General stuff and a letter from the CEO of England Athletics.

This weeks Club Run is Summer Route 5,Summer Route 5 organised by Matt, now for those of you who don’t know Matts runs, he works on this strange formula, 7 miles = 10, 8 miles = 12. Those on the shorter runs will be fine, but Matt followers, be prepared!!

The Pub Run is from the Queens Head, Queens Head at Millbourneport. Again with Matt, busy week for Captain Matt. 6ish gentle miles, go and enjoy!

Hash News From Martin

The Hash next week and the one in July is cancelled as there is insufficient interest.

This morning’s Race for Life was won by Kirsty Norman, well done Kirsty

Had the following in from Paul Allen

Well the 0400 alarm for a 0700 marathon start in Cheltenham was a bit of a shock but worth the effort. Enjoyed a very well organised Cheltenham Circular Marathon without getting lost and great views from the tops.

Well done on Marathon 132 Paul

For those who do not know, one of our top runners is serving in Afgan at the moment, Bryn Phillips has sent this in, I was delighted to hear from him, we all look forward to seeing you back soon. Make sure you beat that Belgian next time Bryn..

 Well here it is my first 5km whilst being out here. Managed to come 3rd behind a fellow Brit (from the Army, booo hisss) and a Belgian in a truely international field. For those members that would like to know what it's like out here, it's very hot and very dusty, even this morning at 06:30 the temp was up at 29 deg. The training is going well, all be it i have a 2 hour window in the morning and a 2hour window in the evening in which to train due to the very high temperatures, at the moment they are topping out in the mid 40's. Only a few more weeks then I'll be back to terrorise the fast tempo group again and restart my bid for both the club and Somerset series championships.

Look out Somerset Series and Club Championship, Bryn is going for it…

The following has come in from Chris Jones, the CEO of England Athletics

We are in the midst of another
exciting few weeks for athletics!

 

Good news for athletics

Last week Sport England announced their latest ‘Active People Survey’ figures which showed participation in track and field athletics had increased by more than 25% in the year to April 2013. This is a reward for the hard work done by clubs across England in the build-up to the 2012 Games and months following.
Clubs, coaches and other volunteers are at the front line as we, as a sport, look to see people first attracted by the Olympic and Paralympic Games not only staying in the sport but progressing and growing in their enjoyment of athletics. Clubs are essential for supporting the development of more experienced athletes, across all disciplines, and for continuing the growth of our sport.

At England Athletics we are committed to supporting clubs, coaches and other volunteers, and continuing to provide opportunities for more people to be given their first taste of the sport. This includes funding of athletics networks, provision of discounts on coaching courses for people from clubs and our coach development programmes. It is essential we support and recruit the volunteers upon whom the sport is built. We are also working with local partners to create new opportunities for people to come into athletics.
This week has marked 400 days to go until the Commonwealth Games, so our sport will remain in the spotlight as the build-up to Glasgow 2014 continues.

Tremendous weekends of action

Last weekend saw many impressive performances at the England Athletics U23 and U20 Championships & European Trials in Bedford. There were eye catching achievements from athletes winning medals and staking their claims to places on the European Championship teams for Rieti and Tampere, as highlighted in our event coverage.

It was also great to see and hear of other athletes, perhaps further down the results, making strong improvements as they look to make the transition to being competitive at senior level. This progression and the support of athletes’ development is vital to our sport. Once more, the role played by every club, coach and other volunteer involved should never be under-estimated.

There are many opportunities for athletes to make their mark at national championships!
This weekend sees the England Athletics Senior Disability Championships in Birmingham. The English Schools AA Track and Field Championships take place two weeks later. Then come the British Athletics World Trials and UK & England Championships. Our Under 15 and Under 17 Championships and Combined Events Championships both take place later in the summer.

Earlier in the summer we saw the County Championships taking place. These competitions and the work of the county associations are very important to the sport. A number of counties included new initiatives or provision as they looked to develop their offering to athletes and many saw increased entries as a result. We provided funding to support some of this work and are looking at further ways of working with county associations.

This weekend sees area championships taking place in the North, Midlands and South. We wish everyone involved every success. This year there are England vests at the Welsh Athletics International on offer for a number of U20 winners at these championships.

Honouring volunteers

None of activities I have referred to above would be possible without the work and expertise of our sport’s volunteers.

We are once again looking to honour Volunteers through our annual awards programme so please take the time to nominate those people who have made a difference to you personally, or to the sport in your area. It is essential we continue to recognise the efforts of these people and show they are hugely valued throughout the sport.

Whatever the sport holds for you over the coming weeks I would like to wish you every success and thank you for your role in making our sport all that it is.

Yours

Chris Jones
CEO, England Athletics

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Wiggle News

Thats it folks, not much going on apart from the Saturday run from outside the football club at 9:00am, for you longer runners, the Sunday run from Goldenstones at 9:00am, the Club Run, Pub Run and the track session at the athletics arena at 6:30pm on Friday.

And don't forget the Committee meeting on the first Wednesday in July

I go in for my op a week Monday, hope to get the knee sorted so I can be back for the Stickler in October. Have a great week all, good training and racing.

See you all soon

Terry