Dear All,

Well done to all those who took on cross country training with Cath on Sunday at Nowton, we should all be primed up for the first race at Framlingham in two weeks. Do not forget next Sunday Chris Mower will be leading the drills at Nowton Park from 9am, everyone welcome! There will also be a 10 mile social run on Sunday for the mud dodgers, route details will be shared on Whatsapp nearer to the time.

On Sunday evening our chairman, Ian Gooderham, and Social Secretary Annie Richardson were shortlisted for the English Athletics East Anglian Volunteers of the Year. We are super lucky to have so many people who donate huge amounts of time to help run the club and both Ian and Annie put in so much time and effort to ensure both the day to day club activities and our races go smoothly. Earlier on in the day Chris Mower presented on behalf of the club all we have done to achieve our governance status, including to the Head of English Athletics! Thank you Chris for taking the time to do this and put Pacers on the map.

I am really pleased to share that Annie was awarded the Newcomer to Volunteering award for the East Region!! Ian was then awarded the Recognition of Services Athletics and Running – one of our only eight people to achieve this. huge congratulations to you both!!!

I think the biggest number of senior Pacers out racing this weekend was at the Great Eastern Half in Peterborough. The first runner home was Steven Quercia-Smale in 1.10! With this being his debut half this is amazing performance, well done. Andrew Southwood was next in 1.18, followed by David Loomes in 1.21. A shoutout to Chris Harman for a shiny new PB in 1.40. Well done to everyone who ran!

In our junior division, there were an amazing set of results from the cross country relays, with victories for our teams in the U13 mixed, U15 girls and U17 girls divisions. Overall the club finished third in the region, super result and well done to everyone who ran.

Other weekend highlights included:

– Tom Kingsnorth had a top ten finish and was second vet overall in the Edurancelife Trail Half Marathon on the East Suffolk Coast.
– Well done to Anita and Andy Ward for taking on the Felbrigg Trail 10k which was raising money for the Surf Life Saving Club.
– Also in Norfolk, a number of us ran the West Acre Wild 10k, I say running but there were a number of obstacles to climb, seesaws to get across, wild ponies, turkeys, three brooks and a shooting range… what a fabulous event! Current reigning Pacer Pup of the Year Luna Carter won her division along with her handler Gem, with Benji Gooderham (handler Ian), Ted Pocock (with me :)) and Willow Cunnington (handler Fiona) all doing amazingly to finish their first 10k races. Well done Pacer Pups and a big thank you to Scott Williams and Fran Cole for coming to spectate and cheer us on.
– At the Royal Parks Half in London Matt King had an incredible race to finish fifth in his age group in 1.31.
– There was another Hyrox victory for Todd Lewis and Rob Wallace at Gdansk, after qualifying for the World Championships this year these two are unstoppable at this event! Congratulations both.
– On the parkrun front, Bryan Churchard was the first Pacer to take on the new Brooklyn Bridge event in New York, a bucket list parkrun for many of us!

Ely New Year’s Eve 10k
Entries have opened for this popular race, which includes a finish line beer, bagpipes and a fast course.

3k Snow Dash – Nowton Park
Please see a note below about this event and the details attached.

3k Snow Dash – Nowton Park

I’m getting in touch from Brave Futures, a charity supporting children and young people in West Suffolk who’ve experienced sexual abuse.

We’re hosting our Snow Dash on Sunday 7th December at Nowton Park– a festive fun run for all ages and fitness levels – to raise vital funds for our work, and we’d love your help to spread the word!

Could you share the attached leaflet with your members.

Have a great week.

Lara