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BIRMINGHAM & BLACK
COUNTRY HALF MARATHON, July 5th from IAN HALL
Colin France and I ran
the Birmingham & Black Country Half today, so as we're the first Feet
to have done this one, I thought I'd write a race report. The entire
route is along a canal towpath, starting at Wolverhampton train
station and ending at Brindley Place in the centre of Birmingham, with
bag transport provided. It's therefore entirely flat, apart from a
dozen or so bridges; the main feature being the quarter mile Coseley
Tunnel at about 4 miles, with lighting provided for the race. It was
very wet underfoot after the rain of the last few days, but on the
whole the surface is pretty good to run on, certainly better than the
canals we train on around Kiddy. To avoid bunching the 600 or so field
started in waves of 8, one minute apart (timing chips provided), which
made it an odd race as there were few others to actually race against.
The proceeds go to various charities, so don't enter if the goody bag
is important to you (I kept the carrier bag and binned the contents),
but I'll be back next year so it would be good to see a few more of
you there! |
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MOEL EILIO FELL RACE
8, May 17th from PETER TROW
Just to let you know
Mark Bailey and I completed the Moel Eilio British Championship round
fell race today. It was the toughest thing I have ever done with 3000
feet of ascent. The race started with 1900 feet of climb - at the top
I looked round to see only 6 or 7 people behind me. I recovered a bit
to finish 227th out of 254. Mark finished 206th. It was the strongest
field of runners I have ever run with. The views were fantastic, clear
skies, no rain and warm. I'm off now to run Eastnor Castle with Craig
Bone. |
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SHAKESPEARE MARATHON,
April 27th from ELLIE HOOPER
I did my first
marathon yesterday at Stratford and was pleased with my result despite
hitting the wall at 19 miles which hit me with groin and calf cramps
big time. With over 4 stops it took precious minutes off my finishing
time but my goal was to get over the finish line at that stage. This
is a PB for me and I believe a new club record.
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ASHBOURNE DUATHLON,
April 26th from RACHEL WARD
My first ever duathlon -
very hard work. It was a beautiful venue at Carsington Water with an
undulating first 12km run followed by a hilly bike 40km, then a flat 4
km run to finish off with. I had dreadful cramp in both quads after
getting off the bike, but was determined to finish, so hobbled along
for 2 kms until the cramp eased off. I also had to put my chain back
on after changing down too quickly on a sharp bend. All in all good
training for Vancouver. My position was 126th overall, and 3rd F40, in
a time of 2.53.54.(1.01.16,1.34.25,18.11 ). |
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BLACK MOUNTAIN
ROUNDABOUT/SHAKESPEARE MARATHON, April 26th/27th from SHAW PYE
Just a quick
summary of this weekends running. Yesterday I went to Brecon Beacons
to take part in the Black Mountain Roundabout event with Matt Giles.
Great weather, amazing views and killer fells !! The race
measured 26 miles with 7,394 feet of ascent - ouch !! It took us 4
hours 44 minutes of non stop hard running (and crawling up the hills).
Today (27th) a
crowd of Amazing Feet runners headed to Shakespeare County for what
turned out to be a scorcher of a day. What happened to the heavy rain
they forecast ? I paced Steven Hawkes until 17 miles and then I pushed
on when he started walking. |
CHEDWORTH ROMAN
TRAIL 10, APRIL 6th from IAN HALL
I woke to heavy snow
in Stourbridge, but thought I'd take a chance on it being clearer in
Chedworth (between Cheltenham & Cirencester), which it was. Craig
Bone, Pete Trow and I therefore had the pleasure of running the 10
mile Chedworth Roman Trail on a beautiful, cold, crisp, sunny
morning, with enough snow to complete the picture postcard image,
but not enough to interfere with the the race. This is a genuine M/T
race, with the first and last 0.7m on tarmac, but the rest on a nice
blend of farm tracks, fields and forest trails. After an easy first
5 miles there's a river crossing, which I'm told was a lot easier
this year than in previous years. There's one serious hill between 7
& 7.6 miles, with an easier one at about 8.2 miles, then a fast,
slightly downhill final mile to the finish. I believe this race
sometimes clashes with the Scenic Six, but it's one that I'd
definitely recommend for the future.
