Meet our featured Bath Half Family Fun Run Family - 19 Feb 2012
Meet our featured Bath Half Family Fun Run Family
On March 11, just after the half marathon runners set off to cover the 13.1mile course, over 1000 fun runners will also cross the start line for the Bath Half Family Fun Run.
The fun run allows people of all ages and abilities to experience the thrill of competing in one of the UK’s largest road races. It is open to everyone and is suitable for children and families with buggies too.
The fun run starts and finishes under the official Bath Half gantry on Great Pulteney Street. The fun run course is just over 1.5miles long and completely traffic free. This year, our fun run featured charity is the RNLI.
There are still some places left for the family fun run, so why not take part or encourage your friends and family to enter. Children over the age of 11 can take part unaccompanied, but they must be accompanied by a parent at the start area and also met after the run at the fun run exit in the runners’ village.
Inspired to take part in the 2012 Bath Half Family Fun Run after watching last year’s Bath Half, the Rhodes family from Bath are raring to go! Here’s their story told by Dad, Ben:
We live in Bathwick, just a stroll down to Great Pulteney Street where we introduced the boys to the Bath Half Marathon last year. They loved the atmosphere, watching all the children running the fun course, and we promised we'd do our utmost to ensure we would run it in 2012.
We are an active family. The boys at 5 & 3 (William and Oliver) participate in rugby tots, swimming, gymnastics and tennis. Karen and I are both PE teachers by trade so it's in our genes to be running around everywhere. You can pretty much guess we are all competitive even down to sledging against each other and playing crazy golf on holidays!
I have run the London Marathon in the past with Karen and Will cheering me on, but it will be great to be participating in an event with all the family this year and for them to hear the cheers from the crowds as we run on by. It will be great crossing the line together hand in hand; it shall certainly be a photo that we shall keep for a very long time.
We are hopefully going to have a few family members watching. There’ll a party of people travelling up the M5 from Cornwall to watch our race and even some from as far as Frome!
We are hoping for a dry day. We are trying to think of a theme to run as so any ideas from people would be great!
Ben, Karen, William & Oliver
10 Feb - Meet the team at Bath Half HQ - 10 Feb 2012
We can see from our Facebook and Twitter streams that our Bath Half runners are really starting to get those miles under their belts as the weeks tick by. And as race packs begin to drop onto doormats, race day fever is starting to take hold of our small team down at Bath Half HQ.
The Running High Events Team who organise the Bath Half reside in an office overlooking the River Avon close to the centre of Bath. They’re having a particularly busy week, so we thought we’d let you have a little glimpse behind the scenes.
Introducing Rhiannon Marsh, the Events Manager [right] and Faye Batchelor, the Race Secretary [left]
What’s on the to-do list this week?
Rhiannon – I’ve been collating risk assessments and insurance documents, writing a production schedule for the week of the event to ensure all contractors arrive and set up at the required times, liaising with our event partners and keeping our runners informed by sending out the email newsletters and updating the Bath Half blog. I’m also working on our next event which is the Sport Relief Mile, taking place on March 25th.
Faye - My to-do list is expanding by the day! This week I’ve been confirming volunteers for both the Bath Half and the Sport Relief Mile, assisting with the charity place registration and writing a schedule for registrations on race day.
What’s the atmosphere like at Bath HQ with only 4 weeks to go until race day?
Faye - The office is still relatively calm however we are all working hard to prepare for the extremely busy period ahead.
Rhiannon - Things are getting busier. Meetings are eating into our working time. The atmosphere is pretty calm but starting to change! I think we are all prepared for the pressure to build and workloads to increase even further in the lead up to the race.
What’s been the highlight of your week?
Faye - Allocating over half of the volunteers for the Bath Half which is a huge relief as the event wouldn’t be able to go ahead without the support of these volunteers.
Rhiannon – Where did that week go?! My highlight was realising that most of the contractors are now confirmed and that plans are well on their way for our next event - the Sport Relief Mile.
What’s your favourite part of working at Bath HQ?
Rhiannon - The diversity of the role. I am still learning more about event management each day, there are always new surprises in this role. I love the adrenaline rush of working at events and I get a real sense of achievement when the race is finished. I love working with everyone at Running High and having Poppy (Mel and Andrew’s dog) in the office is a bonus.
Faye - There is a great ‘team spirit’ in the office and it is very rewarding to work in such a small team.
What are you most looking forward to on race day?
Faye - It will be my first Bath Half so I am looking forward to seeing all our hard work in action and seeing many very happy runners!
Rhiannon – Everything, especially seeing all our hard work coming together. Hopefully it will be the best Bath Half yet.
Have you been for a run yet this week?
Faye - Yes I have had several runs this week at the gym, it is my way of relaxing after a day in the office.
Rhiannon - No running I am afraid. I will leave that to the Bath Half competitors!
Bath’s Beechen Cliff School receives award from Bath Half Marathon Fund - 03 Feb 2012
Bath’s Beechen Cliff School receives award from Bath Half Marathon Fund
In amongst the heads-down-five-weeks-to-race-day kind of atmosphere that envelopes Bath Half HQ at the moment, we’ve paused to do one of the nicest parts of our jobs – to distribute grants from the Bath Half Marathon Fund.
