Tag: race report

16 Oct 2016 – Trail Run Series- Bakewell

The Dark and White Trail Running Events are all based in and around the Peak District National Park, each event having a choice of long and short courses. The events are advertised as being sociable and relaxed events which are suitable for most ages and abilities. Round 2 was in Bakewell on 16 October. But there are a few things that you should know if you are contemplating one of these events.First, if you are invited to one of these events by your nice club mate, make sure you are told of the start time when you agree to take part. 5.30am on a Sunday morning is early to get up on a Sunday, it’s very early and very dark. There could be a local road race on the same day, and you might be driving around the course for that race at 6.30am, with Clive usefully pointing out that we could be still in bed, or enjoying a nice cooked breakfast.

If you are lured by the idea of popping into the town after the race to “get a few tarts”, this a reference to pastries with almonds and marzipan, and nothing else you might have been expecting. And if you see a Bakewell tea shop table defaced with Striders Graffiti, Matt claims that he was asked to add to the “art installation” by the owner, honest.

Finally, despite Paul’s proud claims to “have the biggest one”, there are some things to watch out for in his people carrier. The self-opening window caused Clive more problems (not sure he was having a great day), and Paul’s Sat Nav has a special setting – “route following the narrowest and steepest roads, with large numbers of oncoming vehicles”.

The race was great. It proved to be very sociable, Clive made some friends as we entered the car park with his Royal Wave, and Sarah’s best running buddy is now the webmaster of Bicester Running Club. Plenty of mud, hills and rain in our faces. The fast boy’s race up the front was narrowly won by Mike/Chris (apparently Mike and Chris are the same person), but run of the day was from Sarah, who was first lady on the Shorter Course.

Results:

Trail Run Series – Round 2 – Bakewell (Short Course)

5th Place (FIRST LADY): Sarah Procter: 32:59:00

Trail Run Series – Round 2 – Bakewell (Long Course)

23rd Place: Michael Atton: 1:21:53

24th Place: Paul Geeson: 1:22:01

33rd Place: Clive Kent: 1:23:53

72nd Place: Matt White: 1:37:21

1 Oct 2016 – Eaton Stampede

Described as tough at the start, then getting tougher with a tough finish! The Eaton Stampede cross country 10k, as close as you’ll get to a fell race locally without driving to the Peak District, once again a brilliant club turn out on this fantastic race, well done everyone!

Jim Hatherley 10k 42.15    

Stuart Shaw 10k 42.30    

Paul Geeson 10k 46.35    

Dan Valencia 10k 47.45    

Simon Bottrill 10k 48.15    

Katie Hateley 10k 49.30    

John Houghton 10k 49.45    

Christie Jones 10k 51.15    

Mathew White 10k 53.45    

Jon Wilson 10k 53.50    

Nicholas Smith 10k 56.00    

Lou Houghton 10k 56.45    

Daniel Howley 10k 57.30    

Nick Pryke 10k 57.45    

Rebecca Forrester 10k 57.45    

John Hudson 10k 61.30    

Celina Silver 10k 65.30    

Kaye Mead 10k 67.30    

Deborah Wilson 10k 67.30    

Richard Gray 10k 75.00    

Conrad Gray 10k (U12) 75.00    

Janet Hudson 10k 79.30    

8 Oct 2016 – Curbar Commotion

“What’s all this commotion about !? 10 miles 450 metres of ascent, fell and moor, gritstone and peat, flapjack and two pints of Chatsworth Gold. Curbar Commotion 2016, we b*****y love the peaks”
John Houghton – 2016

Truly an epic day for John Houghton, Lou Houghton, Stuart Shaw, Clive Kent, Simon Bottrill and Katie Hateley, inspired by the fells over the village of Curbar, a small, but busy hamlet sat on the river Derwent in the Peak District. A snip at £6 on the day, the race was well organised with plenty of marshalls, a spirited Master of Ceremonies and tea or coffee on tap, if required.

