Reports – Page 2 – Stilton Striders

Leicester Road Running League 2019

The provisional dates for next years l.r.r.l races have been released – next year there will be 12 races split into 2 parts, ‘spring’ and ‘summer’, the races will possibly be open so will be very popular when the entry dates are live. The links to the races will be added to the races calendar section when available:

‘spring’

sun 24th feb Stilton 7

sun 17th mar Kibworth 6

sun 31st Mar Desford 5

sun 12 may Bosworth half marathon

sun 19 may West End 8

sun 2nd june Swithland 6

‘summer’

sun june 9th Gaddesby 7

sun 23rd june Prestwold 10k

weds 31st july Joy Cann 5

sun 11th Aug Carl Rutt 10k

thu 22 aug Wreake and Soar Valley 6 / 10k ( new race )

sun 8th sept John Fraser 10

10th November race report

Saturday 10th November was this year’s Seagrave Challenge, a 16 mile off road race starting and finishing in Seagrave taking in the surrounding villages. A field of over 540 people completed the challenge – first back for Striders showing her skill and strength over the country was in 40th place Katie Hateley in 2 hours 57secs, next home 131. John Houghton 2.28.16, 157. Dan Valencia 2.32.30, 185, Abi Arnott 2.37.48, 208. Rich Gray 2.44.36, 237 Dan Giblett 2.55.13 , 238 Tam Nicol 2.55.13, 239. Dan Howley 2.55.14, 254. Rebecca Forester 2.59.08, 256. Sarah Lawrence 2.59.11, 258. Jaqui Riley 2.59.19, 306. Mark Stoneley 3.12.09, 307. Helen Plant 3.12.09, 372, Ashley Jackson 3.32.03.

A few days before on Weds 7th November saw the first round in the Leicester 5k winter series , a 2 lap race around Victoria Park organised by the ‘Nice Work ‘ race organising company with bottles of wine for category winners, a fairly low key race on a quick course.

First back for Striders in 7th place overall, Alan Thompson 19.16, Alan was first vet 45 and came away with a bottle of wine, next back in 27th Nicola Taylor 21.49, 31. Michelle Farlow 22. 42, 40. Vicki Lowe 23.27.

Race Reports 28th October

The last weekend in October saw the last round in the Accelerate Gritstone series of fell races in and around the peak district ‘grin n bear it’. Nearly 16 miles and over 1900 ft ascent, first back for Striders was Katie Hateley, finishing in 37th place overall and 1st vet 40, 2 hours 48 mins 41, followed by 55th Ian Drage 2.50.48, 81st Paul Geeson 3.05.31, 94th John Houghton 3.15.11.

7 people completed the series of races and 4 of them were Striders – well done to Katie, John, Ian, and Paul. Katie was the overall winner in the ladies category, amazing – well done!

The last weekend in October also saw the first round in the Derby Runner cross country series, the first race was at Launde Farm near Tilton on the Hill. These races also include juniors and for the Striders in the preschool – yr 6 catergory in 10th place William H and in 24th Toby H.

In year 7 – 17 years category, 18th Isabella R, 19th Lucy J, 23rd Georgina W.

In the seniors race on a hilly course with 960 ft ascent over the 5.7 miles (approx) the womens race starts before the men. First home for Striders ladies was in 41st Nikki Wade 51.52, 53. Vicki Lowe 53.28, 66. Nicola Dolphin Rowland 55.15, 90. Sarah Lawrence , 124. Celia Bown 61.57, 134. Steph Nicol 62.42, 146. Kathy Walsh 64.22, 176. Kaye Mead 68.12.

First back for the mens race 56th Alan Thompson 41.33, 86. John Robinson, 93. Mark Stoneley 43,51, 121. Simon Bottrill 45.32, 128. Andy Nicholls 46.20 , 190. Tam Nicol, 234. Dan Valencia 54.19, 237. Chris Genes 54.24. The next race is on the 18th November at Holly Hayes woods near Coalville.

The Leicestershire 10k was held at Prestwold Hall, around the car track. First back for Striders showing he’s coming back to form in 28th position Matt Gayton in 40.20, just behind in 30th and second lady Natalie Teece 40.39. 148 . Mike Williams 48.31, 272. Lynda Harris 53.42

Beacon Solstice

On Friday a large group of Stilton Striders ran the Beacon Solstice ,an undulating 5 mile trail race around Beacon Hill Country Park , this race includes a canicross category where runners with a dog run the course, this category started 10 minutes before the runners .

