The Crew Cut

On 9th October this year, thousands of you will be running 13.1 miles through Central London, taking in the spectacular sites of the capital and the beautiful Royal Parks. The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon is a big race on our calendar and, as sponsors of their official charity – Team Squirrel – we’ll be getting ready to put on our running shoes and follow Chester as he squirrels his way around the course. Running a half marathon can be a daunting challenge if you’re a novice so, with the help of our friend and personal trainer – Paul Gascoyne – we’ve compiled a training plan to help you prepare for the race this autumn. On your marks, get set, here you go…

Event season is in full swing and our events team are travelling up and down the country (and abroad) to bring a truck full of Crewroom products to an event near you. Last month we joined thousands of eager runners at the Brighton Marathon Expo where Crewroom was the busiest stand by far with North West Hoodies, Air Head Visors and Softshell Jackets flying off the shelves. We’ve just returned from Ghent Regatta where Jordanne and Emily made firm friends with the Irish Crews so we’re planning to visit the Emerald Isle very soon and we’ll make sure there are plenty of green visors on board! The next four weeks are looking pretty busy too and this is where you’ll find us: Putney Town Regatta: 14th May, Putney Embankment Nottingham City Regatta: 14th May, National Watersports Centre Hermes Half/Full/Ultra Marathon: 14th May, Bewl Water National Schools Regatta: 27th to 29th May, Dorney Lake Junior Sculling Regatta: 30th May, Dorney Lake Metropolitan Regatta: 4th & 5th June, Dorney Lake Peterborough Regatta: 4th & 5th June, Peterborough

Friend and high-performance coach, Paul Gascoyne, has returned to Crewroom on a Saturday morning to put budding warriors through their paces with a cross training session that will get the heart pumping and those calories burning. Paul is a competitive triathlete, seven-times Ironman, Xterra competitor and Adventure Racer. All this makes him the perfect host for Warrior training here at the Crewroom Hub on Putney Embankment. Sessions run from 9.30 – 10.30am every Saturday, newcomers get a free taster session and it’s £7 thereafter. Warrior training, also known as Agoge training, is so called because it was used by Spartan warriors to prepare for the battlefield, and it is a mixture of bodyweight exercises and running. Participants complete 10 reps of an exercise (which may be Kettlebells, Clubells, Gym Rings or Battleropes), then run 1km. The next round is a further 10 reps of the first exercise and a new exercise, then you run 1km again. You add one exercise each time and keep running the 1k after each group. In short 1 exercise 10 reps 1 run, 2 exercises 10 reps of each, 1 run, 3 exercises 10 reps of each 1 run and onwards until you finally complete 10 reps of all 6 exercises and finish with a run! “This training gives you a good functional base, plus it’s perfect for all sports. It will make you fit and less prone to injury,” explains Paul. For more details of Paul’s classes, contact [email protected] or contact Paul directly at [email protected].

Last month we introduced you to the WaterRower which we’re now stocking in stores. They’ve proved to be a hit with our customers who love testing it out and, at times, get a little bit competitive with each other. Here at Crewroom we love a bit of competition so this month the store managers have set a 500m ergo challenge. For your chance to win a North West Hoodie worth £65 why not pop into our Putney Embankment, Putney Exchange or Northcote Road stores and take on the Water Rower challenge. We’ll be keeping a record of all competitor times and will announce the winner next month. In the meantime, just keep rowing!

Marathon season has arrived and this month many of you will soon be making your way down to our nation’s capital to take part in one of the world’s top six international marathons. But before all eyes are set on London, we’ll be heading down to sunny Brighton to cheer on nearly 18,000 runners as they take on 26.2miles through the winding city streets and along the pebbled coastline before finishing on Brighton’s spectacular seafront. The Brighton Marathon Weekend was founded by former international athlete Tim Hutchings and by former Brighton club athlete, Tom Naylor. The first running of the race took place on 18th April 2010 and Crewroom has been involved in the marathon exhibition since 2011. This year we’ll be back at the Brighton Centre on stand no.14 on Friday 15th April and Saturday 16th April. With our newly designed stand and heaps of new season kit, we’ll have plenty of offers available including 3 for 2 on NW Hoodies and SE Fleeces, discounts on our ever popular Softshell Jackets and Gilets and some exciting offers on our leggings range. We’ll also have giveaways and prizes so be sure to pop along and see us if you can. If we don’t see you at Brighton this week, good luck to all you runners!

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