In his second race of the weekend, it was back off to Derbyshire for Stuart Gregory as he took to the line for the start of the Bluebell fell race, and after a poor result on Saturday Morning he was hoping for an improved performance. This looked to be on the cards after the first 1.5 miles, as he sat with a small group of runners near to the back of the field, unfortunately by the final 1.5 miles the group had pulled away leaving Stuart in last place, and after chasing down but failing to overtake the remains of the group Stuart finished in last place with a time of 58:45. [Stuart]
Tag: race report
4 Apr 2015 – No walk in the park race 4
In the first of three races over the long Easter weekend, Striders’ Stuart Gregory made his way up to Chesterfield for race 4 of the no walk in the park race series. Having taken steps backwards in the previous two races, Stuart was hoping to halt his recent poor form in the event. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case as for a third series race in a row he finished in a slower time of 28:48. [Stuart]
29 Mar 2015 – Desford 6 (LRRL)
Eight Striders travelled to Desford to run the penultimate LRRL race in toughest conditions so far this season.
With some of the faster runners missing, due to training commitments, young guns Alex and Matt had their sights set on the “first strider” points. With a strong head wind on the outward leg and progressively heavier rain, on this undulating course, this was going to be a tough battle.
Alex started strongly and was well ahead in the first 2 miles. Matt paced Greg until the 3 mile marker, when the wind direction changed, to slowly reduce the gap to a mere 1 second at the line. With everyone desperate to seek shelter from the elements, four runners recorded PBs.
Alex Riley 110, 40:36 PB; Matt Gayton 113, 40:37 PB; Greg Pettingill 125, 41:01 3rd MV 55-59; Luke Egglestone 152, 41:56 PB; John Houghton 242, 45:14 PB; Louise Houghton 314, 48:45; Harvey Hopwood 423, 54:30; Stuart Gregory 467, 57:48. [Greg]
22 Mar 2015 – Wolf’s Pit fell race
Eager for some early season fell race training, Greg Pettingill and Steve Dewick headed to the Peak District for the first race in the “Accelerate” series. With the catchy slogan “Running made easy” and wall to wall sunshine, we were expecting running heaven…..how wrong can you be?
Unusually for a fell race, the start was downhill over perfect pasture, a short length of farm track and a stream crossing followed by reality…350m of ascent in 1km ! The rest of the race was perfect running on moorland paths and tracks followed by a knee crunching descent of the ascent. A fiver well spent! Out of the 361 finishers Greg Pettingill was147th 53:28; Steve Dewick 338th 69:33. [Greg]
22 Mar 2015 – Ashby 20
For those building up to a spring marathon, the Ashby 20 is often a key milestone, either pacing well for a solid training run, or pushing on to test fitness – it is certainly a tough test in itself, with 20 undulating miles over the roads.
On a sunny spring day, the start/finish area had a great atmosphere, so much so that Jason Barton couldn’t stay away for long – his time of 2.07.42 being the 3rd quickest ever at a 20 mile race as a Strider, with only Chris and Nicola ever going faster.
Simon Bottrill was next home, in an impressive 2.34.54 (given the previous day’s efforts), with Dan Valencia and Michael Atton also putting tired legs to the test in 2.43.43 and 2.44.00. Rob Beers (representing first claim club, Barrow) 2.43.47. Rich Gray (2.46.43), Vicki Lowe (2.52.12), Abi Arnott (2.52.13), Michelle Farlow (2.53.27) and John Houghton (2.57.08) put in solid performances whilst building up to longer challenges, as did Sarah Lawrence (3.36.43) and Shaun Staff (4.23.52). [Rich]
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Whats tapering? Race two for some of us this weekend (Grr Shiny Road Runners) and there didn’t seem to be many creaks this morning for the race which most people do as part of their Marathon training. Now, when you go to an event you see people with T-shirts of `Madrid Half-Marathon` or `Los Angeles Marathon` but let’s be honest in the Midlands running circles the only true respect your going to get is if you sport the famous Ashby 20 hoodie!
It’s pretty much a Bucket list race if just for the Hoodie. So quite a few debutants this year in fact I think there were seven Strider debutants for this race and it’s not an easy one, all about getting your splits right and not going off like a whirlwind I must admit I had it good on the pressure front as was only pacing a friend yet thoroughly enjoyed it, Michael Atton despite feeling it somewhat after running so hard yesterday managed a great time in his debut, Michelle Farlow looking very ready for the Virgin London Marathon, oh to be honest we all ran very well! Totally a race where I think you can learn from about your running pacing and stamina and we also found out they don’t serve good cups of Tea in Ashby. [Rob]
21 Mar 2015 – Charnwood Marathon
Rawlins School and Community Centre in Quorn was the location for the start of this year mis-named Charnwood Marathon as there are two distances to choose from a 16 and 27, neither of which exactly constitutes a marathon, but for £10 (£5 of which goes to charity) and some fabulous views you can’t really go wrong. Six [first claim] Striders and Rob Beers made the trip all opting for the 16 miles distance with six of the participants competing in races the following day the plan was for a steady and enjoyable run around Charnwood.
