This week was a big weekend for the Runners with good representation at both the Alreford and Eastleigh 10kms, as well as Simon H running at the London 1 hour race and Glenna running at the Richmond 10km.
There were some fantastic performances with a number of the team running the 10km distance for the first time (Tom, Alex and Simon B). We also had PBs for Lynn at Eastleigh and for Philippa G and Rachel at Alresford. Simon H ran an excellent 6.1 miles in London and Glenna ran a great 59:25 at Richmond earning her a stunning 73.35% age grading. Next week's blog will cover these races in a little more detail! The runners must be doing something right because we even inspired the boss himself, Mike D, to lace them up and head out for a 5.8km run. We look forward to him joining us one Thursday soon!
Last week's running session was a social run of around 4 miles which took in St Catherine's, the Hockey golf club and the viaduct. Read all about it here: http://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2018/06/wfc-runners-thursday-14th-june-social.html
With Winchester parkrun cancelled only myself, Olivia and Glenna visited a parkrun. Glenna headed down the M3 to Eastleigh and Elsie, Olivia and I headed over to Worthing parkrun (see write-up below).
Endure 24 - Anne Richards
So when my Newbury Girls said to me last summer did I want to join their team for Endure 24 all I heard was team…girls weekend …a bit of a run…snacks …..so obviously being a self confessed FOMO I signed up in a heartbeat. Fast forward to May 2018 in France on holiday it suddenly dawned on me I was doing a relay for 24 hours with 5 mile circuits the panic set in and training started. However still not sure what to expect the Saturday arrived and off I set to Wasing Park, Aldermaston, with a bag of snacks, a few changes of clothes and a sleeping bag tucked under my arm.
Well what ensued after that was just 24 hours of fun. My team had set up camp in a great spot (top tip get there early Friday to get a good pitch). My team was a mixed team of 8 we decided the running order and likely times and all headed up to the start at 12 noon to see our first runner off and the relay had started, what an amazing atmosphere!
I did my first run at about 6pm the nerves kicked as still didn’t know what to expect of a route that has a hill called Heartbreak Hill (hills really are not my forte) and managed to do my first lap in 48 mins which for me is a cracking pace. I then did two more runs one at midnight and then again at 7am.
It’s a great route with music en route, a bar for shots (of the energy kind) and fairy lights in the trees at night. Running at night with a head torch was amazing I loved every step..although I only had to do it once. The organisation of the event was great loads of super clean portaloos and showers and everyone there was just lovely and supportive (Thanks Anna H).
It was amazing to see those who were in solo teams doing as many laps as possible and of course Mike H doing his 10 laps and still looking fresh at the end.
All in all a thoroughly recommended event and can’t wait to do it next year and after all when else can you eat a pork pie and a bacon sarnie for breakfast and not feel guilty!?!
Myself and two uni
friends decided to take on Endure24 last weekend, and I’ve just about caught up
on enough sleep to tell you all about it!
‘Endure’ sees solo
runners, pairs and teams of 3 up to 8 runners all take on the same challenge –
to run as many laps of a 5 mile course as possible in 24 hours. The race starts
at midday on Saturday, and completes at midday on Sunday, with the 5 mile route
taking runners through beautiful trails and forests - at both day and night - within
Wasing Park near Reading.
One of the best things
about Endure is the a really broad range of participants, from 5 minute to 15
minute milers. Experienced ultrarunners (many of who are aiming to join the
coveted ‘100 club’ by running 100 miles
in 24 hours) take part alongside first timers and large groups of friends going
for a ‘camping weekend with a bit of running thrown in’.
Although the three of
us had been running for a while, we’d never done this event before, were
apprehensive about the night-shift in particular, and had no idea what to
expect. Our optimistic aim was to do an average of a lap an hour, or 24 laps /
120 miles as a team over the weekend.
Unfortunately, our
most enthusiastic and ultra-running teammate had to pull out a fortnight before
with a broken rib. Luckily our willing friend Eric stepped in at the last
minute, happy to start his pre-event training at the time most people are
tapering. However, our patched up team of 3 did have one significant advantage,
in that we were very lucky to benefit from a full-time nutritionist, team
psychologist, data analyst and team manager – or Anna for short!
