Here’s what’s happening in our community and everything coming up!
TOP STORIES FOR DECEMBER
– Fresh website for 2025
– West Yorkshire XC League 2024
– New Welfare Officer Sarah
– Selby parkrun Celebrates 7 Years
– Christmas Message & Xmas Break
– Christmas Party
– London Marathon Place for Sam
– Membership Renewals for 2025
– Doctoral Project
– Winter Solstice Run
– Temple Newsam Parkrun
Fresh website for 2025
Our website has had a refresh for 2025. It’s nearly four years since Vale of York Athletic Community was launched and the old website was showing its age.
There is still some work to do – in particular adding coach bios and some athlete profiles – but the website is now live and ready for your feedback at valeofyork.org.
We’d particularly welcome ideas for a tag line to go underneath Sam’s leap on the home page. Send any ideas to ian@valeofyork.org and we’ll run a poll in the new year to select the best.
Also, if you’d like to feature on the website as part of series of athlete profiles, we welcome contributions from absolutely anyone. All we need are a few words about you and a picture and you are good to go. Send them through to Ian and he will do the rest.
West Yorkshire XC League 2024
In the final race of the West Yorkshire Cross Country League, our men secured second place overall after a fierce final contest with Leeds City AC for the top spot.
Despite some very muddy conditions, in a thrilling sprint finish, Will Walker managed to secure a well fought 2nd place, with Tom Fell close on his heels for 3rd, and Cam Bryson following close behind in 6th.
Tom Fell won 3rd overall in the series in the Senior category, and Sam Gunning won 4th overall for the U20 category.
Unlike last year, no shoes were lost to the mud this time around – in part due to an excessive amount of tape used to secure shoes for fear of last year’s mud-filled mayhem repeating itself.
The concluding race saw some of our highest placings which bodes well for the county championships cross country at the start of next month. The women also put in some very strong performances on a tough course at Rothwell.
Everyone was happy with the results, with the men taking home silver medals. Patience and trust in the training approach at the University of York has paid dividends for the men and women that represent the Vale. Amazing improvements and performances all round.
New Welfare Officer & Assistant Coach
Sarah Senior is our new female welfare officer and also one of our six new coaching assistants. Sarah is a regular coaching presence at Monday training at Selby High School and Saturday mornings at University of York. She is a regular competitor on the road and XC. Here’s an introduction to Sarah in her own words.
Hi, I’m Sarah, I was born and raised in Bradford and moved to Selby 12 years ago with my husband Martin where we have settled with our clan of daughters Niamh, Ava and Orlaith.
I was never a sporty child but found a love for circuit training and running when I was 16. It has been a part of my life ever since not competitively but as a means to stay fit and healthy something that I have instilled in my girls.
My first introduction to Vale of York Athletics Community came via my eldest daughter Niamh’s interest in athletics. We came down to the club in the Autumn of 23 and have not looked back since with all five of us signed up as members. There are not many clubs where a whole family can get involved and enjoy the activities that their kids are doing. Vale of York is such a club.
All three girls now train and two have competed in both the PECO XC and West Yorkshire track and field. I have also competed in the PECO XC and York District Road Race League, next year may see me take to some track and field events.
Never did I imagine I would enjoy working kids as much as I have done assisting with the coaches on a Monday night and at the family fun day. I could sit on the side lines and watch but I am inspired by Ian, Bev, Dave and Jen (and the other coaches) who give up their free time to allow kids to partake in a sport that isn’t easily accessible in our local area.
Running around after the girls and working a busy full time Finance job within the NHS can be challenging and a real mental strain sometimes but the release I get seeing the kids developing and happy is worth my time.
Selby Parkrun Celebrates Seven Years
Vale of York were out in force to join in Selby parkrun’s 7th birthday celebrations! We love to visit Selby parkrun, and Saturday 14th December was a beautiful morning to do so. The sun was shining, and the achievements lived up to the day: Kev made an amazing comeback after battling some serious health challenges, and it was great to see him back on track!
Super vet Steve Middup ended his incredible year on a high, setting a fantastic PB of 19:53 and an 85% age grading, with Donna Ryan joining in the fun with a PB of her own! Connie joined us for her very first parkrun – what a milestone!
It’s been seven fantastic years of one of the flattest parkruns in the country. Here’s to another seven!
Christmas Message & Christmas Break
It was great to see so many of you at the Christmas party and we hope you had a great evening!
We are now taking a Christmas Break.
Selby athletics and circuit training resume Monday 6th January 2025 at Selby High. York track training resumes Wednesday 8th January at University of York.
Selby endurance training will resume on Wednesday 8th January from Selby Leisure Centre
Don’t forget we have PECO XC and Sheffield Indoor Series both on Sunday 5th January and a meet-up with Hossein a Temple Newsam parkrun on Saturday 4 January.
