This is the week that was…… Trail Races & Ultras

This is the week that was... Trail Races & Ultras After last week’s successful races in St Albans and at the Greensands Ultra, you guys got your race trainers on again this week and there were, as usual, some great performances. Kicking the week off were Wayne Walker and Lynda Peacock who raced the Cattle Creep 10k in Milton Keynes. This appeared to be a warm up for a bigger (and much longer) event over the weekend! On Sunday Andy Griggs donned his “GRIGGSY'' LFR top and ran the Eastbourne 10k in a very respectable 52mins41, well done Andy! Moving a little closer to home (just) were Mike Garner and James Bassil who ran the Hoppit Half trail Marathon in Basingstoke. James ran the race in 2hr03 and Eddy 2hr28. There were reports of mountain size hills on the course! I’m not sure if ‘Bleeding Nipples’ are classed as an injury but this is the second reporting in two weeks. Gents, we need to talk about compression tops or other preventative measures!!! Representing the ladies at this event was Jo Secker who took on the full marathon... I think this is Jo’s 3rd weekend in a row of over 20 mile races!!! Way to go Jo!   The LFR Ultra runners were out again in force over the weekend with Tasmyn Simpkins, Wayne Walker and Lynda Peacock taking part in the MK24 Event. An event where you run a set distance or as far as you can over the 24 hour period. Tasmyn and Lynda both ran 50km or 31 miles. A huge achievement from both of you! This was Tasmyn's longest run to date. At the same event, Wayne did something quite remarkable and ran an impressive 69 miles in the 24 hour period. For those modernists amongst you, that’s 111 kilometres. I’m not sure what you eat for breakfast Wayne, but I want whatever you’re on! I hope you are all blister and injury free... More ultra runners were out a little further afield with Anne Mason, Emma Davis, Lesley Wes and Niki Casey all completing the 53 mile Ultra “Race to the King”, which takes in the glorious South Downs Way from Goodwood in Sussex down to the magnificent Winchester Cathedral. Well done guys! This sounds like an awesome event and one that might just be on others race list for next year now. Finally, in Nottinghamshire, Mark Kleanthous completed the Holme Pierrpont, half distance triathlon at an Outlaw event. That's a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile cycle followed up with a Half Marathon, well done Mark!    

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This is the week that was…… The St. Albans Half & an Ultra!!!

This is the week that was........ The St. Albans Half & An Ultra! As we continue to be blessed with this lovely weather, Nolan Johnson maintained his recovery programme with an easy run along Southend Pier. As the world's longest pier at 1.33 miles, I wonder if it has its own Strava segment? Hopefully we’ll be seeing you soon on club runs Nolan!  With the MK Marathon weekend and Greensands relay race just two weeks away, training runs continued at a pace, with many of you out very early over the weekend to try and avoid the sapping heat.  13 seemed to be the magic number... Chris Stenner completed a 13 mile run as he finished his training plan from Coach Annis for MK Half, and VC Andy and Coach Matt also ran 13 miles as they continued to taper for the MK Marathon. Scott and Adam were again seen out on the roads and trails around Dunstable Downs, bagging another 13 miles with both now ready for MK and Adam will continue with his long term training for London in October.  GSRR team members have been busy on their recce runs.  On Saturday Sam Heady and Michelle Evans-Riches had a lot of fun in the sun as they ran Leg 5, and Richard checked out leg 2 again for a second time. On Sunday, Kirsty Stocks and Jo Hogg ran Leg 1 (then turned around and ran back again for a 10 mile total), whilst Ash Henley and Phil Brogan met up at Deadman’s Cross and ran Leg 6. This I believe just leaves Mike Clarke and I to recce Leg 3, which happens to be longest leg (9 miles), Woburn to Millbrook. The two teams  will then be all prepared and ready to represent LFR on the day!    Anne Graff ran 11 miles around Leighton Buzzard getting to try out the newly repaired bridge around the back of Astral, whilst Graham Cooper ran 11 miles taking in all the climbs of the town! Kevin Hare completed his monthly half marathon and out in the villages Tom Ellerton partnered up with Richard Heady for 14 miles, but Richard then rounded it up to 20 miles! Two of our long serving members who have moved out of the area raced at the weekend. Katy Garnham Lee finished her 52nd Marathon The Enigma Guitar Heroes in MK and Paul Little took part in the Nene Valley 20, all in his continued preparation for The Lakeland 100 in July.  Sunday came and so did the St. Albans Half Marathon Will Langdon celebrating a new half marathon PB at 1hr37,  huge congratulations Will! Though for his efforts he was rewarded with a bleeding nip! Ouch!! Will wasn't the only LFR there; Eddy Guinness completed the event in 2hr09 with William Harry just a minute behind at 2hr10. All 3 are running MK Half in 2 weeks time and are probably hoping for cooler weather on race day! Suki Joy was also there and finished in 2hr46; Well done Suki, you are well on your way to London now!    Greensands Country 50km Trail Ultra Marathon also took place on Sunday. Alena Fielding completed her first Ultra in a brilliant 7 hours and 27 minutes. Jo Secker was also there finishing the course in a very respectable 8 hours and 14 minutes. An incredible achievement from both of you, especially in this heat!

