Christmas Newsletter

 Welcome to the 

 edition of the newsletter!

Polegate Plodders would like to wish all our members a very merry Christmas. May Santa bring you those new running shoes you've always wanted! And may 2025 be your year for a PB or whatever your running goals might be. Read on to find out how we can help you in achieving those goals.

Its been another successful year for our little running club. We've increased membership and created a new beginner group that is doing really well.

Many of our members have made personal achievements in their running, from hitting milestones in number of Parkruns completed to achieving personal bests in a range of distances; as a club we congratulate you all.

We've been going a decade!

You may not be aware that as a running club we have now been going for 10 years. At this milestone we've spoken to the founder of the club, Ian Weston, for a Q&A.
Ian remains a very active member of the club, taking part in a multitude of running events of varying distances and theres a very good chance if you haven't met him yet, you will soon.

1. As a founder member what does that mean for you to reach 10 years of this club?

I'm very pleased the club still going strong with new member's finding us every year. The only change is the introduction of the couch to 5K and that, too, being successful.

2. What does being a member of Polegate Plodders mean for you? 

I really enjoy meeting new running friends and going to races

3. How long have you been running, or considered yourself a runner, and how did you first get into running?

I started running when I was at school in the cross country team, and have never stopped

4. Do have an event you especially look forward to?

I'm really looking forward to the London Marathon. It's going to be awesome.

5. Any other interesting running related achievements or facts about you?

My greatest achievement was the Holkham half Ironman 1600m swim, 56mile bike, Half Marathon,
Very pleased with results.

That sounds an amazing event to have been part of and to complete it truly is a great achievement. We all applaud that, Ian. 

Ian leads the Wednesday evening runs, so pop along to one if you haven't already and enjoy the varied routes his encyclopaedic knowledge of this area will take you.

Did you know we have qualified running coaches in our club who can assist you in reaching your running goals?

Our coaches are:

Ian Weston, Gary Manley, Caroline Gearing, Heather Long,
Mike Leigh, Chris Findlay-Geer & Rachel Moran

Our head coach and coach coordinator is Gary Manley.

We have taken the opportunity to do a Q&A with one of those coaches, Heather, so as a member you can see what additional benefits your already great value membership provides.

Heather Long

1. What is required to become a running coach and what does it entail?

A running coach must have a love for running and be reasonably good at it! They must also attend a course and qualify as a leader in running and keep up to date with safeguarding course and DBS checks.  They should also be able to commit to running a weekly session (voluntarily) and be aware of the runners that attend and provide routes, advice and support to those that attend their sessions.

2. You and the other club coaches hold a weekly running session. Other than members turning up to run it in a social capacity what are you able to offer members as an affiliated coach?

I am able to offer training plans, injury support and advice, and motivation.

3. If members want to make 2025 their year for getting into running more, or would like to improve on fitness or distance, for example, how are you able to assist them in their goal?

They can message me or speak to me about what they want to achieve and I am happy to set out a plan to help them reach their goal.

4. The big question that will be on every members lips is, as members of Polegate Plodders does it cost anything in addition to be coached by you or the other coaches, like it would in other running clubs?

No! Completely free - I just do it for love! But can also be persuaded with wine 

So there we have it! As a club we offer fun social runs, we encourage members to sign up to official running events and run as a team, and we can coach you every step of the way. And all from just £15 a year!

If you'd like to make 2025 your year for getting more into running in any way, then please go to our website for more details.

parkrun Round Up - 02/11/2024

 Another week and another round up of the Plodders parkruns. 

This week we had 20 parkrunners at 7 events and whilst we think all our runners are awesome it was fantastic to see 3 of the top 4 at Eastbourne parkrun this week were plodders. Well done to all Plodders at Eastbourne today, where the only PB was by Themba in 3rd (though he has run faster elsewhere!). 

