Evening, athletes!
Welcome to this weeks update -
It was RPAC's "Super Sunday" on Sunday.
In the Run Reigate senior races Reigate Priory AC fielded at least 60 participants as can be seen in the results here. If we're missing anyone in the results they can email Paul for inclusion at 
In Ames, Spain Tom Almond got an individual bronze and a a team silver medal in difficult conditions at the 100km World Championships representing GB & NI.
We fielded a stronger than expected team in the latest MABAC League fixture.
We also urgently need more volunteers for the XC in Priory Park on Saturday 10th October - full details of how to sign up are provided below.
Thanks and happy running,
The Newsletter Team
All Club News
Run Reigate Sunday 20th September
It was a bumper turnout from RPAC athletes both Senior and Junior with at least 60 participants taking part in the senior races. The 5K, 10K and Half Marathon races were well supported by our cheering squad on the infamous Park Lane hill.
Highlights included a large number of age group first places across the three races - details in the relevant sections below
There is a selection of photos taken at those races in the gallery here. The results can be seen here. If we're missing anyone in the results they can email Paul for inclusion at
Well done to everyone who took part!
Tom Almond in the 100km World Championships on Sunday 20 September
On Sunday Tom Almond ran for the GB & NI team at the 100km World Championships held in Ames, Spain. Tom reports that the race was unbelievably hot - nearly 39 degrees for the last two hours of the race. In fact if you inspect the full results it shows that of the 295 athletes started the event 222 finished, so 73 report a DNF - a huge attrition rate for such an event, illustrating the conditions on the day. Tom was 44th home overall with a time of 7:13:22. Tom's result is shown here.
Tom received a M35 bronze medal (he's receiving this in the photo above), and the GB and NI team finished in second position gaining silver medals (see the photo gallery for a picture of the teams with their medals).
There are a set of photos from the event in the picture gallery on our website that you can see here.
Volunteers needed! Saturday, 10 October
We're hosting the Women's Divisions 2 and 3 race, the Men's Div 2 race and Div3&4 races at the first of the Surrey League Cross Country races in Priory Park on Saturday, 10 October - and we need your help!
We’re looking for volunteers to make the event a real success - we'll need folks to collect from and return race equipment to Battlebridge, course set-up and breakdown, and marshal. And with our women's team racing in a different location, we could really use all the help we can get.
If you’re able to help, please fill out the volunteer form here. Your support will be hugely appreciated and will help us give runners a great Surrey XC League experience.
Rita Diffley's funeral
Long time club member Rita Diffley's funeral is to be held on Wednesday, 30 September at 10:30 at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Yorke Road.
Junior News
Surrey Cross Country Relays - Nonsuch Park
RPAC took a team of 22 of runners to the Surrey XC relays on Saturday, the traditional opening fixture of the Cross Country season. It was teams of three with each runner completing a 3km leg. It was lovely to see a number of runners competing in their first cross country fixture for the Club. We had teams in every event barring the U18 girls, albeit in a number of events the teams were incomplete comprising only two runners. In the first event the U18 boys Rocco Secker and Robert Dunctons had good runs and were placed 7th after the second leg. George Duncton and Ollie Agius ran well in the U16 boys with George finishing with the 15th fastest leg on the day. Yasmin Mitchell and Olivia Aries were also placed 7th after the completion of the second leg and Yasmin ran very well to be the fifteenth fastest leg overall. In the U14 boys it was good to have Piers Matthews back after injury and he and SoraCowdry ran strong legs, seeing them placed 7th of the 20 or so teams competing after the second leg . In the U14 girls Annelina Hedberg-Ward, Jessica Jupp and Charlotte Andrews were our first complete team and ran well to finish 16th overall. In the u12 boys we had a number of boys who were competing in their first event for the Club and performed very well. Our quickest runners on the day were Seb Wilkins and William Moore but Harrison Pieters, Grayson Dwyer and Seb Modarres all ran strongly.
The highlight of the day was the U12 girls. We thought we had a chance of a medal. After two strong legs from Penelope Gargowitsch and Tilly Hayman we were in 4th place and Morgan Du Preez was clearly closing quickly, albeit with quite a bit to do to catch the third placed Epsom runner. However, with 300m to go Morgan overtook her so we finished the day with a bronze medal. Morgan was the fifth fastest leg on the day with Penelope 10th. We also completed an U12 Girls B team with Imogen Leung/Ottilie Cairns and Lucy Pace being placed 15th overall out of the 23 teams competing.
Run Reigate 5K, Sunday 20th September
It was great to see some RPAC Juniors take on the 5k at Run Reigate on Sunday.
