The Shropshire Shuffler AW21 by The Shropshire Shuffler

Contents What else happened in 1981?

Morgan the Travel

Town Running Routes

Contributors Nick Pollock Ronald Morgan Chris Clarke

Jan Cook Paul Smith

Back to Normality

Championship Results 2021

Who’s who?

Is Shove the new Nudge?

Heart Attack and Pain

Becoming a LiRF Run Leader

Footpath Maintenance by Shrewsbury Ramblers

Coaches Corner

Magazine available online at: issuu.com/theshropshireshuffler

Justin Shirra Pete McGuiness Amanda Hartley-Newton John Short

Editors Mark Leahy Graham Evans Design: www.studiopayne.com

CHAT FROM THE CHAIR Welcome to the Autumn 2021 edition of the Shuffler Magazine. I’d like to start by thanking the editorial team for taking such care to put an interesting read together. I do hope you enjoy finding out what’s been happening around the club. I am so pleased we’ve been gradually able to open-up our training nights again. It’s wonderful to see the numbers of runners increasing again and, with it, the social running many of us have missed so much since March 2020. The committee and coaching team have been working hard behind the scenes to enable a return to what, as close as possible, looks like what passed for normal before Covid struck. As I write these words, we are welcoming 10 new run leaders into our team of coaches and run leaders. They are completing their mentoring at club nights and will soon be leading groups of their own. The more run leaders we have available, the more groups we can open, giving more members the chance to join a training night. One of the things we did during lockdown was take a careful look at how groups should operate and the break in training has allowed us to reset. Some of the groups run leaders took out in previous years were, frankly, far too big and we will not be permitting very large groups in the future. This is why it’s so important we have a strong team of run leaders and the club will always look to provide the necessary training for new run leaders to sign up. Have a chat to any coach if you think you might be interested the next time run leader training is available. In addition to training nights starting to feel a bit more normal, it’s great to see club members being able to race again, in all sorts of venues, from road to trail to fell. I’m really pleased Euan has been able to get the team back together for the cross country league. More runners are welcome to join the remaining meets but if you don’t fancy taking part, spectators and cheer leaders are most welcome! Thank you for being a part of our club. Whether you race or if you just want a social way to get a bit fitter, the Shropshire Shufflers aims to be a great and welcoming running club so, if you’d like to contact me about club matters – positive comments or suggestions for improvements - you can contact me through the website or via Facebook. Happy running and take care of yourselves! Nick Pollock Chairman

What else happened in 1981? We all know that the most important thing that happened in 1981 was the formation of the Shropshire Shufflers, however a few other things happened that year too: In sport, it was the first running of the London marathon and the Great North Run. At London, Dick Beardsley and Inge Simenson crossed the winning line holding hands in 2.11.48 Joyce Smith was first woman in 2.29.57. The GNR was won by Mike Mcleod and Karen Goldhawk. Seb Coe and Steve Ovett swapped the world mile record three times over 10 days in August. Bob Willis and Beefy Botham helped England win the ashes In the world of culture, Chariots of Fire was released. Midnight’s Children won the Booker prize, it went on to win Booker of Bookers. ‘Don’t you want me’ by Human league was the number 1 single and most importantly, Bucks Fizz won Eurovision On the new front; Charles and Diana got wed and we all had a day off work. There were riots across UK, Bobby Sands died and Arthur Scargill was elected

leader of NUM. The Pope and the US president were shot. AIDs was identified. A white sliced loaf cost 37p, beer was 51p a pint and a gallon (4.5 litres) of petrol was £1.60. Average wages were £7,000, its now almost £30,000. You would need over £400 today to buy £100 worth of goods in 1981. Mortgage rates were about 15%. This means that your repayments would be about two and a half times what they are now. There were just under 60,000 people in Shrewsbury in 1981, now there are over 75,000. When Shufflers first started, there were 3 women and 2 men. Shuffler membership was £2 per person. In 1990 Martin Ottey led the first Shufflers beginners session. He continued to run it until 2018. For the last two years Covid got in the way. Hopefully we will resume normal service in 2022. 1996 was the first running of the beginners 10K. In the late 1980’s Shufflers used the old shale track at SCAT for simple effort work, In 2006 the late Pete Booth liaised with SCAT to get the Shufflers first official track sessions held. The first one took place on November 2.

Today there over 600 members and the ratio is roughly 4 to 3 in favour of women. 11 members were born in 1981, 144 have been born since.

Can’t get enough Shuffling? There’s a Singapore Shufflers. Woodbridge Shufflers are based in Suffolk and were founded in 1980. Sheen Shufflers meet at Richmond Park. There are the Shepton Mallet Shufflers and a lifeboat museum is the meeting place for the Seafront Shufflers in Eastbourne.