Other than Glastonbury Festival, our Bath Half runners are the biggest charity fundraisers in the South West, raising an unbelievable £1.5million each year. Through our runner’s donations to the Bath Half Marathon Fund we can ensure that some of the smaller, local charities benefit too.
We set up the Bath Half Marathon Fund seven years ago using donations made by our runners when they enter the race. Over the last seven years, thanks to their generosity, we have been able to distribute over £88,000 to more than 80 different local charities and voluntary groups within Bath & North East Somerset.
Each year £15,000 of Bath Half Marathon Fund donations are distributed via the Quartet Community Foundation through grants of up to £5,000 for sports, active lifestyle and play-based projects. We have also made significant funds to an endowment fund, which means that the Bath Half creates a permanent legacy for the city.
This year, local Bath school Beechen Cliff have been awarded a £5,000 grant - the largest single amount that the fund has ever awarded. The money is set to be spent on improving the quality of its sports pitches, many of which are currently in poor condition. The school also plan to expand the sports options for its 1200 pupils and the wider community.
Other local organisations that have benefitted from this year’s fund include Stanton Drew Sports Field, the Haven, Bishop Sutton Primary School, Family Deaf Centre, SWALLOW, Community Bus, Mentoring Plus, Mencap Keynsham and District and Threeways School.
Introducing another of our Bath Half featured runners - 27 Jan 2012
A few weeks ago we asked our runners if anyone would like to share their Bath Half story. We had some really nice responses and so over the coming weeks we will be featuring some of our Bath Half runners in our blog as they prepare for Race Day.
One of the runners who got in touch is Bath Half first timer and running app fan, Martin Borgars, who turns 50 this week. Happy Birthday Martin!
Here is Martin’s Bath Half story:
I saw myself sideways on in the mirror back in the summer, and it shocked me into realising that I had to do something about it. On the same day I had a tweet forwarded to me saying that entries were open for the Bath Half. I saw this as more prompting to get myself in shape.
I decided that I had to be fit by the time I reached fifty (at the end of January 2012), so I signed up for the Bath Half on August 1st.
Having signed up, I wondered how on earth I was going to get in shape enough to be able to run the race. I searched online for some sort of training program, and eventually came across a schedule that had been devised by Stuart Dinwoodie from Chippenham Harriers, http://www.chippenhamhalfmarathon.co.uk/trainingplan_beginners.aspx. It was a 32 week programme. On the day I signed up for Bath Half it was exactly 32 weeks till the actual event.
So far I've stuck to the programme and have lost over a stone in weight. When I started in August I could hardly manage the 5 minutes jog suggested for day 1 of the programme. Yesterday I ran just over 11 miles in 2h:09m which I was extremely pleased with. I'm hoping that time will come down a lot between now and next March.
I have also signed up for the Wyvern Christmas Cracker 10k which is took place in December in Weston-Super-Mare. It was my first race in 32 years and I hoped to complete the course in under an hour and I did – 59m: 39s!
I have been using an app on my mobile called Endomondo which helps me to keep track of my progress on each run. It tracks your route; it tells you how long you took for each mile as you run; it even keeps a record of what music you listened to! It links to the Endomondo website so I can see my PBs, stats and details of all my runs since I started in August.
It's getting harder to get up early in the mornings to go out running these days when it's still dark and a lot colder. I've now bought top and bottom baselayers to keep warm, and a reflective vest so that I can be seen.
I've also had some sports massage as I've needed it to ease the leg muscles. I would highly recommend it.
Let's hope that I arrive at the start line in March fit and raring to go. I'm aiming for a time of under 2h:30m.
Motivation time! - 16 Jan 2012
It has certainly been a much milder winter here in Bath this year; which is always great news for our Bath-Halfers-in-training. However this week the temperatures have plummeted and there has been plenty of early morning windscreen scraping and, I expect, a few less runners heading out each day
We put together a few winter training tips back in November, which may be worth going back to and having a read. The cold air can really impact on many of us as we train –constricting our airways and causing us to feel more ‘out of puff’ as we run. You could try wearing and breathing through a balaclava, scarf or neck warmer, which can help with that ‘burning lung’ feeling
While the weather is chillier, try running (if you can) during the warmer parts of the day when the sun is high, and give your lungs some help with shorter runs on flatter terrain (easier said than done in Bath I know!) Try to focus on breathing steadily
During these freezing days when it feels so much harder to get out and train, many of us can start to feel the pressure of the fast approaching race day. So with that in mind we spent a pleasant hour or so this morning collating some videos of last year’s race to give you a taste of what race day will hold, and how much support will be out there on the streets of Bath
This footage, shot by our runners and our spectators, has been lurking on You Tube for months, but it’s nice to have it all in one place, and we hope it will give you a little boost this week
If the cold weather is all a bit too much, then hitting the treadmill could be the answer for some runners, or just take it a little bit easier if you’re out in the cold. And if you’re running early in the morning, or on an evening, please make sure you can be seen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFlRvQ84iU4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hveb-wk18Qk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBMSmcFP9D8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfrmL97PHwA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzcvh6RtM34&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccZZUFG0aRo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCMLhJxrNxk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtKDM92M1u8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZzAz6YwCDg&feature=related
Best wishes,
Andrew Taylor
Race Director
