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Why not try and lose that weight BEFORE Christmas - gives you a little wiggle room for December! Our previous courses have proved very popular with the participants, with many of them going on to run regularly afterwards. Running is great for both your body and your mental health, why not give it a go! 
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Following a very successful first XC of the season, we are hoping that more of you will be inspired to sign up for the Harrier League. Everyone has been invited via Spond, so if you haven't yet accepted your invitation and you'd like to run in at least one of the upcoming matches, please get it done as soon as possible, and definitely by the 9th of October if you want to run at either Druridge or Lambton!
There are also invitations outstanding for the Northern XC Relay Championships (accept by 6pm on 10th Oct) and the National XC Relay Championships (same closing date as Northerns) Lots of you might not be aware that a former Birtley AC member made her Olympic debut in Paris at the end of July. Kate Waugh was one of the athletes chosen to represent Britain in the women's triathlon team, this was her first Olympic selection but will undoubtedly not be her last. Several Birtley members, including Kate's former coaches Tommy Millmore and Ed Lown, travelled to Paris to cheer her on from the sidelines, and Kate was very appreciative of their support, as shown in her own words below:- Somehow I’ve gone from running around in the dark (well it wasn’t always dark) on Tuesday and Thursday nights with Birtley Athletics club to running around the sights of Paris with thousands of people watching. How did that happen? Was it an accident? Well it wasn’t exactly an accident but it definitely wouldn’t happened if I hadn’t been part of the grassroots sport in the north-east. Being part of a club like Birtley quite literally changed my life. That’s because I’d never have made a podium, never have got an invite to represent England in a cross-country, never experienced trips to run in some out-of-the-way places & realise how much I liked it!    Team Birtley in Paris! Instead of standing on the sidelines waiting for your child to take part in their session, why not consider enrolling in a coaching course (paid for by Birtley AC) so you can actually TAKE the session? We are always on the lookout for new coaches, particularly in field events (throwing and jumping) and it's a very rewarding role to take on, as you watch the youngsters under your care improve and grow as athletes. Without coaches, the club couldn't exist, so please consider taking on this vital role - if you'd like to know more, please have a chat with any of the coaches on our usual training nights, or email [email protected]
Please click here to donate via our Just Giving Link Birtley Athletics Club York to Birtley via People’s Kitchen 136 miles continuous relay 15th/16th June 2024. The relay will start 12pm at York Castle and follow National Cycle Routes through Yorkshire, Teesside, County Durham and Newcastle, calling at the People’s Kitchen before heading to the finish at Birtley Golf Club some 24 hours or so later. There will be at least 24 legs of various distances and terrain, each leg will have one (or more) runners, accompanied by two cyclists and met at each change over point by the following mini buses.
To make this event a success we need as many Club members, family and friends to help, either running a leg and cycling or supporting along the route. Also the aim is to raise as much money as possible towards this year’s chosen charity. See Spond for further information and updates. This year’s relay event is to raise funds for The People’s Kitchen, Newcastle. Checkout their website https://peopleskitchen.co.uk/about-us/ MAKING LIFE BETTER FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE The ways our Friends are forced to live are incredibly hard. They might be sleeping rough, or recently placed in housing with no belongings. Many of them don’t have access to nutritious food or have no support system around them. The People’s Kitchen is their safe haven. We are a constant for people whose lives can be chaotic. We make life on the streets a little easier by sharing hot meals and packages of clothing, toiletries, food, mobile phones and sleeping bags. We work with services to enable people to move off the streets and then we provide food, furniture and bedding to our Friends when they move into their first home. We also offer friendship and professional services to improve mental wellbeing.  We hope to see lots of you there to help celebrate all of our athletes' achievements over the last year or so, but it won't just be a case of handing over cups and medals. We're planning a fun evening with food, games and prizes, music and dancing.
On Saturday 4th May 2024 we're back at our usual venue, the Catholic Club in Birtley, so it's easy to get to, as well as being within walking distance for a lot of you (so leave those cars at home and have yourselves a little drink or two). There will be a buffet following the presentation, and an opportunity to take part in various games - bring plenty of change with you! Tickets are £5 each you should have received an invite via Spond - you can also message Zoe or Val if you need more tickets than you have invites for, and they'll send you a payment link. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start - get there early for a good view of the proceedings (or the closest seats to the bar...) Our annual general meeting will be held at the Catholic Club in Birtley on the 15th April at 7pm. At the meeting we will be appointing key committee members and setting fees for the following year. All members are welcome to attend. All roles can be chosen on the Spond app by accepting the appropriate task. An agenda will be linked here shortly.
