Sunday 29th October
SNOWDONIA MARATHON
After a brilliantly sunny day on the Friday, race day dawned damp and misty with a real threat of rain. At Pen-y-Pass, the visibility was iffy, the temperature was very cool, and the wind blew like a Rhinoceros.
Quite a gang of WRR supporters waited for the lead car to emerge from the mist, and when it did Gareth Petts looked a real powerhouse in 8th position. Just behind in 14th was Sam Upton, with Adam Leary next in 240th position. Phew! that was hard work counting all those runners past!!
It is a real sight to behold (when the mist clears), to see runners all the way back down the valley towards Llanberis, and it must be a real welcome sight as they turn the final bend to see the looming bulk of the YHA perched on the summit. A quick slurp of ice cold water, then its on with the real business of “only 21 miles to go”!
In total 16 WRR ran the race. Every one of them is a hero for tackling this most brutal of marathons. Well done to you all.
A great support team was out in force to cheer them on and give out Jelly Babies. Thanks to you all for braving the Elephants for so long!!
Gareth finished 4th, Sam 13th, and Adam 240th. Amazingly, Gareth gained 4 places from his 8th at PYP, Sam 1, and Adam finished in the same position, 240th!!! Amazingly consistent running.
On that basis, performance of the day must be Jim Whelan, who crossed PYP in 2019th position, but ended in 1320th position, meaning he overtook 699 runners! Respect, Jim!!
Full results
4th Gareth Petts 2.45.30
13th Sam Upton 2.54.24
240th Adam Leary 3.40.27
313th Bob Green 3.45.52
367th Tony Burkett 3.50.03
527th Brian Moore 3.59.24
562nd Nick Dalton 4.01.39
569th Sally Howard 4.02.24
598th Graham Ferris 4.04.36
788th Craig Gibbin 4.15.11
1060th Lisa Holland 4.28.41
1320th Jim Whelan 4.42.41
1701th Anne Rouget 5.09.49
1821st Vicki Hopkins 5.19.03
1865th Ironman Kate 5.23.11
1936th Jim Pearce 5.30.58
Overall race winner, Daniel Jones, Bath AC, 2.36.54
1st Lady, Hayley Munn, Northampton, 2.57.25 ( 18th overall )
2210 finishers, last finisher 7.58.32. 56 DNF’s
Ascott-under-Wychwood 10km
Chris Colbeck 4th 1st MV40
Tom Garrod 8th
Nick Smith 47:41 17th
Lucy Garrod 23rd 1st VW45
Abi Adams 35th
Ascott-under-Wychwood 5km
Matthew Lock 19:42 1st
Original Mountain Marathon – Ben Lonsdale
Team Turbofit (my friend Chris and I) set off up the M5 at midday on Friday, heading for Langdale, in the Lake District. 8 hours of traffic and Haribo Tangfastics later, we swung in to the sloping and already slightly muddy field that would be the car park for the weekend (what could go wrong, with rain forecast?!). We were heading for the A Class of the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM), which is run over 2 days during the last weekend on October each year, in a mountainous part of the British Isles. There are two types of orienteering on offer; a Short, Medium or Long score event (where you visit as many checkpoints as you can in a set time), and an Elite, A or B line event (where you visit set checkpoints in a defined order as fast as possible). All involve having to arrive before 8pm for an overnight camp, and the event is run on the premise of self-sufficiency. If you don’t arrive at the finish of day 1, it is assumed that you have camped safely overnight – no one will search for you until 1630 on the Sunday. It’s a very refreshing approach.
After checking in in a big marquee, we pitched a one-man tent for Chris, while I got my head down in the car. An 0630 alarm left time to drop the tent, finalise kit and grab a couple of bacon butties, porridge and crumpets (and something for Chris) at the event centre, before walking the rainy mile to the start.
Langdale is a beautiful valley, surrounded by very very steep hills. As we set off up the first of them, I realised (as expected) that I might struggle to keep up with Chris’s stronger, lighter, fitter frame. I had the advantage though of carrying half the tent and the stove, so I knew he couldn’t get too far ahead. As we climbed, the cloud came down and the wind picked up, making navigation an interesting proposition. The A Class indicated 65km and 3000m over the two days, and if the pace to CP1 was anything to go by, it would be a long day.