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This is the week that was…… The Watchless 5!!!

This is the week that was........ The Watchless 5!!! Considering the weather had been so awful, it was great to see so many of you still commit to the club runs. Once again the trail runs are the popular choice, with the new favourite being the Heady Farm run, they missed the rain but splashed through waterlogged fields for 5 miles! On Gavin’s midweek run around the quarry we were fortunate to have glorious rare sunshine and on Thursday Dougie stood in for Andy Heale and took his group across the fields to Wing. On Friday we had two runs going out with Captain Emily treating her gang to a new route around Totternhoe with great views, while Vicky Green took a second group out around the quarry. On Saturday's run Michelle entertained her group to trails with emus and wallabies! Thank you to all our run leaders who give up their time every week to make these great runs possible! As we got to the weekend it would appear that some of you have managed to get away for a break, pack your running kit and find some sunshine. In the picture perfect setting of Croyde, Devon, Nicola Daley shared with us a beautiful view of her well earned post run cocktail and Alex Nixon ran 10 very hilly kilometres along the Jurassic Coast. Keeping runs closer to home Coach Matt was back on the long runs with 19 miles in cracking  2:26. Elle Laird volunteered at the local junior parkrun with a run there and back making it a 14 mile Sunday. In the villages, Tom Ellerton, Paul House and Richard Heady teamed up and completed a trail run of 14.5 miles.  In Peterborough, Wayne Walker completed marathon number 79….. and proudly ran it in our LFR colours, well done Wayne! Congratulations to Lynda Peacock who completed the same marathon in Peterborough. How many is that for you Lynda?!     Now the main event... The Watchless 5 Finally, after over a year we were able to host an internal event for you guys! All the prepping and planning went according to plan, the volunteers came forward, entries were received, cakes were baked, the rain stayed away and then the clock started to tick! 31 of you turned up on Sunday morning to run the new out & back 5 mile quarry route, it was said to be testing, nicely undulating, a few kissing gates to contend with and even the odd LBAC runner on the same path! Our wonderful Marshalls cheered you on, snapped photos and took some fun videos, Steve Molyneaux gave us all a cheeky flash and as far as the reports came through I believe everyone stayed upright!! In true LFR style we had a great selection of members taking part from our fabulous social runners to our equally fabulous faster runners, and everyone in between! Our team was described as a snake of red and black as they weaved their way around the course. Kevin Hare missed his start time, and had to run the race of his life to get close to 11am, and to give him credit he was super quick in an attempt to make up for lost time, the wooden spoon most definitely went to Paul Thomas who came in 6 min 38 sec too fast! That was incredibly impressive though! William Langdon estimated an optimistically fast time for the tricky route, yet went ahead and ran it even faster! A big shout out to Jenny Hogan who completed the 5 miles, saying it was the furthest she'd ran in a very long time! 3rd place came in the form of Nicki Atkinson who was only 15 seconds slow, Clare Kleanthous came is 2nd place at just 12 seconds too slow. 1st place went to one of our newest members, Tom Webster who was just 8 seconds too fast! Well done Tom! As we looked through the photos yesterday the one thing that was consistent through out all of you was your super big smiles! Everyone said how happy they were to be at a club event once again after so long, surrounded by running buddies doing what we all love. Thank you to everyone!    

