Current Tuesday Schedule can be found here.
Details of Summer routes here.
Tuesday runs - we meet at the Stick & Wicket at 7pm. Please make sure you sign in on arrival. In case of an emergency during a run scroll down for information.
Details of all our current sessions will shortly be transferred to the club app. This will be where club members will find details of Tuesday club night schedules and upcoming races - don't forget to make sure that any races you have entered are logged on the app so that others can see what is available.
As well as regular steady runs we offer two additional training options, which focus more on interval-based training. The Improvement Group, led by Lucy Baker, Henry Simpson and Tim Farmer, originally focussed on improving 5k times and is suitable for all runners who want to improve, especially those who have never done any focussed training before. The Race Training Group sessions, led mainly by Daniel Day, tend to be rather longer and more suited to more experienced runners. To gain the full benefit of these groups it is advisable to have a running watch and to know how to programme workouts, but there are plenty of members who will help you with this if needed. If you want to know more just speak to one of the leaders identified above. Both groups are open to all club members who want to improve their running, regardless of current performance - one benefit of running intervals around a short(ish) loop is that the whole group stays together regardless of speed.
Thursday 4-mile social runs are also available, starting at 6.30pm from the gate and a faster group usually goes out from the Whitehouse pub corner - see Michael Morley.
Details of all our current sessions will shortly be transferred to the club app. This will be where club members will find details of Tuesday club night schedules and upcoming races - don't forget to make sure that any races you have entered are logged on the app so that others can see what is available.
As well as regular steady runs we offer two additional training options, which focus more on interval-based training. The Improvement Group, led by Lucy Baker, Henry Simpson and Tim Farmer, originally focussed on improving 5k times and is suitable for all runners who want to improve, especially those who have never done any focussed training before. The Race Training Group sessions, led mainly by Daniel Day, tend to be rather longer and more suited to more experienced runners. To gain the full benefit of these groups it is advisable to have a running watch and to know how to programme workouts, but there are plenty of members who will help you with this if needed. If you want to know more just speak to one of the leaders identified above. Both groups are open to all club members who want to improve their running, regardless of current performance - one benefit of running intervals around a short(ish) loop is that the whole group stays together regardless of speed.
Thursday 4-mile social runs are also available, starting at 6.30pm from the gate and a faster group usually goes out from the Whitehouse pub corner - see Michael Morley.
This week's Club News:
ARC had 63 parkrunners and walkers on Saturday July 20, with 22 at Walsall Arboretum, 6 at Sutton Park, 9 at Chasewater, 3 at Beacon and 3 at Brunswick Park..
Well done to our top-10 finishers this week: Daniel Williams (4th, 3rd Age Grade), Sarah Lyons (4th lady), Joanna Stephens (4th lady, 7th Age Grade) and Claire Crook (8th lady), also to the possibly record number of other members who achieved an age grade in the top 10 for their event: Phil Brayford (4th), Mike Morley (5th), John Pearce (5th). Wendy Sargeant (6th) and Pete Dimbleby (8th).
Congratulations also to Jane Quinn, who completed her 250th parkrun this weekend, also to John Pearce, who joined the 100 parkrun club.
Well done and thank you also, to all those other members who volunteered at a parkrun this weekend.
Our runners:
Congratulations to those club members who took part in races over the past week, including the ever-popular Staffs Knot GP race, where Mike Morley, Phil Brayford, Helen Beecham and John Pearce all came 2nd in their age groups and Rachael Jones, Helen Beecham and Claire Crook put our club in 3rd place in the women's team table:
Well done to our top-10 finishers this week: Daniel Williams (4th, 3rd Age Grade), Sarah Lyons (4th lady), Joanna Stephens (4th lady, 7th Age Grade) and Claire Crook (8th lady), also to the possibly record number of other members who achieved an age grade in the top 10 for their event: Phil Brayford (4th), Mike Morley (5th), John Pearce (5th). Wendy Sargeant (6th) and Pete Dimbleby (8th).
Congratulations also to Jane Quinn, who completed her 250th parkrun this weekend, also to John Pearce, who joined the 100 parkrun club.
Well done and thank you also, to all those other members who volunteered at a parkrun this weekend.
Our runners:
- Walsall Arboretum: Alex Dicken, Philip Brayford, Scott Davies, Daniel Day, Mark Shaw, Tom Neal, Adam Benjamin, Claire Crook, Marcus Nye, Wendy Sargeant, Roxy Babla, Sally Gordon (PB), Claire Pugh-Patel, Maria Taylor (PB), Carl Nicholls, Lawrence Hewitt, Alex Crook, Jane Quinn, Mark Chapman, Mark Johnson, Harshad Patel, Liam Bradley.
