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!