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LLANBEDR to BLAENAVON
FELL RACE, APRIL 5th from ROGER CANAVAN
I did the
Llanbedr-Blaenavon category A fell race on Saturday 05 April. 15 miles
4,500 feet climbing. I finished in 3hrs 37mins which is 16 minutes
better than last year, so I am encouraged if nackered. The winner was
Rhodri Buffet in 2hrs 12mins, but he is young and runs for Britain. |
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CONISTON 14, APRIL
5th from RICHARD BAKER
As close to the race as
Friday morning, I still wasn't sure that I was up to this - a
lingering cold and a severe lack of training added up to tell me it
was a disaster waiting to happen. Two training runs of 90 minutes plus
on Tuesday and Thursday was basically all I had done, so to turn up
and run every step of the undulating (that means hilly) 14 miles
around Coniston Water gave a real sense of achievement. And to finish
only 6 minutes slower than in 2007 just goes to prove the point - all
this training is so over rated !!!!! For the uninitiated, this
fantastic road race follows the lanes around the lake, veering inland
between two and four miles, then cutting across the outlet from the
lake and back around the eastern side of the lake with stunning views
of Coniston Old Man and the lake itself. Killer hills at 11 to 12
miles (I was passing loads of youngsters walking) lead to a fast
downhill 13th mile and a flat run through the village back to the
finish. Fantastic - where were you all ? |
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KIPLING KAPER/EDALE
SKYLINE, March 29th/30th from SHAW PYE
a Quick report
from this weekend. I hear Tthe Scenic 6 was a great success today and
AFRC picked up some well earned prizes.
My weekend
consisted of 10,710ft of ascent and 49.66miles of running. It started
yesterday at 9am with the Kipling Kaper LDWA event starting in
Meerbrook just north of Leek. There were the options of 20, 26 and
28mile runs or walks. Me being me opted for the 28mile mile which
turned into 28.9mile due to making a major error in navigation. As
always with these types of events the friendliness is most welcoming
and the food on route and at finish would be fit for any king. Running
down the road after 14 miles eating a hot oatcake was a new experience.
I finished first
after leaving the rest of the runners after 7 miles. 28.91 mile and
5873ft of ascent in total time of 4h51m47s over the beautiful White
Peak area.
This morning I
headed a little further north to the High Peak area to take part in
the Edale Skyline 21m fell race which is an event I have wanted to
take part in for the last few years but never fits in with spring
marathon training. The blue sky blessed us the entire of the race
which made the views amazing. The downside was that I was severely
overdressed, didn’t take drink with me on the race, sweated buckets
and ended up getting dehydrated in the last 3-4 miles which wasn’t
pleasant. Lost vision, balance and felt like death which made running
on the terrain very scary. Lesson learnt and won’t make the same
mistake again. I climbed 4837ft of ascent today over the fells and bog
land (mud up to my knees). Steve Clarke also took part and wasn’t far
behind me. |
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PHILLIPS ACCOUNTING
EASTER 5 at COVENTRY, MARCH 23rd from
RICHARD BAKER
After waking up to a
snow covered car, this well organised event from Massey Ferguson RC
actually started in sunshine, though a cold biting wind kept
temperatures down. A traffic-free first mile through the University
grounds led to a gentle off-road section around the outside of fields
before returning to the road for a second lap. Some slippery mud but
nothing too bad, and a tee shirt for finishing in what proved to be a
better than expected run for me despite a heavy cold. Note to race
organisers : please DON'T lecture us in the cold and wind about not
running with I-pods !!! Health & safety gone bonkers ! |
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HANHAM HORROR 6 MILE
M/T, MARCH 23rd from
JANE PYE
Well I said that I would
run this weekend and run I did . My first race for twelve months. In
muddy conditions with a rope climb thrown in for good measure. I
really enjoyed myself. Covered in mud soaked and tired but I did it.
