New Year, New You

Are you looking to get active but not interested in playing a team sport? The University of Surrey’s Running and Athletics club are going ahead with plans to make an entirely beginners orientated session. There is no pressure on how quick you can run 5km or 10km, in fact, you don’t even have to want to get to a level to compete if you don’t want to. It is purely a social run for people who are looking to get into shape, or maintain fitness after maybe one too many mince pies this Christmas. The course will be taken by an existing member of the Running society who will have attended a coaching course. To participate, you don’t even have to be a part of the society. There will be more information on the days and times of these runs as it comes.

The club have recently been taking part in the London Colleges League (LCL). This is a cross country series of six races between all of the London based colleges as well as surrounding institutions, such as the University of Surrey. The first race was on Wednesday 20th October at Parliament Hill. Three members went along to the race (Stacey Eyers, Will Bodkin and Chris West). Stacey performed well in her event with a finish time of 18 minutes 2 seconds to complete the 2.5 mile circuit. This earned her an impressive 22^nd out of eighty seven runners. Chris and Will were also impressive by coming 31^st and 53^rd respectively out of one hundred and thirty in the men’s event.

The BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships will be held at the Olympic Stadium from Friday 4^th to Monday 7^th May next year. It is the official London 2012 Athletics test event. This means that all of the facilities and procedures that will be used for Athletics in the Olympic Games will be tested by participants of the BUCS event. The Running and Athletics Society are hoping that they can put a strong team forward to enter this event, so if you’re a keen runner looking to perform on the biggest stage of them all, get in touch. As part of the BUCS entry process, all institutions will get one entry to each event, regardless of ability.

The Running and Athletics society caters for runners of all abilities. Whether you’re a keen athlete looking to compete against other runners or you’re just looking for a social jog with some nice people, there is something for you.

Find us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/groups/188351574534287/ or email us on USSU.Running@surrey.ac.uk