WFC Runners: WFC Runners - Tough Mudders, parkrun, race reports

News

It’s been another amazing week for the Winchester Fit Club Runners.

Firstly we had Simon E completing Tough Mudder on Saturday. This is a nearly 10-12 mile obstacle course which is basically a cross country run where you have to clamber over and under obstacles, through mud, water and ice. You get burned and electrocuted and battered and bruised. There is also nearly 1,400ft of climb to navigate. It took Simon nearly 4 hours to complete the course and gain the fabled orange headband. A superb effort.

Then on Sunday we had Charlotte W running the Ageas Bowl 10km. Charlotte has been on excellent form recently over 5km and this translated well over the longer distance. The race was paced superbly well and Charlotte managed to clock a stunning 44:29.
Please see next week’s blog for write ups from both Simon and Charlotte!

Aside from the racing we had another great week at parkrun. We had 14 runners representing us at 4 different venues. Glenna was at Cheltenham, Lynn at Tooting, Tom at Eastville and 11 of us at Winchester.

There was some cracking running at Winchester with 5 of the 11 runners clocking PBs. Conditions were perfect for running and this was reflected in some fantastic times. Simon M (28:04), Jenny (26:50) and Anna (23:32) all ran all time 5km PBs and Rachel (25:31) and Ben (24:07) ran course PBs for Winchester.

This week saw the runners return to Barfield Close for another superbly structured interval session. 4 reps of 30s, 60s and 90s sprints with short rest periods in between really tested the runners physically.

22 Fit Clubbers, including two new team members, turned out for the session and were superb with their hard work, dedication, speed and endurance.

Read all about it here: http://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2018/09/wfc-runners-27th-september-session.html

Congratulations to everyone who ran this weekend and thank you to all who came on Thursday. Here are some write-ups from last week's Winchester and Disney Halfs!

Winchester Half by Tom Laessing

A late decision to enter the Winchester half (3 days before) meant I joined the group including Philippa, Charles, Rachel, Karen and Steve all nervously checking the forecast hoping the monsoon like conditions predicted for Sunday would magically disappear. It was chucking it down as we registered in the Guildhall and then bumped into the friendly faces of Lynn and Mr Fit Club Mike who were helping out with the finish.

As late a possible the WFC team braved the elements and made our way to the start line, pleasantly surprised the rain had eased somewhat. It was a ‘sociable’ start meaning we accidentally placed ourselves next to the 2 hr 25’ pacers, so it took nearly 3 minutes just to get over the start line. Then we were off, out of town and up the first (of a few) hills.

After 1 mile we were greeted to a good old WFC cheer on from coach James & his entourage at the top of James’s Lane. The gentle incline carried on up Romsey Road to top out after about 4km. All that hard work was then rewarded with a lovely flat cruise through Standon into Hursley and the 10km check point, at one point the sun even made a cheeky appearance! So far so good as the WFC team found their natural positions in the field.

With much needed water and jelly babies taken on board it was then time to turn for home. This did mean the wind was now full on in our faces but morale was still high. After a few more gentle miles we were then hit with the hill into Oliver’s Battery. Get over this and it’s all down hill from here – was the call from encouraging local supporters. Whilst not 100% factually correct, the support was certainly gratefully received.

Once summited we wound our way up and down through Badger Farm before flattening out into Five Bridges road and the nice level cruise past St Catherine’s Hill. Mike and Anna were cheering on at mile 12 giving a perfectly timed push for the last mile or so back to the high street and finish. Considering the weather it was brilliant to see so many people lining the final few hundred meters, all hugely encouraging.

Medals received, pictures taken, stories exchanged and bananas scoffed we left feeling happily exhausted. Having never run longer than a 10k event before, I found it a really good fun day. Absolutely yes it was a challenge (perhaps a bit more preparation next time wouldn’t go a miss) but the atmosphere both on and off the course really helps you through.

A massive thank-you to everyone who turned out in support, well done to Charles for an amazing top 50 finish and to all the gang for such a great effort. I’ll be back next year…fancy it?!