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Important Update on EA & Government Guidance 17th May 2021

Important Update on EA & Government guidance 17th May 2021 Dear All, As you are no doubt aware, the Governments Roadmap to easing lockdown restrictions takes affect from today, Monday 17th May. Detailed below is how it will effect us as a club, and you as our members. As we move into Step 3 of the roadmap, and having reviewed and considered the guidelines we are introducing the following changes to LFR club runs: Photographs before / after runs can now feature up to 30 people, although social distancing guidelines remain. The standard group size will be increased from 1 Run leader to 12 runners. Larger groups will be permitted providing there is also a designated tail runner and it is reasonable to do so. E.g., trail runs & social groups: The maximum being 1 Run Leader, 1 Tail runner and 24 runners. For this coming week, there will be no change to what has been organised, although of course you can have photos with larger groups. The club documentation on the website will be updated to reflect these changes. For clarity the following guidance remains in place: Run leaders should avoid busy areas, narrow alleyways and the towpath and give way to other pedestrians. The booking system will remain in place, and runs must be booked in advance, this is to comply with our Track & Trace obligations. You must follow Government & NHS guidance regarding hygiene and social distancing. Avoid socialising before and after the session. Do not run if you have symptoms or are isolating. Notify the Covid-Coordinators if you test positive following a run. We appreciate you may think that the group sizes could be larger under the new rules, so we have set out the rationale below: EA Guidance on Run Leaders to runners is 1:12, this is regardless of Covid considerations and therefore should be a normal group size. Larger groups, whilst technically allowed, may still seem intimidating and we do not want to tarnish the clubs reputation so will limit these to where it seems reasonable and still apply the EA ratios. Most of our runs are still based around town and 12 seems a reasonable manageable group size. If you have any concerns please feel free to contact Myself chairman@leightonfunrunners.org.uk Emily captain@leightonfunrunners.org.uk Or Andy Stocks & Dougie LFRcovidcoordinators@leightonfunrunners.org.uk I thank you all for your continued support as we move to the next stage of the road map. Stay safe and happy running! Andy Heale LFR Chairman

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This is the week that was… A Flurry of Races!!!

What You Did Last Week... Another great week’s running from Team LFR started on Tuesday with Jo Hogg reaching 400 miles on her Virtual Lands End to John O’Groats challenge, which puts her at Blackpool. A great effort Jo in just 4 months! Other LFRs doing the challenge include Lee Garnell, 300 miles last week and Kirsty Stocks now over 350 miles…. we'd love to know who else is taking part in this challenge and how you're doing?  Tuesday club night had loads of full runs once again, Wednesday and Thursday evenings were pretty busy too! Once again I have to thank the run leaders for their generous time in making it happen. While the evenings are certainly a lot lighter, I did note Captain Emily’s comments on one post where most of the runners were dressed in black. Please be sensible with choice of tops, and make it easier for road users to see you when out on the streets. Friday came and JK and Peter Jones took 2 full groups to the trails at Rushmere, as is customary, Kirsty Stocks supplied fresh cake (homemade malt loaf this week) and Peter laid on a fine spread! I really must take a day off work on a Friday, even just for the refreshments! Since we've been back running over the last month we have had 88 run leads and 536 run places taken! Virtual Racing and Actual Races! With this weekend being the original date for the MK Marathon weekend it was great to see some of you complete the event virtually. Well done Julie Etherden who completed the virtual Rocket in a “hungover” 26 minutes and a big shout out to Kevin Hare who completed the virtual Marathon, which included Dunstable Downs on the route in a very respectable 3 hours and 48 minutes. Super running Kevin! James William complete the Virtual Half in just over 2 hours with help from his running buddy Alena Fielding. Another excellent effort for your first half marathon, well done both.  It’s been great to see so many of you participate in real events as well over the past week. Wayne Walker completed marathon number 78 at the Salcey Forest, Spring 6 hour challenge while Lynda Peacock completed the 20 mile route at the same event.  Running buddies Lesley Wes Barnard and Emma Davis ticked off another marathon each, this time the Saxons, Vikings and Normans marathon in the Denby Hills, another great effort.  On Saturday, myself (Ian Bisby) and Mark Kleanthos both competed at the Ashridge Duathlon, which consisted of a 10km run, 40km bike and then another run at 5km! We both put in impressive times and had a great time. I had an interesting chat with Glyn Raymen in the week, who’s spent the past 3 years walking the “Wainwrights”,  there are 214 fell tops to conquer including Scafell Pike at 3209 ft. Glyn has completed over 270 Marathons and Ultras and wanted to do something different.  It sounds like you’ve had a great adventure, I look forward to seeing what’s next!  Back on The Training Runs Back on the training runs Gavin completed 18 miles which included negotiating the Eddlesborough ford. Matthew Ma ran another impressive 20 miles in preparation for some extreme distance events he’s planning later in the year… including the Conti 24 hour race - SOLO! Another of our Ultra runners Paul Little put in a 15 mile training run as he prepares for his first attempt at the Lakeland 100, which takes place over the last weekend in July.  To finish this week’s update, a HUGE LFR well done to Amanda Godden, Linda Rotich and Jo Green who, after weeks of training and increasing their distances,  have achieved their goal of running 10k. 