A good benchmark for me. I know that I can run just over six miles in
ankle high mud so I will now work on my times. |
U.K. INTER COUNTIES
CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at WOLLATON PARK, NOTTINGHAM, MARCH 15th from
SARAH ARMSTRONG
I had my third visit
to the Inter Counties X Country at Nottingham today Sat 15th March,
wishing I had been heading to the Rhayader 20 instead ! I came 5th
for Worcestershire in a slightly quicker time than last year, I
think, but can't find official times yet. Unfortunately
Worcestershire could not come up with the six senior ladies (over
20's) to score points for the county so all our hard work was in
vain! Definately Rhyader next year !!!
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LIVERPOOL HALF MARATHON, March 2nd from RACHEL WARD
Chris C and I ran at
Liverpool this Sunday on a rather wild and windy but sunny day. It was
a brilliant run through Sefton Park and Princess Park. Chris
definitely did a PB and I think I did too. I was 1:35:33 chip time and
2nd F45. Saw myself + Ian Hall in a picture of Not the Roman 1X in
this months Runners World. Quite spooky to turn the page and see us! |
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TROLLERS TROT/GLOUCESTER 20, March 1st/2nd from SHAW PYE
I think my weekends
running has certainly challenged or maybe bettered that of Pete and
Yourself.
Saturday morning started at 3am for me to get fed and packed ready to
pick Matt Giles up at 4am. Once picked him up we travelled up to
Threshfield in Yorkshire to take part in the Trollers Trot 24.9
(distance varies dependant on how lost you get) mile off road event
across some great terrain and scenery. Consisting of trail, road,
bridleways, moorland, fell, running through streams etc etc ...... We
started 5 mins late but still managed to reach the lead group by 4-5
miles. The event involved navigating using course notes which were 90%
accurate. I finished the event in 3rd place in a time of 3h 23m.
Today I travelled down to Gloucester for the 20 mile event not knowing
what to expect regarding my bodies ability. I started off fast with
the 2nd group and managed to hold on until 3 miles when I decided that
I would crash and burn if I didn't slow down. I dropped off the pace
and waited for the group behind to run with which was a slightly
slower pace. I pushed as hard as I could today as I'm training myself
to run on tired legs after doing the previous days events. I managed
to do even pacing throughout the race and had a very strong finish
which has pleased me. My finish time 2h07m38s smashes my previous PB
and also beats the club record!! Overall a great weekends running
combined with 103 miles in the last 7 days. |
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SUICIDE
SIX-ish, November 18th from RACHEL WARD
The first really cold
race this season for me. So I allowed myself a thermal base layer and
gloves. More importantly I didn't strip off any layers until very
close to the start of the race. The course thankfully is quite well
protected and the weather didn't deteriorate till towards the end when
sleet and snow began to fall. The coffee hut provided welcome refuge
after the race and it was good to see Ian Hall back from injury.
Judith Hardwick and I were able to help a Worcester runner who
collapsed due to hypothermia. Richard Warder (from Kidderminster &
Stourport AC) had a blanket to hand and thankfully after 15 minutes he
began to recover. A lesson to all of us, not to stand around in the
cold after a race without plenty of layers on. |
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SODBURY SLOG,
November 4th from SHAW PYE
This was my first
time doing this and one word to sum it up would be 'eventful'. I had a
number given to me many weeks ago by Sarah on here (RW Forum) and my
dad managed to get a number from registration 20 minutes before the
start today. The start of the race seemed to be slow and very sedate
and I nestled in with the lead group but unfortunately that was a
little too quick for me. Coming up to 2 miles I had to ease off and
let them go which resulted in me losing concentration, falling over at
the cattle grid cutting both knees and arm. From this point on my
running went to pot due to blood pouring down my leg and I wasn’t
really in the mood. I fell in the stream 'twice' and got caught by the
guy behind me which was a blessing as I had been running on my own for
the last 3 miles. We encouraged each other and I got focused again and
regained my stride and concentration. So much so that at 7 miles I
managed to pull away from him and re-take my good lead on him. The
last bog/stream was in good condition still when I arrived which meant
I was able to run through instead of wade. The 'subway' finish was a
bit of a contrast to the rest of the race but at least it wasn’t
littered by yobs. Shame about the time cock up with the results.
