Just run a teeny bit and help fight Meningitis

For those of you that fancy a bitesize challenge, or one that is just a bit longer, there is an opportunity to help fight Meningitis and Septiceamia this weekend at the Mercure Hotel nr St Mary Redcliffe.

Mercure are asking for volunteers to join in and raise money for Meningitis Research Foundation by helping to run a combined 570 miles in one day on treadmills in their hotels across the country.

More details here or you can simply donate.

Olympic torch day at Up & Running

Up & Running are having an OLYMPIC day on Saturday 7th July from 10:00 to 13:00.

Olympic Torch bearer Shirley Hume will be in the shop with two-time Olympian Nick Rose and you can have your photo taken with the Olympic torch.

Shirley & Nick will be there to chat about their experiences: Shirley’s amazing story and what it was like to run through Henleaze, Bristol with the torch, and Nick’s memories of competing in the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympics

Up & Running will be giving away a FREE pair of Hilly GB edition socks with every purchase over £10.

A new running group South of the river

I just found out about Long Ashton Running Group, based on Facebook, free and friendly. So, now they are on my list of Bristol Running Clubs. Checkit!

Lots of races in July

July races are now updated and available here. This year there seem to be a few more to choose from, although given the opportunity to watch other people slogging it out on TV, I’m not sure how well attended they’ll be!

And another womens' group!

Frenchay Runners has been going for over a year now and they have gone from strength to strength. They are already well known, and that has to be because of the enthusiasm and care of their leaders.

They’ve now decided to set up another womens’ running club on a Saturday morning in Brislington, and they’ve already got a good looking website set up, which says someting about how serious they are.

They will meet at 8am at Arnos Manor Hotel, on the Bath Rd. The first session is on 12th May 2012.

There will be different routes every week with a 2 mile, 3 mile, and 4 mile group. All abilities are welcome.

Each group will have a run leader so everybody should get the support they need.

Running is certainly thriving in Bristol. Groups that I know have grown hugely in the past couple of years are Southville Runners, Frenchay Runners, and the Bristol & West AC recreational runners group (coached by the man who coached the UK’s fastest woman in the recent London Marathon). All of these groups are known for the fantastic support they give to new runners, and there certainly seem to be plenty of those around!

At the same time, I note that that the Towpath 10k Series used to be fully booked at the start of the season, but now it is not. It’s a really good route. Why should that be?