We somehow hit the first control on the nose, dibbing in and then traversing round towards Angle Tarn. Having failed to double-check the map key, I took the footpath (not on ground) rather than the non-right of way that was easily runnable. That probably lost us 5 minutes, but I was becoming more confident with the map, and the climb from the tarn and subsequent bearing on to CP2 was relatively trouble free, losing 2 minutes going to the wrong knoll in the cloud. We greeted the very cold marshal at the CP, though our voices were blown away by the gusting wind.
The next leg was one without an obviously advantageous route choice, so I opted for slightly hiller but with easier nav (!). This meant retracing our steps and making the treacherously greasy climb up and over Bowfell. Despite the wind having us over a couple of times, we made reasonable time, soon moving up towards Crinkle Crag. Passing a couple of false summits, I rather smugly took a bearing towards the next control and we set off. About 10 minutes in, it occurred that we should be descending and not traversing. Trusting the force rather than the map and compass for another few minutes made things clearer (just not in the literal sense – we had been in dense cloud for about 2 hours), and we were pretty sure I’d ballsed up somewhere along the way. After a couple of minutes of standing helplessly while getting colder, I got a grip and got us back on route (made less annoying by the fact that we met 2 Scandinavians – renowned orienteers – in a similar position). We dropped down to a stream, checked in, topped off our bottles than set off to Pike O’Blisco, a couple of miles distant.
Although the initial section was spot on, there was a little more nav faff and a lot more falling over, almost breaking legs, almost falling off cliffs and general chaos on this leg. We got some food down, then headed across Wrynose Pass and up towards Swirl How. At this point it really got windy, and Chris started to quieten down a bit. Haribo helped a bit, but at this point, it became a slog. As we came down towards the next CP, we realised that we were outside the cutoff, with no chance whatsoever of catching up the time. We dibbed in at CP5, and opted for a direct route off the mountain, aiming for the Event Centre. My first slip sent me rather more directly down than planned, but once I’d collected my wits, we gingerly continued the descent towards Little Langdale.
As we hit tarmac, only 4 km remained to the car. We had expected to be walk-of-shaming in to the tent, but it turned out that only 10 teams had finished the full course, 31 had stopped early and gone in to the finish without hitting all the CPs, and 30 other teams had retired elsewhere (by walking off the mountain and contacting the Event Centre). We grabbed our meal tickets, scoffed a quick burger each, and headed to the car to dry out.
Saturday 28th October
Wimbledon Common Parkrun
Graham Le Good 22:16
Judith Le Good 28:04
Banbury Parkrun
Victoria Munday 23:12
Oxford Parkrun
Tony Lock 18:31
James Clark 19:55
Will Downey 20:07
Matthew Lock 22:30
Simon Martin 25:45
Henley on Thames Parkrun
Toby Clarke 22:04 Hilly course and very pleased to finish 6th
Abingdon Parkrun
Simon Rhodes 22:57
Louise Rhodes 25:36
Penrhyn Parkrun
Jen Horsman 33:58
Sunday 22nd October
Abingdon Marathon
Frankie Snare 3:11:04
Adam Leary 3:20:58
Will Downey 3:25:06
Craig Gibbon 3:26:34 PB by 32 mins
Linsdey Smith 3:38:58 1st marathon
Lucy Harris 3:41:04 PB 3rd VL45
Ieva Smith 4:13:07
Paul Rushby 4:26:08 PB by 5 mins
Blenheim 10Km
Tony Lock 38:20 – 5th Overall, 1st V50
James Clark 42:43
Matthew Lock 42:50
Graham Ferris 43:35
Dave May 44:28
Chris Miles 46:35
Victoria Munday 47:44
Jade Hewlett 48:09
Conrad Bailey 48:12
Suzanne Reeve 57:07
Stroud Half Marathon
Bob Green 1:33:53
Report by Bob Green
An early set off as a 9am start time beckoned. Fortunately the race instructions were well prepared with lots of free parking in the area. Road closures started at 8am prompt so glad I got there before.
