Welfare Officer Update - Changes to Coronavirus rules   Chasers are no longer asked to wear masks at Talacre - this is in line with the lift of all remaining Coronavirus legal restrictions in England. Some Chasers will make a personal choice to continue wearing masks indoors at club events.  We encourage everyone to respect one another's choices without judgement or challenge.   Throughout the pandemic we had a good reporting system, where members alerted our Welfare Officer, Laurie if they had Coronavirus or had come in contact with it.  We were able to let other runners know, to help stop the spread.   From now we will relax this request, but we do ask you to be courteous to your run buddies - if you have Coronavirus and you've recently run with others, please do let them know.     We're less keen to impose strict rules and more keen to encourage thoughtfulness and courtesy among our members. So, if you've got any kind of stinking cold, think first before running with others who are trying to stay fit and well for their races!  Stay well!   Sarah Thunderbolt’s birthday   Come to the Blues Kitchen for a knees up on Friday 11th March for Sarah’s birthday   Race Schedule   There is a new race schedule for the Spring events mentioned last week that can be viewed here     Wokingham Half Marathon Race Report - 27/02/2022 By Rebecca Taylor (pos 3rd Rebecca, 4th Taylor)   It was Lauren’s idea originally, apparently it was a fast course, great PB potential and would give us some mojo after the major drudge of winter training. Word soon spread and 16 Chasers signed up. Excitement had mounted in the week leading up to the race, Storm Eunice interrupted runs and nerves set in. Attempting to control the controllables I did the only sensible thing and entered mine and the girls' race bib numbers into a fortune telling website.   ANGEL NUMBER 1163   “Ensure that you keep your thoughts and mind-set positive and optimistic in order to manifest your desired results.”   Armed with this great advice from the Number Angels and a Beyoncé track sent to me by Nicky Payne I remembered – this was going to be fun.   Race day conditions were perfect. Eamon had messaged me good luck, there was a bright sky, a gentle breeze (more on this later), and the portable toilets were arranged in a horseshoe formation, ensuring maximum efficiency and queuing fairness. A quick warm up with the girls and there she was – Becky Briggs striding up and down the road like a golden Arabian pony. At this point I realised winning first Becky was unlikely, but we’d obviously give it a go.   Nodding to our teammates, Rachel, Danielle and I got in the start pen and soon we were off. My new cheaty shoes felt great and we set out at a clip. Working together with the girls we enjoyed the country roads and settled in for the first half. 8 miles in, a lovely local fellow advised I stuck with him and stayed with the pack, apparently there was going to be a headwind and we needed human shields. Perhaps as a result of my new cheaty shoes feeling great and setting out at a clip, I watched as the pack gently slipped away, shielding each other from the wind.   We ploughed through miles 9, 10 and 11, and as Rachel sidled up to me I sniffled, ‘I think I’m struggling a bit’. Luckily we had been advised to ‘Ensure that you keep your thoughts and mind-set positive and optimistic in order to manifest your desired results’. I recalled our reservation at the St John’s Tavern for 4pm and sang my special brain tune, ‘I’m just a running machine and I don’t work for nobody but you’ which repeats in my mind when the going gets tough.   Rallying ourselves for the finale we were greeted near the end by some super speedy Chasers and that immortal race holler of Lauren’s - ‘Sprint Finish!!!'  It was over at last, we slumped on the rails and breathed.   All in all a great but tough race for me, on a beautiful course with exemplary Chaser support. Many fast times and PBs were snagged but the icing on the cake was surely Kana, Lauren and Pip’s winning of 2nd place ladies team. No mean feat in such a heavily stacked course!   In good spirits Rachel and I made for home to meet fellow Chasers at the Tavern later. Eamon’s kind words were ringing in my ears, ‘Have a drink Rebecca, it’s PB day!’. More great advice which was happily taken 😉.   