Seniors

Our Road and Endurance Group is a large and friendly group with a wide range of abilities and goals, from social runners to elite athletes. Road running, endurance and cross-country events are the main focus for the group who cover all distances and terrain between them.

We hold several social events throughout the year including the infamous Harestock Handicap which takes place on the first Thursday of the month, the Water Meadows 20 (if you’re training for your next Spring marathon), and the Cheriton Chunder (for those looking for some festive cheer in between Christmas and New Year).

Throughout the pandemic, we’ve also held several virtual interclub events which have helped our runners stay connected despite not being able to run together. These are continuing as we move towards the easing of restrictions and updates in relation to these can be found via our mailing list. Please contact Steve Oliver if you’d like to be added to this list. (See Club Contacts).

We encourage everyone to try their hand at whatever takes their interest and make the most of the opportunity to discover new (or long forgotten) interest. Chances are there is someone in the club who can you explore and expand your running horizons.

Our head coach is Nick Anderson and he’s supported by a wealth of coaches and leaders in running fitness with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. You’ll be sure to find someone to have a chat to about your goals and aspirations as a club runner! The Senior Endurance PDF below sets out the different strands to the endurance group, including how juniors may transition into the group, together with key races which the group compete in, together with our coaching aspirations.

Our main training nights are Tuesdays and Thursdays (for all disciplines, although our locations do differ depending on each discipline). An overview of what a week in the endurance group looks like is set out below. Please chat to Nick and the coaching team if you have any questions or need any help working out how often you should be running and what sessions to focus on (See Club Contacts).

Our calendar also includes specific training sessions for the week.

Monday – Strength and Conditioning with Andy Parkinson. Please email Andy (or find him at the Tuesday night session) if you would like to join the session. This is normally held on Zoom.

Tuesday – the best session of the week! If you can only do one session, make sure it’s this one. Not only will it challenge you, you’ll also get to see the majority of the Endurance group. The session includes a coached training session on the grass (either at Winchester College’s Gaterfield, or King George V field behind Winchester University’s track) with sessions set and coached by Nick. Tuesdays usually involve speedwork, strength and endurance with the group generally split between pace groups. These are guided by our run leaders and athletes are encouraged to move between these groups as suits their needs (which may vary from week to week!). Depending on the time of the year depends on our location (please feel free to get in touch to find out which field we’re on), but we meet at 6:45pm for a 7pm start. Club announcements and drills take place before starting and we would encourage you to warm up prior to first meeting.

Wednesday – Wednesdays usually involve a less formal, more social run for those who want to fit in some relaxed miles around the city with other likeminded individuals. We have a range of routes and a variety of distances ranging from 5-8 miles. This is a great opportunity to meet some of our group before trying a Tuesday session. Our run leaders will make sure you have someone to run with and check you know where you’re going. We meet outside River Park Leisure Centre, ready to run at 7pm. Coming soon: routes uploaded to our training page!

Thursday – Thursday evenings are focused on threshold work and are all about controlling your effort for blocks of time. For those new to club running, threshold involves running at about 80% effort for sustained periods of time – don’t worry our coaches will be able to help work out you pace and find you someone to run with. Our location is usually the same as Tuesday night.

Saturday Track – An additional track session is available to members starting at 9:30 and based at Winchester University track. A pay as you go system for the facilities operates for this session. Please speak to Nick if you’d like further information.

Saturday and Sunday – depending on the time of year and what you’re working towards there are usually a group of athletes who organise their own informal social runs over the weekend. You can usually find out who’s doing what from Tuesday nights or our WhatsApp group.

Competing for WADAC Senior Endurance

WADAC offers a lot of opportunities to compete as a senior endurance runner. Nothing beats pulling on your club colours and meeting the people you train alongside week on week at local, national and sometimes even international races. Our coaches like to encourage everyone, across all abilities, to compete where they can. The main local competitions which the club take part in are [insert links to relevant pages on the website]:

• Winchester parkrun
• Hampshire Road Race League
• RR10 League
• CC6 Cross Country League
• Hampshire Athletics - Hampshire Cross Country League
• Southern Athletics League
• Vets Track and Field League
• County and Regional Championships
• Relays Events
• Masters Events

Kit

Members can get hold of their club vest (and other club gear) from Alexandra Sports in Oliver’s Battery, or on their online store Alexandra Sports.

More Info

If you’d like to come and see what the group is all about, feel free to come and try us! Membership is not obligatory for you first couple of sessions, but do let us know if you’d like to come down by emailing out group contact Steve Oliver (See Club Contacts).

We have a range of memberships available including a full England Athletics affiliated membership for £80, together with a training only members (£40), second claim membership (£40) and associate membership (£10). Our membership secretary can help you work out which membership level is right for you.