click here for our diary, including Tuesday club night schedules
Tuesday runs - we meet on the car park of the Stick & Wicket from 7pm. Could you please let Sue have your groups & routes in advance wherever possible.
Efforts groups have two options. Les Reeves is running coached efforts sessions fortnightly and there are also weekly Race Training sessions following the Half/Full Marathon improvement plan detailed below. If you wish to join in the race training sessions please contact Toby Oury, Adam Smith or Daniel Day to be added to the messaging group for updates.
Thursday social runs are also available, starting at 6.15 - 6.30pm from the gate and there is usually a 9 mile group leaving from the gate at 9am on Sundays. A separate group often runs in Cannock Chase on Sunday mornings - see Steve Blakemore or Kevin Adams for details.
Efforts groups have two options. Les Reeves is running coached efforts sessions fortnightly and there are also weekly Race Training sessions following the Half/Full Marathon improvement plan detailed below. If you wish to join in the race training sessions please contact Toby Oury, Adam Smith or Daniel Day to be added to the messaging group for updates.
Thursday social runs are also available, starting at 6.15 - 6.30pm from the gate and there is usually a 9 mile group leaving from the gate at 9am on Sundays. A separate group often runs in Cannock Chase on Sunday mornings - see Steve Blakemore or Kevin Adams for details.
This week's Club News:
44 members celebrated the return of parkrun by taking part on Saturday 24th, with many others volunteering. Special congratulations to our top-10 finishers: Toby Oury (1st), Amy Johnson (1st lady, PB), Liam Harrold (3rd), Alex Dicken (4th, PB), Michael Morley (6th, new club 5k record), Roxy Babla (7th lady), James Whitehouse (9th) and Tony Dutton (9th), also to those who finished with a top 10 age-grade in their event: Michael Morley (2nd), Tom Neale (6th), Toby Oury (6th), Liam Harrold (7th), Tony Dutton (7th, PB), Gordon Walker (8th) and Alex Dicken (9th). Congratulations also to others who gained a PB at their event: Sarah Connor, Paul Haworth, Richard Moore and Jo Yarnall.
Our runners:
Well done to all club members who completed other races over the weekend:
Our runners:
- Walsall Arboretum: Liam Harrold, Alex Dicken, Michael Morley, Gordon Walker, Tom Neal, Daniel Day, Edward Evitt, Michael Mason, Michael Davis, Roxy Babla, Sarah Connor, Philip James Beagen, Mark Chapman, Karen Waple, Terence Anthony Hastings, Ian Boneham, Helen Phillips, Ammar Zia, Jason Vigrass, Nicola James, Victoria Day, Valda Davies, Peter Dimbleby and Simon Rhodes.
- Chasewater: Todd Nash and Garry Newman.
- Sutton Park: Laura Kirwan, Henry Simpson, Geoffrey Card, Lucy Walters, Michelle Bennett and Mark O'Rourke.
- Sandwell Valley: Paul Haworth.
- Perry Hall: James Whitehouse.
- East Park: Tony Dutton.
- Kingsbury Water: Amy Johnson.
- Cannock Chase: Jason Lee, Richard Moore.
- Rosliston: Lynda Elmore and Jo Yarnall.
- Bath Skyline: Sarah Bishop.
- Medina I.O.W.: Louise Berry.
- Blickling: Lucy Baker.
- Fell Foot, Newby Bridge: Steve Blakemore.
- Worthing: Tony Baker.
- Exmouth: Toby Oury.
Well done to all club members who completed other races over the weekend:
- Thunder Run 24-hr team run: ARC Ultras (Ian Jennings, Eamon Lyons, Sarah Baggott, Trevor Harris, Jo Dulson-Cox, Katrina Wyke, Tim Farmer) 20 laps and 88th place, and Aldridge Running & Drinking Club (Abby Wright, Karen Kiteley, Mike Rogers ('guest'), Jo Yarnall, Lynda Elmore, Rob Foster and Simon Hudson) 19 laps and 110th place. Congratulations to Karen Kiteley, who completed the two fastest laps for the club.
