Club Champs 2024 - Update No 1

It's been an enthusiastic start to the 2024 Champs with no less than 28 folk on the board already.

Carol Moss is the early leader with wins at the Age Graded Time Trial & an age category win at Hidden Glen at the weekend. Gillian Carr is second, having volunteered at the time trial and bagged an age category second at Hidden Glen. Colin Williams was the first to lodge points in this years champs with a great run at the Allendale Challenge (Marathon) to put him joint third along with Kenny Davidson who ran a great time at Boston last week. 

David Carter-Brown, Sarah Burthe & Andrew Fish share joint 5th on 15 points with Jen Misak, Dean Carr, Kerry Law & Ian Munro just behind in joint 8th. 

There's a bit of an interlude for a couple of weeks, before a "Mad May" with 7 races in 17 days which will likely shake things up a bit. In the mean time plenty of park runs to be had.

Full details in the spreadsheet below and if there are any omissions or oversights then => moorfootrunnerssecretary@gmail.com

Martin 

Club Champs Spreadsheet

Age Graded Time Trial This Tuesday 16 April is the first of this season's Moorfoot Age Graded TTs. The U13 juniors will meet at the Kingsmeadow Carpark at 6.30pm and escorted to the start for their 3 km TT. The U15, U17 and seniors will meet at Kingsmeadow car park at 7.00pm and escorted to the start of their 5 km TT. The start is on the Eshiels to Cardrona railway path and is shown on the pic below, and continues to a turning point, which will be marshalled, further along the path where you turn about and return to the start point to finish the TT. I checked the route today and it has been cleared of any recent fallen trees. These age graded TTs are very popular (43 members attended at least one last year) so please come, join in and enjoy yourself. Runners of all abilities are most welcome since it is not a race but more about comparing your time with others worldwide of your same age and sex. So come and give it a try!

Club Membership renewals 24/25

 Club Membership Renewals are now due for 2024/25

(Year runs 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025).

We have kept to the same system of renewal as last year with Entry Central. The membership fees have been revised in line with the recent AGM.

Please click on the relevant link depending on your membership type:

Individual membership link (£20):

https://www.entrycentral.com/club/106659

Couple/family membership link (£30 + £5 per child racing) :

https://www.entrycentral.com/club/106660

Junior(U18) membership link (£15):

