Tag: trail

11 Oct 2015 – Eaton Stampede

The fifth running of this event held in the scenic village of Eaton , sadly having set in the stone the date of this year’s race only to have other major local races along the way want to use the same date, Grrrrrr!However Chief promoter Tony Allen with a subtle mix of good marketing and implied threats managed to get a great turnout on a perfect morning weather-wise for the race. Naturally on `home soil` Stilton Striders were out in force but also shirts from Stamford Striders and Barrow Runners were part of this year’s start line.

The winner led from the off, a young lad who won the event two years ago could even afford to go wrong in his victory, he was positively flying!

It was up to the rest of us, the downhill start to the race is good however that none of us took our warm up serious enough as quite a few puffing and panting over the first churned up field. Last time I did the event it was a two lap affair and I have to say the single lap format made it much better for me, congratulations to the course developer as it had something of everything-certainly trails, hills and splashes of mud, rope climb, woods, fast descents, stiles, ladder climb and a splattering of road.

Much of the first 5K I sat in 5th place before getting up to 2nd place between 5 and 8.5k only to lose it in the last 1.5K and coming 4th, however was very pleased overall with my performance. Had a great racing tussle throughout with the guy who finished 2nd and fellow Striders Mike Bryan and a very strong Michael Atton.

Real credit to the organisers and the village of Eaton, lots of friendly marshals and helpers, the cakes were indeed way up to standard afterwards, any chance of opening the Pub in Eaton next year if just for the day?

I may sound like a stuck record on this but `support your local races`! These local events are often put on by a small amount of people and when they are gone they are gone and you`ll just be left with big bucks entry corporate events, get out and support them! Thanks to Tony and his team, excellent day! [Rob]

Selected results:

  • 1-Katie Hateley 48.00
  • 8-Celina Silver 62.59
  • 14-Steph Barlow 69.34
  • 3-Michael Atton 43.00
  • 4-Rob Beers 43.13
  • 5-Mike Bryan 43.26
  • 8-Luke Eggleston 46.17
  • 9-Dan Valencia 46.23
  • 11-Simon Bottrill 47.50
  • 12-Michael Cooke 47.58
  • 13-John Houghton 49.35
  • 17-Nicholas Smith 56.52
  • 28-Tam Nicol 69.35

3 Oct 2015 – Heart of England Marathon

The 1st Heart of England Marathon (its 26.9) and 15 miler (actually 16.5) at the very quaint village of Henley in Arden between Solihull and Stratford upon Avon.

Today was just about a little outrun which I was thankful for having gone for a 7-8 mile outrun with John and Dan the night previously. Starting from Henley school which is similar to rocking upto Charnwood Marathon in its laid back approach and lay out and even has Breakfast and tea/coffee Free of charge pre-race included! Joined today on the start line by two very good friends the lovely Zoe Sewter of Hermitage harriers and Andrea Winkless of Barrow Runners already, I`m in my happy zone when the race kicks off at 9:30a.m.Terrain wise, ok its Mercia we are absolutely blessed aren’t we with such good places to run?

This isn’t 16 miles of slog its 16 very nice miles of footpaths, bridleways, forest tracks, the odd bit of road, and perhaps two muddy bits throughout the whole course, a few rises the odd hill and some very nice villages. The check points just got better, the first one a bit meagre with jaffa cakes/choc chip cookies, the second the same although they`d make you bacon butties/veg sausage cob and the third one was a virtual cake shop! If you thought that was good then upon finishing free drinks again, plus lasagne and a pudding all inclusive! One of those fine races where you can actually put weight on.

Small gripe would be although the arrow markers are plentiful they are kind of small and we amongst many other went wrong, we actually did 18 miles! I`m sure feedback from the 1st ever event will see it grow and improve next year. Certainly would like to try the full distance next year the course was a great mix of everything, if you fancy a no pressure offroad jaunt this comes highly recommended. [Rob]

Autumn/winter club runs

Autumn is here, so for the first time in a while we have a choice of club runs this Wednesday (30th Sep) – both at 7pm.

The usual road run will be in Melton from KE7 Sports Centre, suitable for all (with a guided 5 mile group at the pace of the slowest, as well as lots of optional extensions for quicker runners).

