What a brilliant weekend! It was the best WCR I can remember. I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, and got home safely.

Full Stage Results and Leaderboard are here

And check out Nigel's photos on Flickr.

I thought I'd just ponder on some of the high points and "interesting bits" of the weekend. First of all the weather was delivered as promised! A glorious weekend hot, but not too hot to run, and some great looking suntans developing. And of course the most stunning mountain scenery!

Sorry this one's a little slow off the press. Here's all the news for May. Visit the News and Events > Stragmag page to download.

Thursday June 20th, Hawker Centre

Open to all Stragglers members.  Chip-timed, flat run (chips provided by Sport Systems - thanks).  All sorts of age group and spot prizes.  Register on the night - entry fee of £2.

Walkers are welcome - set off to start at 7pm (please record your own time as you won't have a chip)

Times:

Register from 6:15pm; closes at 7:25pm.

Walkers: walk to start at 7, start at 7:15

Runners: walk to start at 7:30, start at 7:45.

Course:

The course WILL NOT BE MARSHALLED, so we are doing practice runs on Thursdays.  See here for a map and picture of the course. 

Our friends at 26.2 have invited us to take part again in their annual Horton Park Relay at 19.30 on Tuesday 18th June and Jon Parry is looking to put together some Stragglers teams.

For those of you that haven't been to the event before, it is a casual, fun event for local running clubs (Elmbridge, Epson, Dorking, 26.2 etc) held in Horton Country Park, Epsom. The route is off road and traffic free and is approximately 1.3 miles long with teams of 4 (which can be mixed (2 men, 2 women) as well as vets (100% vets)).

Runners can run more than once and in more than one team. We usually end up at one of the local Epsom pubs (Such as the Cricketers - www.thecricketersinnepsom.co.uk) for post race relaxation - In true Stragglers fashion!

If you'd like to take part, please let Jon Parry know.

Runnymede Relay

Multi-terrain relay race - Saturday July 6^th 2013

3 legs of approx 5.25 miles & 3 of 2.75 miles

Teams of 6

Entry fee £42 per team – that’s only £7 per runner

Put your name on the list and teams are organised a week ahead.  The first leg starts at 12 noon.  The scenery is superb, set within the historic woodlands of Windsor Great Park.  Bring the family & friends and a picnic and enjoy the company of your fellow Stragglers

Talk to Nick Brown - Tel: 01784 464 697 / 07947 478 656

Or see him on a Thursday night

BEATING BUSHY BOUNDS

Friday June 28^th 2013

Organised by Mark Thomas

Run (or cycle) 7 miles around the outskirts of Bushy Park with ‘comfort’ stops at 7 pubs

Start at The Swan Hampton Wick pre-run drinks from 19:10.  Run starts at 19:30 prompt

Finish at The Lion, Wick Road followed by food at Mark’s

If you haven't done this before, you're missing one of Stragglers' very best events!

Congratulations to everyone that have completed Spring Marathons - some really fantastic results. Here's a round up from London, Manchester, Boston, Brighton, Paris, Rome, Cape Town and Barcelona Marathons - we're a well travelled bunch aren't we?! If we've missed anyone, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The parkrun Spring Challenge series came to a finale yesterday (Saturday 13th April) at the Kingston parkrun.

Congratulations to the winners and well done to all that took part!

Final Results

Ladies's Winner: Pamela Whitter 81.64%
Men's Winner: Kevin Best 90.58%

Ladies' Hero: Julie Haworth (Completing all 5 events with highest score)
Men's Hero: Keith Haworth (Completing all 5 events with highest score)

Well done Liz Zass for also completing all 5 events.

Click Read More for the full results.

The Stragglers junior handicap starts this month at the Hawker Centre - Thursday 25th April, register 7pm for a 7:30 start.

For full details see the Juniors section under "More Stragglers Activities", or click here

8th & 9th June 2013

Just a few places left. Don't miss this opportunity to enjoy one of our club's best running weekends!

www.lescroupierswcr.org

Contact:
Steve Sandham This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Carys Mills This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Above: Some of the Men's and Ladies' 2012 WCR teams. Below: Well, I'm sure you can think of your own captions here!?