https://www.entrycentral.com/club/106784

regards

Eddie Balfour

Draft Minutes of Club AGM - Wednesday 27th March

Moorfoot Runners AGM Wednesday 27th March Wetherspoons Peebles
Minutes
Present: Mike Goddard, David Carter-Brown,  Pete Hall, Alan Elder, Gregor Nicholson, Dean Carr, Gillian Carr, Tim Warner, Sarah Burthe, Kerry Law, Colin Sandie, Amy Barlet, Milan Misak, Jen Misak, Martin Holt	Apologies: Ali Hilton, Pamella Swalwell, Diana Challands, Rosie Shankey, Eddie Balfour, Alex Campbell.
(1) Intro to meeting  ·      After purchasing a round of drinks for everyone present, Mike Goddard welcomed everyone, noting that it was great to have so many people in attendance including non-committee members.    (2) Agree last year's minutes ·      Jen Misak highlighted one point for amendment in the minutes relating to the funding of team entries in relay events. The conclusion of the discussion last year was that these should be funded by the club. ·      The minutes from 2023 have been updated to reflect that change. ·      The minutes were proposed by Pete Hall and seconded by Jen Misak.   (3) Update on Club Constitution ·      Mike Goddard provided an update on the proposed new constitution for the club. ·      Gillian Carr raised a point about the wearing of club colours in competitive events. It was agreed to amend section 4.7 of the prosed constitution to say that members "should" rather than "must wear club colours when representing The Club at competitive meetings." ·      It was agreed to adopt the new constitution with this amendment to wording in section 4.7 ·      Action: Mike Goddard to adjust section 4.7 of the constitution.   (4) Office Updates  ·      Updates were received from the following office bearers. President Treasurer Juniors' Coordinator Seniors' Coordinator Welfare Officer ·      Copies of the reports are included in the Appendix to the minutes.       (5) Approval of Membership Fees ·      Martin Holt outlined the committee's proposal to put up membership fees by £5 per person. ·      This is the first rise in some time and the need to put fees up is largely to support about £1k of additional training costs for the junior section. ·      The committee felt it was appropriate to keep juniors subs less than seniors and so are effectively proposing to spread this cost across all members juniors & seniors. ·      Martin explained that in a recent webinar there was an example of a similar club in Bath where membership fees were £120 per annum, so our proposed rise to £20 should be taken in that context. ·      Sarah Burthe asked if we could make allowance for those in financial hardship & it was agreed to add a note on this to Entry Central. ·      The following fee structure was voted on and approved: o   Seniors - £15 raise to £20 o   Families - £20 Couple raise to £30 + £5 child who races (no change) o   Juniors - £10 raise to £15 ·      New fees effective from 1/4/24.   (6) Election of Officials ·      The following people were elected on to the committee:  President - Mike Goddard Secretary - Martin Holt Treasurer - Rosie Shankey Juniors' Coordinator - Gregor Nicholson Seniors' Coordinator - Dean Carr Welfare Officer - Pete Hall* Seniors' Coach - Gillian Carr Ordinary Members (3) - Jen Misak, Alan Elder, Kerry Law.  * Pete will remain as Welfare Officer until a replacement can be found.   (7) AOCB ·      Gregor Nicholson put a request out for someone to consider shadowing him on the organisation of the Cademuir Rollercoaster event in August with a view to taking that on in the future.    The meeting closed at 9pm.
Appendix  President's Update   It is with great pleasure that I present this Report on my first year as your President and Chair. Taking over from Alan Elder has been a steep learning curve and I thank him for his help and wisdom and I am pleased that he has volunteered to stay on the Committee and give us the benefit of his expertise and knowledge.   Moorfoot Runners is an outstanding club in many ways. It may be small relative to some but it certainly punches above its weight and this is due not only to the skill, fitness and dedication of its members but also to the hard work and dedication of the band of volunteers who give up their time to organise events, look after the coaching and training needs of juniors, beginners, and experienced athletes right up to our top performers, and also to provide the structure and organisation needed to look after our sport in and around Peebles.   The success and popularity of the Club is clearly growing if the membership is anything to go by. As of February of this year our membership had grown to a total of 140 members made up of 86 seniors (individual and family) and 53 juniors (individual and family) and this is from a Covid low of 81 in 2020.   I would like to make special mention of my fellow Committee members who, over the last 12 months, have worked hard on your behalf. Martin Holt as Secretary is my right hand man. He is always there when you need his help, and his modesty belies the volume and nature of his work and how he finds the time to do this I just do not know. Our finances are healthy and our membership growing and for this I must thank Eddie Balfour. This is never the most popular or glamorous of tasks and Eddie does it admirably with never a murmur or whisper of discontent! Our Seniors’ Coordinator is Jen Misak. We are so lucky to have Jen in our team, not only is she one hell of an organiser but she manages to fit in regular training, competing for the club, as well as bringing up a family, chair of Cardrona residents association etc etc. Superwoman indeed. The junior section of the Club is thriving and that is due in the main to the leadership of Gregor Nicolson. I am indebted to Gregor for his immense knowledge and Club knowhow as well as his attention to detail. Whether it is organising the Joint Home International, rewriting the Club Constitution, or setting up the Craig Angus Award, as a Club we are indebted to Gregor for his hard work as our Juniors’ Coordinator. Pete Hall has been our Club Welfare Officer for a number of years now, and indeed combined this with his role as Secretary until Martin took over that duty last year. Pete has been a key member of the Team and it will be a sad loss to the Club as his time will now be taken up as he becomes the leader of the Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team.   