Fancy winning a tasty cake?

Our ladies team captain, the lovely Vanessa Welham, is famed for her amazing Cakes (anyone who’s done the cross country or Stafford Half will know).

For your chance to win one of her amazing tasty treats or selection of Cupcakes, head over to the website and buy your raffle tickets now.

£5 for 5 tickets.

Buy your raffle tickets here

The winner gets a choice from this amazing selection:-

Cake menu (All available as full 7’’ cake)
• Lemon Drizzle with Lemon buttercream
• Vanilla Sponge with Jam and Buttercream
• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream
• Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream
• Coffee and Walnut Cake with Coffee Buttercream

12 cupcakes
• Oat and raisin cookies (12)
• Choc chip cookies (12)

Dear all,

Have been chasing up the Hotel, Coach firm and Race director for an update on the Aviemore trip planned for this October.

The Race Director has just replied to me and also posted the below on their facebook page;

“We have been waiting as long as possible & following the government advice closely as I’m sure everyone has,

it is with regret that we are going to have to postpone the 2020 Aviemore Half Marathon until next year.
We are very busy with re-opening and rescheduling accommodation bookings but will be in touch with all registered runners in the coming weeks to arrange refunds and transfers.
When we have dates confirmed for next year we’ll let you know.
Stay safe everyone & keep running”

Please can you post this update on the Web, facebook & Instagram?

Together with a note from me that obviously the trip will now be cancelled, all deposits will be refunded ASAP,

and we will be looking to re-organise the trip as soon as we get confirmation of the date for next year.

Thanks & regards

Ian Hodkinson

Aviemore Trip coordinator

Stafford Harriers

Free Virtual 5k Road Running Championships

With the original 5k Championships cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, England Athletics has launched a free-to-enter virtual version of the race for 2020 to enable runners nationwide to compete at a time when many road race events are on-hold.

As well as creating an exciting platform for performance-focused runners to challenge for the national 5k title, the fact there is no minimum entry standard means the Championships also provide a fantastic opportunity for many runners to gain their first experience in national competition.

The Championships offer plenty of chances for glory – with medals awarded to runners finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd overall in both women’s and men’s categories plus further possibilities to grab a podium spot in a Club competition and winning medals in the Age Category competitions.

The Club competition, across both women’s and men’s categories, requires three runners to score with the final results decided by the accumulated time of the fastest three runners for each club. With the minimum entry age for the Championships set at 16, the Age Category competition across both women’s and men’s categories incorporates: U17, U20, U23, SEN, V35, V40, V45, V50, V55, V60, V65, V70, V75, V80, V85 and V90.

The virtual element of the race means that runners sign up using the OpenTrack virtual running platform and are then required to evidence their run post-race using GPS data. England Athletics and OpenTrack have created new rules for the Championships which help make racing as fair as possible. Entry to the event is free and open exclusively to runners registered with England Athletics via an affiliated club. Participants must complete their run between 00:01 Saturday 11 July and 11:59 (am) Monday 13 July. Evidence of the run must then be uploaded by 23:59 Monday 13 July, with official results to be announced on Tuesday 14 July.

So whether you’d planned to compete in the original 5k Championships, or you’re looking to enter your first national 5k race, now’s the time to get registered, pick your route and lace up those running shoes!

For more information click here

Enter on line

The Prize pool is £259 — good luck to everyone.

Two people now need just one number — but it is all still to play for.

Results after 5 draws.

PDF version of the results with colour coding.

Lottery Fundraiser 27june2020

Rules

1. Each person selects 6 numbers between 1-59
2. The lottery drawn on BBC on Saturday night will be the only draw to count in the competition
3. Every weekend, when the main lottery is drawn, the numbers that appear from the machine, if they match any of your selection will be used to cross off your selected numbers
4. The Bonus Ball is not counted as a part of the selection
5. The draw will keep going until a winner (or winners) have successfully had all their numbers crossed off
6. The winner will be the first person or persons to have all their numbers crossed in the shortest number of weeks
7. In the event of multiple winners, the prize pool will be divided equally between all winners
8. Cost to enter is £10 (£7 to prize pool & £3 to Stafford Harriers)
9.  The last date to enter will be 12 pm on the 29th May.  Any entries after that will not be counted
10. Open to all senior members of Stafford Harriers only

Changes for next week:-

Monday night we have introduced an event for newcommers and adults members.

