November 2024 Newsletter
Once the clocks went back it seemed it was always a trouble to get out and train. The nights were darker, the weather colder and the enthusiasm after a long summer of intense training seemed not to be so strong. And yet it was also an enjoyable time. Runners who had often spent summer training on their own would join together on club nights for longer, easier paced club runs. Well that was what it should have been except at my club there was a different philosophy. A pecking order had developed and certain runners had to maintain their position in that order. So a session which should have been 800 meters quick with a 2 minute rest as you ran round the streets at night would suddenly become a 1,000m very fast with a 1 minute recovery as the sprint had to be quicker in order that the best remained the best and to do that you had to start the interval before the starting point. All very interesting but not quite what it should have been.
NMAC held their AGM in October. It was attended by 7 people of whom ONE was not on the committee. I am not sure why we had so few of the members present. It could be that you are happy with what we are trying to achieve . NMAC hope you are but it would have been good to have heard that at the meeting.
Graham White the NMAC secretary has decided to step down from the post. Graham has been a very valuable member of the committee and has done much to promote T&F to the east of the Pennines. NMAC will miss his input at committee meetings and NMAC thank him for the work he has done on behalf of NMAC and its members and we wish him well for the future.
The 10 mile Championship is on Sunday 17 November at Preston. Entries will be closing soon if you would like to participate. There is a link on the webpage.
NMAC are also promoting a The Ken Mayor 5K at Leeds on Sunday 24th November, again all the information you require to enter is on the website. Ken was the Chair of NMAC when I joined in 2015.
Many of our members were selected for the England Masters Cross Country team to compete in the International at Belfast on the 16th November. NMAC members filled 28 of the team places and 10 reserve berths making NMAC the best area club in EMAA. Congratulations goes to all those who were successful. Congratulations also goes to Sue Cordingley, who as EMAA XC secretary, organised the whole event and supervised the selection process and also found time to run in the trial and finish first in her age category. Well done Sue.
NMAC have had some planned events cancelled due to lack of officials. It is a problem throughout athletics in that more and more events require more and more officials to run them. NMAC are looking at the possibility of paying for its members to be trained as officials so that they would be available to officiate at NMAC events if required. If you are interested in becoming an official please contact NMAC to discuss this matter.
NMAC are looking at providing more competition for Track and Field Athletes and Road Runners in 2025. It is only in the planning stage at the moment but it is hoped to make an announcement before the end of the year.
In the meantime keep up the training in order to be ready for what 2025 brings.
Phil Lee NMAC Chair