Dumfries Running Club Monthly Bulletin March 2013
Thanks again for the feedback from the 2nd Monthly bulletin…will it be third time lucky with this being a shorter version?
New Members
In the past month again we have some new members and more intending to join our club. The numbers are soo high now its probably impossible for anyone member to know all our members…the list is just soo long This month we welcome back some former members in the shape of Phoebe Webster, Duncan Scobie (just look at some of the archive results to see how good he is!!) and Willie Mason, its great to have these guys back on board. We have others including Ian Liffen who some you may already know. Ian has been around the running scene in Dumfries for a number of years and has helped coach/train a number of runners to reach their full potential. It’s a difficult to track everyone time with renewals etc so if you have joined recently bear with us while we get the lists updated.
Welcome aboard. You can find out all you need to know by talking to fellow members/committee members and by referring to our Notice Board or website at
Membership Renewals
Its time of year again and the fees are due. The balifs have been held off for a while yet so get your payment to Gemma Leadbetter ASAP. The fees remain the same as last year at £25 for DRC memebership and £50 for the upgraded version which includes additional Nunholm membership privelages. For full details and to pay, please contact Gemma at . Thanks
Communication
We as in the Committee continue to work hard to ensure communication in the club is good. With approx 150 people, word of mouth just doesn’t work although a good chin wag with a pint after a run can’t be beat. If you are reading this on the website or noticeboard and haven’t received an email with it, then we may have missed you and would like to add you to the list, please email and let us know.
Also when sending race reports etc for the website, please send these to and not to anyones individual email address. We have several people who can upload these reports and all off these will receive the report if you use the correct address….thanks.
Dates for the diary
PLEASE REMEMBER IF YOU ARE RUNNING IN ANY DRC EVENTS IN ORDER TO CLAIM POINTS AND PRIZES YOU NEED TO BE A FULLY PAID UP MEMBER. BE ENTERED AS A DRC MEMBER AND BE WEARING A CLUB VEST OR ONE OF OUR NEW CLARET AND BLUE T-SHIRTS. THE WHITE TECHNICAL T-SHIRTS AREN’T OFFICIAL CLUB KIT.
6th April 2nd Grand Prix Race – Longtown 10 Mile
We are off South of the Border again, but not too far so a day pass should be sufficient! This time we are taking on the all new Longtown 10 mile Road Race. This is organised by the same people who staged the Resolution 10k at Carlisle in January. I am informed it has good PB potential as despite a bit of climbing in the first half, the last 4 miles are mainly downhill. Full details are available at
As this is closer to home we will not be organising a bus, however Car Sharing would make sense and we can sort this nearer the time.
28th April - Club Hill Championship to be staged on Lotus Hill
A welcome return to this popular race organised by the club for the club David Parrish is the race organiser and has excellent back-up in the shape of Les Hill. For those who haven’t tried a hill run before, this is relatively tame in comparison to some others in the area. Also surely by that time spring will have arrived!! More details to follow in due course.
14th May 3rd Grand Prix Race - Holywood Stroll
This race is one of our own and is organised by Sandy Shankland with help from family and friends. It’s a 5 mile road race starting and fishing near Dumfries Sports Club (Nunholm) the home of DRC. We are hoping to attract record numbers from with DRC and from the wider running community. If you are a member who isn’t intending to race can you please consider volunteering to help with the race? Sandy usually runs the race and needs volunteer marshals etc to let him do this. Thanks in advance.
Highlights of the year so far (Just my thoughts so no offence if your not mentioned!)
DRC does some damn good running
Jim Buchanan at the double… after storming back to form at the end of last year his dedication to training is continuing to pay off with some great results at the Scottish Masters Cross Country (4th vet 45) and at Annan 1st Vet, 2nd overall.
DRC does winning
Lisa Finlay at the double with two 10 mile race wins at Arbroath Smokies and also the Netherhall race in Cumbria.(They had that as a course record Lisa – despite you being quicker the year before??) Jo Zakrweski wins the Glasgow Uni 5 mile road race in a marvellous time of 28.17.
DRC does pb’s
Chris (get better soon) Wilson smashed his half marathon pb at Blackpool since then he has managed to break his leg Chin up mate we are rooting for you!! Sarah Queen travels to Hong Kong and comes back with a marathon pb. Jo Zakrweski lays early claim on some awards this year with a string of good performances, half pb to 77.46 then to 77.02 and 5 mile to 28.17. These improve on her DRC records as-well. Another Queen on their travels, this time it’s Ross in New York returning with a new Half pb in a time of 93mins. At Dent the very promising Jeff Donnelly produced a great run and the ever steady Gerry Edgar moved up a gear improving his time for the course.
DRC does team work
5thmen’s team at SHVC (Jim B, Kev C, Alan B and Graeme C) 20 seconds off 3rd spot…next year!! First men’s team (David P, Jim B and Alan B) at Annan with a 1, 2, and 3 in the men’s cross country, coupled with first ladies team as-well! (Sian F, Vicky H, and wee Mo).
DRC does the social (no not that social!)
Frank laid on a great day for runners at Glenmidge with a variety of running routes followed by some fine food and drink. To top that he then donated the money collected to charity...star man Frankie
DRC does organisation
Working away in the background, Ranjit (the barefoot runner) managed to bring Criffel hill race under DRC’s remit and then organise and successfully stage the event during March. Good job well done Ranjit…can you sort the weather next year?
DRC does charity
Jo Needham has taken on the challenge of the Edinburgh Marathon to raise funds for Alzheimer Scotland and has set-up a just giving page at you can also donate £1 via text - just text JORU78 to 70070. Great cause Jo I ran London last year for this charity as did Susan C.
John Jarvie is running 5 half marathons whilst raising money for Ataxia UK. This is a cause close to Johns heart…please donate anything you can spare to John.
DRC runs in numbers
What a start to the year.
The Devil takes the hindmost back at the start of January had Doug in a sweat when over 40 runners assembled at the Keswick Centre…it didn’t take long to get the show on the road/track and off we went. I let young Dave beat me in the last sprint just to keep him motivated…honest I did
The monthly handicaps are proving very popular despite some poor weather...next month Les will take us out to the Holywood route were the running is a bit easier as we don’t need to dodge barriers etc. Caroline Frieslick leads the pack at the moment Les diligently goes about calculating these handicaps which is no mean feat as he has no idea who is running until they turn up...sore head thinking about that one Les!
We had 19 runners at our Cross Country Championship in Annan, were we cleaned up most prizes, 26 at the first Grand Prix in Dentdale and 21 turning out at Glenkiln to support our neighbours at Dumfries Harriers.
Thanks to all who have ensured a great start to the year for DRC.
It’s safe to say 2013 is looking good for DRC!!
Happy running!!