June Results

Sunday June 30th

Thame 10K (GP race)

Buscot 10K

Saturday June 29th

Coventry Parkrun

Oxford parkrun

Upton Court parkrun

Didcot parkrun

Bakewell parkrun

Witney parkrun

Human Race Banana Fritter Triathlon      (400m swim, 21km bike, 5k run)

Thursday June 27th

Motavation – Race 3 Combe I

Sunday June 23rd

Swansea Half Marathon

Saturday June 22nd

Kingham 10K

Cumnor 5K

Swindon parkrun

Oxford parkrun

Eastleigh parkrun

Conkers parkrun

Dulwich parkrun

Penrhyn parkrun

Harcourt Hill parkrun

Witney parkrun

Thursday June 20th

Eynsham Challenge I

A huge thank you to all who supported our leg of the Eynsham Challenge last Thursday.

It was great to see so many WRR out there doing their best for our club. In total we had 44 Witney runners, 31 Eynsham runners, 25 marshals, 1 photographer, and lots of enthusiastic supporters. The raffle prizes were also very gratefully received.

The final result is calculated by combining every runner’s time and taking an average for each team -making it a truly inclusive event.

This year the trophy went to Eynsham with an impressive average time of 30:12 with Witney coming in at 30:24

WELL DONE TO ALL!

Date for your diary: The away leg held in Eynsham will be on Wednesday 7^th August. More details to follow.

Monday June 17th

Sri Chimnoy 3 Mile Race 4

Sunday June 16th

Ridgeway Relay

So, big thanks to everyone for taking part, big thanks to all the buddy runners, big thanks to everyones support teams, big thanks to Dan and Tamsyn for full on commitment at being out ALL DAY, supporting, coordinating and providing refreshments at the beginning and end of each leg, and big thanks to Nick and Cat Morley and the dogs for supporting and to anyone else I may have missed!…….Oh, and the gorgeous Roger!! Woof!!

Heyford 10K

Windsor Olympic Triathlon (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10 km run)

Oxfordshire Triathlon    (1km swim, 35km bike, 7.5km run)

Saturday June 15th

Offah’s Dyke 15 – Race 2 of the Welsh Challenge.

It’s a point to point multi terrain race, where you can park at the start or finish and use the pre-booked coaches before or after to return you to your car.

We chose to park at the finish, so with a 9am Coach booked and an 85 mile drive it was an early alarm.

The race starts by the Clock Tower in Hay-On-Wye, and the start line is the Road markings of a T-junction.

We got lucky with the weather. It stopped raining just before the start.

With enough time for a last minute kit change, the Clock struck 11 o’clock, and we were off.

A downhill start through the town, over a Bridge spanning the river Wye, up the first incline and onto a track.

The first couple of miles break you in gently before the first proper hill.

It’s not that it was steep, but it just didn’t end. With several false summits, and prayers that it finished around the next bend, it was mile 5 before I could even think about looking at the view.

The next 6 miles are a series of UP’S (there must have been DOWN’S, but I don’t remember them).

This brings you to the bottom of the final climb. About 2 miles of it. Again, not steep, but relentless.

The view from the top is stunning. You can see for miles in every direction (even with blurred vision from the altitude).

Then it’s 2 miles of fast downhill to the finish. It’s excellent underfoot, and whatever you have left, it’s time to use it.

The only piece of flat ground in the entire race is the final effort across a Football pitch and the finish.

Andy  took 17 mins off his 2015 time after getting frustrated by a fellow runner blocking the route using Poles, and turned frustration into speed.

Heather also ran a quicker time than 2015 by 3 mins, and improved her category position by inventing a new rule: “If the first female finisher is in your age group, and she can’t win the prize for 1^st female and 1^st in your age group. Everybody else moves up 1 position”. This would put her 5^th V45, level with Andy in his age group (who am I to argue).

Jamie may not be walking properly for a while judging by the Blisters on the soles of his feet. He covered some very painful miles.

I was 9’s slower than 2015, so not bad for 4 years older.

It’s a well organised race, with plenty of Marshalls and route markers and a nice bespoke medal for all.

Well worth the effort and long day.

Graham.

