Results

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...

Well done to Katherine and Kate for winning their categories. Tony won the wine and his report follows the results.

“I’m so nervous” said Jane. “Why on earth are we doing this?” I said. These were our first words on the morning of the Witney 10. “What do we have for breakfast before a race? I fancy poached eggs on toast like a normal Sunday” said Jane. “I guess its back to honey on toast” I said. “But I fancy bacon followed by reading the paper in the conservatory”

You should have guessed by now that we weren’t all that enthusiastic about this run, in fact we were getting quite worried. We were really looking forward to it all through the week, but on race day it all fell apart. It had been so long since our last race, so why on earth did we choose the Witney 10? All those hills to enjoy – don’t think so!

How many of the new kids on the block will beat us? Don’t care we agreed. Let’s have another cup of tea before we go, and another 3 trips to the loo for Jane.

We packed our bags, not even remembering what to put in them for race days. Are there showers? Do they still go to the pub afterwards I thought? “I’m going anyway” I said “Get me a half of lager” said Jane “ ‘cos I’m coming as well” I knew she would, didn’t you?

What about the run? All went much better that we had hoped for – we finished! No walking! None of those elite women we have in the club these days (who seem to be having pb’s in every race) beat me, what a relief, but don’t tell them I was worried about them, otherwise they will try even harder next time. Not sure we would be able to walk the next day though!

No need to put the lights on in the house anymore, as the T shirts they gave us after the race are bright enough to light up the whole of Freeland!

Yes, before you ask, we did go to the pub – some things will never change – I hope!

276 finishers at the last Motavation of the season. Well done to Kate for winning the LV55 category and to Jacky for finishing 2nd in the LV45. Any jokers played, please let me know.

As some of you may be aware, Dan Talbot-Ponsonby, and Marie & Ben Chuilon cycled this year's Etape du Tour in the French Pyrenees on 18 July 2010. A short snippet of their report will feature in the next newsletter but to read it in full please click here.

Well done to Robert for finishing 9th overall, to Kate for winning the Kate Award, and to Dafydd for letting the organisers know that he had taken Jim Hutchins' number, as otherwise 'Jim' would have won the V50 title.

Mark S won the wine and his report follows the results.

Sunday morning was unseasonably sunny as the club headed north for the second time in a week, Denise quipping that we may as well have stayed up after the Chippy Motavation and made a weekend of it. There were certainly some tired legs, not to mention a full complement of the usual runners’ infirmities. Ian’s vocal support kept our spirits up as we tackled a scenic six miles around Hook Norton. The three mile lap, was undulating first time round, yet had become positively hilly by the second. Not that it seemed to bother Robert, who came in 9^th overall, nor Kate who collected the V55 prize. Lesley cruised to maximum points in the Long League, and Sheila showed her Short League competitors a clean pair of heels. Jim’s absence due to a prior commitment was exploited  by some joker. (He won’t be getting married on a race day again in a hurry). The reward for our efforts? A fetching T-shirt in slimming black, and a goody bag. Just a pity they weren’t giving away the local ale.