Going around the world we also had runners at other parkruns with Michelle at what I assume was a muddy Malling Rec parkrun in Lewes, the Northways went to Lullingstone and we had individual runners at Nonsuch, Princes, Seaford Beach and Wakehurst. 

parkrun round up - 26/10/2024

 This week the Polegate Plodders has 14 club members run across 3 different parkrun events. Club representation was a little down this week due to many club members taking part in the various Beachy events that were taking place this week, more to come on those in our next Newsletter. 

Lets start with the unusual, this week we had a Plodder running in Australia, Helen Greck completed Glemona parkrun in a fantastic 36:47. From the sounds of her update to the Plodders group is was a fairly hot event!

We also had Michelle Pope making the not so distant trek to to Preston Park, where I actually made my parkrun debut in 2013! She ran 24:36 and was 15th female. 

The rest of our parkrunners plodded at Eastbourne, from the looks of the results there were no PBs and no milestones to talk about this week though Ian Weston did nearly break 20 minutes and in the process was very close to his seasons best. 

Well done all Plodders that took part in parkrun this week. 

Polegate Plodders Newsletter 1

WELCOME

Hello, and welcome to the Polegate Plodders newsletter. Collated and edited by our Social Media committee member, John, this is to celebrate you, our members, and what you've achieved in your running, to find out more about you, what makes you tick and why you enjoy running, and also to update you on upcoming events that we think you might be interested in and other running related information. We'd love to hear what you've been doing, so please let us know via email or our social media pages and we'll include you in the next issue. Photos of events are always welcome!

So, without further ado, we bring you:

PLODDER CHAIRMAN SAYS

by Gary Manley

Welcome to our new Newsletter. I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful things that plodders are getting up to and sharing them with the world. I have also done a little round up of parkrun from this week, event if I didn't have much to say it is always nice to have a look at the results and see how everyone did. 

CLUB KIT UPDATE

by Chris Findlay-Gear

Due to the complicated nature of using the club shop function with our kit provider, EV2, I’m going to try a new way of ordering kit.

We have to be able to fulfil a minimum order of 5 items in order for EV2 to process it and we have not been able to do this using the club shop function, we were lucky to get the last order as we were nowhere near the minimum order levels.

Therefore, I will be taking orders for Club Vests, Short Sleeved T’s and Long Sleeves T’s only to begin with. Both come in male and female sizes.

Vests are £21.60. Short Sleeved T-Shirts are £24. Long Sleeved T-Shirts are £26.40 (Prices in pics are ex.VAT.

Please email your required items and sizes to Chris.geer1977@gmail.com

No payment will be required until we have reached the minimum order and I will let you know when it is due. There is a 6-8 week turn around once the order is placed.

Any questions then please ask. Go!!

UPCOMING EVENTS

31st October at 7pm Meet outside Costa Coffee A spooktacular event with a twist! It's Halloween themed fancy dress with a £30 voucher from Tempo Running for the Plodder with the best outfit, as voted for by all those who do the run on the night. Open to all abilities as its a fun, gentle, slow and social 3 mile plod around the roads of Polegate. So, choose your costume, get the scary makeup on, and come along for a great social event.

PLODDER PRATTLE
A running Q&A with a club member

This month: John Martin

1. How long have you been running, and how did you get into running? 

I've been properly running for about 2 years now. Before that, I'd never run other than for a bus! But in 2016 a company I worked for decided at short notice to sponsor the Eastbourne Half Marathon and wanted staff to form a team. This was in the January! As Plodders know the half was the first Sunday of March! (from 2025 it'll now be the last Sunday of February) I signed up for this madness, trained in the short time I had, and ran my first ever event, the half marathon, in 02:15:55. Noises were made that maybe I should consider running as a thing, as I seemed to have an aptitude for it, but life happened again and I drifted away and didn't run again until the October that year when, with more notice this time, the company wanted to sponsor it again in 2017 and I put my running shoes back on to train, and with a challenge to myself to get below 2 hours, and that year I sneaked in with a 01:59:45.

