The Gold Challenge

On the 27th October 2011 East End Road Runners commenced a challenge to run around the world. That is, for a team of thirty members of all abilities, from 5K runners to ultrarunners, to jointly log their weekly running distances with the aim of covering KM totaling at least 2012 x 20.12 or 40,481.44km [approx 25,300 miles] before the start of the 2012 London Olympics. [The earth's circumference is approx 40,000km]

The date chosen, being an exact 9 month period till the Olympic Games opening ceremony, required each member of the team to cover a consistent weekly mileage of 21.6 miles [35.6km]. Obviously factoring in days off tapering or recovering from races and any time out due to injury or holidays the individual target weekly total was in fact higher.

As well as being envisaged as a motivating challenge in its own right the endeavour also aimed to raise funds for the StreetGames charity. More information about this charity and how to sponsor the team's efforts can be found at the East End Road Runners Just Giving page.

Details of the teams' Gold Challenge performance as it progressed can be found here

Please find below an archive of messages from the team captain and motivators
Paul Lewis, Liz Worrell-Jude, Peter Grant.

The first post on 19th October 2011 [foot of page] is how the idea started

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28th July 2012 in brief
Gold Challenge final scores [with perhaps a few extra KMs and ££s to come from those away on hols this last week?]

Distance covered 44,800KM.
Money raised for StreetGames £3,112

There is a 2012 participation medal for all team members: accept those getting one of the 10 special Gold Challenge medals: [some medals were presented at the Club Picnic on July 27th]

Phill - Highest distance run / top male / bona fide double bling [ie 2012km x 2.012]
Paul - Second highest distance run / second male / bona fide double bling / GC team captain
Nuno - Third highest distance run / third male / bona fide bling [over 2012km]
Liz - Fourth highest distance run / first female / bona fide bling [over 2012km] / second highest fundraiser / GC female team motivator
PeterG - Fifth highest distance run / GC male team motivator
Cheryl - Second highest female distance run
Louise - Highest fundraiser
Allison - Third highest fundraiser
Kay - Fourth highest fundraiser
DaveTh - Fifth highest fundraiser

25th July 2012
Today is the last day of the Gold Challenge adventure that 30 members of the club have been undertaking for the last 9 months [39 weeks].

Although tonight is not an official club training night, I would like to invite ANY member, but especially any of the Gold Challenge team members, that wish to come for a run tonight to join me at some point for any distance smaller or greater, on the route as attached. Pace will be at slightly slower than 10mins per mile - with up to 5min water stop at NLC each loop.

FYI All Gold Challenge KMs have to be run before midnight tonight to be included in the team's final total distance covered.

Regards - Paul

23th July 2012 Gold Challenge End in Sight
Really is the final stretch now - 2.5 days to go. So please log those last KMs asap these last 3 days and get any £ online asap too! We are so close yet so far - 97% [less than £100 to get us over our target]

We have a StreetGames rep coming to the picnic on friday to give out medals so we need to have all the stats ready by then - so you only have till Friday lunchtime to get everything completely up to date. To reiterate: no KMs run after midnight on Weds can count towards the total. Any £ not online by noon on Friday will not be reported as part of the official amount raised [unless it has been reported], and likewise any KMs not logged by that time will not form part of the official challenge total.

Thanks
Paul

20th July 2012 FINAL PUSH
Dear club mates, The East End Road Runners Gold Challenge, which we have been undertaking for nearly 9 months has now only 5 days to go!

We are currently just over £100 short of our charity fund raising target of £2012, so if you are a team member that hasn't contributed yet, have enjoy the Real Relay for FREE today, were given a FREE place to do the Olympic 5mile race, have been able to secure tickets to the Olympics through the club, will be enjoying the club picnic, the 24Hour track relay, the FREE Parkruns that the club has set up, or just feel moved to help - then we would be most grateful to receive your donation however great or small online at www.justgiving.com/eerr asap

Thank You for your generosity
Paul

19th July 2012
Gold Challenge Final Week. Well done those who have worked really hard the last couple of days fundraising and to everyone for running and logging their KMs. Now is the time to upload to justgiving any £ you might still have outstanding. The current total is £1,889.60 - 93% there.

With regard to the distance - WE ARE THERE and then some! 2012km x 20.12 = approx 40,481km, however we are at 42,848km already. If we could get to 44,264 we will have covered 2012km x 22, which would be a great extra achievement and entirely doable as that's only another 1,416 minus what people still need to log up to this point [some are still behind a tad ...] could be done?? But is a bonus so don't fret :-)

But please keep running/logging and fundraising til the last minute :-)

FYI a rep from StreetGames is to come along to the club picnic on July 27th to say thank you [and perhaps hand out some bling???] It would be great to have final scores and £amount by that time [2 days after the challenge completes]

Paul

17th July 2012
Dear all,
FYI with regard to receiving some medals IF we successfully complete our 9 month task [run over 25,000km AND raise over £2012 for StreetGames] I have asked for clarification from the Gold Challenge team as Justgiving have us at 79% of £2012 [£1,589] whereas GC [who give the medals] have us down as £1,981 ie they have included the giftaid ££s.

