Round The Town 10k Race may have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak – but that didn’t stop over 40 club members taking on the distance!

Usually, the event takes place over a few hours – with this year’s race originally planned for noon on Sunday 17th May. This year, the event was extended over the entire weekend, giving club members the freedom to run the 10K distance in their own time.

The first entrant, Ed Abbott, set off around 09:00 on Saturday morning, with his comrades adding times up to the deadline of 20:00 Sunday night.

As in recent years, the weekend was warm and sunny making the notorious double Drybridge Hill as testing as ever!

While many club members did stick to the tried and tested route, others got creative with their ideas, running both town and trail to log the distance.

The event was a great success, with 43 members taking part across all age categories. Club Secretary Mark Allen is to be thanked for a very professional event, which saw members running in club colours complete with running numbers.

To get on the leader board, club members had to log their efforts on Strava or their running watch. Despite the lack of cheering crowds, there were some very impressive times reported.

Particular kudos to Fastest Man, Tom Wake, with a time of 37:47, fastest female Rosie O’Neill, Simon Sinclair who logged a sub 40 minute personal best, and Ruth Acworth, going sub 50 and winning her age group despite a recent hip operation. Mum to be Sarah Smith and new mum Sarah JC Lewis also logged impressive times.

Mark Allen, Club Secretary, said: “Well done to everyone who took part – it was uplifting and inspirational to see everyone out. Some amazing achievements in the heat and without the crowd and support. Massively well done to all of you. Next year, many of us will be back to race duties as we

prepare to put on the 40th anniversary of our iconic race – and we can’t wait!”

The full results are below:

Female Under 40
Race No	Name	Position	Time
24	Rosie O’Neill	1	00:44:45
14	Hannah Wattam	2	00:49:26
12	Kirsty Brookfield	3	00:51:50
36	Sarah Lewis	4	00:57:15
16	Gemma Cannon	5	01:00:20
6	Sarah Smith	6	01:04:00
40	Lucy Hollis (guest Shuffler)
Female 41-50
25	Lisa Squirrell	1	00:55:16
1	Kate Hayward-Brackenbury	2	00:55:48
20	Kathryn Gerry	3	00:58:19
33	Kerensa Carrick	4	01:05:08
11	Jen Evans (walking)	5	02:19:01
Female 51-60
17	Ruth Acworth	1	00:49:39
41	Maureen Kelly	2	00:52:55
18	Julie Dovey	3	00:55:29
19	Karen Easton	4	00:59:10
7	Carina Sewell	5	01:02:44
Female 61-70
15	Sue Hargadon	1	01:08:17
Male under 40
39	Tom Wake	1	00:37:47
4	Ed Abbott	2	00:51:54
28	Adam Smith	3	00:52:04
Male 41-50
26	Jamie Hall	1	00:39:52
21	Rob Squirrell	2	00:40:46
22	Andrew Craig	3	00:40:48
27	Tom Alexande	r 4	00:43:06
42	Ben Burrows (unofficial runner)	5	00:43:34
2	Karl Harris	6	00:51:25
42	Paul Scoggins (guest)	7	00:51:58
35	Ian Coxall	8	00:53:48
Male 51-60
10	Simon Sinclair	1	00:39:56
3	Andy Garvie	2	00:44:57
29	Malcolm Pidd	3	00:45:51
13	Mark Friston	4	00:46:17
32	Paul Cherry	5	00:49:01
23	Patrick Denham	6	00:50:06
37	Alan Sansom	7	00:50:13
9	Ben Solway	8	00:51:50
8	Gordon Pethybridge	9	00:52:37
38	Dave Steward
Male 61-70
34	Paul Wigens	1	00:49:56
31	Mark Allen	2	00:52:48
Male over 70
5	Graham Bush	1	00:55:47

Since April 5^th, the Woodbridge Shufflers have scaled the equivalent of the UK’s four highest peaks, completed 19 marathons and raised around £500 for charity – all thanks to the club’s Virtual Sunday Shuffle.

Mark Allen, club secretary, reports:

“For as long as most members can remember, Sundays are run days. Whether participating in a road or cross-country race or simply exploring countryside trails (followed by the obligatory coffee and cake) very little stops our intrepid club getting together.

So when lockdown was announced, we, like the rest of the world, took to Zoom to chat – not only about running, but pretty much everything that was impacting our work and our family life.

Before long, it became clear that many of us were missing running together. On one hand, we were pleased that we could still run – in line with governmental guidelines, of course. But on the other – we missed our camaraderie. So how could we recreate that feel of ‘running together’ while still being highly respectful of the unfolding coronavirus outbreak?

The answer came in the form of a series of ongoing challenges. Now in its fourth week, these online challenges allow us all to connect, to chat, and most importantly to gain the benefits of running while still being mindful of these challenging times.”

The format is simple. Each challenge opens on Saturday morning at 8.30am and ends 10.30pm the following evening. During that time, members are free to contribute to the task in their own time, at their own pace, while staying local.

Each week, club members are also treated to a comprehensive set of motivational training drills and running tips led by lead coach, Dave Alley.

Here’s the highlights of the journey so far!

Challenge 1 – Local Landmarks – 4 – 5^th April

Things started simply enough. The task? Take three pictures: a church, a pub and a village sign, and post them in the club’s Facebook page. Within hours, our page was filled with lovely pictures from the inns of the local area; including Bealings, Newbourne and Uggeshall to name a few. Simple and fun, it was the start of something much bigger to come!