And what’s going to happen in 2061? Haley’s comet. Self-driving vehicles. Fully immersive virtual reality education. AI replacing the professions

and running coaches. Climate migration caused by rising sea levels and temperatures. UK population will be 80m. Gender pay parity. Over 60s outnumber children. Self-cleaning homes. Body implant health monitors. Virtual carers. 3D organ printing. Insect burgers. All new builds must have urine powered microbial fuel cell power generators. George VII abdicates. Sub 9 second 100m. Sub 2.55 marathon. Ian Richards sets a new club record for the over 100 5k. Shropshire Shufflers celebrate 80 years of existence. Graham Evans

Morgan the Travel The author, as a founding member of the Shropshire Shufflers, Includes the story of how the Shropshire Shufflers began and the back story, combined with a number of running anecdotes and photographs, including meetings and races with famous runners. Brushes with the law, near death experiences, part of a Guinness world record, this autobiographical travel memoir ‘Morgan the Travel’ is packed with photographs, travel anecdotes, historical facts, poetry and stories from his varied life in over 50 years of travelling at home and abroad, many of which as a travel industry professional. Travelling has changed immeasurably since his introduction to the travel world at the tender age of 17.

BUY THE BOOK Cost of the paperback is £14.99 It will

also be available as an eBook £7.99 on Amazon and other eBook Retailers. You can buy a signed copy directly from us and pay on paypal paypal. me/RonaldDMorgan11 use the send me button or on etsy.com, search for ‘Ronald Morgan’. Please contact me on 0797 1515 314 or email ronmorg@gmail.com for other options. Also unsigned copies and E Books are available from our publisher Troubador: www.troubador.co.uk/ bookshop/autobiography/morganthe-travel

Close to death on more than one occasion, travelling has enhanced his knowledge and cultural understanding of the world we live in. Ron has learned much, not least of which about himself. It is fair to say travel has shaped his life. Come and explore his lifelong safari of discovering the wonderful world we live in.

Ron will be happy to sign these any time! Your support would be wonderful, please spread the word. Thank you! Ronald Morgan

Town Running Routes We normally concentrate on off road rotes in this section. For a change we’ve included a couple of town routes. We used them for the return to running series that ran after lockdown lifted. The one route is fine in day light when the river isn’t too high. The other is better if its dark or the river is up. Both of these are 4.5 miles long. If you can do them in an hour, you are good to run in the fundamentals/improvers group.

DRY ROUTE

WET/DARK ROUTE

Back to Normality Like most Shufflers I had spent the lock-down months plodding a lonely furrow or running in groups of up to six when allowed. The thought of running in a competitive event seemed to be a long time in the future and, as I am not getting any younger, I did think that I might have run my last race. It was hard to keep the motivation going, especially on a cold, wet winter night when the alternative was to stay in, pig out and have a few beers. Fortunately my colleagues were as keen as I was to keep going and made sure that each run had a purpose, even if it was just to relieve the boredom and frustration that everyone must have felt during the last year or so.

So, what do you do to keep yourself interested

with Shuffler runs cancelled, no Parkrun and all other races postponed until a later date? The answer seemed to be to enter a virtual race, and there were plenty of those around to keep you busy. The club had a virtual championship covering four distances and I also did the Spitfire 10k and the Lancaster 500k challenges. I also ran some miles with Iain Day when he did the virtual London run, finishing in the Quarry by Hercules instead of The Mall. These were all good and worthwhile, but not like the real thing. After what seemed like an eternity, the great and the good decided it was time to let people enjoy themselves again and racing returned, including Parkrun. Although I was happy to see the easing of restrictions I have to admit to some nervousness as the first run approached. This was a 5k road race in Oswestry (23rd July)

on a very hot Friday night. Iain Day and Chris Huss were also running so there was a good Saga group in attendance, with Chris and I having, by far, the best beards on show! I was showing them my Nike shoes which I had had resoled at the cobblers near the station and explaining, that at £15 a pop, it was cheaper that buying a new pair. This was met with disbelief and accusations of being a skinflint. The race was a 2 lap course with a gradual hill at the start, nothing much to worry about, in my mind anyway! It soon became apparent that there were a lot of quick people running leaving us to plod a lonely path to the finish with the hill gaining Everest proportions on the second lap. The next day was the return of Parkrun to the Quarry and to my great surprise I ran the same time exactly as the night before in Oswestry. I had meant to take it easy and just enjoy the

run as I was running a 10K in Wrexham the next day but, as usual, got sucked into trying to race some of the usual suspects. The next day was extremely hot and not the best conditions for doing anything except finding some shade with a good book and a glass of something cold. There was a good Shuffler contingent for the race but they were all a lot faster than me so I was just happy to tag along with anybody running at my pace and finished in just over 50mins and 2kgs lighter. After this the races came thick and fast with the Shrewsbury 10k followed by a p.b. at the Cosworth Spitfire 10k when I ran a sub 50 mins for the first time since 1991. All the hard miles during lock-down were beginning to pay off, culminating with a great run with Juan, Gary and Kathy as company in the Village Bakery Half Marathon, and also inching closer to a sub

24min Parkrun. By the time this appears I will have moved up an age category to the 75+ group and will renew my rivalry with Iain Day as I have been chasing him for about 5 years! So, back to normality at last when you can put all the hard work to good use and enjoy the company and encouragement given by fellow Shufflers – that’s what it’s all about. In the time since Chris wrote this, he has been smashing the club over 75 records. Chris Clarke

