📰 October News📰 

On 4th October the Club held its 9th AGM (with us all realising that next year is the big -1-0-!!). on behalf of the committee, thank you to everyone who attended and shared your thoughts and views on how we can continue to grow TRC and make us even bigger and better! At the meeting we voted in Patty as our new Club Secretary and also welcomed Tony, Sarah2 (and later Simon) all as new committee members. As well as discussing the upcoming Santa Dash and Christmas party, we also discussed new kit ideas, collaborations and additions to our running schedule.

On 9th October we held our next #runandtalk as part of England Athletics (EA) national incentive for World Mental Health Day 2025. Over 15 club members came for a natter, with an even split between runners and walkers, followed by a social at Dial Arch Pub afterwards. Our love of including a walking group to help those who were injured, or not able to run at the moment, was recognised by EA and TRC got a shout out on their Socials! This event was organised by Gemma as part of her no longer leading Thursday runs anymore due to relocating. Thursday Intervals have now been taken over by Ana 😊.

In parkrun news, Will was on a mission to continue to check off parkrun challenges. He completed Old McDonald challenge with running Ilfield Mill Pond and ticked off 2 more ‘S’ for the Snakes challenge by running South Norwood and South Woodham Ferrers. He is also just one more parkrun away from achieving Complete Kent++… will we see it all concluded in November? Watch this space!

The rest of TRC continued their parkrun tourism too with Liam to Worthing; Kevin to Bug Hunt Waters; Rachel and Christos to Avery Hill; Yat to Dartford and Urheilupuisto (Finland); Gemma and Alex to Beckton; Sarah and Tony to Victoria Docks; and Debbie to Hillsborough.

Lastly, on 26th October, TRC was invited to an exclusive event to trial a new parkrun due to open in the very near future thanks to Jen’s connections with Charlton parkrun. It is to be called ‘Greenwich Peninsula’ and will be along the Thames Path by the o2. TRC was well represented, as usual, with about 15 runners and walkers attending. Though it didn’t count as an official parkrun credit, Gemma included it as bonus points in this autumn’s 5K/parkrun challenge.

🍂 Autumn Challenge🍂

At TRC we normally have a monthly friendly challenge for members to take part in. However, this time Gemma has set an autumn challenge to get us through to 1st December. It encompasses 3 mini challenges to help everyone get involved. She’s crunched the stats for October and for month 2 the leaderboard is as follows:

CHALLENGE 1: For best improved 5K time...

1st - Rachel with 9.63%  improvement

2nd – Sarah2 with 8.03%

3rd – Will with 6.39%

CHALLENGE 2: For most parkruns ran/walked...

1st - Yat with 10

2nd - Will with 9

3rd - Christos with 7

CHALLENGE 3: For the most volunteers at parkruns…

Joint 1st - Yat and Christos with 4 each

Joint 2nd - Gemma, Kevin and Kerry with 3 each

Keep adding each month and we will update you again at the end of November... remember there is the little extra incentive of a prize for first place at the end of the challenge INCLUDING one Runthrough race voucher up for grabs! 🎉

NB: Please do not edit the Leaderboard tab, this is for working outs each month only 😊

‼ Dates for your diary ‼

🎉 Our Christmas Party has been booked 30th November at Unity Bar, Sports Club Thamesmead. Join us for a relaxed evening with good food, great company and plenty of holiday cheer! This year the committee has agreed that the Club will subsidise this event as a ‘thank you’ to all of our members. Therefore, tickets will only cost £5 per person, with friends and family also welcome.

🗓  Our annual Santa Dash 5K is on Sunday 21st December at 10am. Join us for a 5K run or walk along the Thames Path dressed as Santa followed by a post-run social at Bouldr Bar. Bouldr Bar are supporting our fundraiser, including offering every participant a FREE drink. This event is all in aid of raising money for Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice. This is a tradition that Dave started a few years ago and something our club is committed to continuing in his memory. To enter, just donate £10, which includes a free Santa outfit; find out more at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/thamesmead-running-club?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL or email Sarah on thamesmeadrunningclub@gmail.com.

🏃‍**Save the Date** - Our annual club race for 2026 will be 29th March. More information to follow shortly; if you would like to get involved with organising the race or would like to volunteer on the day please speak with Yat or Patty.

🎉 October things to celebrate🎉

Danny completed the Great Scottish Run 🏅

Patty ran the Kent Half Marathon 🏅

Simon completed Chester Marathon🏅

Both Liam and Christos achieved a PB at Runthrough Battersea; Liam PB’d 5K whilst Christos PB’d his 10K 🎉

TRC was well represented at the Royal Parks Half Marathon. A special mention to Ashley for completing his first half marathon, Deniz for achieving a Half Marathon PB and to Cassie who comeback from injury and completed the race, mostly, pain-free 🏅

Jen was RD at Charlton parkrun’s 4th birthday 🎉

Patty and Andrew completed the Joyden Woods 5-mile race, with Patty achieving a course PB 🎉

Deb achieved a 5K PB 🎉

Rhiannon ran her first 10K race (despite already completing several Halfs) at Greenwich Park 🏅

Emma, Christos, Sarah2, Richard, Tony, Yat, Shelley, Deb and Deniz celebrated Sarah2’s birthday with a Runthrough Halloween special on 29th October 🏅

Aoibheann and Ana completed the Porto 10K 🏅

Andrew, Patty and Tony completed the 21K Box Hill trail race 🏅

Sarah2, Katherine (who doesn’t need a 2 as OG Kathryn is spelt differently😉), Tony and Jean completed the 5K Slow Horses race 🏅

The club was represented in Finland this month 🌍

🏅It’s Another Marathon Special Edition… 🏅

With many TRC members taking on the marathon distance for the first time this year, I made the decision early on it cannot be a determinant of Runner of the Month. This is partly to ensure no-one’s achievement of completing a marathon is prioritised over another. It’s also to recognise that we don’t have to run marathons in order to achieve in running.

That all said, a very special mention goes to Patty for completing her first ever marathon this month at RumBelieveable’s Backyard race FOLLOWED BY a half marathon there the following day. Patty has been adapting her training this year to support her overall wellbeing as a woman, something she is very passionate (and knowledgeable) about. It makes this marathon even more of an achievement as she achieves a balance between completing the 42.2KM whilst supporting her overall health. Well done Patty! 🎉

⭐️Runner of the Month ⭐️

The club could not function without its community. Whilst we have our formal volunteer roles and committee members, sometimes we need extra support from club members. Runner of the Month this month, therefore, goes to Rebecca for supporting Debbie at the Beginners Group. With both Lola and Caroline not available, Debbie was left with needing an additional experienced runner to help lead the session. Rebecca stepped up to the mark and gave up her Saturday morning to help lead the group. Have we got another Run Leader in the making? Well done Rebecca, and thank you 👏