A number of our Committee members are leaving us this year and I would like to pay tribute to their time on the Club Committee. Being a Committee Member can be tiring and challenging at times but I guarantee you it will be enjoyable, memorable and rewarding. This year we say goodbye to Pete Hall, Eddie Balfour, and Vicky Morrison and on behalf of the Club I would like to thank them for their contribution to the growth and popularity of Moorfoot Runners and wish them the very best and look forward to seeing them continue as active members of the Club.   As your President I believe my job is really to support you all in your endeavours to enjoy running and to make the most of the camaraderie and friendships that thrive in Moorfoot and make us a Club to be envied by others. During the year we have seen many successes at all levels from Club to International and involving all ages from the youngest of the juniors to the oldest of the seniors and you will be updated on these in the reports from the Seniors’ and Juniors’ Coordinators. It is lovely to see the continued growth in the membership and to see the increasing integration of the Juniors with the Seniors - we can learn a lot from each other. It is also good to see the success of the recently introduced age graded time trials at both 5 km and 10 km distances where over 45 club members, both junior and senior have participated.   Finally, I would like to look to the future. You will see later in the AGM the Club members who have put themselves forward for election on the Club Committee. I hope you will support their nominations since they are crucial for the future smooth running of the Club. 2024 is already shaping up to be a bumper year for Moorfoot Runners with increasing membership, some exciting new initiatives, an expanded agenda of Club Championship events, and a continued effort to integrate more the Juniors and the Seniors, probably including some track sessions at the Tweedbank Stadium.   Ladies and Gentlemen that concludes my 2024 Report, and thank you everybody for your support.
Juniors' Coordinator's Update Training: Numbers at training have picked back up after the lower attendance during the Covid years, with 30+ regularly at Tuesday training over the winter. Per the accounts, there are 47 junior members. It’s been the usual routine for juniors training of Tuesday club night, Sunday racers group, Monday winter conditioning and Thursday middle-distance group on the PHS track, although not this winter as there was no indoor season due to pre-World Champs work at the Emirates. Where we train remains an issue although Cllr Tatler has confirmed that repairs to the paths in Victoria Park are scheduled, along with improved lighting. We have suffered very occasional jeering and minor interference from youths in the park in the past, causing a few younger runners to express some apprehension about their safety, so it remains to be seen what impact the new Youths’ shelter in the park will have on our winter loop next winter. We may need to boost the marshal presence, maybe even pairing up. The PHS redevelopment work has ruled out the grass pitches at the school, which we have been permitted to use f.o.c. sine the junior section started. For Sunday training through the winter we have used a mix of forest trails, Cademuir and Hay Lodge, although the latter has also just been ruled out due to temporary repairs to a section of path and a fallen tree. For the forthcoming summer 2024 we have been left with no suitable alternative but to book the 2G hockey pitch at PHS at c.£42.50 per night. It is hoped that the Tuesday seniors group will also be able to make some use of the booking. This has meant a small increase in membership fees but with most of the cost being absorbed by the reserve of funds in hand. It is hoped to be able to return to use of the grass pitches f.o.c. post-redevelopment, maybe summer 2026. The new sprint track has not been used much so far, but will get more use through the summer. An issue with 3G spectators and kids/youths playing/loitering on the track and interfering with training needs to be addressed by Live Borders Achievements – April 23 to March 24 The junior achievements in distance running are headlined by Scotland internationalists Kieran Fulton and Thomas Hilton. Kieran has shown impressive versatility, winning U17 National silver at 800m in the summer at both the Scottish Schools Champs and Scottish National Champs, then silver in the National Cross- Country Champs over 6.4k in February (with Thomas 9 th ), and bronze in the National Road Race Champs over 5k in March, running sub-15 minutes in the process. He represented the Scottish Schools team in the SIAB International in the summer, and his road race bronze gained him automatic selection for Scotland for the London Mini-Marathon in April. Thomas gained selection for the Scotland team of three for the U18 Mountain Running World Cup at the end of May, finishing 19 th in Annecy, France, then moved up to the U20 age-group for the Junior Home International on home turf in September where he finished 8 th , contributing to team gold for Scotland. In cross-country, he took a brilliant silver in the Scottish Schools Champs on the suitably hilly course (with Kieran 4 th ) and secured overall victory in both the senior and junior categories of the Borders Cross-Country Series. In jumps and sprints, Louis Whyte had tremendous success over the 2023 summer season while a Moorfoot athlete under the guidance of Linda Nicholson, gaining the following:   U17 - England Athletics Championships Long Jump Silver U20 - Welsh Athletics International Long Jump Silver   U20 - Welsh Athletics International Triple Jump Bronze U17 - Scottish National Long Jump Champion U17 - Scottish National Triple Jump Champion U17 - SIAB Long Jump Silver Medalist U17 - SIAB Triple Jump Bronze Medalist U17 - SSAA Long Jump Champion U17 - SSAA Triple Jump Champion U17 - East District Long Jump Champion U17 - East District Triple Jump Champion Louis subsequently joined Edinburgh AC to ensure eligibility for the Glasgow Jaguars representative team which competes in the UK Athletics League. Robert Horton also shone on the National stage in the U13 age-group as follows: East District Long Jump and 75m Hurdles Champion; SSAA Long Jump and 75m Hurdles Champion; Scottish National Combined Events (pentathlon) Champs silver; Scottish National Long Jump Champion and silver 75m Hurdles. Eleven juniors enjoyed a great day out at the National XC Champs in Falkirk in February and although there were no more medals, they all did the Moorfoot vest proud, with most finishing top half in some very big fields. And at the recent Borders Schools Cross-Country, Moorfoot athletes were well to the fore, taking five Golds, three silvers and one bronze.   