The weather is beautiful and the runners gathered behind the start near to the school where the race funds go towards sports facilities so that future generations can find their own feet on the road of sport and confidence. A surprising move of the crowd mean that the race has started. Runners begin to surge, gradually finding their pace before the first left into the short ascent of tarmac, where they can warm up their climbing legs. Then a queue for the stile, which serves as a gateway for the trails over the fells.

A steady climb takes the runners onto a trail through some trees. It’s a choice to run near, or slightly further behind runners ahead in order to spot rocks, slippery roots, or shoe squelching mud bowls. These mud bowls aren’t deep enough to suck shoes today, but they take more effort to move through as the feet slip just enough to steal a small amount of forward momentum.

A slight right takes the course up a steep climb. The trail gets slightly tougher as runners pick through small rocks, lifting their knees to hop up small grassy steps and over rocks, all the while scanning the trail for the next obstacle. Turn right past the marshalls; we are happy to receive a bit of respite after this short sharp section with an craggy undulating flat. Decisions; do we stretch out on this easier bit or conserve ourselves for the summit ascent about 900 metres ahead? So different strategies occur as the fell-runners tit-for-tat each other on different sections. Some show their prowess on the climbs, while others launch past you on slight ramps down.
Once over the summit, it’s a flying descent of 1.5 miles. Feet fly and runners criss-cross the trails as they pick their preferred racing line through, round, or over the main feature of these fells; gritstone. It’s lovely stuff, grippy, yet forgiving with it’s weathered rounded corners. There are a few loose fist-sized rocks to tippy-toe, but these sit nicely in the middle of eroded paths and are easy to run beside.

Another up, then a good mile of descent. The springy gates test trail etiquette. How far should a runner be behind you that you don’t need to hold the springy trap-gate open for them?
False summit? Another climb! 0.8 miles really gets the heart ticking. But at this point the racers know the end is not far, so we can choose to keep the effort high before the steep descent to the finish where the marshalls pen our numbers down for the results.

What does the conscientous runner need at the end of a good race? Cake – good cake and tea or coffee. And it’s here where we share our tales of the fell.
A slight change in course from previous years took the final mileage up to 9.7(ish) miles. In some conditions, that sounds like a daunting prospect, but with eyes on the obstacles of the fell ahead, it felt much less; more like a jaunt down the lane. The miles fly by like the gritstone under the soles of the Stilton Striders.

Results: Stuart Shaw – 35th 1:14:57, Clive Kent – 87th 1:25:00, Katie Hateley – 98th 1:26:18, John Houghton – 111th 1:28:54, Simon Bottrill – 129th 1:32:03, Lou Houghton – 184th 1:45:03

2 Oct 2016 – Kielder Water Marathon 

Jenny and Clive made the trip to beautiful Northumberland for the seventh Kielder marathon. It’s the highlight of a full weekend of running and cycling events and there were excellent logistical arrangements in place, including park and ride buses, good cafes and lots of toilets.

The day started with scraping ice off the car and a short 20 min drive to the car park, then a 10 min bus ride and plenty of time for a cuppa and kit faffing before leaving our drop bag at the finish. The race started at Leaplish at 10.30 (15 mins late) and took us through the woods and in a loop back through the start/finish area and out onto the clockwise lakeside path. The school kids were out to form a fun line of high-fives. We felt like heroes (just for one day).

The scenery was quite something and once we warmed up, the conditions were perfect; a light breeze and some clouds preventing it from getting too hot. The first half of the course was undulating with some short, steep climbs and descents.Clive started midway in the pack while Jenny started further back in the field with friends Chris and Andy from saints and sinners RC. Clive’s ‘holding back’ strategy took a hit at mile 2 with a ridiculous 6:49 min/mile pace. At halfway he was doing a little too well with a sub 1:40 time, which he realised may bite back later.

Jenny’s ‘keep running’ and ‘walk the steep bits’ method meant that there was always time in hand for a spot of photography and she felt strong at halfway.

After halfway, we were counting down the miles to the dam, which was the only flat mile of the course about two-thirds of the way round. It got tougher therein and we were grateful for the cheery marshals and encouraging spectators every mile or so to keep it going. The finish straight was perhaps the longest 400m ever but the cheering crowd was a very welcome sight.