The club's Road Championships races have now been finalised.
These fixtures have been added to the Key Race Fixtures page:

DON'T BE AN APRIL FOOL! - All membership expired APRIL 1ST.

Club membership is £20 which includes £10 EA affiliation.

All membership details available here including how to pay online using Paypal.

or

Print out of form from the web site and post it to Phil with a cheque (please include s.a.e. if you want your card posted back)

or

Come to the Hawker on a Thursday night and Phil will be in the restaurant to take membership renewals (he will be there Apr 4th).

NB When you renew, if you no longer wish to be a member of EA then you only need to pay £10. The £10 affiliation fee is necessary if you are considering taking part in any event under UKA rules. This includes Surrey Cross Country League; Surrey Road League (to claim affiliation discount); London Marathon as well as other races.

We conducted a survey earlier in the year.  172 of our members took park, so thanks.

Below is a summary of the results, along with some graphs of the main answers.  Thanks to Andrew Wallace for doing the analysis to summarise the statistics and the comments.

The points in the survey are being reviewed and addressed by the committee - please see any of us for further information.

I've had plenty of memorable moments with the Stragglers, but it's hard to imagine beating this one here - running with the JOGLE team to the finish at Land's End with the one and only Louise Neville carrying the baton.

No runner has ever exploded onto the Stragglers running scene with quite the same panache, grit, enthusiasm and impeccable makeup as Louise did.  She was an almost ever-present in the 2009/2010 cross-country season, and that summer went on to win the ladies' club road championships outright, and was joint-winner of the V55 category in the whole Surrey League. 

She was an early enthusiast for the 2011 John O'Groats-Land's End effort, but her health took a turn for the worse so she missed much of it.  Still, she characteristically turned up for the Champagne bit - the final mile, the post-race celebrations and the team swim at the beach.

Louise passed away last Friday, and winter cross-country Saturday afternoons are just never quite going to be the same again.

If you'd like to show your support for the Princess Alice Hospice, please look them up. 

We have taken the reluctant step to cancel this year's Green Belt Relay.

The GBR is, for many of us, the highlight of the Stragglers race calendar and has a loyal and enthusiastic following from a large number of other clubs.  We have had a number of problems with this year's race, the main problem being provision of sufficient mashalling coverage.

The GBR will be back next year, better than ever.  We will be making some changes to the planning and organisation, but we remain convinced that this is a brilliant, unique event and that the problems this year can be overcome.

Peter Kennedy is recruiting a team for timing, results, marshalling, safety, permissions etc., so please contact him on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are able to offer some of your time.  If we want to bounce back in 2014, we need to start now.

We will also be holding a team captains' meeting on 17th April to talk through some of the changes we'd like to make to the event and to gather ideas; all are welcome to attend.

This year the Stragglers are once again entering two teams for the The Welsh Castles Relay (WCR) on 8th and 9th June 2013. Now is your opportunity to register your interest in joining the team.

We are entering a Men's Vets team (V35+) and a Ladies team (18+), with 20 runners in each. The entry fee is £17.50 (inc. WCR T-shirt) and the cost of accommodation (which we will book for you) is approximately £35 per night for 2 nights. We drive up to mid-Wales on Friday afternoon and drive back from Cardiff on Sunday afternoon. We share cars and petrol costs.

WCR is a 2 day, 20 stage, 211 mile, staggered relay race (mostly on road, but with many hills, mountains and bumpy bits on route - this being Wales and all...). The route goes from Caernarfon to Cardiff with an overnight stay in Newtown. It's organised by Les Croupiers Running Club, based in Cardiff.

Our club has entered teams in WCR for many years. It's a brilliant weekend with plenty of opportunity for socialising and getting to know fellow Stragglers, plus some members of the other 50 odd clubs in the race. Of course Wales is renowned for its rainfall, but in the 9 years I have done it, I can honestly say the days of sunshine (and ocasionally blistering heat) have far outnmbered the wet ones. Best of all, the Welsh scenery is fantastic, and occasionally breath-taking! A weekend you are certain to enjoy.

Check out the WCR website for full details http://www.lescroupierswcr.org/welcome-wcr/

To register your interest (please state whether you want to be considered as a definite or a possible):

Men contact me This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ladies contact Carys This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Don't delay, this is a very popular race.