Steyning AC

Per the request from many Steyning AC members, we are now able to offer for sale “club hoodies”, to keep you warm during those MANY events where you are hanging around before and after events in this lovely British climate we call home…

There are many sizes available per below (which the measurements are taken from your body – i.e not the hoodie itself).

Adult Sizes:
S – 36″ M – 40″ L – 44″ XL – 48″ 2XL* – 52″
They are also available in Children’s sizes
XS – 26′ / S – 28′ / M – 30′ / L – 32′ / XL – 34′

Priced at a reasonable amount of £17ea. I would like to place the orders before 30th June so let me know what you require to Gary Brind gb@owolff.com

Saturday 1st June will see the 2013 running of the Southdowns Relay.  This is an annual event SAC has participated in for many years.  In recent years we have won the the Ladies category (2008), B team category (2006), A team category (2007) and also the overall team title (2009).

It’s a tough day but great fun and immensely rewarding, quite different from the usual running races, where you run for yourself.  The day is long and usually hot and after hours in a minibus, when not running, you know your team members better than at the start.  I ran it for 10 years and and others in the club have done the same but we need fresh younger runners to take up the baton.

For those who are new to the event, each team requires six runners, who each run three legs of between 4 and 8 miles in length, almost all with some climb and descent.  The teams run 95 miles of the Southdowns Way between Beachy Head and Chilcomb near Winchester.

Please let me know  by Monday 18th March at the latest if you want to run in a SAC team.  If you’ve not run it before and would like more information before committing please contact me.  Also let me know if you are prepared to captain a team.

It’s a great event and experience, let’s make sure SAC participate in 2013.

Simon James

Overall winning team 2009 at Beachy Head

Winning Ladies team 2008                                                  An example of relay togertherness

UPDATE 26.02.13 ; I have just included a pdf version of the events file as some people had issues reading it…

The Multisport committee (headed by Jon Brook) has sat down and put together a list of some targeted Multisport events for members of Steyning AC to have a go at during 2013. Please click on the below link for full details of both internal club run events and external races.

2013 events PDF version

2013 events

An alternative to the more popular Brighton Half Marathon, the Portsmouth Half Marathon was held on the same day. The following members decided to give it a go; Sophie Goodall, Shane Bridgman, Gary Brind and Anthony Bishop (originally entered as a female called Gale, but changed it on the day. He said it was because a friend pulled out, that he took her place, but maybe it was because he saw other SAC members at the race and therefore decided to leave his cross dressing clothing in the car and opted to run as Anthony as we known him?).

It is a very flat course which looking at the profile, you think would be a super fast run, until you read about getting your feet wet and the mud… At sections of the course it runs along the beach which is a mixture of sand/mud and it was where LOADS of people lost their shoes and some even went for a “mud wrap” (i.e falling over) which happened to Anthony and during the process he cut his leg on the rocks. In the final 2 mile section the “delightful” local kids decided to steal the directions of the route, which was a little frustrating and what made it even more annoying was that there were no marshals in that area, but luckily it did not effect many people we spoke to.

Out of the 955 people started the results/times by SAC members were;

Sophie Goodall = 429th 1hr 56min 58secs
Shane Bridgman = 55th 1hr 36min 18secs
Anthony Bishop = 33rd 1hr 32min 48secs
Gary Brind = 20th 1hr 28min 57secs

Due to the council requesting that the course change route due to water damage done to some paths, the course was a little longer than the standard half marathon distance, but only effected the times by about 2 mins.

Overall the organisation of this event was so/so and as the teacher would say “room for improvement”.

The Sussex Road Relay Champs are taking place at Christ’s Hospital on Saturday 30^th March, starting from 11am. We have entered Steyning AC teams into this in the past and I’m happy to co-ordinate entries for this year. We need to enter in advance so I need names by the middle of March. If you haven’t done this before then you should give it a go. It is an event for teams, run by age category and historically we have entered around half a dozen teams each year. Teams are made up of three runners, except for the Senior men (6 runners) and Over 40 Men (4 runners). Each adult runner completes 1 large lap of just over 2 miles, under 15s each do 1 small lap (1 mile 200m approx).

There are lots of categories: Under 13 Boys/ Girls, Under 15 Boys/Girls, Senior Men/Women, Over 40 Men/Women, Over 50 Men/Women and Over 60 Men. There are also prizes for Under 17 Men/Women but there is no separate race as they run as part of the appropriate Senior race.

This is a chance for Steyning AC to get out in force and have a good day out. The course is flat and fast, there are always lots of supporters and a good atmosphere, you can buy hot drinks and snacks (or bring your own of course) and loads of Sussex Clubs take part.

Please let Joan know if you would like to be in a team – we don’t need only our fastest runners, we just need lots of people to have a go. It’s a great team event, you can wear your Club vest with pride, and might even end up with a medal. When you contact me, don’t forget to tell me what age you will be on 30^th March so I can allocate you to the right category. By the way, I need Over 50 Ladies to make up my team………..