For the more adventurous we have the return of our headtorch runs – an hour in Stathern Woods, returning to the Red Lion for refreshments afterwards.  Head (or hand held) torches mandatory – let us know in advance if you want to borrow one – trail shoes and hi viz / reflective kit highly recommended.

The choice is yours!

27 Sep 2015 – Rutland Marathon

The first Rutland Marathon by a new company, OK the Bad: having to pay £6 on top of the quite dear entrance fee was terrible, feed stations were a bit bland, T-shirts would’ve been nice, feedback from the company by email and the FB site wasn’t very quick, the ten o’clock start and where it started from was very poorly handled. The Good: despite the course looking a bit boring it was enjoyable, the marshals were upbeat and friendly, plenty of feed stations and they did give out gels. So the day didn’t start great, my intended 18 mile Cycle to the start became a 30 miler due to closed roads and bad signage. Today was about getting my dear friend Andrea of Barrow Runners her good for age (Sub 3:50) so luckily pressure was off.

Despite the frosty and foggy start it turned into a hot blue skied day, despite its beauty anyone who regularly runs with us round Rutland water knows it’s not flat and 20 or so miles in its a killer.

So with such lovely weather everyone has come out so runners are constantly dodging dogs, people, cyclists and hopping over at least 20 pace slackening cattle grids. The Hambleton Peninsula comes in around mile 15 and for those familiar with its incline’s they just don’t get any easier!

The last few miles are tough and Andrea has fell behind but I’m still confident of her making her time with room to spare. I press on ahead some of this has to do with myself actually feeling it tough the last four miles and I admit when I crossed the line I found it harder on my legs today than the Railway Ultra!

3:49 hrs, I come in at 18th place, 3rd in my age group and very consistent (the printout is really good), sadly Andrea comes in at 3:52 having had a terrific race and its very fair to say had it been a normal road Marathon she’d have been much nearer to 3:30 which tells you how much harder this was. Well worth the experience and supporting a local race, be nice to see a few more Stiltons give it a go if only for the lactic challenge!

Running the half Marathon were Michael Cooke and Laura Pickard with much appreciated support on the course from Ben Pickard and Mike Brighty.  [Rob]

20 Sep 2015 – Ladybower 50

You could be forgiven for thinking that all of the Stilton Striders were gathered in a field near Belvoir Castle for this year’s Equinox 24, however for John Houghton, Dan Valencia and Simon Bottrill it was off to Bamford, Derbyshire for Ladybower 50.

On what was a dry but chilly Sunday morning, with an eerie mist still hanging over the reservoir 53 runners gathered in a layby near the Derwent Dam, the Start/Finish line for this year’s race. As 8 O’clock struck and with Dan still pondering his kit choice (you’re wearing those trainers are you?) we were set on our way for an initial 5 mile loop of the upper part of the Ladybower Reservoir. Opting to stay together throughout we adopted a nice slow steady pace and within the hour were looping back past the Start/Finish. A quick stop to collect hydration packs and food and we headed off again for the longer 15 mile loop. The first part took us back along the same route but then added an additional 10 miles around the picturesque Derwent & Howden Reservoirs and taking in the two Dams that divide the three bodies of water.

Sense of humours intact and still looking quite fresh we completed the first 15 mile loop in just under 3 hours, had a quick lunch stop then headed out again for a second full lap. Though we were covering the same course, the second 15 mile loop was a much tougher and quieter affair with the increasing mileage starting to require a bit more effort. Pure stubbornness (none of us would quit unless one of the others did it first) and the steady pace carried us on to complete it in just round three hours again. With another stop for food and all important cup of tea for Mr Houghton, we prepared (with no doubt in our minds) for the final loop. With the welcome addition of a support runner in the form of Lou Houghton (joining us after having run in the nearby Stanage Struggle) and with the end now in sight we pressed on.

The last lap was in much better spirits becoming a bit of a tick off list as we passed all the familiar landmarks from the earlier laps and none more welcome than the sight of the Derwent Dam as we approached the finish. With the light starting to fade and the pace quickening we all crossed the finish line in 11 hours and 26 minutes, a mere 5 hours and 7 minutes after the events winner but still enormously proud of our achievement.

