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ABINGDON MARATHON, October 16th from SHAW PYE
Just returned for a
great day out at Abingdon marathon. After a very cold start it warmed
up slightly to give ideal conditions. I recorded a new PB by 90 secs.
Result : 25th position 02:50:23 gun time 02:50:21 chip time 10th in
cat. I also believe this is a new club record :-D
Great event and would certainly recommend it. Dad ran his 2nd fastest
marathon ever, Sarah did a PB and Rachid who ran as Ian Hall also did
a PB running in flip flops (no joke). |
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GLENMORE 24, September 3rd/4th from IAN HALL
I am
just back from the inaugural running of an event called the Glenmore
24, centred on Glenmore near Aviemore. It involved completing as many
laps as possible within 24 hours of a four-mile forest circuit within
the Cairngorms National Park. I managed 84 miles, which placed me 9th
of 19 finishers. The winner did 124 miles ! |
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RACE THE TRAIN 10km, August 20th from GERRY SANDERS
This year the
train was quicker in both races by 40 seconds [doesn’t sound a lot but
it is!!!]. Anyway I ran my fastest time for the 10k [6.27 miles]
“Quarry Challenge” and completed it in 51 mins 56 seconds [chip time –
there is no other] though my watch time was 51 mins 35 seconds [very
strange]. So I beat the train by 2mins 4 seconds.
I came 50th out of
279 runners which I though was good until I discovered that there were
7 others ahead of me in my race category [50 – 54]. However, at least
Amazing Feet had one representative on the day.
There were a great
many other clubs dotted around but these only consisted of very small
groups of runners which I think is a sign of the times i.e. the cost
of travelling to Wales and accommodation may be a bit prohibitive if
you don’t make a full weekend of it also, is still probably cheaper to
go abroad ! |
INTER-COUNTIES LADIES
CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS, March 5th from SARAH ARMSTRONG
Results from ladies cross
country, over an 8km course - Sarah A 35.55 224th, Helen Hawkes
36.25 232nd out of 259 finishers. The winner Charlotte Purdue time
was 27.29, given a few more miles, Helen and I could have overtaken
her ! Amazing girls came home 1st and 2nd for Worcestershire!
Unfortunately,only three ran for Worcs out of an original selection
of 10 - some pulled out last minute, they let us down badly and as 6
were needed for a team, Worcestershire senior women did not qualify.
Didn't we do well, no one from Stourport could be bothered to turn
up.
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KINGSBURY 12km, July
31st from RICHARD BAKER
ROBBERY ! THEFT !
PLAGIARISM ! Eleven years ago when I started to operate Camba Events,
it was because I used to train around Kingsbury Water Park and
wondered why nobody had organised a race there. So I did, and ten
years on, the Kingsbury Classic is still going strong. Last year,
Tamworth AC put on a Saturday morning race and called it the Kingsbury
Classic much to my annoyance. This year the name changed (though race
numbers still bore MY race name) and as it had moved to the evening I
decided to give it a go and see what other tracks and paths were
around. Imagine my total surprise then, when after an initial 1km loop
around the start area, we headed down MY COURSE ! Past 2km, and out
around the fishing pools. Past 3km and onto the river bank, then past
4km and still on my course ! A slight difference here as we
carried on along the river bank to the next left hand turn from mine,
then back on the same course almost to the end of the lap. Here there
was another small change, before we headed back out on lap number two.
They
say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I'll take the
blatant copy as a compliment to my original choice of course : this
was fun on a cool Saturday evening, with the rain holding off until we
had finished, on a flat and scenic course around the Water Park and
river bank. I managed to hold off Julie Caseley and Carol Sharratt,
which meant I had a reasonable run, but memo to race organisers : "I
don't want or need any more damned mugs !!" |
FAIRLANDS VALLEY CHALLENGE from JANE PYE
Well the Pye family ran together at the weekend. David and myself
took part in the Fairland Valley Challenge. This is a course of
12.3 miles, 18 miles and marathon distance 26.4 all off road. I
opted for the 12 miler and David and Shaw did the Marathon distance.