Clive finished in 3.51.47, 115th, also a pb, which was a massive improvement on his 2010 Rutland Marathon time of 6:04, or his Marathon split time of 4:15 on the Great Railway Ultra in 2015.

Jenny finished in 5.51.54, 598th, improving on her time at the 2010 Rutland water marathon by 15 mins.

17/18 Sep 2016 – Equinox24 

Last weekend saw the 4th annual Equinox24 race – a 24 hour event held over a hilly off road 10k course in the grounds of Belvoir Castle. Starting at midday on Saturday runners compete either in teams, pairs or solo – all looking to get as many laps in as possible before midday Sunday. Around 250 teams and a similar number of solo runners meant around 500 runners out on course at all times of day and night, lit only by their headtorches through the hours of darkness.

With six teams, five solo runners and one 10k entrant from Stilton Striders and friends and family from MRC and Melton Mowbray parkrun, there was a great spirit in camp all weekend. Many runners clocked up their furthest distance ever, some also whilst pushing for their fastest 10k, or just enjoying a weekend camping with friends. Everyone pushed the boat out and baked enormous scones, lemon cake, apple, rum and raisin cake, flapjacks, brownies, cheesecakes and Marie brought a huge chocolate cake to celebrate her birthday. With the kettle on almost permanently, a couple of gazebos and some bunting, you just need to imagine the GBBO (Bake Off) with a bit of running on the side and you’re more or less there.

The course led runners around tracks and across undulating fields, then past cheering marshals and up “Not That Hill”, a 2-3k gradual climb to the water stop half-way. In the hours of darkness, glo-sticks lit the course and the marshals handed out jelly babies to keep everyone going. With spectacular views across the Vale of Belvoir, there was a challenging off-camber descent to the beginning of “That Hill”. Strategies varied to ascend this short-sharp, much maligned bank of fear and loathing. Only, it wasn’t as bad as all that! Once over this, it was a smoother descent back to and down the road, over the bubbling river to the lake. The mists on the lake at dawn set a spectacular scene with quacking ducks, swan and the sound of rubber on tarmac. John Houghton was one notable casualty of “Houghty’s Muddy Corner”, which took runners into the circuit of the camping field. The course went right past the Strider/MRC Basecamp, with cheering and Elaine’s chocolate distribution going down well with the solos on course. Then eventually to the final straight, where slap-bands were handed to the next runner in teams, or soloist could sign-off and recalibrate before doing #onemorelap.

Stilton Striders A team pushed the pace from the beginning and after 22 hours were neck and neck with the second placed team. There was still time for the lead to change hands at least twice in the last three laps before the Striders emerged victorious for the second time in four years! A wonderful result for the team and the club, which led to enthusiastic celebrations in front of the double-decker bar bus and high morale as we cheered in the final (last but by no means least) solo runner – an awesome guy who did the whole thing in hiking boots whilst carrying a heavy bergen!Once again a highlight of the running calendar and next year’s event (23/24 September 2017) is sure to sell out in record time again.  [Jenny]

Solo runners:

Ben Pickard and Richard Gray 83rd/84th with 110k each,

Shane Sharkey and Dan Moult 174th and 185th with 70k each, and

Marie Gray 208th with 50k.

Teams:

Stilton Striders A (Matt Atterbury, Jason Barton, Mike Bryan, Luke Eggleston, Matt Gayton, Jim Hatherley, Stuart Shaw, Natalie Teece) 1st with 340k,

Wolfpac (Mick Atton, Simon Bottrill, Katie Hateley, John Houghton, Clive Kent, Greg Pettingill, Dan Valencia, Jon Wilson, managed by Matt Chalmers) 8th with 290k,

Stilton Striders zzz (Mike Brighty, Wayne Hackett, Iain Howe, Ian Mason, Andy Nicholls, Sarah Procter, Brian Walkling) 42nd with 260k,

The Hateful Eight (Joe Cliff, Alex Dulewicz, Clare Marlow, Kate Morris, Tom Peacock, Calum Walker, Seb Walker, Ray Walker) 55th with 250k,

MRC Wonder Women (Elaine Bottrill, Sarah Lawrence, Jenny Kent, Kaye Mead, Sue Pettingill, Jacqui Riley, Debs Wilson) and MRC Wonder Women Too (Celia Bown, Nicky Durrance, Liz Parkinson, Laura Peacock, Laura Pickard, May Øvstegaard, Vanessa Walker) 210k each for 127th/128th.