Clearly it would be a shame after all this time to miss our target by a few ££s, so it would be good to make doubly sure by getting over £2012 without the gift aid addition. Please therefore ensure you upload your funds to http://www.justgiving.com/eerr immediately.
Thank you, Paul

15th July 2012
Hi paul, this is just a very quick email to firstly congratulate you and your team, that is an amazing amount of distance covered. Secondly to thank you for the amazing amount of fundraising that you have done! I know your charity will be very grateful for the huge amount of support you have given them. I have checked and you are correct you have raised over the £500 so you are in the running for the Team GB House prize!

The draw will be held this Friday the 20th of July, and if you are one of the lucky few who are drawn someone from your team could be rubbing shoulders with our athletes, living the excitement and soaking up the atmosphere of the Games!

A huge thank you again and fingers crossed that you are picked!
Kind regards, Holli Pickford [Charity Team]

12th July 2012
Well, after all these months we are now into the sprint finish. TWO weeks now remaining!!

Please please please therefore get up to date ASAP with your KM logging AND redouble your efforts to raise some funds [please donate any £ you have raised offline through the justgiving page so as to get the extra free gift aid %] as it would be really great to achieve not only our aim of running all the way around the world [24,000km] and then some, but also to get to that magic £2012 for charity.

It would be wonderful to anounce the final stats at the club picnic.
Also I am about to send out some PR.

Thank you
Paul

8th July 2012
Hi East End Road Runners
Well done for all your brilliant fundraising to date for StreetGames.

The East End Road Runners are so close to being entered into the ballot to win Afternoon Tea at Team GB House on the 1 August 2012. One of the team will get to mix with the stars of London 2012 whilst taking in the surroundings of the Olympic Park. All you need to do is raise £32.35 to reach that £500 target!

Good luck! Emily Williams - Partnerships Executive

FYI with regards to our £2012 target, we are currently at £1663 so need to raise another £350 [£280 with 25% gift aid] so please dig deep ... If you have offline donations please let me know asap - as I can still log the amount on the website ...
Paul

4th July 2012
Well the end of our team challenge is in sight and with three weeks to go we are asking you our EERR team to make the final effort over the next three weeks to finish the job in style!!!! YES three weeks left. So continue to maintain your running as long as you are not injured or indisposed by other life constraints, and of course to keep up to date with your logging.

It is great to see that for the most part you are all more or less up to date with your logging to the end of June, however there are still one or two team members for whatever reason who need to bring their running totals up to date. It is so important now that individuals do not fall behind with this task.

GOOD NEWS & CONGRATULATIONS
To Phill as the first person to complete his individual challenge of 2012km x 2.012 AMAZING - double the distance with three weeks remaining!

FUNDRAISING............
We are not doing too badly, however we are still roughly £350 short of our fundraising target of £2012 so it is important that everyone starts collecting and submitting any donations they might have via the justgiving website asap. We are hoping to announce the amount raised for our selected charity Streetgames at the Olympic Opening Ceremony Picnic on the 27th July which Nuvit as you know is organising.

Just a reminder to let Nuvit know if you are going to attend what should be a really fun evening in Central Park watching the opening ceremony on the big screen. Friends, family and anyone who else you know are most welcome to come along. Please email Nuvit at nuvit@eerr.org.uk

Run safely with enjoyment and have a good week.

LIZ

29th June 2012
Well ladies, our Golden Challenge year is fast coming to an end. We have so far collectively clocked up an amazing amount of miles which shows what we can achieve with team effort. Now with four weeks to go every mile will count, so log it all not matter how small - or short the distance. Keep up to date and try to log after a run to avoid missing or forgetting when, where and how much mileage you have achieved. It is easily forgotten if you leave your logging for long periods and then try to catch up days or weeks after the event(s). Remember our fundraising target too!

Well it is all looking good for a sensationally hot weekend so I hope that you will enjoy it. Keep supporting our team in every small way; run safely and happily. I look forward to seeing you some time during a club session in the next week.

LIZ

21st June 2012
Hello GC Men,
The bright eyed amongst you will notice this is a day late.....mostly because I have been playing catch up with my mileage and work has been mental.

Is it really only 36 days to go until the Olympics opening ceremony? It seems only yesterday when it was announced that we had won the right to hold them. Walking past Hyde Park this morning it really hit home how close they are, the Mall has been closed and the whole park is a no go area while they set up all the hospitality, changing areas for the marathon, beach volley ball etc.

Getting back to the purpose of this email, our Gold Challenge.

Everyone has put in a tremendous effort and it's now time for the final push, and as you can probably realise it now becomes more important than ever that every mile completed towards the challenge is logged. Don't miss out on a single mile because you forgot to log it. Even if it's only a couple of miles, even if it's a couple of Km they all count.

Remember, every mile lost is a mile lost towards the TEAM challenge. If anyone is experiencing problems with logging mileage please let me know and I maybe can help out. If you are injured or unable to run for whatever reason please keep me posted, it only take a quick e mail or a text and at least I will know the reasons why your totals are not being added to?