Championship Results 2021 Due to the lack of races over the Covid lockdown period we had an extended club championship, covering the period from 1st Nov 2019 to 31st Oct 2021. The results are based on runners’ best times in races at 5k, 10k, Half Marathon (HM) and Full Marathon (FM) distances, as well as the County Cross Country Championships (January 2020). Run times are converted to a score using a formula that adjusts for age and gender, so all performances are comparable. The official Club Championships is based on runners total scores from their best 4 events. This year’s top scoring female was Jan Cook (F45) who has seen a continued rise in form, breaking longstanding F45 Club Age Group Records at both 5k and Half Marathon distances this year. She notably finished first lady at the Shrewsbury Half Marathon, shaving 6 mins of her 2019 time. Second female was Shell Grayston (F45) who won Most Improved Club Member 2 years ago and has continued a rapid improvement her times; she accomplished her first every marathon in an impressive 3 hours 43 mins, the female season’s best time, and ran one of the fastest 5 female times at half marathon and 10k distances. Third female was Dee Hancock (F65) who continues her consistently good for age times and has run the fastest F65 times of the season for 5k, 10k and HM Distances. Phil Jones (M40) lifts the male trophy again for another consecutive year, he has had an amazing 2 years beating his own age group club records in the M40 category at 5k.10k, 20mile and marathon distances and notably ran a 33.10 10k and a 2hr 39 marathon. Watch out for the club records tumbling as Phil moves into the M45 category this year. Norman Titley (M55) has also improved his times following lockdown, he was the fastest runner in his age group at all 4 distances and set a new club record with his 3:07 London Marathon, only 38 secs slower than his M50 record from 2015! Richard Pepper (M50) was third male performing consistently well across all 4 distances including a 38.57 10k. Due to the Covid-19 related disruption this year it was tricky for many runners to score in 4 events, so we are also announcing the “Best 3 events” rankings. On this calculation the clear winner was Sophie Birtles (FSen) who joined the club this year. The Bristol Uni student has achieved a phenomenal rise in form in the last 2 years taking around 10 mins off her half marathon time. A few of Sophie’s achievement from this summer include setting a course record at the Stratford Parkrun, finishing first female at Leamington Spar Half, achieving a HM PB of 1.17.26 at Oxford Half (2nd female, and 37th fastest female time in the UK this year) and finishing first female (and overall 6th place) at the Shrewsbury 10k in a PB of 35.30. 10

Shuffler mum Sue Marsh (who ran the fastest F55 5k this year) must be very proud! On the “Best of 3” ranking Thomas Vaughan comes in 3rd male place, despite his season being cut very short due to Injury. He set a new Club 10k Record of 33.11 at the Shrewsbury 2020 10k, as well running the 3rd fastest club 5k time. In 4th male place is Ben Gibson, who ran the fastest 5k time this season of 16.14 and top 3 times at 10K and Half Marathon, the season’s best M35 times; he also finished in 5th place at the 2021 Shrewsbury 10k this year. In 5th is Phil Hall, who ran the fastest M45 times at 5k and 10k and has improved over the 2 years, shaving over minute off his parkrun PB, to finish in 18.00. In 4th female place is Jo Pugh (F45) who ran top 5 fastest female times at 5k, 10k and half marathon distances. Other female runners with high scoring performances include Carol Morgan, who set amazing new F70 club records at 5k and 10k, her Parkrun time 25.59, scoring over 90% by the Parkrun Age Grade Rating. Jenny York achieved a PB and F60 Club record at Shrewsbury parkrun this October and Janet Edwards (F55) ran the best scoring female marathon in just 4 hours as well as a fast 10k at Shrewsbury 2021. Male Super Vets Iain Day and Chris Clarke who have both turned 75 this year has been enjoying a fierce rivalry. At the end of a year of multiple dethroning’s Chris held the Club M75 Records for 5k and HM distances and Iain the 10k and Marathon Club Records. Paul Gresty also continues to excel at the longer distances setting a new M65 Marathon record as well as a top 5 half marathon performance. We haven’t got space here to discuss all the outstanding shuffler performances; but more details can be found on the website. Apologies if your times are not listed here. We try our best to record times from popular local races and the Shrewsbury Parkrun, but with nearly 700 members we cannot guarantee to record everybody’s time, so it is really helpful if you check the Championship updates during the year and self-report your best times. Don’t forget the Shropshire Country Cross-Country Championships on 8th January 2022 will count towards the 2021/22 Club Championships, make sure you submit your entry. We know so many shufflers who may not feature on these fastest runner lists have also overcome huge personal challenges and make amazing personal improvements. Huge Kudos goes to every single Shuffler for making it through a tough couple of years, and we hope that all your running dreams will come true in 2022! Jan Cook

Best 4 Events Age Adjusted Score Female

Best 3 Events Age Adjusted Score Female

Best 3 Events Age Adjusted Score Male

1 Jan Cook 1 4 Shell Grayston 2 8 Dee Hancock 3 9 Heather Fras 4 11 Kathy Bridgwater 5 12 Helen Crook 6 13 Susan Bowes 7 18 Moyna Richey 8 20 Fouise Baldwin 9 22 Claire Sproston 10 30 Aimee Woosnam 11 34 Caroline Cross 12 35 Kate Bentham 13 36 Debbie Armstrong 14