Shaw stayed with David until 18 miles when he rather sternly told
Shaw to go on as he was holding him back. I think he knew this as
Shaw was skipping by the side of him trying to go slower. So from 18
miles David ran alone. I might add we all ran further than we should
have as each of us went wrong. I did just under 14 and Shaw and
David did 28 instead of 26.4.
I did not want to be pulled along or
feel disappointed with myself and get disheartened (as you do) so
I started my run between the 9.30's and the 10's. This was okay (my
card was stamped at the start with my time) and I ran at my pace. I
caught some up and some ran merrily by. The challenge was that is
was a navigational run. You had to get your little card signed at
the checkpoints as well. I would suggest only nubile young things
run this or failing that runners have laser eye surgery beforehand
as reading the instructions and trying to remember what SLOT, GR, KG
and other abbreviations were became very difficult. Picture the
scene over a certain age, over-weight, over sweaty and trying to
read small print whilst trying to wipe the glow from your eyes (just
me that is -sorry lads). It was a lovely run through a variety of
minor roads, hills, fields and woodland. I thought that Shaw was in
a flat area (Oh ! No he is not ).
David stated that he felt this was a harder
course than Dartmoor because the whole course was off road. I would
not know because thankfully I have never done it.
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BURTON-ON-TRENT
MIDSUMMER 10km, June 22nd from RICHARD BAKER
If the two-year old
Malvern Joggers 10km has quickly become my favourite summer race, this
excellent event continues to run it close, and is easily my second
favourite. The variety of the course and the flatness of it gives the
opportunity to press hard throughout the race, though the usual super
hot Tuesday evening temperatures do make it a tough 50 minutes or so.
Starting on top of a grassy bank beside the busy A38, the race heads
downhill and across the grassy fields of Shobnall Fields sports
complex (you see this from the A38 on the way up to Derby) before
heading over the canal bridge and onto the towpath after about 1 km. A
long ran alongside the canal takes runners into Branston Water Park at
the 5km point, leaving just after 6kms onto a tarmac road through an
estate. A short hill takes runners onto a quiet country lane turning
right at 7kms onto the Tatenhill road which leads through Lawns Farm
at 8kms and on through green fields to the finish line at the Albion
public house where your race memento awaits you - free burgers ! Yes !
To be
honest I struggled in the summer heat this year, running at just over
5 minute kilometres through most of the race. However from a 45.02
clocking at 9kms, I managed to find a 4.39 final kilometre to come
home within my 50 minute target once again. Excellent race, superb
course, and ICED WATER at the finish. Now there's something I've never
had anywhere else in over 1100 races. |
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MALVERN JOGGERS 10km,
June 16th from RICHARD BAKER
Well, here are are
again, same place, same time. Could it be as good as the first such
event in 2009 ? Had time played tricks and enhanced the memory of last
year ? The answer, is an emphatic NO ! This year was every bit
as good as last ~ no it was even better. The sun shone out of an
azure blue sky without a cloud to be seen, and a gentle summer breeze
took the edge of the evening heat. Underfoot conditions were perfect
(for us road runners) with a dry surface to enable a good solid run.
Malvern Joggers had made a couple of changes to the course - the
stiles through the fields after the first flat mile had been "amended"
and no longer created a two minute queue, and a section on roads after
a couple of miles had been removed, and replaced later with a detour
around the picturesque Gullet Quarry - what a fantastic choice. After
a good race at Aldridge on the previous Sunday, I intended to take
this one easy and enjoy it, until I met my good friend and oft rival
Julie Caseley of the host club and she advised that she was running
this year, not marshalling. So, I had to ' go for it ' and managed to
knock just under three minutes off my 2009 time, beating Julie in the
process. Despite racing it, I absolutely loved the race - awesome
views across the valley as we descended in the evening sunshine,
friendly marshals (and so many of them), and quite simply a course to
die for. The one minus point ? Just the moron who ran with a vuvuzela
all the way round blowing it incessantly and ruining the perfection of
a quiet summer evening - ah well, we should have the next three
MJ10kms without a World Cup ! THIS IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE BEST
MULTI-TERRAIN on the local scene ~ where were you all ? |
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TOUR OF DERWENT
VALLEY, May 28th-31st from RICHARD BAKER
For the eighth time (and
the sixth time in six years) I tackled the Tour of Derwent Valley in
Derbyshire ~ a series of four short but hilly races in different
venues over the Whitsun Bank Holiday. David Denton has organised this
for the last 21 years, and it is an excellent reflection of early
season form going in to the busy summer racing calendar. Friday
night's 4.2 mile road race is hilly, but not too bad, while Saturday
afternoon's multi-terrain event over the same distance has a steep
off-road climb which continues on the road for a mile or more, ahead
of a fast downhill final mile or so. Sunday sees my favourite race
which is over five miles, hilly but not too bad, before the final
stage on Monday morning which is quite simply a fell race on the road
: 1 in 3 hills up and down and I HATE IT !
