Captains Corner

Hey everyone! GW & WG checking in for the monthly roundup of all things EGRC! 

So autumn is finally here and the evenings are drawing in. Time to dust off those head torches and bust out the fluorescent jackets and flashy lights

Roll on those lovely autumnal colours and fresher running conditions! That said… may be don’t pack away the factor 30 just yet as the sun can still be very strong this time of year! 

A good case in point was Sunday 15th September. A dozen EGRC runners joined the 10,000 ish runners on the start line to take part in the Bristol Half Marathon and a good few more marshalled the event as well. An hour later, further afield in Marlborough, another 9 EGRC runnersv lined up with the not quite as many (80 ish) runners to take on Club Champs Race Number 10 - The Temple Trail Half Marathon. The sun really did come out to play! It was a bit of a scorcher. Well done to all that took part, whether you opted for the tarmac and the crowds in Bristol, or the gravel paths, fields and hills of Marlborough. There were some great times laid down, especially in view of the heat. 

The following Sunday saw the eagerly anticipated Bristol Bridges run! A run devised by our completely bonkers, yet inventive, Chairman Neil - and open to anyone - as advertised on Facebook. The aim - to cross each of Bristol’s 45 bridges. The rules were that you could only cross a bridge once and it had to have water running underneath to be a qualifying bridge! Thankfully not all of the 426 interested parties turned up! There was a decent bunch of around 50 that attended over the course of the day. Not all EGRC members so it was good to meet some new people as well. You could choose from a distance of up to 29 miles to start at 8am, 11.5 miles to start from midday or 5 miles to start from 1.30pm - so there was something for everyone. Unlike our Bridges club session - you didn’t need to sprint across them either! Thankfully, because the route did include the Clifton Suspension Bridge (how could it not!?) as well as the Avonmouth Bridge heading out to Portishead and Weston. So not exactly small! The route was certainly varied and interesting and took most of us through parts of Bristol we’d never seen before. As is obligatory on any away run involving EGRC - it finished up at a pub! All who took part loved it and a huge thanks to Neil for organising it. 

Saturday 5th October also saw about a dozen of us taking part in the Avon Valley Railway 10k – CC Race No 11. The weather was kind and the course was fairly flat with 2k of cycle path before turning left across the fields for 6k. Just the right amount of mud to make it a challenge without being daft! Then back on the cycle path for the 2k “sprint” home. Fabulous to see a bit more EGRC Bling – well done Jack, Jer and Jacob!

But we’re not all about the physical EGRC - we like to test our brains from time to time! (Anyone see Eggheads recently?) The second EGRC Charity quiz of the year gave us just that opportunity. Donna Williams did a fantastic job in raising money for the club’s 2019 charity – Cardiac risk in the Young - CRY. Whilst there weren’t many EGRC members at the quiz night, our fab team mate Donna Williams organised a great evening where she raised an amazing £450 and still growing! Well done Donna! 

Hot off the press!! Conti 2020 entries go live on the 16th October at 10.00 – if you want to take part in one of the best team spirited events in the EGRC calendar then come ask one of us what its all about and get your name in the hat! How else would you want to spend 24 hours in a field with your EGRC chums running 10k laps! You should have received an e-mail to complete a survey – make sure you get it completed if you want to take part!

Happy running all!