Saturday 31st December (New Years Eve)

Yet again we enjoyed wonderful weather for our Run England session (rain, drizzle and a bit more rain). A good turnout despite poor weather (Runners today: Bev, Scott, Sarah, Nina, Jo)

31st Dec 2011

We ran out along the Middlewood Way (via Summerlea) up past the football pitch, across the Silk Road and north towards Bollington. We left the Middlewood Way at Clarke Lane and ran along past the Lord Clyde to the Silk Road. We crossed the dual carriageway and onto Tytherington Lane and back to Manchester Road. Scott & Nina did the longer route around Dorchester Way and everyone else ran back to the Riverside along Manchester Road. Click on the map to see details.

DIstance about 4.6 miles in 56mins (including a few loop-backs) and calories burned = 500 (about the same as a bacon & egg butty).

Well run everyone - see you next Sunday at 10.00 outside Kings Girl's School on Fence Avenue.

Happy New Year!

Neil

Tuesday 27th December (CAFOD run)

Today was the first time that the CAFOD 'Fun Run' event had been run (it was cancelled in 2010 due to snow/ice). The event supports the CAFOD charity and offers a 4.5 run, a 3 mile run and a 1 mile walk/run.

Bev & Philip

Jo, Bev, Nina & Sarah entered the event and everyone ran the whole distance (in muddy conditions) - well done. There was some 'nervousness' at the start but that soon disappeared and everyone put in a good performance. Jo and Ninan paced each other and Bev ran with Philip. Sarah self-paced. I'm sure we all have some learning from the event that we can discuss at our next run on Saturday).

A few pictures from the event are shown below (click to enlarge) .... well done to everyone!

Neil (30m20s)

Jo (Left) & Nina (Right)

Jo & Nina zooming at the finish

Sarah

Saturday 24th December (Christmas Eve)

Today the Run England Group was a bit down on numbers (Bev, Nina & Neil) due to Christmas preparations.

As it was so muddy we decided to give the Bollin Valley a miss and instead we opted for the standard 5K route (we did it clockwise today).

Nina was 'a woman on a mission' and disappeared into the distance and must have done a 'personal best time' (there was no walking, just good solid running)!

Sadly a glove was lost and so Nina had a plan to run the route again, in reverse, to find it - how times change!

Bev was suffering from an excellent meal on Friday night and found running in the morning was difficult - a lesson we all learn at some point!


Happy Christmas everyone...  

Saturday 17th December

We (Neil, Scott, Joanne, Nina, Bev) met at 9.30am, Riverside (Bollin Valley) Car Park

The weather was cold with a bit of rain/sleet and it was very icy. Despite poor conditions underfoot we ran along Summerlea, Middlewood Way all the way to the SIlk Road bridge then along the 'farm track' to Clarke Lane and then along Clarke Lane to the Middlewood Way and back via Summerlea (the same way that we ran out). The route is shown below.

Total distance 4.63 miles in 1h2m

Afterwards we all went to Beech Hall Drive (chez Neil & Ali) for coffee/tea & mince pies.

Plans for the rest of the year and early 2012 were discussed and possible routes etc are all shown on the relevant dates of the Blog.

Saturday 10th December

Bollin Valley (muddy!)

Well - today we were beaten a bit by the weather (well, the ice). The plan was a 5k around Dorchester Way but it was too icy so we reverted to Plan B and ran in the Bollin Valley. Today's runners were Joanne, Scott & Bev.

The main word of the day was MUD. It was very muddy and slippery but we managed 3.57 miles (I will omit the pace figure!) and at least we managed to get out for some fresh air.

Run Details (link)

Saturday 3rd December

Today we did another 'recce run' of the CAFOD route. We met on a blustery and slightly damp morning at the car park near the Vale Inn (the Recreation area car park).

Attendees: Joanne, Scott, Sarah, Beverley

Joanne and Scott did the full 4.5 mile route, Sarah and Bev cut slightly short at bridge 25 (Whiteley Green) but then ran north on the Middlewood way to meet Joanne and Scott (and Neil). The weather and conditions underfoot made the run much harder than the previous time we had done this route and everyone had to work that bit harder and really felt it!

Well done for 'digging in' and finishing the run.

We managed a coffee etc at the Waterside cafe - a nice way to have a 'post run debrief!

Next meet: Saturday 10th December, 9.30, Bollin Valley Car Park for a 5k route after a warm up.

Saturday 26th November

Nina, Joanne & Bev attended.

We ran from the Bollin Valley (Riverside Car Park) after a warm up.. We went onto the Middlewood Way and did 'pyramid' speed work (Nina & Joanne did 5, Bev did 3 plus several extras). There was some impressive speed today.

After the speedwork we continued up the Middlewood Way to the Silk Road Bridge, cut across the field and then back via Tyherington shops/Manchester Road.

It was a good workout - well done!

Saturday 19th November

Today we met at the car park near the Vale Inn (Bollington) to do a 'recce' of the CAFOD route - this is the 4.5 mile 'race' that we will attempt on December the 27th 2011.

This week Scott, Joanne, Sarah & Nina came along.

The route started on the viaduct near to the Bollington Arts Centre, down the Middlewood Way to Tinker's Clough, back up the canal to Bridge 21 (Adlington) and back to the starting point via the Middlewood Way. We had a couple of 'breather stops' but the actual running time was ~47 minutes.

We all adjourned to the Waterside Cafe afterwards for various combinations of coffee, breakfast and chocolate.

Saturday 12th November

Attendees: Sarah, Joanne

Location: Riverside (Bollin Valley) Car Park

After a warm-up we ran the 'standard' 5k route anti-clockwise (Summerlea, Middlewood, Marlborough Road, Dorchester Road and back via Manchester Road.


Major success - both Sarah & Joanne ran all the way with no stops ... well done!