April 2018 Newsletter: News and Previews
Rotherham Harriers &AC

Young RH Stars honoured at the Awards Night (Report next time)
Steve Gaines reports on their Home International Call-up.....MORE

Ladies power to 2nd and 9th in Northern Relays: Men qualify comfortably for the Nationals....MORE
Report after the weekend...

Fast Work for RH men as they take county gold medals in off-beat relays....MORE
YCAA not on the ball...but Pete Shaw's men were!

We welcome new members whether joining their first club or transferring:
Paul Richardson 45 Kay Hodgson 43
Sarah Harris 42 Darren Freeman 29
Hannah Holmes 31 (s.c.) Gainsborough & Morton
recent applicants
Sarah Lowery 35 (ex Sheffield RC) Nicole Norton 22
Joe Sweetnam-Powell 24 (ex Sheffield RC)

A reminder to any non-member friends who have been running with us for more than 4 weeks that a membership application is now expected.

South Yorks Road League fixture 2 (Lodge Moor) was a casualty of the spring fog this week . Keith Binney reports clear conditions in Sheffield were matched by pea soup at Hallam with lead driver taking wrong turns etc in a trial run: a good number of 'runners' enjoyed the beer instead we gather. No replacement likely.

A new RHAC website is well on the way.
The plan followed has been to ensure that the new site is completely suitable for mobile phone use (which clearly our current site was not) as the development goes ahead. Some people are aleady appraising aspects but I will keep it private until nearer launch.
It would more than likely have been ready by now but for a serious ramp-up of data protection laws which has attracted our attention as England Athletics reports what we need to do before the deadline date of May 25th. We have already made the site and email SSL secure (noticed the "https"?) More next time.

Here comes my favourite local race
Take a look at the Memorial Race (Maltby RC)....MORE

You may have noticed we are known as 'a competing club'- there's good reason for it. There are levels of event at which just any member can represent RHAC- get your black vest on and make an effort to meet up with us at relays, at big events- or for a good race, good company, and a good introduction if you are a newcomer, at the local KMR series races. The races are often fast at the front, slow at the back, and all sorts inbetween. You support RHAC just by wearing black (with a star of course).

The outdoor track & field league season starts on the weekend of 21st & 22nd April.
Sat 21st sees the first of the 4 UK Youth Development League (YDL) Lower Age Group (LAG) fixtures, at Mt St Mary's school, Spinkhill, Sheffield.

The club can select 2 athletes for each event for U13 and U15 age categories. All club athletes should have been contacted by the LAG team managers Trudy Parker & Karen Gilbert asking them to confirm interest and availability. If you are interested and have not yet confirmed interest or availability, please see Trudy & / or Karen at the club this next week.

The first SY outdoor meeting is at Herringthorpe stadium on Sunday the 22nd. The meeting starts at 10am, and details of the event order can be viewed on the club website Competition section, by clicking the form link. If any athletes in the age categories U11, U13,U15 & U17 wish to compete, you need to buy a number (£12) from the club room on club training nights from Steve Gaines.

The first YDL Upper Age Group fixture is on Sunday the 29th April at Keepmoat Stadium Doncaster. Any U17 or U20 who is interested in competing please let Stuart Kerr (sprint coach) know. Remember that you will need to be registered to compete in the above fixtures, so you need to have paid your 2018 subs before the event date, so that we can register you for 2018/9 with England Athletics (Note this does not apply to athletes aged 8, 9 or 10)

RHAC Participation and Assistance

Clifton Park, Sunday 6th May 2018
Entries at time of writing number 471, with unattached runners outnumbering club members by 3 to 1. A quick glance shows RHAC around the 30 mark with fro example Ian Whyman and Steve Marshall listed : Jack Stokes is a junior entry as is Cathy Eddison among the ladies. Possible race favourite at this 'early' stage is Bingley's Ian Fisher.
The final course is available on the 10k website if you haven't seen it: entries are still being taken certainly I would say up to 600 but not perhaps after- and certainly not planned for after the official closing date which is 29th April. The t-shirt order has been made and is final however.

Groups are planning to try out the whole course, which is a good idea if you don't know the geography. The climb from Rotherham town cedntre on Doncaster Gate, Clifton Lane to the roundabout at the Cricket/Rugby Club and then the Homestead is one to plan in advance.

Recording and timing is still in abeyance: none of the chip-timing companies seem interested at the moment (Steve says) though we can cope with ordinary timing if need be (and it's cheaper of course). Rotherham 10k Website

Oh to be in England, now that April's there.... as the poet Robert Browning said
Cold, wet, foggy, miserable....MORE