Southville RC Newsletter March 2026

Hi Everyone,

Happy March! I’ve certainly been enjoying warmer weather and dry club runs over the last few weeks - let’s hope it’s not “false spring”. Only a month to go until we will be running in day light!

A big thank you

I wanted to take a moment to say a huge thank you to our outgoing Club Secretary Sam Blanning who has provided many years of support to Southville Running Club and has give lots of time and care to a thorough handover to me - including responding to all my questions via Whatsapp. Sam will still be a regular run leader on Tuesday evenings so look out for him there.

As 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.

Social update

We welcomed members old and new to our New Members Social on the 20th, hosted at the Colosseum. It was a really well attended evening - please keep an eye out for upcoming social events.

Our next club meal at the Southbank will be on the 24th March - keep an eye out for more details on meal options and payment from Kayleigh.

Last week we hosted St John ambulance for an Emergency First Aid demonstration. Thanks to Holly for organising the session and everyone who got involved on the night. You can find some really useful information on CPR at https://www.sja.org.uk/first-aid-advice/cpr/ and a QR code for the St John Ambulance’s South Bristol Network fundraising page opposite if you wish to make a donation.

Southville Club Championships 2026
🏆 It's 2026 SRC Club Championships time 🏆

'What are the Club Championships?' we hear some of you say. It's our annual event which gives everyone in the club a chance to get involved to challenge themselves in a mix of local road and trail races, with a bespoke target for them for every race. The most important thing about the Club Championships is because everyone has a bespoke target based on their recent races, anyone can win - regardless of their pace or experience.

This year the Championships will take place from April to June and feature 12 races. Those entering the Championships will need to take part in a minimum of five races; you can take part in more than five of the races if you like - everyone's five best scores will count towards their final points total.

✍️ If you'd like to take part in this year's Championships, fill in this form by 29th March: https://forms.gle/8JcHPAZHcJGLPzs67

Race roundup
February’s local racing can only be described in one way - muddy!

At Doynton hard half we got a shout out for the biggest team there, and the oldest female runner taking part (Laura’s mum - Diane)!  Well….with a wet wet January, came a muddy muddy run. The weather was the worst since 2018. But as always Emerson’s Green did a fantastic job of putting on this event, only 100 volunteers required to make it happen 🤩 Hope everyone taking part enjoyed it in some way. And a big congratulations to those who didn’t slide over 😅 Race results can be found here.

There was also a great SRC turnout for the Ironwood Challenge - where runners slipped, slid and rope climbed (?) their way around the course. It was agreed that this was “the right type of mud” and with plenty of smiles all round the challenging conditions were celebrated in true Southville Style.

Looking further ahead, the GWR Towpath Series from May to August is now available for early bird entry. The series includes 3 10ks and a 5k, all on summer Friday evenings, and the all-important Mobmatch is on May 29th.

Thanks to Laura, Zoe and Katherine for their contributions.

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 7th March. 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.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered as pacers at Clevedon Parkrun last month and contributed to making the event a great success.

Coming Up in March (thanks Laura for the list)

🌷 March at SRC 🌷

Alongside our regular Tuesday & Thursday club runs, here’s what else is coming up this month 👇

Saturday 7th 🏃‍♀️🏃☕️

Join us at our home parkrun - Ashton Court

Also, good luck to everyone taking part in Greenman or Green boy👏

Thursday 12th 🌊

Weston Prom Run. 5 flat miles, followed by a trip to the pub 🍔🌶️🍻 Sign up at https://westonac.co.uk/races-2/weston-prom-run/

Saturday 14th 💜

The March parkrun tourism is staying local! To mark 3 years of regular parkrun meet ups, we’ve arranged a volunteer take over at Ashton Court parkrun.

Sunday 15th 🏁

Big race day! Fission 20/Half & Bath Half

Good luck to everyone racing - don’t forget to share your pics & results 📸

Tuesday 24th 🍽️

Club night dinner at the Southbank Centre. Kayleigh will share meal & payment options soon

Sunday Long Runs 🌱

Building distance for spring races?

Tony’s spring training long run group is back ~ chatty pace, usually Sunday morning, followed by brunch ☕️Details shared weekly on member’s whatsapp

Other dates for your Diary

🏁Sat March 7 - Green Man Ultra
🏁Sun March 8 - Chippenham Spring 10 Mile
🏁Thu March 12 - Weston Prom Run
🏁Sun March 15 - 20/20 Fission
🏁Sun March 15 - Bath Half
🏁Sun March 22 - Gloucester Half and 10k
🎽Sun March 29 - Clocks go forward
🏁Thu April 9 - Weston Prom Run
🏁Sun April 12 - The Big Cheese, Cheddar
🏁Sun April 19 - Frenchay 10k
🏁Sun April 19 - Newport Marathon Festival (10k, Half, Marathon)

Tues April 21- Quarterly General Meeting at the Southbank- more details soon

🏁Sat April 25 - Butcombe Trail 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

All the best,

Amy at Southville Running Clubinfo@southvillerunningclub.co.uk