Results

Welcome to cross country debutants Olga and Sally, who were both apparently still smiling afterwards, which is more than some of us managed.

Best excuse of the day: Ben B, who was caught up in Eurostar delays (excuse accepted).

Worst excuse of the day: Jane, who had a hangover (excuse not accepted - when was the last time Jane ran without one?)

Overall the men's and ladies' teams were both 5th in their respective 2nd divisions. There were 131 competitors in the ladies' race and 222 in the men's.

A very healthy turnout, lured by a 'healthy' breakfast.

A reminder that jokers are played in the last race if they haven't already been, and you must have declared yourself to be in the Short League for points to be awarded, hence a few zeroes.

Here are today's results, and the Club Championship/Short League tables have also been updated.

Eynsham 9 mile/6mile Report

(by Denise Bridges) 

So I sit here on the sofa, in mellow mood after a successful Eynsham 10k, several glasses of red to the better.  Graham is tending the wood burner and James Bond is on the telly,  things are as they should be.  I start to reminisce about the race last week, mainly because I have an obligation to write something about it having been handed the winning bottle of red on Wednesday  and what a fantastic race is was...(ah the blur of alcohol).

The final race of our club championship , advertised by the race organiser as a full monty breakfast with a run attached to encourage members out and this certainly worked as over 40 of us descended on the Queens to enjoy a  crisp and clear morning run to compliment our protein feast.

[Sean Connery has just crashed through a few walls and defeated  a baddy by smacking him with a statue...that hardly seems fair...and now he’s just triggered a 1960’s alarm....man can’t be trusted.]

Anyway, I digress, things were tight at the top of three of the championships, Katherine had already secured the ladies long league title, but the others still needed to be contested.

Men’s long league first, Graham had led for most of the season and is the only individual to compete in every club championship race this year, however, if Robert turned up and won, all his effort would be in vain.  There were several conversations beforehand about how Robert could be knobbled, but in the end, Robert shot off in the front and was never caught though Daffyd could see him most of the way.

[Mr Bond is now sneaking round a harbour and has been accosted by a gang of dockers with big spanners and chains, how will he escape? By manfully  flooring each one of them while jumping from roof, to roof, then jumping over the edge on to some strategically placed cardboard boxes..only to be clumped from behind whilst straightening his tie...schoolboy error.]

Men’s short league, it’s been nip and tuck for most of the season, but Mark Scholfield made a tactical error by agreeing to perform a Cha Cha Cha in a school performance, (job: teacher),  rather than take part in one of the motivation races and effectively handed Jim Hutchins the title.  Though Jim had his distractions, such as his wedding and then injury, he just needed to turn up and complete the course.  Mark battled it out with Ralph for honours and they were nip and tuck all the way until Mark took a tumble and Ralph romped home in a time that has raised awareness of his ability to the point that he will no longer be able to take it easy!

[Graham has changed the channel and put the tennis on, no more Bond, Nadal is about to level the game with Federer,one set all.]

Ladies short league, Anne has been distracted by moving house a long way away, and so hadn’t been seen for a couple of months, but like Jim, just needed to complete the course to take the title.  Jane Bishop was in second, with Natalie and Marisa close behind. .. speculation beforehand suggested that if Natalie could challenge Anne, she might be able to upset the balance, but as it was, Natalie could be heard ‘chatting’ to Gemma as they climbed the big hill and Anne claimed the race victory and so the title.  More can be expected from Mrs Dawson in the very near future. 

[Federer has broken Nadal in the third set, another Federer victory looks inevitable.]

After the races had been won and lost, the Queen’s coped admirably with the preparation of 40 meals even when our local councillor demanded tea from our hosts whilst they were upto their eyeballs in fried eggs and black pudding.

Well done to the ladies of Team Marisa for completing a tough course and it was good to see their supporters out in force.  Congratulations to Marisa for staying in front of her protégés, though I suggest hill work may be unavoidable to maintain her status of deity in the eyes of her followers.

So the red wine has made me sleepy, Federer has just won and Graham wants the computer, and so I sign off this report with a congratulations to all those winners and let’s do it again next year...but maybe not so cold...or muddy...in fact do we have to do the run bit?

A fine ERR turnout for the first cross country of the season, with quite a few newcomers and the odd blast from the past.

This left Eynsham Ladies 9th in Division 2, and the newly-promoted men 6th in Division 2.

There were 174 competitors in the ladies' race, and 298 in the men's.

Congratulations to Nik Roberts who ran the Marlow Half Marathon Sunday 7th November on a course that is hilly.  Comments found on Runners World website include: 

• "Hills that humble the best of legs. Downhills to get your quads burning and uphills to challenge your mettle! "
• "Undulating country roads with great views across open fields for the next 11 miles, with the challenge of a couple of really steep ascents and descents to sap your legs and remove any pressure to try for a PB.  "
• "Very demanding race. I know it was going to be hilly, but it seemd that the course was 75% uphill - the downward sections were steep and wrecked my knees. "

Nik's comments? 

"For completeness of the public record, not because I'm proud of the time...I completed Marlow Half yesterday in 2:18:01 (call it 2 hours?).  Bloody hard work.

I'm about to sign up for Stratford marathon next year, so will need to do some real training at some point (probably about 3 weeks before the event, on current form)."

(Webmaster comments: reckon 4 weeks would do it.)

On October 17th various club members travelled far and wide (and to Abingdon) to take part in a variety of events. Here are the results that we know of, please let me know if I've missed any.

Amsterdam Marathon

Amsterdam Half Marathon

Cardiff Half Marathon

Abingdon Marathon (unofficial, as the website still isn't working)

Blenheim Rotary 10k

Hogweed Muggles

(a 15.9 mile offroad experience)

An excellent turn-out at Hanney, and the fast course and conditions led to a few PBs. Let me know if I've missed any, or any jokers.

Another smallish ERR turnout on a pretty wet and windswept day at Cricklade. Well done to Robert for his vet prize and for finishing 10th overall. Jim's time was apparently his slowest for a half marathon by about 20 minutes but earned him the much-prized Short League point, which was the idea.

A pleasant day and toughish course round Blenheim, which seemed to appeal to the ERR endurance specialists, if not too many others. Well done to Kate for being the first LV55 home.

Race report (by Graham)

This race doesn't seem to have the greatest reputation among club members, with most people just commenting about hard it is. Maybe that's why there were only 7 from ERR lining up among the 180 starters. Those 7 included ultra distance specialist Nick Sheard making his club championship debut for the year, and Kevin 'another week, another marathon' Dawson making a rare appearance at a shorter distance.

In the event, I quite enjoyed the race. The lap of Blenheim has a few inclines (let's not call them hills), but it's a grand setting and traffic-free, apart from the odd bemused tourist. Kevin overtook me at the start of the second lap (perhaps encouraged by Natalie's cheers), but I managed to overtake him again before the third lap, and hung on from there. Nick was third back, followed by Hugh, on what was home territory for him. Denise led the ladies home, followed Kate on her way to another Kate award, and fellow marathon trainer Becky, who managed to finish the race looking as if she was just about to start it. 

So I don't know why it's quite so unpopular with the Eynsham folk. Perhaps we should put it in the fixture list again next year...