Month: June 2015

20 June 2015 – Three Lakes Classic

In his second race of the weekend Stuart Gregory headed off to Rother Valley for the 15 mile hill and trail race around the three lakes that Border Rotherham and Sheffield.  With perfect running weather early on Stuart started off at a steady pace having put a lot of effort in the previous night, and continued in that vain for much of the first 5 miles, mile 6 saw the first real hill of the event a long and steady climb out of the Valley to the second and third lake at miles 8 and 10, which included two further hills along with two fast down hill sections.

From mile 11 onward it was back to the footpath and trail we went out on, by this point time was ticking and with 4 miles to go there were only 50 minutes left on the clock until the event cut off.  Knowing this, Stuart put his foot down for 2 miles and pushed from then on along the flat return into the heart of the valley to finish the event 192 out of 193 and with just 4 minutes to spare in a time of 3.11.01.  A very difficult race, with tea and cake once you’ve finished.  [Stuart]

14 June 2015 – Stathern 10k

It was the 10th anniversary of the Stathern Festival last weekend and possibly the last ever. During the two weeks of fetes, shows and celebrations, this little village plays host to a flat-ish road race – Stathern 10k. Perfect running conditions greeted a smaller field than usual with only 62 competitors taking part.
The first Strider home was Jason Barton who finished in 2nd place in a time of 35:41. In 22nd place was MRC and parkrun regular Matt White finishing in a time of 44:43. 2nd Strider back was Tony Allen finishing in 34th in a time of 50:22 and Stuart Gregory was the final Strider to finish in 57th place in a time of 1:01:51.

Nicholas Smith and Celina Silver, who were running for their first claim club Stamford Striders, both finished well with Nicholas in 26th with 45:56, and Celina finished in 44th place with a time of 54:21.  [Jay]

19 June 2015 – Beacon Hill Solstice Run

A great turn out of Striders (and a few ‘soon to join’ Striders) had a great evening at this year’s Solstice Run.  Set in Beacon Hill Country Park, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this isn’t the flattest course.  1 mile up, 1 mile down, 1 mile up (slightly less steep), 1 mile ‘undulating’ and then a fast final mile down to the finish.  With around 250 runners (including a healthy CaniX section), there was a great atmosphere.  The times suggest our runners were in a hurry to get back, no doubt influenced by the thought of the beer and barbecue generously provided by John, Lou, Steve and Mike.

First back (and presumably thirstiest Strider) was Mike Bryan, who ran a fantastic 34.04 for 13th place overall.  Rob Beers [see bonus report below] was next in 35.43 (3rd Vet 40), after an epic battle with Luke Eggleston who was just behind in 35.55. Rich Gray (37.29), John Houghton (39.21) and Simon Bottrill (“just taking it steady” in 39.28) all had good runs.  Louise Houghton continued her great form with 3rd place female CaniX runner in 41.53.

Vicki Lowe crossed the finish line in 42.19, with Max Houghton (47.40), Steve Boylan (47.56), and final Strider, finishing in a PB for that event, Stuart Gregory came home in 51.25.

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It never takes too much prodding to get me running around Beacon Hill, so the idea of a 5 mile race on a Friday evening followed by a barbecue with a horde of Stilton Striders all boxes were swiftly ticked.

Nine Stilton Striders and Two forthcoming Striders made this year’s start line- we could’ve outdone the Loughborough club`s I reckon for attendance, special mention to Lou Houghton representing Stilton`s Canix Cross division.

The Race starts with Mike Bryan on the front row tailed by Luke Eggleston and pretty quickly we are climbing the second highest hill in Leicestershire, if you’re familiar with it tis a long slow pull to the summit. The descents however are superb it’s here I get in front of Luke , only for my shoelaces to come undone near the hill`s bottom, doh!

Round the plantation and then climbing the `Charnwood Hills race` side of the Beacon, this for me is the toughest part of the Hill itself thankfully the legs kick on near the top and after one more ascent it’s a mile or so to go to the finish. Local knowledge and being pretty good on descents (“Drop the hands!”) Helps me come in as 2nd Strider and somehow still managing to not be beaten in a race by the ever improving Luke Eggleston who comes in not far behind me .

Everyone came in happy with the race and the medal we got was really good, personally chuffed with my performance as was very unconfident beforehand, course PB`s from John Houghton and an elated Stuart Gregory.

Despite the chill in the air after the run a massive thank you to Stilton`s social committee for putting on the Barbecue and Refreshments, very nice evening indeed and this may well be a tradition from now on!  [Rob]

17 June 2015 – Club Handicap Race

Thank you to everyone who came along to make this year’s race a great evening.  18 runners lined up for this year’s event (it seemed like more until Rutland Runners headed off to run their loop of the same course around the peninsula!).

With predicted times based on a mixture of recent race times and parkrun Melton PBs, this race really rewards those who put in that extra effort on the night.  There is a staggered start such that if everyone runs precisely in line with Mr Chairman’s expectations, they would all finish together.  With a 24 min 30 sec gap between first and final starter, it was then a waiting game to see who will turn the corner first into the (deceptively long) finishing straight to claim this year’s trophy.