- Bedford Autodome Running Festival: Pete Dimbleby (marathon, 02:57:49, new club V45 record), Lisa Dimbleby (16 mile, 02:35:15, 1st in age cat)
- The Age Grader 5 mile: Anne Kelsall (42:44 (real time), 31:48 age adjusted)
2021 in (some) pictures will be built up over the year below: Hover over the main photo and press 'play' to scroll through photos of events so far this year, or click on the thumbnails.
We like to think of ARC as a friendly, supportive club. The video clip below, taken from Cannon Hill Park, on the route of the Birmingham Marathon and Half on October 15 2017 shows us at our best. Some of the supporters had entered one of the races but had to pull out due to injury but instead of moping about it they came and cheered on all those who were running, despite the logistical difficulties of getting there with all the road closures. Well done Sarah Hinkley and crew!
Information for members:
Help us give credit to all who take part in races by letting us know your achievements. Email using this link by Monday lunchtime please.
See the Diary section for races that we know about, either local or that our members have enjoyed in the past. Social events now have their own page here although social events are currently on hold due to the pandemic.
Our annual handicap races have been replaced in 2020 by a weekly virtual challenge. Many thanks to Mark O'Rourke for organising. The results from the Spring/Summer handicap can be found here.
We also have a regular walking group. More details are on our About ARC page. All welcome.
2020 saw the Spring handicap in a different format - a weekly virtual challenge - results here
See the Diary section for races that we know about, either local or that our members have enjoyed in the past. Social events now have their own page here although social events are currently on hold due to the pandemic.
Our annual handicap races have been replaced in 2020 by a weekly virtual challenge. Many thanks to Mark O'Rourke for organising. The results from the Spring/Summer handicap can be found here.
We also have a regular walking group. More details are on our About ARC page. All welcome.
2020 saw the Spring handicap in a different format - a weekly virtual challenge - results here
New Members
If you are new to running or looking to improve we can help & support you all the way. To find out more, check out the About ARC page and the New Members section. We will be announcting new dates for our next Couch to 5k course after current restrictions due to COVID-19 are lifted - click here for details.
Half/Full Marathon Improvement Plan
Members of the Race Training Group are now working through a 15-week Half- and Full marathon improvement plan, targeted at the Lichfield Half Marathon Details can be found here. It is aimed at those who have already completed the target distance and want to improve their time. It is not a full training plan but it outlines two 'effort' sessions a week.
When reading the plan, "off" shows the recovery between efforts, so "1k, 800m, 600m, 400m off 2mins, 3 mins
between sets" means "1k effort, 2 min recovery, 800m effort, 2 min recovery, 600m effort, 2 min recover,400m effort, 2 min recovery, 3 min rest then repeat." Recovery can be jog or walk, or a mixture, depending on individual fitness and preference. The length of recovery can also be adjusted if necessary.
Obviously this plan can be started at any time and/or adapted to meet individual needs. In particular, slower runners can benefit from the plan but would need to reduce the number of repetitions (sets) or the individual distances in most of the sessions. If you just want to try out some efforts sessions to make your training a bit more interesting and productive there are a good number included here that you can try.
Previous training programmes from this group are still available. First Half-Marathon plan is here and the more recent 10k plan is here
When reading the plan, "off" shows the recovery between efforts, so "1k, 800m, 600m, 400m off 2mins, 3 mins
between sets" means "1k effort, 2 min recovery, 800m effort, 2 min recovery, 600m effort, 2 min recover,400m effort, 2 min recovery, 3 min rest then repeat." Recovery can be jog or walk, or a mixture, depending on individual fitness and preference. The length of recovery can also be adjusted if necessary.
Obviously this plan can be started at any time and/or adapted to meet individual needs. In particular, slower runners can benefit from the plan but would need to reduce the number of repetitions (sets) or the individual distances in most of the sessions. If you just want to try out some efforts sessions to make your training a bit more interesting and productive there are a good number included here that you can try.
Previous training programmes from this group are still available. First Half-Marathon plan is here and the more recent 10k plan is here