Home Countries International

Last Saturday, saw LBAC's club president representing England in the British & Irish Cross Country International in Perry Park in Birmingham. Gail Duckworth has run for the country on a few occasions now, but is particularly pleased with her current form as she is at the top end of her age category this season.

The event is organised by the British Masters Athletic Federation and sees teams from the four home countries, plus Ireland represented by their top age group athletes over various distances. In Gail's race, a team of three were required to score points for each country over a 6K course and the ladies had the worst of the weather, with the heavens opening during their second lap. The horrendous conditions made the event all the more challenging and when Gail came home 3rd for England in 6th place overall, the team were celebrating victory. However, the different age groups all run together and what they hadn't realised was that the cheeky Irish had 1st, 4th & 5th places which gave them a win by one point in the team calculations. read more

Leighton Fly to the Top of the Table

Saturday's Chiltern league cross country at Luton saw a fantastic turnout from the club as a whole, as we moved from 6th place to the top of division two in one event. With continued form like this, the club will gain promotion back to division one for the first time in three years. It is vital that there is the same effort for the next race at Slough on the 5th December, so please put it in your diary now!

The day started off with all of the junior races and it was great to have some under 11's competing in the boys race.  Jamie Stancombe put in an oustanding performance to finish in 7th place out of 74 finishers, while Luke Orlando gave him great support in 43rd place. In the U13 girls Beth Tippite finished in 27th in division two while Kirsty-Anya Shefford came hom ein 40th position. The real star team of the day was the U13 boys. Having struggled to get many runners over the last few years, we suddenly have a small squad of boys who are rapidly improving together. Jake Irvine and Lloyd Milliken came home in 20th and 19th respectively while Jordan Clay continued his good form in 12th, but the leading runner was Joe McGarry who sprinted home in 7th position. The boys now lead the division two team championship by four points and are only going to get better. read more

Peter Smashes PB

Last weekend Peter Mackrell made the short trip over to the Stevenage for the annual half marathon hosted by Fairlands Valley Spartans. On what was a pretty wet and windy day, Peter's northern upbringing made him feel right at home. Not only did he finish in an excellent 14th position out of 677 finishers he smashed his personal best time by recording a superb 1.19.55, although he has commented that a V45 lady pipped him by 2 seconds – sorry Peter. This just goe sto show what a bit of serious marathon training can do for your times as Peter is in training for the Luton marathon at the beginning of December and we wish him well in that. read more

National Cross Country Relays

 

On the 31st October, LBAC took part in their first ever National cross country relays in Mansfield. The event has been going since the 1970's and the club had never competed before. As an event, it has tremendous support from all over the country and there is a vast range in standards.

Leighton entered a team in both the ladies and mens races, but due to a succession of injuries and illnesses, only Gail Duckworth was available on the day for the ladies team. Nevertheless, Gail ran well around the first leg of the 3K course and completed in 12.20. The boys team was made up of Simon Coombes, Ben Corfield, Joby Hobbs and Andy Inchley who eventually finished as the 80th team out of 151. Simon and Ben lead the team very well with times of 17.16 and 17.06 respectively for the 5K course. Joby and Andy then completed the team with Joby running 18.58 and Andy finishing with 19.09. read more

Recent Marathons

Club Chairman Sandwiched by Debutants 

In recent weeks three members of Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club have been out competing in various marathons around the UK and Europe.

  

First up, on the 27th September, was Joby Hobbs competing in the New Forest marathon. This was his first attempt at the 26.2 mile distance, although he did complete a three day run along the 87 mile Kennet & Avon canal back in April, so he knew the pain involved.

 

Having barely trained at all in the previous six weeks due to a nagging knee injury, Joby ignored the usual advice and took to the country roads of Hampshire despite the dodgy knee. In a remarkable performance considering the situation and a tough course saw him complete the route in three hours and nine minutes, giving him a very respectable time and a good target for the next time he considers the longest Olympic distance. read more

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