November 2011

 

For a complete results
listing view the
Results Index

Featured events this month:

Kingsbury 10k - 27 November

10 James Joyce   38:54  
30 Chris Jones   43:01  
77 Gemma Nash   48:28 10th lady

The Kingsbury 10K was a 2 x 5K loop multi-terrain course through magnificent scenery around the lakes of Kingsbury Water Park, which involved a bit of mud, a bit of gravel, a bit of tarmac and four or five stiff little climbs. It was great fun, well marshalled and had a neat little trophy at the end. All good! The other good thing was that in theory I banged out a sub 39 minute 10K, and we all smashed our PB's to pieces!!...Hooray!!...except we didn't. The couse measured really short, with the three of us only showing 5.75miles on our trusty Garmins. So for all the hard work of the organisers and runners making such a great little event, we all walked away feeling a little short changed.

Never mind, it was still a fun morning and I had a good run coming in 10th finisher with a decent pace on course which wasn't the easiest. All they have to do is add a little loop at the end and they'll have a cracking race on their hands next year. - James

Coventry Charity 10k - 20 November

Men's Race

3 Mike Wheeler   38:42 3rd place trophy winner
26 Dave Cooper   47:42  

Ladies' Race

37 Lee Hill   60:48

Luton Marathon - 20 November

360 Tony Bowe   4:09:07

Coombe Abbey Multi-Terrain 8 - 20 November

33 Pete Fellows   55:56
36 Paul Stead   56:36
37 James Joyce   56:50
45 Richard French   57:46
48 Alix Critchley   58:00
62 Steve Mason   59:42
70 Andrew Ralph   60:57
77 Paul McGurk   62:13
102 Lyn McDonald   64:25
117 Jack Langman   65:49
149 Cath Fenn   68:59
208 John Ralph   76:23
211 Martin Gavin   76:32
234 Linda Richards   80:25
235 Tony French   80:29
236 Fraser Barrett   80:31

Shakespeare Raceway 10k - 19 November

7 Amanda Deavy   38:29 1st lady
29 Richard Hands   41:25  
294 Ros Myers   61:53  

Druid Challenge - 11 to 13 November

      Day 1
29 miles		 Day 2
27 miles		 Day 3
28 miles		 total
84 miles
31 Dave Fawkner   5:08:30 4:44:57 4:45:55 14:39:22
83 Corinna O'Connor   6:22:15 6:00:47 5:59:31 18:22:33

Whilst suffering from a case of post ironman blues I may have accidentally googled for a new target to aim at. I then had an email conversation with another, equally daft, Northbrooker and before I knew it we were entered into the Druid Challenge, a 3 day event covering 84 miles.

Day 1 – 29 miles
On 11.11.11 at 11 am I observed the 2 minute silence stood by a beacon on the top of very foggy hill at the start of The Ridgeway path in Wiltshire. Then the whistle blew and the race began. This was the first time I had done over 26.2, the first time I had done a ‘proper’ trail race and the first time I had done a multiday event – so I set off at a steady pace. My plan was to run the flats and the down hills and walk the up hills, which I stuck to all weekend (although my definition of what constituted both hills and running may have altered slightly). It was tough terrain with a large quantity of up hills, and I was having problems with my glasses fogging up but I was smiling and thoroughly enjoying myself. I was running without a Garmin so just plodded along trying not to fall over and waiting for the checkpoints to appear. Just after the 2nd checkpoint I heard a familiar voice and Paris Dave appeared, he had started an hour later with the ‘elite’ runners. He was going well so soon disappeared into the distance. Check point 3 appeared at around 22 miles, leaving 7 miles to go, and it was going to be dark soon. Luckily I started running with a fellow competitor at this point or I would have been quite scared running through the woods on my own. He had done the race the year before so I also felt confident that we wouldn’t get lost. Eventually we came to a road and covered the last ¾ mile to the school where we were staying as quickly as possible. Dave furnished me with a cup of tea and we went to claim our spot on the school gym floor. Showers and dinner were a disappointment, but other than that a great day.

Day 2 – 27 miles
Woke up at stupid o’clock and wondered how I was going to run on the achy limbs masquerading as my legs. Ate a decent breakfast, packed up our stuff and we were off. Dave had persuaded the organisers to demote him from the elite for the day so he sped away and I just kept turning the legs until they started to feel normal again, which was surprisingly quickly. The first couple of miles were pleasantly down hill, followed by some nasty ploughed fields and an evil hill. The check points came and went and before I knew it there was only 4 miles to go. I looked at my watch and decided I didn’t have a chance of sneaking under the 6 hour mark so just kept plodding. Then suddenly I could see the finish banners, admittedly far away and up a hill, but I thought maybe I could do it. I pushed on but was 47 seconds over the 6 hours. Mildly annoying but to be honest I didn’t really care. Dave had had a great day and having been one of the first back had secured prime locations in the sports hall, with gym mats and plug sockets. The showers were also warm and powerful so it was like a 5* hotel compared to the day before. He had moved himself up the rankings, so was definitely going to have to start with the elites the next day. Not trusting the dinner to be any better we shuffled into town to treat ourselves to fish and chips. There were plenty of other competitors with similar ideas so I think the locals must have wondered where all these people who struggled to get up and down kerbs had come from.