My
overall time this year was less than a minute slower than in 2009, but
my finishing position (51st out of 60) left me feeling uncomfortably
close to the back. It would seem that the slower runners with whom I
share the roads have disappeared, and my chances of reaching a tenth
Tour in 2012 may be in some jeopardy. The promised tee-shirt for
completing all four races didn't appear due to only 14 entries having
been received pre-event, so for the first time I have nothing to show
for my endeavours. Normally this wouldn't matter, but four hilly races
in four days deserves something to pose in. There is another
race tomorrow (June 1st) which I was thinking about, but two hilly
walks after the last two races have taken their toll. I think I'll put
my feet up instead. |
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JURASSIC COAST CHALLENGE, March 26-28th from IAN HALL
VO two now offer a
broad range of events, but the Jurassic Coast Challenge, now in its
sixth year, was their first. The fairly steep £150 entry fee gets you
very slick organisation over three days, minibus transport to and from
each day’s start and finish, very well stocked checkpoints (i.e. hot
and cold drinks including Elete water, filled rolls, cereal bars,
bananas etc), T-shirt, decent engraved glass memento, chip timing etc.
Their accommodation package, as an add on at the time of online
booking was, I thought, pretty good value at £35 per night for my own
room in a well equipped static caravan, including breakfast and
dinner.
The event’s slogan is
“78.6 miles 3 days 2 feet” from which you’ll gather it’s basically
three marathons on three consecutive days. I was one of about 225
competitors tackling the Friday-Sunday three day event, of whom 176
finished, but there were others doing either one or two days, mostly
on the Saturday and/or Sunday. The overall distance turned out to be
just over 80 miles, details as follows.
Day 1 – Charmouth to
(near) Weymouth, 26.11 miles in 5:19.34, 51/176 finishers
Personally I thought
this was the toughest of the three days, even though it was the
shortest. It was a pretty hilly route, especially at the start, but
the main issue was deep mud over the first 18 miles. After that it
flattened out to run parallel to Chesil Beach, back to the holiday
park where the event was based, including about three miles on the
shingle for which Chesil Beach is famous.
Day 2 – Weymouth to Lulworth Cove, 27.10 miles in 5:05.54, 34/176
finishers
This to me was the
easiest day, in that it started from close to the holiday park where
we were staying, so no stiffening up on a minibus. Day two started
with a flat run on tarmac over the causeway to Portland, for a
circumnavigation of the peninsular (which included a couple of stiff
climbs) and then back across the causeway. After that came a rather
surreal section dodging shoppers through Weymouth town centre, then a
run along the very long Weymouth seafront, finished off with 8 miles
of brutal hills past Durdle Door to Lulworth Cove. That included a few
sections of deep mud, but nowhere near as bad as Day 1.
Day 3 – Lulworth Cove to Poole, 26.86 miles, 26/176 finishers
The final day started
with a minibus journey back to where Day 2 ended. That meant about 18
miles of hills to Swanage, followed by a short but pleasant tarmac
section skirting the town then along the seafront, with a mile or two
on soft sand. The last few miles involved a final stiff climb over a
headland and then down to the Studland Bay beach, for the final three
miles on the beach to the outskirts of Poole.
Overall result: 32/176 finishers.
If anyone fancies something a little
more hardcore than this, there were about 70 runners doing what’s
called the “Oner”, which involves doing the whole route non-stop,
starting at 6:00pm on the Saturday night. Outstanding achievement!
