Warwick Half Marathon February 2024
Welcome to Spring! In this Spring newsletter, we’d like to share with you our runners’ achievements and successes, what we’re doing currently, what’s going on in the world of Ashby’s Adventure Trails and Treks, and all our latest news.
AATTs Runners’ Achievements
This winter, Ashby’s Adventure Trails and Treks has been to Ben Nevis, Pen Y Fan, and Cader Idris. We conquered Helvellyn and Striding Edge, which is a classic grade 1 scramble in the Lake District.
We enjoyed trail runs out of Coventry, alongside the River Dove in the Peak District, and in Bradgate Park in Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire.
We’ve seen graduates from our 0 to 5km course entering and smashing their first 5k park runs, and runners complete the Coombe 8, Coventry half marathon, Brighton Marathon, Brighton 10k, Regency 10k, Warwick Half Marathon, and London Landmarks Half Marathon.
The Good, the Bad, and the Muddy
Most recently, on 7 April 2024, a group of eight runners completed The Cyril Bean Annual Challenge, which is a 40 mile long distance route around the city of Coventry on the Coventry Way. Most of the paths on the Coventry Way are off-road and through agricultural land. Since its barely stopped raining in Coventry this winter, it’s fair to say there was a lot of mud and conditions were tough! Incredibly, the runners completed the whole course and finished in 10 hours 55 minutes, and 11 hours 40 minutes.
Whatever the distance, well done everyone that laced up their trainers and went for a run over the winter months. Every runner knows it’s not easy, especially when the weather isn’t great and you’re busy…living life. But people who run know the mental and physical benefits associated with running, and that’s why we encourage more people to try it for themselves.
New Run Leaders
With that in mind, three of our run leaders are training to obtain their UK Athletics Leaders’ License so they are insured, qualified, and licensed by British Athletics to lead a running group.
Part of the course requires trainees to lead runners in a warm-up session and running activity, which needs to be filmed. The film is then submitted to British Athletics to evidence the trainee run leaders’ learning and abilities. If a session is filmed and you are kind enough to consent to being in the film, please know that it is the run leaders who are being assessed - not you! So relax and train at your own pace. We really appreciate it if you are willing to take part, but if you don’t want to, that’s absolutely fine.
As well as being UK Athletics’ licensed, AATTs has run leaders that are experienced ultra-runners, marathon runners, and mountain hike leaders.
What’s Going On
0 to 5km Beginners Course
Our couch to 5k courses run throughout the year from the Memorial Park in Coventry on a Tuesday evening. If you know someone who wants to join our 0 to 5k running group, tell them about us. Ask them to get in touch, or look out for our next course which we will advertise on Facebook.
Tuesday Strengthening Group
Our Tuesday strengthening group is for runners who can run around 5km without stopping. If you feel like you’re a bit slow at running 5k, or you worry you might need to rest after 3km, please don’t worry. This is still the course for you, so come and give it a try. The aim of the Tuesday Strengthening Group course is to help you enjoy running 5km, and to be faster and stronger at running 5k.
Wednesday Running Group
When you’re confident at running 5km at a strong pace and you’d like to increase your distance, you can join our Wednesday running group. Starting from the Memorial Park in Coventry at 6.30, we run between 5 and 10km. When the weather and conditions allow, we try to get off the tarmac and onto paths and trails. In addition, we usually include exercises to strengthen our core in all of our training sessions.
Sunday Runs
Sunday runs are longer distances for those training for half marathons, marathons, and ultra-marathons. Our meeting time is stated to be 8:15am, but you need to book onto a Sunday run in advance to find out the exact plan. This is because, some of our Sunday runs will start from a countryside location outside the city. All locations are within an hour of Coventry, so runners will be home by mid-morning to enjoy the rest of their Sunday.
Finally, thank you to each and every one of you for helping to make this the friendliest running group in Coventry. Check back next week to find out what we’ve got planned for the spring and summer months ahead. Whether you want to increase your distance or climb a mountain, we’ve got something for you.
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