May Results
Sunday May 30th
Kempton Park 10km
| Simon Arnold | 47:30 PB |
I left Bampton this morning in the blazing sunshine at 7am, excited at my first race since the Goring 10k in March last year and the prospect of not only donning the WRR club shirt for the first time (I have only recently joined the club) but also another participant medal (I’ll never be in contention for a podium medal, I’m more of a plodder).
I got there in good time and the set up was first class from the moment I arrived, really good organisation and spacing throughout the morning, clear signs and importantly as the race was restricted to 2,000 people for the 5k, 10k and half, there were plenty of toilets with no queues (even with 10 minutes to go).
Given that I’ve not been running that much recently, I was just hoping for anything sub 50, certainly as, although it was flat, it was a bit breezy. Whilst Kempton Park is not the prettiest of courses, we did get to run away from the course and around a largish lake (twice as it was a 5k lap course). I started at the front of the second wave and never looked back, I maintained 4:45 min/k’s pretty much all the way around and ended up not only finishing under 50 minutes but with a new PB (by 1:33) of 47:30, to day I am stoked is the understatement of the year. The icing on the cake was the yellow and blue (perfect WRR colours) band that the medal came on.
I would encourage others that are still undecided about doing their first race to trust the organisers, if the event I went to is anything to go by then safety is paramount in these guys minds and it feels really safe (almost Normal).
I am now looking forward to soothing my aching muscles in the hot tub tonight when the kids go to bed, perhaps a beer as it’s not a ‘school night’ either.
Saturday May 29th
Running Tribe Off Road Marathon
| Kate Princep | 5:53:53 | 1st LV50 |
I decided to look for an off-road event as a training run for Race to the Stones in July. I found the Running Tribe – Course 2 and decided to give it a go. The course is 10km laps and my training plan suggested 3 laps would be a good test and a good distance.
It was an early start for a Saturday morning but worth the effort. The event was well organised, the course was well marked (even if I managed a slight detour I took on lap 1), and the aid station had a great selection to choose from. Also, the event team were really supportive and encouraging.
Before the event I had told various people that I would definitely do 3 laps and I might do 4. I had told myself that if I could do the laps in under 90mins then I would try to go for 4. It was a deal with myself to see if I could complete an off-road marathon in under 6 hours running time.
I found the first lap to be the hardest as I didn’t know where I was going and I’m good at getting lost! After I knew the route I felt more comfortable and settled in to a steady pace. I was feeling good after the 2nd lap and decided then that I would go for 4, which is what I did. And I enjoyed all of it!
I will never be the fastest runner but I will keep going. My official time is 5:53:53. I came 11th out of 13 Marathon runners, 5th out of 6 women runners but 1st out 2 in my age group! To say I am pleased is an understatement. I haven’t run this far since I did the London Marathon in 2003 and there have been a lot of non-running years in between. I came back to running when I turned 50, with the intention of completing a second marathon. Yesterday I made this happen and now I know that I will be able to complete Race to the Stones.