The Dewsbury 10k is a fast, flat race held every February, perfect for runners aiming for a personal best. The route starts on Dewsbury Road, heading under a bridge and onto Bradford Road. The first 5km is a slight uphill to Wilton Park, where you turn around and enjoy a gentle downhill return. The final stretch includes a sharp left turn under the bridge before crossing the finish line.
19
Jan
Jan
There was no monkey business from Vale of York Athletic Community at today’s Brass Monkey Half Marathon with several athletes achieving impressive times on a bitterly cold morning in York.
18
Jan
Jan
I ran the Symonds Run in memory of Hugh Symonds today at Sedbergh School. Hugh Symonds didn’t just introduce me to running; he showed me what it was to be a coach and a decent human being.
07
Jan
Jan
Beginnings are easy. It’s middles that are hard.
Take your typical New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier, get fitter and run faster in 2025. Setting goals like these, with the energy and excitement of a New Year promising a new you, is a piece of cake. But how are you getting on now, one week in, as we approach the middle of the month?
01
Jan
Jan
Here at Vale of York Athletic Community, our mission is clear. We exist to “provide facilities for athletic activity in a friendly, safe environment for the benefit of children and adults in the Vale of York”.
We’re proud to be a local charity dedicated to improving the physical and mental health of our community through athletics, running and fitness. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background or ability.
We often get asked about membership. As a sports club with charitable status, our guiding principle is to “encourage broad community participation in healthy sport and recreation”. This means that, in general, we aim to be as open and inclusive as possible.
30
Dec
Dec
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.
18
Dec
Dec
We successfully reached the summits of Brayton Barff and Hambleton Hough tonight. And what a night it was! A massive thank you to Amelia for providing much-needed mince pies to go with our liquid refreshments for this year’s annual Winter Solstice Run. It was a fantastic way to celebrate the end of our Wednesday evening runs in 2024 while we take a Christmas break for a couple of weeks.
14
Dec
Dec
A fantastic morning of celebrations at Selby parkrun today as the event marked its 7th birthday! It was a day filled with personal triumphs, milestones, and the heartwarming return of a familiar face.
News
Running on Empty? Free Software Could Be a Game Changer for Your Athletics Club with Charitable Status
22
Nov
Nov
Like many community sports clubs, especially those with charitable status, Vale of York Athletic Community relies heavily on the dedicated efforts of our volunteers. Running a thriving and safe athletics club takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Handling memberships, organising training sessions and events, keeping our website updated and planning for our own permanent track and field facilities takes a lot of time and effort. All this work has to be done while keeping costs down so that we can be as accessible as possible to everyone in the Vale of York.
On a recent club visit, in his role as England Athletics Regional chair for Yorkshire and Humberside, our founder, Ian Martin, recently had a discussion with a fellow Club Chair about the range of free software and services to which UK charities are entitled. We wanted to share details of some of this software, and what it can be used for, specifically from the perspective of an athletics club like ours.
03
Nov
Nov
Vale of York trustee, Neil Musgrove, loves a hilly trail run and Leeds has more hills than Selby with some spectacular scenery to boot. Last month Neil took on the 7 mile Calverley Chaos organised by Great Owl Running.
The event really was chaos because the runners were set off in alternating directions according to their race number which provided an opportunity to say hello and well done to all the runners taking the opposite direction about half way round. After some decent climbs in the first half, the second was quite fast and Neil passed a few people in the last few miles to finish second in his direction and sixth overall.
A well earned beer from Kirkstall Brewery for all finishers ensured a nice end to the day.