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This is the week that was… Sun & XC!!!

What You Did Last Week... Our third week of club runs went off a treat, greatly helped by the increase in group sizes allowing more members to join the runs they want! It’s great to see our newest members getting stuck in on club runs and being made to feel involved from the off. We had a great selection of pace groups last week but also some step up groups too! JK once again led his popular Fartlek session on Tuesday; he’s putting to good use the knowledge he’s gained during his training for his LiFR qualification. On Thursday, Chairman Andy led a Caterpillar session around Harrow Road. Both sessions give variety to pace groups and are a great way to mix up your training providing some speed-work. They are suitable for all, so why not give them a go the next time they’re on? Saturday brought XC & Coaching Coach Matt took 5 members to Mentmore Road behind Tiddenfoot to work on some hill techniques and hill reps. It looked as if all were still smiling by the end! Matt’s coaching sessions are selling out super quick each week, which is great to see! Next week they’ll be back on the track of dreams at Astral Park. Talking of the Track of Dreams it was great to see new members Bob Nichol and Jenny Hogan include a lap of the track on their Saturday 5km run! Our 3 XC runners; Ian Bisby, Will Langdon and Paul Thomas had a blast on the final round of XC put on by Active Training World at Merchant Taylor School. They were blessed with sun, warmth and little mud. It’s been a great mini series in the absence of our club league XC that we normally compete in. I hope Active Training World puts on the same series at the end of this year. Sunny Sunday Sunny Sunday came and so did loads of super runs! Sally took a small but fun group out on a 10 mile trail run loop from Eaton Bray to Dunstable to Totternhoe Knolls finishing back in Eaton Bray. Sam Heady hoped her sunny trails would be a good recovery post Pimms! Meanwhile, Tom Ellerton and Paul House got super friendly with a herd of cows on their trail run!!! Lynda Peacock covered an impressive 16.5 miles on a route from MK to Wolverton and back! Kevin made the day even brighter on his run with his dazzling top! Graham Cooper clocked up 10, as did Julie Etherden and Sue Pankhurst who this time shared with us some smiling selfies! Andy Stocks also hit 10 miles on the trails, though post vaccine he took it a tad easier. Getting up in some more training miles was Mike Garner who clocked up 12 miles in the sun! Anne Mason was busy on the Downs getting in some valuable training for her Race to the Kings Event, which is a 53 mile ultra race from Arundel to Winchester.  Lesley Wes Barnard and Emma Davis recced another leg of the Weary Soles route. Weary Soles was an LFR event which we hope to run again! Junior parkrun made a return! Special mention to Mini Stocks Charlotte who completed her 50th parkrun! I also saw that mini Parker and mini Laird came in first girl and first boy! Great work boys and girls! I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't wait for the return of parkrun in June for the rest of us!    

