Hamilton Marathon Clinic

Newsletter. August 2020.

Things have started to move again in regards to events. The beginning of the month saw park runs
start again and quite a few of our members have been turning out each Saturday morning. Six club
members did the Cougar Trail run at Tokoroa. Next month I am aware that some of our members will
be competing in the Taupo Marathon or half, Craters Trail, Mount Half, and Wellington Marathon.
Please send details of events you are competing in and results/photos so we can include in newsletters
and social media. Send details to president.hmc@gmail.com

Cougar Trail Run

Round one of Taupō trail series was held at the Cougar bike trails at Tokoroa. The course was quite
demanding and technical and either up or down with virtually no flat bits.
Leanne Hinton and Karen Mclaughlin were the brave ones and did the half marathon run. Anna
O’Connell, Stu Meads and Vicky Brewin did the mid distance run, and Keith Flockhart did the mid
distance walking event, finishing second overall and first in his age group.

Park runs

With the park runs up and running again a few of our members are getting their Saturday morning
fix. I don’t think there have been any club members get PBs in the last three weeks but a couple of
them have reached milestones. Lex did his 200th parkrun at Lower Hutt parkrun. Lex is also a Race
Director and active with volunteering. I am not sure how many additional events that would have
covered but I imagine you could add those onto his runs and he would have spent something like 300
Saturday’s at park run. Lex congratulations and it is great to see your involvement in organising events
for everyone. Keith completed his 50th and he also does occasional volunteering at park runs but, in
both cases, still a long way to go to get near what Lex has done.

Lex doing his 200th parkrun at Lower Hutt

Club Shirts

The new club T shirts and singlets are now available at $50 each. Several dozen have already been
bought and Ross still has a few available. If not in your size he will order more in. He also has
lightweight club running caps for $20.

As a means of easily identifying fellow club members and keeping our club profile in the public eye,
we would ask that all members give due consideration to wearing club shirts when competing in any
events. (including park runs) To be eligible for points in the club championship, club shirts must be
worn. (we do have some spare ones available on loan to newer members) Any events where the club
is paying for, subsidising or arranging free entry fees such as the club teams entry at the Kirikiriroa
Marathon, club shirts will be required to be worn. The only exception to this would be Ekiden type
events where fancy dress is worn.
Club Championship

As mentioned in the email sent on 21st July, we have changed the dates the 10km and 15 km rounds
of the championship to minimise event clashes. The new dates are:

23/8 10km
18/10 15km
29/11 half marathon. Huntly
There will be shorter distances for Juniors and any other members who are more comfortable over a
shorter distance. These distances are:
2km completed
3km same time as 10km
4km same time as 15km
5km (or 10km) At Huntly

The rules for championship are:

To be awarded points for the championship members must be current club members and compete in
club shirts. There are four championship sections. Men’s running, women’s running, Women’s walking
and men’s walking. Points will be awarded based on your finish position 10- 1st, 9 – 2nd, 8-3rd etc. The
points from your best three events will be used to decide the champions in each section but to be eligible
for the championship you must have competed in the half marathon.
Members who do at least three of the shorter rounds (Including juniors) or the longer and not the half
marathon while not eligible for the championship will be awarded a club medal. The final round at
Huntly is not required to be entered but the club encourages members to enter in either the 5km or
10km if possible.
We are also happy to allow any friends or other people who might be interested to come and join us at
these events. If a person does the 10km and decides they would like to join the club and do so prior to
the 15km event they will be eligible for championship points.
2020 Membership- Reminder
Subscriptions are now due for coming year. pay either by direct credit of to the Treasurer. If paying
by direct credit please include your name and “Subs” in payment details section.

Subs are full members $70. Juniors and social members $20. A full membership does allow one
junior member to be included on that membership at no extra charge.