Someone must have been too eager with the stop watch. The times they
put up on the wall were a lot slower than people’s watches, but the
website results seem to be an amended and correct version. |
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2nd CARDIAC ARREST,
November 4th from NIC HYDE
My brother persuaded me
to enter this race. We formed a team of three with one of his squash
club friends. It is about 8 miles around a farm in pleasant
countryside near Olney, Bucks - woods (without footpaths), streams,
old railway track, no roads. However there are added obstructions. I
have never been so wet in a race - two ponds with water above my
waist, stream crossings , long sections running in the stream
including one in a tunnel & a sheep dip where you are power hosed at
the end. Other obstructions include bales of hay & a quarry. Some
competitors seemed to delight in getting as muddy as possible or were
in quaint attire such as pyjamas. My brother said one lady was
screaming she was agoraphobic going through the dark wet tunnel &
another twisted his ankle on the stones in the quarry. I think they
could do without the sheep dip - far too smelly, whereas I do not mind
the ordinary mud. It is a good race, very enjoyable. They are planning
another called Double Bypass which will be 2 laps ! I finished in 1
hour 3min 42 secs in 44th place. First runner home was in 51 minutes &
there were 269 finishers. Our Document Genetics (my brother's
company) team was 13th out of 23. |
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WELLCOMBE WOBBLER
10km, October 21st from RICHARD BAKER
After 26 years of
running, I learnt something today. If you feel really sick before a
race, it is probably best not to run. I did - decided to continue with
the second lap because there didn't seem to be many finishers after
the first lap (I would have been 6th in fact) then spent the rest of
the day feeling absolutely awful until I was finally sick at twenty to
ten at night. What was a great shame about this was that the newly
re-instated Wellcombe Wobbler was a fabulous event - run over fields
high above Stratford with hills to die for, some superb scenery and a
small but perfectly formed entry. We received a tee-shirt for
entering, Helen Parish finished as second lady and the sun shone out
of a blue sky. Shame my sickness spoiled it for me. Next year ! |
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STROUD HALF MARATHON,
October 21st from RACHEL WARD
A beautiful day for a
race. It was very well organised and friendly, with enough people to
create a good atmosphere, but not too many to stop you running at your
own pace. Chris and I were both pleased with our times. Neither of us
did a pb but I improved over Lake Vrynwy, so getting there. I was 10th
lady over 45. |
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PUMA TRAILFOX
CONISTON 15km TRAIL RACE, October 6th from RICHARD BAKER
What can I possibly say
about this gem that doesn't sound false ? Fantastic scenery. Brilliant
organisation. Wonderful atmosphere. Blue skies and bright sunshine.
This was my first trail race, and knowing the course took us high into
Coniston through the Coppermines Valley, round the Pudding Stone, then
down to the Walna Scar Road, on to Torver and back along the lakeside.
I was unbelievably nervous at the start. I started off too fast,
walked after 2.5 kms with everyone else, ran in a new pair of Puma
Trailfox shoes which gave me a blister, and thoroughly ENJOYED IT !
Great tee shirt to pose in at Malvern and Pattingham - this one is a
must for next year. All of you ! |
SWANSEA BAY 10km,
September 23rd from SARAH ARMSTRONG
I ran in the Swansea
Bay 10km today, along with 3 and a half thousand others, a record
entry apparently for this fifth fastest 10k the in UK. We were
chipped, no official results yet but I made it 43.33 on my watch.
It was busy, wet, and I was full of cold !!! No excuse for being a
minute slower than 2 years ago though !! I do recommend this race
for a very well organised, potentially with superb views, flat fast
10k. Allow plenty of time to get there, traffic can get busy or
stay in the excellent watering hole of Mumbles Village the night
before. Next stop for me is hopefully the Snowdon Marathon !
