La Santa 2023

Over the years the club has had many group trips away. The Dublin marathon and the Majorca marathon (twice) in the 80’s. More recently, smaller groups have been to Amsterdam, Berlin and even Tokyo. There was a long weekend away for the iconic Ballycotton 10 (look it up) and there are gentle suggestions of a trip somewhere in the UK next year.

However, the one trip that has stood the test of time only came about because of war in Yugoslavia! In 1990, there were plans to go to the Split marathon, but when war broke out following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, that went out the window and someone came across the Lanzarote International Challenge. Four races in four days, sunshine and beer, what more could you want? That first trip took about thirty people and it has been going every year since (2020’s Covid closure excepted). read more

Just Like Being at the Beach!

As it so often does, the first cross-country of the season arrived with blue skies over the Chiltern region of the country as hundreds of runners made their way to the Keysoe International equestrian centre in north Bedfordshire for a quick dip.

This was not the first time we have visited Keysoe in October, but after six consecutive years of kicking off the season in Oxford, it certainly made a change not to be slogging up a big hill! It was also unusual, in that we finished last season at Keysoe, so have had consecutive races at the venue renowned for its water splash. read more

Off we go! – Beds AAA 10k

Beds AAA 10k – Road Club Championships

Here we are, with the first road club champs race of the 2023 season. It seems like only yesterday we finished Cross Country races and were planning out runs and races across a long, endless summer. Temperatures and rain levels have been up and down since then and we seem to have a month of rain followed by a month of drought with high stifling temperatures or a deluge of washouts, but on we run! Friday 7th July was the Beds AAA 10k which is put on by our County Athletics Association with a helping hand from our very own Richard Inchley and also doubles up at the road County Championship so we do try to support the race as much as possible. Sadly numbers did seem a little down on previous years on what is a nice and fairly fast course. Set along an old railway close to the River Great Ouse and Priory Country Park in Bedford, the course heads East before doing a loop amongst the trees before returning back the way you came in a classic “lollypop” course. The only real hill is up and over the busy A421 but funnily enough you only really notice it on the way back. It was a warm evening as the LBAC athletes gathered in the sportshall of the Athletics Stadium, with lots of talk about how a warm up was totally unnecessary in the current conditions! Fortunately the short distance from here to the start line satisfied both those that were warm enough already and those that wanted to give the legs a quick turnover. At the gun, the runners flew out of the traps disturbing a group of scurrying rabbits and headed off down the course. Sam Dear and Simon Coombes seemed to be pacing and racing each other again after the recent battle at the Marston Forest 5k a month earlier. Tim Inchley, Ruth Mitchell and Warren Rose were also having their own battle around the course, whilst James Lloyd-Knibbs was hoping to give himself a birthday present of running a sub-40 for the first time. Gary Stratford and Amy Farnfield were also pushing for their own fast times. Having gone through 8km/5miles and back over the bridge over the A421, the finish is a long straight that appears to go on forever. Looking up for that final push and it never seems to get close enough to make one! Every single one of our runners finished well however. First home was =&0=& who pushed on in the second half of the race and finished in 35:08 to finish 3rd overall and as first v50 in the County Champs. =&1=& followed not too far behind in 35:42 and 5th place with a big 40 second PB. Third in for the club was =&2=&, fresh from a Carb Loading holiday in Italy, with=&3=& following close behind to finish as first lady for the club in times of 40:26 and 40:36 respectively. Ruth was also 3rd lady overall. =&4=& finished in 40:54 as first v50. =&5=& unfortunately didn’t quite reach his target of sub-40 but will no doubt be successful soon when it’s not quite as hot! He finished in 41:20. =&6=&, who enjoys running in the heat, finished just off her own PB with a time of 44:02 and was first v35 lady in both the County Championships and on the night, whilst also claiming 2nd lady for the club too. =&7=&returned to racing with a time of 45:48. Full results can be found here. Excellent running from all in purple and gold and some great results too to kick off the road running calendar! The next club championship road race is on Saturday 5th August at Great Denham parkrun. It’s free and you can turn up on the day, but you must remember your club vest and your barcode! See you there.

What a weekend

What a Weekend

by Rachel Fawcett

No rest for Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club. Just a week after organizing the brilliant Leighton 10 the club were gearing up for another day of racing starting with the London Marathon. This year it was Billy Mead, Coralie Anderson, Katie Stanton, Michael Furness, Nicola Mellor, Ruth Mitchell and Will Eastman all toeing the line in Greenwich Park. With perfect weather conditions reports of some cracking times started coming back from the Mall. Of note, Billy completed his first marathon in 2:45:46, Mike had a PB of 3:01:56, Will in at 3:11:53, Ruth just behind with 3:14:29, Nicola got 3:17:29, Coralie gained another PB at 3:29:29 and Katie came in at 5:07:34. As we all know, these events don’t happen without some willing manpower getting the runners around and we had our very own Stu Blofeld, Andrea Meek and Carl Meek manning the Lucozade Station getting much needed isotonics down all the runners. With support from BRE, it was great for members of LBAC to give back to the London Marathon community in return all the support our club runners have had from volunteers over the years; it certainly looked like hard graft but a great day. read more

Sandy 10 – 2022 10 mile Road Club Champs

Sandy 10

by Bob Dickinson

After three years away, the Sandy 10 returned this weekend – and with it, the fourth race in this year’s LBAC Road Club Championship series.

Covering the 10-mile distance through the streets and outskirts of the town of Sandy, the course itself is an interesting one. After easing you in gently, the second mile is pretty much ALL uphill, so it can take a while to get find your race pace. It plateaus at the top, and from that point, there are six miles of flat country roads before you can really enjoy the finish with a rapid finish coming back down the hill you started with (if you have recovered by then!). read more

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