This week the only racing was the Questars adventure challenge in Berkshire. As ever Mike and Anna were there but this time they were joined by Shelley and Ben. The adventure race series is a three skill orienteering challenge consisting of kayaking, mountain biking and running over a 6 hour period.
Mike and Anna finished 7th in their category and Ben and Shelley in their category. Considering the heat both teams did superbly well! Congratulations!
parkrun roundup 29th June
This week we had 21 Fit Clubbers running at 3 different parkrun venues. We had 18 at Winchester, Stefan at Birkenhead and Graeme and Kathy at Stratford-Upon-Avon.Due to the searing heat there were no PBs this week however there were some notable runs at Winchester...
Jenny L ran her 50th parkrun! She ran her first parkrun on the 4th August last year in 31:16 and her current PB is 22:19. She has only missed one Saturday since starting. She’s completed 45 runs at Winchester, 3 at Eastleigh, 1 at Andover and 1 at Moors Valley. Next week Jenny will be running at the Eden Project!
We also had coach James running his 250th parkrun. James started parkrunning on the 15th of June 2013 in a time of 23:31 and despite a slow start soon picked up to the point where he has only missed one Saturday since running his 100th parkrun. His PB now stands at 20:58. James has also been a prolific tourist visiting 108 different locations including two in Italy.
Here is a link to the consolidated club report: http://www.parkrun.com/results/consolidatedclub/?clubNum=26888&eventdate=2019-06-29
Thursday Training Session Blue Ball, North Walls, Blue Ball - 27th June
This week we met at Abbey Gardens for a mixed bag session. We welcomed Rosy and Andy into the group for their first sessions with us and 23 others joined a poorly Coach James for the weekly session.
This week was, as previously stated, a mixed bag session consisting of some hills, some mixed length sprints and some more hills. After the warm up we headed to our first location of Blue Ball Hill. Here we did two hard efforts up to the cross roads with jog recovery back down. This really got the legs and lungs working.
Next we headed over to North Walls Rec where we did 4 roughly 100m sprints with a short recovery in between. We then split into 5 teams of 5 of roughly equal ability for some classic sprint relays. Each member had to run roughly 25m, turn and run back before handing over to the next team member until all had run. We did three sets of this (just to annoy Elise). We then did 4 by 15sec sprints with jog recovery in between. Lastly we headed back to Blue Ball hill for two more reps up to the cross roads and back down.
After this we headed back to Abbey Gardens for cool down, stretch and chat.
This Thursday we are at the South Winchester park and ride for more efforts!
Race Reports
The Inaugural Cheriton Trail run – 11 miles – By Sarah G (with assistance from Caroline T)
I booked onto this race having completed the Houghton 11km Trail as I enjoyed Houghton so much and this sounded similar. Of course, I wasn’t really thinking that 11K isn’t the same as 11miles.
Cheriton is a beautiful village and the atmosphere when you arrive is buzzing and welcoming. We registered in the church hall and soon after we were given an informal ‘briefing’. Of course, WADAC were out in full force, colour coordinated and showing off their warm up moves on village green - they even managed to squeeze in a quick lap of the village before the race had started. Everyone seemed to have one of those back packs that feed you water, provide sun cream, sun visors, sun glasses etc. I was horrified to discover how much they cost and wondered if they have anything similar in the centre isle at Aldi? I think we all felt a little underdressed and possibly a little intimidated!
It was great to see other the Fit Clubbers. We saw Alex before the race - having done Endure 24 the week before, his main aim was to get to the finish line before the Flower Pot Beer stand closed. I met Glenna along the way and CT met Al at one of the water stations.
The run was really well organised, very beautiful, hilly and varied. There was just one tiny bit of road, otherwise the entire run was off-road. There was a lovely mix of open meadow, wheat fields (Theresa May would have loved it!), shady woods and hard track. There were four water stops, all of which were plastic free, and I was relieved to find that the third stop had bananas on offer! There were marshals at every turn and their enthusiasm really helped to get me to the finish line.