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ENVILLE ATHLETIC FC
10km, July 29th from RICHARD BAKER
This was the first
Enville 10km, organised by the football club, and hopefully it will be
the last. This was a two lap race, all off-road within the grounds of
Enville Hall, and to be honest had some fantastic scenery. However,
the climb after 2kms meant that this should really have been a fell
race, in which case I would have avoided it anyway. Just before the
worst of the climb we were faced with marauding sheep trying to get
through the same gateway as we were, who fortunately veered away from
the line of runners and waited for a gap. Unlike the group of 50 or 60
cows in a later field, who galloped across and through the runners
twice, at huge risk of death or injury to all of us. Worst of all was
the ninety degree right hand turn after 3km, which was not marshalled,
and not marked. Fortunately, I was with a young lady from D-KRC who
spotted the error, and we went the right way - 60 percent of the field
didn't. It did mean that Lucy Cambridge and myself were actually
leading the race just after 3km, along with Paul Rogers, before we
were engulfed by returning faster runners who had gone way off course.
Add to that the ONE toilet for us fellas, no km markers anywhere, and
a fairly hefty £5 entry for NO reward, and I suspect entry numbers
will be well down in 2008. |
SNOWDON
INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN RACE, July 28th from CRAIG LEWIS
Just back from Snowdon
(in one piece thankfully) just a couple of blisters for my troubles.
Not all were so lucky with the first aid very busy tending to
bloody knees, mouths and noses. Ran as well as I could not sure yet
of place or time. A great event with plenty of like minded fell
friends. A similar finish to that of Race the train , with big
cheers for Welsh runners. I'll bore you no more with my tales just
to say I'll be wearing my T- shirt at a race near you soon. Oh yes,
did I mention there's a highlights programme on S4C digital channel
134 tomorrow night at 21:00. You never know it may inspire you to
run it with me next year.
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HAWKESBURY UPTON MOUNTAIN BIKE ORIENTEERING, July 22nd from SHAW PYE
On
Sunday I travelled down to Hawkesbury Upton just south of Dursley to
take part in a mountain bike orienteering event today seeing as I
still can’t run. I wanted to do something competitive to keep the
adrenaline pumping. First time I have done orienteering since school
and it showed. Got lost several times and tried to be a bit too clever
with my route planning which backfired. At least I know what needs to
be ironed out in case I do another one. I covered 30.7mile and 5800ft
ascent in total and was out for 4hours and 20mins.
Some tracks were streams, cow pats like I have never seen before and
bridleways which looked as if they hadn’t been used since the 50’s.
All in all a good day.
Results
Winner - Nick
Calkin, 14 controls visited, 480 gross score, -4 penalty for being
late, 476 final score
18th –
Shaw Pye, 10 controls visited, 280 gross score, -80 penalty for being
late, 200 final score
Last 24th
– Jim Potter, 10 controls visited, 250 gross score, -250 penalty or
being late, 0 final score |
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PACKWOOD 5, July 20th
from RACHEL COOPER
This is part of a
Pentarathon series run by Oswestry Olympians (the Club who put on
Vyrnwy Half), but the main draw is that it runs right past my parents
house. The floods and diversions we had to drive through on the way
did make me think I was slightly mad for even attempting to start
this. The route is undulating and this year took place in torrential
rain and through several ankle deep "water hazards". The highlight
was seeing my children in pyjamas and waterproofs cheering me past
before they went to bed |
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PUMA TRAILFOX GARBURN
21kms TRAIL RACE, June 3rd from TRACEY SNOW
I have just come back
from holiday in the Lakes and am just giving you my race results for
the Puma Trailfox Garburn trail race I completed on June 3rd. It was a
half marathon and my first fell race and to be honest nearly killed
me . . . I think next time I decide to tackle something like that I
should do some hill training first (like running up and down the
Malverns). It was really hard and I maybe should have entered a
smaller race first but to be fair I am glad I have done it and will
most likely enter again next year as it was definitely a big challenge
for me . . . . . I was 334 out of 359 and ran it in 2 . 39 . 58 . I
should have liked my time to be better but there is no way I could
have done better ! Next year though, with some training, who knows???? |
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BRATHAY WIMBLEDON
MARATHON, May 20th from RICHARD BAKER
This was quite simply
the best weekend ever. My first marathon since 2000 when I retired
from such silly things, and having entered this race in April 2006 I
had the pleasure of wearing race number 1. This was also my 20th
marathon, and by a little bit of cheating last weekend, my 900th race.
