Happy New Ye… Wait, what?

January is already gone! How the flip did that happen?

How are all the new-year-new-you plans coming along? Did you do Dry January – the opposite of all that December drinking? Did you do Veganuary – the opposite of all that seasonal meat eating? Or did you do Satanuary – literally the opposite of Christmas? Whatever you chose to mix things up, hopefully it all worked out and you all Ranuary as far as you possibly could!

Anyway, you blink and it’s February. If that’s how quick months are going these days then we’d better look down the track and see what’s speeding towards us like Gary Tomlinson being chased by a dog and a wasp. 

First up, the Horsham 10k will take place on Saturday May 22nd. You know the drill: we need around 100 volunteers to make the event happen so the club respectfully requests that HJ-ers put their names forward to help out rather than enter the race itself. Unless of course you can win the race and then cut the timing tags off everyone else’s shoes. 

Information coming soon about volunteering, so keep the feelers out. 

But before that, Brighton Rocks…

There are club places available for Brighton Marathon and 10K on Sunday 10th April. If you would like to take part in either of the above events and have not yet secured a place, you can get a club entry place via Horsham Joggers. Please email SokWahLee@btinternet.com by Friday 11th February and let her know:

First Name / Surname / Email address / Distance : Marathon or 10k

You will receive an invite directly from the organisers after 13th February to register online and pay the entry fees, which are £75 and £35 for the marathon and 10k respectively. You must complete your individual registration by 1st March 2022. For more information, please visit the Brighton Marathon website.

Let’s have a votey for the VotY (and the JotY)

Let’s get one thing straight: You are ALL stars. But tradition is tradition, and so it’s time once again to vote the HJ Jogger and Volunteer of the Year. 

For reasons pandemical we did not get to a 2020 award so we are combining ‘20 and ‘21 into a single bumper award, with winners to be feted at the AGM, which is on April 8th (and after which there will be a social – everybody welcome!). 

We need you to choose from the nominees at the links below. Joggers: Cast your votes! (Please note the survey closes on Feb 28th.) 

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MNTHM7V  JoTY

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/L58K595  VoTY

You can submit nominations all year round via the club website, so any time you are inspired by one of your peers, let it be known so they can make the list for the 2022 award. 

Get the Benefits

Membership of Horsham Joggers comes with loads of extras like a first class flight. If you want discounts at local running stores, or with Hands on Sports Therapy (see below), or with running coach Lawrence Roy, who has been a big hit at the track sessions, just get yourself over here https://www.horshamjoggers.co.uk/membership-benefits/ and see all the bonus goodies you get with your membership. 

South Downs Way Relay

This year the SDW Relay will take place on Saturday 28th May, to avoid clashing with the SDW 100, which runs in the opposite direction. And good job, too. One can only imagine the carnage if the two races were to collide. You can picture the drone footage: Ditchling Beacon strewn with the tough sinewy bodies of hardened distance runners. Dazed relay eventers staggering around Queen Elizabeth Country Park, waving batons at the public, whimpering gibberish. Actually, I think that did happen one year…

Anyway, over to the club’s SDWR event manager, John WIlcox. 

Arguably the best ‘running’ day out of the year!

We are looking for Horsham Joggers to take part in this “invitation only” event for about 55 teams. Horsham Joggers have been allocated two teams (of six).  This is a relay race over the 97 miles of the South Downs Way, starting at Beachy Head and finishing at Winchester. The teams consist of six runners who each run three non-consecutive legs of the relay. The distance of each leg is somewhere between 4 and 8 miles and you’ll have a good break between each of your 3 runs. Each runner will run somewhere between 15 – 18 miles over the course of the day, almost entirely off road. The teams travel between the start / finish points of each leg by minibus and you will have a driver and navigator looking after you. There is a time limit to complete the event, meaning that an average pace per mile of at least 8.5 minutes over hilly terrain is required (over the whole distance). Although it’s tough (it’s hilly!) and a long day, it is a truly great event with a lot of team spirit and camaraderie.  Everyone who has ever taken part, including the drivers and navigators, will confirm that the sense of achievement and fun had is immeasurable. The team entry fees are paid by the club, the cost per runner is approx £35.00 to cover minibus and fuel costs. In addition to 12 runners we need drivers and navigators for each team.

At this stage if you would like to take part (or even if you only think you might be interested in taking part) or want to know more please e-mail John Willcox: johnw@ohob.co.uk

Full details of the event can be found on the organisers website: http://www.southdownsrelay.co.uk  Get in touch and get your name on the list, you won’t regret it!

Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’…

It’s time for the latest from Tony at Hands On Sports Therapy (the H.O.S.T. with the most advice for Horsham Joggers). And this month he wants to give you the low-down on <winces>  Foam Rolling… It might surprise you…

Over to you, Tony. 

Hi everyone, so in this month’s newsletter I wanted to delve into the subject of Foam Rolling, or what some call Myofascial Release. It was a question that was brought up at the Injury talk I carried out to you at the end of October and wanted to give a more thorough answer.

Foam Rolling has become a popular intervention used in all sorts of sporting activities used to increase the efficiency of training or competition preparation as well as speed up post exercise recovery. BUT what does it really do and does it live up to the claims?

If we type Foam Rolling into google for a definition we may see something along the lines of “an application of pressure to eliminate scar tissue and soft tissue adhesions by freeing up your fascia”. 

Now imagine the family fortunes `X` when they get a question wrong! 

To try and answer this it’s best to explain briefly what fascia is. It’s a connective tissue that surrounds organs, blood vessels, bones, nerve fibres, muscles and individual muscle fibres. We have a superficial and a deep fascia.