https://open.spotify.com/track/7tefUew2RUuSAqHyegMoY1?si=d864107b34a04739   https://open.spotify.com/track/2j4k2Q2SGEijVhTv8pycv2?si=cb7a1186b52542d4   Fundraising for Ellen   The situation in Ukraine is in everybody’s thoughts right now. Ellen and her family are running a marathon in Ireland and fundraising for The Ukraine Crisis Appeal. You can sponsor her here   Race Report – Parliament Hill by Nick Johnson   What a great day to be a Chaser. The National Championships right at the heart of planet Chaser on a gloriously sunny day with over 50 Chasers entered into the race. It filled us all with a sense of great pride. We needed every last drop of that pride to help carry us through a very challenging course! Pride was not my initial emotion as walked across the heath towards the Chaser flag. There was a bit of excitement as the presence of so many flags from running clubs all around the country made me realise that I was going to be the part of something amazing. However, the dominant emotions were fear and guilt. I was genuinely fearful I might give up halfway round. I was racked with the guilt of being that guy wearing his new shoes, running his first XC being one of the Chasers writing a race report. Talk about imposter syndrome! The guilt soon disappeared as I saw a few friendly Chasers who gave me the reassurance that I belonged here in this race. The fear went as the Chaser ladies started to get their game faces on. If that mixture of smiles and serious determination doesn’t give you the inspiration that you can tackle anything nothing will. Soon we were watching them run up the hill from the start and my own race was beginning to feel a lot more real. Having watched as much as we could of the women’s race, we made our way back to the Chaser flag to get ready. Half an hour elapses before I find myself at the start line during which, time I must have done a lot but can remember little as I am now just a bundle of nerves. It is mainly a positive bundle but I’ve still that nagging fear I might not finish. Standing at the start line amongst all the other Chasers I suddenly feel a sense of calm. As it turns out it was the calm before a storm of mud and stop / starts as several bottlenecks soon slow us down. It is probably about 2 miles in before I hit my stride which serendipitously coincides with finding the firmer ground where we will first hear the Chasers cheering us on. I hear a familiar voice call out my name, I step on the gas and feel invincible. It is a fleeting moment of invincibility as I am soon facing the ankle-deep mud again feeling all the pre-race guilt and fear return in an instant. Sure, I can power through it again but not for a 3rd time! Somehow, I find inspiration in my surroundings as I am suddenly aware that I am running on the Heath. In an instant all the magical memories I have made on the Heath come flooding back to me. I’m running on pure emotion now and feel sure I can finish the race. I hit some firm ground again, get into my stride and look at my watch even thinking about a time. How foolish could I have been! Within 10 minutes I am about to feel as cold, lonely and desperate on a run as I ever have. Struggling with my left contact lens I am fearful about where I put my feet for about a mile which expends nearly all my nervous energy. It eventually comes out as I hit the mud for the third time and now, I feel like I am stuck. I cannot see properly anyway but with the sun now getting in my eyes and the prospect of firm ground seeming ever further away I feel like the whole world is working against me. Plus, I am tired in a way I never have been on a run before! I am so isolated I feel like have not seen or heard a fellow Chaser for ages, so I summon up the memories of all the track sessions, Tuesday nights and Sunday Long runs to get me through this. It gives me the physical confidence to know I can do this. Moreover, it gives me the mental strength to know that I will do this. Suddenly it does not feel like the whole world is working against me. The next thing I know I find firm ground beneath my feet, and I feel the end is near. I cannot see it, but I do believe the end is close and with the sort of logic you can only get by running on pure emotion I rationalise that the faster I go the sooner it will come. I’m now overtaking people on the downhill and hear the Chasers call my name so there is only one thing to do… Sprint finish!! I’ve done it! I am exhausted but mainly overwhelmed by emotion as that has what has got me through. There is the relief that I actually did it but mainly the dominant emotions are now happiness and joy that it was the support of the Chasers that got me through it.   