Chairman's Chat

This Chairman's Chat comes to you on the back of a fantastic weekend of race participation, organisation and team spirit. Many members of the club may not have heard of the Green Man Ultra but is a little jaunt around Bristol staged twice a year. And when I say around Bristol, I mean all around the outskirts of Bristol. The full circuit, starting and ending in Ashton, is 45 miles and there is a shorter 2/3 distance of 30 miles beginning in Keynsham known as the Green Boy. I love the route as it follows the Community Forest Path and takes in multiple villages and suburbs of our city and the best of the local countryside. To run this distance is a huge challenge but it is also very achievable; we had ten members complete the full 45 miles and two complete the 30 mile race. Anyone that takes on the challenge is worthy of a big round of applause and I hope that you all enjoyed it (even if you couldn't walk downstairs the following day!). But what also stood out about these races was the way our runners were supported by club members; I believe I can count as many supporters/crew out on the course as there were EGRC participants in the race - great job everybody. And in addition to this, other members were engaged in chat groups asking after the progress of their racing pals. What amazing spirit and camaraderie all round!

The following day saw our very own Rodway 10k over a course as muddy as it's ever been. My apologies for being a bit detached from proceedings (I'll explain why in a minute) but from what I have seen on Facebook, the race went really well and there was bucket loads of great feedback from racers. Thank you all to got up early on a Sunday morning and helped make this another super and successful race. I would also like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to Ashley and Kate Wright who have looked after this race for the last four years - thank you both for everything you have done. Ashley and Kate will be handing the Rodway reigns over to Graham Wright and Kerri Robberts for 2021 and I hope that they can count on your support.

I wasn't around for Rodway because I was down in deepest, darkest Devon, in the sunny seaside town of Seaton, home to one of my favourite races (it runs Doynton very close.....), The Grizzly. Like the village of Doynton embraces our hard half marathon, Seaton and it's community embraces The Grizzly; indeed, the whole weekend and half of the town is dedicated to race festivities. This was the eighth time I have ran the Grizzly and it must have been the muddiest it's ever been. There are several stretches where you run on the shingle, the route takes you up hills, through forests, there are multiple bands en route, there are hundreds of supporters and impromptu aid stations in places you wouldn't expect, slippery slopes, captivating countryside, cliff-face climbs and sensational seascapes, there was even a centurion in full fancy dress and you'll begin to understand why I love this race. Did I mention it was 20 miles? There is a 13 version for the not-so-daft. Please, if any of the descriptors in this paragraph have appealed to you, put this race on your bucket list. It sells out every year hence its a ballot entry, just leave a little space for me. 

Happy running everyone

Neil