1 Sophie Birtles 1 2 Jan Cook 2 7 Shell Grayston 3 8 Jo Pugh 4 15 Dee Hancock 5 20 Nicola Bishton 6 22 Mel Funnell 7 25 Heather Fras 8 26 KathyvBridgwater 9 29 Harrie Siebenaller 10 30 Susan Bowes 11 31 Joey Walls 12 32 Helen Crook 13 39 Linda Black 14 40 Louise Baldwin 15 42 Moyna Richey 16

330 315 285 284 266 260 257 254 252 249 249 247 247 239 237 236

44 47 48 51 52 56 60 63 64 65 71 72 73 76 79 80 81 82 84 85 87 88

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

234 233 232 229 228 221 219 218 218 217 211 210 206 200 198 197 194 192 189 186 186 185

89 Debbie Armstrong 39

180

3 4 5 6 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 23 24 27 28 33 34 35 36 37 38 41 43 45 46 49 50 53 54 55 57 58 59 61 62 66 67 68 69 70 74 75 77

412 371 345 338 328 326 326 309 306 297 278 261 240 227

Best 4 Events Age Adjusted Score Male 2 3 5 6 7 10 14 15 16 17 19 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 31 32

Phil Jones Norman Titley Richard Pepper Chris Clarke Iain Day Gregory Williams Jonny Coate Christopher Huss Rees McIvor Wayne Millard Neil Jones Martin Hall Steve Whitaker Richard Pickard Gary Roberts Juan Reyes-Montes Michael Aramayo Phillip Hall John Pountney Joel Bishton

33 Steve Riley

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 14 15

400 383 363 355 347 338 324 323 322 311 308 290 289 287 285 282 279 279 276 267

265

Claire Sproston Vicky Addison Helen Jones Laura Smith Niki Wilkinson Aimee Woosnam Jane Magee Helen Rowlinson Angie Cathrow Wendy Holm Caroline Cross Elaine Dean Stacey Keegan Ceri Eades Jane France Kim Harris Steff Henson Pam O’Carroll Sarah Cartwright Kate Bentham Bob Turner Margaret Connarty

Phil Jones Norman Titley Thomas Vaughan Ben Gibson Phillip Hall Chris Clarke Richard Pepper Paul Gresty Paul Aston Joel Bishton Peter Hough Iain Day Adam Jones Riccardo Pensa Gregory Williams Simon Meredith Michael Barber Niall Ross Jonny Coate Christopher Huss John Short Rees McIvor Graham Evans Ian Richards Wayne Millard Neil Jones Steve Stennett Ian Jackson Max Birchwood Rick Garcia Juan Reyes-Montes Martin Hall Michael Aramayo Pete McGuinness Steve Whitaker Chris Price Andrew Thomas Richard Pickard Nev Simpson Gary Roberts Alan Dunn Gary Roberts John Pountney Elliot Jones Steve Riley Simon aylor

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

303 292 291 288 279 277 274 273 273 267 266 264 264 260 257 257 250 249 246 245 245 245 243 241 236 235 234 233 230 230 226 225 222 221 220 220 218 218 216 215 213 213 212 203 202 200

78 Brynley Little

200

83 Ben Banks

191

86 Chris Whiteley

186

90 Chris Eades

179

162

Darren Hall

continued...

Female Best 5k Age Adjusted Score 1 Carole Morgan 111 F70 2 Sophie Birtles 108 FSen 3 Jan Cook 103 F45 4 Jenny York 100 F60 5 Jo Pugh 92 F45 6 Nicola Davies 92 F40 7 Nicola Bishton 92 FSen 8 Maura Quill 92 F60 9 Sue Prior 90 F70 10 Ruth Craven 90 F80

Female Best 10k Age Adjusted 1 Sophie Birtles 112 2 Carole Morgan 110 3 Jan Cook 105 4 Janet Edwards 104 5 Jo Pugh 99 6 Shell Grayston 98 7 Sue Prior 95 8 Jo Harrison 93 9 Mel Funnell 92 10 Christine Ivison 91

00:17:06 00:19:37 00:20:10 00:20:35 00:21:29 00:21:51 00:21:53 00:22:02 00:22:38 12:23:10

FSen F45 FSen F40 F45 FSen F40 F35 F45 FSen

Female Fastest 10k 1 Sophie Birtles 00:35:30 2 Jan Cook 00:41:33 3 Jo Pugh 00:43:12 4 Shell Grayston 00:44:04 5 Mel Funnell 00:44:31 6 Harrie Siebenaller 00:44:54 7 Nicola Bishton 00:45:56 8 Nicki Trow 00:46:21 9 Janet Edwards 00:46:37 10 Heather Fras 00:47:08

FSen F45 F45 F45 F40 FSen FSen FSen F55 F35

Female Best HM Age Adjusted Score 1 Sophie Birtles 110 FSen 2 Jan Cook 107 F45 3 Jo Pugh 93 F45 4 Shell Grayston 91 F45 5 Sarah Grindle 90 F40 6 Helen ones 89 F50 7 Dee Hancock 88 F65 8 Heather Fras 84 F35 9 Kathy Bridgwater 82 F50 10 Harrie Siebenaller 81 FSen

Female HM Fastest 1 Sophie Birtles 1:17:26 2 Jan Cook 1:27:26 3 Sarah Grindle 1:36:41 4 Jo Pugh 1:39:24 5 Shell Grayston 1:42:17 6 Heather Fras 1:43:07 7 Harrie Siebenaller 1:46:01 8 Aimee Woosnam 1:46:43 9 Helen Jones 1:46:43 10 Niki Wilkinson 1:46:59