Good facilities using the sports hall with changing and showers a plenty. The tea and cake tent were the cheapest I have seen this year so the temptation was there to pull up a chair and tuck in but I managed to resist !
The course was described as flat with a little undulation but I really cannot recall any flat at all – it either went up or down. Weather was superb and hardly any wind must to everyone’s surprise. @1800 runners and well marshalled, plenty of water and lots of local support armed with bowls of jelly babies.
My aim was to have the heart rate @ 152 which was more or less achieved and after the 10 mile marker I felt great so decided to up the pace and go past everyone in front – what an amazing feeling for the last 3 miles.
At the finish you got a technical t shirt and a nice medal ? so all good. The only criticism was the baggage reclaim. Storage tent too small and bags not in any order in relation to race number so it took ages – thankfully it was sunny.
Definitely a good one to do but depends if it clashes with other races like it has this year.
Great South Run (10 miles)
Brian Moore 1:10:27 PB
Debbie Marshall 1:29:40 PB
Saturday 21st October
Parkrun Kudos this week goes to Sam Upton for another 1st place
Oxford Parkrun
Toby Clarke 21:13
Tony Burkett 21:14
Graham Le Good 21:29
Sally Howard 22:44
Harriet Howard 25:08
Judith Le Good 27:23
Darlene Burkett 29:17
Emily Howard 29:18
Ian Fowler 30:09
Matthew Lock 46:06 Official Tail Walker
Aberystwyth Parkrun
Tom Garrod 19:49
Lucy Garrod 23:03
Harcourt Hill Parkrun
Harriet-Rose Noons 26:46
Bicester Parkrun
Sam Upton 17:37 PB 1st Overall
Jen Horsman 32:54
Sunday 15th October
Amsterdam Marathon
Billy Rendell 3:40:02 PB
Frieth Hilly 10km
Matthew Lock 45:34
Robert Green 47:14
Jade Hewlett 51:47
Lisa Holland 52:26
John McCormac 60:01
Race Report by Robert Green
Frieth Hilly 10k was a remarkably dry course today and the complete opposite of 2016.
A beautiful course in the Chilterns with fantastic views, hills, roads, tracks and more hills so a right mixed bag. Even though its a 10k you feel as though its been a good hard workout.
The race had a good turnout of people with the proceeds of the event going to the local primary school. The marshals were encouraging with most being school teachers and the children providing the directions and cheers. On one corner (6km in) the school had their choir singing and its these little touches you always remember.
WRR had myself, Matthew, John (chairman), Jade and Lisa running and we all had a good time. John did say at the start he couldn’t understand why it took him an hour last year as its only a 10k but on completing it this time he had forgotten about all the hills on the course ! I did try my best to sabotage Matthews race by pinning his number right through his shirt to delay his start time but alas it failed – OK that’s not quite true as he actually did it himself……
Oceanman Benidorm Swim – 9.3km
Simon Covell 3:29:47
Saturday 14th October
Oxford Parkrun
Will Downey 20:22
Graham Le Good 21:16
Abi Adams 23:15 PB
Harriet Howard 24:33
Louise Rhodes 25:26
Simon Rhodes 25:26
Judith Le Good 26:25
Emily Howard 30:09
Ian Fowler 30:11
Banbury Parkrun
Trevor Jennings 25:50 2nd VM65
Killerton Parkrun
Nick Morley 25:10
Abingdon Parkrun
Victoria Munday 22:33
Worthing Parkrun
Sam Upton 21:06
Friday 6th October to Sunday 8th October
Atlantic Coast Challenge
An awesome achievement, very well done Rachel
Rachel Stanley Evans
Day 1 4:19:20 24.9 miles 3478 ft
Day 2 4:42:50 25.4 miles 3234 ft
Day 3 6:20:05 27.5 miles 5225 ft
Sunday 8th October
Putney Half Marathon
Lucy Harris 1:50:39 Training run!
