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:
ARC had 59 parkrunners on Saturday 31st July. Special congratulations to our top-10 finishers: Luke White (1st, PB), Liam Harrold (1st & Course Record), Lisa Wakeman (1st lady), Dan Williams (3rd, PB), Simon Rhodes (6th), Steve Blakemore (7th), Charlotte Newman (8th lady), Laura Kirwan (9th lady, PB), Jo Stephens (9th lady) and Peter Dimbleby (10th), also to those who finished with a top 10 age-grade in their event: Philip Brayford (4th, PB), Dan Williams (5th, PB), Liam Harrold (5th), Michael Morley (7th), Luke White (8th, PB) Peter Dimbleby (9th), Steve Blakemore (9th), Simon Rhodes (10th) and Gordon Walker (10th). Congratulations also to others who gained a PB at their event: Lynda Elmore, Simon Brown, Sarah Baggott and Sarah Connor.
Our runners:
Well done to all club members who completed other races over the weekend:
The club also sends congratulations to our friend Barry Cheema, who completed 31 marathons in 31 days during the month of July, finishing with support from many ARC members in the Arboretum on Saturday 31st.
Our runners:
- Walsall Arboretum: Daniel Williams, Peter Dimbleby, Gordon Walker, Philip Brayford, Michael Morley, Lisa Wakeman, Harshad Patel, Edward Evitt, Laura Kirwan, Trevor Harris, Claire Crook, Roxy Babla, Sarah Connor, John Quinn, Wendy Sargeant, Mark Chapman, Karen Waple, Jason Vigrass, Terry Hastings, Abby Wright, Jo Yarnall, Jane Quinn, Ammar Zia, Helen Phillips, Katrina Wyke, Stephanie Elcock, Rachel Antoine, Kat Stevenson, Anne Kelsall, Gill Hastings and Claire Gibbs.
- Sutton Park: Geoffrey Card, Kevin Attwood, Tony Baker and Michelle Bennett.
- Chasewater: Luke White, Eamon Lyons, Simon Hudson, Charlotte Newman, Simon Brown, Garry Newman, Joanna Stephens, Sarah Baggott, Lucy Farrington, Tim Farmer.
- Perry Hall: Daniel Ford.
- Cannock Chase: Mandip Thandi, Karen Kiteley and Sharon Fern.
- Rosliston: Richard Moore, Robert Foster and Lynda Elmore.
- Beacon: Steve Blakemore.
- Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne: Ian Boneham.
- Torbay Velopark: Todd Nash.
- Ludlow: Richard Lodge.
- Bedworth: James Whitehouse.
- Ross-on-Wye: Simon Rhodes.
- Rothay Park, Ambleside: Liam Harrold.
Well done to all club members who completed other races over the weekend:
- Trentham 10k: Tony Dutton (00:51:17)
- North Wales Half Marathon: Louise Berry
- London Landmarks Half Marathon: Victoria O'Connor (02:22:00, unofficial PB) Rebecca Steele (02:43:45), Sarah-Anne Fitzsimmons (02:43:48), Emma Preston (03:29:33)
The club also sends congratulations to our friend Barry Cheema, who completed 31 marathons in 31 days during the month of July, finishing with support from many ARC members in the Arboretum on Saturday 31st.
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 were replaced in 2020 and 2021 by a weekly virtual challenge. Many thanks to Mark O'Rourke for organising. The results from the 2020 Spring/Summer handicap can be found here and the winter 20/21 handicap results can be found here
We also have a regular walking group. More details are on our About ARC page. All welcome.
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 were replaced in 2020 and 2021 by a weekly virtual challenge. Many thanks to Mark O'Rourke for organising. The results from the 2020 Spring/Summer handicap can be found here and the winter 20/21 handicap results can be found here
We also have a regular walking group. More details are on our About ARC page. All welcome.
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