Contents
· Tuesday 28 October junior training cancelled replaced by races at Bodington
· Booking forms and safety at training
· Diary of events
· Peco XC (enter early!)
· West Yorkshire XC
· Northern XC relay results
· Leeds Schools XC (Saturdays)
· Leeds Primary Schools XC (mid-week)
· Parkrun and junior parkrun challenges
Tuesday 28 October
The club has booked the Brownlee Cycle Track at Bodington Fields from 7pm to 8:30pm.
And apologies to those who are on holiday next week and won’t be able to attend – you’ll be asking why it couldn’t have been any other week – and the answer is that we could only book this slot in the holiday week as for all other weeks there is a permanent booking at this time.
All normal junior training sessions (Leos and Bodington) have been cancelled, and there will be two races
· A one mile race (one lap of the circuit) starting at 7pm for juniors of all ages
· A 5k race (3 and a bit laps) of the circuit starting at about 7:20pm for adults and also for juniors who are at least 11 years old on the day. This is also open to parents whether or not they are V S members (providing they have childcare for their children while they are running).
· Juniors may only run one of these – those 11 or older must choose which one.
· It is a tarmac track so bring suitable shoes.
There will be no charge for these.
The postcode is LS16 8NA. This will take you the back way through the new houses rather than via the main Otley Road so saving you having to negotiate the Lawnswood Roundabout.
For the 1 mile, please arrive 6:50pm at the latest. If the track is free we will have warm-ups on the track at 6:50, but if not free the warm-ups will be at 7pm prompt and the race will start at 7:05 prompt.
We will need at least 3 marshals on the course so that the runners are visible by at least one marshal at all times. Please volunteer via Facebook.
For the 5k, please arrive 7:05pm at the latest. From 7:15pm or possibly earlier, there will be a warmup area available for the 5k runners under the footbridge but as soon as all the 1 mile runners have finished, we will all move 200 metres down the track to the start line.
The 5k will be a handicap race such that the slowest runner starts first, the fastest last, and everyone else in between. The aim is all runners finish at the same time. Juniors please provide an estimated or guesstimated time for 5k on the Facebook post please.
We expect that the slowest runner will start about 7:20pm or 7:25pm and everyone will cross the finish line about 8pm.
We have been organising handicap races 4 times a year for over 30 years so don’t worry and everything will be explained on the night, but if you have any questions please post them on Facebook.
You can read about the circuit here https://sport.leeds.ac.uk/bodington-cycle-circuit/
Booking forms and safety at training
Booking forms for November are now available. Please book by 10pm on Thursday 30 October if you want to come on Tuesday 4 November.
The clocks will have gone back and all timeslots will now finish in the dark so please read the safety procedures regarding accompanying your children through the car park and notifying us of your location if you are not going to stay beside the rugby pitch.
If the ground conditions are good we have space for 6 activities under floodlights throughout the winter but I prefer to run with 3 groups so that there is no queuing for activities. The 5:25 session is expected to be overbooked so if you prefer to come at 5:25 but could come at 4:40 and/or 6:10, then please put a tick for all those that you could do together with a note if you have a strong preference.
Diary of events
The comprehensive list of events on the website has been updated with results and some new events
Some of these are mentioned below.
Please let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed.
Peco XC
These events really are suitable for all abilities. More than 70 junior Striders ran at least one race last year. But only 28 have entered so far this year.
Entries close Friday 7 November at 2pm but if you get your entry in by Friday 31 October you’ll get your name printed on the front of your race number which will make a nice souvenir but will also mean that when running, people will be able to shout out “well done xxxxx” rather than “well done Striders”.
5 meetings between November and March and a Relay Race in March, all on Sunday mornings. School years 2 to 6 run approximately 1 mile, race start is 10:00 – junior parkrun is ideal training (but not on race day!) School years 7 to 11 run 2 miles, race start is 10:20 – adult parkrun is ideal training.
Dates are 9 November, 14 December, 4 January, 25 January, 15 February, with the relays on 8 March
General information is at www.pecoxc.co.uk
Entry for the Series (including the relay) is just £8. Entries are open now at https://racebest.com/races/gc4xx
West Yorkshire XC
Some great results from the first meeting on 11 October and the first time we’ve have 4 complete teams, well done to all of you whether or not you were in the first 3 for VS:
U11 Girls 13 Ruby Wilson 5:43, 16 Matilda Dark 5:45, 31 Esmé Clark 6:28, 38 Molly Kendell 6:35 team 3rd
U11 Boys 4 Levi Woodger 4:56, 5 Leo Freer 4:57, 21 Samuel McLarkey 5:28, 22 Dylan Talbot 5:29 team 3rd
U13 Girls 6 Emmy Deverill 10:35, 19 Imogen Burton 11:55, 22 Dora Walmsley 12:01, 26 Abigail Bottomley 12:15, 27 Romy Aitchison 12:16, 30 Niamh Archbold 12:23 team 3rd
U13 Boys 10 Josh Salmon 10:21, 17 James Whittaker 10:45, 18 Harry Richards 10:45, 25 James Walker 11:09, 35 Harry Francis 11:36 team 3rd
U17 Men 10 William Thornhill 20:11
The next meeting is on 15 November at Wakefield. Those who entered the first meeting are entered for the series but new entries are being accepted till 12 November.
See https://www.valleystriders.org.uk/events-for-juniors-autumn-winter-2025-26/
Northern Cross Country Relays
We also had 4 teams at this event – the first time we’ve had 4 teams. Well done to:
U13 Girls 23 Abigail Bottomley 6:56, Imogen Burton 6:37, Dora Walmsley 6:55, team 23rd
U13 Boys “A” 14 Elijah Tedd 5:55, Samuel Keene 6:02, Josh Salmon 5:47, team 14th
U13 Boys “B” 23 James Walker 5:57, James Whittaker 6:03, Harry Richards 6:20, team 23rd
U17 Men 23 William Thornhill 7:41, Jimmy Burns 7:31, Simeon Tedd 7:55, team 23rd
Leeds Schools XC
Dates have been confirmed – 8 November, 29 November, 17 January and 28 February.
Entries close 5 November at 5pm and due to half term, I’m expecting that many schools will leave it till the last minute but I have seen entries from Allerton Grange, Bronte House, Kerr Mackie, Moor Allerton Hall, Roundhay HS and St Matthew’s and I recognise a lot of names of junior Striders.
Leeds Primary Schools XC
These are the 5 local midweek events which qualify for the West Yorkshire finals in late January or early February at Templenewsam.
For information
· The Leeds North West event will be at Prince Henry’s GS on 13 November
· The Leeds North East event will be at Roundhay HS on 21 November
Parkrun and junior parkrun challenges
Just to remind you, we have introduced two new awards to encourage parkrunning.
There will be a trophy for every junior Strider who completes at least one adult (5km) parkrun at each of the 11 venues in Leeds between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026.
There will be a trophy for every junior Strider who completes at least two junior (2km) parkruns at each of the 6 venues in Leeds between 1 September 2025 and 31 August 2026.
If you are between the ages of 11 and 14 you can attempt either … or both!
Get started now! Go on your own or …
Arrange a morning out with other V S Junior runners at an adult parkrun https://www.facebook.com/groups/2561438430903359/
Arrange a morning out with other V S Junior runners at a junior parkrun
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1336445581161929/