Oxford Half Marathon
Fraser Howard 1:28:37
Chris Colbeck 1:30:16
Chris Ellis 1:32:45
James Clark 1:34:10
Lindsey Smith 1:34:42 PB by 5 min
Lisa Butler 1:37:10
Billy Rendell 1:38:19
Tom Standard 1:38:35 PB by almost 10 mins
Nick Smith 1:39:50
Will Downey 1:44:48 Official 1:45 hr pacer
Simon Welch 1:46:05
Tony Burkett 1:46:32
Jessica Wright 1:46:57 PB by 6 mins!
Simon Rhodes 1:50:21
Melanie Cassidy 1:50:51
Louise Rhodes 1:58:08
Lee-Ann Penaluna 1:58:36 PB by 3m30s
Debbie Marshall 1:59:04 PB
Toby Clarke 1:59:31 Official 2 hr pacer
Keirin White 2:02:57 PB
Davina Miller 2:07:07
Darlene Burkett 2:12:35
Kim Holtom 2:16:54
2017 Oxford Half Marathon Experience – Tony Burkett
Let me start by saying, in my opinion the Oxford Half Marathon is a proper city race. Big enough to make one feel like it is a major event (10,000 runners), yet small enough to be able to run well and maintain a desired pace. Speaking of pace, hats off to Will Downey and Toby Clarke for their pacing in the race. Will paced the 1:45 group in start pen C, and Toby paced the 2:00 group in start pen D. They finished in 1:44:48 and 1:59:31 respectively. Well done to them both! The race is well supported, marshalled, organized, and with closed roads. Although I will admit, there was a bit of problem getting to my correct starting pen. However, I attribute this mostly to my inability to read and follow directions, not to do with anything with the race organization.
I originally entered the Oxford Half to try for a PB, which on this course is very attainable. It is pan cake flat, and as you look at the results in this week’s newsletter you will see several PBs have been shattered. Yet alas as I have failed to follow any kind of training plan for the Snowdon Marathon I decided to use the race as a training run rather to run it for a particular time. My training run actually began on Saturday with a cycle ride to the Oxford Park Run from Witney, a stiff effort in the Park Run, and a lovely cycle ride against the wind with Mr. Le Good back to Witney. This morning I started out with an easy 6 mile pre-race jog towards Christ Church Meadow. I finished in time to intake a gel and get in one final restroom stop before heading to my starting pen. Did I mention there is a plethora of porta potties? Always a bonus with races.
I approached the start of this race as I do with most races I run, which is start easy and real it in. As I am officially in the creepy old guy age category I have found now more than ever that I am much like an old car that kind of creeks and rattles. I need to be started and allowed time to warm up before putting it into gear and laying on the gas. Reliable and steady am I, but don’t ask me to lay rubber at the start. Approaching mile 4 I was admiring the bright light that was in the sky, I think it was the sun but you can never be too sure in the UK. Anyway, about this time who do I see but Lisa Butler passing me like I was moving at the speed of a glacier. I muscled my way to catch her and give her a hard time about not saying hello, but then had to let her go as I didn’t have the legs to maintain her pace. She finished today’s race in 1:37:10. I’m not too sure I could have kept her pace on my best day! Well done Lisa!
Not long after Lisa left me in the dust but who do I run into? Jessica Wright. Now Jess started in a pen behind me yet here she was in front of me. Did I mention I am a slow starter? Now Jess is what I call a sleeper runner. She doesn’t portray herself as flashy, particularly quick runner, but rest assured she is. She finished the race in 1:46:57, a PB by 6 minutes! Well done Jess!
The race winds you through the streets of Oxford past some of the most beautiful buildings and land marks the country has to offer. The race also is laid out in such a fashion that the route doubles back on itself in several sections without too many sharp turns. Which allows for other runners to see the leaders several times throughout the race. The only issue with the course is a minor one, but still is an issue if you’re cutting it close on a target finish time. The course routes runners into University Parks at mile 11. This takes you from paved road to hard packed trail in the park. The trail is narrow, and passing other runners is tough to say the least. If you are trying for a target time and are cutting it close, you are forced to wait until you clear the park which is at mile 12. This gives you only 1 mile to make up any lost time. So my advice is to be a full minute or more ahead of your target time entering into the park.