As soon as Anna and I arrived
at Wasing Park it was easy to see why Endure24 calls itself the “Glastonbury of
running”. Although the race starts midday Saturday, many of the 3,000 runners
and their friends, families and supporters choose to arrive on Friday morning
to pitch up and soak up the atmosphere. This was definitely the case when Anna
and I arrived on Friday night. The mood around the campsite was fantastic –
tents as far as you could see in all directions, full of friends catching up under
gazebos and around barbecues.
Saturday and our
remaining teammates soon arrived, and as reward for putting up four tents the
night before I was given the honour of the first lap. One of many nice touches
of the event is the way that a good chunk of the 5 mile route goes right
through the campsite. The noise and cheering from the crowd at the start of the
first lap in particular was incredible, and continued a good way around the
course. The first lap flew by, as I spent most of the first lap discussing
tactics with a man dressed as a giant unicorn.
We soon got into a well-grooved
rhythm of alternating laps across our trio. On a warm afternoon Anna was
excellent at making sure we ate, drank and stretched lots between laps – there
were plenty of chickens being shooed!
Although it sounds
like it risks being repetitive, the route itself is interesting and varied,
with plenty of interesting technical and narrow trail sections, lakes, dense forest,
and a really welcoming water / gel station just over halfway round. My
favourite area though was the VDub Bar – a camper van hosting a perpetual mini-rave
which was a particular highlight to look forward to.
Another amusing
feature of the race is the exchange zone, where several hundred runners
handover the baton to their teammates. How does the incoming runner spot their teammate
in amongst the throng of runners? You can soon spot the teams who have done
this before as they’re the ones manically waving inflatables in the air. It’s a
surreal experience limbering up for your next 5 mile lap, craning your neck to
look for your teammate, in amongst giant inflatable poos, sharks and crutches!
But my favourite part
of the race came when darkness fell. Running along single track forest paths
bordered with fairy lights, and jumping over tree roots lit up by nothing other
than your head torch, are memories that will stay with me for a long time. Was
great to bump into a head torch wearing Anne before one of our night-time laps
too!
Going into the morning
of day 2, getting the right combination of sleep, nutrition and rest was providing
an interesting challenge. I have a vivid memory of being sat in a gazebo at 3am,
semi-awake, trying to calculate the optimal mix of honey sandwiches, cold pizza
and sausage rolls. A couple of hours later, teammate Gary commented about
waking up with a pork pie pressed against his face.
Despite these
challenges, the camaraderie amongst the team was really satisfying. As we
entered the final hours we were amazed that we were not only on track for our
24 lap target, but were actually ahead of schedule, and unlike other teams
hadn’t suffered from any missed runner / oversleeping mishaps. The last few
hours passed in a bit of a blur, but just after midday we all joined our final
runner to run across the finish line together. We ended up doing 29 laps (145
miles) as a team, way ahead of our target, with each of us running either 45 or
50 miles.
The atmosphere in the
event village afterwards was amazing too – full of celebrations of individual
and team achievements. There were some staggering collective team distances,
but for me the most impressive performance of the weekend was by an 88 year-old
runner, who ran 45 solo miles!
If you want to enjoy a
running event with a team, then Endure24 is most probably the event for you.
Its definitely an event I’ll come back to in future years (am sat entering my
team for 2019 as I type this evening!), and I hope to see many other Winchester
Fit Clubbers there too!
Worthing parkrun - Coach James
With Winchester parkrun cancelled I took the opportunity to visit a the fast, flat course at Worthing. It was also their 100th run, so a good chance to celebrate! Olivia has been running really well recently and told me that she wanted to have a go at beating her PB of 29:41 so the Worthing course was the perfect chance to do so.
We arrived early and walked down along the prom towards the start near the pier. The first thing we noticed was that the wind had picked up and was now blowing fairly hard. We discussed tactics and agreed that Olivia would use me and the running buggy as a shield and tuck in behind me when the wind was in our faces (the first 2.5km), and then use the wind to her advantage on the return part of the run.