Awards The timing of our annual awards was shifted to coincide with the juniors Christmas Do with the following award winners for 2023: Most Promising Newcomers – Emma Moran and Robert Horton; Best Trainers – Ava Mooney and Kieran Fulton; Most Improved Performers – Thea Harris and Jack Foley; Best Performance – Bella Moran and Louis Whyte. With support from the committee and Franco’s, we also introduced a new award in memory of past junior Craig Angus who tragically lost his life to cancer in June aged 20. Rather than being another performance-based award, the Craig Angus Merit Award recognises the admirable attributes that Craig brought to his training and racing with the club, these being a good work ethic; respect for others; politeness; modesty; dedication; courage; enjoyment; and setting a good example as a team member. The very deserving inaugural winner of the award for 2023 was Sabine Jefcoate. Assistance A big thank you to Ross Grieve who now leads coaching of the hill runners and the XC training over winter, while I lead on track. Ross also takes the racers’ Monday night conditioning sessions and communicates with newcomers. It’s a time-consuming role! There is a small but very willing band of regular parent helpers and it would be good to get a few more hands on deck, including perhaps on the admin/communication side. Monday Indoor Conditioning over the winter Use of the Drill Hall has worked out well with up to 14 attending and it is cheaper than The Gytes. The Accounts note income from the athlete fees of £522 and venue expenditure (Live Borders) of £308, but this is not an accurate indication due to some of that income being from winter 22-23 and   some invoices for this winter still to be received. It is usually a club subsidy of about £150 that is required. The plan is to use the Drill Hall again next year. REQUEST APPROVAL TO CONTINUE WITH THE SUBSIDY WINTER 24--25. Winter 2G sessions – We did not need to hold any Sunday sessions on the PHS 2G pitch this winter. However, we may need to do so occasionally next winter so approval is sought to continue with the club subsidising the hire charge to top up a £1 charge to athletes. This will amount to a subsidy by the club of c.10-12 per session or c.£50-60 over the winter.
Seniors' Coordinator's Update   The club has seen bouyant numbers of senior members and is in a healthy state. Coaching has been well organised by Gillian and Dean is working towards coaching qualification, Tuesday sessions continue to be well attended. Thursday numbers have been fairly low and the decision was made to move these to a fortnightly schedule, varying location, to see if this improves numbers.  Several people have organised club trips to races and the club champs last year was a great success, thanks to Gillian and Dean, getting people to races around the borders. The Handicap race, in Innerleithen at Christmas, had a good turnout but we've not had much take up for people to organise others. Club organised races - Gypsy Glen, Cademuir rollercoaster, Peebles XC round, all went well. Mike Pearson is stepping down, after many years, and handing over to Jen Misak to organise the Gypsy Glen Hill Race and Peebles XC. Many thanks to him and to all who help with the club races - it is much appreciated.    2023 Christmas Awards   1. Comeback Kid Award After various health issues and an ankle injury David Carter-Brown has come back as fit as ever and had a recent 27th  min 10k; recent good results at Glentress in Nov and the Christmas Pudding Race show he's bounced back well.   2. Tour Guide Award For getting a group of us to the Netherlands for a superb race, the 7 hills of Njimengen, Dorien Kimenai wins this award for the fantastic organisation.   3. Newbie Award 2nd in the Lee Pen hill race, great XC performances and a 65k Tweed Valley ultra has seen a great year for Matthew Sullivan, in his first year with the club.   4. Endurance Award Currently (whilst we have Christmas dinner) running the Tour De Helvellyn, having done the Lakes in a Day in October in awful weather - Katie Walling has shown some incredible endurance and perserverance.   5. Versatility Award Carol Moss wins this for her fantastic performances from 6k cross country to the Tweed Valley Ultra, storming every race and winning her age category.    6. Improver Award From being the one who doesn't run in the household to getting quicker,  racing lots and improving her running massively: Coreen McGovern   7. Special mentions for a) Tuesday Consistency: Coreen, Sam, Tim, Pete, Mike, Kerry, Alex. b) First Marathons: Kerry for Glen Mhor, Sam for Edinburgh.   8. Overall Performance Award: He's had a lot of good results in triathlon but this is for running. With 81.4% age graded result in the 10k, 5% higher than the next senior. 1st in age cat at all cross country races he ran. Mike Goddard has had a superb year, despite the odd bike crash and injury, and continues to be one of the best runners in the country in his age group.
Welfare Officer's Report The Welfare role, thankfully, is possibly the quietest of all the roles here within Moorfoot Runners, and thankfully so – the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. During the year we have had several reasons to work with Scottish Athletics on their Welfare Policy specifically in relation to the junior side of the club with Ross Grieve taking on a more leadership/senior role alongside Gregor.  Typically though this process has been sometime painful and lacking in documented processes, etc.  However we have muddled through. Primarily the role is responsible for making sure that our coaches working with young and/or vulnerable people have had a full PVG Scheme Certificate.  At the moment, Gregor Nicholson, Ross Brieve, Gillian Cockerill and myself have these in place but it is a muddy picture as the Welfare Officer does not get informed when PVG’s are approved, etc.   There is currently work underway within Scottish Athletics and Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services to amend they method for certifying people as the interpretation under which VSDS operated as the intermediary party is now in breach of PVG legislation.  Scottish Athletics is currently trying to create a new process to ensure people are correctly certified.  No further information is available as to when the process will be in place. However, we do need to be cognisant of Welfare of young and vulnerable people within the club and ensure that the right people have the right certification at all times.  And, honestly, we need to be aware of adult members also (not classed as vulnerable) - lets just continue to do the right thing at the right time for our members and community.
Treasurers Report