I cannot say enough good about the Oxford Half Marathon. I finished today in 1:46:32, right at an 8 minute pace. It is truly a great event, and being in our back yard only makes it better. By my count there were 14 Witney Road Runners in today’s race. There were a multitude of PBs, and several people who came to run battling nagging injuries, and head colds. Hats off to everyone who ran, and the many people from the club who came to spectate and cheer us on. I hope there are even more Witney Road runners who will enter in 2018.
One final note, I must give a shout out to Lindsey Smith who really smashed today’s race. Lindsey finished in 1:34:42. She was the 55th woman to finish out of 3,691, well within the top 10%, and she finished 6th in her division/ age category out of 460 runners. Oh, and did I mention it was a PB for her too?
Lakes in a Day 50 Mile – Ben Lonsdale
Having had a go at the Open Adventure Lakes in a Day 50 mile run back in 2014, I wanted to improve on my time. The route starts in Caldbeck, on the northern border of the Lake District National Park, heading south over some of the better-known Lakeland summits to Ambleside, then tracking Windermere down to Cartmel, on Morecambe Bay. All in all, 50 miles and about 15000’ of climb and descent.
True to form, the day dawned (or rather slowly emerged from thick low cloud) with high winds and rain. Being well insulated, I run quite hot, so I stuck with shorts and t shirt over High Pike and Blencathra, as the wind battered us. The exposed knife-edge of Hall’s Fell was particularly greasy, which made for quite a sporting descent. Luckily I was off the cliffy bit before it started gusting strong enough to take 16 stone of Yorkshireman off his feet.
A queue for the facilities in Threlkeld and a top up of water and baked goods, then it was off up Clough Head on to the Helvellyn Ridge. This is a 1000 ft grassy muddy wall, that doesn’t quite require hands and feet, but not far off. Coming over the top, I had to resort to waterproof, gloves and a buff to cover my face, as the 40+ mph wind had now acquired some nice painful waterdrops. With the cloud well down, navigating up the ridge was a challenge in itself; it took a good couple of hours of trogging to drop over Helvellyn to Grisedale Tarn. The climb up to Fairfield was, in theory, the last big one of the day.
Dropping over Dove Crag, the cloud finally cleared, to give me a spectacular view of Windermere and Ambleside. With the nice bouncy descent in to Ambleside out of the way, it was in to the feed station for a paper plate of pizza, crisps and chocolate crispy cakes to replenish energy and salt lost over the previous 10 windy hours.
I set off along the edge of Windermere by myself with the light fading; 2 guys came past me and I tagged on, settling in to a rhythm of easy banter, which made the miles pass quicker. We took in turns to lose energy and require motivation, particularly on the couple of short sharp ascents. With 15 miles to go, it seemed that every section had long stretches of calf deep gloopy mud that slowed the pace further. Between that and lakeside oaths that were anything up to knee deep in lake water (also camouflaging some treacherous roots), it would have been easy to give up. With 2 other people to chat to however, it’s harder for the old demons and sleep monsters to influence your tired brain; even so, the final aid station at Finsthwaite arrived just in time. One of my fellow runners was literally grey, the result of early hypothermia and hypoglycaemia. We warmed him up, force fed him coke and chocolate, and set off for the last 8 miles. Up until the final 2 miles on the road, this was almost entirely uphill or downhill mud, resulting in some quite entertaining (for me, not for the guys falling) pratfalls.
