on Tuesday 13th June at 7pm at the Old City Bar for anyone who would like to come along for an informal chat.  

2nd Birthday celebrations 

Thank you to everyone who came along to the pub to celebrate our 2nd Birthday, it was really lovely to celebrate this milestone with you. The gift was extremely kind, and I can’t wait to enjoy my catch up with Liat whilst being spoilt! I’m really looking forward to seeing what the next year brings!  

RunTogether Canterbury Kit 

Our online kit shop is coming together nicely thanks to MySportsandMore. 

Please do double check the sizing for every item you are thinking of buying as large in ladies is not the same as large in unisex. Please make sure you read the returns policy before ordering.  Click this link for the website, in the menu select ‘Team kits’ and scroll down to ‘RunTogether Canterbury’ to peruse our new kit selection https://mysportsandmore.com/.  A number of us have bought kit so we’re happy to recommend you if you aren’t sure about kit/sizing etc. 

A couple of people have asked about customising their kit with their names – I am more than happy for you to do this, You can probably either contact the company at the time of production or take your already delivered item into a local print firm in Canterbury to get it printed with your name, nickname, initials of whatever else you fancy. 

Runner information 

Please do refresh yourself with the Runners information page on the website. It is constantly being updated so it’s useful to familiarise yourself with it now and again. 

https://clubspark.englandathletics.org/RunTogetherCanterbury/RunnerInfo 

Google reviews please! 

If you haven’t already, please review the group on google when you have a few minutes.  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