Anyway, I have a month to grow a new set of toenails before the 150
mile five day Vango Scottish Ultra on Islay and Jura in early May, but
I do plan to do another of these three day VOtwo coastal events later
in the year. If you’re interested, take a look at the Pembrokeshire
Coastal Challenge in early November. |
CLEEVEWOLD 14,
March 28th from SARAH ARMSTRONG
Sarah Lewis and I flew
the Amazing Feet running vest at this great challenging multi
terrain race on Sunday 28th March. The race was 14.5 miles this
year as we had to be diverted round some very fine black cows
grazing on the top of Cleeve Hill Common. The views were superb
towards the Vale of Evesham and the Welsh Mountains.This is a very
friendly, locally supported race with a t-shirt and a bottle of
locally brewed beer at the finish. I also came away with a pot of
local honey and Rhubarb and Ginger wine for coming 2nd Lady - that
should help ease the aches and pains !
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LLANELLI HALF
MARATHON, March 7th from SARAH ARMSTRONG
This is an excellent fast, more or less flat and traffic free race
along the Millennium Coastal pathway from LLanelli. It is an out and
back in both directions and yes the wind was blowing in whichever
direction I seemed to run, but the sun shone! Very well organised,
parking, loos all near start/finish. It is supposed to be a good PB
race, although I didn't quite get that, finishing in 1hr 35 mins.
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HALESOWEN AQUATHON
AND TREAT 8, February 28th from SHAW PYE
Just returned home from
a visit to the parents and a day of racing for first claim club
Amazing Feet RC. As preparation for the Half Ironman in June I took
part in the Halesowen Aquathon this morning. This was my first ever
swimming race in my life. As you can imagine I was very nervous. The
race was a 400m swim followed by 5km run on a cold and wet morning. I
came 6th and 1 second behind my team mate Ste Hawkes. My overall time
was 27.28 (7.58 swim/19.30 run). Was a great experience and great
practice for June's tri.
Due to the early start of this race I took the opportunity to compete
in another Worcestershire race. I arrived 10min before the race start
at the Treat multi terrain 8 which was just enough time to register
and change. Running in my wet road shoes from earlier in the day and
swimming shorts still wet I felt under prepared. After 400m of the
race I managed to loose a shoe in the mud (due to my trainers having
elastic tri laces) but this didn't deter me. I had a strong run and
even with a group of us having navigation issues due to a missing
Marshall I came home in 2nd place in a time of 49.34. A surprise
result and beat a local runner Simon Link who I have been trying hard
to beat for 5 years.
Sorry if this is garbled. Just drove down the M1 and am now in the
land of the Zombies. |
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SOUTH DEVON MARATHON
(27.5 miles), February 27th from IAN HALL
I ran the South Devon
Marathon (27.5M) last Saturday 27 March, coming 58 of 170 finishers in
a time of 5:14:34. Only three sub-4 hour finishers, so a pretty tough
course ! This is one of seven events in the 2009/10 Coastal Trail
Series, organised by Endurance Life. The outward half hugged the coast
on narrow, very steep, very muddy trails, before turning inland for
the homeward half, along equally steep and muddy bridle paths. Eight
to ten 400ft+ ascents and descents thrown in for good measure !
Expensive (£49), but very slick and professional event. |
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LONG MYND VALLEY FELL
RACE, February 7th from SIMON GREGG
Three of Amazing Feet's
finest travelled to Church Stretton to-day to take part in the Long
Mynd Valleys fell race. The race started with a little fog on top of
some of the climbs, but this cleared for the end of the race. Thanks
to Craig Lewis for chaperoning me round the course. |
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MAYHILL MASSACRE, February 7th from SARAH ARMSTRONG
What
an exhilarating race for a cold February morning ! There was mud, mud
and more mud with lots of tough ups and downs over this 8.5 mile race.
Mudclaws tied on with extra laces were essential. You need to get
there in plenty of time to get parked and your chip, and although
there is not much in the way of facilities, a hosepipe in the farmyard
at the end was very helpful in washing off the mud to see where your
laces were to be able to peel your trainers off. Very cheery marshals
! this was a superb race if you want a basic, muddy off-roader through
woods probably with good views, but it was cloudy this time. I would
recommend it ! |
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BELLS OF PATTINGHAM,
October 18th from RICHARD BAKER
So, the Bells of
Pattingham Run celebrated it's 20th birthday to-day, and to be honest
it is still enjoying good health. OK - £16 to enter on the day is a
joke, and even though we pay more to enter every year, the slice of
fruit cake at the finish continues to get smaller ! To-day, the
sun shone and the ground was nicely hard, and the annual horse-brass
at least showed some originality with a nice '20' design to celebrate.