This was the furthest I had run in a long time and I absolutely loved it. I was a bit delirious towards the end, but was very happy to see my two boys cheer me over the finish line. CT was there with the camera, but fortunately, she was so excited to see me that she failed to actually take a photo! Glenna came in a few minutes later, looking like she hadn’t even broken a sweat.
After the race, we all enjoyed seeing WADAC re-group for their post-race ‘debrief’ as we indulged in wood fired pizza, which was delicious, and very good cake. The beer was tempting, but I don’t think I would have made it home if I had indulged. It took me until late in the evening to realise that my face wasn’t just red from running, but I was also quite sun burned.
My only regret is that CT and I managed to leave our race t-shirts in the village hall, which was locked up by the time we had finished enjoying pizza and ice-cream. I think we’d all recommend the race for next year – perhaps we could give WADAC a run for their money!
Cheriton 11 Mile Trail Race by Glenna G
I wouldn’t normally enter an 11mile run with lots of hills but as it was a local event I thought it would be good training for my forthcoming first marathon in September.
This was a new run organised by Stubbington Green Runners mainly using bridle and footpaths.
Runners were asked to attend a compulsory briefing at 10:15. After this we headed for the start and I placed myself in approximately the middle of the pack. It was initially narrow and with no chip timing for the start we were all going on the gun time. Within a few metres it became very narrow and not easy to pass so most runners walked for a good few minutes before we all had the chance to get running. I didn’t mind a gentle start as we were going straight uphill, which seemed to go on for some time. The weather was getting hotter so the shade was very welcome when we entered some woods.
Dave was at mile 6 with some water ready for me. I was a lone runner at this stage with plenty of people ahead and a few behind but none in sight. He met me again with more water just before the assent of ‘poppy hill’ then, with just over 3 miles to go, I struggled up this hill and was so pleased to get to the downhill section and into the finish. Sarah passed me just after mile 4 and I was able to keep her in my sights for quite some time until that last big hill.
I had hoped to finish in a slightly quicker time than I managed but in the end was just glad to get to the finish. It was great to catch up with Caroline, Sarah, Alex and Ali for a WFC group photo.
I was very surprised to learn later that I had finished 1st in my age group and I now have a very nice trophy and voucher. On looking at the results later, I discovered I was the only one in the 60 - 69 age group!
The event was very well organised with plenty of marshals who were very encouraging and 3 water stops en route. Following the finish we had a very relaxed afternoon with tea, coffee and Flower Pots beer available along with freshly cooked pizza and a BBQ. Although the day was hot and humid it was a glorious run in some lovely countryside without having to travel very far.
Whitchurch 10km – by Alice Smith
The Whitchurch 10k is a multi-terrain run at Testbourne Community School.
I was taking part with my sister Fleur, with my husband and daughter spectating and cheering us on.
On arriving, I was having flashbacks of dreaded cross country PE lessons as you enter a school hall to register and then congregate on the school field. There were a lot of club runners which added to the nerves – and then I remembered I’m technically a club runner too – woohoo! It was fairly basic with nothing but a first aid tent and the start line, but lots of space for families to picnic.
The first 1km is round the school field and then out into the village and into woodland. The trail is then a mixture of crop fields and single paths, and a lot of hills! It was a 2 lap course, and thankfully the route was stunning, so it didn’t get boring at all.
The terrain meant it wouldn’t be a PB course, so I tried my best to enjoy it. My second lap felt a lot slower and I found myself alone for the majority of it. Luckily it was well sign posted, but it did feel rather lonely at times!
I’m so proud of my sister who was the first female (embarrassingly being twins meant people were also congratulating me on winning) and I came in, in a respectable time of 53.12.
I would highly recommend this run for anyone wanting a no frills, cheap, 10k with beautiful scenery. The other runners were incredibly encouraging and it had a lovely community feel to it. I will definitely be there next year!
General Announcements
WFC Running Club Calendar
- 4th July - South Winchester Park and Ride
- 11th July - Abbey Gardens
- 18th July - Garnier Road
WFC parkrun Club
- 4th July - South Winchester Park and Ride
- 11th July - Abbey Gardens
- 18th July - Garnier Road
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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