- Sutton Park: James Nelson, Mark O'Rourke, Amy Johnson, Rachael Jones, Tony Baker and Sarah-Anne Fitzsimmons.
- Chasewater: John Pearce, Michael Mason, Andrew Birkbeck (PB), Thomas Edwards, Christopher Boden, Catherine Birkbeck, Kay Mchugh, Tom Glibbery and Michele Lawrence.
- Beacon: Daniel Williams, Emma Lawton and Karen Waple.
- Brunswick Park: Sarah Lyons (PB), Eamon Lyons (PB) and Helen Phillips.
- Cannock Chase: Michael Morley and Richard Moore.
- Sandwell Valley: Joanna Stephens and Rebecca Beale.
- Wolverhampton: Nicola James.
- Cannon Hill: Colin Nicholls and Shelley Nicholls.
- Isabel Trail: Simon Hudson and Emily Grimwade.
- Yarborough Leisure Centre: Leigh Sprules.
- Worcester Pitchcroft: Edward Morris.
- Gedling (Notts): Terry Hastings and Gill Hastings.
- Henley Wood: Jo Yarnall (PB).
- Valentines: Peter Dimbleby, Lisa Dimbleby.
- Poole: Angela Oury.
- Fell Foot: Gareth Hughes.
- Rogiet (Monmouthshire): Geoff Card.
- Haga (Stockholm): Steve Hammond.
Congratulations to those club members who took part in races over the past week, including the ever-popular Staffs Knot GP race, where Mike Morley, Phil Brayford, Helen Beecham and John Pearce all came 2nd in their age groups and Rachael Jones, Helen Beecham and Claire Crook put our club in 3rd place in the women's team table:
- Birmingham Running Festival (Sutton Park), 5k: Nicky Jones (00:29:48/, 30 min pacer) and
Stephen Grice (00:32:09, 32.5 min pacer) - Birmingham Running Festival (Sutton Park), HM: Chris Moon (01:41:36, PB). Well done also to Gemma Archer and Lynda Elmore, for volunteering at this event.
- Rasslebock Marathon: Barinderjit Cheema (05:58:57, 6 hour pacer)
- Rasslebock HM: Henry Simpson (02:09:32) and Roxy Babla (02:09:56)
- Staffs Knot 5 mile: Michael Morley (00:32:43), Steve Blakemore (00:33:59), Philip Brayford (00:34:11), Rachael Jones (00:37:46), Helen Beecham (00:38:16), Martin Wall (00:38:36), Claire Crook (00:39:19), Stephen Grice (00:39:29), John Pearce (00:40:29), Joanna Stephens (00:42:32), Andrew Birkbeck (00:44:35), Sue Baker (00:46:58), Abigail Wright (00:47:01), Matt Hillback (00:47:13), Sally Gordon (00:47:27), Nicky Jones (00:47:36), Leigh Sprules (00:47:48), Christopher Boden (00:48:31), Simon Hudson (00:49:22), Claire Pugh-Patel (00:49:46), Nick Benton (00:50:02), Anne Kelsall (00:53:15), Jane Quinn (00:58:41) and Helen Hirst (00:58:41).
2024 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 and we are gaining a reputation for the enthusiasm of our support. 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:
Emergency? DIAL 999
Click here to find your nearest defibrillator
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 .
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 .
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.
Club Training Plans
Members of the Race Training Group generally work through programmes designed by club members, targeted at specific races/distances. These are aimed at those who have already completed the target distance and want to improve their time. They are not full training plans but they outline two 'effort' sessions a week, which can be done with others.
The current Tuesday sessions can be found within the general club Tuesday routes plan here.
When reading the plans, "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. 'Tempo is generally defined as a pace you can comfortably keep up for about an hour.
Obviously these plans can be started at any time and/or adapted to meet individual needs. In particular, slower runners can benefit from the plans 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. Two Half-Marathon plans are here and here, whilst a 10k plan is here and a 5k training plan is here.
The current Tuesday sessions can be found within the general club Tuesday routes plan here.
When reading the plans, "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. 'Tempo is generally defined as a pace you can comfortably keep up for about an hour.
Obviously these plans can be started at any time and/or adapted to meet individual needs. In particular, slower runners can benefit from the plans 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. Two Half-Marathon plans are here and here, whilst a 10k plan is here and a 5k training plan is here.