Statement from our Chairman about club sessions.

Return to club session – Statement to Members

Answers to questions members have asked about the statement above.

Is it safe?

We are following England Athletics guidance, we will be strictly enforcing the 2-metre social distancing rule. It is a judgement call – if you don’t feel safe then move away or don’t attend.

Why speed work and interval sessions?

These allow us to take small groups of people safely. People may be worried about the word speed – this is always relative to your ability and current fitness. I know some have run for a long time whereas others may have been running more frequently. Anxiety is normal, but we want to help you return to the sport we love.

Also, we can’t see how to hold road runs with the 2-metre rule. This is a safer environment to build up your fitness without committing to a run of any distance.

Why the Cricket Club and not Rowley?

The Cricket and Hockey club is private land and fully fenced. We feel it is a safer and more controllable environment to restart. We will be using the rugby pitches as well as the car park, entrance road so there is plenty of room for us to spread out.

England Athletics

EA Full Guide

EA-return-to-activity-guidance-athletes-and-runners-Step-2-v2

Race 6 has started.

Race 5 results posted

Results published in the Junior News and Senior race results pages, the challenge tables have been updated.

Update 8th June: – Change to the rules for Juniors.
We will allow Junior Harriers additional time to complete the GP events and upload their results. We are aware some have been struggling to submit an accurate time and there is also the issue that they may need assistance or supervision from a parent.
So we will let them complete the 1 and 2 mile events at your convenience.

No GPS watch?
If you do not have access to a GPS enabled watch, not to worry – why not map out a route before you run it to determine the distance?  There are several websites that can help you easily achieve this such as https://www.mapmyrun.com/ or https://gb.mapometer.com/. Once you have mapped out a course of a known distance and you are happy with it, you can then do the run, measure your time to complete and upload a photo of your time and possibly a screenshot of the mapped course to the Harriers Facebook page or website.

If you have a smart phone there are a number of apps that can track a run.

The Harriers challenge this year is…  well challenging.  Covid-19 has seen most of our challenge races cancelled for this year and the prospect of getting your trophy at the annual awards night is looking doubtful.  But have no fear, we’ve got your back.

A series of races, well, virtual ones for you to run over the course of a week for 9 weeks.  Starting at a one-mile sprint through to a half marathon.  The Grand Prix also includes the virtual NSRAA race, St Thomas 10k.

All you have to do is complete each event in between the dates shown and either upload your Strava or Garmin details to a weekly pinned post on the Harriers Facebook page or send your details directly into the website via email (or Contact Us)

We will record the results and update the challenge tables and award your points.

The Grand Prix series is also open to all members (not just challenge members).

The Events

Rules

1. You must complete each race on or between the dates posted, evidence of your run must be uploaded within 48hrs of the race finishing. Late entries will not be accepted. NB:- Juniors have extended time to run and submit results.
2. Plan your route in advance of completing your run, thinking about elevation, terrain. any restrictions on your intended route.
3. Evidence of your run must be submitted, either a photo of your watch, Strava details etc.
4. You can play your joker but must advise the club in accordance with the challenge rules (see website for clarification)
5. The above rules, except for a Joker, also apply to the juniors.
6. Everyone’s safety is paramount. Especially for the juniors, however, the club cannot accept any responsibility of any injury received whilst competing in the Grand Prix. We would advise all runners to notify someone of their intended route and carry some form of emergency contact card in case of an incident.
7. Junior runs should be supervised by a responsible adult or completed with the consent of parent or guardian
8. We would advise all runners to carry water and a basic first aid kit when completing your run, but this is at your discretion and the club cannot be held liable in the event of any incident should you choose not to do so.
9. Current government guidelines surrounding the current social distancing etc, must be observed.
10. While everybody’s course will be different, in the spirit of sporting etiquette wherever you start is where you must finish.
11. A separate entry is required for the St Thomas 10K. Click here

The committee felt that holding the race won’t be possible this year. Even with the current easing of lockdown, we don’t believe it is right to continue to plan for a physical race in July.

We did entertain the idea of an alternative date but on reflection, we decided that it wasn’t desirable to plan, arrange & organise for a physical event that may have to cancel again.

So we are now working on holding a Virtual Staffs Knot on 16th September.  Planning is at an early stage and we will post additional information as soon as possible.

We hope that the SK5 will return home to the Chase in July 2021!