Welcome to the first ever Good Run Guide newsletter. As Good Run Guide is completely independent, the newsletter will be focused on providing useful information and sharing Members’ news, rather than promoting any particular products. We promise you won't have to wade through any commercial advertising to find the interesting bits!

Through the Newsletter we hope to provide topical information for runners; updates on site developments; and stories of inspiring challenges and achievements from our Members. We'd love to hear from anyone who has an interesting story or achivement that may inspire others - anything from beginners’ successfully completing their first ever 5K to those setting new World Records, as in Mike Buss’ epic treadmill run (see below for more on this). Also, we would be interested to receive race reports for any favourite races you have run recently. So, please read, enjoy and if you would like something to be considered for the next edition, then email me.

Louise at GRG
www.GoodRunGuide.co.uk

Cold Weather Running

It’s been quite a start to the winter already with snow and ice covering the whole of the UK and it's quite likely that we will have more to contend with in the coming months. Although it’s all been very picturesque and has thrilled kids and a lot of adults alike! It has put paid to many a training schedule.

But, all is not lost – this is our (and our Members’) tips for battling through.

• Wear appropriate clothing and consider wearing an extra layer. It’s better to feel hot and then remove this, than to start getting cold and not to be able to do anything about it. So, wear a jacket with pockets for storage or carry a small running rucksack. Also, wear running gloves and a hat.

• Invest in a pair of running shoes with good grip e.g. trail shoes or cross country shoes. Remember that these shouldn’t wear out for a good 500 miles so could last you many years if you don’t plan to use them frequently. Recommended on the Forum is an interesting idea on how to make your own - have a look at Screw Shoe or it may be worth trying Yaktrax, which you can slip on to your existing shoes!

• When there is snow or ice, it is often best to run off-road if you can, as then its easier to avoid the slippery compacted ice on roads and pavements. But, if you are going somewhere unfamiliar always take a mobile phone, map and preferably run with a friend.

• In slippery conditions, be prepared to run slower than usual and just enjoy the scenery– this is not a time to attempt speedwork!

• Think about different types of cross training you can do – if you have access to a gym you can do your speedwork on the treadmill and use the other equipment for core work or general fitness. If not, you can still do core work or aerobics at home in the warmth with some inspiring music!

Site News

We’ve been extremely busy over the last few months adding a number of major new features to the site, as well as enhancements to existing ones. If you’re not a regular visitor to the site why not take a look at some of the changes. These include:

• Forum
• Personal Goal Tracker
• Member League Tables (please login to see these)
• Upgraded Training Planner
• Weekly Training Pace Guide and Calculator

It’s our aim to continue to develop and improve the site and we have lots more ideas of things we’d like to do – far more than we can cope with! But, we always welcome ideas from Members, so if you have a suggestion please let us know. We can’t guarantee to implement all suggestions but it does help us to gauge interest in different ideas.

Looking ahead to changes already in the pipeline, we are planning to add the ability to analyse your runs by type of terrain. For example, you will be able to see separate stats and graphs for road and cross-country races, enabling you to better compare changes in performance over time. At some point in the future, we would then hope to add new Member Leagues that take terrain into account e.g. Best Cross-Country Performance.

Members' Challenges

Mike Buss an Ultra Endurance Athlete from Swindon recently smashed his latest world record (the 4th time in 4 months) by a staggering 49miles!!!
Mike's latest record saw him back on a treadmill and in the Brunel Shopping Centre in Swindon running 20hrs a day for 7days with ony 2hrs sleep per night in a camp bed beside his treadmill. Mike ran an amazing 517.25miles beating the previous record of 468miles.

Mike is now back in full training to take on his next world record challenges including running a staggering 100 marathons in 100 days.

For more information on Mike Buss, go to www.mike-buss.com
You can also follow Mike via facebook to read Mike's Blogs.

Mike is doing all this in support of Help for Heroes.
To make a donation online goto www.justgiving.com/mikes-worldrecords

Another fantastic challenge in the planning is being undertaken by Mark Cooper. On May 1st 2010 he will begin an ultra endurance event in Europe and will run from Amsterdam to Barcelona in aid of The Edinburgh Headway Group.

The trip will take Mark 8 weeks to complete and will consist of 50 marathons in 56 days.

Mark’s fundraising page is at www.justgiving.com/markcoopermakingheadway

These are fairly extreme challenges which most of us could not hope to manage! However, if you are planning your own challenge that may sound less fantastic, but is still a tough personal challenge, then please let us know and we will pick out a selection to feature in our next newsletter.

League Talk

Last month we launched our new Member league tables based on age-graded percentage scores. Thank you to those of you who have joined in and we hope you enjoy seeing your name on the list wherever it may be.

The list is updated in real time so whenever you do a race there is always a chance of leap-frogging up the table! The top three league leaders at the end of January were: Peter Hutchinson, with an extremely impressive percentage of just over 86%; Graham Chesters at 83.39%; and Eileen Royle at 83.3%. The Most Improved Runner table was won by Elaine Sutton with a massive improvement of 10.52% on her best performance from the previous 12 months.

Later this month, we also plan to add further, more traditional tables based on equivalent 10K pace. If you are a Full Member and would like to join in with the league tables, then go to the Member Leagues page after logging in and click on the Join In button.