WFC Runners: WFC Runners - Clarendon write-ups and parkrun news

News

I guess there's only one place to start with this week's news and that is with the London marathon ballot. As with previous years there was a massive amount of interest with over 400,000 people applying for the 25,000 or so places (a 1/16 chance basically). We had a large number of runners apply through the ballot and last week was when they all found out.

As we went through the day on Monday, news starting filtering out and for the majority it was a firm NO. There was a brief bit of excitement when we thought One R has got in, but it turned out to be a practical joke. Then mid afternoon we got the news we were waiting for...one of us had been successful. the lucky person? Rachel Mills! This was shortly followed up by Shelly Oswald letting us know that she had also been successful. This is fantastic news as a number of running clubs I am aware of had no-one successful through the ballot.

In addition to Rachel and Shelly we also have Mikaela who got in through good for age, Anne who has a charity space and Charlotte W who deferred last year. I can't wait to follow their journeys and see how they get on.

This week we had a number of members racing at a number of different races. Firstly on Saturday we had Simon Wendy Holman and dog Arthur running The Muddy Dog Challenge at Battersea. It's an obstacle course challenge that you run with your pooch. They had a great time and Arthur really enjoyed his post-race bath.

Then on Sunday we had Glenna running the Goodwood 10km and Lynn running Royal Parks Half Marathon.

The Goodwood 10km is 2 and a half laps of the iconic motor racing circuit. It was a horrible day with heavy rain and wind making for tough running conditions however this didn't stop Glenna recording a superb time of 58:34 and winning her age category! Absolutely inspirational running from Glenna.

Also running through the rain was Lynn at the Royal Parks half marathon. This central London Half Marathon, takes in some of the capital's world-famous landmarks on closed roads, and four of London's eight Royal Parks - Hyde Park, The Green Park, St James's Park and Kensington Gardens. As with Glenna, Lynn wasn't deterred by the rain and managed an amazing time of 1:48:35, a PB for the half. Superb running Lynn.

Look out for next week's blog where there will be write-ups of all three of these races!

This week's Thursday session saw the runners taking on a classic 12 x 1 minute interval session along Peterfield Road in Highcliffe. Despite the miserable weather earlier in the day it was a cracking evening for running and the runners smashed it out of the park!

Read about it here: http://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2018/10/wfc-runners-thursday-11th-session.html

Next week's session will be meeting at Abbey Gardens at 7pm. Mike D will be leading the warm-up and start of the session as I am at parent's evening. I hope to be along later to join you, traffic depending.

This week was unique for Fit Club at parkrun...there were no PBs! There was a great turnout though, considering the weather which was wet and windy right up to the start of the run! We had 11 of us at Winchester and Allen and Catherine at Lowestoft parkrun (the most easterly parkrun in the UK). At Winchester we had a number of runners all within 20 seconds of their PBs, these were Tom, Steve and Matthew. At Lowestoft Allen ducked under the 21 minute mark with a 20:44 and Catherine was only 20 seconds shy of her PB despite a tight bum (her words).

Other notices

The Running Club constitution and Committee Roles and Responsibilities have now been drafted and are available for review. Any feedback, please send to wfcrunners@gmail.com!

Club Constitution: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HbPzBfiWkwyu26h25Ymlbn6wFFtHwR1y

Roles and Responsibilities: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d1IxRQnN3kHn8DLVUbLbFAgJk8RW-2DS

The running club on the 1st November will be a Halloween fancy dress social run with all proceeds going to Anne's London Marathon charity, Leonard Cheshire (https://www.leonardcheshire.org). Following the run we will be heading to Number 5 Bridge Street where Anne will also be selling cakes for your consumption (possibly accompanied by a drink). In addition we will be holding the formal Running Club AGM where we will vote on going affiliated!

The Naomi House Santa Fun Run is being held 2nd December this year. Last year we had a huge turn out from Fit Club and it looks like it'll be the same this year so get booked on early! https://www.naomihouse.org.uk/events/448-santa-fun-run

The Southampton Marathon and Half 2019 has changed it's date to the 5th May due to planned roadworks on the original date. Note; this now no longer clashes with the London Marathon!

