England Athletic Training Event for Coaches and Athletes:

· Saturday 3^rd March, 9.30am – 12.30pm

· Braithwaite Village Hall, near Keswick

· £5

The session is open to all levels of both coach and athlete

9.30-10.45: Warm up followed by a strength and conditioning circuit for runners. Those that were there for the last session, this will be similar but with some changes/developments. This session is taken by Sam Ayers; a Level 3 Endurance Coach and Strength and Conditioning Coach. This is a practical session, however, if you’re injured or are a coach who’d prefer to observe, that’s fine and as usual Sam will be making comments on why she’s chosen particular exercises or adapted them to suit certain members of the session.

11.am- 12.30pm: Injury Prevention. This will be a practical hands on session with Sue Read who is a remedial massage therapist based in Keswick. Sue will be re-visiting some of the techniques she did with us last time as a reminder of what we should all be doing!

British Champs: Irish Race

I'm planning on going across to race this over the weekend of May 12th. My intention is to leave Penrith around 4ish to get the late evening ferry from Craigryan to Belfast. Ideally I want to fill a car as the fare is around the £400 mark (might be cheaper from Liverpool but will have to look into it). 4-5 people will make it viable. In the past I have flown then hired a car, but with all the extras (travel, parking at airport, hire, flights etc), ferry will be cheaper overall. Coming back mid to late afternoon Sunday

In terms of accommodation, I have booked a number of beds at the YH in Newcastle at £12 per night (2 nights).

It's a top weekend with plenty of good banter and some racing. Saturday night is usually spent in a pub mixing with all the lads you usually race against, but never socialise with. I've been for the past 5 -6 years.

Phil Winskill

Keswick AC at 125th English National Cross Country Champs, Parliament Hill Fields, London

From Athletics Weekly...

Forty years after an icy blizzard caused carnage at the 1972 National at Sutton Coldfield and 12 months after similarly dismal weather hit the 2011 races at Alton Towers, this year’s Saucony English National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill was bathed in glorious sunshine.

Ice cream vans did a roaring trade. As did autograph hunters due to the large number of former champions in attendance such as Basil Heatley, Ron Hill and Frank Sando – the latter being the National winner when it was first held at Parliament Hill in 1957.

With the backdrop of the Olympic host city, it proved a spectacular setting. And while the majority of finishers were humble club runners, the sharp end of the senior races included both 2012 Olympic and Virgin London Marathon hopefuls.

There were 1688 finishers in the senior men's race including a team of five from Keswick AC. Keith Gerrard of Newham & Essex Beagles took the win from last year's senior men's champion Steve Vernon of Stockport Harriers.

The first time Keswick AC have had a team at the National for some years, Steve, Ian, Chris, John and Simon were also each making their debut at the event, and each was equally in awe of the spectacle of over one and a half thousand spiked runners charging up the hill at the start, and of the atmosphere created by the numbers of cheering supporters that lined parts of the two-lap 12km course.

Athletics Weekly report here, and video footage of the senior men's race here.

Keswick AC report, and photos to follow.

Provisional results:

1. Keith Gerrard (Newham & Essex Beagles) -35:56
2. Steve Vernon (Stockport Harriers) -36:07
3. John Beatie (Newham & Essex Beagles) -36:13

166. Steve Hebblethwaite -40:57
568. Ian Davies -46:15
602. Chris Edis -46:41
647. John Beetham -47:11
1029. Simon Neville -51:46

Running at Words by the Water

Obsessive runner Robin Harvie, author of the book ‘Why We Run’, will be talking at the Words by the Water festival in Keswick this March. Robin takes a look at what makes people put on their running shoes and reach for their outer limits by examining his own experiences and internal landscape.

Venue: Theatre by the Lake in Keswick
Event details: Monday 5th March at 12noon. Tickets cost £8.50. There will be an opportunity to meet Robin at a book-signing following the talk.

Third Thursday curry social -change of restaurant

The Red Fort is currently closed for refurbishment -we will therefore meet for post training curry tomorrow at the Royal Bengal, 7:45pm prompt as usual. Anyone who wishes to come give me a shout so I can warn the restaurant of likely numbers.

Buttermere Round - Photos

Well done to all those who did the Buttermere Round at the weekend.

Stuart Stoddart got some cracking race snaps throughout the race and these can be viewed at his Flickr account:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stustod/sets/72157629291117085/

Keswick AC monthly curry social version 5.0

Don't keep hunger locked up til lunch, keep it locked up til next Thursday. Why? Because next Thursday is Thursday 16th February, the third Thursday of the month, meaning that it is indeed also the Keswick AC Third Thursday monthly curry social nosh-up nite. This month by popular demand we will be at the Red Fort, Saint John's Street in Keswick, 7:45pm prompt. All invited as usual, but please let Steve Hebblethwaite know if you will be attending so that we may warn the restaurant of likely numbers.

Carshare to Mid-Lancs XC this Saturday

The penultimate fixture in the Mid-Lancs XC League is at Barrow in Furness this Saturday. I'm driving down, departing Keswick around midday. If anyone wants to carshare, ping me an email or buzz on the phone.

Last year's results: www.midlancs.org.uk/XC/Results/2010-2011/midlancs1.pdf

General Mid-Lancs League info: www.midlancs.org.uk/

stevenhebblethwaite @ hotmail . com
07854 643 274

Blencathra training run

Just a few photos from our Sunday fell run round the Blencathra race route. Loads more on the YHA Borrowdale facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/YHA-Borrowdale/101843866585053#!/pages/YHA-Borrowdale/101843866585053
Catherine, Sarah, Becki & Siobhan surveying the scene

The drag along Bowscale Fell seems like a hell of a long way when you cant see anything!

Navigational skills required. Thank god for Sarah & her compass!

Strength & conditioning videos online

Some members attended a strength and conditioning talk by Marc Laithwaite in Keswick a while back. On the night Marc said that he would video the exercises demonstrated by Adam and put them on their blog page. If you haven't already found it, this is the link to the videos:

http://footstrikescience.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/warm-up-strength-and-injury-prevention/