Leighton Fun Runners

LEIGHTON FUN RUNNERS

WELCOME Last Updated: 11 December 2009

A warm welcome to all our readers and supporters. This section will introduce you to many aspects of the Leighton Fun Runners.

To contact us, please send us an e-mail (goes to the club captain) by choosing the Contact Us menu item; alternatively you can phone the club captain or the club chairman - phone numbers are on the committee page.

Table of Contents
1. Club Aims
2. Club Nights
3. Membership Details
4. Running Events
5. Social Events
6. Communications

1. Club Aims

Leighton Fun Runners running club exists for anyone who enjoys running, and who would like to run with like-minded people in the Leighton Buzzard area. All standards are welcome, from the experienced club athlete to the absolute beginner. The emphasis is on enjoyment and participation rather than compulsion and competitiveness. We have members who attend regularly every week, and others who turn up once in a while. However often anyone runs with us, we always try to ensure that they have someone to run with. No one gets left behind! We have a set of club rules that summarises our aims.

2. Club Nights

We meet at the Cricket Club, Bell Close at 7:00pm on Tuesday evenings and 6:45 on Thursday evenings. Tuesday sessions: After club notices and a short warm-up session, members go off in groups around pre-defined courses - usually a variety of distances are offered, typically 3.5m, 5m and 6.5m. A 2-month diary of runs is available on both the web site and the club notice board. Once a month, paced training groups are organised - from fast to steady. The format for Tuesday nights may vary.

Thursday sessions: At present, two sessions are planned, one for beginners and a fitness training session. The fitness training varies and may be hill work, speed work or more varied runs. From January to April, the fitness training sessions are geared to help those training for a Spring marathon. On request we put people in touch with others who do long runs at weekends.

3. Membership Details

Membership fees are remarkably good value at £25.00 per annum or £12.50 for student membership (get your membership form here); if you also wish to register for England Athletic permitted races, an additional payment of £5.00 is required. Social membership is £5.00 per year, enabling non-running partners and friends to participate in club events. We offer a special cross country membership fee of £10.00 for those who do not join as full members and are unable to attend on Tuesday nights . (Note that the normal cross country race fees still apply to all). By joining the club, you are entitled to discount entry fees in organised races, 10% discount on running shoes from local sports shops and you can buy running kit (with and without club logos) at special prices. Wearing club kit is a great way to promote the club and help other supporters identify you and cheer you on. Membership also enables entry into a raffle for London marathon places - check the London marathon page for more details.
We have a thriving committee, who meet regularly at committee meetings to organise club events and pursue any ideas or issues raised by the members. Committee members are elected at the Annual General Meeting (usually in April) and any member can put themselves forward for one of the committee roles. We have a youth protection policy and we encourage our young members to improve their running in a friendly and safe environment. We provide coaching to all members on request (in an informal and relaxed way from a qualified coach) and for safety purposes, we have members qualified in First Aid.

4. Running Events

We organise a number of events during the year including:

(A) The Memorial 10km (September) - our charity event, raising money for the club charity in memory of former members.
(B) Club 5 and 10 mile handicaps (December/January) - Handicap races where everyone has their own individual start time and (in theory) finishes at the same time as others.
(C) Bike/run duathlon (July) - a 5m race followed by a 10.8 m bike ride, drinks in the pub afterwards. Anyone can enter either or both events, and 2 person teams are also allowed.
(D) The Leighton Fun Runners Championship - based on handicaps, points are accumulated around finishing positions in a number of local events (organised by other clubs) held throughout the year. The beauty of this championship is that you compete against yourself with targets based on your age and recent performances (last 2 years) - now with a "short", "long" and newcomers competitions.

We participate in other events:

(E) The Bedfordshire Cross Country League (Oct - Feb); we host one of the races in most years. This league comprises 5 races and is very much a team effort requiring a minimum of 10 runners per team (7 men and 3 women minimum). Club vests and club membership are essential for entering into the races.
(F) For many people the focus of the year is the London Marathon, in which a number of Leighton Fun Runners participate. Special coaching schedules are available and local training routes are offered. A team bus is organised for the event.

5. Social Events

We run an active social side to the club, with different trips organised throughout the year for both running and social members. These include trips to local breweries, eating houses, bowling and athletic meetings. In addition, we usually organise an annual club trip as a mini (2 or 3 day) holiday break, and endeavour to include a race during the break. All information on social events are available from the menu item Club Events

6. Communications

We use several communications means, including this welcome pack, the web site www.leightonfunrunners.org.uk and a seasonal newsletter (take a look at the home page for the latest edition). Our press officer makes sure all results - and pictures - appear in the local press. Pictures also appear on a web site - http://leightonfunrunners.snapfish.co.uk/snapfishuk/otsc=SYE/otsi=CRI
Register as a user and enter the room code (available by e-mail). Read the club flyer for adults and juniors

The web site is regularly updated with a current news page, containing the latest on races and what's been happening to our members. Club events are documented, often with pictures and lurid stories. Race Fixtures and Results contains information on races within Herts, Beds and Bucks which are club events or which are at least 5 k or longer.

The web site has a contact e-mail and any member can be added to the distribution list for outbound e-mails. In addition, the web site contains some useful links to other local running clubs and a list of physiotherapists used by club members.

Any questions, just contact the club captain - either use the menu item Contact Us above to send us an e-mail or check the contact information on the committee page for the latest telephone numbers of the club captain and chairman.