The weather was superb, with blue skies, sunshine, and a cool breeze,
and the scenery for 26.2 miles was breathtaking. Mind you, so were the
hills ! Organisation was of the highest standard with more
marshals than I have ever seen before, and the finish was just
perfect, crossing the finish line with Lake Windermere in view across
the field. Shaw Pye and Simon Gregg also ran, with Greggy knocking 35
minutes off his PB. Mind you, 21 years after the last Windermere
marathon that I finished in 4:02, I was only 10 minutes slower this
year. And I was 10 minutes FASTER than that last marathon in 2000. The
strange thing ? 24 hours later I feel absolutely fine and could
happily run again. Bring on the next one. |
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TEWKESBURY TRIATHLON,
May 20th from RACHEL WARD
I competed in my first
triathlon this season on a fabulous day with perfect weather at
Tewkesbury, with a flat bike ride and a fast run. I would really
recommend it for any first timers. It was 400m swim, 24k bike and 5k
run. I was third lady overall and first super vet ! (I'm not so sure
about being a s-vet !) My times were 8.02,44.28,18.56 with a total
time of 1:11.26. |
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SHOBDON WOOD 6 HILL
RACE, APRIL 22nd 2007 from RICHARD BAKER
Not quite sure where to
pitch this one - Shobdon Wood is out in the middle of nowhere, and
this 6 miler was on forest tracks & paths. Hardly saw another living
soul in the woods apart from marshals and runners, and the hills were
better known as mountains ! Two going up, and one coming down. The
views at the top were magnificent, and the last mile through the
bluebell woods was flat and fabulous, like running across a blue
carpet. Medal ? No ! T-shirt ? No ! We got a jam doughnut with our cup
of water ~ fantastic ! Small friendly field and a brilliant way
to spend London Marathon morning. |
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CHELTENHAM CANI X
5.4kms, APRIL 22nd 2007 from TRACEY SNOW
I was just e-mailing you
to let you know that myself and my dog Mackay ran in the Cani X today
at Cheltenham. The Cani X are races that you can only enter in if you
run with one or more dogs. Anyway we did a 5.4km run (says 5km on web
site but is 5.4km) we got 2nd in female vets cat....strange sort of
running surface as it was a combo of tarmac and wood chippings. I
don't know how many ran but our time was 28mins and 20 secs.. i think
(tbc). See you soon
Oh I hope all those at London did as well as they hoped
today...fingers crossed.... |
LILLESHALL 10km, APRIL
11th 2007 from LINDSAY PULLEY
One of the many nice things about running the
Telford Series is that you make so many friends because you see
familiar faces for 6 months of each year. Quite a few are in my age
bracket so many of these friends are adversaries as well. The
National Sports Centre at Lilleshall is an attractive venue to stage
a 10K race and for once the weather was beautiful. Both of these
effects I am certain combined to produce a record number of 318
competitors. Amongst this large throng were 6 AFRC runners and
joining myself at the starting grid were Justin Conner, Richard
Baker, Shaw Pye, Simon Gregg and our new runner Stephen Hawkes.
Having recently embarked upon a new training regime Justin ran well
and completed the race comfortably. Shaw, Stephen and Simon however
stole the show with each of them setting personal best times for the
distance.
All in all a satisfactory evening out.