FSen F45 F40 F45 F45 F35 FSen F35 F50 F35

Female Best FM Age Adjusted Score 1 Janet Edwards 102 F60 2 Shell Grayston 96 F45 3 Bonnie Hammonds 86 F45 4 Joey Walls 86 F40 5 Heather Fras 85 F35 6 Helen Crook 82 F40 7 Moyna Richey 78 F50 8 Jane Magee 76 F60 9 Sarah Williams 76 F50 10 Elaine Barnett 76 F50

Female FM Fastest 1 Shell Grayston 3:43:26 2 Heather Fras 3:47:01 3 Joey Walls 3:50:27 4 Janet Edwards 4:00:36 5 Helen Crook 4:09:01 6 Bonnie Hammonds 4:12:36 7 Sarah Et 4:31:08 8 Moyna Richey 4:35:31 9 Wendy Holm 4:45:10 10 Sarah Williams 4:45:57

F45 F35 F40 F60 F40 F45 F45 F50 F45 F50

Score FSen F70 F45 F55 F45 F45 F40 F60 F40 F65

Female Fastest 5k 1 Sophie Birtles 2 Jan Cook 3 Nicola Bishton 4 Nicola Davies 5 Jo Pugh 9 Joanna Rowsell 6 Mel Funnell 7 Heather Fras 8 Sharon Williams 10 Nicki Trow

GROUP APPS

Female Other AGSB 5K 21 Kathy Bridgwater 0:24:15 F50 28 Sue Marsh 0:25:02 F55 26 Jenny York 0:24:44 F60 NA Dee Hancock 0:28:10 F65 35 Carole Morgan 0:25:29 F70 NA Carole Morgan 0:28:29 F75 119 Ruth Craven 0:43:04 F85

Female Other AGSB 25 Louise Smith 37 Jo Harrison 49 Dee Hancock 34 Carole Morgan

10K 0:54:11 0:56:17 0:58:45 0:55:16

F50 F60 F65 F70

Female Other AGSB 25 Louise Baldwin 27 Jane Magee 22 Dee Hancock

HM 2:19:52 2:25:59 2:09:04

F55 F60 F65

Key: Club Record and Season Best Time Age Group Season Best (AGSB) Time

Jan Cook and Sophie Birtles

Garmin Connect Just to let everyone know; if you use a Garmin watch there’s a Shropshire Shufflers Group on Garmin Connect – which you can search for via the Groups tab on the main menu.

Male Best 5k Age Adjusted Score 1 Phil Jones 99 M40 2 Ben Gibson 98 M35 3 Thomas Vaughan 96 MSen 4 Ed Morris 95 M45 5 Phillip Hall 94 M45 6 Richard Pepper 91 M50 7 Norman Titley 91 M55 8 Joel Bishton 91 MSen 9 Richard Price 90 M40 10 Matthew Walley 90 M40

Male Fastest 5k 1 Ben Gibson 00:16:14 2 Phil Jones 00:16:31 3 Thomas Vaughan 00:16:35 4 Joel Bishton 00:17:29 5 Adam Jones 00:17:47 6 Richard Price 00:17:48 7 Andrew Normand 00:17:54 8 Paul Aston 00:17:57 9 Phillip Hall 00:18:00 10 Matthew Walley 00:18:05

M35 M40 MSen MSen MSen M40 MSen M35 M45 M40

Male Best 10k Age Adjusted Score 1 Phil Jones 102 M40 2 Thomas Vaughan 101 MSen 3 Phillip Hall 97 M45 4 Norman Titley 97 M55 5 Ben Gibson 96 M35 6 Paul Aston 96 M35 7 Iain Day 94 M75 8 Richard Pepper 93 M45 9 Chris Clarke 93 M75 10 Joel Bishton 92 MSen

Male Fastest 10k 1 Thomas Vaughan 00:33:11 2 Phil Jones 00:33:57 3 Ben Gibson 00:34:59 4 Paul Aston 00:35:13 5 Joel Bishton 00:36:32 6 Phillip Hall 00:36:48 7 Adam Jones 00:37:02 8 Robert Corcoran 00:38:06 9 Andrew Wakefield 00:38:11 10 Richard Pepper 00:38:57

MSen M40 M35 M35 MSen M45 MSen M40 MSen M45

Male Best HM Age Adjusted Score 1 Phil Jones 97 M40 2 Chris Clarke 96 M75 3 Norman Titley 95 M55 4 Paul Gresty 94 M60 5 Ben Gibson 93 M35 6 Richard Pepper 90 M45 7 Peter Hough 90 M65 8 Bill Dargue 89 M60 9 Paul Aston 89 M35 10 Phillip Hall 88 M45

Male HM Fastest 1 Phil Jones 1:17:06 2 Ben Gibson 1:17:52 3 Paul Aston 1:21:34 4 Gregory Williams 1:25:16 5 Sam Ostermeyer 1:25:29 6 Adam Jones 1:25:41 7 Richard Pepper 1:27:56 8 Phillip Hall 1:28:52 9 Michael Barber 1:29:03 10 Norman Titley 1:29:11

