I apologise for the length of this newsletter. As we didn't have a newsletter last week because of the AGM, there's quite a bit to catch up on.
All Club News
Our AGM
We held our club AGM last Monday, 26th April, and you can find material discussed at the AGM here.
Our New Chairman is Chris Daniels
Chris very kindly volunteered to stand as Chairman just prior to the AGM. I am sure I speak for all of us when I say a huge thank you to Chris for stepping into this role and I know that my fellow committee members and I are very grateful to you for doing so.
I asked Chris if he could provide us with a bit of a biography by way of an introduction for anyone who doesn't know him. Here is what he wrote:
"I've lived in Redhill my whole life although my interest in running has covered a much smaller time period, I decided to take up running after qualifying as an Actuary about eight years ago as a result of a challenge from a colleague to run a 10k. After graduating from 10k to half marathons and then a full marathon (Brighton 2014) I decided to give the inaugural Run Reigate half marathon a go. There I met a couple of people from RPAC who encouraged me to join them on a Tuesday night and I was hooked! If you'd have told me twenty years ago that I would spend an hour a week running as fast as I could round a fairly dilapidated track I would have thought that you were mad. Of course the reason it's so much fun are the incredibly welcoming and friendly club members who immediately made me feel welcome and the volunteers who give up their time to endlessly tell me to relax my shoulders and raise my knees!
I've had some great times with the Club including (the drinks after) various cross country events, the duels I've had in past Reigate half marathons with other club members, cheating death about ten times in 29 minutes on the original Jimmy James course, and winning a second place senior men's half marathon trophy in an incredibly fluky way. I genuinely believe that joining the running club was one of the best decisions I ever made and that is why I decided to put my name forward for this role.
Outside of running I lead the calculations team, of about 70 people, at the Government Actuary's Department and volunteer with the Institute of Actuaries to help with the accreditation of Actuarial Science courses at universities. When I'm not doing that I love long distance walking, and have covered a fair number of the National Trails. I'm also very fond of pubs so plan to reacquaint myself with them in a major way in the next few months.
Here's a photo of me on the Cleveland Way"
Thank You Malcolm!
After 8 years at the helm Malcolm Woodman stood down as chair of the club at the AGM (held last Monday 26th April). Without wishing to embarrass Malcolm I think you will agree that we all owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for his direction of the club over all those years.
I would like to quote from an email that I was sent earlier in the week which I think sums up what we all feel
"During the period that you were Chair, the club has made enormous strides:
The financial model is now self funding without the need for contribution from the organised races.
Significant improvements have been made to the Battlebridge track as a home base, and the new floodlighting will make the environment safer and more enjoyable.
Links to the local community, and particularly the local Council, are stronger than ever.
The committee is well organised, with a good mix across the different aspects of the club, and expertise in key roles.
Membership numbers remain strong, and performance levels among the different age groups are remarkable for a club of our size with limited facilities.
I know that you will be continuing to contribute to the club through your coaching,of the senior squad, but as the chapter of your time as Chair is now closed, you should be proud of your leadership of the club over these years.."
Hear, Hear!
On a personal note I would like to add my thanks for your encouragement (the Cranleigh 21 in 2019 particularly stands out in my mind ), and for your patience in sorting out the many mistakes I have made whilst composing the newsletter or compiling the results.
LoveAdmin
You should all have received an email by now inviting you to pay your membership fees from our new administrative application, LoveAdmin. LoveAdmin will also be used to send out the email version of this newsletter from now on.
New Joiners
Please join me in extending a very warm RPAC welcome to John Gammon, Karima Graham, Michael MacFarlane, Tom Ryan, Victoria Stammars and Alistair Swanepoel who have all recently joined the club. I hope to meet you all in person in the not too distant future.
Couch to 5K
Following the great success of the Couch to 5k programme held in 2019 we are planning to run a new programme this year starting on Saturday 8th May. This will be led by Paul Walters. Full details are on the noticeboard. Please share it with anyone who you think might be interested.
