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Ultra Xmas effort for the animals

Ultra Xmas effort for the animals

December 8, 2022 0

On Winter Solstice (21st December) Sean Barrs and Rory Cockshaw will be running with other club members from sunrise until sunset in Bushy Park as a Christmas Run for Animals. Sean, Rory and others will be attempting to be as conspicuous as possible in accomplishing this endurance event to raise awareness – and funds – for animals this Christmas. They are each going to be running and maybe walking and crawling as far as they can between 8:05am and 3:54pm.  That’s a whole 7 hours and 49 mins. The team is keen to raise awareness for the 10 million turkeys that are slaughtered just for Christmas dinners.  These Turkeys will end their lives at between 9 and 21 weeks old yet their natural lifespan could be 10 years. An overwhelming majority of these turkeys are factory farmed and will never see the light of day, they will have no space to roam nor able express their natural behaviours. There is a mass murder event in the days leading up to Christmas which  omnivores, celebrating at their dinner tables, are oblivious. So this initiative seeks get maximum publicity and raise money for Viva!  And Sean (above) has a special hat for this occasion.  Rory will be wearing a turkey shaped hat. The runners have set themselves a target of £1,000. If you would like to support them on this ultramarathoning effort, you can do so here. Good luck to Rory and Sean and all others who will be supporting them. Some of the press coverage below :- In this first link Rory explains more fully his motivation for this initiative. https://www.ladbible.com/news/vegan-is-running-for-8-hours-to-honour-all-the-slaughtered-turkeys-212695-20221207 https://uk.news.yahoo.com/vegan-campaigner-run-dawn-dusk-070046079.html?guccounter=2 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/vegan-run-from-dawn-dusk-28673710 https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/real-life/vegan-run-dawn-dusk-memory-25691748 https://viva.org.uk/get-involved/fundraise-with-team-viva/the-christmas-run-for-animals/?fbclid=IwAR1QmHVUvZXu_svV21Y_2QhYOecxIRzGgyn3cZg-_giU3xKNZJKZHFPWBzQ https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/real-life/vegan-run-dawn-dusk-memory-7902759?fbclid=IwAR0UyePYUOqvd3yNvFnBxFK86F208jOEneL9mCnwZ41AevhJYf6v4uMsnbA      

Member appears on BBC local news in club kit

Member appears on BBC local news in club kit

November 25, 2022 0

Anyone who has read Fiona Oakes’ Running For Good might recall when being prepped for a prime time TV interview about her international running achievements the producer asked that she didn’t mention the ‘V’ word.  But she went ahead and mentioned the V word anyway 😊 Recently a club member, Adrian Pope, was interviewed for the BBC South East lunchtime news concerning a football exhibition that celebrates the life and legacy of Isaac Newell who was an inspiration for football in Argentina. There is a club called “Club Atlético Newell’s Old Boys”  in Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina. That club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. When working in Argentina twenty years ago, Adrian, a Gillingham FC fan watched a Newell’s Old Boys football match and became curious about the English-sounding name of the club and did some research.   Over the last two decades, Adrian has campaigned for the story of Isaac Newell to be told. So, Adrian was a logical choice to interview for the BBC local news coverage of the opening of the exhibition. Adrian chose to wear the Vegan Runners club’s race day jacket for the interview (naturally).    It’s no surprise to some of us that the BBC asked that Adrian take off his race-day club jacket but he refused and compromised just a little by unzipping it slightly. So did the BBC then deliberately take the club name out of focus in the long shot ?  Was it intentional that the close up cropped off the club name?  We can only speculate but they do have a track record (and we won’t mention Country File). So well done Adrian in his determined attempt to champion the club’s logo on TV. The news recording is no longer available on the BBC website but there is a youtube posting here.

JOSH’S PODIUM PERFORMACE

JOSH’S PODIUM PERFORMACE

November 14, 2022 0

Readers of our September newsletter may recall Josh’s impressive endurance accomplishment of 31 marathons in 31 consecutive days to raise funds for an animal sanctuary where he volunteers.  That incredible and highly commendable effort raised over £17,000 for Millington’s Magical Barn. Running 812.2 miles in a month is more than some of us achieve in a year and might have debilitating consequences for many but for Josh it seems his efforts was beneficial preparation for an competitive ultra event. On Saturday 5th November whilst many of us were enjoying a 5k parkrun, Josh was already one hour in a grinding hilly race equal to nearly 10 parkruns but somewhat more hilly – the White Rose 30 mile ultra. Much to his surprise after 4 hours and 40 minutes Josh was first across the finish line after 30 miles and was a good 9 minutes ahead of second place. Josh summarised the experience “[It was a] relentlessly brutal course, climb after climb with the weather thrown in.   Nice to see it, through I had to dig deep but got my reward in the end.  If I knew all I had to do to win was do 31 marathons in 31 days, I’d have done it ages ago.” Once again proving that plant power is perfect for performance. (see what I did there?)

Picture of the month.

Picture of the month.