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH THIS THOUGHT

"Remember the feeling you get from a good run is far better than the feeling you get from sitting around wishing you were running."

PETER

20th June 2012
Well ladies - the last 37 days before the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics and the end of the GC is here.

This is now the time to up our efforts, maintain our consistent running, LOG, LOG, LOG and at least raise £60 each towards our chosen charity.

Our combined effort as a team is looking good, but we are made of strong stuff and will not allow complacency to get the better of us because we are going for GOLD!!!!

SO ..... keep running at what is an achievable and manageable mileage for you, enjoy your running, avoid catch up and risking injury but remember to log as you run.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

My very best wishes
LIZ

8th June 2012
Hello ladies, I do hope that this message finds you well and I hope that you managed to enjoy the weekend in spite of the continuous deluge, taking in some of the jubliee celebrations if that was your thing?

Whilst of course it is always good to make contact with you, especially after my own long spell away from the club on school related business; my main purpose for writing is to give some GC remainders.

GC logging - Peter Grant sent out a really good reminder to the GC men earlier this week and in many ways I am moved to reiterate his well thought out advice. In the majority you have all certainly contributed to the best of your ability in spite of the day-to-day commitments to build up good mileage towards our club goal. However, with the end of the challenge approaching fast [50 days - now 49 I believe] we all (myself included) must aim to log as we run to achieve our team goal, however also as important we must focus on our fundraising efforts. Please contact Paul for ideas with fundraising.

LIZ

7th June 2012
Hello GC Men, I hope everyone had an enjoyable Jubilee weekend.

As from today there are now only 50 days to go before the opening ceremony takes place for the 2012 Olympic Games.

It now becomes more important than ever that every mile completed towards the challenge is logged as soon as possible after it has been run. If you are one of those who thinks it will wait a couple of days and I will log it later then please don't, because it will probably get lost in the quagmire that is daily life.

Even if it's only a couple of miles, please log it asap because at this stage, every kilometre counts. Remember, every mile lost is a mile lost towards the TEAM challenge. If anyone is experiencing problems with logging mileage please let me know and I maybe can help out. If you are injured or unable to run for whatever reason please keep me posted, it only take a quick e mail or a text and at least I will know the reasons why your totals are not being added to?

A couple of dates for the diary, the Olympic Torch Relay will be passing through Newham & Redbridge on the weekend of 21st & 22nd July. More info can be found here

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

Regards
PETER

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Michael Jordan

28th March 2012
Dear GC Ladies, I hope everyone is doing well? You all seem to be certainly running well!

THANK YOU ALL so much for responding by bringing your logging up to date. As of Thursday we will have 16 weeks to go. If anyone has not yet updated due to time pressures please try to do so by the end of the day.

Have a great rest of the week. Run strongly, enjoyably but also remember to rest your weary muscles too!

I will be in contact with you again soon.
My very best wishes
LIZ

11 March 2012
Hello GC Men,
Today marks the half way point of the GC and although things are looking encouraging, this is mainly down to the increase in miles being completed by those training for a Spring Marathon. The downside is that once the spring Marathon season is over the mileage will drop of, so it is important not to become complacent.

Looking through the statistics it is clear that people are still not logging all the mileage they are running. If you leave it a couple of days, it can slip though the net so can everyone please ensure they log their runs asap after completing them. Remember, every mile lost though forgetting to log it, is a mile lost towards the TEAM club challenge. If anyone is experiencing problems with logging mileage please let me know and I can help out. If you are injured or unable to run for whatever reason please keep me posted, it only take a quick e mail or a text and at least I will know the reasons why your totals are not being added to?

Regards
PETER

"Ask yourself 'Can I give more?' The answer is usually 'Yes' " Paul Tergat, professional marathoner.

8th March 2012
Hello GC - Golden Girls, well what can I say - ladies you are working hard!

Our team is making great strides, pushing the boundaries and achieving good mileage either in races or as a result of general day to day training. GREAT!

We are now at Week 19 of our GC. Today, Thursday we start Week 20 and Sunday will bring us to the half way point of this challenge. So please keep up with the logging. If you have not logged in a while but have clearly been running consistently, please contact me as I can give you some hints/strategies on getting up to date with ease.

Any help needed in setting up your just giving page? Please let me know. If unable to run for whatever reason please keep me updated. Remember we are only logging runs. No other event such as swimming or cycling. If you have logged these you need to delete from your page.

So come on girls put your best 'foot' (both feet - one at a time of course) forward and let us all make a super EERR effort this week.

Will be in touch again soon.
My very best wishes to you all
LIZ

28th February 2012
Hello Golden Girls,
Hoping that everyone is well, happy, still enjoying running and remaining injury free!

It has been a busy time with work, training and preparation for races making maintaining contact with you a bit of a challenge. Good idea - Girls Get Together to celebrate International Women's Day!

My objective today as we approach the end of Golden Challenge WEEK 18 is to remind you to take some time by the end of day tomorrow (Wednesday) to get up to date with logging your running/race distances. (Some have still not logged since January when it is clear that they have been running consistently since then.)

