It is a bumper edition of the club newsletter this month, with lots of details about our return to running, fees, cross country and much more – so please do read it carefully! Thank you! 


Returning to club activity

We are working towards returning to club training sessions on Tuesday 1st September! Thank you all for your patience and support over the last few months. We are excited to be starting to get things back up and running again!

We will be sending out clear details about the return to club as soon as everything is finalised, but for now we would like to update you as best we can on what the return will possibly look like-

  • Initially, just Tuesday night sessions taking place, with all 6 usual sessions offered, but unfortunately not C25K at this time.
  • The hope is that once things are working well, Thursdays and Sundays will be reintroduced.
  • Members will be required to book a place on a session on a first-come-first-served basis, to ensure we are complying with all EA and government guidelines regarding maximum numbers and track and trace. We aim to make the booking process as simple as possible for both runners and coaches.
  • The Littledown Centre facilities within the building are currently unavailable to us, so runners will need to turn up ready to run and head home after their session. The car park is open to us as usual.
  • There will be no mass briefing before the sessions, instead people will be asked to head straight to the designated session meeting location on the Littledown Centre grounds to meet up with the coach for their session.
  • Social distancing will still need to be observed on runs and at re-groups, as well as before and after the session.
  • Members are asked to read the club Risk Assessment which can be found HERE before attending sessions again, to familiarise themselves with the risks and what is being/can be done to mitigate them.

We will be sending out clear details regarding how to book a session and where meeting points will be as soon as this is all finalised.

If you have any questions at all at this stage, please see the next item in the newsletter where we want your opinions! Or you can use the ‘Contact Us’ page on the website to contact us via email.


We want your thoughts!

As we work to get club back up and running, we would love to hear your thoughts and any concerns you might have about returning to club running at this time.

FILL IN OUR QUICK MEMBER SURVEY HERE

We will do our best to address any concerns or worries and make returning to club as safe and comfortable as we possibly can. Thanks for all your ongoing support!


England Athletics athlete affiliation fees and club membership fees

England Athletics (EA) require affiliation fees for individual athletes for 2020/21 to be paid by 31st August 2020 to ensure affiliations do not lapse. This is at a cost of £15 per athlete. If you are a first claim LDH runner then this will apply to you.

As the process of collecting EA fees needs to coincide with collecting our club membership fees too, and as we are now returning to club activity, membership fees will now soon be due. This will be the pro rata amount of £12 for the remainder of the year up to the end of March, which is 7 months, and will apply to all LDH members.

Therefore, the costs to members will be:

First claim members = £27 (reduced from £35), Second claim and non-affiliated members = £12 (reduced from £20)

More detailed information will be sent out from the membership secretaries in due course and, if anyone has any concerns about payments at this time, they will be able to speak to the membership secretaries about this in confidence.


AGM 2020

Unfortunately it does not look possible that we will be able to have our usual, in-person AGM and social event any time soon. Therefore, the committee have taken the decision to have a virtual AGM later in the year. More details will follow, but for now please save the date of the evening of Wednesday 11th November.


Cross Country – Hampshire League

We are still very keen for the club to take part in cross country as many members have shown an interest in it. The Hampshire league organisers are hoping for a return to cross country in November, all being well. The provisional races and dates are below, and more details of the Hampshire league can be seen HERE

If you have never taken part in cross country before, it is a great laugh! Car sharing is encouraged (if permitted under social distancing!) and cake afterwards is a must! Men’s events cover a maximum of 10k and women’s a maximum of 6k. You do have to be an affiliated runner with England Athletics to take part.

Dates, Venues and Host Clubs for season 2020-21 – Please note these are provisional

  • 7th November – AFD Aldershot
  • 5th December – Winchester & D AC Sparsholt College, Winchester
  • 16th January – Reading AC Prospect Park, Reading
  • 13th February – Basingstoke & MH Popham Airfield
  • 13th March – Bournemouth AC King’s Park, Bournemouth

If you would like to register to take part in cross country, then please complete the form HERE

Captain Steve is collating details to register runners for the league, at this stage all you need to do is complete the form above to add your name to the list to take part in the events in 2020/21. More details will then be shared with those on the list nearer the time. There is no fee for individuals, as the club pays to be affiliated with the league. You do not have to run in all 5 races if you add your name to the list now.


EA Weekly 30 Challenge – formerly known as ‘Straight Outta Boscombe’

The challenge is now in its 7th week, and Littledown have been dominating the leader boards the whole time! Well done to everyone who is taking part and pushing themselves over that 30 minute time trial each weekend.

Week 7 results can be seen HERE

Now that club activity is starting up again, we will no longer be emailing out the results of the challenge each week. We will still keep adding the results to the club website each week (go to the ‘Members’ section and then ‘Social’ and you will see all the weekly results there.)


The Rotary Quarter event will be no longer

Sadly, we have been informed that the Bournemouth Rotary Club will no longer be hosting the annual Rotary Quarter Marathon race which we all know and love. They have asked other organisations to take over the organisation of this event and we will keep you posted if there are any more developments on that.