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FOOLS DAY 5km, APRIL
1st 2007 from LINDSAY PULLEY
A massive field of 16 souls turned out today for
this first 5K over the well known Rifle Range. A super route, the
first mile of which being the same as the Treat 8. We took a right
at the mile point and headed for the "Mast" then doubled back to
join the same track for the return downhill sprint alongside the
golf course, or perhaps what should be called the "Hard Hat"
section! Thanks go to the 4 marshals, Richard Warder on his bike and
a shed load of pieces of red and white tape. I had a very good run
and nearly caught Justin on the run in.
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STAFFORD HALF
MARATHON, MARCH 25th 2007 from various
I was just e-mailing u
to let you know that I beat my half marathon time by 16 minutes today
which I am very pleased with ... reckon the club is doing me the world
of good. Oh also Tori and Abbie both completed the 1 mile fun run in
about 6.30mins so they were very pleased. (TRACEY SNOW)
I
took 20 minutes off my previous (and first) half marathon today at
Stafford making it a PB for me. Hurray! What a well organised race
it was too with fabulous support all the way round. Including the
potentially sinister hoodies on their BMX's who cheered without
sarcasm. 2:07:45. (RACHEL COOPER)
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HEARTS FIRST 5km JOG, WYRE FOREST, MARCH 11th 2007 from LINDSAY
PULLEYThis event was organised by the British
Heart Foundation as a fund raiser. A lot of the entrants were
joggers and some actually walked round. The route is well known to
those members who run the Club Handicap each year; the only
difference being the fact that we ran clockwise today rather than
anticlockwise. To give you some idea of the standard of runner; of
the 384 who competed a mere 31 were faster that me!! The other club
member who ran this event was Anne Rendell. A well organised event
on a super day running what was for me very familiar territory. Pete
Swift (ex Amazing Feet) passed me on the long climb back to the
visitor centre. It didn't bother me one bit! Being in his fifties he
is still a mere youngster!
Times = LBP. 31.34. AR.35.23. PS these are
official times; there will be no published results. Anne was 150th.
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DUDLEY ACTION HEART 5, FEBRUARY 25th 2007 from LINDSAY PULLEY
1000 runners filled the streets for this well supported charity run.
The weather was atrocious with a biting cold wind and rain. I have
to say the route is pretty grim and the appalling weather didn't
help. Running around the streets of Dudley is not my cup of tea
especially on a cold wet Sunday morning. To add to my enjoyment of
all of this was the undulating nature of the route with a lot more
ups than downs. I wouldn't recommend this run to anyone but I am
looking forward to the new Action Heart 5K on 7th June. This run is
held at DKRC and is routed around the fields of the Rugby Club at
Kingswinford. As far as I am aware just myself and Rachel Cooper
competed from AFRC.
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BOURTON-ON-THE-WATER
10km, FEBRUARY 25th 2007 from RICHARD BAKER
My pre-race for this one
was about as bad as possible. A seven am wake-up call led to an eight
o'clock departure, with a detour to a post-box with Sunday collections
to post four ROC 8 entry forms off to someone. My chosen route via the
A429 ended up with a massive diversion due to road closures at
Moreton-in-the-Marsh, and an unanticipated loo stop at
Stow-on-the-Wold. My on-road parking space had long gone as we stopped
on the main car park (£4.50 !!!) at 9.45, with just 45 minutes to go.
I had to hand over a bag of cheques for the Leamington Regency 10km,
collect a box of entry forms for the same race, and then put out
various other race forms at the race HQ. Talk about stressed and
wound-up. How amazing then that on this super flat, super fast course,
I set my course record time, which also happened to be my fastest 10km
for 26 months. The morning weather was superb, just a pity the rain
came as we were eating chips on a bench overlooking the river in the
centre of BOTW. |
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U.K. INTER COUNTIES
CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS at WOLLATON PARK, NOTTINGHAM, FEBRUARY
24th 2007 from RACHEL WARD
Sarah and I had a jolly
time. We nearly missed the race as the traffic getting into the park
was atrocious. We ended up leaving the car in some side road and
jogging to the park. When we arrived we realised just what a big event
it was with all the counties in the south of the country & Wales,
taking part. There were 400 ladies in the over 20's race of 8km.The
slightly longer distance suited me and my only claim to fame was not
being the last Worcestershire runner to come in. Sarah did well but
suffered two horrible blisters. The event was televised on sky sports
and Hayley Yelling took first place. All in all, quite an experience,
especially starting in pens !