You are all contributing well, however we must motivate each other to maintain this great effort and not become complacent.

Congratulations are in order to those ladies within the team who successfully completed the tough Roding Half course. Excellent; will done, we are SO proud!! You more than deserve a good rest and some recovery time!

Also, some of our ladies ran 18 miles on Sunday at WHP - WOW - there's no stopping US!! Great stuff girls. So please log, log, log and I will contact you again over the next couple of days with some ideas/suggestions for moving forward with this challenge and especially with what we should be doing to address the fundraising issue.

All the very best and I will be in touch soon
LIZ.

22nd February 2012
Hello GC Men,
We are now at the end of Week 17 which ends on tonight and only 2.5 weeks to go until the half way point.

Can everyone please ensure that they bring thier GC run log up to date ASAP. Some of you have not logged runs since 12th/14th Feb??? and a look at the totals accumulated thus far tells me once again that it is the top 5 or 6 runners who are keeping this challenge alive.

Anyone injured and unable to run please keep me posted and at least I will know the reasons why your totals are not being added to?

If we are to be successful, it will take a superhuman effort from everyone during the next 19 weeks.

Regards
PETER

PS. Some of you may have received an e mail from the Gold Challenge administration team. They have asked me to pass on their apologies for revealing your e mail address to the other recipients who were also sent the mail.

14th February 2012
Hello GC Men,
I hope that everyone is enjoy this little break in the cold spell? We are now nearing the end of Week 16 which ends on Wednesday 15th February.

I would like to thank those of you who have been bringing their GC logs up to date, those who haven't (and you know who you are) please make a super human effort this week and bring those logs up to date as it really does add some motivational value if the team members can see us all pulling in the same direction having this data really helps us to keep on track, assist us in being able to offer you guidance, while also helping us to plan ahead if we are to achieve our objective; which everyone seems committed to do.

If anyone has any problems accessing the net to log their run please say so and I will see how I can help.

We are now a third of the way into the challenge, barring any major mishaps or unforeseen long term injuries we should all be able to treble our current totals so looking at the current stats the likely outcome for individual challenges are as follows:

Paul, Nuno, Phil, might be able to achieve a 2012 km double
PeterG, Alex, Kenny, might achieve a 2012 km
Danis and everyone else below might be able to achieve at least 201.2 km

FUNDRAISING
It would seem that one of our team objectives over the next few weeks will be to address the fundraising issue. As a suggestion, perhaps in the next week we should try to aim to update our fundraising page. I will be focussing on this myself. I hope the information below will be helpful. I am also thinking of raising awareness with my colleagues at work with a few fundraising ideas. It would be good if we could share ideas with the group or share any successful fundraising event you have set up.

All the details of how to access and update you GC details are included in Liz message below.

Enjoy the rest of your week ahead, and I will catch up with you next Sunday

PETER

14th February 2012
Hello GC ladies,
It was a really wonderful to see so many of our ladies out for our club Sunday run, although due to particular circumstances some of our committed regulars could not attend they were genuinely missed. We look forward to seeing missed members again soon.

I would like to begin by thanking the vast majority of our GC team for updating information and for logging your runs. This weekly information is so important and is honestly not used as a means of 'catching' anyone out or is it an attempt to be prescriptive. Having this data really helps us to keep on track, and to offer you guidance, while also helping us to plan ahead if we are to achieve our objective; which I know that we are all committed to do.

We are now approaching the end of Week 16 which ends on Wednesday 15th February. We hope that those of you who have not yet found the time to log will do so by Wednesday to include your Sunday run, Tuesday's club night (if you are able to attend - Valentine's Day celebrations permitting) and any additional running you may have done on either Monday13th and/or Wednesday 15th February - yes I know Wednesday may not be possible as a few of us lucky ones may be out for Valentine celebrations.

Once we have a truly updated picture I will write to you all again to share our collective achievements and offer any guidance for Week 17 which begins on Thursday 16th.

WHAT TO DO ON YOUR FUNDRAISING PAGE
[login to your account then at the top right where it says 'My Challenge Details' click 'edit details' - page settings should open, add details as below and click 'save' at bottom of page]

My Fundraising Page
Please enter your fundraising page URL here: http://www.justgiving.com/eerr [ADD THIS WEB ADDRESS]

About My Challenge
[ADD team details and your personal challenge details]

As a team we are taking on the challenge of running 2012km x 20.12 in the next 9 months. That's over 25,000 miles in 39 weeks. [40481.44km]
[REMEMBER THIS WAS OUR AGREED TARGET AT THE START OF THE CHALLENGE]

Example: Personally I'm aiming at 2012km the next 9 months. That's approximately 1257.5 miles in 39 weeks [around 32 miles per week].
[Say what you think you can individually achieve remembering that the team objective is that where possible that all members of the GC team aim to run 22 miles per week]

[Publicise to all - OUR SPONSORSHIP PAGE:] http://www.justgiving.com/eerr
This page can be also be reached through our team or your individual Gold Challenge page and I have been informed hopefully at some point through our EERR website ... [It would be good if we could add to our individual page]

Apparently anyone who raises £250 on 'justgiving' by the end of February will be automatically entered into a draw to win another £250. A bit of an incentive!