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This is the week that was… Snow & XC!!!

What You Did Last Week... by Captain Emily As Tuesday evening runs were set to commence, snow flurried all around! Buffs, gloves, jackets and even the odd pair of leggings were grabbed as runners headed out the door as the blizzard of 2021 ensued! Tuesday was also our traditional cake night; so some run leaders met their groups with tasty treats! Once again there was a great selection of runs for members to choose from with practically all the groups being full. I'm happy to see runners wearing reflective clothing and their lights still; although we start in daylight it does soon get dark.   Fortunately for the Friday trail run crew, numbers had been allowed to increase, which allowed a full group of 9 to head out. JK led a merry bunch around Rushmere in the sunshine and Kirsty Stocks brought the cakes! Saturday brought XC and Linslade parks run 1st Anniversary... Chris and David Ayers are both RD's for Rushmere parkrun and when Covid prevented parkrun from happening last year the Ayer's ran their own Linslade parks run every Saturday without fail. During the particularly wet weather they were forced to find an alternative 5km route as parts of Tiddenfoot became flooded. During this time, friends have joined them to run the course as and when lockdown allowed! Saturday 10th April marked the 1 year anniversary of running their event! I can't believe a whole year has gone by! Well done to you both for keeping this going throughout a very difficult year! 5 of LFR finally headed over to Merchant Taylor's for ATW's round 2 of XC (due to Covid this was the 3rd reschedule of the event). As per round 1, they had to negotiate the stream that meanders through the school grounds, but fortunately there was less water than the last event! There was also less mud but the odd log had been thrown on to the course to negotiate this time! It was a great event and the organisers made every effort to make it as Covid secure as possible. A huge well done to Will Langdon, Andy Heale, Rosie Booth, Ian Bisby and Graham Cooper who represented LFR. The 3rd and final round of XC takes place next Saturday and I believe you can still book yourself in HERE.   Sunday came with sunshine Sunday came and so did Sally's trail run, over 13 miles across Dunstable and Ivinghoe Beacon taking in some stunning views along the way. Well done to those who joined her, especially to new member Megan Francis! Lynda Murray headed to MK where she ran over 13 miles, Lee Garnell clocked up 11 miles as did Kirsty Stocks. Coach Matt headed out for 15 miles as he winds down his marathon training for a few weeks and Dan Green knocked out two long runs over the weekend! Meanwhile, Gavin Prechner, Tom Ellerton and Paul House hit 14 miles of trails around Winslow where Gavin came a cropper in the mud! Mud 1-0 Trail shoes! Though Sunday often means long runs, it doesn't have to be! Tasmyn Simpkins rocked some cool shades on her 10 km run, new member Jenna Parker explored a new route and Sue Pankhurst and Julie Etherden got out for a great 8 mile run and promised us some snaps next time! Well done to every one who was out running...

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Important Update On Group Runs

Important Update On Club Group Runs Dear All, We’d like to share with you all our plan to increase the size of our running groups from Friday the 9th of April. In February, the government announced their Roadmap to easing lockdown, and the first phase of that for us started on March 30th with the return to group runs with a run leader and 5 runners; this was known as “The Rule of Six”. The Government guidance states outdoor sport is permitted in larger numbers provided it is formally organised. By following the guidance of English Athletics through the implementation of the booking system, Risk assessment, Action Plan and appointment of Covid Coordinators, LFR is providing formally organised sport and therefore the “Rule of Six” does not apply. English Athletics have not provided guidance on maximum numbers. The committee has reviewed the guidance and is in the process of updating our documentation and have today agreed that LFR will run in groups with a maximum of nine runners commencing Friday 9th April. This is the Run Leader plus eight. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is great news, however, we are also aware that some of you may have concerns. If you do have any concerns or feedback, then please don’t hesitate to contact myself or our Covid Coordinators Andy and Dougie. We can be contacted here: LFRcovidcoordinator@leightonfunrunners.org.uk chairman@leightonfunrunners.org.uk Stay safe and happy running! Andy Heale LFR Chairman

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This is the week that was… THE RETURN OF CLUB RUNS!!!