Challenge 2 – Bingo Easter Weekend – 11 – 12^th April

Traditionally, the Shufflers run on Good Friday, leaving Sunday free to spend with our families. This year, Shufflers were set a challenge to “Eye Spy” as many items as possible all while in their recommended daily exercise window. By encouraging members to walk or cycle as an alternative to running, this was a great family task. By the end of the weekend, our winner had spotted 17/20 of the items, ranging from lambs to thatched cottages and pheasants! Many thanks to our friends at Stowmarket Striders for the idea.

Challenge 3 Virtual Elevation Challenge 18 – 19 April

This task brought out the adventurous streak in our members, some of whom are keen ultra-runners and enjoy gritty treks across some of the UK’s toughest terrain. This time, members needed to accumulate the elevation of the UK’s four highest peaks: that is, England (Scafell Pike), Ireland (Slieve Donard), Scotland (Ben Nevis) and Wales (Snowdon) – a total of 13972ft.

Using our Garmins and Fitbits, members were able to add the total climb gained over one run and add it to the score. By Sunday night, we’d hit 14276 ft – beating the target by 304 ft! Even members that usually ‘hate hills’ joined in with gusto, with every little bit contributing to the total. One member even took her son, a member of the Junior Shufflers, out on his scooter to tackle the hills of the Woodbridge 10k route – no mean feat!

Challenge 4 – 26.2 Marathon Challenge – 25 – 26 April

Sunday 26^th marked what should’ve been the London Marathon, so what better date than to up the ante and run 262 miles as a club? The idea was not for a handful of members to run for hours on end, but to get as many people as possible to make shorter, individual contributions. If we reached 262 miles, the club would donate £262 to NHS Charities Together.  And that’s exactly what they did!

This challenge saw a whopping 50% of our club membership take part, including those who were returning from injury. As a result, the club smashed its target, running 503 miles (or just under 20 marathons) in a weekend. Lisa Squirrel, due to run this year’s London Marathon on behalf of the club, suggested the idea of donating to charities that would otherwise miss out as a result of the race being cancelled.

The idea gained momentum, and by the end of the weekend, members donated a generous £500 to charities of their choice.

As well as Lisa’s chosen charities, members dug deep for the Children’s Air Ambulance, Macmillan Cancer Support, a brain tumour charity, MIND and a local church. This was on top of the £262 given to NHS Charities Together.

So what next?

With our own 10k race cancelled, as well as other key races such as the Ekiden (a marathon distance relay run by Ipswich Jaffa), we have lots of ideas in the bag to keep everyone not only physically, but mentally fit for as long as we are able to run.

Woodbridge Food Bank, run by the Woodbridge Salvation Army, has received a welcome boost of £500 thanks to the Co-op.

The donation of £250, which was subsequently matched by running club the Woodbridge Shufflers, brings the total donation to £500. The money will go towards helping around 26 local families that would otherwise struggle to afford food.

The £250 was originally paid by the Co-op to the Shufflers to sponsor this year’s Woodbridge Round the Town 10K, which has since been cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Having being offered a refund, the Co-op generously opted to donate instead.

Major Alan Hill, of The Salvation Army in Woodbridge, said: “As we witness a greater demand for emergency food, this donation is very welcome, particularly at Easter time. From redundancy and illness to a difficulty simply going shopping for food, local families are facing increasingly hard times, and that’s where we can help.

Dave Alley, race director for The Woodbridge Shufflers, said:

“We were delighted to hear of the Co-op’s generosity and were pleased to match their donation. The Woodbridge Round The Town race is at heart a charitable enterprise, giving over 10,000 per year to charity. So while this year’s race is on hold, we’re pleased to help in what small way we can during these challenging times.”

For details about the Woodbridge Food Bank, Contact Major Alan Hill email: alan.hill@salvationarmy.org.uk or phone 07562007125

For information about the Woodbridge Shufflers 10K race, planned for 2021, visit https://woodbridgeshufflers.org.uk/our-races/woodbridge-10k

The Woodbridge 10K Road Races, due to open for entries this Saturday 14th March at noon, will be delayed as a precautionary measure as fears about the spread of Coronavirus continue.

Race event organisers, The Woodbridge Shufflers Running Club, hope that the race will take place as planned on Sunday 17th May, but are monitoring the situation carefully. Dave Alley, Race Director, said: 

“We’re all wondering how the Coronavirus outbreak is going to impact our day to day lives, and for the Shufflers, this means thinking ahead to the Woodbridge 10K. 

We’re hoping that the race will be able to go ahead as planned, but at the moment we just don’t know. We’re therefore delaying our race entries, so we won’t open as planned on 14th March.  

In the meantime, we’re keeping a close watch on the situation, and we are hoping to be able to open entries in April.  But we will follow government advice, which may mean that we have to postpone the race (and entries). We appreciate that runners won’t want to miss out on the chance to race, so please be assured that we will keep our Facebook page up to date with any news, as well as the FAQ page on our website.

We’re sorry that we have had to take this step, but we think it’s important to manage the expectations of our running community. The Woodbridge 10K is run entirely by volunteers, and we trust that everyone involved will bear with us as we work towards the best outcome.”

For the latest news about the 10K, including the possible revised registration date, please follow the Woodbridge 10K Facebook page and the Woodbridge Shufflers website.

Every year the club’s 10K race raises money for charities. Club members nominations are put forward to the AGM where whole club votes to select the most popular 5 .

We are very excited to report that the 5 charities that got the most votes are as follows:

• Jetty Lane : Community, youth and arts center in Woodbridge
• Seckford Almhouses chapel : Renovation of this historic building, providing disabled access etc
• Project 21 : A charity changing the lives of people with Down’s Syndrome in East Anglia
• 4yp : Suffolk Young People’s Health Project
• Motor Neuron Disease Association: Improving care and support for people with MND

OK …. not really but this was a spectacularly wet Sunday run ! Kudos to all the hard core runners who didn’t let the thought of getting their feet wet stop them !