Sportsshoes.com Discount Code
There is a new discount code available from Sportsshoes.com. This is valid until 3rd June and will be included in the email version of this newsletter. Please remember that we are not allowed to share this code with non-members.
Junior Section News
There were plenty more PB's spread around the Juniors at the South London Harriers Open Meeting held in Coulsdon on Saturday.
In the long jump there were new personal bests for U13's Michael Maguire and Sophia Potter.
Sophia also ran a good first ever 300m.
Doubling up in the 300 and 800 was U11 Florence Shade who posted two excellent times in her first competitive races over these distances.
In the 800m an outstanding performance by U15 Lilah Unwin, in her first race of the summer, saw her take over 4 seconds off her previous best time! Posting 2.17.48, Lilah has already secured an entry standard for the prestigious English Schools T&F Championships scheduled (but still to be confirmed) for three days 9th 10th 11th July in Manchester.
Charlotte Pelekani was another U15G who put in an excellent run to register a new PB in the 800m.
U17 Oscar Curry continued his great run of form with yet another 800M PB in a time of 2.03.73.
Downs League XC Morden Park Sunday 25th April
The rescheduled XC (postponed in Dec courtesy of the outbreak of the Covid Kent variant) was held in Morden Park on Sunday 25th April.
Stand out performances came from Max Orchard, 4th in the U13B'S race, and Euan Willis who finished 5th in the U15B'S race.
Picture: Three RPAC U13G'S line up for the start in Morden Park.
Medway & Maidstone Open, Gillingham, Monday 3rd May
Two talented young RPAC Juniors travelled to Gillingham on Bank Holiday Monday with another PB each to reward their efforts.
For Max Orchard it came with 4m.63, his best effort yet in the U13B'S Long Jump.
Lilah Unwin took on the 300m and ran the second fastest time ever by an RPAC U15G clocking 43.53! Only 3 hundredths of a second off the club record set eight years ago.
Pictures below are of Max and Lilah today.
Senior Section News
A new Club Record for Eloise
Eloise Bull set a new club record in the 3000m held at Birmingham University on 21st April, finishing in a time of 10:37:19. This beats the previous club record for this distance by some 11 seconds. Well done Eloise!
Jon's 50K
Jon Payn completed the North Downs Ridge 50k trail run, his first ultra distance race, on Saturday (1st May).
Here's what he had to say about it: "With just under 3000ft of elevation, this 50k route started at Denbies vineyard and followed the North Downs way westwards towards Newlands Corner, from there it dropped down and back up St Martha’s on the hill and back down the other side towards Guildford. A welcome checkpoint was waiting to be able to refuel before turning around and back up to St Martha’s retracing the route to Denbies. With the finish line in sight, the route detoured to a rather undulating circular 10k of Norbury Park before returning back to Denbies, this time for the finish line. This being my first ever ultra and longest distance run, I was aiming for under 6 hours so I was really pleased when I finished in 5.36.55. "
Other Results
Tom Almond, Lee Savage, Steve Cheesman and recent joiners Karina Graham and Tom Ryan all ran at the Running Grand Prix at Goodwood Motor Circuit on 25th April.
Karima and Tom Ryan ran the marathon and finished in 04:34:01 and 02:56:14 respectively.
Tom Almond ran the half marathon and finished in 01:10:41. Lee and Steve ran in the 10K and finished in 35:28 and 37:36 respectively.
Well done to all of you and especial congratulations to the two Toms for achieving new PBs.
Please let us know about any missing results by emailing 
Some dates for your diaries
Epsom Allsorts are holding their annual Hogsmill 5 mile ladies race virtually this year between 22nd and 31st May. Details are here and entry is free if you do not wish to receive a medal.
London Marathon Events is staging a Reunion 5km at Kempton Park on Saturday May 15 to help with the government’s events research programme. There will be three races in total with 3000 runners and 3000 spectators in each and it is designed in conjunction with the Department for Digital, Media, Culture & Sport to help with scientific data on how mass participation events can safely resume as part of the roadmap out of lockdown in England from June 21. Entry costs £15 – with registered spectators free of charge – and you can apply here.
Keep in touch
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