ADDITIONAL
COMMENTS from SARAH ARMSTRONG
It
was an 8km run, pretty tough terrain. First over the line was in 29.33
Hayley Yelling, European
Champion, who was selected for the World Championships, so NOT much
competition then !!!
Never Again!! |
BRANDS HATCH HALF
MARATHON, FEBRUARY 10th 2007 from MARIE BYRNE
We
set out from Wimbledon on Saturday morning in heavy rain for the
Brands Hatch Half which started at 11.30 am. Fortunately the rain
stopped for the duration of the race but it was still very dull and
overcast. This is a challenging course! Brands Hatch has lots of
hilly bits on the course and because the route is in laps you have
to go up the hills several times. When not on the Brands Hatch
course itself the route goes out onto some rough tracks outside the
race course. On the positive side there is no traffic, however the
race is not very atmospheric (although the weather might have had
something to do with this) and there are no spectators on the route
apart from when you pass the start and finish signs (several
times). I would not advise making a special trip to do it, but, if
you are in London on that Saturday and fancy a challenging course
with no atmosphere this is for you. Alternatively there is a club
called Amazing Feet in Kidderminster which does a wonderful race in
the forest on the same weekend...weather permitting.
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LONG MYND VALLEYS
FELL RACE, FEBRUARY 4th 2007 from ROGER CANAVAN
I allowed my mate Dave
Chisman to persuade me to go to the Long Mynd Valleys fell race on
Sunday (04 February). It's 12 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. That's
bad enough, but you should see the 5000 feet of descending. Amazingly,
I was not the only Foot, as I saw Richard Haynes several times in the
event. I give below brief results, but must stress that Richard spent
possibly 30 minutes waiting for his colleague Tony Mills. Good job
it's only once a year. |
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STOURBRIDGE STAGGER, FEBRUARY 4th 2007 from SIMON GREGG
A good turn out
for the second of this years race league took us to Stourbridge for
the Stagger, a 10 mile multi terrain race around Stourbridge, Hagley
and Churchill. A quick recee on the way showed the ground conditions
to be frozen but soft where it had thawed. Luckily the sun came out to
warm us all up and to burn through the mist. A great result for Shaw
Pye who finished 6th overall after finishing 2nd in his fell race
yesterday. A good run from myself after having done no training in the
week prior saw me 7th (I think) club
member home managing in the process to knock off nearly 12 minutes
from my 2005 time, and only be 5 minutes short of my 10 mile road PB!,
don’t ask me where my speed came from because I don’t know. |
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BLAYTHORNE 10, CAMBOURNE, CORNWALL, JANUARY 21st 2007 from SHAW PYE
I also ran today in the Blaythorne 10mile race at
Cambourne in Cornwall. I managed to get a PB but I couldn’t quite duck
under the hour
L.
After battling sun, wind, rain and hail all within 10 miles, I managed
to finish 12th in a time of 60m 48s. The race entry limit was full
(400 limit) so I’m guessing about 350 finished. Once I find the
official results I will let you know. The course was undulating but
had a few flat miles in the middle part of the course. The last mile
was all uphill which my body didn’t agree with. |
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MIDLAND MASTERS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, JANUARY 21st 2007 from
LINDSAY PULLEY
A brief report. Not sure of the field. This will
appear on D-K web soon. There were 11 in 0/65 cat. from all over the
Midlands. Some of these old guys are amazing! The top three get
selected to run in the national in Belfast later this year. I was a
minute down on my anticipated time of 45mins. this was due to the
weather; strong winds and a very muddy and a demanding long climb
that had to be negotiated 3 times over the 3 lap course. It seemed a
very small field and I would say around 100. I was 10th in cat. in a
time of 46.20 and not quite last man. I was close to passing out at
finish line. A wonderful experience.
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