First back for Stilton was Luke Eggleston in 20th place in 32min 40. 27. Ian Drage 34.32, 43, Ben Pickard and Jeff ( canicross) 47.18, 58. Jon Wilson 38.39, 66. Christie Jones 39.22, 85. Daniel Howley 40.33, 98. Ross Jackson 41.40, 100. Dan Giblett 41.44 , 122. Greeba Heard 42.54, 129. Rebecca Forester 43.09, 156. Nigel Willatt 44.08, 157. Jacqui Riley 44.13, 158 . Ray Walker 44.21, 161. Nick Pryke 44.06, 172 Brian Walkling 45.16, 186. Mel Willatt 45.47, 189. Colin Miles 46.05, 190. Sarah Lawrence 46.15, 228. Kathy Walsh 47.55, 232. Vanessa Walker 48.10, 272. Matt Chalmers 49.24, 276. Deb Wilson 49.30, 348. Kaye Mead 54.03, 391. Helen Benzie 55.52,

Prestwold 10k

A group of Stilton Striders travelled to Prestwold Hall near Loughborough for the Prestwold 10K , the latest round of the Leicestershire road running league hosted by Barrow Runners. The race starts and finishes on the Prestwold race track taking in a couple of villages on the outskirts , it’s a fast mainly flat coarse. It was a warm muggy morning for the 700 strong field.

First back for Stilton was Alan Thompson in 60th place in 39min 16, next in 74th a brilliant race debut for new runner John Robinson in 40.05, 110. Ian Drage 42.23, 136. Darren Glover 43.25, 141. Nicola Taylor in her first league race ran a PB 43.45, 204. Michelle Farlow 46.25, 218. Julie Bass 46.55, 242. Vicki Lowe 47.42, 265. Dan Giblett 47.57, 325. Abi Arnott 50.23, 338. Greeba Heard 51.05, 345. David Hall , 390 . Ray Walker 53.41, 455. Vanessa walker 56.10, 464. Kathy Walsh 57.10 .

Striders Dominate

On Sunday 19th June, a group of Striders competed in the Road to Recovery Half Marathon, starting and finishing at Eye Kettlby Lakes and organised by Claire Lomas. This was the 3rd edition with proceeds again going to the Nicholls spinal injury foundation. This year also included a 5k and 10k race .

In the tough half marathon, Jason Barton defended his title to win for the 3rd year in a row in an excellent 1.19.21. Next, in 4th overall and also defending her ladies title, was Natalie Teece in 1.28.56. Then in 9th Ian Howe in a P.b of 1.34.57, 16th Clive Kent 1.38.40, 24th Rich Gray 1.45.11, 26th Michelle Farlow 1.47.12, 32nd Abi Arnott 1.48.44, 39th Rebecca Forester 1.51.15 p.b, 44th Sharon Eshelby 1.54.23, 55th Sarah Lawrence 1.56.49, 59th Mathew Daniel 1.58.19 p.b,

79th Matt Gayton 2.13.23 ( in a wedding dress , getting married next week!), 84th Daniel Gray 2.17.58,

Ben Pickard , Jenny Kent, Dan moult , and Kaye Mead finished together in fancy dress in 2.50.46 .

Luke Eggleston showed his return to form to win the inaugural 10k event in 39 min 13 secs. A fantastic debut in 5th place overall winning the ladies was new Strider Nicola Taylor 43.59. 8th Michael Cooke 46.04, 9th Christie Jones 46.23, 25th Ray Walker 53.44, 26th Rachel Ashmore 53.40, 36th Vanessa Walker 58.09 and 76th Simon Richardson p.b 69.51.

In the 5k , in 2nd place overall and first female was Junior Strider ( under 13 category ) Georgina in an excellent 22 min 53 .

Photos from a great day.

Keswick Mountain Festival 2018

Another group of Striders headed to the Lakes but this time it was the Nicholls and Taylor families plus friends for “KMF” rather than “BGR”. The Keswick Mountain Festival has a wide variety of events to choose from (runs, swims, sportives, triathlons including kids events) with the added bonus of live music in the evenings and stunning scenery.

Saturday began with a 5K swim in the lake for Kristy N and Amy T (Matt’s wife), then a 5K trail run for Luke N.

