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April 2013
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Cambridge Tri Kevin Henry postponed
The Kevin Henry 5k at Impington scheduled for 9 May has been postponed due to a dispute between Cambridge Tri Club and the land owners. CTC are looking to try and reschedule and I'll keep you all in the loop if a date is set. I will post closer to the date details about the June 5k in Saffron Walden. That gives us all another 4 weeks to get even quicker!
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VLM GFA
The Virgin London Marathon 2014 Good for Age qualifying times have changed for the better if you're male and 50 or over, but if you're a male aged 18-40 they've trimmed the time by 5 minutes to sub-3:05, which is better than the sub-3 of yesteryear I guess. Not sure about the females (sorry ladies, sometimes my gendercentricity gets the better of me). So all you late spring marathoners out there, you have been warned.
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Running in Reykjavik!
Hello everyone,
As some of you may already know, I'm organising a trip to Reykjavik this summer. If you would like to get involved here are the details...
DATE
Saturday 24th August 2013
RACE ENTRY FEES
10K - €30, Half Marathon - €36, Marathon - €62, Relay Race (2-4 runners) - €115.
Fee includes: T-shirt, medal Powerade drink, pasta dinner at the EXPO and FREE admittance to the geothermal baths and pools in Reykjavik. Prices increase after 1st May.
FLIGHT DETAILS
Outbound - Thursday 22nd August
London Gatwick: 12:15
Reykjavik Keflavik: 14:25
WOW Air
Inbound - Sunday 25th August
Reykjavik Keflavik: 15:35
London Gatwick: 19:40
WOW Air
Click on the link for more information about the event: http://www.marathon.is/reykjavik-marathon
Everyone is welcome! Should be a good run and great holiday!
Any questions, drop me an email: liz.summers@hotmail.co.uk
Cheers,
Liz x.
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Shakespeare Marathon
News in of an excellent 4:28 marathon best for Beth Jones at the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon. History doesn't relate whether the Bard ever completed the full 26.2 (PB or not PB?), but he no doubt inspired Beth to pick up a quill and pen her report. Great stuff, Beth.
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Sawston Fun Run
The Sawston Fun Run is one of the older local fun events which operates much as it has done for nearly 30 years. It is a community event where walkers, armed with collection buckets, set-off before the ~1,000 runners and a parallel stream of enthusiastic kids (who all sprint off the line) merge with the adults. This year the weather was perfect and there were a few C&Cers present. Like always there are no results beyond the first three in each age group - and only times for the winners. So, if like me you ran - missed the top three - and have your own time then please add it to the 'results'.
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London Marathon ballot
Registration opens Mon 29 April. Last year it opened at midnight and closed at 4pm.
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Women's VLM team prize?
According to this England Athletics page our women's team came 4th in the London Marathon (£100 prize??), twice as well as we men who came 8th... now given the number of clubs in the country, I think that's pretty darned good.
I took a camera to the very start line this year and have put a few pictures in the gallery, and also made a shaky and distorted YouTube video out of the whole weekend's experience, partly for my dotage and partly for any London newbies. Enjoy, and do add your own pictures (I heard a lot of you and saw quite a few there so don't be shy!).
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Date for your diary
There is no club night on the 4th Thurs this month (ie tonight).
Next social will be after the first Kevin Henry 5K race on Thurs 9 May.
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London Marathon
It's hellish, it really is. Twenty-six-and-a-bit miles of thrashing yourself into the ground around some of the grubbier parts of our busy, crowded capital, the sun beating down, skipping left and right to dodge sweaty, lurching masses, treacherous kerbstones and perilous discarded bottles, dying on your feet whilst thousand upon thousand of screaming strangers yell at you at eardrum-perforating volume. Hellish.
But somehow the occasion gets you. It is a huge day, a day of triumph and disaster, and overwhelmingly a day of unity. This year, that sense of unity was heightened by the events of the previous Monday, and the silence at the start, on a beautiful, sparkling Blackheath morning, contrasted poignantly with both the chaos in Boston and the tumult of the race route to come.