A WORD OF WARNING (just incase you fancy it next year): For what was my first Ultra this was a very back to basics event. The Facebook site boasted three water stops and food at the race HQ the reality however was one manned water stop, which ran out of water before the last lap and one unmanned stop with water but no cups. Food at the race HQ only consisted of a few pretzels and a bit of flapjack (fb promised chips and sandwiches) and marshals sadly were bit too few and far between. [Simon]

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19/20 Sep 2015 – Equinox 24

Wow! What an incredible weekend! We put in three large teams and two solo runners, and no-one can feel disappointed with what they’ve done. Epic performances all round!

Throughout the weekend, the team results were categorised by gender (male, female, mixed) on the leader-board. Our ladies team “Stilton Striders B Team” finished as the top ranking female team at the event, while “Studs in the Mud” were the 4th best all-male large team there.  I had the pleasure of seeing my team-mates show some incredible efforts over the tough course to finish as the weekends 2nd ranked male team overall, but sadly just missed out on a podium spot by 7 minutes!

Rich Gray ran strongly throughout, and although feeling a little bit ropey on Lap 7 (afterall, that is around 71k!!) went on to complete a superb 14 laps, while the rest of us were moaning after 3. Also, making it look easy, Wendy Piesley, doing her first ever ultra event (having never done more than a Half Marathon before?!?!) put in an amazing 8 laps – totaling an incredible 50 miles!!!!

Already signed up for next year, we have one team (headed by myself and Jay so far), and THREE (maybe four) soloists in the form of Rich, Marie, Ben Pickard (??!!) and maybe even Wendy again (seriously contemplating it!)

Yet again, I am so proud of our club and the determination to showcase the talent, drive and dedication displayed by all within it. It really has been an honour to spend the weekend with you all!  [Shane]

A few of our favourite photos from the weekend are here.

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13 Sep 2015 – Ponton Plod

The Eighth running of this wonderful multi-terrain race at Great Ponton (Between Grantham and Melton for the less Geographically inspired). I’ve long sung the plaudits of this one, put together with a small team with proceeds going to charity, a very small entry fee for the 12, 17 or 27 mile route for runners or walkers.It seems a few more Leicestershire clubs have turned out this year for what could be a great warm up for Seagrave Wolds veterans. Organiser Stuart Ashley gets proceedings under way with a short speech before suddenly say `Ok, off you go` , which is a bit different to those used to whistles, air horns and the like.

The beginning of the race is the worst, coming out the village over the very bouncy bridge over the A1, a bit of road, a stony track and a golf course which seems all uphill. However once your away from that it’s a great tour of the South Kesteven area , having lost sight of the leaders about forty minutes in, I wait for the person behind who not only knows where he`s going but has won the event a couple of times. Perhaps sensibly it slows me down as not feeling my very best today and the next few miles are spent in chatter along the Viking way.

A beautiful drop down to the village of Denton, it’s a nice clear day and easy to spot Newark in the background. As we go through Harlaxton a couple of signs have been taken down/moved and not sure how the first lady who was following us managed to get ahead of me if I’m honest. Apparently we are going the right way as we cross a ploughed field and head uphill towards a copse of tree`s but end up lost and off-path, knocking about 5 mins off where I was.

By this time the pace has become too easy and I`m worried about who has passed me when we went wrong so kick back a bit over my favourite part of the course around Hungerton and Wyville, lovely offroad area. Still end up getting slightly lost again but pass two people in the last 1.5 miles and come in 5th place, had I known where I was going and not treated the middle bit as a training run could’ve done better (forever the critic).

The Plod however is known for it, all Strider`s doing it got lost! A very good Charnwood ac runner got lost, the central theme being don’t just be a good runner but learn to use a map also! It’s a bit of fun, seriously don’t take it too seriously.

Nicholas Smith 2nd in the 12 mile, he`ll say it was due to navigation but he is running very well, Jon Wilson ran his longest distance ever in training for Leicester Marathon getting lost and running 31k!

Please do think about this one next year its only down the road, the large bowl of soup, free tea and coffee and selection of custard laden puddings free to all runners just put the icing on a great morning. [Rob]