Southville RC Newsletter April 2026
https://mailchi.mp/4eb1fa5a6a8a/srcmar26-10153744
Hi Everyone,
Happy April! At club this week we certainly enjoyed the clock changing puns and celebrated the evening light to get out on different running routes.
Coming up
It’s that time again… the SRC Quarterly General Meeting is nearly upon us! Join us on Tuesday 21 April, straight after the club run, for an evening of democracy, debate, and the occasional biscuit. We’ll be covering all the essentials—finances, races, kit, membership, welfare, safety, and of course the legendary “Any Other Business,” where anything from track updates to lost gloves may make an appearance. All members are welcome (no membership card checks at the door, we promise), and if you can’t make it, you can even send a proxy—because nothing says “runner” like delegating your vote while you’re out doing intervals. Come along, have your say, and help keep the club running as smoothly as your favourite pair of trainers. Look out for the agenda which should have landed in your inbox yesterday…
Social Stuff
We had a fantastic turnout for our latest club meal at the Southbank. Thanks for organising our curries Kayleigh! Please keep an eye out for upcoming social events.
We also enjoyed cake thanks to Sharon who is running the London Marathon this year in support of Changing Tunes. Best of luck with your fundraising and running Sharon.
Track Update
Sadly, we are not able to offer our traditional Thursday night track sessions this year due to uncertainty over the future development of the Whitchurch Athletics Track. We are keen to see if an alternative can be arranged and this will be discussed by us at the upcoming Quarterly General Meeting on Tuesday 21st April.
You can get involved in the campaign to save the track by heading to the event taking place on Easter Monday, 6 April, to help raise awareness and funds to save Whitchurch Athletics Track from demolition. The track has been a vital training ground for local runners since 1973, and this is a chance for the running community to come together in support of a space that has shaped so many athletes across South Bristol and beyond.
The Track is Back will run from 10am–3pm at Whitchurch Track and will include a mix of running activities, local businesses, and food and drink stalls. As part of the day, Kinisi Run Hub are hosting a fun team challenge inspired by Paavo Nurmi’s historic one‑hour run. Teams of two will work together in a tag‑style format to cover as much distance as possible in an hour. It’s free to enter, open to all abilities, and designed to bring people together in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. Donations on the day will go directly to the Whitchurch Track Project. The Team Interval Run starts at 11am, and you can sign up here: https://forms.gle/3ed12NbvdK54gqtk6
Race roundup
Spring racing season really got underway in March.
We kicked off the month with our regular meet up at Ashton Court, where Katherine Thomasset completed her 100th parkrun. 👏 The following week we were back at Ashton Court volunteering, it was great to see so many people coming together to support the event either by volunteering or taking part and to celebrate Susan Boyle’s 100th parkun. 👏
In just the first weekend SRC was represented at Ryder round the lakes, Lisbon half - with a PB for Tom Christmas, Endurance Life Sussex Half - for Ed Denning despite the long drive in the morning he still managed to win 🥉in age, and more locally Green Boy. Larmer tree marathon is back, with Laura, Teresa and Diane taking part on International Women’s Day.
March’s Weston Prom was the one with the strongest winds that we can remember! Despite this, still a great SRC turnout of 26 runners, with Season Bests for Mark Ducker & Becky Harris, and Teresa making the podium in her age category 🥉. The next one is a Club Championship race, so do get signed up!