After battling the surprisingly steep hills of the first 3 miles, the course flattens out – on this occasion, just as the runners turned into the wind, which rapidly was added to with a short sharp rain shower.

First to turn the corner and head for home (with applause from the crowd of Rutland Runners who had made it back – thanks guys!) was Debbie Wilson, rapidly followed a few seconds later by Nicholas Smith.  Jon Wilson finished in third (I can see a family trip to Melton Sports at the weekend to spend those vouchers!).

We then had 5 runners all within 15 seconds of their predicted time – Steph, Andy, Mike Bryan, Jay and Jenny.  A special mention must go to the epic sprint between Jenny and Jay, who had started nearly 25 minutes apart but pushed each other to finish pretty much bang on their time.

Tam and John were next home, after starting together, and it was Tam who took the honours (reversing the Rothley 10k result from the night before), followed by Mike Brighty, Simon, Shane, Iain, Celina, Clive, Isaac and Stuart.

Full results are below, and check out the gallery here for photos of the evening.

2015 Handicap results

 

 

16 June 2015 – Rothley 10k

Six Striders made their way to the race start on a warm Leicestershire evening to join the 600+ other runners taking part in the event. First out of the blocks and first home for the Striders was Michael Atton who finished 66th with a time of 43.56 and 6th male Vet 45.  Next back just fourteen seconds later was Dan Valencia 75th overall in 44.10, nearly three minutes later John Houghton crossed the line 129th overall in 46.54, Tam Nicol followed in just 40 seconds later 139th overall and 8th male vet 50 in 47.34. 

The in form Louise Houghton continued to make her presence felt finishing 210th overall and 3rd female Vet 45 in 50.27. Last back was the ever present Stuart Gregory 448th overall in 1.02.53 his third fastest 10k this year and just a little slower than Stathern 10k two days previous.  [Stuart]

12 June 2015 – Rab Mini mountain marathon

Rab Mini Mountain Marathon – Dovedale

Two Striders Andrew Easom-Bentley and Simon Bottrill left behind a rain soaked Melton Mowbray and headed into Derbyshire for what was a glorious summers evening in beautiful surroundings. This was to be a really well organised event and no sooner had we arrived at the start (The Old Dog Pub in Thorpe) we collected our dibbers, were handed a map, formulated a quick plan and were on our way. 

Racing as a pair we had a 2 hour time limit to find 15 locations marked on the map in and around Dovedale with points awarded for each location dependent upon difficulty. With little time to warm the legs up we immediately started to climb and arrived at our 1st location within minutes, this spurred us on and very soon after we had reached the 2nd. From there an ankle breaking decent brought us to the River Dove and we wasted far too much time trying to find our 3rd location. 

We soon got back on track but the delay caused us to rethink our strategy opting to do the big ascents in order to gain more points. The warm evening air combined with the climbs made finding the next 5 locations tough going. We managed to complete our challenge in 2:04 having made it to 8 location and covering 8.4 miles (with just under 1700ft of ascent) coming in 44th place out 107 competitors.  [Simon]

12 June 2015 – Notts 10

Three Striders made their way to the National Watersports Centre for the Notts AAA ten mile road race – Stuart Gregory, John Houghton and Louise Houghton, all hoping for a great run.

John Houghton was first Strider back to cross the finish line in 1hr 14m 19s 175th overall after 10 miles, 4 of which were in torrential rain. Not too far behind was Louise Houghton, finishing in even worse conditions in 1hr 20m 58s 230th overall and 7th lady vet 45.  

Meanwhile after a shockingly slow start and getting lapped after just 3.5 miles Stuart Gregory had finally picked up the pace as he enter the final 5 miles and began to make up for a lot of lost time early on to complete the course and second 5 miles in 45 minutes and crossed the line in terrible weather conditions in a time of 1hr 45m 09s 331st overall, his second worst time and worst ever finishing position in this event. [Stuart]

parkrun takeover – 4th July

On Saturday 4th July we’ll be staging our very own parkrun takeover, with Striders taking all the volunteer roles and providing pacers for a range of finish times. 

It would be great to see as many Striders vests, tshirts, jackets, etc on display on the day – if you want to get involved, let us know.

11 June 2015 – Leicester City 5k

Four striders – Jay Barton, Matt Gayton, Darren Glover and Stuart Gregory –  made the trip to Leicester along with 100 others for the second race in the Leicester City 5km series on a sunny Leicestershire evening. Jay Barton, who had already shown good form in the first race of the series, made light work of the 5km course as he pushed ahead from the early stages finishing third overall in a time of 17.29.  He was followed little more than two minutes later by Mat Gayton 19.38 14th place overall, who held on by 6 seconds ahead of Darren Glover 19.44 15th place and first vet 40.  Stuart Gregory rounded off the quartet with a time of 28.01 71st place much better than his performance the previous day. 

In a very close fight Stilton Striders were also crowned the overall team champions on the night, to round off a good evening by all Striders.  [Stuart]