This was my 15th BOP run, and my 10th in the last 10 years. Great to
see a good number of FEET there to take part, and even better to see
IAN HALL back on his feet supporting the club runners. And, I knocked
15 seconds of last year's excellent time, so good stuff all round.
Here's to the next 20 runs - happy birthday BOP. |
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CARDIFF HALF
MARATHON, October 18th from SARAH ARMSTRONG
This was a 9am start - I
thought as I left at 6am I had plenty of time to get there and sorted.
Knowing parking in Cardiff is a nightmare, but there was no other way
in ~ no trains or park and ride. I managed to find parking, then had
to queue because of the usual lack of loos, handed my bag in to what
looked like an organised baggage area and then tried to get to my
estimated finish time in the start queue. It was impossible as it was
solid and I got stuck at 1.50. Never mind I thought, I will soon be
able to overtake...it took eleven miles of skipping on and off
pavements, through traffic cones and avoiding people who just stopped
in the narrow lanes. As for lovely scenery, I was looking at mine and
everyone else's feet, trying not to get tripped up. I did notice a car
park we ran through, and we did cross a pleasant park near the end.
Having said all that, I still managed 1:34.49 ! It then took an hour
waiting in a very cold queue to get our bags back !
I
THINK I may have another go next year and get there really really
early to be at the start tape, just to see what I could do on this
supposedly PB course.
I
just hope Richard is still using chip times after Birmingham's slow
start ~ I took FOUR minutes to creep to the start line !
(Er -
no! Chip times are unofficial, sorry) |
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NATIONAL TRIATHLON
AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS, June 21st from RACHEL WARD
These were held at
Northumberland Druridge country park. It was a lovely setting right on
the coast, just a long way to travel to a race! I came second in my
age group as vet>50 in a time of 2:33:22 - 178th overall. My times
were 28.59 for 1500m swim,1:22:16 for 40km bike and 39:56 for 10km run
(distances were not accurate - i.e. shorter run but longer bike) with
transition times T1 1:13,T2 0.58. I came home with a silver medal, and
am quite chuffed as it was the first triathlon of
the year with very little bike training. |
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MALVERN JOGGERS 10km,
June 17th from RICHARD BAKER
This was the first
attempt by Malvern Joggers at race promotion, and I know from chatting
to Chris Barker and Julie Caseley before the race that they were
nervous about having got everything right. They needn't have worried -
this was, in my opinion, one of the best multi-terrain races that I
have EVER taken part in, and you will know how often I race.
Fantastic, testing course; thousands of excellent friendly marshals,
views to die for, wonderful weather, race memento AND local sausages -
and all for £6 ! Race HQ was at Welland Village Hall with excellent
parking and facilities, with the race start 500 metres away on the
wonderful Castlemorton Common. We were off on time, running across the
common to Hancocks Lane, a quiet tarmac road which enabled everyone to
get into their running, before the hills to come. Through woodland,
fields of rape seed and open grassland to the highest point of the
course, where the views across the valley bathed in evening sunshine
were fantastic. Then a tarmac downhill stretch led to a water station
(with canopy !), before we were sent back uphill. A downhill grass
section led to the ford (yes of course I took the bridge) before the
final mile along Hancocks Lane to the finish. We all received a bottle
of Malvern Spring water, a Malvern Joggers water bottle, and a double
sausage burger back at the Pheasant Inn, where the pint of Bankers
Draft went down a treat. I feel privileged to have taken part in this
first MJ10km, and I strongly urge everyone to give it a go next year.
Leave your watch off (time doesn't matter in a multi-terrain anyway)
as the three stiles early on will wreck your pace planning anyway and
just ENJOY ! |
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DARTMOOR DISCOVERY 32M, June 6th from IAN HALL
David
Pye and I ran the 32.4 mile Dartmoor Discovery last weekend (David’s
second time), so I thought I’d try to tempt some of you 26.2 mile fun
runners into trying something a little more challenging! The 2010
event will take place on Saturday 5 June, so if you’re interested,
take a look at
www.dartmoordiscovery.co.uk.
