An update from your committee…
- RIOT Awards: Our first ever RIOT Awards event is on Friday 1st of March at Dorchester Rugby Club. This will be a relaxed, informal event and a chance for us all to let our hair down and celebrate your achievements over the last year. We’ll have a range of awards like Man / Woman of Steel, Time Trial prizes and some other fun categories. This will begin with a brief AGM at 6:30, with the main event from 7pm, watch out for more details soon.
- Festive Fundraiser: Thanks to everyone that supported our festive24 fundraiser run before Christmas, we are able to present £300 to the Rugby Club to thank them for the continuing use of their facilities every week.
RIOT take on Hardy Monument
- Extra Training: On Sundays RIOT runners have been out and about clocking up those all important miles ready for Spring marathons, we’ve been out to Charminster, around Dorchester, up to Hardy Monument and to Weymouth and back. We also now also have regular Tuesday sessions; 7pm usually from the Rugby Club (but locations do vary), these sessions alternate between speed-work, hill training and HIIT. Finally, RIOT have also started monthly group swimming lessons for three different levels. Keep an eye out in our Facebook Group for details of the swimming, Tuesday and Sunday training.
- Riding Is Our Therapy: As a club we have an increasing number of members taking to two wheels as well as two legs, so we are pleased to announce we are now a British Cycling affiliated club. If you affiliate as a British Cycling member with RIOT you will be able to make the most of the benefits listed on their website. Over the coming weeks we’ll confirm how you can join with them and we look forward to some group cycles this summer.
Last but not least, RIOT is celebrating as we hit 200 members this month, thanks again for your support! We look forward to welcoming some new RIOTers in the next few months as our third couch to 5km course is now underway (extra kudos to them for beginning this in the darkest, coldest month of the year). We hope you’ll make their graduation parkrun on the 30th March, details to follow.
What have RIOTers been up to this month?
On the first weekend of January, 27 RIOT runners (and two dogs) ran a challenging ten mile loop from Worth Matravers now known as the RIOT Pasty Run. This included some quad-burning up-hills, some toe-bashing downs, plenty of steps and gave us arguably some of the best views in the Purbecks, the things some people will do for an infamous Square and Compass Pasty! Well done everyone who came along, it’s not an easy run, we’ll be aiming to have another social trail run later in the spring.
RIOT at Dark Moors
January may be one of those long months where it feels like you never see daylight, but that makes it a perfect time of year to do some night running! RIOTers ran at two night events; Dark Moors and Ninesprings by Night. In the dark, they ran the muddy, undulating terrain of Ninesprings Country Park and lit up the eerie woodland of Moors Valley. A special mention to those runners who got age category prizes and first event medals at what are not easy events!
The Knife-edge, waist-height water, tutus and cool runnings – this was the theme of the Dirty Devil Stampede, and it was not for the faint hearted! RIOT runners tackled 5km, 10km or half marathon distances (this meant multiple dips in the water and climbs of the knife-edge), some dressed in tutus, some in cameo and some even in bodysuits as the Jamaican Bobsled Team.
This months RIOT Tourist of the Month goes to all those that managed to drag themselves out of bed to run on New Year’s Day at parkrun or Broadstone quarter marathon! It was amazing to see Strava so active before some of the committee had even managed to have a morning coffee…