Sunday started very early with a 50K trail run for Andy N and, during the 8+ hours that took, Matt T did the long triathlon (including cycling the epic Honister Pass).

In the Junior aquathlon, Zoe N, Ella T and Reuben T all finished with podium positions.

Junior Strider Zoe won the 11/12 girls event.

Who’s going to join us next year?

More May Races

Sunday 13^th May 2018

A group of Striders travelled to Leicester for the Bosworth half marathon; part of the Leicestershire road running league and also this year the county half marathon championship. In a large field of over 870, first back for Stilton, in an excellent 15^th, was Jason Barton in 1.18.58. 67th Luke Eggleston in 1.26.56. Alan Thompson secured another p.b: 1.29.54 , 110^th was Ian Drage 1.31.41, 265^th was Vicki Lowe 1.43.11, 281^st was Julie Bass who also finished 2nd in her category with a time of 1.43.48. 361^st was Daniel Howley 1.48.09, 378^th was Michelle Farlow 1.49.34, 417^th was Dan Giblett 1.51.37 and 508^th was Jacqui Riley 1.57.41 .

Other Striders competed in the Clawson 10k . A hilly off road race over fields and styles. First back for Striders and first lady in an excellent 10th place was Natalie Teece in 46.31. 18th was Matt Gayton 49.27, 36^th was Michael Cooke 53.43, 38^th was John Houghton 53.50, 41^st was Katie Hateley 54.16, 87^th was Lou Houghton 60.17, 173^rd was Emma Hope 71.06 and 220^th was Simon Richardson 80.30 .

Sunday 27^th May 2018

A group of Stilton Striders travelled to Kibworth for Kibworth 6, a Leicestershire road running league winter race rescheduled from February due to snow. Conditions couldn’t have been more different with temperatures in the twenties for what is one of the hilliest races on the calendar. First back for Striders was Jason Barton in an excellent 9th place in 36 min 4 secs, next in a brilliant new p.b of 40min 48 secs was Andy Nicholls in 52nd, not far behind in 55^th was Alan Thompson in 40.57, 62^nd was Ian Drage in 41.27, 115^th was Darren Glover in 45.31, 177^th was Dan Giblett in his first 6 mile race 49.25, 228^th was Liz Goodbourn in 53.08, 237^th was Ray Walker in 54.14 and 256^th was Vanessa Walker in 56.09 .

Dukeries Ultra

For a first long distance event then you probably can’t do better than the Dukeries Ultra, organised by Hobo Pace, with a choice of 30 or 40 miles of predomiantly flat woodland trail largely spent under the cover of Sherwood Forest. Three Stilton Striders entered the 40 mile distance this year; Rich Gray, Simon Bottrill and doing his first ultra distance event Jon Wilson.

Conditions were near perfect for the day with it being clear and dry with a welcoming cool breeze when under cover. Despite a small navigation error in the first few miles, which was due to not keeping the eyes open to spot the right sign (another race route crossed over with similar signage) rather than any error on behalf of the organisers, this was such an easy route to follow. With such beautiful surroundings the miles were soon eaten up along with the generous supply of food at the checkpoints making the whole run an enjoyable experience. All three Striders completed the course with Rich and Simon finishing jointly in 7:40:42 and Jon Wilson accompanied by daughter Laura (running for Abingdon AC) finishing jointly in 10:07:59.

This was well organised and well marshalled event clearly signed throughout in a beautiful part of Nottinghamshire. Special thanks goes to SSRC’s Kaye Mead and Debs Wilson both marshalling at the last checkpoint and a very welcome site at mile 34.

Wymeswold Waddle

Most of us would probably have preferred to be one of the ducks floating down the stream in the duck race rather than running 5 miles in the fierce heat but that didn’t stop a plucky group of Striders amongst 331 runners including some mad fools from the Wymeswold club running in full body duck outfits. First home was Luke Egglestone 30:54 (15th) followed by Andy Nicholls 32:04, Tam Nicol 36:18, Jon Wilson 40:14, Lora Holmes 43:11, Vanessa Walker 43:59, Kathy Walsh 45:06, Debs Wilson 47:24, Steph Nicol 47:47 plus Vanessa & Ray’s son Seb Walker in 36:08.

The course was an out-and-back route which was mainly uphill to the half way point then a nice fast 2nd half to the race being mainly downhill. Great feeling to end the race faster than you started and big crowds to cheer you home. A lovely little race, good value and with a technical T-shirt thrown in too.