Uh-oh… It’s Friday the 13th!!

Clandestine meetings. Arcane rituals. The blooding of tender new recruits. All on the most cursed of nights. That’s right, it’s the Horsham Joggers Annual General Meeting! New disciples Julie Jochimsen and Lee Jestico, plus incoming Overlord Paul Morley, will enjoy their initiation ceremonies. Meanwhile Stephen Entecott and Margaret Wadman will be released from their bonds with thanks for all their hard work and bid never to speak of the macabre events to which they have borne witness.  

Afterwards there will be a human sacrifice social event at Horsham Cricket Club, which starts at 8pm. You don’t have to go to the AGM to attend the social, and capacity is limited to 100 people. You’re encouraged to bring a plus one if you’d like and it’s a great chance to meet the new chairman and get him to buy you a drink! Please let us know if you would like to attend!

We Shall Endure

There is more than a hint of masochism to running as an activity of leisure. For some reason we enjoy making ourselves wince and suffer. There are times when it seems we measure our pleasure in units of pain. And times, too, when the enjoyment exists almost entirely in the experience of having finished. Wasn’t that just the most fun, we tell ourselves as we pay the physio or hobble up a flight of stairs. 

There must have been some deep digging by the HJ representatives taking part in the rescheduled Endure 24 event in July. Two teams of six competed in the event which requires participants to take turns to run a five mile loop constantly for 24 hours. 

The ‘Run Now, Beers Later’ team, featuring Hadley O’Dwyer, Luke Minogue, Harry Wilcox, Trevor Barret, Simon Mills, and Tom Rob logged a whopping 185 miles, bagging fourth place overall in the process. Meanwhile the ‘Not Enough E’s’ team (naming explanation required…) of Philip Liberman, Claire Miller, Thomas Jack Ikin, Ryan Moorey, Richard Speller, and Michael Saunders covered a highly impressive 140 miles. 

In a similar vein we had a team at the South Downs Way Relay, the 100 mile race where teams of six run three legs apiece across the somewhat undulating footpath. On that one I can speak from experience. It’s brutal. Dom Wakefield, Paul Davis, Russ Kemp, Derry Jarvis, Andrew Wright, and Steve Wright completed the course in 13 hours and two seconds, which is great running. 

Congratulations to all of you. 

And the winner is…

And on the subject of those who shall endure, the SDW Relay was chosen by the club as the focus of the inaugural Tony Johnson memorial award. The award, hand crafted by our own Paul Aylett in Tony’s memory, is to be presented to the team member who demonstrates standout performance, determination, and perseverance – all attributes that Tony possessed in spades and demonstrated countless times on the Downs. 

In an event that requires these characteristics from all participants it will always be a tough call. This year the award went to Steve Wright, who put in some fantastic times. Congratulations, Steve, on being the first recipient of this special award.

In the heat of the night

Staying with the South Downs, Chris Yeomans and Alan Pettitt went out under the stars in the Midnight Marathon. The race starts at Queen Elizabeth Country Park and wends its way across the Downs with a full moon and clear night affording beautiful views of the surrounding villages and a stream of twinkling head torches. Chris finished in 04:48:41 and Alan in 05:31:12. Well done chaps.

Additionally, Alan completed the Serpent Trail 100k in 14:16:32, taking first place in his age group. Good man. 

And there’s more

On 10^th July Victoria Saunders completed the Race to the Stones 50K, her first 50k and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the fantastic scenery on the Berkshire/Oxfordshire Ridgeway trail. Race time 07:49:49.

On the same day six Horsham Joggers competed in the Humanity Direct Chiltern Challenge, a 50km looped route covering some of the best of the Chilterns countryside. Race times Matt Whyman 05:51:16, Alan Pettitt 05:51:17, Brian Frost 06:03:30, Helen Woods 06:43:54, Emma Whyman 07:48:20 & Ethel Whyman 07:48:23.

Twenty Horsham Joggers competed in the Run Wisborough 10k & 5k event at Wisborough Green. For the 5K we had Dean Angell 00:19:04 4th place, Jo Tomlinson 00:26:34, Andy Jefford 00:30:20, Ian Bunch 00:31:22, Jane Footer 00:32:08, Lorraine Hunter 00:32:29, Diane Berry 00:32:29, Libby Allen 00:33:32, Coral Kennedy 00:35:43 & Margaret Wadman 00:36:31

For the 10k we had Gary Tomlinson 00:36:57 4th place, Andrew Puttick 00:41:53, David Malins 00:43:20, Gareth Sear 00:43:55, Michael Catlow, 00:44:06, Harry Wilcox 00:44:17, Andi Marfleet 00:44:59, Simon Holmes 00:47:24, Bharat Pancal 00:47:46 & Rachel Hamson 00:47:51.