10k:
Matt White 41st.

4 Sep 2016 – John Fraser 10 LRRL

659 runners made it to this year’s John Fraser 10 hosted by Wigston Phoenix Running Club, which is the final race in the series of the Leicestershire road running league. The Stilton striders had a great turnout with 23 striders running the 10 miler race in Countesthorpe.

Race Results

JASON BARTON: 56:35

LUKE EGGLESTON: 63:59

STUART SHAW: 65:48

DARREN GLOVER: 66:34

ALAN THOMPSON: 68:51

NATALIE TEECE: 69:08

ROB BEERS: 69:41

CLIVE KENT: 72:09

ANDY NICHOLLS 72:15

IAIN HOWE 72:28

BEN PICKARD: 73:07

MICHAEL COOKE: 74:44

RICHARD GRAY: 75:00

KATIE HATELEY: 75:22

MATTHEW WHITE: 76:31

VICKI LOWE: 81:38

DANIEL HOWLEY: 83:54

BRIAN WALKLING: 86:31

SARAH LAWRENCE: 90:49

LAURA PICKARD: 95:41

LYNDA HARRIS: 97:01

JENNY KENT: 108:13

ALEXANDRA FAIRHURST: 108:52

14 Sep 2016 – County 10,000m Championship 

On a warm muggy evening I travelled to Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium for my first ever track race. Leicestershire Rutland and Northamptonshire 10,000 m championship. 
So 25 laps of the track and with only 28 entries I wanted to make sure I paced my own race correctly so I tried to look at it like a road race and with my garmin I just focused on the miles ticking by and I think I got my pacing spot on. First 3 miles was 18.38 and my second 3 miles was 18.39 so with the bit extra to make 10k my final time was 38 mins 33 seconds , ave 6 min 13 a mile my fastest 10k for a few years and although I dont think Mo has too much to worry about my time I was very pleased with that, I would like to do more but there is not many about. Maybe next year. [Darren]

28 Aug 2016 – Badgers Atherstone 10k

Three Stilton Striders made the short trip to this year’s Badgers 10K in the small town of Atherstone. Stilton Striders’ Jason Barton won the race last year, and first back for the Stilton Striders was Jason Barton in a very good 3rd place in a time of 36:10, a few minutes later Luke Eggleston crossed the line in 39:37 in 13th place. Stuart Shaw was still running strongly when he crossed the finish line in 42:23 in 31st place.  [Luke]

29 Aug 2016 – Old Dalby Hill Race

A great local race that has suffered with heavy rain for the last couple of years, this year’s Old Dalby Hill Race was greeted by sunshine, blue skies and a horde of Striders – all there to take on the 4.5 mile (500 ft ascent) race.  As the name suggests, this involves a long climb up the main hill, a few bonus lumps and bumps on the loop through Grimston and then the quick descent through the woods back to Old Dalby.  If you’ve joined our Old Dalby and Grimston outruns this summer, you’ll know the paths.

Jason Barton was first Strider back, in 2nd place overall (29:17).  Luke Eggleston (32:21), Alan Thompson (33:20), Mike Bryan (33:47 and second local male), Paul Geeson (35:25), Clive Kent (35:45), Michael Atton (36:17), Katie Hateley (36:48 and first local lady), Dan Valencia (36:59), Rich Gray (37:07), John Houghton (37:44), Ben Pickard (37:44), Christie Jones (39:16), Sarah Procter (41:46), Tony Allen (47:19 with Merlin), Kaye Mead (49:36), Lou Houghton (50:03).  With Jenny Kent, Matt Chalmers and Laura Pickard impromptu marshals and other Striders supporting we had around a quarter of the total field, a great day out.