Not just running – but keeping the area tidy too!

A big shout out to members of our club who have been carrying out litter picks in the area during recent weeks.

The group, known as the HRC Wombles, decided to take action to help make the town a cleaner place for all to enjoy.

More than 20 members took part in the first event, split into smaller groups, with 25 bags of rubbish being collected. And members have been continuing with the litter picks since.

Club secretary Liz Aspden-Mansfield, who set up the group, said: “We noticed litter in areas of Hinckley and Burbage and wanted to do our bit to help keep the town a cleaner place.

“As a club, we love running the many beautiful routes around Hinckley and Burbage and so thought we could give something back by helping to keep the place tidy for us and the rest of the community to enjoy.

“The effort by the club was brilliant to see and it is great that this is being continued with more litter picks planned.”

Well done HRC Wombles!! 👏👏👏

A bit of news on how Hinckley Running Club has been staying “together” while staying apart during the lockdown.

With a lockdown in place, members of Hinckley Running Club have been finding other ways to keep busy “together” – while staying apart. When training sessions and team runs were cancelled in line with the Government guidelines, the club decided to look at other ways to keep everyone connected, motivated and involved. And from solo running challenges and home workout videos to daily social media posts and quizzes, members have certainly been kept entertained!

Activities, which have been done through the club’s private Facebook page, include:
⭐️ Daily social media posts where members can share their exercise plans for the day. The posts also include a different question each day with examples including asking members to share their worst running picture, their favourite cake and the first three things they will do when lockdown is lifted
⭐️ A weekly speed session workout set by coaches which members can complete solo anywhere at any time
⭐️ A nurkrap challenge – an alternative to parkrun for members to do solo
⭐️ A road sign challenge – where members are asked to spell a word out with street signs while out on their run
⭐️ A scavenger hunt challenge – where members are asked to answer 30 questions relating to specific locations while out on their runs. These can be done in any order at any time and across different runs
⭐️ A President’s Quiz which has been done through Facebook Live. Three have been held so far
⭐️ A kettlebells home workout class through Facebook Live led by club treasurer Odette Foxall. Around three virtual classes have been held each week

The club also has mental health ambassadors who encourage members to talk about their thoughts, feelings and concerns.

Club chairwoman Charlotte Sinclair said: “It has been extremely important for us all to stay home and save lives during the lockdown period meaning our running club sessions and meet ups were immediately cancelled.
“But we were also very conscious that we wanted to keep our club members connected while being separated.
“These activities, which have involved members of all ages in our club, mean we have all been able to feel like we are together while adhering to the Government guidelines.
“The efforts everyone has put into this has been absolutely superb and feedback from club members has been fantastic.
“It truly has shown our Hinckley Running Club family at its best!”

Club chairwoman Charlotte Sinclair completes one of the road sign challenges to spell ‘Rainbows’

Regrettably we have taken the decision to cancel Sunday’s XC at Bosworth Battlefield.

Whilst the course is just about runnable, the field we use to park the majority of the cars in is saturated – with more rain forecast later in the week and the fact that it is on an incline mean that we cannot safely park cars on there.

In addition, both roads to the Battlefield Centre are flooded – just outside Sutton Cheney fully to a depth that smaller cars can only just get through – this has been the case for several days now, and also extensively around the railway bridge near Sutton Cheney Station.

The organisers have discussed extensively and we feel that we have no option but to cancel for safety reasons.

We have looked at potentially rescheduling, however with Bagworth Heath now being held on 22nd March there are no race free weekends before Easter (Kibworth 6 – 8th March, Ashby 20 – 15th March, Bagworth Heath- 22nd March, Desford 5 – 29th March, 5th April – Hose Half Marathon).

We are obviously gutted to have to cancel as not only have the team put in a lot of work in planning/course clearing, we are also aware of how popular the race is. 😢

We will be back next year….🤞🤞

For 2020 the club is introducing a new set of target times for the Standard Times awards scheme, along with some other changes.

The basic principles of the awards remain the same, but scheme has been revised to meet the following goals:

• A more consistent set of targets across all ages, sexes and distances. The new times are derived from the widely recognised age grading system (as used by parkrun and world masters athletics). It is also age specific and not by category, meaning you get a new set of targets every year instead of every 5 years.
• To ensure the next standard is always within reach. There are new “plus” levels of award between the old levels (Merit+, Bronze+, Silver+ etc.) meaning the next standard should no longer seem so insurmountable.

Other things to note:

• The scheme will now be based on your age on the 1st of January of the year. So you will have the same targets for the whole year. (Unfortunately you won’t get the benefit of your birthday until the following year!)
• There are two new distances added — 9 mile and 15km — which gives more flexibility of finding races to enter. (It is still 5 distances for an award and 9 distances, including 10mi, half, 20mi and full marathon, for a distinction.)

So without further ado, to see your time targets for 2020 awards, look here:
Standard Times – New Edition (PDF)
(remember, your age on 1st January applies for the whole year)

These times are effective for your races in the whole of 2020 and will be used for the awards to be given out next year. All other rules such as race eligibility are unchanged.

For those new members unfamiliar with the scheme, you can read the full information about it here.

Thanks to Dave Masser for devising the new scheme. There are some interesting technical details as to how the times are all worked out and I am sure he be pleased will to explain more for those interested.