Lydia has written an excellent report also from Parliament Hill, to be continued next week   Regent’s Park 10k   The last of this season’s races is this weekend and it looks to be a great race. You can enter here   Vitality 10k   The Vitality 10k is a central London race that is normally £39. You can use this link to enter for a tenner   Summer League Summer is on the way. Yes, it’s the time of Solero’s, Ambre Solaire and picnics on the Heath but most importantly of all it is time for… Summer League!! Yes Chasers, it’s back and it’s back to full strength pre-pandemic levels. A packed program of 5 Fixtures including our very own Regents Park race. Fixtures are now up on the event calendar with a few marked up as provisional which I will update accordingly with any status changes. I will be putting together a Chasers event team, for own Regents Park Race, closer to the time. https://www.chaser.me.uk/news/calendar.php In the meantime get the heavy pencil out and put these dates in the diary. For anyone new to the Chasers who wants to find out more then please do feel free to drop me a line or take a look on the Summer League website to see what it is all about. http://www.thesummerleague.uk/index.php It might feel like it today but summer is on its way!!       Calendar Here's whats happening over the next few weeks other than our usual Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday runs. You can find our full calendar on the website. 05/03/2022 Chingford League Relays- Wanstead Flats 06/03/2022 Mornington Chasers Regent's Park 10k marshalling 08/03/2022 Beginners Week 7 - Volunteering 15/03/2022 Beginners Week 8 - Volunteering 05/03/2022 Amersham Ultra 27/03/2022 Middlesex Masters XC Champs Run - deadline 2022-03-15 26/03/2022 Sri Chimnoy Mad March 10K - Battersea 03/03/2022 Track Thursday Sign Up Here 19:00 (1 of 25 left) Sign Up here 19:20 Results If you want to upload a photo or your results are missing, log in to our website and update your picture and Power of 10 ID. Richmond Half Marathon (Richmond), 20/02/2022 HMMT Alexandra Hearne 1:40:06 (97:40), 86 [66.77%] Quicksilver Hampton Court Half Marathon (Thames Ditton), 20/02/2022 HM Simone Stoppa 89:22, 180 [65.40%] Runthrough Battersea Park Chase The Moon 10K (Battersea), 23/02/2022 10K Marcos Cuevas-Nunez 42:29 (42:20), 62 (12) [70.35%] Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K (London Hyde Park), 25/02/2022 5K Pete Calvert-Barr 20:23, 57 [64.43%] NEW PB   John H Grigg 36:19, 148 (1) [67.92%] Parkrun 26/02/2022 Ally Pally Stephanie Mercier 26:03, 70 (1) [57.07%] Buckingham Daisy Wooller 29:06, 177 [50.74%] Burgess Stephen West 27:01, 270 [53.36%] Canons Park Meryl Walker 40:09, 115 [45.62%] Finsbury Park Vincent Murray 20:26, 31 [64.60%]   Rebecca Taylor 26:05, 216 [61.34%]   James Murphy 26:07, 218 [49.84%]   Rachel Rosenthal 26:08, 219 [56.76%] Gladstone Alex Renton 23:31, 30 [59.96%] Hampstead Heath Finlay Brown 22:50, 35 [56.86%]   Emily Morgan 24:25, 66 [60.48%] Lloyd Lizzy Muggeridge 39:23, 125 [40.63%] Southall David Nelson 23:53, 25 [56.59%] Southwark Fiona Carr 24:39, 122 [60.18%] Wokingham Half Marathon (Wokingham), 27/02/2022 HM Donal Moran 74:58 (74:51), 84 (9) [84.84%]   Daniele Biagi 78:33 (78:31), 161 [74.95%]   Lauren Longhurst 85:32 (85:08), 376 [77.11%]   Mike Hurford 85:59 (85:39), 392 (5) [84.90%]   Andy Davies 85:58 (85:44), 389 [68.10%] NEW PB   Christopher Leslie 86:14 (85:47), 400 [68.06%] NEW PB   Philippa Brown 88:21 (87:42), 474 [74.34%] NEW PB   Kana Akimoto 88:52 (88:25), 493 (16) [76.80%]   Nelson Goh 91:12 (90:34), 593 [65.24%] NEW PB   Rebecca Taylor 93:19 (92:46), 660 (22) [77.20%] NEW PB   Alex Renton 94:13 (93:34), 685 (121) [66.19%] NEW PB   Sarah Funderburk 94:29 (94:05), 697 (23) [71.27%]   Danielle Smreczak 96:27 (95:54), 758 (24) [71.88%] NEW PB   Jack Pegg 1:40:10 (99:10), 937 [58.87%] NEW PB   Beth Dancer 2:05:25 (2:03:18), 1968 [52.88%] NEW PB Links Send your stories to newsletter@chaser.me.uk. 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