We met up with a friend and fellow tourist, James, from Poole parkrun and headed over to the start. The night before we had found out that Dame Kelly Holmes would be attending the parkrun. She is a strong ambassador for parkrun and was fantastic on the day. Clearly loads of people had heard as well as there were hundreds of runners at the start.
After the briefings we headed to the start line. Unfortunately with the running buggy we were unable to get forward in the pack and so started right at the back. The race was started by the local town crier and we were off. It took quite a while to get going due to the number of runners but when we got going we soon got up to pace.
The plan was to run each mile faster than the previous and so we started off with a steady 10 minute mile before picking the pace up for the second mile. Olivia tucking in behind me was working well, but I must admit I was finding it hard pushing the buggy into such a strong headwind! Arriving at the turn around point we fond that Dame Kelly had waited to give everyone a hi-five, which was a nice gesture.
When we turned we picked the pace up with the wind really pushing us down the front. Olivia's second mile was 9:10 and we were bang on pace to break her PB. With about three quarters of a mile to go James joined us (having finished in 12th). He helped keep Olivia going and we were soon at the pier with just a few hundred yards to go. Her third mile had been covered in 8:45 and with just the sprint finish to go she was on for a sub-29 minute run and was well inside her PB.
It was here that disaster almost struck. As we rounded the last corner into the park where the run finished we hit a HUGE queue!! The volume of people had overwhelmed the finishing funnel and finishers were backing up in front of the finishing line! Olivia had worked so hard to get her PB so I told her to run down the side of the queue and use her 8 year charms to cross the finish line, rather than waiting.
We had a nervous wait for the results and when they came through that afternoon we found that she had run 29:08...a PB of 33 seconds. I was so proud of her, she worked so hard with her little legs pumping away! It was also the first time that she had run the whole of a parkrun without stopping. She was so chuffed at the end and was beaming from ear-to-ear. We managed to get a quick selfie with Dame Kelly before getting scanned, which was a bonus.
To make things even better there was a kids Harry Potter themed parade which started at the same park where parkrun finished, so we sat in the sunshine and watched it before grabbing an ice cream, looking round the town and heading on home. It was a fantastic morning out, but both girls were obviously a little tired as they slept all the way home! Next week we are in Cheltenham so another tourist trip beckons!
Winchester Half Marathon - Volunteers needed!
Some of you may have seen the post by Lynn on the WhatsApp group about the Winchester Half Marathon needing volunteers for this year's race. The race is on Sunday 23rd September and needs over 300 volunteers to be successful.
By volunteering you get free entry into next year's race.
If you are interested please follow this link: http://winchesterhalf.co.uk/
Race Calendar
Here is an updated race calendar. If you have any others that you wish to add, please let me know!
Baccus Marathon and Half – 9th September
Meon Valley Express 5km, 10km and Half - 16th September
https://www.eventrac.co.uk/listed-races/meon-valley-express
Hursley 10km - 16th September
https://www.hursley10k.co.uk
The Lake Run, Andover 10km and 5km – 16th Septembver
Winchester Half Marathon – 23rd September
Blenheim Palace Half - 30th September
https://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events/runs/blenheim-palace-half-marathon-10k-and-family-fun-run
Ageas Bowl 10km - 30th September
https://www.fullonsport.com/event/the-ageas-bowl-10k/profile
Clarendon Marathon, Half and relay – 7th October
Cardiff Half – 7th October
Goodwood Running Festival 10km and Half - 14th October
http://www.ukrunevents.co.uk/the-running-festival-at-goodwood/
Greenham Common 10km, 5km and Mile - 14th October
http://www.stepup4good.co.uk/?page_id=42
Great South Run - 21st October
Gosport Half - 18th November
http://www.gosporthalf.org
London Landmarks - 24th March 2019
https://www.llhm.co.uk
Endure 24 - 14th-16th June 2019
http://www.endure24.co.uk
As ever, if you have any submissions for the next blog then please send them through to WFCrunners@gmail.com
Happy Running!
Coach James
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Kit pictures and prices
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Kit pictures and prices
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