All training and competition events will be in the Teamo Calendar ready for you to book on from 1 January 2025.
All at Vale of York Athletic Community would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Christmas Party
At Vale of York, we love a good party! To celebrate all things Christmas (and a fantastic year of achievements), we headed down to The Final Whistle at Selby Town FC for our Christmas Party – suitable for young and old.
There was great food from Star Pizza, Selby, a fantastic disco, games, karaoke, and a challenging quiz. You’ll never look at your coaches the same way again after seeing their baby-faces! Have a look at the picture below and see if you can guess who is who!
We were even lucky enough to have an extra special visitor – Father Christmas himself turned up to hand out presents to the kids! Everyone had a great time which was well deserved after a huge amount of hard work throughout the year!
If you missed it, join in with one of the quiz sections now and guess the coach! Can you work out who is who? (Answers at the bottom of the newsletter)
London Marathon
The annual ballot for the club’s coveted London Marathon place was held at the Christmas Party in Selby. There were six eager participants who had been unsuccessful in the public ballot in the hat, and Sam Robinson was pulled out to represent Vale of York on the biggest stage.
In case of injury, we draw a reserve, and for the second year running Neil Musgrove was selected and needs to be on hand with his club colours in case Sam is unable to participate.
Good luck to Sam on his training journey! Watch out for monthly newsletter updates from Sam as he follows a VDOT marathon plan.
Vale of York Athletic Community Membership 2025
Whether you’re an experienced athlete, someone looking to stay fit, or just starting your fitness journey, there’s a place for you here.
Benefits Include:
Access to regular group training sessions Training from a team of experienced, qualified coaches
Online endurance coaching and plans with VDOT Friendly and welcoming atmosphere Fully inclusive community Mixed ability participation Meet new people and have fun Learn new athletic skills and improve fitness Affiliation to England Athletics and Northern Athletics Access to discounted gym membership
Partnership with University of York Athletic Club Opportunity to participate in local leagues and events And more….
We are England’s newest and most progressive Athletics Club
Additional sessions for non-athletic membership – eg Circuits members £40 per term guests £50 per term
* includes EA & Northern Athletics registration, track & field training/circuit training sessions ** includes EA & Northern Athletics registration, Wednesday Community training sessions (age 12+) *** includes EA & Northern Athletics registration (max 2 people) , Wednesday Community training sessions (age 12+)
Membership renewals will be sent out December/January via Teamo. Monthly direct debt payments will be through GoCardless and all other payments via Stripe debt/credit card.
If you wish to change your membership type for next year then please message steve@valeofyork.org ASAP
Doctoral Project
Hyunsik Kim, a doctoral researcher at York St. John university would like to contact any track and field athletes for the purpose of a research project examining the relationship between perfectionism/excellences and athletic performance.
The study is being led by York St John University. As part of the planning of the study, it has received approval from the Research Ethics Committee in the School of Science, Technology, and Health at York St John University.
If you can assist Hyunsik Kim, please take 10 minutes to complete the online questionnaire to help support with their doctoral project.
On Wednesday we completed our annual Winter Solstice run, from Brayton Barff to the summit of Hambleton Hough and back. It was a nice, relaxed run of approx 5 miles with a short stop at the summit of the Hough for drinks and mince pies courtesy of Amelia.
Well done everyone – especially Amelia and David – for making it out on a very wet Wednesday evening.
The Gods approved of our efforts – we crossed the railway bridge in time for a long freight train to pass underneath.
For 2025, we are holding monthly social runs at different locations across the Vale. Watch out for details of January’s in Teamo.
Parkun 4 January – Temple Newsam
On Saturday 4 January 2025, our old friend Hossein Mohammadiha is visiting Leeds and will be at Temple Newsam parkrun. It would be great if as many people as possible could join to say hello. Note the date change.
SportsShoes Discount December
The SportsShoes code for December is Y015B6Z1X . It will give you 15% off AW24* products (exclusions apply) and is valid until 01/01/25. If you are an England Athletics affiliated member, you can now redeem 15% off AW24 products by linking your EA URN to your SportsShoes ULTRA account and the offer will be automatically applied at checkout.
SportsShoes Discount January
The SportsShoes code for January is GYH229219. Please note, the code is now valid for SS25* products and will give you 15% off (exclusions apply), valid until 01/02/25.
SportsShoes hope you and your members have a wonderful Christmas and all the best for the New Year!
Christmas quiz answer – From top left to bottom right:
Donna Ryan / Jenni Hadfield / Beverley Horsfield / Amelia Griffiths / Dave Pascoe / Karen Buck / Sarah Senior / Ian Martin
Any questions or comments please send them through.
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