What You Did Last Week... After what seemed an eternity the Government's roadmap to easing lockdown restrictions once again allowed us to run in groups of 6. There were 17 groups and 87 individual runs last week. What a great start to the return to group runs! The British weather gave us glorious sunshine and even flurries of snow on Easter Monday! Running attire went from vests and shorts on Tuesday to pulling on the buffs and gloves once again in less than a week! After the disappointment of the postponement of the MK Marathon Weekend, many runners were left in a quandary as to what to do with their training plans. Some seemed to use the Easter weekend to reset and take some time out, whilst others kept on with their long runs; Coach Matt ran an impressive 20-miles around Milton Keynes, Chair Andy earned his Easter Eggs with a 14-mile run before lunch on Easter Sunday, Mike Ellyard clocked up 12-miles to Rushmere and back, and Amanda Godden once again brightened up Facebook with running girls on Saturday; your pictures are a joy!  We had members actually RACING over the weekend! A huge well done to Sally Dickinson who completed the St Albans 10k in a great time of 48:39. Steph Turner returned to racing with Virtual Ratana 10k,  a great cause in the memory of PC Matt Ratana, well done Steph. Lesley Wes Barnard & Emma Davis completed the Enigma Easter Eggstravaganza marathon,  7.5  times around Caldecotte Lake. They reported good weather conditions and a Covid compliant organised race. This was Emma’s 95th marathon and Lesley’s 71st. That is just amazing and Emma is so close now to her 100 marathons!      Away from running, some members took the opportunity to use other sports to improve their fitness and general well-being over the Easter weekend. Jennifer Garner and friends braved the lake and had a swim at Box End,  you’re much braver than me!! Katharine Smith braved the cold waters of Woburn Lido and I hear that next week she’s going to take James, I look forward to hearing about that! On Good Friday, Will Langdon and Dawn Kennedy took to two wheels and cycled an impressive 57 miles and Steve Molyneaux knocked out a speedy 16 miles on Sunday. I had the pleasure of Captain Emily and JK’s company on a nice 35 mile cycle loop on Easter Sunday,  all the better as JK supplied Easter eggs for extra energy (though I think these were pinched from his Granddaughter!!).   