Disneyland Paris Half by Sarah Horton

Apologies in advance if some parts of this entry are a little cheesy!

Last week I completed the Disneyland Paris half marathon. For want of a better word it really was magical! My friend used to work in the Florida Disneyland and, having seen how fun the runs over there were, persuaded me to join her in Paris. Feeling terribly guilty for going to Disneyland without my two girls, we boarded the plane on Saturday morning from Heathrow. After a short 45 minute flight and 10 minute train ride we arrived at the parks. Our first job was to check into our hotel. We had decided to stay in the hotels just outside of the park which you can access easily with a free 10 minute shuttle bus.

We stayed in the Explorers hotel which had a nautical theme. The parent guilt got worse when I realised that our hotel had the most amazing swimming pool complete with pirate ship which I knew the girls would love. I shook it off pretty quickly and we headed back towards the parks to collect our bibs and race details.

I was extremely impressed with the organisation of the Run Disney events tent and expo. Considering the number of people competing in the runs from all over the world, it was really well managed. We picked up our bibs and tshirts and had some photos. We decided to buy a photo pass to capture as much of the day as possible which for two people was reasonably priced.

The rest of the evening consisted of a huge pasta dinner and an early night.

Our alarms sounded at 4:45am and bleary eyed, we went down to a breakfast buffet (the hotel put a special earlier breakfast on over the race weekend.) The transfer bus picked us up at 5:50am. It was certainly surreal that early in the morning being surrounded by so many people dressed up. The winner was the French guy in full Maleficent costume complete with make up!

The atmosphere at the start of the race was incredible. With laser beams, loud music and crowds of people it felt more like we were on a night out than at the start of a half marathon! It was the year of the villains so Cruella DeVil came on stage and sent us off.
The run started at Walt Disney studios and it was amazing running through the empty park. There was so much to take in so time flew by. Before we knew it we were by the gates which was where we spotted the first character - Gaston. The queue was short so we stopped and waited - it was great to have an excuse to stop! After a quick photo we were off again towards the magic kingdom and the iconic castle.

It was here we spent the longest time nailing the WFC jumping shot! We really enjoyed running round this park and stopped off for a few more characters along the way including Hook and the wicked queen from Snow White. Feeling very relaxed ( as we had only done about 6km in total) we headed towards the exit of the park. As we exited, it suddenly dawned on us that we now had to step up a gear and do actually do some continuous running!

The route was lovely and flat. Despite there being long stretches of road, the entertainment was great with bands and cheerleaders along the route. There were water stations almost every 3km which really helped. We passed through a lovely village and round a lake before heading back towards the parks. On our final stretch we ran through two of the hotels and then backstage on the studio tours ride to reach the finish line. By now the parks were open so there were cheers and hoots as we ran through where Mickey Mouse waited to greet us and hand over the medals.

I can honestly say I really enjoyed every second of this run. With no pressure to meet a time but instead, an opportunity to soak up a very happy atmosphere, it was certainly a run I can recommend. Plus the medal is awesome!

General Announcements

WFC parkrun Club

Winchester Fit Club Runners is set-up as a club with parkrun. If you go into your profile (there is a link to it on the parkrun results email and newsletter email) you can select your club. Change yours to Winchester Fit Club Runners and you will appear in the consolidated club report that we get each week.

WFC Runners WhatsApp Group

There is a WFC Runners WhatsApp chat group where we generally just wang on about running, races and cake. If you are not already part of this then please get in contact with Coach James or Coach Mike who will add you.

WFC Runners Strava Club

If you are a Strava user there is a Winchester Fit Club Runners club page. This can be accessed here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/WFC-Runners. Request to join and we will approve!

Booking onto sessions

Booking onto our training sessions enables the coaches to plan the session accordingly. You can book on in the following location: https://winchesterfitclub.simplybook.it/v2/

Race Calendar

Here is an updated race calendar. If you have any others that you wish to add, please let me know!