If we have some adhesion or fibrosis between these layers applying pressure will unfortunately change nothing and just compresses them together. For release or breakdown of scar tissue both fascial layers need to be sliding in opposite directions. Something not possible from a Foam Roller.

What about trigger points then I hear some of you ask? Well, the current understanding of what trigger points are is that we don’t fully know! There is however a good chance that they are not taught bands that have been suggested in the past. So if we don’t fully know what trigger points are can we say a foam roller will `release` it? 

So, how does Foam Rolling really work then? The current “best guess” would be that it creates a painful stimulus that activates inhibition of pain from the nervous system. This will then create short term effects on performance, recovery and range of motion. There is however still no 100% answer as a lot of it is opinion based.

What does the science say?

Some recent studies have shown that the effects of Foam Rolling on performance and recovery are rather minor and partly negligible, but still a very slight, short term improvement. Another study showed Foam Rolling to have a positive effect in range of motion in healthy adults when compared to not doing anything. However when compared against stretching there was no superiority. 

When comparing Foam Rolling with built in vibration there was no difference in outcomes.

So, what can we take from all of this? In essence I think it’s fair to say that Foam Rolling probably isn’t doing all of the things we previously thought, breaking down scar tissue etc. BUT it does seem to give a very slight short term improvement and most importantly it isn’t causing you any harm. So, if you want to Foam Roll and you feel it gives you some benefit then keep doing it! Another thing to come from the recent research was how long we should be rolling for, aim for 90 seconds per muscle as a minimum but there is no upper limit however it won’t likely add any more advantage.

I hope that answers a few questions out there. Who’s for some Foam Rolling?!

[Well, not me, now. Ed]

What have you been up to?

Chris Yeomans has the news

Resolution Trail Race 9^th January 2022 starting at Staunton Country Park, a large country park situated between the A3 and the A27. This amazing early season trail run has it all, spectacular tree lined trails, magnificent views of the open countryside, an ornamental lake, and ancient follies. The route offers a spectacular mix of trail running conditions including gravel paths, sturdy trails, and tree lined single track trails. There are two routes, and epic 15km and a 10 km standard route.

Claire Miller completed the 10k in 01:10:24 and Phil LIberman completed the 15k in 01:23:29

WSFRL Hangover 5 Results:

Race Results

Well done to all who took part.

First Horsham Jogger male: Gary Tomlinson 33.51 10th position overall

First Horsham Joggers female: Martine Burke 47.23 29th fastest female 142nd overall.

37 Horsham Joggers attended.

Next race is Crawley Run Crews at K2 on the 13th February. Good luck to those who managed to secure a place!

Don’t forget, if you’d like a race mention, please get in touch at horshamjoggers.newsletter@gmail.com

You are GOLD!

Sussex Masters Cross Country Saturday 22^nd January, Pete O’Connell, Stephen Wigmore & Alan Pettitt won Gold in the V60 Team event which was a 8km cross country run

Help the House?

Crawley Open House, the residential homeless shelter in Three Bridges, is looking for runners to raise sponsorship at the Run Gatwick event. They have free places for fundraisers. Contact Ian Watkins if you’re interested. 

ian.wilkins@crawleyopenhouse.co.uk

UK Running Events

Are offering 10% off to the club. Discount code = HORSHAM10

Fancy running 100 miles in the Himalayas?

You can if you want to!  https://himalayan.com/schedule.html 

Mel’s Milers 10k is back!

Find out more here: http://www.melsmilers.co.uk/mels-milers-10k/

The other HJ-ers are having a race…

HENFIELD HALF MARATHON

In conjunction with Henfield Joggers

Sunday 21st August 2022

10.30am Start and Finish at Henfield Leisure Centre

Off road Half Marathon scenic course along riverbank and disused railway, flint paths & stiles, disabled and less abled athletes welcome if you feel the course is within your abilities please contact us before entering. Changing rooms, showers, toilets and free parking. There is also hot, cold drinks and food available on the day.

E-mail simonthompson@henfieldleisure.org.uk for more information

Upcoming Events

Feb 12th – Maverick West Sussex

Feb 12th – Alf Shrubb Memorial Open 5 Mile XC

Feb 13th – Crawley Run Crew 8k WSFRL

Feb 13th – Goodwood Run Festival

Feb 19th – Kelly’s Guildford 10k

Feb 20th – Run Reigate Trail 5k and 10k

Feb 27th – Brighton Half (HJ Club Challenge race)

Feb 27th – Jigsaw 10k Dunsfold

Mar 1st – Run and Talk Tuesday (after the club run)

Mar 2nd – HJ Committee Meeting

Mar 6th – Eastbourne Half

Mar 6th – Steyning Stinger Half and Marathon

Mar 6th – Surrey Half

Mar 20th – Hastings Half

Mar 20th – The Moyleman

Apr 1st – Membership Renewals Due

Apr 3rd  – Mel’s MIlers 10k (HJ Club Challenge race)

Apr 5th –  Run and Talk Tuesday

Apr 8th – HJ AGM & Social

Apr 10th – Brighton Marathon and 10k

Apr 19th – Lewes Easter Monday WSFRL

Apr 24th – Worthing RunFest Half and 10k

Apr 30th – Mid Sussex Marathon Weekend

Apr 30th – East Grinstead 10 Mile (HJ Club Challenge race)

May 1st – Mid Sussex Marathon Weekend

May 2nd – Mid Sussex Marathon Weekend

May 5th – Run and Talk Tuesday

May 8th – Run Gatwick Half

May 8th – WSFRL Hedgehoppers 5

May 15th – Wisborough Green 10k

May 22nd – Horsham 10k

May 28th – Arundel Half, 10k, 5

Huge thanks to Mike Hibberd for another fantastic news round-up!