A big thank you to everyone who turned out for our XC relays this year, either competing, officiating, volunteering, or supporting. The weather was kind to us as conditions were cold, sunny and more than a hint of mud - perfect cross country weather! Results are available on this link Birtley XC Relays all results 2024.xlsx with screenshots eventually being on our results page once any corrections have been made.  Pic courtesy of Russell Dickinson Deane The following coaching courses are now open for registration, and are a mix of online and face to face - any practical sessions are held very locally at Gateshead Stadium. As a club, we would really benefit from more coaches - particularly in the junior age groups, and anyone with an interest in throws or jumps coaching would be especially encouraged to apply! Birtley will cover the cost of the course, and we would really love to see some parents (or older athletes) take this on - coaching can be a very rewarding activity, and without coaches we wouldn't have a club at all. There are two courses available:- The Coaching Assistant course is made up of 4 online modules (self guided) followed by the practical day. Saturday 11th February 2023. This is the course title and code - Coach Assistant Practical CAO0182 North East Address for practical day:- Gateshead College Academy of Sport, next to Gateshead Int Stad, Neilson Road, Gateshead Tyne And Wear NE10 0EF You don't need to have any prior qualifications for this course. The Athletics Coach course is for anyone who has completed a coaching assistant course or level 1/2 coaching course. It might be possible to do this course immediately after completion of the assistant coach course outlined above, if spaces are still available. The Athletics Coach course is made up of 2 days face to face, online modules and knowledge test in a discipline of your choice (Speed, Endurance, Jumps, or Throws), followed by a remote assessment. The course takes place on Saturday 18th March 2023 (Day 1) and Saturday 25th March (Day 2), with both sessions being held at the Gateshead College Academy of Sport (details as above) The course title and code is Athletics Coach AC00061 Athletics Coach When enrolling onto the course you will also be required to select one of the event disciplines – Athletics Coach – Speed Athletics Coach – Endurance Athletics Coach – Jumps Athletics Coach – Throws If you are interested in either of these courses, or you have any questions or would like further info, please email [email protected] as soon as possible, as these courses are popular and fill up quickly!
Quick update regarding our new(ish) payment system. First of all, I hope you are all getting on OK with the invoices (as much as you can when it involves parting with your hard earned cash!). As you may have noticed, the system does NOT (as I had originally thought) save your credit card details, so you need to put them in each time. See the end of this post for a quicker way!
Another tip I've just discovered - you can choose to get a text instead of an email. This is a) convenient and b) saves you from having to trawl through your spam folder. All I need from you is your mobile number and your permission to send the invoice that way instead - here's a very short form if you'd like to do this:- https://www.birtleyac.co.uk/invoice.html You won't get a reminder with this service (I'm sure you won't be too upset by that! ) Finally, no matter which way you get your invoice, it's much easier to pay by Google or Apple Pay if you have them (picture below in case you've missed it on your invoices) Birtley AC would like to say thank you to all the generous members who donated their time helping out, or food to sell, last Sunday, the officials who attended, Gary Curtis who organised the whole thing, and to those who donated their old trainers to the People's Kitchen. Without your generosity the event wouldn't have happened, and we hope you'll manage to do it all over again in March when we hold the Birtley Junior Relays!  Still time to get your name down for 'our' XC Relays on Sunday. We could do with more runners, marshals and help with selling teas, coffees and cakes. Most importantly we need food donations (cakes, biscuits, savoury items - home baked or bought, we don't mind!) to sell on the day. This is the only way we make money from the event. So if you can bring anything to sell to the club on Tuesday, Thursday or on the day it would be appreciated. We will also be collecting used clothing, trainers, shoes or toiletries for the local charity 'The People's Kitchen'. Entry for the relays are free for Birtley athletes and sign up is on the club website. Please bring £2 CASH for parking (and no dogs allowed on site on the day).  Gary Training sessions during the holidays as follows:- Tues 20th, 7pm start. Princess Anne park, Washington. Meeting & Parking at small car park on biddick lane 200m from Harraton community centre or the community centre car park. Thurs 22nd, Waldridge lane. Meeting at the dead end road opposite the church mouse at Chester moor, Mon 26th, 10.30am Beamish run, meeting Eden place car park Wed 28th, 09.45am Watergate park, meeting big car park on Whickham highway just off Lobley Hill Friday 30th, 10.30am Crimdon Dene meeting outside Dunes Cafe. Sunday 1st, Cong Burn meeting Waldridge village green. Time TBC Tommy For my group (and anyone else who wants to come along for the session) meet at Birtley Baths car park tomorrow night (Thursday) for 7pm. Birtley Joggers
Our group will also be meeting at Birtley Baths car park for a 7pm start Club will be closing over Christmas and New Year, so our last session of the year, Thursday 15th December, is our annual games night for our younger athletes (weather permitting). Please turn up in the sports hall for 18.45. It would be much appreciated if some parents could stay and help. Looking forward to seeing you all there!  The last date school based sessions will take place on Thursday 15th December, with training recommencing at Lord Lawson on Tuesday 3rd January 2023. Individual coaches will be putting on different sessions over the holiday period - these will be posted on FB and on the website. Parents of younger athletes - don't forget to bring them early this Thursday for games night (see this post for details). Birtley AC would like to wish all of our members a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!  |
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