Running Report Summary   2003

 

This page features "Mini reports" from our members at various Running events around the country for the current year. Full reports and reports from previous years can be accessed through the Archive Pages

Ian Lee-Emery  reports:

Congratulations to John Williamson who was second in the 60+ class
 

Michael MacClancy reports:

Pam Berriman reports:

Michael MacClancy reports:

A contingent of 9 Windle Valley Runners ran the Maidenhead Easter 10 on Good Friday.  
The start was a bit confused because we couldn’t tell which direction we were going to go 
off in and we had to shuffle backwards and forwards to get everyone behind the line.  
The course is very flat, predominantly rural and mostly traffic-free, 
only a short section being on a pavement.  
The warm weather made the run a bit hot for some although there were plenty of drink stations.  
Mike Hopkins was first WVR home.  
Dave Pearce was very happy with his 1:18:19 and is hoping that this bodes well for 
the Stratford Shakespeare Marathon next week.  
Colin Woods was stretching his legs after the London Marathon and paced Kerrie 
all the way to the line.  
Unfortunately Chris Dent has been suffering from a trapped nerve in his back 
and had to walk part of the course.  Still, it was a nice day to be out for a walk!  
Facilities at the start and finish were ideal and Mars had donated some of their 
famous bars to aid the runners’ recovery!

The men’s team came 23rd but the ladies managed a very respectable 6th.  

Woking Ten Ten, 30^th March 2003

Well, Windle Valley are clearly a bright lot as everyone managed to move their clocks in the right direction, and make the 9:30 am start.  And keen, with everyone opting for the 10 miler rather than the 10k.

Cool, overcast skies with little wind made conditions perfect.  We started bang on time in a light industrial area, before heading past houses and into the countryside.  The course was on roads and cycle tracks with minor undulations, and although traffic was not shut off there was plenty of room, aided by good marshalling.  After 7 miles, we merged with the back end of the 10 k runners for a repeat half lap to the finish at the Woking Athletic Track. 

The results include a host of PBs – Miles, Mike, Geoff, Mary, Tony … plus probably others I can’t remember !  Truly excellent.

 Woking TenTen Race Results, 10 miles (422 finishers)

The Reading Half Marathon
Sunday 9th March 2003
The greatest of the established "pre-London" Half Marathons, the Reading Half Marathon falls an ideal five weeks before the April 26 miler around London. In fact, whether or not you plan to run in a spring marathon, this 13.1 miler that runs through the heart of Reading town, is such a good event anyway, that anyone who wants to experience that feeling of being in a mass participation event with huge crowd support - and have the opportunity to raise money for charity as well - ought to give it a go!  The event will be the first in the 2003 Premier Series of events, closely followed by a number of major events with whom Reebok have partnered throughout 2003 - and all over the country.
 

Mary MacClancy  reports:

It has taken some time to finalise the results for this race (apparently due to unnumbered competitors) - hence the delay in writing the report. Otherwise the race was once again very well organised with plentiful parking, facilities, marshals and a nice fairly flat course. I didn't manage to catch Fiona Bishop from Woking but still just managed a P.B. Excellent value at £5 with a lovely blue t-shirt for free. So why did only 5 Windle Valley runners take part? Hopefully we can encourage some more for next year.

Miles Cudmore   reports:

A group of Windle Valley Runners and Datchet Dashers headed to the Forest of Dean at the end of January to join an Adidas training camp run by Trailplus.  Although aimed at London Marathoners, it would be excellent for those tackling any distance, and caters for  all abilities.  The camp had about 40 runners led by 4 very experienced runners whose enthusiasm and knowledge was outstanding. 

After introductions and pub trip on Friday evening, we rose early on Saturday for a pre breakfast 5 k light run – very pleasant.  In late morning we had our first full session looking at threshold running (85% effort or just under 10 k pace) with 2 x 10 min stretches interspersed with light running.  The afternoon session covered fartlek and “Kenyan hills” where you loop continuously up and down without stopping for period of time.  Good but painful !!  Between sessions we had excellent lectures demonstrating sports massage, stretching, training types, nutrition etc. 

Sunday brought the “long run” – we could all chose whether to cover 1 hr, 90 min or 2 hr and by making front runners loop back, everyone kept together.  Going through the forest was super – even if Wendy was nearly flattened by half a dozen deer which came flying through the trees !! 

I would certainly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about running and how to train.  Other benefits included some super deals on kit, and the chance to review individual training plans with the instructors.  There are several more are more camps this year – see http://www.trailplus.com/running.htm for details.