My 16-hour goal came and went, as did 18 hours. We finally crossed the line together just shy of 19 hours, half an hour faster than my previous effort. While slightly disappointed, the weather in the first half and the company in the second made this epic event great fun. The first man finished in 10h18, with the first lady (also third overall) in 10h46. Epic efforts for such a wild day. www.lakesinaday.co.uk
Saturday 7th October
Oxford Parkrun
Matthew Lock 19:38
Fraser Howard 19:59
Mark Jarrett 21:06 PB
Tony Burkett 21:13
Graham Le Good 21:14
Sally Howard 21:47
James Clark 22:59
Harriet Howard 25:05
Regina Lally 27:49
Ian Fowler 29:52
Seaton Parkrun
Judith Le Good 27:33
Chichester Parkrun
Joe Godwood 18:13 2nd Overall PB
Harcourt Hill Parkrun
Sam Upton 17:47 1st Overall
Jeanette Ashton 27:59
Jen Horsman 33:21
Sunday 1st October
Hanney 5 mile
Sam Upton 27:56 3rd SM & 4th overall
Craig Gibbon 32:30
Lindsey Smith 34:22 3rd VL35
Chris Miles 36:13
Lucy Garrod 36:50 PB
Victoria Munday 37:13
Nick Morley 39:45
Abi Adams 39:49
Heather Smith 41:02
Lisa Holland 42:48
John McCormac 42:57
Sharon Christie 44:27
Cricklade 10km
Tony Lock 37:39 1st VM50 4th overall
Graham Le Good 44:21 1st VM60
Judith Le Good 54:44 1st VL60
Cricklade Half Marathon
Matthew Lock 1:29:48 PB by over a minute and includes a 30s stop due to a horse related incident!
Adam Leary 1:34:49
Richard Redford 1:40:35
Darren Grayson 1:41:47 vstrong>PB
Lucy Harris 1:51:32 After a 9.5 mile warm up!
Blenheim Half Marathon
Bob Green 1:37:26
Sally Howard 1:42:35
Blenheim Half through the eyes of Bob Green
Well different week and same place so must be glutton for punishment. Thankfully the weather forecasters got it wrong yet again and it was very mild, not too windy and the heavy rains never arrived – may think of a career change into meteorology as it really doesn’t matter what they say so my advice is just to look out of the window !
There were a few WRR present which was great to see, especially as there were so many races on today, with Sally Howard & Nick Dalton running and Andy Church, Billy Rendell & Jamie Jones the voluntary pacemakers. Sorry if I have missed anyone else for the 1/2 marathon.
After the Woodstock 12 disappointment I did not wish to have a repeat so set off nice and steady. First time up Combe hill and the fields were awash with pheasants – loads of them – and suddenly for some strange reason my thoughts were Sunday dinner. Towards the top of the hill my eyes lit up as I found my legs from where I left them last week………..so all good. The first water station was funny as we were given 500ml bottles and the helpers had taken the tops off so this turned out to be worse than drinking from a cup. Bottle to mouth, water to face then water to chest, onto the road and finally into the mouth with temporary drowning so not great. The next few water stops had dumpy sports cap bottles so no more dramas.
The route did link up to the motivation courses of both Combe 1 & 2 so I did recognise some of the scenery which was great and the final few miles back onto Blenheim estate. The final mile is what I would call tough as you are so close to home but there are a number of hills and inclines to tackle with the finish line literally straight up to the palace gates.
The mile markers were not quite accurate at times with the 10 mile point reading 9.78 on my watch, but alas the overall distance was spot on – I did however forget to turn off my watch at the end so thank goodness for chip timing. Race results are unusual as they are recorded by surname in a pdf mode so not sure where I finished in terms or overall and age position.
For this race I did not wear my Witney vest and had a Blue Cross one on instead (fundraising for them) and their vest is not quite to the same fitting standard as it fitted like a dress – not saying that I wear dresses on a regular basis or anything like that, so I had to tuck it in and copy Tony Lock. One spectator did recommend I should add the following to the rear of the vest ‘bye bye Andy’ but haven’t a clue what they mean !
Overall the day was really good as the crowds were fantastic, plenty of marshals and the atmosphere was superb – even renewed my palace annual pass this time round.
Blenheim Pacers
A big thank you from me and well done to the six WRR who paced at Blenheim today………………both were tough courses to pace
The organizers have expressed a massive thank you to all of you for you brilliant running today.
10k Pacers
Chris Ellis 49.57
Tom Standard 59.42
Toby Clarke 68.56
Half Marathon Pacers
1hr 45 min Billy Rendell 1.44.26
2hr 00 min Andy Church 1.59.47
2hr 15 min Jamie Jones 2.15.03
Cardiff Half Marathon
Allison Maybrey 2:08:27