Race 4 of The Tour was a one mile track race at Stantonbury. This is easily the shortest race in the series which also means it is the fastest , and the four (and a bit) laps didn't provide any respite for aching legs. Conditions on the day were windy once again, but at least the wind was in the faces of the athletes on the back straight which enabled some fast sprint finishing on the home straight.

There were five separate races on the night with the current Tour standings used to split the runners so that they were racing against people of similar ability. By virtue of their high positions in the current standings, Pete Mackrell and Chris Norman both lined up in the first race which featured nine other athletes, many of whom are far more accustomed to wasting their lives running in circles around a running track. Feeling thoroughly miffed at having to do a race over such a stupid and short distance, Pete and Chris spent the entire first lap and a half at the back of the pack contemplating exactly how one should run a one mile race. At this point they both decided they should probably be putting in a bit more effort and so picked up the pace, making up a few places with Pete eventually finishing 5th and Chris 8th, in 5:09 and 5:16 respectively. Both held on to 4th and 7th places in the overall standings. read more

Day 3 of The Tour was a 4.4 mile, 2 lap course around Campbell Park where the first mile is all downhill, followed by a steady slog back up to the start/finish on each lap. The swirling wind made the long uphill stretch particularly challenging in places.

Four LBAC athletes took part. First to run was Richard Inchley, who was absent on the actual night of the race as he'd decided it would be more fun watching England's finest footballers instead. For the record, Richard's performance was much more impressive, it is never easy 'racing' on your own but he still knocked a minute of his time from last year to finish in 34:48, which ultimately put him in 52nd position and moved him up two places in the overall standings to 40th. read more

Day 2 of the tour was the new Bow Brickhill cross country hill race, a short sharp blast around the undulations of Bow Brickhill woods taking in all the mud, sand and tree roots you could ever want.  The team suffered a setback before even making it to Brickhill – Chris W succumbing to a nasty Achilles injury whilst leading the Greeks into Troy…. (well ok, we might have made that last bit up to make Chris’ injury sound better than a knackered Achilles from the Tattenhoe race!)  Despite this set back, Chris will attempt to feature again before the end of the tour, so we all wish him a speedy recovery! read more

Lesson 1 – How to run a 20 mile race

On Sunday Amy Inchley travelled down to Surrey for the Spitfire 20 mile road race at Dunsfold Aerodrome, where they film Top Gear. She planned her run beforehand based on running at her marathon pace of 8:15 all the way and if there was energy left at the end she could pick up the pace a touch to build a bit of confidence.

The rural two lap course contained three hills that were distinct but not horrendous between three and eight miles. The weather was just about perfect for a long run, although somewhat dreary for the few spectators who had come along. It was a relatively small field for the event with only about 270 runners, and Amy started near the back as she was in no hurry to kick off. read more

Sunday September 4^th saw five Leighton Buzzard teamsters making the short trip across to Bottledump roundabout to tackle the first race of the famed Tour of Milton Keynes!  The day started well with a good bit of cloud cover smearing the sky and providing great running conditions.  Despite Saturday evening beers, the spirits were high and all felt well prepared for the 6.75 mile jaunt around Tattenhoe Park.  The course was a relatively flat affair that promised quick times, but with continuous gentle undulations and a few hair-pin turns to break the stride, it did push the runners to bring out their best! read more