Princetown on Dartmoor, where the race starts and finishes, is also a
really nice place to make a weekend of it.
The Discovery is organised by a guy called Phil Hampton, who in his
day held a number of world records for (very) long distance running.
Phil has put together an event that tries to emulate the ultra events
of his youth, and you can tell from the quality of the pre-race and
post-race information, marshalling, medical support etc, that the
event has been organised by someone who knows what he’s doing. Phil
also manages to rope in literally hundreds of volunteer helpers from
the local running clubs, sea scouts etc, so there were more marshals
than you could wave a big stick at; all of whom were really friendly
and supportive. You could even have personal drinks, gels etc ferried
to specific feed stations, to be handed to you as you got there.
The course is a single lap through beautiful countryside, picking up a
few villages along the way. It is a tough route though as the 32.4
miles is reckoned to include 4,000 feet of ascent/descent, including a
number of 1 in 5 and even 1 in 4 hills. This year was made harder
still by driving rain from mile 5 to the end, combined with a drop in
temperature to 4 degrees instead of the forecast 15 degrees. The
prospect of hyperthermia led to quite a few dropouts this year,
including Brian Cole, the Marine who’s won the event for the last four
years, and Adam Holland, who won this year’s ’10 in 10 Challenge’ over
the Windermere Marathon course (wimps!).
Fortunately I carry rather more insulation than most, so the
conditions actually favoured me, hence I went from 51st position at
20k to 42nd at 30k, 36th position at the marathon distance, and 34th
at the end out of 118 finishers. I’d estimated a finishing time of
somewhere between 5:15 and 5:25, so I was delighted to cross the line
in 4:52:43. David came in 102nd in a time of 5:54:48; remarkably only
8 seconds slower than his 2008 time – a fantastic achievement in view
of the conditions this year.
After a hot bath and a change into warm clothes it was time for a few
pints of Jail Ale (Princetown is home to the famous Dartmoor Prison)
in the Plume of Feathers pub, which acts as race HQ for the Discovery,
and the awards ceremony. The Discovery attracts a very high proportion
of repeat runners, and having tried it once, I can understand why.
Even though I intend to be a bit more selective about the distance
events I run next year, I have already blocked out the weekend of 5-6
June for the 2010 Discovery. It would be great to see a few familiar
faces there, so give it a go! |
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MARKET DRAYTON MULLER
10km, May 10th from RACHEL WARD
As you will have seen
from the forum, the race was more like a carnival than a mundane 10km.
It was helped by perfect weather, with sun and a gentle breeze. They
used a big playing field outside the sports centre and the whole town
came out to support the event with live music/stands/free homemade
cakes and local produce including rhubarb, asparagus, cheeses etc.
When we ran round the Muller factory the workers were out cheering us
on and the last 100m round the field to the finishing line was crowded
by supporters cheering us on. All in all a brilliant day, made even
better by our times. John was injured so took it slowly, Ian chased me
all the way and enabled us to get PB's with Gerry not far behind. I
was very pleased with my time, especially as so close to London. I was
2nd lady over 50 with the first over 50 doing an amazing time of 38
minutes ! |
MARKET DRAYTON MULLER
10km, May 10th from IAN HALL
Rachel Ward, Ian Hall, Gerry Sanders, John Amos, Racheal Moss and
Suzanne Dunn ran the Muller 10k today; the 6th race in the 2009 AFRC
League. This is a very well organised event over a flat and
undulating course, which has to offer the best value of any race
around. For a very modest entry fee we all received a Muller
backpack containing sports drink, choc bar, crisps, nut/seed mix,
plus the same type of 'technical' T-shirt that will cost £15 at next
week's Windermere Marathon, plus a tray of Muller products. For
those who wanted to bring their family, there were lots of free ice
creams, Muller tastings, kids' rides etc.
The
course itself is an out and back that takes in the Muller factory at
about half way. It undulates a little, but both Rachel W and I
scored PB's, so it must be fairly fast. There were plenty of drink
stations and marshals, plus supportive spectators around much of the
route. A bit of a trek from Kidderminster, but definitely well worth
doing.
