Festive Green Army blog greetings……….
Club Talk – 20/12/23
Wednesday saw an impressive turnout for the festive runs. Following the runs in the Sports Club the mince pies, sausage rolls and homemade festive treats were out in force alongside massed club members. Everyone came down to listen to Male Club Captain & Vice Captain Mike Fryer & Ben Tumilty give a very informative and enjoyable talk. Broadly speaking, Mike & Ben focused on our successes as a club in 2023 competitions and looked forward into the 2024 competitive calendar (including new Club Standards & Parkrun Handicap – to name two). Rather than me boring you with a blow by blow account, the link to the slide deck is below for everyone to access – it’s a great reference! Get populating those 2024 calendars with club race dates. There is also a link to the Race Results website which is another great tool to see what races are happening.
Lots of questions and comments were made by an engaged membership, a sample included:
- How do we know what races to prioritise with the calendar being so packed? Generally speaking HRC would like to see the races which are part of the leagues & competitions the club pay to enter and are free to run in for you to be the priority – Borders League, 2x XC Leagues & Northern relay competitions. Of course the races selected for the Road, Fell & Trail Club Championship are high on the list too.
- A shared access online club calendar would be a great tool to visualise when events are happening. Superb idea which the club will look into how best to implement!
- It’d be great to see Fellsby vs. Helsby return to help further cross populate the club road and fell communities and add a little friendly competition. Another great idea which wouldn’t require any further races to be added to the calendar.
A big thank you to Mike & Ben for putting this on.
December Race Highlights
Finally a quick recap on Green Army showings in two important December club races. 02/12/23 saw Wrexham AC host race 3 of the Borders League. Wrexham Industrial Estate was a tropical oasis filled with strong green vested performances. After race 3 the men’s & women’s teams sit 2nd and 5th respectively in Division 1 as we continue to punch above our weight (given our club size). Vets teams sit 5th (women) & 6th (men).
An incredible 346 racers headed to Arrowe Park on 17/12/23 for milder, yet ALOT muddier 4.85 mile race conditions for race 3 of the North West Sunday Cross Country League. Again there were some excellent individual performances from Green Army members. Each and every runner makes a difference to club’s league standing and after 3 races the women’s team are showing the men how it’s done sitting 6th of 31 clubs, with the men not far behind in 11th of 32.
Both competition’s scoring systems are designed in a way that every single club finisher (counter) makes a difference to the overall club’s race result, and in turn league position. Both are completely free to enter for you – just turn up with your HRC vest and race! Looking forward into 2024 the next fixtures are 14/01/24 just up the road at Runcorn Town Park (NWSCC race 4) & 28/01/24 (Borders League race 4) hosted by Pensby RC – venue TBC. See you on the start line!
Drop the blog team any race reports or suggestions on what you want us to blog about in 2024 to helsbyracereports@gmail.com
Best of luck to club members racing Around The Walls on Boxing Day in Chester and Ribble Valley 10k (North of England 10k Road Championships) in Clitheroe on NYE!
On behalf of the blog team and HRC we wish you a wonderful & merry Christmas and a happy New Year!