If I can help in any way with any of this please do not hesitate to contact me: liz@eerr.org.uk

I will be in touch again soon - thank you all again for your efforts - At least the weather is beginning to warm up after our very cold spell!

All the best
LIZ

4th February 2012
I’m sure everyone will join with me in thanking Paul for his sterling efforts in keeping the Gold Challenge show on the road, I only hope I can continue with the same amount of enthusiasm for the task ahead. For those of you that have completed run’s during the past couple of day’s, will you please ensure that log in and add the mileage asap so we can bring our totals up to where we would like them to be.

Besides the regular nags, prompt’s etc I hope to offer some occasional motivational speel and advice when appropriate. If anyone has anything that would like to share it would be great to hear from you.

For those of you on the 8am - 18mile group tomorrow I will see you then, lets hope the snow stays away until the afternoon. Well that’s all for now... till next time.... run safe run free....

PETER

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." Michael Jordan

THE GOLD CHALLENGE OLYMPIC STADIUM EVENT APR 1ST
Every Gold Challenge team will get a chance to run their own lane in a 100m race:
If you are one of the top fundraising teams as at 29th February 2012 and your team is selected in the Gold Challenge Ballot on 29th February 2012 (as long as you have started your fundraising)

Every Gold Challenge team will also have the chance to win five Stadium Passes to be part of the magnificent Gold Challenge Stadium Parade: If you are one of the top 50 fundraising teams as at 29th February 2012 and you are one of the 10 teams selected in the Gold Challenge Ballot on 29th February 2012 (as long as you have started your fundraising)

criteria https://www.goldchallenge.org/stadium

EERR are currently £75 in 90th position. The top 10 teams have raised £800 and upwards to £7K! Currently the 25th team has raised £500 ...

1st February 2012
Evening team,
hope the cold weather finds you wrapped up warm.

Logging time again by tomorrow evening, the end of week 14! We still seem to have only raised £75 in sponsorship money? This will be a rather embarrasing amount for a team of 30?

Team members now stable at 30 with low scorers 'retired' - again welcome to sybil and louise.

Scores so far [though am sure most will have to log tonight's 5miler yet] look like 14332km [need 14532km] so it looks like we are at last closing down the shortfall gap? And individual scores for 14 weeks for anyone interested is an average of 484.4km, so keep up the good work and I'll check in again at the end of February. In the meantime over to your respective MR/MRS Motivators/Naggers - PeterG and Liz.

All the best
Paul

26th January 2012
Afternoon guys,
Phill. Nuvit. Tony. Maxine. Allison. PeterG. Rod. Kay. Danis. Nuno. Kenny. PaulD. Robin. Wendy. Monica. BigDave. Daveth. Cheryl. Andre. Alex. Liz. Simon. Linda. Rolston. TJ. Rishaar. Julian ...

Firstly many thanks for [most of you] getting logged up-to-date. The Gold Challenge Admin are still to get the team stats completely sorted, as unfortunately we have 'lost' Fiona/Frances/Gbenga from the team due to injury and work. Can I ask anyone not up-to-date to try alittle harder [even once a week - weds night logging is fine] also can I get you all to check [click 'show all'] that dates entered are correct - some show as May/Dec 2012!?

Welcome to new members Louise and Sybil - bringing team back up to what will now hopefully be the finishing team of 30. With only/mostly these 2 new members to log all their runs from the past 3 months, [and myself knowing what KMs they have to log] I can report that we seem to be around 13,300 km at the end of week 13.

If you'd like to know where we should be as a team and individually:
Team 13,494km [13 x 34.6 x 30] currently short only around 200km!? [with team adjustments]
Individual 450km [13 x 34.6]

BUT
please do not be lulled into a false sense of security by this however, this is because the top 5 distance logging members have done their own work PLUS the work of another 6 members! If you are behind on your personal distance - DO NOT WORRY. I'm sure everyone will do their best going forward. And that will give us a good chance to be successful in this challenge. REMEMBER Consistency is the key!

I will be releasing PR this weekend, so please KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

You will hear from me next weds - then only at the beginning of every month going forward. The weeks inbetween you will be hearing from your new team captains/motivators liz@eerr.org.uk and peterg@eerr.org.uk

Treat them well, and as always - keep on logging
Paul

24th January 2012
After the impromptu meeting held last Thurs at training, the majority of those present were in favour of the Gold Challenge continuing. So here is a recap/reminder of how things stand today 24th Jan 2012 ...

As I need to put out PR this week ...

Gold Challenge
Thirty members have taken on the 2012km Gold Challenge [x 20.12] starting on Oct 27 last year and aiming to be finished before the Olympics commence this July. That's over 25,000 miles [40,482 km] over the nine month period, or an average of approximately 34.6km a week each. The team is hoping to raise as much as possible for StreetGames, which works to provide sporting opportunities for local kids.