M40 M35 M35 M35 M35 MSen M45 M45 M35 M55

Male Best FM Age Adjusted Score 1 Phil Jones 102 M40 2 Norman Titley 100 M55 3 Paul Gresty 94 M65 4 Richard Pepper 89 M50 5 Iain Day 85 M75 6 Stuart Smith 84 MSen 7 Christopher Huss 79 M65 8 Jonny Coate 78 M35 9 Neil Jones 77 M45 10 Wayne Millard 75 M60

Male FM Fastest 1 Phil Jones 2 Stuart Smith 3 Norman Titley 4 Richard Pepper 5 Jonny Coate 6 Paul Gresty 7 Neil Jones 8 Andrew Thomas 9 Brynley Little 10 Wayne Millard

M40 MSen M55 M50 M35 M65 M45 M35 MSen M60

2:39:47 3:05:44 3:07:48 3:16:28 3:22:04 3:32:38 3:41:33 3:42:19 4:06:01 4:09:01

Male Other AGSB 5K 14 Richard Pepper 0:18:51 27 Norman Titley 0:20:08 59 Graham Evans 0:22:59 48 Peter Hough 0:22:13 NA Niall Ross 0:25:08 79 Chris Clarke 0:24:04 129 Desmond Fee 0:34:48

M50 M55 M60 M65 MV70 MV75 MV80

Male Other AGSB 10K NA Richard Pepper 0:39:42 17 Norman Titley 0:39:58 33 Bill Dargue 0:45:08 61 Paul Stone 0:49:30 55 Iain Day 0:48:24 NA Iain Day 0:48:50 105 Desmond Fee 1:11:11

M50 M55 M60 M65 M70 M75 M80

Male Other AGSB HM 14 Riccardo Pensa 1:36:15 13 Paul Gresty 1:35:33 20 Peter Hough 1:42:49 25 Niall Ross 1:49:28 21 Chris Clarke 1:43:50

M50 M60 M65 M70 M75

Male Other AGSB FM 14 Iain Day 4:34:24

M75

Key: Club Record and Season Best Time Age Group Season Best (AGSB) Time

Phil Jones

Strava Also we have a group on running Strava (running app & website connecting millions of runners & cyclists worldwide) which you can search for via the Explore menu. So why not join and see where other Shufflers are running. (and how well they are doing too!)

WHO’S WHO? For this Shropshire Shuffler edition Paul Smith has been nominated for ‘Who’s Who?’. Paul will then in turn nominate another shuffler and carry on the chain…

What made you join the Shufflers? I’d been running for 12 or 13 years before moving to Shrewsbury. I checked what was available online and came for a trial. The club was really friendly so I joined and have never regretted it. What’s your favourite run or race? I like a variety, mud runs and particularly the Stiperstones time trial, but my favourite race is the Paris Marathon. What’s your biggest achievement in running? Completing my first marathon in Edinburgh. In those days it took in The Royal Mile and Arthur’s seat. What are your future goals and aspirations? I’d like to run another marathon. I’m not expecting a pb but would like to go in feeling properly prepared and do the best I can. Best bit of kit or equipment? Not a big fan of specialist kit, just a good pair of trainers. I run for enjoyment so normally run without a watch. Favourite post run food or drink? A soak in the bath. If you could race anywhere in the world where would you go? The Jungfrau marathon Switzerland. The views are great and there is almost 2000 metres of climb. If you could run alongside anyone dead or alive who would you choose?

Name: Paul Smith Age: 56 Occupation: Portfolio Manager

My mate from Edinburgh, Andy. We shared lots of training runs. He could talk for England, but I could tune him out like the radio. I don’t think he ever noticed when I stopped listening. What’s your favourite running song? I don’t run with music. Thanks Paul. Who are you going to nominate for our next who’s who? Anna McCann.

Is Shove the new Nudge? You have all heard about nudge theory: Politicians use it as a method of getting us to do what they want by positive reinforcement, shaping the environment and indirect suggestion. There is now a powerful challenger to nudge, it’s called Shuffler shoving. Twice recently I have been subjected to Shuffler shoving and can testify to its power. My year has been plagued by injuries and I was in no fit state to run any sort of race but I couldn’t resist the lure of the yoghurts and turned up at the start line for the Market Drayton 10k. The start of the race was OK, but the lack of fitness really began to tell after the first 5k. Fortunately a Shuffler shover came along in the form of Martin Hall. Martin was faster than me but was tapering for the Manchester marathon. He stuck with me for the next 2 miles, encouraging me to keep my pace up and making sure I got up that hill (you know the one at about 8k). He left me at the top, but he’d done enough to make sure that I got in just below 50 minutes. A week later was the Shrewsbury half, a free entry courtesy of having marshalled the last time it was on. I had hoped they’d forgotten and I wouldn’t have to do it. Unfortunately, they were true to their word and a race number turned up. Once again, the first couple of miles were alright on the revamped course; it’s much faster than the normal route. Fairly soon though, my lack of training was telling. Luckily, Gary Marsh and Kathy Bridgwater were there to chivvy me along right through to the finish. In the last mile or so they were aided and abetted by Justin Shirra (see his article on heart attack running). Gary insisted I crossed the finish line before him, even though he had a lot more left in the tank than me.