Then for family reasons I drifted out of running yet again and didn't start running again until 2022, by which time I'd moved companies and a couple of my new work colleagues were into running properly and convinced me to join them on their social training runs. They gave me regular encouragement and I started actually wanting to run for fun and personal achievement. Since then I've run the Eastbourne Half every year, the Hastings Half, various 10K events and I joined the Plodders in 2023 and now run for fun at least 3 times a week and enjoy joining either the Monday or Wednesday club runs regularly. 

2. What does being a member of Polegate Plodders mean for you?

The Plodders are a great community of like minded individuals who enjoy running but don't take it overly seriously, in the wrong way, if you get my meaning.

What I love about this club is how relaxed the club runs are, and how relaxed the members are. There's no pointless competition (unless you want it and sign up for it) or attempts at one-upmanship, no pressure to do better. Just friendly support at events or club runs and a chat if you want one, while running in a group.

I still consider myself a newbie to running and am enjoying getting hints and tips from more experienced runners, hints and tips willingly given with no bravado.

The group runs are great for both new runners and experienced alike as a result of this great attitude, and the choice of runs means you can find one or more that suit you or feel right for you, and there's no pressure either way to return each week.

3. What distance is your favourite?

I find I really enjoy running for about an hour a time, which is around the 10K distance. The club runs I frequent also tend to be around this distance and I find them nicely fun without tiring me out after a days work.

4. Do you have a favourite event?

Not being a seasoned runner I don't have a myriad of events under my belt to choose from, but given its meaning to me and the fact it introduced me to running, albeit thrown in the deep end, sink or swim kind of way, I enjoy the Eastbourne Half Marathon and the challenge it provides with 'that hill'!

5. Any other interesting running related achievements or facts about you?

This year, 2024, I achieved a PB in the Eastbourne Half of 01:43:30 that I'm hugely proud of, after a challenging 2023 that effected my training in the run up to this.

I entered the London Marathon ballot this year, for 2025, and in an unbelievable turn of luck in my first ever time of entering I got a place! So now I'm mildly panicking... ok, panicking a lot, about training for this, and then actually running my first ever marathon. And being such an iconic marathon I don't want to let anyone or myself down.

EVENTS ROUNDUP

EAST SUSSEX SUNDAY CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE

Well done to the impressive 10 Plodders who turned out to represent us at the first of this fantastically fun, if rather muddy, challenging event comprising of 6 events in 6 different locations, one a month, around Sussex, each around 5 miles long.

The first event took place at Whitbread Hollow and was a very demanding run complete with a climb up to Beachy Head.

If you're an England Athletics member it only costs £10 total for all 6 events. Maybe something to consider if you want to take part in one or more of the remaining runs.
Feedback from the runners who took part is that it's great fun with a great sense of achievement.

Photos credit: Karly House (Plodder member)

PARKRUN (19th October)
by Gary Manley

On 19th October we had a fair few (12) plodders take part in a fun albeit wet and windy Eastbourne parkrun. The first plodder home was myself, Gary, in 18:09, a time reflecting my current fitness if not where I had been before illness, something I am sure I can discuss in a training part of the newsletter. Given the conditions it is probably no surprise that there are no PBs to talk of but it was very consistent running from many with lots of great running. It was nice at the end to have a chat with Chris and Leon to find out they had spent the first 4k talking before Chris rudely sprinted off at the end. A big thank you to Chris for giving me a lift to parkrun this week. My Mrs was away with the car and it was great to have a Plodder to help me get there. 

Well done to everyone doing Eastbourne. 

Gary MANLEY

Liam BROOKS

Mark WARDLE

Jamie MARTIN

Roger HUMPHRIES

Chris FINDLAY-GEER

Leon GRECK

Kevin BURTON

Juliette MIRAMS-CAMP

Rebecca GOLDSMITH

Jeremy LOWE

Martina LAMDEN

Further afield we had a few Plodders represent us at other parkruns. Noj was at Cranleigh and Themba ran at Princes parkrun. 

For those at Eastbourne we very nearly saw history with Matt coming within a second of breaking the long standing course record, doesn’t seem like it will last much longer!