Bath half & Fission 20 or half, remain firm favourites in the SRC calendar. Fission 20 was a great spring marathon warm up event, with a few club runners racing this distance for the first time. We also retained our winning title for the ladies team in the half, congratulations Daisy Nichols, Helen Marston & Susan Boyle. 👏 Bath half, was well supported, and congratulations to Oli Haynes, Peter Ellis, Jamie Walker, Dean Hopkins, Rachel Wicks, Tom Christmas (yes getting faster as the month goes on 😅) Stuart Brown, David Thurlbeck & Rob Keith all running PBs. 🥳
Just last weekend Gloucester Half saw some great SRC runs, with PBs for Jacob Dunkley, managing to break 80 minutes for the first time, and Mark Fermandel knocking 8 minutes off his half marathon time. While he puts some of it down to the Spring Training it’s a sign of his own hard work paying off. 👏
🏆 As we head into April, there are plenty of local races & parkuns to join us at, as the Club Championship gets underway, starting with Ashton Court parkrun on Saturday 4th April. It’s also a big month for the marathons, so good luck to everyone & let us know how you get on so we can celebrate your success.
Thanks to Laura for the race round up (who also managed a cracking PB in Berlin, but is too modest to say!).
Parkrun
Parkrun is a free weekly timed 5k run that takes place every Saturday at 9am all over the country and all over the world. There are also 2k Junior Parkruns for those 14 and under. You can sign up for free on parkrun's website, where you will get a barcode that can be taken to every event (physically or on your phone); you just turn up, run and then have your barcode scanned at the end to get your result.
Our designated parkrun on the first Saturday of every month is Ashton Court, which this month will be Saturday 4th April. We will of course be stopping for a post Parkrun coffee after the event!
If you need a lift or can offer one, head to our members-only WhatsApp community, where we'll also be exchanging details of any post-parkrun coffee meetups.
Coming Up in April
🏆April 🏆
Club runs are on Tuesday & Thursday nights, no Hi-Viz required.
🏆 The SRC club championship is back! Good luck to everyone taking part.
👏 Also a big month for marathons, please do let us know how you get on so we can celebrate your successes.
🏆💚 Saturday 4th - Ashton Court parkrun & ☕️ Kicking off the Club Championship.
🏆🏁 Thursday 9th - Weston Prom run - 5 flat miles on Weston Sea Front, with a trip to a local pub after. 🍔 Entries: https://westonac.co.uk/races-2/weston-prom-run/
🏆 ⛰️ Sunday 19th - Frenchay 10k - Entries: https://frenchay10k.co.uk
💻 Tuesday 21st - SRC QGM - 7.45pm at the Southbank Centre, all members welcome, have your say about the running of the club.
🏆🦆 Saturday 24th - parkrun tourism & club championship combo! Mallards Pike parkrun (1 loop, stunning course in the Forest of Dean 🌲) & ☕️ on site. https://www.parkrun.org.uk/mallardspike/
Other dates for your Diary
🏁Sun April 12 - The Big Cheese, Cheddar
🏁Sun April 19 - Newport Marathon Festival (10k, Half, Marathon)
🏁Sat April 25 - Butcombe Trail Ultra
🏁Sat May 02 - Bristol Backyard Ultra
🏁Sun May 10 - Great Bristol Half and 10k
🏁Thu May 21 - Weston Prom Run
🏁Fri May 29 - Towpath 10k
🚌Sat June 6 - Classic Quarter, Cornwall
🏁Tue June 9 - Clevedon Midsummer 10k
🏁Sat June 19 - Towpath 10k
🚌June 20-21 - Giants Head Weekend (10k, Half, Marathon)
🏁Fri June 26 - Beer and Banger 10k, Nailsea
🚌Sat July 4 - Cotswold Way Relay
🏁Fri July 17 - Towpath 10k
🏁Fri August 14 - Towpath 5k
🏁Sat August 22 - Green Man Ultra
🏁Sun September 13 - Chippenham Half Marathon
🏁Sun September 27 - Forest of Dean Half Marathon
A reminder
Our Welfare Officers are Clara von Eye and Nic Mimmack. If you have any concerns about safeguarding, the conduct of another member or any other matter that you feel the club needs to look at, you can speak to either or both of our Welfare Officers as a first point of contact. Both Clara and Nic can be contacted at welfare@southvillerunningclub.co.uk.
Have a wonderful Easter time,
Amy at Southville Running Clubinfo@southvillerunningclub.co.uk