Lessons Learnt Shufflers are incredibly supportive. I hardly know Martin, but he spent a lot of time coaxing me through the really tough bits of the race.

Make sure you train properly. Running a race when you are not prepared is much harder than running when you have a few miles under your belt. Most importantly - Check the race goody bags before you turn up. There were no yoghurts or beer tokens at MD, but it was made up for by some excellent sausage rolls.

Glossary Nudge theory says positive reinforcement and indirect suggestion is an effective way to influence the behaviour and decision making of individuals or groups. It was developed at Brunel University in 1995, then popularized in 2008 at Chicago University. Shuffler shoving –: the act of supporting, encouraging, coaxing, inspiring or persuading fellow Shufflers to stick with it when they don’t think they can. It was developed in 1981 in Shropshire and has been going strong ever since. Graham Evans

Heart Attack and Pain I have always been a runner. I started running competitively as an Army Cadet when I was 13 years old. Later, whilst studying at Cheltenham, a friend of mine arrived late to a lecture one day looking rather sweaty and exhausted; he had been running! We began chatting about his training programme. He encouraged me to start running with him and to aim for the Stroud marathon, an event which was to be held in two weeks time! The challenge was laid down. I like a challenge!

Sometimes we enter into a challenge without too much knowledge of what we let ourselves in for and maybe this is a good thing. Training started that weekend. I was given a lift to Tewksbury and told that I had to run back to my flat in Cheltenham, a distance of 9 miles. I did make it back but, only to find out, that my legs did not work for the following two days. I found this difficult because my flat was on the third floor and college lectures were a mile away. Anyway, I completed the Stroud marathon and I can say I had caught the running bug which was to stay with me for the rest of my life. After moving back to Shrewsbury, I continued running with a friend. I ran Lake Vyrnwy Half marathon in 1998, in the days when you could just turn up, sign in and run. I continued to enjoy running and it had firmly become part of my life. Other things in my life took over. I qualified as an Architect in June 2000. The course was gruelling and I was exhausted. Unfortunately, I then developed encephalitis, a debilitating condition which put me

in hospital. Steph, my long-suffering wife, was told that I may never walk again and may be left in a wheel chair. We were determined this was not going to happen. So, to my physiotherapist’s amazement, I became more active and started to run up and down outside my house. I gradually built up strength and started to get my running mojo back. In 2004 I felt totally rebooted and I signed up to run Lake Vyrnwy again. I drove there and gave Andy and Nicky Prosser a lift. The run went ok, until the last bump / mountain in the road before the toilets on the right and my ‘legs had gone’. I only had a few hundred metres to go and I did my usual, head down, die on the line and a dramatic finish. I must say I have never understood why people say ‘please keep in line and move forward’, as the finish line for me is normally where I fall. On this occasion, I was truly finished and was kindly helped over to the little field on the right to recover. At this point I realised Andy and Nicky had finished before me and were starting to think they may have to walk home. I was just about recovered enough to drive them home. Sorry, Andy and Nicky!

To bring things up to date, I have about 30 half marathons, one full marathon, 20 triathlons and other events under my belt. My latest moment of glory was at the Shrewsbury 10K, 2020. I actually beat my daughter’s boyfriend , aged 21 years old by 21 seconds. Not bad for an old timer like me. I did need a little rest at the end and I never look good at the finish line of an event. Justin Shirra

Becoming a LiRF Run Leader I’ve no idea what got into me (but I suspect it is a little understood side effect of the Covid vaccination) whereby I found myself, completely out of character, having put my name forward to become a Run Leader. And I’m not alone. There are about another 14 or so soon to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public. For me, I think it was seeing the existing run leaders in action during our period of reduced activity that made me realise what an inspiring group of people they are. Selflessly putting themselves out there to provide us with an opportunity to have our runs and enabling us to feel the huge physical and mental benefits of running. It was clear too that the club was still becoming increasingly popular and that a post Covid world just wouldn’t allow for some of the group sizes we used to have. The solution: to have a larger pool of run leaders to draw upon to perhaps take more groups out. The course would normally be face to face with coaches but with the Covid restrictions, this just wasn’t possible. This time, it was a combination of on-line learning, submitting embarrassing video evidence and a Zoom meeting with our remote assessors. One of the more sobering parts of the training was a mandatory requirement to take a separate Safeguarding course. It’s an uncomfortable area to have to consider but really important to be reminded that there are dangers out there and that, as a leader of a group of people, you need to know how to spot possible signs of issues and to deal with them appropriately. On a more upbeat note, the course in general was fascinating and covered areas such as understanding what running fitness is, what kind of exercises are good to achieve specific goals, how to put a plan together and, of course, assessing risk factors for the session. There is also a strong emphasis on how important it is to warm up and guidance on stretches as you cool down. One of the challenges will be looking at ways to make the sessions enjoyable and finding that fine line between allowing people to push themselves but not making it a hard slog. A good Shuffler session for me is when I feel I have pushed myself slightly outside of my comfort zone (so feel pleasantly exhausted) which then leads to a positive sense of achievement. Everyone in the group will have different goals and motivations, so finding something that suits all will take time and experience to get right. If you hadn’t already realised, that last bit was me getting my apologies in now. So if you come on one of my sessions, please be gentle with me but above all else, please have some fun!