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FLORA LONDON MARATHON,
April 26th from RACHEL WARD
It was a great day and
Racheal, Chris, Gerry and I had a relaxing time in the Fox pub sipping
water & lime soda on the Saturday. On Sunday, Louise, Anita and I had
a green start whilst the rest were blue . This year the green start
was much better organised and we got a good start. I was feeling good
till 19-20 miles then struggled and had to walk/run the last 6 miles.
Still really pleased with my time -a PB and 18th lady in my age
category. |
DRAYCOTE WATER 35,
February 22nd from IAN HALL
David Pye and I ran the Draycote Water 35 today, with Jane Pye
providing excellent support, as well as running about 12 miles
herself during the day. The course is an accurately measured 35
miles, made up of 7 laps of the reservoir's 4.71 perimeter road,
with an extra loop on the first lap to make up the distance. The
conditions were good - 9 degrees and overcast, although the resident
yacht club members enjoyed a pretty stiff breeze which was tough in
places for the runners. The course is described as flat, although
predictably what seemed flat on the first lap became undulating by
lap 3 and downright hilly by lap 5.
I
went through 26.2 miles in 3 38' 14", which is about 12' 30" inside
my marathon PB, so I was pleased with that. The final 8.8 miles were
slower, but a sprint finish got me over the line in 4 59' 35" (TBC),
so I just managed the sub-5 hour time that I was targeting. I'd
caught up with David about a mile from my finish, so he had the
tough job of completing a further lap, which he did to come in with
a very respectable sub-6 hour time of 5 56' 40" (TBC).
Some people don't enjoy a multi-lap format, but there were plenty of
other people using the perimeter road and plenty to look at on the
water to break the monotony. This is a really friendly and well
organised event by Kenilworth Runners, which includes a marathon
with a simultaneous start from a seperate starting point. I'd
thoroughly recommend it to anyone who fancies trying their first
ultra-marathon, or who's looking for a marathon early in the season.
|
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HEREFORD NEW YEAR'S
DAY 10km, January 1st from JEAN MAFFEI
Hi Richard and Happy New
Year and well started with your race ! There were just three of us
that braved Hereford - David Whymant - 43.23 : 69th out of 225, Ian
Hall - 44.53 92nd out 225 - and me 46.07 (PB - nice for New Year),
110th out 225. Despite my PB I got overtook by a dog dragging his
owner along - I thought he was a sleigh dog I think in the first
couple of icy slippy kms ! Shame there wasn't a nice sunny blue sky to
look good against the frosty trees and fields ! I went for a quick
wizz round the cathedral afterwards - sadly Mappa Mundi bit shut and
the cafe. The cafe at Queens Wood was also shut so arrived home
starving ! Am awaiting takeaway to open - please be open! |
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MERTHYR MAWR
CHRISTMAS PUDDING 10km, December 14th from SARAH ARMSTRONG
I have been away skiing
over Christmas, but I have just found the results, if I can call them
that, from the Brackla harriers Merthyr Mawr Pudding run that I did on
December 14th. It was one of those kill or cure runs - but it didn't
work. I was on antibiotics two days later, I crawled round a pretty
tough and very cold 10km very mutli-terrain course in 54.06, came 16th
VF, position 246 out of 583 finishers.
Unfortunately it is one of those races that has got too popular for
it's own good, there were quite a few walking stretches because the
track was too narrow for the number of competitors which is a shame.
It was the first time I have finished a race and not had the
adrenaline buzz, so will be back to Mortimer next year!
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LITTLE STRETTON to
STIPERSTONES TIME TRIAL, November 30th from CRAIG LEWIS
Pete Trow and I
arrived in Little Stretton with car showing -1c, the skies were blue
with the ground conditions on the hills icy in places. The glorious
weather made for a great run attracting a good turn out of runners
and walkers, with staggered starts. Unsure on numbers. Pete and I
ran together with Sarah cheering us on at 2 locations on route as
well as at the finish. We arrived in Stiperstones village at 12:11
taking 1:42:05 to complete our run. Unfortunately neither of us
started our garmins so not sure how far we ran ! Full results to
follow soon.