At home among a number of salty looking fell racers is was no surprise to see Greg Pettingill coming in 5th and complete the course in 2:06 followed home by the youthful Alex Riley, a new addition to the Striders with bags of potential, home in 2:16 then Michael Atton who seemed to have completely forgotten that he had the Ashby 20 the next day in 2:26 and bringing up the rear, ably led by Rob Beers from start to finish was John Houghton, Dan Valencia and Simon Bottrill all finishing in 2:46.
This was a great event with the organisers laying on an impressive spread for the returning runners/walkers including hot & cold beverages, 4 different soups, filled rolls and vast array of cakes. [Simon]
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My Fourth Charnwood Marathon and for myself the best race in Leicestershire, more ascent than Charnwood Hills, stunning route and all for a mere tenner going towards a great cause. With fixture pile up today’s race would only be a gentle outrun with the boys so no building on last year’s colossal placing (Have I ever mentioned that?). As per usual the group are unable to stay together due to sheer excitement of being in a race with both Alex Riley and Michael Atton chasing `Salty old Fell Runner` Greg Pettingill from the race start at Rawlings college Quorn.
It’s quite a pull in the first two miles even up to Woodhouse Eaves although our group aren’t racing there is camaraderie thus anyone walking up the Hills gets the round in, thankfully our strong Stilton legs have no problems with upper Broombriggs, Beacon Hill, Windmill Hill or Cardiac Hill. Into Bradgate Park and were all running really well, we did forget our selfie at the top of Old John but we have real fun navigating our own way to Swithland gates where again we scoffed cake. Through Swithland woods and Swithland village and an easier three miles back to Quorn, 16.3 miles in all a wonderful day out in great company, we got some smashing photos and ended up at a Pub in Barrow on Soar. [Rob]
15 Mar 2015 – Stathern Duathlon
As a bit of a change to the normal running events six Striders and two potential new recruits made up part of a 142 strong field for this year’s Stathern Duathlon. A well organised event made up of a 5K run, 18K bike and final 5K run that includes the infamous Mill Hill climb right at the beginning of the bike leg.
First Strider home was Simon Bottrill in 1:21:37 closely followed by Mike Bryan in 1:21:58 then Andy Nicholls in 1:30:43, John Houghton in 1:33:22, Tony Allen on his debut race in a Striders shirt in 1:35:00, James Bryan in 1:35:37 and Gary Christmas in 1:37:31 competing along with his son Daniel who beat him in time of 1:30:09. [Simon]
15 Mar 2015 – Loughborough Half Marathon
Seven Striders made the short trip to Loughborough for the annual half marathon. On a fairly cold March morning, Natalie Teece was the first Strider home on the undulating course, as well as second female and first FV35, in a time of 1.28.39 (45th).
Natalie was followed exactly 10 minutes later by Luke Eggleston 1.38.39 (145th) and a few minutes later by Michael Cooke 1.43.26 (193rd), Michelle Farlow crossed the line in 1.49.05 (283rd), with Sarah Lawrence 2.09.28 (569th), Sue Pettingill 2.16.38 (624th) and Stuart Gregory 2.19.00 (646th) completing the completing the Strider contingent. [Stuart]
15 Mar 2015 – Silverstone Half Marathon
It was a cold breezy morning at the Silverstone race circuit as 4 Striders took on the iconic race track and each came away having put in a fantastic effort to register 3 overall PBs and one Course PB between them. All 4 finished well within the top 800 as they joined 9950 fellow runners. Shane Sharkey was the last one home in a course PB time of 1.38.02 – proving that training is indeed overrated if nothing else. Matt Gayton had set himself a 5 minute window as his target and finished almost exactly in the middle of it in a PB time of 1.32.29.
At the business end of the event, Jim Hatherley and Jason Barton went head to head for the first time since last October’s Leicester Half Marathon – a contest that Jim got the better of by just 8 seconds. It was a slightly different tale this time around as Jay proved to be the victor, finishing an impressive 12th place overall in a time of 1.17.35. There was absolutely no shame in Jim’s performance as he also recorded a personal best time of 1.18.56 – securing 25th place overall. [Shane]
7 Mar 2015 – Dambuster Duathlon
Stilton Strider and Belvoir Triathlon Club representative Wayne Hackett made his first outing of the year at the Dambuster Duathlon, Rutland Water. The event comprising of a 10km run, 26mile bike and a final 5km run in very strong winds. He finished the event in a total combined time of 2hs 36mins. [Wayne]