Results

Thanks to everyone who represented ERR at the Highworth Half, and well done on getting there in the first place, bearing in mind how icy the roads were on Sunday morning. The individual results are below, whilst the team finished in 11th place out of, er, more than 11 (but only just).

There were 131 competitors.

Nice and fresh at Banbury, and the ERR men managed to maintain their lead in Division 3 with 2nd place this time round. Welcome back to Jane after her injury - you must have missed conditions like that.

The ERR women were 7th in Division 2, leaving them 8th overall.

There were 133 competitors in the women's race and 217 in the men's.

(by Katherine)

Well it appears to go like this... you spend almost four years entering nearly every club championship race, spending x amount on entry fees and eventually you just may win that elusive (or is it exclusive ?) bottle of plonk. ( I don't count the only other time I won it as it rolled out of my car boot on arrival at home , thereby disgorging all contents down my drive before I had chance to indulge )...

Ah.. cross country races, don't you just love 'em.....the wet, the cold , wind..and that's just the runners. Actually I do love them, weird as I am. Perhaps it's got something to do with hauling myself over the Lake District fells with my Dad in my distant youth that  brings back a few good memories.

With this race at Culham we had a great turn -out of numbers (nothing to with the fact it counted towards our own championship of course !) , so were sure of full teams for ladies and gents. Checking out the opposition both in our tent and others I could see it would be a tough race but that's supposed to be good, isn't it ?!! Hones the old mental skills, or something like that. Under starters orders and us ladies were warned not to knock over the poor youngster on the bend as he was still struggling around the final lap. Personally, I would have thought he could have got a PB seeing all us lot charging down on him . I didn't actually see him as Denise and Hannah had gone speeding off at Bannister pace and all I could focus on was their heels becoming more fainter by the second. Hey Ho .

Head down and get on with the job in hand...staying upright in a ton of mud that is . All thoughts of good running form are out of the window. Next minute the rush is on to get a good position on the staight narrow bit and I felt my ankles turning  in an unnatural angle to the ground ! Elbows out , that gets rid of a few trying to get past ! ( joking ,of course), Bit more flat straight bit and then don't look up or else your heart does a little flip (sorry that meant to read.. steely determination takes over ) as the two short sharp hills loom. Of course that means there are two downhills, (I didn't go to a grammer school for nothing you know ),and then it hits you that flying down isn't really an option...more like flailing down. How the FUDGE do these fell runners do it ? At the bottom and here we go around again. Whose stupid bloody idea was this anyway to make us delicate ladies run futher this year ? Sadistic B####S ! Moan over with and I look up to see if I could try and reel a few in . Apparently my breathing has been compared to Darth Vader as I try and overtake. I would like to think that is where the comparison ends. Seeing the Finish is always good and especially when I could see my neighbour(Woodstock Harriers) seconds in front. How come the legs don't do that sprint finish that gets practised in speed sessions ? Never mind , I 'll get her next time or the next..... Well done to us all for making that commitment to Team Eynsham. Us ladies are doing really well so it's now up to you chaps to try and catch us us.

A positive PB-fest for the elite group of ERR folk who took part in the 2009 Andy Reading 10k.  Congratulations to Marisa and Elaine for getting under an hour for 10K for the first time, and to everyone else who improved their previous bests. Ian's time, though not a PB, was still over 6 minutes faster than he ran here last year.

Another excellent turn-out from the Eynsham ladies gave them a 5th place in Division 2, while the men survived a few absences to post a decent result and maintain top spot in Division 3.

There were 149 competitors in the women's race and 221 in the men's.

As this was the last event in this year's club championship and short league, jokers were played here if they hadn't been played before.

Another excellent turn-out of runners and marshals, and thanks to whoever booked the weather.

Well done to Robert on shattering last year's course record, and we've added last year's times if you want to compare your performances. Dafydd and Graham H weren't in club kit, which means I don the jobsworth hat once more.

Another enjoyable romp in the mud for all concerned. Hopefully there will be some non-copyright photos that we can add at some point. Anyway, here are the results of the ERR contingent, and well done to Kate on another Kate Award.

An excellent start to the season for both the ladies' and men's teams. Also, well done to Hannah for competing when the weather was still at its worst, and to Tony and Jane for putting the tent up in a howling gale, especially when it took about 8 of us to put it down again.

There were 36 competitors in the U15-U17 girls race, 153 in the women's race, and 263 in the men's. The ERR women are currently 7th in the Division 2, and the men are top of Division 3.

9am, Sunday 11^th October 2009

Following an early Sunday morning start and what seemed like an extra long drive Marie and I finally made it to Henley, to join a queue of traffic. I didn’t realise the event was that big! Once parked up we walked over to the start area, to join a queue for the loo. Well, Marie queued. I, erm... found a quiet spot.

Before we knew it, it was time for the 10k race start. The conditions were good: calm and cool with a bit of sun. The first kilometre, with its gentle downhill, was a doddle, and it was at that point that I remembered someone telling me that going out of Henley meant going uphill for sure, hmmm...

Half a kilometre on I hit a hill, I don’ like those. 10 minutes later I was still going up and it was at point that I remembered reading somewhere that the route has a 2.5 km hill, oh dear.

After what seemed like an eternity (and a bit of walking) I got to the top, hurrah! Gentle slope all the way home? No. The way down was too steep for my liking. I attempted the “Larry shuffle” but I’m clearly a long way off perfecting it as other runners flew by. I’ll have to get some coaching.

The rest of the race just seemed to pass by and the final 2km or so were down but almost flat, my favourite!

As Marie and I walked back to our car we could see half marathoners going past, starting their last 10km, the same 10 we’d just finished. Poor sods...

Well done to all those who raced, especially ½ marathon runners Denise Bridges and Jackie Pinnock for their PBs, and Kate Williamson and Larry Poole for 1st LV60 and 2nd MV60.

The full ERR results are here.

As the PA announcer said beforehand, "Reading Roadrunners are back here to defend their team title, but this year they face competition from Eynsham Roadrunners". Not sure where he got his information from, but the ERR ladies may just have lived up to their billing. The ERR men didn't, despite a fantastic debut in 14th place overall from Robert. Elsewhere there were a couple of excellent PBs on a course that wasn't ideal for such things. If anyone would like to correct their time then please let me know.