Pete McGuiness 17

Footpath Maintenance by Shrewsbury Ramblers Have you been out and about enjoying some lovely runs in the Shrewsbury area using local footpaths? You may have wondered who is responsible for maintaining the footpaths locally. Shrewsbury Ramblers have a group of dedicated footpath volunteers who devote a total of about 1000 hours between them each year to doing a range of tasks to keep footpaths accessible. Any problems such as stiles, gates and bridges needing repair, are reported promptly to the Shrewsbury Parish Paths Partnership, known as a P3 group, just one of many P3 groups around the county. Most groups, as the name suggests, just look after the paths in their local parish. If, for example, a stile step or marker post is requested, Shropshire Council will supply whatever is needed and sometimes fund the purchase of tools to do the jobs. Then the local P3 volunteers will complete the job. For anything bigger such as stiles, gates or bridges, the Council will also provide additional manpower. The Shrewsbury Ramblers P3 group is unique in that they work anywhere from Shrewsbury to Craven Arms, normally with between 4 and 6 people in each session, out of a total pool of 16 volunteers. You may have bought a copy of Shrewsbury Ramblers’ ‘Twenty Walks in and around Shrewsbury’ book during the pandemic. It has been a successful best-seller since its launch in 2012, with 8550 copies printed to date. Each of the walks has a footpath champion, meaning that the walk is monitored regularly, and any problems are reported promptly to the Shrewsbury P3 group. Of course, these walking routes can also be used as running routes During the pandemic, the Council halted ordinary P3 work, and Government regulations decreed that only a maximum of 2 workers could be out together. This allowed the Shrewsbury Ramblers P3 group to focus on smaller jobs, particularly on routes in the 18

extremely popular ‘Twenty Walks’ book. Any issues reported by walk owners or members of the public are acted upon regularly by this mini-P3 group. After winter has wreaked its vengeance on the footpath hardware, spring is the time for the undergrowth to put on a spurt to block the footpaths. This is when the brush cutter is employed, which is essentially a strimmer on steroids, to clear back undergrowth and stinging nettles.The Shrewsbury P3 Team know where clearance is required, and so they go out regularly to ensure the paths stay accessible. Peter Knight, the P3 Co-ordinator, said, “We know it has all been worthwhile when we see a lot more runners and walkers using the routes.”

For example, there were a few issues identified on Walk 19 at Merrington Green. A group of 6 volunteers, working in groups of 2 took just two days to repair 5 stiles, fit 2 metal gates and repair 2 bridges. Since November 2020 the ‘mini P3’ team have been out 9 times and completed most of the outstanding jobs. These mainly involve path clearing and fitting new stile steps and marker posts to keep the walks safe and pleasant to use. If you don’t have a copy of the ‘Twenty Walks’ book, it can be bought at several retail outlets around the town such as Abbey Foregate Post Office, Write Here, the Shrewsbury Tourist Information Centre and the Battlefield 1403 Farm shop, as well as at local bookshops. Amanda Hartley-Newton On behalf of Shrewsbury Ramblers

Coaches Corner As runners, we develop all the time The Covid restrictions have had a huge impact on our great running club. At times I have spoken to runners who have said to me that they just want to get out running again. But I have also seen, first-hand over the same period, that runners really want to develop as runners – whether that’s moving on from a beginner’s group, to achieving a personal running challenge, to becoming an event and/or age category winner, to running without getting injuries and finally to running safely as they start to get to slower. I first ran with the Shufflers over twenty years ago but only in retirement have I had the time to devote to supporting the coaching team in their great work. I did my run leader course straight away and, since stepping in to help co-ordinate the coaching team, have done my full coaching course. What these new experiences have taught me is that we need to do more to support all of our 650+ members to run safely and develop as runners. We now have over fifty members who have done the Leadership in Running Fitness course (LiRFs) – the basic one day course that enables members to take out other runners and be insured to do so. Over the past few months we have supported twelve more members to do the course. Not all these LiRFs are able to take out groups of runners (whether because of injury, health concerns about Covid or changed work or personal circumstances) and we need to be continually supporting members to be able to step up and do the LiRFs course. We also now have nearly ten fully qualified running coaches (CiRFs) and we have just put forward five new run leaders to do this longer course which, in the future, will give us greater coaching expertise in road, track, trail and fell running. The run leaders and coaches give us a huge range of expertise, as befits the third largest running and athletics club in the Midlands, but one that I don’t think we are making the full use of yet. Here is where we need your support. The coaching team and wider run leaders/coaches community would like to hear more from members about how we can help them develop as runners 

are there particular races or events you are entering that you would like us to better support e.g. marathon training?

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are there injuries that members are getting that need us to provide training on different surfaces e.g. avoiding running too much on tarmac?

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are there ways we can help you ‘move up’ to the next level group as you get fitter and more confident in your running?

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are there ways we can help you continue to run as you get to the point, like me, that you see personal bests getting further away and not closer?

So, when you set off for your next run, please remember that we are always developing as runners and that we have over fifty run leaders and coaches who can offer you support – please just ask Contact the coaching team on teamcoach@shropshire-shufflers.org John Short Coaching Co-ordinator on behalf of the Coaching Team