We are less than a month away from the 10th Bristol VegfestUK (25 & 26 May) and the club has held a stall at all of them. I recall back in 2004 at the first (advertised as a ‘Vegan Fayre’) inside The V-Shed, meeting Joe & Jane Harling. They joined later when we started a membership scheme and have remained with the club. Some other members on this list have also remained loyal to VRUK. http://bristol.vegfest.co.uk/ . Back to the forthcoming event, it is another good opportunity to meet members not just from the local area but also from around the UK, some will be wearing their club kit.
Recent Events
Joe & Jane have continued their monthly off-road Endurance Life Series (Coastal Trail Series) with Joe running the marathon or ultra distance and Jane the 10K or half marathon. For the unfamiliar, the venues are at various coastal locations around the UK. The latest event on 13 April was at the north Devon coast on Exmoor. The results did not appear to be available at this time. Early March the venue was in Northumberland.
Representing VRUK in the recent London Marathon was Claire Fullbrook-Scanlon, securing a club place. Unfortunately an accident around a fortnight before the day meant Claire had to take it cautiously and walk as necessary to get round. Drawing on her experience of other marathons she finished in 5 hours 51 minutes. Claire commented that in future she will be focusing on shorter distances.
Daniel Kirby has also been active running major half marathons at Brighton, Bath and Reading.
Forthcoming Events
Town & Country Series (TACH)
The first of the TACH series of off-road 10Ks was held in the past week with Isabel Hoskin and Jenny McNamara running. They are small events given the locations so if you are interested in running any of the remaining three events towards the end of each month, you will need to enter quickly if indeed places are still available. http://www.tach.org.uk/races.php
Bristol Half Marathon & 10K
Is anyone entered for either of these events? The 10K is scheduled for this Sunday, 5 May and the Bristol Half Marathon on 15 September. Originally the club had an idea of a block booking to obtain a 25% discount off the £34 (or £32) but with many members running it last year and not getting the notice out early enough this year, it will not be this year. http://www.runbristol.com/HalfMarathon/119/2013-Bristol-half-marathon.aspx
Cardiff Half Marathon
Cedric & Helen, our South Wales contacts will be running their local half marathon again this year, scheduled for 6 October. They would encourage you to sign-up and meet-up if you are considering this event. http://www.cardiffhalfmarathon.co.uk/
Bath Hilly 10 miles
If you like an extra challenge, this one maybe for you. An established event in the area scheduled for 2 June. http://www.bathhillyten.co.uk/
Parkruns Every Saturday 9am
A free 5K run is held every Saturday morning and the results are recorded. An opportunity for a leisurely run amongst a large group or you can take it more serious. Either way it is free and useful publicity for VRUK. The website maintains separately the history of each parkrun venue. In the Bristol region there are two parkruns at Ashton court and Little Stoke. Isabel is the club’s most frequent park runner, completing 25 runs. Anyone interested in choosing a monthly Saturday to meet at Ashton Court or Little Stoke?
A reminder that Daniel Kirby and Jenny McNamara have volunteered to be VRUK’s local contacts. Daniel based in Bath is personally more interested in road running and Jenny in north Somerset focuses on hills and off-road.
