Results

A pretty small turn-out all round for the first Motavation to be held on a Sunday morning.

There were 23 ERR runners amongst the 182 finishers overall.

Well done to Kate for winning what Michael Collins very nearly called the Kate Award.

Well done to all those who enjoyed the rolling countryside round Hook Norton.

Nik wasn't in club colours, so no club championship points (I'm sure he'll cope). 

Any missed jokers, please let me know.

PS John won the wine, and has finally produced his report, which follows the results.

A wet night at Chipping Norton, which may explain the slightly lower ERR turnout of 29 runners out of 257 overall.

The results don't mention Esther, but I'm pretty sure that she ran, so will update when I know her time.

Update (11/8): The Court of Arbitration for Sport (well, Kidlington Running Club) have agreed that Esther did run, so her time is added.

41 ERR folk took part out of 252 overall, which seems a pretty healthy percentage.

Let me know if anyone played their joker, or if I've put anyone into the wrong league.

I don't remember seeing Laurence in club colours (although I'm happy to be told otherwise), hence no points and the jobsworth hat for me.

Summer finally arrived in time for the 2012 ERR Triathlon, and the return of the mighty Nick Sheard who smashed the course, and with it the club record. Not even David Swann (Witney) who won the event could match Nick on the bike. Hannah Brice was the ERR Ladies winner, despite getting lost on the run, both notable achievements! And Hannah's performance was pivotal in Team Eynsham's besting of Team Witney's big guns. In the handicap competition, Nick Maynard romped home, with Dave Ferrier the top placed tri novice. It was also the best ever turnout from the club, with over 20 ERR representing.

Thanks as ever to the sterling work of all the marshals and helpers who contributed to a great morning of multi-sport mayhem. The Eynsham Roadrunners results are below and full results are on the Triathlon page of the website.

Well done to all those who braved the water jump at Hornton (I've seen the pictures).

At the moment, these results are 'joker-free', so let me know if you played yours.

Update 21/7: Apparently Simon played his joker. 31/7: So did Larry.

Denise won the wine, and her report follows the results.

Some of us were gallivanting in London, slopping about in mud watching the monumentous occasion when Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney were silenced by some London Council.  Others headed north to Hornton to run 6 miles.

It wasn’t raining when we left, but it certainly did while we were heading up there!  The further we travelled the more torrential it got, by the time we reached the single track lanes heading towards the village, there were huge puddles spanning the road, coming half way up the wheels and you could feel the car aqua plane despite five of us in the car.

We arrived, cake is being served, to eat before , after or both? All strategies were covered in some way by different members of the club.

We lined up for the start just before 7pm, the rain had now abated but our official referee, Mr Combover, announced that if it should start again, the race would be abandoned as there was already surplus water on the course that we would have to run through.

So off we toddled, if you haven’t run this race before, it goes up, then down, then up quite a lot, down a bit, up again, then down a lot.  As you reach the top of one hill, you can see the leaders going up the next.  There was one instance of standing water in the road, about 15m long, we divided into those who did and those who didn’t …..run through.   I was going to but the edges looked easier, so I wimped out.

The finish is at the bottom of a very steep hill, apparently only ¼ mile but it felt much longer. There were lots of hands waving in the air and screaming as people hurtled towards the end, out of control, hoping they wouldn’t crash over the wall that met them as they crossed the line.

So the results, Mark Schofield was first Eynsham home;  I was second lady overall, How did that happen?  No one else was there!  Kate got the Kate award.  A special mention to the Johnson family, who had four in attendance and acquitted themselves superbly.  I think maybe the first race for Sasha.

The evening finished in the local pub with two glasses of red to rehydrate.  The journey home was mainly amusing comments fuelled by alcohol, about not much.  Only Jacky our driver was talking sense by then and she didn’t have the ability to pull the plug on the rest of us!

An excellent ERR turnout for a very scenic and friendly race.

First mention has to go to Ben for his magnificent victory in the 5K.

Well done also to Robert, who didn't quite retain his title, but managed a creditable 3rd overall, and to Kate for winning another Kate award.

Larry won the wine, and his report follows the results.

Chiltern Chase – a detective story

Three weeks after I walked off with the raffle prize of a bottle of wine, Graham has just had to remind me that the down-side of the win is the task of writing a race report.  This could be very difficult, as I have forgotten most everything about the day, and am staring blankly at the computer screen wondering where the inspiration is going to come from.

Well, having checked the ERR website, I see it happened on Sunday 10 June.  This has already brought back one memory – it was June’s birthday and I don’t suppose I should have been racing anyway.  So, after apologising to June for the cock-up, she reminded me that she had been out all day anyway at an Oxford Gospel Choir workshop.  Phew – got away with that one then!

Next key fact was that it was a 10K race, which in old money is about 6.2 miles, so for me that was quite a long distance for 2012.  Let’s refer to the other ‘aide memoire’, my running database.  Yes, now I’ve struck gold.  It was a club Championship race, for both Long and Short Leagues.  The weather was apparently bright but humid, and I got round it in 52 mins 14 secs – more than 6 minutes slower than last year, and not quite a Personal Worst over that distance.  I recorded that my knees apparently did not complain during the race, but about 10 minutes afterwards, the left one seized up completely and very painfully.

Another memory jogged – we had been heading for the tea tent at the time of my medical crisis, and kind-hearted Kate made me stand still while she fetched the tea.  Quite a few ERRs around I remember.  According to the results there were 23 of us who enjoyed what was a majestic course scenically, with wide sweeping vistas of cornfields, meadows, and beechwoods.   Robert had had strict orders from his son to win another case of Rouse’s honey, but only went home with a couple of jars this time, as he took nearly one and a half minutes longer in much better running conditions.  Interestingly, the statistics on the website show that the entire bunch of runners took rather longer than last year. 

Did I mention the fun run, over a 5k course very similar to the main event?  Our rising young star, Ben Thomas, ran a blinder, coming in first as a Junior, with nearly a clear half minute between himself and the second runner.  Hopefully, he went home with some honey after that magnificent result.

And finally, the excellent race organisers used the Racemaster software to publish the results, and one of the really interesting aspects of it is that it automatically produces a percentage score which makes allowances for age and gender.  We should all be very proud that Queen Kate achieved the highest score, so on a level paying field basis, she was the day’s winner of the 10K.

Larry Poole

Not being there means that I have no idea of any jokers played, or if anyone has recently entered the short league.

So, if I've missed you, then please let me know.

Thanks to all those who ran or helped out in any way in what was the most well-attended ERR handicap race in years.

The age groups are based on ages at the start of the year. Also, for newcomers with no previous 'form' then, rather than guess, we didn't set a handicap time. Think of it as setting a marker for next year.

Anyway, well done to Reem for winning overall, and to the various category winners (all marked in italics).

Juniors first:

Then adults, in finishing order:

Well done to Robert and Denise for giving Eynsham a clean sweep at Thornborough. A pity that they decided to hold a clandestine presentation ceremony, but hopefully the trophies will be coming our way soon. Well done also to Mark on another PB.

Update (11/5): apparently Derek played his joker. Suppose we had better take his word for it...