... and so far the team appears to have only raised £75. With now a third of the time passed [weds night] the team have so far seemingly logged somewhat under 13,000km - therefore seemingly currently 500-700km short of where it needs to be at this point. [dependent on what members do tues & weds and what remains to be logged]

Unfortunately we are losing 3 members [either injured or now too busy to take part] but fortunately/hopefully gaining another 2 [to take us back to the required 30 members] Those that appear to need to update more than a couple of days are: Julian Andre Nuvit Monica TJ Kay Kenny. If everyone could make sure they are uptodate by weds evening that would be most helpful ....

Two new voices you will be hearing from this time next week are: Peter Grant and Elizabeth Worrell-Jude, who are taking on the roles of male/female team 'champions' respectively - to gee you all on and let you know how well [or not] things are going [as you must be tired of my nagging by now].

So at the end of week 13, all remains to play for, things aren't quite out of reach but unless there is a continued concerted effort from all involved things could slip away ... [remember whilst many are now logging more miles due to Spring Half and Marathon training, after the end of Apr kms are likely to drop back down drastically - with still 3 months remaining at that point - so a sizeable 'cushion' has to be built up before week 26 ... ]
thanks, Paul

19th January 2012
Morning all,
In case some of you are confused by this message on our pages 'Congratulations! Your Team Have Completed This Challenge' this is because the GC is only set up for 2012km and not the much larger [but perfectly reasonable] '2012km x 20.12 before the Olympics' challenge we are undertaking as a team of 30 ...

I hope you will be aware the challenge will be a third the way through [in time terms] this coming weds 25th jan! and we have yet to get any PR benefit for the club as we have not done any PR due to the seeming underperformance of the team [but needing to do so asap if there is to be any] May I ask you therefore to get up-to-date as soon as possible so that I can see what is going on in terms of whether we are likely/remotely likely/unlikely/certainly not able to complete our challenge successfully. It currently looks like we are 1,000km behind schedule which is very rapidly getting beyond reach, though I hope very much this is not the real situation.

In case you dont fully realise: The minimum distance of 35km a week per member means that at this point everyone should be above or close to 420km. Whilst it is possible [and acceptable] to cover for a few members that are working hard but not at that level, I'm sure you'll appreciate that anyone not logging that distance is obviously making others cover the shortfall/work much harder.

Ultimately if the challenge is now already out of reach or unlikely to succeed I have to consider whether it is more suitable to quietly pull the plug on the endeavour rather than risk negative PR for the club when the team fails miserably ... I need to make this decision before Weds 25th jan so I thank you in advance for your co-operation on this matter.

IF the challenge continues, I am seeking to appoint a lady and gent team captain/motivator to take things forward. Stay tuned ...

regards,
Paul

23rd December 2011
For those having problems logging their distances PLEASE at least try to log you runs by Weds each week [the end of our GC week] currently some are 2 or 3 weeks behind - and I know you have run]

For those that are unaware I have a couple of publications that would like to carry the story of our Challenge attempt [which will be great PR for the club] but I feel unable to let them have any details unless I know that the challenge has an at least modest hope of being successful? Hence my 'nagging' of late.

At the end of the day, you all know what we need to do both individually and as a team to be successful, so it's over to you .....
Paul

19th December 2011
Gold Challenge team - do some running and log the Kms - bloody hell!

15th December 2011
Hello Team,
Needed scores at end of week 7 [with a 2 week xmas break coming up for some?]:
Team 7266km. Individual minimum 242km [only the top few are in the stadium presently]

Actual Weds midnight 6804km [are people logging?] 460km behind already! Looking like the challenge will fail miserably? It would have been nice to PR the club and challenge before Xmas - to help the £raising but with the way things are looking ... it would be too embarrasing? [I dont have the time to keep nagging you, so please log your kms if you have them - what happens now is up to you ...]

For download is a great spreadsheet from Rod with which you can plan your GC schedule for months ahead [see my example sheet] which is a great way to plan your training too. Ask if you want help with a schedule ...

May I suggest that anyone planning Feb Half Marathons and/or Spring Half/Marathons who isn't logging 34km a week will not be doing the best they could in their race [at best] or will be struggling badly [at worst]. I suggest those not doing so much work on the running side perhaps could do more on the fundraising side? It's for Charidy [sic] remember.

£are now started, so please get going on that front [£65-70 each is the £2012 target] If you are smart and are happy to be called Allison we can double the funds raised - as Allison Tynan has match funding through her employer. Get your sponsors to visit https://www.justgiving.com/eerr [where they can click 'Track our Progress' to see how we are doing/or not] and hit the 'donate now' button - choosing 'I am a UK tax payer' will increase the donation amount by 25%. Tell them to disregard the 'Congratulations! Your Team Have Completed This Challenge' message, this will be removed by GC admin this month I am assured.

And remind them you are called Allison. "Allison you are fantastic" included in message will do ...
If you are a twit/face-ache or slinked then please add the sponsor me page to your account.

Keep up the work,
Paul

Ps
re: the spreadsheet, as runners you are already logging your runs [instead of just falling from one run to the next] right?? As you can see [through my own 2012 x 2.012 challenge sheet] we all fall behind, but we can all also work out how we might catch up ... Hope it helps?

