October 2009

 

For a complete results
listing view the
Results Index

Featured events this month:

Birmingham Cross-Country League Race 1 at Senneleys Park - 24 October

18 Paul Andrew   35:31
40 Mick O'Shea   37:12
50 John Hosie   37:46
102 Howard Andersen   40:40
116 Pete Austin   41:41
118 Jason Nicholson   41:44
123 Pete Fellows   TBA
136 Paul McGurk   43:57
147 John Wilson   44:47
173 Mark Baker   46:57
207 Tony French   57:40

Northbrook A Team:12th out of 18 teams

So once again we started the XC season off in familiar fashion at Senneleys Park. On the way over Howard was reminiscing about his first trip there when he was 18th counter, a position he improved on considerably this year, not in any way due to us not having 18 runners this time. A good 4th counter position from Mr Anderson, only 6 days after the Amsterdam marathon was closely followed home by Pete Austin and Jason, and meant that Northbrook were 12th team from 18 on the day. The other counters being Paul Andrew, Mick "i'm not fit" O'Shea and myself.

Obviously the start of the league season caught a few of us off guard, but we have scope to improve throughout the season both in terms of numbers and our own positions. For those who have not run much X-C, this, for me, is the hardest racing of the year, but its far more than that, the spirit of the running (ask Jason about his elbows technique), the camaraderie of running for Northbrook and the sheer look of determination from everyone who ran. If you want to get stronger and faster then these are the races to test yourself in.

Special mention should go to Paul McGurk who stepped in late on, Howard for wearing the brightest coloured shoes until John Wilson turned up, John Wilson making his League debut and then running the Cov half the following day, (an idea that Tony French also thought was a good one), and the fabulous support from the Andrews family, Bob and Fraser - much appreciated by us all. Next race is 5 December in Gloucester and our chance to start climbing the league table!!!

Report - John Hosie

Full details at www.birminghamccleague.co.uk

Snowdonia Marathon - 24 October

  Tony Hughes   4:05:43
  Claudie Combelas   4:39:52

Coventry Half-Marathon - 24 October

Rank     Chip  
60 Dave Halford   1:30:38  
61 Dave Lee   1:30:40  
66 Clive Horton   1:31:09  
74 Richard Hodge   1:31:35  
83 Amanda Deavy   1:31:56 3rd senior lady
84 Stuart Keen   1:31:56  
109 Matthew Heywood   1:33:07  
122 Tony Mackness   1:33:53  
137 James Joyce   1:34:33  
138 Richard French   1:34:34  
142 Bob Simpson   1:34:53  
193 John Wilson   1:37:32  
204 Lyn McDonald   1:37:51  
263 Jack Langman   1:39:56 1st M65+
342 Mike Wheeler   1:42:14  
378 Charles Jones   1:43:25  
353 Gareth Knight   1:42:46  
370 Joe Kelly   1:43:12  
434 Alan Beeby   1:44:40  
436 Allan Walsh   1:44:43  
465 Tom Jordan   1:45:32  
583 Jacqui Chislett   1:48:28  
668 Kevin Coughlan   1:50:21  
782 Dave Fawkner   1:52:57  
878 Roy Pye   1:55:23  
911 Tony French   1:56:17  
1057 Keith Burdett   1:58:50  
1089 Sarah Holt   1:59:39  
1198 Andrea Fodor   2:02:23  
1339 Julie Nunn   2:06:25  

The 2009 Coventry Half-Marathon attracted a sizeable field, with around 2000 mostly local runners making it to the finish. Northbrook was again well-represented, both on the course and on the sidelines with encouragement and support.

 

Northbrook's half-marathon two-wheeled support crew

Lakeland Trail Series

Photo of view from Coniston Old Man - Lake District

From Coniston Old Man - Lake District
photo - Ann Bowker

This is a series of four races - Hawkshead, Garburn, Derwentwater and Coniston - that take place in (strangely!) the Lake District. All are trail/fell runs and are "around" 15k long - the beauty is they're never quite accurate, and you never quite know if Graham's got the measurements right!!! Spectacular views and some technical running - plenty of uphills and some speedy and breathtaking downhills!!!
Points are awarded for positions in each race and then a series result is announced.....

This year, in the ladies series results, Alix Critchley was 3rd overall, and Cath Fenn 15th overall. Paul Stead was 10th in the men's series until the last race, which he was unable to run due to injury :o(

Report - Alix Critchley

Amsterdam Marathon - 18 October

502 Howard Andersen   3:04:44

The number of competitors in this year's marathon was just shy of 7,000, an increase of 1,000 on 2008. And it's not hard to see why the popularity of this race is growing - a brilliantly organised event with a super-fast, pancake flat course which starts and finishes in Amsterdam's 1928 Olympic Stadium. This year the weather was perfect with a temperature of 12°C and no wind to speak of. Certainly, the citizens of Amsterdam were out in greater numbers this year to cheer the runners on. And at about 25 miles I couldn't help but smile when I saw some people waving a home-made cardboard placard which said - in English - 'Run Like You Have Stolen Something!'.