Pre-Event Preparation
Prior to competing in an event, everyone would have done their training and have put their entries in
and ready to go. But have you done your own final preparation to ensure you do not have issues
during the event? This can start with ensuring your dinner the night before will not cause stomach
upsets. Breakfast should also be something which will keep you going during the event. On longer
events I find porridge is good. It is also important to hydrate but at same time you do not want to
need to stop.
Foot care. Trim toe nails to minimise rubbing and reduce risk of blisters and bruised toe nails. If you
think you might blister, a bit of Vaseline on heels and between toes works well. Most of us take care
in ensuring we have the right footwear but how many make the effort to ensure they have suitable
socks. You get what you pay for and 3 pairs for $5 socks are not really going to help. As you get warm
during an event there is every chance they can rub, wear or even retain moisture. Ideal fitting socks
in the $20 to $30 plus price range will be a lot better long run and more value for money. There are
so many types that it pays to get them and wear them in your training so you know what suits
Underwear is also another thing to look at. Again, choice is personal but you want something
comfortable which does not rub, does not have elastic which could cut in and annoy you, give support
and stop chafing. Also, while comfortable your underwear should not be too loose. There is nothing
worse than running along and having to pull your undies up as they are slipping down
 While there are drink stations available, is the weather going to be very hot and if so, do you need to
carry extra fluids with you. With the Covid scare some people felt safer carrying their own supply and
with many events not supplying cups, having to carry a cup with you fill it at a station can cause a bit
of inconvenience so your own water supply could be a better option. With longer events do you need
some nutrition of a gel during the event. In all cases the carrying of water and use of gels etc should
be tried out during training so you know it works for you.

The weather also needs to be taken into account in regards to thermals, coats, sunhats, sunscreen,
sunglasses. If you have them all in your bag you are prepared for any eventuality.

And finally, there is the post-race cool down, stretch and rehydration. Instead of sitting down at the
end it is recommended that you walk around so your body can slowly wind down and reduces the risk
of dizziness etc. There are always drinks at the finish to help you rehydrate which is very important
and gets fluids back into you and your kidneys working back to normal.

Coming Events

Once we get to the stage where there is a good amount of daylight on Tuesday club nights, we will
look at including more organised runs and walks.

Date Event Venue Details

2/8 Taupo Marathon. Taupo 5, 10, 1/2 and marathon
2/8 Sunday club day Club rooms 8.00am
4/8 Tuesday club night and dinner Dinner at 5.30 pm, Dinner 7.30.
workingmen’s
club
9/8 Sunday club day Clubrooms End up at University to
compete on 5km course
there
16/8 Sunday away event and coffee Ngaruawahia 8.00 am
River trail Breaking bread café
Ngaruawahia
16/8 2-hour racetrack run Hampton Downs
16/8 Craters Trail Run Taupo Round 2 Taupo Trail series
23/8 Club 10km champs Clubrooms 8.00am
29/8 Mt Maunganui Half Marathon Papamoa
30/8 Wellington Marathon Wellington
30/8 Laser shooting/run Clubrooms 8.00am
1/9 Tuesday club night and dinner Clubrooms Soup and quiz night
6/9 Kinloch off road challenge Kinloch Round 3 Taupo Trail Series
Please note that the Cambridge half marathon in September and Ekiden in October have been
cancelled.

July Member of the Month

Mike Ward. Mike is a keen runner and also is the person behind the trophies which are used for the
various fun night events. Mike has also made and donated nice chopping boards for spot prizes to the
club.
Dinner at Workingmen’s club. Tuesday 4th August. Colleen needs names in prior to the day. This is to
enable entry into the venue. There will be a list of attendees at the reception and your name will need
to be there to gain admission. There is a list at clubrooms or contact Colleen directly.
Laser Event
For people who have not tried this and wonder what the laser event is on the calendar, this is an event
which is included in the modern pentathlon. It is a mixture of run/walk and some target shooting with
a laser pistol. It is done over a few laps and we will have an out and back track along the river bank,
a maximum of 500 metres each way. Once you get to where the targets are you need to hit the target
a required number of times. Once this is achieved then the green light comes on and you start your
next lap. If you miss the target or do not get the required amount then a time penalty is added and it
takes longer for the green light to come on. The winner is the person who finishes in the shortest time.