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Meet the Team: Holly

 

With just 7 weeks to go, the Fun Run team and myself are busy getting ready for Sunday 26th September. We have had a fantastic number of entries so far for both the live event and the virtual race option.

Registration is in advance this year.

It is a good time to reflect on the success of Shelford Fun Run, with the fun run contributing more than £15,000 to the Playscape, that is now under construction, our fundraising efforts turn towards the Wheelscape phase of the Great Shelford Playscape masterplan. I, like many others, have been inspired by Team GB’s successes in Skateboarding and BMX in the Olympics. This space will be an excellent place to learn and hone these skills.

So how did I, a novice jogger end up as Race Director for Shelford Fun Run? Well after being on the Shelford Playscape committee since its inception, the opportunity arose for Shelford Playscape to take on the fun run as an annual fundraising event. My ambition to get everyone in the community active has resulted in me taking the lead of an awesome crew of volunteers and Marshalls (come and volunteer with us*, it’s great fun!), and with the support of other local run organisers and our UK Athletics adjudicator, this event has gone from strength to strength. Even a pandemic did not stop us from raising money last year! I love being part of the Shelford community and this is my chance to give something back.

Photo of a flat field with a blue sky above and hedgerow in the distance.
View from Jenny’s Path, Great Shelford

I started jogging a several years ago with a group of fellow Mums from the Shelfords, preparing for the 10k Race for Life. Since then, most of us have continued to run regularly with some entering their first Marathon this year.

As for me, I’ve opted to keep it around 5k, plugged in to my dance music playlist!

My favourite jog is from the centre of Great Shelford out and round the fields via Jenny’s path, see route here.  I love the views especially at this time of year. I am back on the Couch to 5k programme to get ready for my Virtual Fun Run, as I will be busy ensuring the live 5k event runs smoothly on race day.

If you would like to volunteer with me on race day, please email me at funrun@shelfordplayscape.org.

Selfie head and shoulders photo of a white woman wearing a blue running t shirt and smiling at the camera. A tall hedge fills the background. I would love to see your training or virtual race selfies with the hashtags #ShelfordFunRun and #ShelfordSelfie, here’s one of mine for starters!

See you there!

Holly

Race Director

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We’re on for 2021!

So it’s happening! We are on for Sunday 26th September 2021 for a live fun run (unless Covid decides to rain on our parade again). Note the change in usual weekend in order avoid a clash with other local events.

We’ve spotted a lot of runners locally through the lockdown. Perhaps you have been working on a couch to 5k programme or are looking to log a PB? Perhaps you are looking for an event to inspire you to get out and start run/walking. Whatever your experience level we would love to welcome you to this friendly local event.

Grid of 9 photos taken at the 2019 shelford fun run.

As in previous years roads will be closed and we will be offering chip timing and a staggered start to allow the speedier runners to get away quickly.

The committee are currently applying for road closure, race licence, insurance and first aid, online entry organisation and reading up on UK athletics guidance on running a Covid-safe event. Of course there will be prizes for local businesses and not just for the speediest runners. A success of last year was the #ShelfordSelfie on instagram and facebook and we want to bring it back this year with a prize for best fun run related selfie!

We are delighted that our sponsors Bidwells, Gymbos, Zara, David Reed Homes, Davies Solicitors, Day Accountants, Relief Chiropractic and AngliEar Hearing & Tinnitus Solutions are generously supporting us again so that more money can go into the Playscape pot.

Artists impression of a small skate park next to a landscaped playgroundThis year’s fun run will be raising money for the next phase of the Playscape vision – the Wheelscape, a low level hard landscaped area designed by skateboarding specialist, for both learners and the more experienced to practice their skills.

We hope that the community will get behind us for this event and enjoy coming together as a community in September.

Prices will be £15 for adults and £7 for under 18s (refunds/ deferrals available in the unlikely event we have to cancel).

For those who can’t make it on the day or are not ready to join a live event we will be holding a virtual fun run option concurrently as we did last year, so that you can run / walk 5k your way at a time and location that suits you (with a  reduced entry fee of £10 and £5).

As usual we are looking for Marshalls for the event (no previous experience necessary) and volunteers to help up with our social media presence to publicise the run and / or race set up on the day. Please let us know if you can help via funrun@shelfordplayscape.org.

Sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Insta for notification when registration opens next month!

 

 

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Medals

We’re loving the proofs for the medals this year!🏅

Mock up of square medal, edged in cold, with wording #ShelfordFunRun Virtual 5K 2020 and Shelford Playscape logo, with faint rainbow in the backgroundYou will find us at the Green Shelter on Great Shelford Rec on (our original run date) Sunday 20th September from 10am -12noon to collect your medal!

Unfortunately, as restrictions on mass gatherings are still in place, we cannot make this as much of a community event as we had hoped, so there won’t be refreshments or activities this time, but we’d love to take this opportunity to congratulate you in person (socially distanced of course) and thank you for taking part!

We’ll send out an email to all those signed up, after the run window expires on 15th September.

Don’t worry if you can’t make it on the day, we can post your medal to you instead.

We are always trying to improve our event’s sustainability and, as we always have a lot of medals left over, we are having the medals made to order (big thank you Sporting Medals).  So remember, if you’d like to receive a medal, please make sure to select the correct ticket* option when signing up (with just under 2 weeks left to log your run, there is still plenty of time!)!

SIGN UP HERE!

*There’s a small additional cost to help towards distribution.

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Come and Run!

Couch to 5k? Or maybe just a coffee?

Fancy some company and motivation to get running…?

Or a coffee while the kids burn off some energy?

Photo of the Great Shelford Sports Pavillion viewed from across the Rec

Shelford Playscape will be hosting a meet up point and pop up cafe from 4pm-5pm on Friday afternoon’s at the Sports Pavilion on Great Shelford Rec on:

7th, 14th, 21st & 28th June 2019

and 5th & 19th July 2019!

We’ll set out some cones to indicate a measured route around the football pitches for people who want to get running (and for any keen kids, we’ll keep a tally of your mileage and pass it on to your school to add to your Golden Mile Award!).

There won’t be a formal training session, we just want to provide an opportunity for people to get together and encourage each other (and an excuse for a chat and some cake!)!

We’d love to see you there!