October 30, 2022 0

The guy on the right is a club member who goes by the intriguing handle ‘Pope Adrian IV’.  Can you guess who’s the guy on the left – (first clue – he runs and borrowed the hat from our member for the pose)? The moustache is another clue.  Still not there.  OK, your third and final clue is ‘118’! David Bedford was the world 10,000-meter record holder back in 1973.  He also held the British 3,000m steeplechase and the 5,000m records.  Today he’s the Chairman of the IAAF Road Running Commission which he took on in 2012 after retiring from race directorship of the London Marathon. Sadly, David isn’t a vegan, but it seems he’ll do almost anything to sell raffle tickets for his local non-league football club. Pope Adrian IV was having a busy day of metropolitan encounters which later included punk Charlie Harper of UK Subs and others. (Facebook post).

Gareth Competes for GB

Gareth Competes for GB

October 30, 2022 0

Who is this chap in the GB vest and why is he surrounded by an enthusiastic bunch of VRs? It’s Gareth Pritchard.  And he’s competing for Great Britain on the 24th of September 24-hour European Championships.  Gareth finished 28th overall, 6th GB male with 247km in his debut for Great Britain on the 24th September at the European 24 hour championships in Verona.  When competing for GB you can’t wear club kit – not even patches. But his enthusiastic support team left no doubt for every spectator and competitor concerning the plant diet that fuelled his performance.  We hope to bring you the full story of this amazing achievement in our Christmas edition.  

London Marathon 2023

London Marathon 2023

October 27, 2022 0

Information about London Marathon 2023 Club entries  London Marathon offers up to 4 club entries for club members of various England Athletics affiliated clubs to participate in London Marathon and represent their club More information about London Marathon club entries is here: London Marathon Club Entries for 2023 Vegan Runners UK applied for club entries on 3rd November 2022 and will be informed by 29th November 2022 if (and how many) we will be able to offer to our members for London Marathon 2023 Email will be sent (at the end of November 2022) to all active Vegan Runners UK members informing about the possibility to enter and the rules for entries To apply for Vegan Runners UK club entry for London Marathon 2023 you will have to: be member of Vegan Runners UK for at least 12 months (as on 23rd April 2023) have active England Athletics membership and have Vegan Runners UK as your 1st claim club with England Athletics not have won the London Marathon club entry for Vegan Runners UK before agree to wear Vegan Runners UK club vest during London Marathon 2023 have entered the general ballot and received the ‘Not This Time’ response Good for age entries  Good for age entries for London Marathon 2023 are now closed, however, would you consider it for the future, here is more information about it: London Marathon ‘Good for Age’ Entries Run for the charity London Marathon supports a long list of charities and runners are able to get the entry to London Marathon by fundraising for one of them. Please see the report made by Animal Aid of some health charities and their involvement with animal testing Animal Aid Health Charities If you have any further questions, please email Club Secretary at: club.secretary@veganrunners.org.uk 

England Athletics Age Group Masters

England Athletics Age Group Masters

October 21, 2022 0

England Athletics recognises that a significant amount of the membership of road running clubs is made up of runners aged over thirty-five years. The Age Group Masters competition programme recognises and rewards the significant contribution that these runners make to our sport. Through their annual rolling programme of qualifying events and representative opportunities, they provide Masters runners with a friendly competition format and the chance to earn themselves an England Age Group Masters vest. England Masters development webinars are open to all runners who want to make the most of their training. Find full details of the opportunities available here: https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/england-competitions/age-group-masters-competition/ Age Group Masters standards are available here: https://www.englandathletics.org/athletics-and-running/england-competitions/england-teams-and-selection/england-age-group-masters/standards/   Main Masters Programme qualifying and representative races: You should independently enter the actual race through their normal entry procedure, and then register as a master with our online form. 10k Representative race: Chester 10km (March 2023) Qualifier 1: Already gone Qualifier 2: Already gone Qualifier 3: Already gone Qualifier 4: Already gone Half Marathon Representative race: Chester Half Marathon (May 2023) Qualification Race 1: Already gone Qualification Race 2: Already gone Qualification Race 3: Already gone Qualification Race 4: Already gone Marathon Representative race: Chester Marathon (October 2023) Qualification Race 1:  Already gone Qualification Race 2: Already gone Qualification Race 3: 2023 Adidas Manchester Marathon (16 April 2023) | Register for the Adidas Manchester Marathon as Master Qualification Race 4: 2023 London Marathon (April 2023 TBC)  

Jordan sets course record in Hurtwood 50k ultra

April 26, 2021 0

Trophy Awaited in post due to Covid19 measures Twenty-four year old local runner Jordan Clay took first place in race covering a 50 kilometres Sunday 17th April.  He set a course record of 3 hours 34 minutes and finishing just under 30 minutes ahead of second place. The race finally took place after COVID19 restrictions were relaxed for organised sporting events after being rescheduled several times.  The course starts from Dorking and follows the Greensand Way trail route into the forested Surrey Hills and with three hills involving 4,200 feet of climbs.  This was Jordan’s only second attempt at an ultra distance competition.  He said he very much enjoy the run and announced “I’m looking forward to racing over more ultra distance races throughout the year.” The above press release, including the photo, was published on the back page of the Leighton Buzzard Observer on Tuesday 27th April 2021.

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