In the event, hours of unbroken sunshine made it a little uncomfortable for most, but it's usually a cauldron out there, and you'd take it. As ever, some C&Cs coped beautifully and some blew - investigate the race website, and the split times will tell you vivid stories. In the end, it's both the taking part and the finishing time that count to us, and there were plenty who ran brave and perfect races. Charlie Wartnaby knows how to do London, and his even splits gave him our quickest time, a PB of 2:38 - well done Charlie - and took him past Duncan Coombs, who finished moments later in 2:40. Like Duncan, Alex Eggeman hung in pretty well when it got tough, taking a 2:48. Then came a cluster of sub-3 PBs; Al Pritchard's first sub-2:50 edged out John Ferguson's fine 2:51, and by avoiding the St John's tent this year, Andrew Shields nabbed that elusive first sub-3 with time to spare. Best female was the phenomenal Melanie Staley, who can be proud of a 3:00:43 but will no doubt be gutted by the 43, and give a thought to Mike Salt, in superb shape and on the most aggressive schedule of all - sub-2:30 - who joined thousands of us in a bit of a blow-up. I feel your pain, Mike. Also having a bit of a crash was Katie Sherwood, but a disappointment at 3:08 speaks volumes. And a fine run for Sarah Wightman, PBing just seconds behind Katie, and seconds ahead of Mike Salter, both 3:08 too. Christof Schwiening's quest for sub-3 is progessing nicely, 3:10 for him, and there was a belter of a run for Ultra Katie Samuelson, 3:12 the quickest of her many, many marathons. Ish Badr's umpteenth London earned him 3:21. Dan Hurst has his big result for the season, so ran a 3:25 for the joy of it. Giulio Cinque and I salvaged 3:42 and 3:52 from our respective traumatic days, and Paula Kessler stayed strong all the way for a fine 3:54. Kevin Dobson (4:08), Mike Difranco (4:11) and Paul Jones (4:18) followed in good shape, with Anne Schumann shredding the sick note for a 4:18 PB. Next home was Graham Handley, a hard-won 4:32. Chris Hurcomb's fine fitness but injury-hit distance prep added up to a battling 4:46, and likewise Dan Bayles beat the setbacks to clock a debut 6:26.
A final word for the supporters, the event staff and marshals - you were magnificent, and brought a tear to this cynical eye. And I don't just mean Liz for organising beer. It's the occasion which makes the race, and you made the occasion. Well done, guys.
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London Marathon- Beauty and the Beast
Chris Hurcomb summed this iconic race up, it can be a beast. Yet, for some it can be a beauty. I'm not sure if it was the recent tragedy in Boston but to me it seemed that there were even more enthusiastic crowds than usual rallying the runners along, under perhaps the warmest day of the year so far (note to self, this always seems to happen marathon day).
Those cries from friends and strangers do make such a massive difference, I for one would have stopped if there'd just been a big enough gap to walk in peace in :-)
Jen and Neil made me and no doubt all other C&Cs feel like an elite as we ran (then later perhaps shuffled) past their elite drinking station posting. Thank you to you and all the other club members who were there to will us on (I heard my name but was in a slightly dark, slightly delirious place and was unable to exert any more energy to move my face muscles to acknowledge).
The boys achieved some quite awesome times, Charlie, Duncan, Alex E, John, Alan P and Andrew S all comfortably under 3 hours. Andrew's first sub 3 (apologies, perhaps others?!) Having seen him make easy work of those dark busway training sessions, with only a jingle of keys and numerous other unknown items in his pockets, as the clue that he was ever there, it had to have been on the cards.
Melanie flew round in a few seconds over 3 hours and was first C&C lady, an amazing 55th female overall. Sarah W also was more than happy with her 3.08 and Ultra Katie also similarly chuffed with her 3.12.
Andy and Paula cruised in well under 4 hours with Kevin and Mike a little over.
The marathon can also of course be an ugly beast. Yet, it's those encounters with the beast that make us stronger and better armed for the next time and give us that sense of pride in ourselves for pushing our limits. And let's face it, there's rarely not a next time. Happy recovering.
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22/4/13 Monday night social reminder
The next social evening for the Monday Night Group will be on 22nd April at the Tivoli Wetherspoons Pub. For those wanting to eat, there is very reasonably priced food available. Meet at the back of the downstairs bar. Everyone welcome.
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Melbourne Parkrun
Noticed Jonathan ESCALANTE-PHILLIPS flying the flag for C&C in Albert Park, Melbourne, coming in 1st in an impressive 16:35, well done Johnathan. And not forgetting mum Margret, who's 5th female in 22:29 gave her an excellent 83.91% WAVA, higher than Jonathan's!
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National Road Relays
The National Road Relays are possibly the high point of club road running in the national scene, and it's fantastic to see Istvan's C&C team competing with the very best in the country, and showing what our best runners can do. And what a good result too - 29th place for the women's team of six, and 53rd for the men's twelve. Quickest of our females over the 5K leg was track superstar Lucy Dowsett, whilst Javier De Esteban and James Chettle took that honour over 5K and 8K respectively for the chaps. Well done all.
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Cambridge Cambourne 10K
White and blue everywhere; there were 45 C&C competitors (at last count) and countless more behind the scenes at our very own Cambridge Cambourne 10K at the weekend, and not one of them did the report!
