Tag: road

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 – 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]

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]

8 Mar 2015 – Kibworth 6 (LRRL winter league)

With rumours of how tough “that hill” is circling amongst a number of Striders making their debut, 16 Stilton Striders made the journey down to this year’s Kibworth 6.  The third race in this year’s LRRL winter league, again over 500 runners were in attendance in good running conditions.

Headline mention must go to Alex Riley, who finished as 2nd Strider in just under 38 minutes (a faulty chip leaving the exact time yet to be confirmed) in his debut race.  Mark Stoneley also put in a tremendous performance to secure a top 100 finish in his first LRRL race, coming in 99th in 40.28.

Jason Barton and Natalie Teece both continued their great early season form, finishing 15th in 35.25 and 4th lady in 39.51, respectively.  Darren Glover (38.27), Greg Pettingill (40.13, 3rd in his category), Matt Gayton (41.15), Simon Bottrill (41.21) and Rich Gray (41.50) completed the men’s counters.  Abi Arnott (47.06) and Vicki Lowe (47.35, 9th in her category) put in good performances for the ladies team.

Luke Eggleston (43.56), Shane Sharkey (43.45), Dan Valencia (45.11), John Houghton (46.41) and Stuart Gregory (63.21) completed the team, with many Striders putting in course bests and leaving everyone positive that there is more to come as the year goes on.

15 Feb 2015 – Stamford Valentine 30k

Lovely sunny Sunday made race conditions perfect for the Stamford Valentine 30k.  This was a training run for Vicki Lowe and Natalie Teece on their way to the London Marathon in the Spring.  Great support around the course from Stamford (and Stilton!) Striders Celina and Nick.

Natalie finished as 7th lady in 2.10.18 and Vicki 7th in age category 2.35.24.  [Vicki]

8 Feb 2015 – Markfield 10k LRRL winter league race 2

Fourteen Striders competed in the second winter league race, which was run in almost perfect conditions. With racing experience and the intervening “technical sessions” most Striders ran at a faster pace then at the Barrow 6. Will this trend continue at Kibworth?

First Strider home was Jason Barton in 23rd overall, 36:18; followed by Jim Hatherley 30th, 36:47; Darren Glover 83rd, 39:07; Natalie Teece 124th (7th female) 40:47; Greg Pettingill 128th (4th in category) 40:56; Matt Gayton 164th, 42:11 (pb); Shane Sharkey 188th, 42:52; Luke Eggleston 219th, 44:01; Ben Pickard 258th, 45:17; Neil Jaggard 292nd, 46:16; John Houghton 316th, 47:06; Vicki Lowe 334th (7th in category) 47:57; Louise Houghton 406th, 50:37 and Stuart Gregory 571st,61:56.  [Greg]

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Markfield 10k – Sun 8th Feb (updated 05/02)

Please can all our runners who are intending to do the next LRRL race at Markfield on 8th Feb read the attached document that has been circulated by the organisers.  This has since been supplemented by an email, which has been forwarded to all members on our mailing list – essentially parking is severely limited for this race and so runners will need to car share (Striders will be meeting at Wilton Road car park at 9am).

Advisory notice to Running Clubs

Whilst this may not be ideal, we do ask that our runners support the efforts of the organisers in achieving a safe and successful event on Sunday.

Race details are all on the Beaumont RC website and we’ll be meeting at the Wilton Road car park in Melton at 9am for car sharing as usual.  For those new to the LRRL, please see our LRRL page for info on the race series.