Category: Race Report

Venturing into Oxfordshire

Last year James Bell decided to head over to the tiny village of Cottisford on the Oxon/Bucks border for a Tuesday evening 5K. This is an event that used to be called the Charndon 5K and was part of a series called the Fox 4. However, the series has long since stopped and apart from the occasional visit by Gail we hadn’t done the race in any numbers for a long time.

However, with James returning from the event in 2014 with a well-earned PB, he nagged on facebook for a few people to join him this year. Six members answered the call, and although Chris Norman was struck down, there were still five others out to keep James company. read more

MK Marathon & Half

My first ever Half!!! 

by Lisa Bowyer

I ran the MK 10k in March in 54 minutes and needed a new challenge, I wanted to up my distance. I had always wanted to run a half marathon but didn’t know if I could actually do it. So I signed up to the MK Half on the 4th May and thought let’s start training! Why did I pick this run, because it finishes in the MK stadium of course, that’s the only reason and a good enough reason!!!!

My training was very hit and miss due to work commitments but I felt I had done just enough to get me through it but wasn’t sure if I had done enough to actually get a good time. For me, a good first time that I was aiming for was around the 2 hours or just under. read more

VLM Part 2

Pete Mackrell

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the London Marathon: it’s a fantastic event as a spectacle, but I’ve struggled to do myself justice there. It can be too warm, too windy, too busy and too stressful.  I’ve also missed the last two years due to frustrating late injuries.

This year I was on the Championship start, which may sound special but basically it’s just a different section of grass on Blackheath Common. It has a better runner:toilet ratio, but the rumours of heated toilet seats are unfounded. The main highlight was being able to warm up with the elite men on Shooters Hill Road, where I overtook current world record holder Dennis Kimetto! read more

VLM Part 1

Eight intrepid club members rocked up for the start of the Virgin Money London Marathon in 2015. These are the tales of four of them, the rest come in the second instalment!

Tom May

The road to the 2015 London Marathon was a challenging journey to say the least. The first big hiccup came whist competing in the International Running Challenge in Lanzarote. In the last of 4 races (the half marathon) I went over on my ankle badly with 2km to go. I managed to finish but the swelling and angry red colour meant it wasn’t a minor sprain. A trip to the Physio revealed I’d partially torn 2 ankle ligaments! After the best part of 6 weeks off I gingerly started running again in Jan and built up to 5 miles. Setback number 2 then occurred whist on a ski trip I fell on an ice patch and my ski didn’t release which caused a nasty calf muscle tear! That put pay to anymore skiing on the holiday and another month of enforced rest with no running as it slowly healed. read more

Seeking Marathon Justice

By Andy Inchley

Last October Amy and I “ran” the Chester marathon and both had something of a disaster. Despite putting in some strong training, it simply didn’t happen on the day and we both came home fairly miserable. I was adamant that I was as fit as I’ve ever been and just couldn’t explain it, so was immediately thinking about entering another one in the spring. When Chris (AKA Rodders), one of my Tuesday MK training buddies had a very similar experience in Abingdon I suggested that Manchester might be an option, and so after a month of debate we both signed up. read more

1 … 38 39 40 41 42 … 56