Southville RC Newsletter April 2025
Hi Everyone,
Hi viz rule is now lifted
The clocks have gone forward, which means hi viz is no longer mandatory at our running nights and you can run in the sun in whatever colours you like.
Please continue to bear in mind your visibility and safety.
Please also ensure you follow SRC etiquette when out at our running nights:
All runners should call "Keep left Southville! / Keep right Southville!" and so on as bikes and other path users approach, especially from behind.
Keep single file when needed and follow all other instructions from the group leader.
All SRC runners across all groups should walk over Gaol Ferry Bridge and other narrow footbridges.
Thank you for helping us stay on good terms with the local community.
Track is back!
We plan to start the 2025 season on Thursday April 10th at 6.30pm, running every Thursday at that time until and including September 11th, still for £3 per session (unchanged for 8 years👏).
Even better, the first track session on April 10th is free to all runners, to encourage everyone to have a go. It isn't just for fast runners; there is always a mix of paces just as there is for our Southbank running nights.
The track is at the Bristol Family Cycling Centre, Bamfield, Bristol BS14 0XA. There will be an Event page on Facebook with details of each track night, including a map and directions. For info, there is a fully accessible toilet there.
Rob Hingston is our coach once again but he is away in New Zealand for the first two track nights, so Louise Harris, who amongst other things is an Ironman coach, has stepped in to lead those sessions (she came to run in a few last year).
There are usually 3 or 4 pace groups running a different session each week, such as the challenging 8 x 800m with 2 mins recovery between each, or 1 x 800m, 2 mins recovery, 4 x 1609m (i.e., one mile), 2 mins recovery, 1 x 400m plus optional 200m.
The car parking has changed, as the usual car park is not now available. Bikes can just be brought into the track and locked there.
Car parking during the day for the Bristol Family Cycling Centre (who hire the track from Bristol City Council and sub-let to us) now happens at the old St. Bernadette's Rugby Club clubhouse, but this is locked at night so you just have to park back along the track side of the road on Bamfield and walk back to the new gates: there are no parking restrictions, but do please AVOID parking near the two traffic islands, otherwise the Metro buses can't get through.
As for payment, you can still just turn up with £3, but we're making payment easier by offering 4 sessions for £10 for regular runners (rather than the usual £3 for individual sessions), so that notes can be used instead of having to find £3 in change. This will be hard to track so there will be an honesty system element to all this. We're also in the process of setting up our new online payment system to take payments for track as well; watch this space.
Once again a big thank you to Jim Sheeran for organising our track sessions.
Quarterly General Meeting
Our next QGM will be on Tuesday 22nd April. Everyone is welcome to come along and have their say in what goes on behind the scenes at SRC.
The meeting will take place immediately after we're back from running at 7.45pm.
Items for the agenda should be emailed to the Secretary by April 15th.
The agenda will then be circulated via this mailing list and the WhatsApp group. All the minutes from previous meetings, and other important documents such as our current Constitution, can be perused on the Club Documents section of our website.
Social news
A big thank you to Susan Boyle for organising March's padel social.
April's social is tomorrow on 1st April and is our quarterly post-run food night. Pre-orders for the food have closed, but hang around after running anyway as it's a perfect time to meet your fellow runners, especially for those new to the club.
Race Roundup
The racing season was fully underway in March, with the opening weekend seeing the Newport Half, Green Man Ultra and Chippenham 10k among others. Katie Egan won an early silver at the Lulworth Cove 27k trail race.
The following week Lisa Franklin wasted no time in taking 7 minutes off her marathon PB, which kicked off a wave of PBs the next weekend as Alex, Megan, Dave, Oli, Penny, Neil, Jade, Charlie, Paul, Will and Amy all PBed in the Weymouth and Bath Half Marathons.
The final weekend of March was the stage for 20/20 Fission, a very popular race among those building up to marathons and half marathons. Hayley, Jenny and Susan won the ladies' team prize in the Half Marathon, and Sam, Sam and Joe all set PBs for the 20 mile distance.
The racing fun continues in April as the SRC Club Championship begins. Entries for the SRCCC have closed, but have a look at the list of Championship races at the bottom of this email anyway, because it still shows you which races will see a particularly large Green Army turnout.
And a reminder that the GWR Towpath series is still open for early bird entries & SRC get £5 off using the code - (SouthvillleGreenArmy) Making it £20 for 4 races over the summer, a Friday evening a month, followed by the Tobacco Factory. Over 20 SRC already signed up for the series. More details & entries on GWR's website.
Race #1 (May 23rd) is the mob-match. Even if you can’t run the series, we need all SRC runners to help us win back the trophy!
Parkrun
Parkrun is a free weekly timed 5k run that takes place every Saturday at 9am all over the country and all over the world. There are also 2k Junior Parkruns for those 14 and under. You can sign up for free on parkrun's website, where you will get a barcode that can be taken to every event (physically or on your phone); you just turn up, run and then have your barcode scanned at the end to get your result.
We aim for an extra-large turnout at Ashton Court on every first Saturday of the month, which this month is Saturday April 5th. And not only is it our usual Ashton Court gathering, but it's the kick-off of the SRC Club Championship.
Once a month we also pick a parkrun further afield for some SRC tourism, and this month's is Rogiet Parkrun on Saturday April 19th (also a Championship race). The course is three laps of a compacted track surface, and please note that unfortunately dogs are not allowed at this event. If you're looking for a lift or able to offer one, head to our members-only WhatsApp community where there is a dedicated parkrun channel. There is also a train to nearby Severn Tunnel Junction from Bedminster station at 8.10am, scheduled to arrive just in time at 8.45.
Dates for your Diary
🏆 marks an SRC Championship race. A big Green Army turnout guaranteed!
🏆🧡Sat April 5 - Ashton Court Parkrun
🏁Sun April 6 - Big Cheese (Cheddar)
🎽Thu April 10 - Track sessions begin
🏆Sun April 13 - Frenchay 10k
🏆Thu April 17 - Weston Prom Run
🏆🧡Sat April 19 - Rogiet Parkrun
🏁Sun April 20 - Hanham Horror
🏆Sat April 26 - Butcombe Trail Ultra
🏆🥳Sun May 11 - Great Bristol Half / 10k
🏆🧡Sat May 17 - Forest of Dean Parkrun
🏁Thu May 22 - Weston Prom Run
🏆Fri May 23 - Towpath Mobmatch 10k
🏆Mon June 2 - Blaise Blazer
🏆Tue June 10 - Clevedon Midsummer 10k
🏁Fri June 20 - Towpath 10k
🏆🧡Sat June 21 - Severn Bridge Parkrun
🏆Wed July 2 - Chippenham Harriers River Run
🚌Sat July 5 - Cotswold Way Relay
🚌July 10-13 - Love Trails Festival
🏆Thu July 17 - Purdown Pursuit
🏁Fri July 25 - Towpath 10k
🏁Fri August 15 - Towpath 5k
🎽Thu September 11 - Last track session