Moors Valley parkrun

Oxford parkrun

Longrun Meadow parkrun

Hereford parkrun

Hastings parkrun

Burnham & Highbridge parkrun

Jersey parkrun

An Awayday for a J

Some of you will know that there are a few crazy Witney Roadrunners trying to complete the alphabet Parkrun Challenge. We decided Jersey Parkrun was a more exciting challenge than the alternative Jersey Farm Parkrun in St Albans.

Jersey for a day may sound an extravagant day out but the £35 flight and £9.50 train make it cheaper than a trip to a theatre.

Staying in south west London with son Simon and Elly made the logistics easy. The 4.45am alarm and Uber taxi got us to Clapham Junction for the 5.28am train to Gatwick for 6.04am. We took the shuttle train to the North Terminal got through customs and the plane was already boarding at 7am. The 7.25am flight is first one out so there is not usually a delay. There was little time to catch an inflight nap as 45 minutes later we were landing in Jersey. Those extra minutes that pass while the plane manoeuvres and the doors open were endless. I never know why people have to jump up as soon as the safety belt signs go off but on this occasion every second counted . A quick march through the airport got us on the road by 8.25am and with a brisk walk we reached the start of the Parkrun by 8.50am. Perfect timing but with little room for any sort of delay!

The course was fairly flat and fast,  two laps round a sports field and an out and back along the Corbiere Trail path. I think the stress of getting there on time gave me an adrenaline boost as I managed a good time. The Parkrun was based at a sports centre, so showers, coffee and cake were all on site and we could continue our day out refreshed. We managed to walk to the Corbiere Lighthouse before the tide and rain stopped us. Jersey is served by a very good bus service which can get you all round the island in a day but as the rain had set in we jumped on the bus for St Helier and found a lunchtime retreat. As the torrential downpours continued Jersey museum offered a free film show where we all had an afternoon siesta in the back row, while taking in a bit of the island’s history. When the rain eventually stopped, a pleasant stroll round the harbour took us to the Jersey triathlon location which was happening on Sunday. Perhaps that could be a challenge for next year?  The return bus ride to the airport took us along the very hilly triathlon cycle route up narrow roads, so I soon changed my mind about that triathlon.

Flight home was slightly delayed but the extremely fast exit through the airport and back on the train found us back at Simon’s home by 9.45pm, only two hours after leaving Jersey. All very tired and slightly disappointed by the weather but still a good day out for a J.

Bakewell parkrun

Gloucester City parkrun

Harcourt Hill parkrun

Witney parkrun

Prospect parkrun

Fire Service College parkrun

Polkemmet Country parkrun

Sunday June 9th

Wytham Woods 10K

A beautiful morning to run a new race, the Wytham Woods 10k. The walk from the car park to the check in area gave us a good idea of what to expect in terms of the hills. Some slight confusion on my part as to where the start line was, but once I got over that the race began. The start was a little congested and it took a while for the runners to spread out.

The course itself meandered through the woods following a well laid out track wide enough for runners to be two or three abreast. It was firm enough underfoot to wear road shoes, but trail shoes would be advisable if the rain comes down on the course. A nice downhill section to start with leading to 4k of slightly undulating ground. At 5k came the hill going up for the best part of 200m, tough. The undulations continued with  slightly shorter hill at 7k, followed by a long downhill run in to home.

The course was tough, but beautiful and I would recommend it to everyone to have a go. I will certainly will be going back again.

Steve Roberts

Stafford Ironman 70.3

Fairford 10K

Chiltern Chase 10K

Saturday June 8th

Man Versus Horse (23 miles)

Fishguard Middle Distance Triathlon (1.2 miles: 56 miles: 13.1 miles)

Fishguard Sprint Distance Triathlon (750m: 13 miles: 3 miles)

Otmoor Challenge

official results not yet available

Swindon parkrun

Oxford parkrun

Eastville parkrun

Catton parkrun

Harcourt Hill parkrun

Lydney parkrun

Witney parkrun

Thursday June 6th

Lake Terramuggus Sprint Triathlon

Bletchingdon Mota-vation Race 2

Tuesday June 4th

Banbury 5 mile

Monday June 3rd

Sri Chinmoy 4 mile

Sunday June 2nd

Trail Quake 10K

Saturday June 1st

Ashton Court parkrun

Oxford parkrun

Abingdon parkrun

Cleethorpes parkrun

Exeter Riverside parkrun

Witney parkrun