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LFR Survey Feedback

Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey last year.   We had 106 responses - a great number! LFR is an all-inclusive club, suitable for all runners, whatever your goals or running motivation.  And that is how we want to keep it.  The feedback from the survey was mostly positive and where there were questions or requests, we have - or will do our best - to take all on board. As we are sure you can appreciate, due to the current Covid situation some changes will not be possible until life is back to normal. A summary of all the survey results are as follows: As to be expected there were a diverse range of reasons why members have joined LFR, which suits the make-up of the club very well.  These ranged from those training for events and wanting to run with a club, to those who were bored of running on their own and wanted company. Our Tuesday nights are the most popular club night with pace groups and cake night being the favourites. "Out and Back" runs were also popular, although some may not know the routes.  For those that may not be aware of the club's usual routes, we have a huge catalogue of runs on our website which includes many of the Out and Back routes.  These can be found here:  Standard Club Routes - we will be looking to update these or have Strava routes which are more easily accessible. We have also considered putting on alternative runs on these nights for those who are less enamoured by them. Loop nights had a mixed review.  We are considering how we can make this more desirable with the thought of bringing this into pace groups occasionally or on a coached session, perhaps on our Improver Nights. Fartlek was not as popular, with mixed views.  A high proportion of our members, however, have never taken part.  This could be due to Fartlek occurring on a Wednesday night.    During the new restricted group nights, Fartlek was ran on a Tuesday night and was fully booked each week. It has been discussed perhaps mixing Fartlek up with other "speed" or interval sessions or including it within the pace groups. Improvers sessions have been quiet.  Again this could be due to Improvers falling on a Thursday.  The survey feedback showed that many members did not understand what the sessions involved.  We will therefore look to provide a range of articles around the sessions, why these are important and how they can benefit your running.  Session demonstrations might also be useful to show members what to expect.  The overall aim is to give the Improver sessions a revamp with the involvement of our coaching team. The results showed that there was an interest in a Saturday club run.  During the restricted group runs last year we were able to provide extra runs on either Saturday or Sundays starting in September, with either trail runs or coached sessions as an option.  It may be that once "normal" returns, parkrun comes back, there would be less of an appetite for this amongst members.  Longer Sunday runs may still prove popular, however. 70% of respondents confirmed they were interested in regular coaching sessions.  The coaches will be looking at providing these. Between Lockdowns 2 and 3, Coach Matt has been putting on fortnightly Saturday AM sessions which were very popular. At the end of the survey, we invited members to give any further feedback they thought useful to the committee, many of which we have already implemented, and others being considered. There were many comments giving thanks to the committee for keeping the club running as much as possible during a very difficult year.  The committee were extremely appreciative of this feedback. Weekend runs were requested - and these have been implemented. There were requests for structured coaching sessions and more general coaching. Some members asked about having runs at different times in the evenings.  This does of course depend on the availability of our run leaders.  If you wished to be involved in an earlier or later time run than the usual 7.30pm and there is no run available that week, why not put your hand up to lead a group?  We are always looking for helpers.  During the restricted running last year, we did range our run times from 6pm to 7.30pm. There were member requests for some "step up" pace groups.  We were able to implement this during the restricted run groups and received good feedback from this.   This is something we hope to continue when we are able. There was a request for formal run leader training.  England Athletics recently opened their Leader in Running Fitness Course online.  We asked our current run leaders whether they wished to do the course.  Six members have come forward and started their training.  Once restrictions are eased, they should be able to complete this and be licensed and be a wider part of the coaching team if and when required.  The LIRF Qualification is not a requirement to lead a run with LFR.  Those who are qualified can issue further guidance to the current group if required.   Coach Annis has also prepared guidance for all our run leaders, which can be viewed here: Run Leader Guidance There were some queries as to our methods of communication via Facebook and email with not all members being on Facebook. We would like to reassure you that all notifications are first sent via email.  An update is then posted on the Facebook Group asking members to check their emails. Lastly, there were some responses which made comment regarding the club's ethos and asked us not to forget the club is a "social club" and we are "fun runners” stating we are too focussed on coaching and fast running.   Some of these comments were helpful.  Some not so.  The committee has discussed this and we do believe we do everything we can to ensure the club is suitable for all runners of any level: from beginners, to marathoners, no matter your pace, no matter your style.  The club has always put a heavy focus on the social side of running.  In normal times we put on social runs, breakfast runs, cake nights, pancake nights, fancy dress runs, we play games in the park.  All of our runs have always had a social focus.  The club as a whole has always had a social focus.  We are a community.  During Lockdown 1, the captains made weekly challenges that were suitable for all. The great aspect with the challenges is that you could complete them within a mile of your home if that's what you fancied, or challenge yourself to go further to make them harder.  The choice was yours.   When we could start running again after Lockdown 1, we managed to get a feel of the most popular run groups with the social groups always filling up first and we therefore endeavoured to put on as many social runs as possible every week to meet demand. What the survey feedback does show is that we do not do enough for those members who have asked for more coaching or training or even general running information.  As stated above, we have the ability to provide this and is something we want to work on. We are a social club and we will continue to be the Leighton Fun Runners with cake nights, charity nights, all the nights, but we want to ensure that all our members are getting the most from their experiences with us. When we are able, we will do our best to ensure there are enough suitable runs for all paces and all members who want to run, every week.  Sometimes this is just not possible.  We rely heavily on our run leader members who give up their time to lead runners near and far.   If you see a gap or want to run a different pace to those being offer, why not out your hand up and volunteer? All run leaders are provided with guidance and if when you first lead you would prefer a more experienced run leader to run with you, simply ask. Our club runs are often led by the same members, week in, week out.  We want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you.  We are nothing without our members and nothing without those who volunteer their time to keep us going.  It was great to see more members joining the pool of run leaders as the restricted group runs continued.   So Thank you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey.  Should any member want to provide further feedback or have any queries at all, contact a committee member who can help.

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