6th December 2011
Please log your Kms by weds night so we can see how we stand at 6 weeks [already!] Unless injured some are in danger of being 'subbed', so beware. Each runner should be at a minimum of 204km! [if your distance is hugely less you may have to ask yourself why?] and the team should be at 6120km! Even though the top few runners are working like crazy, it looks like we may be 200km behind already. Can we catch up? Not without help from EVERYONE!
Paul

29th November 2011
End of week 5 approaches. Hope you are all well and feeling fit? [except those injured bunnies] Some members looking like they havent run a step in 2 weeks - which I find hard to believe as I have coached you/seen you running this week ... If you are alittle behind on your logging please make sure you get up to date by Weds evening - so we can ascertain whether the challenge will work or not before we start PRing in time for Xmas.

Scores needed by end of week 5 [5 done 34 to go] = 5190 KMs team total. Early days still? but individual minimum should be in area of 180km .... mileages will pick up for many but remember Xmas/holidays/injuries/post marathon lull ... harder to get back the distance later in the challenge so try to start gradually increasing your effort. Current team total 2pm Tues is 4636km [554km short].

FYI Gold Challenge admin are trying to remove all the 'challenge completed' text from our pages and update the Target KM in orange at the bottom of the page. Please - if you havent already - do add some words and an image to your page ... [make your individual challenge goal as specific as possible - as that helps to keep you on track]. 34km a week = a challenge of 1350km total for the 9 months [201.2km x 6.7] else you could say 201.2km x 6/7/8 ... or 2012km etc

Here are a couple of examples ...

"As a team we are taking on the challenge of running 2012km x 20.12 in the next 9 months. That's over 25,000 miles in 39 weeks. [40481.44km] Personally I'm aiming at 2012km x 2.012 in the next 9 months. That's approximately 2512 miles in 39 weeks [around 65miles per week]. In the quarter of a century that I have been running [off and on] I have never run more than 50 miles a week TOPS - so this IS a real challenge. Please give GENEROUSLY. Thank You."

"I am doing this challenge because I can. As a late starter to running I am continually amazed that my mind and body respond to what I ask of it. I feel passionately that sport for the young gives them a sense of pride, team spirit and personal achievement and if I can raise some money towards StreetGames I will run as many miles that is asked of me."

10th November 2011
The Gold Challenge team has now completed the first 2012km out of the hoped for twenty! But currently alittle behind schedule ... so keep up the good work.

8th November 2011
Hi team,
FYI tonight's Dockside training can be logged as 7K, plus whatever extra you may have run there and/or back. Please try to get all up to date by tomorrow evening so I can see what's going on, at the end of week 2 ...

We need to log 1038km a week, so some need to up effort I think? Obviously not suggesting that we become 'mileage whores' but remember 34km each is average 'minimum' needed and some weeks some we will do less
[holidays/illness/work/bad weather/races etc etc] so it's good to try and get ahead of schedule just in case ...

Also remember 95% of the club are IMHO 10K runners and 18-20 miles a week is minimum training needed to improve at that distance - let alone those now wanting/training for half and full marathons ... also I believe 20 miles a week is doable by everyone in the club and will surely benefit your training/racing enormously. For those running 5Ks, you should be doing a couple of KMs warm up/cool down to improve your performance anyway - and this helps up your KMs too.

So the game's afoot - it's a challenge - do your best,
Paul

31st October 2011
Please remember to log those kms if you have joined the Gold Challenge team or join up asap and log any kms since/including thursday last, as by next week I will have to decide whether the challenge as set is doable or needs to be unfortunately downgraded - which would be a shame ... any problems signing up please email info@goldchallenge.org and they will sort you out.
Paul

30th October 2011
FYI here are the words on our justgiving page [without active links]

Thank you for visiting East End Road Runners Gold Challenge fundraising page! Track our progress here.
We have taken the excitement of the Olympics, and we’re running with it ... literally! The Olympics has landed on our doorstep and in order to raise our sporting spirits and raise money for a fantastic cause East End Road Runners has taken on the Gold Challenge.

The Challenge
This is no walk in the park, our team will be pushing themselves to the limit in this attempt to complete 2012km x 20.12 [that's over 25,000 miles!], all in time for the start of the Olympic Games. We are planning to run this distance in exactly 9 months, and it is not going to be easy! You can track our progress here.

The Charity
StreetGames is a remarkable charity who believe that all young people deserve an opporunity to make sport a regular part of their lives. They work with local providers to develop community projects that meet specfic local needs. They want to make improved access to sport a lasting legacy of London 2012. We want future generations of young people to have the opportunity to enjoy sport and lead healthier, active lives.
This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of something special and raise much needed funds for StreetGames.

So please support us in our journey to Gold!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.

29th October 2011
Please sign up for Gold Challenge team asap, as we are now still looking for up to 13 members [anything less than another 8 to join up this week means almost certain failure of the challenge already!] If you can commit to 34km [21.5miles] per week every week for the next 39 weeks then that is good enough. These can be your own runs or preferably at least some club runs [3 clubs runs a week will equal 18miles minimum - 4 7 7] If you can only do less some weeks you'll need to do more other weeks - or others will need to do your work - [DITTO if you sign up and then do nothing!]