Report - Howard Andersen

Full results and videos at www.amsterdammarathon.nl

Abingdon Marathon - 18 October

  Alix Critchley   3:39:21 PB
  Cath Fenn   3:45:32 PB

Perfect running conditions, a great course - gentle undulates over a two lap circuit (with a bit on the start and end) including a lovely view of a river with some boats on, Abingdon town, a turkey and goose farm, an industial estate with an *amazing* fetchpoint, a random old lady on a bike cycling up and down the runners asking if anyone had seen Darren that hairdresser, some bits along wooded paths and by ponds - which showed it's PB potential and superb support - many thanks to Sarah and Corinna for coming down! - Alix

Birmingham Half-Marathon - 11 October

Gun     Chip  
259 Rebecca Smith   1:27:50  
267 Stuart Keen   1:27:38  
283 Peter Fellows   1:27:52  
361 Richard Hands   1:29:30  
371 Clive Horton   1:29:38  
425 Tony Mackness   1:30:47  
732 Tom Jordan   1:37:27  
1659 Craig McNaney   1:40:54  
2195 Sarah McNaney   1:47:26  
2895 John Ralph   1:57:45  
5548 Brian Hewetson   2:01:30  
5470 Helen Elizabeth   2:03:53 PB
5817 Claudie Combelas   2:04:27  
7659 Diane Keen   2:12:28  

My chip time of 2:03:53 was 3 mins 6 secs faster than last years time which was my first half. Very pleased with my new PB for my home town race! - Helen Elizabeth

Great Eastern Run Half-Marathon - 11 October

126 Mark Baker   1:26:34  
174 Dave Halford   1:29:02  
283 Dave Fawkner   1:32:57 PB
1160 Roy Pye   1:51:27  

I decided to support some of my work colleagues at head office in Peterborough, who were running a half marathon for the first time. We are all raising funds for the NSPCC, as part of a series of events, culminating in a South Africa trek in February 2010, including a walk up Table Mountain near Capetown.
I managed to get a few club members interested in this race, as it was advertised as a fast, flat course. Around 4000 runners assembled at the start, but I had forgotten my watch, so pacing was not an option. Instead, I decided to ‘go for it’, as I had covered twice the distance in my recent marathon. At about 7 or 8 miles I began to pay for the quick pace, but I was still shouted a time of 66 minutes at 10 miles. I tagged on to a group and held on well for a good finish. All the Northbrook runners returned very good times, and I stayed to watch my colleagues finish in around 2 hours 30 minutes. Everyone was glad to get round and raise much needed funds for the NSPCC. - Mark Baker

PEAS Run to School 10k - 11 October

3 John Hosie   35:27 PB

A quiet race on the banks of the Thames, involving steps to cross the bridges, wave starts and chip timing. Colette and I both ran and both recorded PB's, although my previous PB was weak over this distance.

Leicester Marathon - 11 October

  Allan Walsh   3:59:32 PB

Kenilworth Half-Marathon - 4 October

1 Paul Andrew   1:13:56  
5 John Hosie   1:18:23  
14 Howard Andersen   1:22:08 3rd M50
39 Pete Fellows   1:27:33  
49 Tony Mackness   1:29:29  
72 Richard Hands   1:32:15  
83 Paul McGurk   1:33:14  
86 Richard Hodge   1:33:35  
95 Dave Fawkner   1:34:52  
96 Nigel Bassnett   1:34:55  
109 Anthony Hughes   1:36:25  
110 Lyn McDonald   1:36:29  
142 Jack Langman   1:40:26 3rd M60
158 Craig McNaney   1:41:47 PB
206 Lisa Bragg   1:45:27  
229 Dave Cooper   1:47:32  
247 Sarah McNaney   1:48:45  
249 Jackie Williams   1:48:53  
263 Tony French   1:50:04  
267 Alan Beeby   1:50:18  
288 Corinna O'Connor   1:52:29  
289 Anne Hughes   1:52:31  
303 Alan Walsh   1:53:53  
318 Sharon Thompson   1:55:12  
325 Angela Attwood   1:56:00 3rd F55
361 Bev Veasey   2:01:05  
387 Joanne Moyse   2:04:40  
394 Linda Richards   2:05:31  
410 Abbe Humphreys   2:08:03  
436 Angela Hands   2:16:10  

Northbrook won both the men's team prize (Paul Andrew, John Hosie and Howard Andersen) and the ladies' team prize (Lyn McDonald, Lisa Bragg and Sarah McNaney)

Midland Open Cross-Country Relays - 3 October

Northbrook Men- 7th place - 91m:15s

  John Hosie   22:14
  Paul Andrew   21:11
  Tony Hoy   24:04
  Nathan Holmes   23:10

This race is always a good chance to brush off the spikes and warm up for the X-C season. However this was far from typical X-C despite the wind, my warm down involved lying on the grass in the sun (god bless global warming) and any thoughts of spikes were forgotten by the rock hard ground. Special mention must go to Nathan for anchoring the team on 1 lung, and Paul Andrew for sand-bagging me with the first leg. Hardly surprising that he then beat me round Kenilworth the following day!!! - Jon Hosie

Results are provisional   See complete team listings