PETE’S POST – OCTOBER 2023
What a busy month September turned out to be! I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much news being reported on the club Website/Facebook page before. From running Marathons and Half Marathons abroad, to winning big Masters titles here and in Europe, to relay team successes – it’s all there! Thanks to those who wrote the reports, and thanks to Julia for doing the postings.
I am in absolute awe of some of the individual and team performances reported, if you haven’t read about them yet, I urge you to do so. Well done to all the athletes, coaches, and team managers involved, there must have been so much “Behind the scenes” work going into all of these successes.
And here’s some more exciting Club news – in mid-summer we announced our intention to develop a C&C sister club at a brand new track at Carver Barracks, near Saffron Walden (https://www.cambridgeandcoleridge.org.uk/exciting-new-development-for-ccac).
Well, the first C&C training session was held there this week! The youngsters pictured were some of those that were part of this historic moment. The track looked absolute fabulous under the floodlights. Mo Park has been working away so hard to get everything prepared for this week; pulling in new coaches, doing risk assessments, ordering equipment, but it’s all coming together nicely. We haven’t advertised the club’s presence too much locally as yet, however, now that we have done this first “taster” session, we will begin to do so. We will gradually build-up the numbers of athletes as the new coaches gain their qualifications and experience.
On this opening night Leah Wagstaff came over with coach Stuart Dunlop. Stef Godfrey was there too, and both her and Leah wore their National kit. Mark Vile were there too. We are delighted that Mark intends to coach at Carver on a regular basis.
Also present was the Chairman of the Saffron Striders, Alistair Cooke. In fact his daughter, Fran, was one of the youngsters in the group. One of our goals was to work closely and in partnership with the Striders, and we are doing just that. It was a great evening. It left you with the feeling that it was the start of something important. As Mo said, “We have thrown the pebble into the pond, now the ripples will go out”. We don’t know how far, or how wide. It’s possible that an Olympian or two may begin their sporting journey at Carver, who knows? What we are more certain of is that this venue will provide lots of excitement, and lots of joy, for many people. We at C&C are at the heart of making that happen, and we can be proud of that. It is already really wonderful to see local youngsters on the track, and observe them responding to the excellent coaching being given. It was a fantastic night for Mo personally – his involvement with the track goes back for a decade. Finally, after all that time, he was doing what he loves doing most, coaching and helping youngsters. It was great to see. There must have been times along the way when he wondered if this moment would ever happen. Now it has.
Our Cambourne 10k successfully took place! Thanks to the efforts of so many club members, everything went very really well. I heard lots of comments from runners about how well organised it was, and how efficient and friendly the marshals were. Well done to everyone who played a part in making this event such a success once again.
October sees the return of the Frostbite League! The first race is at Priory Park, St Neots, on 8th October. Apparently it’s the 200th Frostbite League race, so celebratory cake is promised! (hopefully POST-race!). The Frostbite is a 6 race series over the winter months. A very friendly league, of mixed-terrain races, over approx. 5 miles. It would be great to have really good turn-out at St Neots and get the season off to a good start! If you haven’t done these races before, join the team, you will be very welcome.
Monday 16th October is the occasion of our club’s Annual General Meeting. It will be at the Cambridge Clubhouse from 7.00pm. It is combined with the Prize-Giving evening, so please come along if you can.
As you will have seen on the website, the club has two vacancies to fill. Please have a look and consider if you might be interested. The club is run by volunteers, and it is important to spread the workload, so it doesn’t sit too heavily on too few. We are always looking for new ideas and fresh inputs. We are always looking for people for other roles too, like new coaches, and T&F officials. There’s lots to do, if you feel that you can help the club in anyway, we’d love to hear from you. Thank you.
I look forward to seeing on 16th.
Have a great October. Autumn is a wonderful time, as the colours change. Our colours remain the same though. Wear them with pride!