Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club

By Kate Owens 

Well its been a week since I ran my first Marathon and I’m still buzzing from it!

In June I decided if my running was going to improve I needed a challenge to work towards. I randomly picked Liverpool for no reason whatsoever really, apart from the fact is was at the right time. I have never even been there before and had no idea what the course would be like.

I followed a training plan from the Runners World website and being a bit cocky I decided to follow the intermediate one! Fitting in the training wasn't easy at all, I work as an air hostess and summer is our busiest time. The hardest time to get motivated was after an 11 hour flight to Cancun, getting to the hotel where everyone else headed for the bar, I got straight into my running gear and out in the 30c heat. Fartlek training in the heat! I was not a pretty sight on my return to the hotel. read more

By Ian Grimshaw

"3:13!… 3 hours and 13 minutes… That's 4 minutes slower than last year and I hit the wall again. What about all that training…. Right, I need to find another marathon that takes place 6 months from now." This was my frame of mind the day after the London marathon! I searched around for a marathon in October; Liverpool and Chester were on my short list. Both were near my parents, but I preferred Liverpool. The course looked good: starting on the Wirrel, through the tunnel, finishing in the city near Albert Dock and it looked well organised. (Not that Chester didn't meet either of these requirements I hasten to add). With a stroke of luck I won the entry prize draw too, more to come later. read more

Having entered the Ridgeway run hosted by Tring a few months ago, Jane sacrificed her number in September after her operation. As it is a rare year when the race and the first Chiltern League are not on the same weekend Amy took it upon herself to get a bit reckless and nab Jane's number.

As is his wont, Andy then felt obliged to join his wife on the start line in race he hasn't done in six years. The run is 9.7 miles, of which about 6 are off-road up and down the hills of the Ridgeway around Tring, Pitstone and Ivinghoe. It is extremely popular with over 600 entries and 550 participants on the day. read more

Wednesday evening saw the first Stag Trophy race of the 2012/13 season take place in Parson's Close. There were 20 brave souls who ventured out on the chilly evening to take on the three lap course. On this occasion there was just one debutant in Max Raxha, who was doing just his second run with the club and so his start time was estimated without any previous knowledge.

The rest of us were being judged on last season's form, which was of benefit to some and definitely not to others! As seems to be traditional now with first timers we either significantly over or underestimate their time and on this occasion Max benefitted from our judgement and cruised around the course in 16:24 to be nearly a minute under his predicted time. However, he was given a good battle for the first place by Jake Irvine whose time of 16:38 was a new PB. read more

Provisional results from the Leighton 10 are now available, please click on the "Leighton 10" option on the menu on the left hand side. Thank you to all those that entered, we hope to see you again next year.