Day 3 – 28 miles
The weather had improved greatly by the Sunday, no fog at all now. I wasn’t fazed by my achy legs as I assumed they would start working when required (they did) so I set off quite happily, feeling that I could maybe actually complete this challenge. I actually felt quite strong and even ran up a couple of minor inclines. Time passed easily chatting to other competitors and enjoying the fantastic views. I had thought that if I could get to check point 2 before Dave flew passed I would be happy but I must have being doing ok as he didn’t pass me until just after check point 3. With his bright orange t-shirt to chase and the thought of only 5 miles to go I picked up a bit and I think the last 5 miles were my quickest. The last section was on road again but was far longer than the ‘down hill to the hotel’ that we had been promised. I had looked at my watch and thought that yet again I was in with a chance of getting under 6 hours (although today was a mile longer) so I just kept up as much speed as possible, eventually seeing the banners and having about 2 minutes to get to them. I moved into sprint finish mode, well it felt like it even if it didn’t look it, and crossed the line just shy of 6 hours.

All in all a fantastic event. Well organised, beautiful easy to follow route (well I wasn’t the club member who went the wrong way) and a great sense of satisfaction.
Now I just need to worry about what I might enter while suffering from post Druid blues - Corinna

Birmingham Cross-Country League Race 1 at Newbold Comyn - 12 November

Men's 'A' Team - 4th position after Race 1

Men's 'B' Team - 2nd position after Race 1

17 Mick O'Shea   42:47
31 Richard Hodge   44:35
33 Jason Nicholson   44:49
53 John Wilson   46:02
55 Mike Wheeler   46:14
57 Pete Fellows   46:19
65 Mark Baker   46:54
67 Richard French   47:02
88 James Joyce   48:07
122 Tony Hughes   50:44
150 Andrew Ralph   53:28
157 Allan Walsh   54:17
161 Kevin Coughlan   54:43
181 Tony Bowe   58:23
183 Dave Cooper   58:57
196 Fraser Barrett   68:05
198 Tony French   69:58
  Tony Mackness   1.5 laps

Ladies' League 15th

Ladies' Masters 13th

33 Amanda Deavy   30:58
72 Alix Critchley   33:27
110 Sam Anderson   35:17
146 Lyn McDonald   37:27
193 Clare Rowntree   40:22
228 Anne hughes   43:58
254 Linda Richards   46:48

Full results on Bham League web site

 


What a fantastic day Saturday was! It was a pleasure to represent Northbrook AC amidst the plethora of black, green and yellow vests that turned out. Great commitment shown by all and EVERYONE (Men and Women) played their part.

The Men's ‘A’ team is currently lying in 4th place and the ‘B’ team is in 2nd place. This is a fantastic achievement, and reward for the high turnout and hard work everyone put in.

We now need to keep this momentum going. History tells us that many teams struggle to put out teams consistently. Both the teams in 1st and 2nd place could not muster a ‘B’ team and they will surely struggle over the next few months. This means that promotion is a real possibility, and to give ourselves the best chance we need to put out at least the same number in the remaining fixtures, if not more!

Bob Adams will buy everyone a drink if we get promoted, and I will buy the second if Bob buys the first!

So please please get those XC spikes out, or buy some if you don’t have any and have never done XC before (you know who you are!). Speak to the people who ran on Saturday, they will all tell you how EASY it is! - John Wilson

Fat Feet Marathon - Rutland Water - 6 November

162 Tony Bowe   4:04:07

Mostly off road with loads of bloody hills.  Recommended, particularly for masochists.

Centurions 5 mile - 6 November

45 Paul Stead   34:09

National Cross-Country Relays - Mansfield - 5 November

Northbrook Men's A Team - 111th position
total time: 1:23:24

126 Mick O'Shea   19:31 leg 1
128 Pete Fellows   21:37 leg 2
117 John Wilson   21:04 leg 3
111 Richard Hodge   21:11 leg 4

Northbrook Men's B Team - 144th position
total time 1:31:28

169 Richard French   21:42 leg 1
164 Mark Baker   23:39 leg 2
154 James Joyce   22:50 leg 3
144 Denis Daly   23:16 leg 4

All legs are 5km
Column 1 is position at end of that leg

Luckily for us, the heavens opened just as we arrived and turned an already technical course into a strength sapping mud bath as well. We took refuge in the team managers' tent in order to get a bit of shelter from the elements, although it did at least stop raining just as the men's race was starting.

Despite all the late changes to the team we still managed to put out two teams which is a great advertisement for Northbrook. Club tent, gazebo and sail banners are definitely needed next year!

The course was a two lap XC route (2 x 2.5km), taking us through woods, fields, a short sharp incline and a strength sapping slow drag up a hill at the end of each lap.

Great to see Mick O’Shea running well for the club again, putting the ‘A’ team in a great position at the end of the first leg, although by some strange series of events each subsequent runner made up considerable places on the second, third and fourth legs. The ‘B’ team did themselves proud also, putting in some tremendous efforts to finish not too far behind the ‘A’ team. We were never going to win but 111th and 144th was a good result against the 150+ teams that entered.

Roll on cardiac hill and Newbold Comyn! - John Wilson

Full results are posted on the English Cross Country Championships web site