By all accounts another highly successful Cambourne, with a little spice added by the first appearance of Cambourne mud and a playful gale from the Atlantic (it's OK, nobody was counting marquees Neil), but rather springlike too. And what a superb set of competitive results too. Again we pulled off the double, with our legendary duo of Sullivan Smith and Katie Sherwood taking victories. Sullivan romped home in 34:25 to win by a clear minute, with the second-claiming Parks, Oliver and Richard, fourth and fifth respectively. Mirroring the chaps' achievements spookily, Caz Wright was edged off the ladies' podium by a handful of seconds to push Claire Somerton into fifth. Fast-improving Stacy Wheat made top-eight. As ever, there are far too many great runs to mention, so take a look at the results for a flavour of the sheer heroism. You are all legends. Finally, in the Fun Run, Harry Schumann went one better this year to take the win - well done Harry.
Congratulations to all, and a particular thank you to the organising team; in particular Neil, Julie, Lesley, Sam, Ginny, John and Alex, as well as all the helpers on the day or otherwise.
Seelected pics from the official photographer in the gallery - please add more!
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Post VLM Gathering
Thanks to Liz Summers:
As promised, here are the details for the 'get together' after VLM on Sunday.
Venue: The Porterhouse, 22 Maiden Lane, London, WC2E 7NA.
Time: 12:30pm onwards.
More details here
Any problems on the day just give me a buzz. I look forward to seeing you all there :).
Liz xx
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Worcester Marathon
... And also in yesterday's news Julian Hardyman and I ate up a whole load of Worcestershire hills under a blue sky with proper fluffy clouds and a cooling breeze. Julian ran an absolutely stonking 3:41:14 so huge congratulations. And even though they're calling me a man in the results I'm happy to trade an extra two minutes and my gender for 90 per cent more hilldom than my last marathon to run 4:46:10.
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Brighton Marathon
It must have been a bit tricky battling a fierce wind off the Channel down in Brighton, but Dan Hurst was up to the challenge. His 2:57 put him in the top half-a-percent of the marathon field, in 44th. Utterly classy. A screen-time round of applause from all, I think.
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Practice Makes Perfect for Carmel and John
Wouldn't it be nice to pull on the club vest for a nice sociable training run and come back with a fancy trophy? I suspect it needs a degree of talent, sadly, but that was not in short supply for Carmel McEniery or John Oakes at Bungay. Carmel's 3:49 earned her an outright second place in the Marathon, whilst John's recovery run after last week's Devonian epic won him another V50 prize in the Half in 1:27(?). Makes you sick, doesn't it? Well done both. Dave Edwards was super-human too, effortlessly ticking off another sub-4 in his endless consecutive run of marathons, whilst, Gump-like, I was just proud to be there with a 1:53 half. Pics.
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Swaledale marathon news
For interest of Swaledale marathoners, I walked the last section from Gunnerside to Reeth last week in several feet of snow - you thought it was hard in June! - and the little gulley just after the last manned check point (which always seems to be a real pig to get down) now has a bridge across the stream. I'm not sure whether to be pleased or not. Going through it knee deep in water last year made me feel like a hero.
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Running Talk at St John's
A date for your diaries: There will be a rather fascinating-sounding talk at St John's College entitled "How Did Running Begin? New Discoveries for Runners and Others", focusing on the author Samuel Butler, and given by international runner and running author Roger Robinson (ex-C&C), on Saturday 11th May at 3.30pm.
All welcome - for more information, including how to book a free seat, see the attachment, or follow this link for the University website listing.
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Round Norfolk Relay 2013
The Round Norfolk Relay is a 17 stage 24 hour relay race which loosely follows the Norfolk boundary starting and finishing in Kings Lynn, and is one of the highlights of the racing calendar in East Anglia, if not the world. This year's race will be held on 14/15th September, and C&C usually enter one team with participation on a first come first serve basis. However, we are considering entering two teams this year, but to do so requires more than casual commitment, even in April. So if you are keen, please ink the dates in your diary and email John Ferguson with your intent, as we need to muster enough athletes before the entry closing date of 28th April.
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Exe to Axe
Me and Dave Edwards travelled down to beautiful Devon to run the Exe to Axe, a fantastically picturesque race along the coastal path from Exmouth to Seaton. As anyone who is familiar with that part of the world will know, that is something of a challenge, to say the least, so mine and Dave's times are a bit better than they look! It is, by a very long way, the hardest race I have ever done, but I loved it. The actual distance was 22 miles, the furthest I have ever run and I don't think I have ever had such a sense of achievement at the end of a race before :-) Highly recommended, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I don't normally do that sort of thing!
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Monday night group social
The next social evening for the Monday Night Group will be on 22nd April at the Tivoli Wetherspoons Pub. For those wanting to eat, there is very reasonably priced food available. Meet at the back of the downstairs bar. Everyone welcome.
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