There are a number of 2019 races now open for entry:

Stubbington 10km: It is being held on the 13th January 2019 and you can enter here: http://stubbingtongreenrunners.net/index.php/10k

Romsey 5: It is being held on the 27th January 2019 and you can enter here: http://offbeat-events.com/event/romsey-5-mile-run/

Winchester 10km: It is being held on the 24th February 2019 and you can enter here: http://offbeat-events.com/event/winchester-10km-road-race/

Eastleigh 10km: It is being held on the 24th March 2019 and you can enter here: https://www.fullonsport.com/event/hendy-eastleigh-10k-2019/profile

Other Fit Club Dates

October 31st - Hump Day HIIT Halloween Special, 7pm
November 4th - Fit Club Coffee Morning
December 2nd - Christmas Jumper Social - Slug and Lettuce, 2pm
December 7th - Fit Club Christmas Party - The Willow Tree 6:30pm

Clarendon Way Marathon by Eric Woodward

Last Sunday a few of us came together to run the Clarendon marathon. This event means a lot to me as we run it in memory of my son as part of a Run4George group raising money for some lovely charities. This year we had 10 people made up of friends and family, which made it a great occasion.

The start line is in a Wyvern college playing field at Laverstock near Salisbury. The event is all very well organised, and an easy ‘Ready, Steady, Go’ is called out before we all set off across the field and into the Wiltshire countryside. This year the weather gods were on our side with bright blue sky and plenty of sunshine and made the first half of marathon actually very pleasant. Yes there are some hills but they are not too long or arduous and the views were lovely. We even found plenty of time to take a selfie or two!

Once we hit the midway point and run through Broughton, however, it all gets much tougher. The views are still lovely but this but long gentle hills mixed with some long steep ones! It’s an ongoing uphill climb from Kings Somborne to Farley Mount and by the third large hill almost everyone was walking. Thankfully drink stations (with tasty flapjacks) are aplenty throughout the route and once you’ve hit Farley Mount a wonderful buzz hits us as we knew we were on the home straight. Just another 9k to go and Kings School in Winchester would be in our sight.

The finish line was awash with supporters and the sense of achievement you have from completing the run is fantastic. That’s part of the reason why I am back year after year J. If you are after a challenge and enjoy the wonderful views this part of the world has to offer then Clarendon is definitely for you.

Clarendon Way Half Marathon by Steve Lucas

The annual Clarendon Way marathon took place this week, which included a number of races including the full marathon from Salisbury to Winchester, half marathon from Broughton to Winchester and 5 miler from Farley Mount to Winchester. There is also a marathon 4-section relay.

A number of Winchester Fit Club members took part including a “Run for George” team raising money for “Remember my baby”. I am new to the club but following the race I saw, Glenna, Trish & Fran who all took part in the marathon relay.

The route is incredibly scenic with some amazing countryside views, made all the better by what felt like summer weather despite being October! It’s certainly not a marathon where you can expect to get a PB. The terrain and hills were brutal. Having looked at the ‘map my run’ app following the race, it started at roughly 30m and end up at roughly 140m above sea level (with a peak of 170m!).

What I loved about the Clarendon Way marathon is how it is not commercialised in any way. It is also really well run by the Rotary club. Thank you to the organisers, especially to the marshals who kept encouraging us. It was also great to see parkrun legend Pom Pom Sue on the route!

Next year’s race is on the 6^th October.

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!

Great South Run - 21st October

http://www.greatrun.org/great-south-run

Hayling 10- 4th November 2018

http://www.havantac.co.uk/hayling-10/

Gosport Half - 18th November

http://www.gosporthalf.org

Victory 5 - 2nd December 2018

http://www.athleticevents.co.uk/page2.html

Stubbington 10km - 13th January 2019

http://stubbingtongreenrunners.net/index.php/10k

Ryde 10 - 3rd February 2019