Letchworth Cross Country

With the team ravaged by illness, injury, hangovers, decorating, baby-sitting duties and other various excuses it put pressure on those normally further down the field to “step up to the plate”.

It was nice to get back to Letchworth Garden City after 2 years of a freeze out and despite the long drive and hike to the start we were our usual fully focused and in fine fettle. Well some were.

The race produced some very good individual efforts all leading to a good team performance. Tony Letts had probably our highest ever position in the men’s race. It meant a long wait for the rest of us. Mark Nightingale must regret those years of boring tarmac as he is having a great series of off-road runs. Martin Andrews is now amongst that elite group of scorers and keeps improving at each race. Mark Garrett found his form once again to finish third for the club. John Flemming and Mark Kennedy enjoyed a finish line battle for spot 124.

Jo Lee had a day to remember (or forget). Travelling with the club playboys Jim, Mark K, and Ronnie she was desperate for a hard run in order to be tired enough to sleep on the way back. First lady home was a great run for someone suffering with earache.

Elaine Palmer has been missed from the team for a while and showed us why with a great return chasing Jo Smith for the line and making 3rd lady scorer.

Many other good runs included Tom Sullivan keeping Darren Baldwin at bay and the ongoing battle between Caroline Cope and Jo Cummings is now 2-1 to Caroline.

Ladies
59th Jo Lee
65th Jo Smith
68th Elaine Palmer
83rd Caroline Cope
84th Jo Cummings
103rd Pauline Horne
108th Kirsty Turner
122nd Carol Whatton

Men
11th Tony Letts
46th Mark Nightingale
72nd Mark Garrett
106th Dave Whatton
124th John Fleming
125th Mark Kennedy
133rd Martin Andrews
174th Tom Sullivan
181st Darren Baldwin
198th Ronnie Ambrose
242nd Jim Anderson
249th Richard Rose

Next race Sun Dec 18th at Stopsley.

Jocelyn's PB

Jocelyn Granger ran a PB at the Clowne Half Marathon in Derbyshire on Sunday 20th November tackling the hills and winds to finish in 1.51.27.

Reindeers At The Abbey

Charlotte Yarker was third lady overall at the RNLI Reindeer Run, a 10k off-road event at Woburn Abbey.  The race takes place in the beautiful surroundings of the Abbey and welcomes runners of all abilities to take part in 5K and 10K distances.  The organisers promise tons of festive fun, with Reindeer Antlers and flashing noses for all our runners, and a mince pie when you cross the finish line!

Luton Marathon Relay

Debbie Holmes did a leg of the Luton Marathon Relay on Sunday 20th November. Her team (consisted of  two future club member maybe)  came third in the Ladies Vet class and sixth in the ladies team category overall. Debbie's time over 8.7 miles was 1:17:58.

Dirt Half

Rob Donovan enjoyed himself in the mud at the Dirt Half Marathon in Leighton Buzzard on Saturday 19th November.  His time was 1:46:33.
     

Jo's PB at St Neots

Jo Lee grabbed a PB 1:56 at the St. Neots Half Marathon on Sunday 20th November.  She is now setting her sights on breaking 1:55 next time .........

Shakespeare - To PB Or Not To PB...

Martin Andrews ran the flat as a pancake, PB guaranteed Shakespeare 10k on Saturday 19th November in a time of 42:28.

Biggleswade Cross Country Sunday 13th November

A beautiful autumn morning for a run around the glorious rolling parkland of Shuttleworth College in the second event of this cross country season. This time there were no water jumps or mud but plenty of stiff climbs to get the heart pumping.

A few of us were handicapped by running on Saturday or by last weeks Rutland Marathon but with a team of 24 runners the rest were well able to carry the weary ones.  The tough 5 miles ensured everyone was glowing at the finish.

Another top trip out on the fun bus, next outing is on 27^th Nov (yes, only 2 weeks) where we will be seeing the delights of Letchworth.

Ladies

20          Steph Russell

95     Jo Smith (back in the scorers)

102      Debbie Holmes  (great support from family)

111      Suzanne Baldwin

137      Jo (mind my finger) Cummings

159      Sue (are we at the seaside) Thompson

177      Pauline Horne

186      Carol Whatton

187      Keren Irving

Blokes

14          Tony Letts

61          Mark Nightingale

81          Gary McDaniels

126      Dave Whatton

127       Matt Brand    (I couldn’t get past Daves elbows)

129   Mark Kennedy  (Rutland Marathon no bother)

130   Mark Garrett

160      Martin Andrews

173      Pete Moore

206   John Fleming   (where are the cakes)

223      Darren Baldwin

224      Rob Donovan

267      Tony Kennedy

287   Micky Bhogal   (can I come again )

312   Richard Rose

Seagrave Wolds

If you've nothing better to do on a Saturday morning then why not get in the mood for the following day's cross country by, well, running a cross country.  The Seagrave Wolds Challenge is a unique 15.9 mile bogging run around Leicestershire with cake and tea stops en-route.

 

Gary McDaniels finished 19th overall in 1:57:38 and Steph Russell added to her trophy cabinet being first lady to finish in 2:00:08.  Mark Garrett was next home in 2:14:23 and John Fleming completed the line up in 2:20.

 

19th Gary McDaniels 1:57:38

22nd Steph Russell  2:00:08 1st Lady

62nd Mark Garrett 2:14:23

last John Fleming 6 hrs and still missing (estimated finish 2-20ish)

John in his rush for the crumble and custard forgot to get scanned as he finished and there are now mountain rescue teams looking for him.

 

Rutland Water Photos

Rutland Water Marathon

A team of five Northampton Road Runners made the short hop across the county border to take part in the second running of the Rutland Water Marathon.  The event offered a multi-terrain undulating course taking in some breath-taking scenery across the water and rolling woodland trails.

The star of the day was Wendy Parker making her marathon debut and finishing in an impressive 4:13:57.  Ronnie Ambrose was next to finish 4:17:24 with Mark Kennedy 4:31:22, Mick Clarke 4:37:09 and Jim Anderson 4:39:17 completing the NRR team who finished 8th overall on the day.

214th Wendy Parker 4:13:57
227th Ronnie Ambrose 4:17:24
267th Mark Kennedy 4:31:22
281st Mick Clarke 4:37:09
292nd Jim Anderson 4:39:17

Halloween Horror

Colin Bricher took part in the Halloween Horrow on Saturday 29th October.  This four mile run in the dark over Warwickshire countryside and the grass/woods/track/road route is illuminated by LEDs and the odd street lamp (sounds like club nights in Moulton).  Colin completed the course in 41:43 and won a prize for being the oldest finisher.

 

58th Colin Bricher 41:43