|
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BOURNVILLE LEAFY 10km, October 5th from MARK COOPER
Just to let you know
that I also ran the Bournville Leafy 10k on Sunday 5th and although I
keep checking the Bournville Harriers website, the results have yet to
be posted. They did say on the day that they would be available on the
website on the same day, but for whatever reason there seems to have
been a delay. There are however loads of photos of the race (well over
350 of them) and I got captured on a couple as I neared the finish
line. I will let you know when I come across any official times for
the race, my unofficial time was 53’ 53”, which I was quite pleased
with given the conditions. I was thinking as I was running around that
we should be renamed Webbed Feet rather than Amazing Feet ! |
|
NORTH WORCS 8,
October 5th from JULIE DRAPER
What a day – just as much mud as the Ash Eight ! My right ankle has
been a bit “iffy” this week, so I was trying to go very carefully, but
the mud won in one place and sucked my shoe off ! The first time I’ve
ever lost a shoe & it was tied on tight too. The start and finish
field was like a swamp. I’m just off to scrub my trainers (again!) |
|
CARSINGTON DUATHLON,
October 5th from RACHEL WARD
No doubt you'll be busy
putting on the results from North Worcs race. Well, I had finished
before they started ! It was an 8 o'clock start, pouring with rain and
very cold. Nonetheless a good race with a 5km run ,30km bike (quite
hilly) then a repeat of the 5km. My time was 1:47:20, 4th FV, 98th
overall and 10th female. Splits 21.39,1:02:01,23.40 |
|
JW ULTRA 3 x 10
MILE RELAY, September 27th from IAN HALL
Three AMAZING FEET teams, well supported by families and
several other members, took part in the JW Ultra Relay from
Stratford to Bournville last Saturday, mainly along canal towpaths.
Rachel Ward, Sarah Armstrong and Louise Massey ran in that order as
'Amazing Girls', the scratch team of Racheal Moss, Jane Pye and John
Amos ran as 'Foreign Feet' after all three of the original team
withdrew with injuries, and Ian Hall, David Pye and Sarah Lewis ran
as 'A Rose Between Two Thorns'.
Ian
reached the end of the first leg about five seconds ahead of Rachel
W, with Racheal M four or five minutes behind her. David therefore
set off on the second leg with a small lead over Sarah A, and a
slightly larger lead over Jane. Despite a small navigational error
on her part ("I wondered why everyone else was on the other side of
the canal"), Sarah A managed to reel in David, reaching the second
handover about fifty seconds ahead of him, with Jane arriving some
minutes later.
During the course of the third leg, Louise managed to extend her
small lead over Sarah L, therefore coming home first for the Club,
with Sarah second. John had been left with quite a bit to do to
catch Sarah, so although he narrowed the gap with a superb effort,
he came in third. The organisers have had a bit of a problem with
the official results, but they'll hopefully follow soon.
Despite the fact that organisation wasn't perhaps 100%, this was a
really nice morning out, with all those involved saying they'd
gladly do the JW Ultra again (it can also be done as an individual
30 mile race, for those who are interested). Entries fill up very
early though, so next year I'll book a few team places for AFRC,
then throw it open to members to see who wants to take part.
|
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TRURO HALF MARATHON,
September 21st from JANE PYE
We have just returned
from Cornwall and Shaw has just gone down. We all ran the Truro Half
Marathon today. Shaw finished 16th in 1.26.25 for 12th senior male.
David kindly ran with me as I have done no training apart from a 10
mile and a bit run across the Bay and last weeks 10k. I decided I
would see if I could still run 13 miles.
I picked a corker of a race. It is described as undulating. David
found it good training for Snowdon and Shaw stated afterwards that he
told me it was hilly. David felt it the hardest but the prettiest
race. I saw parts of the course but even Craig's little voice on my
shoulder did not keep me running up the numerous hills. David and I
finished the course on a lovely summers day in 2.29.45. David was 16th
Male in his category and I was 6th Lady in mine.
So there you go. I can do the distance. Now I have to knock off the
cream buns (actually I don't do cream I do savouries) and work on my
times only 35 minutes to knock of to get back in the swing. |
|
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! |
|
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. |
|
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 ). |
|
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. |
|
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 ! |
|
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! |
|
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. |
|
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. |
|
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 ! |
|
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. |
|
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.
|
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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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