You can use any kms logged starting Thurs 27th Oct - if you sign up pronto ...
Paul

27th October 2011
Welcome to the EERR Gold Challenge
As we deal with real money and not silly money please find a conversion table for logging your KMs [no point being more accurate than this, ie to nearest 100metres] unless you have a metric 'gizmo'.

So you appreciate the endeavour. We are aiming at 2012km x 20.12 = 40481.44km in 9months [39 weeks or 273 days] to be completed by July 26th at latest ie just before 2012 Olympics starts. [hopefully we can be finished and have a celebration at training on the night of Tues 24th?] So that is: 1038km per week as a team. That's an average of 34km each per week [about 21.5miles] if 30 of us [so the team completing 2012km roughly every 2 weeks!] And of course raise as much £££s as possible for StreetGames [who have a close connection with Newham - 1 of the only 5 pilot projects they have to get kids more active, is in Newham - the only one in London!]

THE IMPORTANT BIT
All you need to do is go here https://www.goldchallenge.org/gc/login.php each time you run, login with your details, to get to your individual page https://www.goldchallenge.org/gc/user/'yourusername' - where you add your running details by clicking the orange button at bottom right 'Add another distance' then choosing [remember is running distances only NO biking swiming pogo sticks ... ] sports = run / distance in km and metres / location of run / date info

Simples,
Paul

Ps for club runs we can all enter the same 'where' details to keep it easier to see what's going on. For Thurs 27th Oct 'where' can be 'Britannia 7@7' [if ever in doubt just look at my entries on the team page] which is 11km 200 metres as standard [unless you have run to training/done some out and back faster sections]. Use common sense please and NO CHEATING it's not a competition to see who in the team does the greatest distance.

Also note for non standard distances: 1/4mile=400 metres, 1/2mile=800metres, 3/4mile=1200metres

ABOVE ALL dont forget to log and ENJOY!

Lastly, if you are having troubles setting up your account, either email me or info@goldchallenge.org asap. Also, remember to upload a photo [click the imagebox at top left] and fill in some details as per 'Admin [You can]' section in the previous message.
Paul

26th October 2011
Please sign up to the Gold Challenge. The first 30 get on the team for certain. There are 10 already interested and signed up in the last week: myself, bisi, fiona, phill, wendy, robin, andre, allison, tony, kay. I have asked the gold challenge admin if there can be more than 30 members ...

FYI we will start the challenge on thursday, so if you have already joined please start logging your Kms from then. The idea is that most Kms will be 'verified' by coach/run leader/race director as you will be seen at training for most of the runs you log? Kms are to be completed by running/jog-walking only [no biking, canoe, pogo sticks miles count]
Paul

Admin [You can]
go to the bottom of your page and click the little box 'dont show age' / add your photo or the team photo to your page / add this info on your page if not already there:

I want to fundraise: £set your own personal fundraising target - any amount under the £2012 team total [if works properly! may just show team amount of £2012]

I'm taking on: 2012 km Challenge [again the team challenge - may be able to alter to individual (lower 201.2kms challenge say) target

I'm supporting: StreetGames [can only have one charity for whole team]

About My Challenge
As a team we are taking on the challenge of running 2012km x 20.12 in the next 9 months. That's approximately 25,300 miles in 39 weeks.

[then ADD you personal challenge details underneath]
eg mine are: Personally I'm aiming at 2012km x 2.012 in the next 9 months. That's approximately 2512 miles in 39 weeks.

Publicise to all http://www.justgiving.com/eerr [our sponsorship page] which can be also reached through our or your individual goldchallenge page [and at some point through our website]

19th October 2011 - The germ of the idea
An Inspire Mark idea to be initiated by EERR - deadline Dec 1st.

Design/Produce an A4 double sided sheet which can be folded and cut to make an 8 page booklet [a logbook indeed, for everyone to download and print themselves]. Challenge Newham runners to log their miles during 2012. To be verified by RE leaders/coaches/teachers/race directors/sweatshop leaders etc.

Aim: to collectively complete 200,000Km [ 40,000 x 5 ] before the start of the Olympics, that being equivalent to 5 times around the world. The circumference of the globe is 40,000Km [x 5 Olympic rings] As Olympic rings symbolise a coming together of the world and Newham is the most ethnically diverse community in the UK.

For the 28 weeks from Jan 1st to the Olympic opening this would be 7143K per week, which with 200 people even, is only 36K each a week [22miles]. Ask Newham Council if there are some Olympic tickets to give away in a lucky draw to some participants? [They must have completed 400K to be entered? Under 9 miles a week]

Of course all rather depends on other orgs being willing to play ball?

Thoughts ...
Paul

That very week, we discovered something similar was sort of being 'provided' by the Gold Challenge venture, so EERR being somewhat busy with other business decided to very quickly [as it was realised that only a week ahead was exactly 9 months to the Olympic opening ceremony] sign up and start logging GC Kms instead. And the rest as they say is history ...