Ladies and gents ...

Ladies and gents,

The last weekly round-up of a long year, delivered in a week in which we've had to break out the headtorches for the first time. That was Wednesday, however, not the glorious weekend which saw the final race in the 2013-14 club GP, the Kielder marathon. For those who've not used the track around England's largest reservoir, it is a beautiful, serene path through fragrant woods, gently(ish) rising and falling continually, bar a flat section along the dam. At this time of the year it provides a stunning setting for a marathon and would have been perfect for a head-to-head to decide the overall contests. It wasn't to be, as the Waltons (both resting) already had these wrapped up, though Alister Robson as first male Strider in claimed second in the Endurance category of the GP (Gareth, not running on Sunday), third and third place overall. Megan Bell and Susan Davies, first and second Striders over the line in not much more than 4 hours, had outstanding runs and there were marathon debuts for Barbara Dick and, I think, Angela Robson.

Also enjoying the sun were Dougie N and Scott W on the October Odyssey, orienteering's challenges shown by the 2hrs it took Scott to complete a 7.7k 'as the crow flies' course, despite being one of the club's better navigators, Camilla and Anita Clementson dodging the wildlife on the Saltergate-Levisham fell race and Browells junior and senior at the Hellhole 10k, again in autumnal woodland; Penny first lady (24th overall) and Conrad White first male Strider in 28th overall. Strong runs also from Mike Bennett, Richard Hockin and Debbie MacFarland.

Look ahead two days and the Hartlepool 5 mile race has EOD on Sunday morning, whilst the Richmond 10k sadly does not, but does at least have Jon Ayres racing in the green and purple. The York Marathon also takes place on the Sunday, affording several Striders the chance to either complete their first 26.2 miles or attack their PB time with a vengeance; good luck to all. Of course, look ahead 15 hours and it will be time to kick off the new cross country season; it is no understatement to say that, despite the nights drawing in and the courses themselves being somewhat unexciting for the most part, the return of XC is one of the most truly uplifting parts of the running year for many, myself included. We have almost 140 registered runners and the fields in both male and female races will be enormous; for all that we live in a sedentary part of a sedentary nation in a sedentary age, tomorrow it will be easy to believe for a time that none of this is the case. The blend of good-natured yet hard competition, support and cake promises to make this a season to remember as, Geoff and Susan would argue, they all are.

Tomorrow also marks the beginning of the new GP season and a chance to gauge oneself against fellow club members across different types of terrain and distance. Half a dozen club members have worked on the GP programme (with a lot of you suggesting races you'd like to see in the club's internal competition), with a view to keeping it interesting, varied, scenic, easy to enter, cheaper than it was previously and pitching the vast majority of the races at a level that most club members will be able to manage with training. Some of the races are easier than those they replace (eg. the marathon this year is essentially flat, as opposed to Kielder's undulations) and some harder. 6 races are XC, 7 are on the hills, 11 on the tarmac and a couple on a good paths. The shortest is 5k, the longest 26.2m. Some will have dozens of Striders entering, whilst in others there may be only a handful; on some you'll see no spectators bar the odd walker whilst others will provide much more of a big-race atmosphere. We hope you enjoy it and ask for your feedback on an ongoing basis, as it will always be listened to; you are the club, which those of us on the committee have had the privilege to serve. You are the reason that new runners come to us and keep running with us. It is for you that we have organised the training and events we have and it is only with you that we were able to show off Durham to other clubs in the form of the Clamber's resurgence, giving something back to the local running world and the other clubs whose efforts we benefit from. Despite being relatively seasoned runners, we still get an enormous kick out of seeing beginners become 5k runners, 5k runners doing their first 10k and 10k runners going on to run halves, fell races, XC and marathons; or just keep running and enjoying 10ks because they enjoy them.

We hope and trust that we have left the club in good shape for the forthcoming season; we thank you for what has been a memorable year, for all the right reasons. Ladies and gents, thank you.

Paul and Anna

Paul adds ...

Even by usual '90%-accurate-at-best' standards, two stinkers here:

Elaine Bisson ran Kielder in a stunning 3 hours and 23 minutes. To miss this off is a little embarrassing - this os an outstanding time that few in the club of either gender could match on this course. Helen Allen finished the Hellhole 10k in 1 hour and 6 minutes; for soem reason the results show her as a Blackhill Bounder, though hopefully today her vest will prove otherwise.

Thanks to those who pointed out the omissions, as well as those of you who've commented on the other matters referred to.