Amongst the boys George Duncton and Leo Hodgson were an impressive fourth and ninth overall and 1st and 3rd in the U15 age group. In the U13 boys Harry de'Ath was second U13 . Amongst the girls Yasmin Mitchell was 3rd U17 girl and Penelope Gargowitsch was 1st U13 .
In the Junior races Tilly Hayman was 2nd in the Year 7-8 race. Isabelle Loynes and Sophia Hallett were 1st and 3rd respectively in the Year 6 race. in the Year 5 race Arthur Eggleton and Aubrey Bateman were 3rd boy and 3rd girl respectively.
There is a selection of photos taken at those races in the gallery here. The results can be seen here. If we're missing anyone in the results they can email Paul for inclusion at
Junior Dates for the Diary
Southern Road relays - Aldershot - Saturday 26th September
Surrey Cross Country League - Match 1 - Saturday 10th October - Wimbledon Common
Downs League Cross Country Match 1- Sunday 1st November - Epsom Downs
Surrey Cross Country League - Match 2 - Saturday 14th November - Beckenham Place Park
Seniors News
Run Reigate, Sunday 20th September
There was a very strong turnout from RPAC runners across all three senior distances. Notable achievements were Eloise Bull's second placed woman in the Half Marathon. (albeit she was running for Guildford & Godalming ) and a number of first in age category places - Alexander Williams, Joe Gale, Isla Stock and Paul Walters in the 5k, Hannah Wright in the 10K and Katie Newton, Laura Ebbs and Ginevra Stoneley in the Half Marathon.
There is a selection of photos taken at those races in the gallery here. The results can be seen here. If we're missing anyone in the results they can email Paul for inclusion at
MABAC Hogsmill River: Sunday, 20 September
With a large number of people competing in Run Reigate I was expecting a very small turnout for this race at a new venue for MABAC. In the event we managed to field a stronger team than anticipated with twelve RPAC runners taking on the course. First home for us was Paul Gunn, running his first MABAC , with Philippa Drysdale our first woman finisher. Full results will be available soon, as far as I can tell we are still in sixth place in the league. There are some photos taken by Ian Grant here.
Thank you all for turning out.
The next MABAC race is in Nonsuch Park on Sunday 18th October.
Tuesday Evening Sessions
In view of the issues with the floodlights at Battlebridge please keep an eye out on our WhatsApp groups for any further changes to Tuesday evening track sessions.
Thursday Evening Session - On Road
As the nights draw in the Thursday, sessions will be out on the road starting this week (17th Sept) . The calendar has been updated with the session and meet location. Athletes are reminded that, per our club code of conduct, they need to ensure they wear hi-viz and have a light of some form (usually head torch or body lights) when running club led road sessions at night.
K2 Sessions
The dates for the future K2 sessions are listed below.
13th October
17th November
8th December
19th January 2027
9th February 2027
16th March 2027
It’s a Wrap! - Update on Power45
From Ellis Cain-Jones
Over the summer, a group of athletes participated in the club's strength and conditioning sessions with the objective of arresting sarcopenia and improve performance.
What the athletes did….apart from feeling sore the following day 😀
Strength: Lower-body work (squats, lunges, deadlift patterns, step-ups, calf raises) building the force-producing capacity of the muscles that drive running. Upper-body and posterior chain work to support posture and arm drive.
Mobility and flexibility: Hip, ankle and thoracic spine mobility work improves range of motion and stride mechanics and reduces stiffness.
Plyometrics and power: Low-level jumps, hops and skipping drills build elasticity and reactive strength, which supports speed and running economy.
Conditioning and general fitness: Circuits and interval-style work improve muscular endurance and overall work capacity, and add variety beyond running miles.
Benefits realised
The sessions were well received and attended with the following feedback from attendees:
Sessions pushed me out of my comfort zones, and whilst they left some sore muscles, they were found motivational and informative.
The work has built a stronger foundation for training and helped protect against injury.
I lost weight and improved parkrun PBs
What next?
Thanks to the YMCA, we will be taking the sessions indoors for the winter - 20 sessions in all, increasing intensity to improve performance.
We have the option to extend an additional hour. If you’re interested please do reach out.
Members News
With Run Reigate we haven't heard about any far flung Parkruns or other achievements this week, although Andrew Pringle wrote to say that
"For (Parkrun) tourists or A->Z ers, there is a handy list of all Parkruns available at the following page on the Parkrun website". It is here.
Notes and reminders
Cross Country Dates
These are definitely in your diary by now: 10 October, 14 November, 16 January, and 13 February. The league also holds 6 March as a reserve date in case of bad weather - but this being cross country, the weather would have to be apocalyptically bad to use it!
Get in touch
If you participate in an event, email with your results by Sunday evening at the latest. And if there is anything else you'd like to see in the newsletter, get in touch - our email address is 
.
Follow us on social media
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