News
The next big local road race of the season was the Eastleigh 10km which was held this Sunday. This time last year the race was cancelled due to snow, this year could not have been more different. A dry, sunny morning made for perfect running conditions and this was reflected in some absolutely stellar performances from our amazing runners with 6 of the 9 runners getting new PBs. Write-up(s) will be in next week’s edition. Here are the results:*42:40 – Tom L
*42:46 – James
*43:20 – Colin B
48:04 – Lynn M
*48:50 – Sarah H
*49:40 – Catherine W
*56:43 – Simon M
58:59 – Glenna G
1:09:53 – Simon B
* indicates PB
Meanwhile we were being represented in London by Anna H at the London Landmarks Half. As with Eastleigh conditions were good for running and Anna smashed it out of the park running a 12 minute PB of 1:42:22
This week we had 17 Fit Clubbers running at 3 different parkrun venues. There were 15 at Winchester, Kathy at Chippenham and Trish finished her tour down under at Willoughby parkrun!!
Highlights were PBs for Jenny, Alice, Simon, Kathy and Alf, well done guys!
Alf completed his 40 in 40 challenge for Macmillan, Glenna was running her 350th parkrun and I was running my 100th at Winchester, so there was plenty of cake
Here is the consolidated parkrun club report:
Thursday 21st Training Session - Flat Top Pyramid Session
This week we met at River Park Leisure Centre and there were 16 runners joining Coach James for a pyramid session, albeit one with a flat top. The weather was perfect and fairly mild for the time of year. We welcomed young, but speedy, Alfie Rodway into the group for his first session.
After a short warm-up jog up the hill we found ourselves at Courtenay Road. From here the intention was to start with shorter sprints and work our way up to the longer intervals and then back down. Each sprint had a jog recovery in between. The intervals were as follows:
15 sec30 sec45 sec1 min1 min 30 sec2 min2 min1 min 30 sec1 min45 sec30 sec15 sec
After the session we jogged back down the hill for a post run stretch and chat.
It was lovely evening and it was great to see everyone working so flippin’ hard!! Thank you all for your hard work and dedication during the sessions.
Next week we will be meeting at the South Winchester park and ride at 7pm for the last of the Winter sessions! Bring on the light evenings and the opportunities that brings!
Race Reports
Reading Half By Sharon Smith
It was a bright but chilly morning when Anne picked me up for the drive to Reading. I was very pleased of her heated seats and even after a drive-thru Costa stop it was a struggle to get out of the car into the cold. We were advised to park by 8:30 so we had plenty of time as we got on the bus to the stadium. I thought the top of the stadium would be a good spot for some obligatory photos, not realising Simon had a fear of heights. Sorry Simon! After a wobbly decline we parked ourselves in the sunshine to have some food and watch the finish of the kid's race.
After more toilet stops than I could even count we finally put our warm layers in the bag drop and set off, shivering, to the start. It was a 10-15 minute walk to the start line but once there, Anne and I quickly found the 2'10 pacer and she informed him we'd be sticking to him like glue. Famous last words...
Soon we were off and the 1st mile passed pleasantly enough. As we passed the 1 mile marker the pacer announced we were 5 seconds over and we needed to make up time. Then he was off! As we started to drop behind Anne and I checked our watches. We were doing 9'25 minute miles uphill so didn't feel the need to try and catch up. "As long as we can see him" Anne said, I agreed. A few minutes later we were doing just over 9 minute miles but there was no sign of him. I'd love to be able to report how the rest of his race went but I didn't see again until after the finish!
Just after mile 5 I made a toilet stop but insisted Anne went on ahead. While queuing the 2'15 pacer passed me and I was starting to worry I wasn't going to make my target time. Renewed after my pit stop I tried to make up a bit of time, a mistake I would pay for in the last few miles.
Reading definitely can't be described as a pretty route, unless you like business parks and dual carriageways. What it lacks in aesthetics though it definitely makes up for in crowd support. The majority of the course had some spectators cheering and giving out sweets and drinks. I do love an amusing placard to distract me from my pain! On top of this there were several great bands on the course which really help to lift the spirits.
As we reached mile 10 there was not a lot that could raise my spirits. I was paying for my slightly enthusiastic pace earlier on and I'd had enough. The next hill finished me off and I had to start adding in some walk breaks. The last mile or so is an endless dual carriageway down to the stadium which you can just see in the distance but never seemed to get any closer. Then up the hill to finish in the stadium. A great place to finish but I was beyond caring and just wanted it over by then.
I was very pleased to be reunited with Anne and then Rachel and her amazing time. I was even more pleased to get back to the heated seats and large stash of snacks in the car!
Despite there being some big celebrations at Winchester I had already organised to meet my Sister, Carly, and Niece, Chloe at Mountbatten School parkrun near Romsey. This is a new parkrun this being only the third event.
The pre-run briefing explained that the course was 3 laps all off-road and quite a convoluted route by all accounts, so I just decided to follow the person in front!
After the normal briefings we set off. I started running with my sister but soon decided to push on and so pushed my pace a little. The laps were as follows…
After a short section on the main playing field you rounded a tree and headed down a tree lined avenue, before going round a tee at the far end and running back up the outside of that avenue. You then skirted around the outside of a school building before going into a small wooded section. Here the main danger was the uneven ground and tree roots. You continued on this path for a while, along the back of some houses, before coming back out onto to main field. A left turn took you down to a second woodland section, which was muddy and twisted and turned through the woods. Another turn and we found ourselves on a path that bordered the main field. This again had loads of tree roots to avoid. Another turn and we were on the worst section of the course, a sloping section of muddy uneven ground where one foot was lower than the other! This went on forever, but in reality was just over 200m long. One last turn and you were back at the start/finish. This was repeated 3 times.
After finishing I ran an extra lap with my niece to see her safely into the finish.
I must say that although the volunteers and other runners were lovely the course itself was not the best I’ve ever run. It was hard to get any rhythm into the running, it was very uneven and in the end very repetitive. The camber section was really horrible to run on, especially with my ankles the way they are! Although cross country is normally good fun, this was not as enjoyable as it could’ve been. Not a parkrun I’ll be rushing back to anytime soon.
New Year Running Challenge - Week 11
Update to follow....Awaiting final results
Update to follow....Awaiting final results
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
The race calendar is now stored here: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/race-calendar-2019-and-beyond.html
Race Kit
The full range of kit available to purchase and instructions on how to order can be found in the following link: https://wfcrunners.blogspot.com/2019/01/kit-details-and-prices.html
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