Summer Handicap

Well done to the 60 HJers who took and big thanks to Phil and his helpers for organising a great evening. It was fantastic to have so many members back together again after so long.

It was really close near the end as the stagger unwound, with Anita Mazlo crossing the line to become our new champ followed by Jo Tomlinson and Rob Shapland. Well done to all who participated, helped or watched.

Healing Hands

Now, remember those people we have to go and see when we’ve been enjoying ourselves too much? Here’s the first of a new regular item from one of them. Over to you, Tony:

Hello everyone! For those fortunate enough to not have needed to come and see

me, my name is Tony. I own and operate Hands On Sports Therapy & Injury Clinic

based out of The Bridge Leisure Centre in Broadbridge Heath. 

For a long time now we have had a link with Horsham Joggers offering a discount on our services and support to the club whenever required. I have recently been asked by your

committee to contribute a regular slot in your newsletter with a view to give some helpful advice and tips on all things injury related. If there were any particular subject areas you would like me to address or if you have any burning questions that I can answer then please drop me an email, tony@handsonsportstherapy.org.

So, I thought for my first entry I would address one of the main reasons why you

pick up all those little annoying niggles. If not dealt with they can then develop into injuries that potentially could stop you from your normal exercise regime. Now, unless you have tripped, slipped or done something else to yourself, one of the main reasons for picking up a niggle is the good old `too much, too soon` scenario. 

We’ve all been there! This seems particularly relevant as COVID restrictions are easing and you are allowed to get back to some of your normal activities so you;ve got a little bit carried away! It would also be very relevant to all of those who have been working from since early 2020, as it’s not just about doing too much but also not doing enough! 

I like to describe this to my patients in a simple bar chart. On one side we have the amount of work you are asking your body to perform (eg running frequency, distance, gym sessions etc) and on the other how much your body can cope with. To keep it simple, let’s call this Load Vs Capacity. We ideally

want these two bars to be relatively close together.

When you increase your training volume, let’s say you’re training for a big race, you want to increase the load gradually so it gives your body time to adapt and then increase your capacity.

I’m sure you have all heard about the 10% rule when increasing distance? If you increase your load quite dramatically without giving your body a chance to adapt, for example if you suddenly increase your running distance from 10 miles to 20 miles, then you can create an increased risk of over loading your soft tissues (muscles, tendons etc) and picking up any niggles or injury.

However, the same is also true if you are not as active as you have been in the past then your capacity can go down. As mentioned before this would be particularly relevant for those working from home and finding they are being a lot more sedentary than when they travelled into the office. This can also be the case if you are recovering from another injury or a period of being unwell, your capacity will drop creating a larger distance on the Load Vs Capacity and increasing your risk or picking something up.

So, what can you do to maintain this similar Load Vs Capacity?

• Ensure that any increase to your training volume is gradual so you give your

body a chance to adapt and tolerate the increased load.

• Be mindful that when coming back from a period of being unwell or if you

have taken a break that you can’t go back to where you left things

previously.

• Start to go through some simple strength based exercises as this will help

to increase the body’s capacity to tolerate load changes.

• Make sure you’re allowing time to recover following intense training.

If you have any specific questions or thoughts on this then just get in touch.

Thanks for reading,

Tony, Hands On Sports Therapy.

Horsham Round & Social

Another HJ classic is slated for the August bank holiday weekend. So if you want to get a team together, or even run it on your own, then please let Roger Johnson know at rc.johnson@btinternet.com. 

Pacers needed for Barns Green

The search is still on for pacers at the Barns Green Half and 10k. For the 10k pacers are needed for 45 mins, 50 mins, 55 mins and 60 mins. For the half, 1:30 and 1:35. If you’re interested, get in touch with Jason Walker at jason.walker1@hotmail.com 

Upcoming Events

13 AUG, FRI

19:00 – 20:00

HJ AGM

21 AUG, SAT

David Lloyd Ultra & Relay

25 AUG, WED

19:00 – 21:00

HJ Committee Meeting

30 AUG, MON

Horsham Round

1 SEPT, WED

Sussex Affiliation Due

5 SEPT, SUN

Littlehampton 10k

11 SEPT, SAT

Horsham Riverside Walk

12 SEPT, SUN

Brighton Marathon

Huge thanks to Mike Hibberd for another great round-up. Remember, if there’s anything you would like us to feature in HJ News, please drop us a line!