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Results Jan-June 2017

Orion's Fast Friday, Walthamstow track. - Friday 30th June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Chase The Sun 10km, Victoria Park - Wednesday 28th June 2017

256 finishers

Llandudno Sea Triathlon - Sprint Distance - Sunday 25th June 2017

750m swim, t1, 19k cycle, t2, 5k run.
Ava 17.28, 1.40, 43.44, 1.31, 19.56.
Danny 22.52, 2.26, 40.39, 1.36, 19.35.

Danny reports:- Call the coast guard! Llandudno Sea Triathlon. In Wales! And also, success! Not only did I not come last in the swim this time, but Ava may have just qualified for Team GB Age Group World Championships. Rotterdam here we come

VeloPark Hoddesdon TC Longest Day Duathlon - Sunday 25th June 2017

2 mile run, 10 mile cycle, 1 mile run.
17.09, 34.42, 7.57

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Day 3 - Colworth Half Marathon - Sunday 25th June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

1st Thomas Grimes
3rd Patrick Brown
1st woman Jennifer Ansell
1st W V50 Suzanne Bench
1st W V60 Fiona Day
1st Team East London Runners - Thomas, Patrick, Ciaran & Jenny.
1st Female Team - East London Runners - Jenny, Emily & Ellie.

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Overall Standings - Fri 23 - Sun 25th June 2017

Overall winners:-
1st Thomas Grimes
2nd Patrick Brown
1st woman - Jennifer Ansell
1st W V55 Fiona Day
Team - East London Runners.

Jonathan Wooldridge Colworth 2017. Perfect mini break if you love running and camping. Sounds like an ELR dream. Thanks for a fun weekend everyone.

Maya Goodwin: I was convinced I wouldnt make it as I was so ill on Wednesday, but Im so pleased I did. Katy Taylor was the most organised camper ever with a tent bigger than my first flat. And bacon.

We ran all the races together and managed to Not Be Last on Fri and Sat, but the HM on Sunday beat us. We decided on one lap. (Thomas Grimes caught us and lapped us at FIVE MILES . There was nothing speedy about our times, the terrain was really tough and I was coughing pretty much most of the time. But we made it round. Im pretty pleased with our final tally of 20 miles, whatever our pace was.

My two favourite quotes from marshals:
'Is there anyone 'left' in East London?'
'You East London Runners have the entire field covered!'

The fields were golden, the woods were dappled and green and the PonyTails were full of infectious joy. I was so proud to be part of ELR this weekend. We ran hard, we ran with joy and we drank all the beer.

Paul Thompson: Why don't you come & run the Colworth marathon challenge Grant said to me a few months ago ? 'Yes'I said 'sounds like a laugh'.

Well having just completed day 3 & the final race I'm not sure I'd quite class the running part as a 'laugh' ! Probably one of the toughest weekends of racing I've had in a long time but a great sense of achievement.

The laugh part of the weekend though has to be the tremendous fun that I've had with my ELR team mates. Lots of beer, Dan's party, Lance's post race stretching & plenty of banter. You were all such great company !

Grant's just asked if I'll do it again ? Hell yeh.

Lucy Barron: Im tired and achey....and thats just from all the sillyness and laughing oh how I enjoyed the sillyness!

3 days of tough running but what an achievement, highly recommend you all sign up for 2018!
Might give Liptons ice tea a break though.

Rachel LeRoux: Thank you to everyone for such a great weekend, it was blinking hard and I'm glad it's over. Thanks Frank for being there supporting us everyday it was needed! So proud to be apart of this club Team ELR and roll on next year.

Sheetal Thank you for a wonderful weekend. It was such great fun making new friends (and dog friends) and spending time with old ones. In hindsight, I suppose running a marathon over the weekend was quite an achievement!

Maya Goodwin again
This weekend I Camped, Cross Countried, Cackled and Coughed in Colworth.

My second year. Nearly a write off due to a dreadful cold virus, I only decided on Friday morning that I was well enough to go. I wasnt feeling brilliant, but I knew I'd be glaring at my iPad all weekend at the posts and photos of everyone having a brilliant time if I stayed at home, so I packed 17,234 paracetamol and hoped for the best.

Colworth is two nights of camping and three races. 5 miles on Friday night, 8.1 miles on Saturday, and 13.1 miles on Sunday. The mathematically minded of you will work out that adds up to 26.2 miles. A marathon in fact! Well anyone who follows me on Strava will be able to see that there was nothing speedy about any of my race times. 13:30 min miles mainly. The terrain was tough, dry, but really uneven and hard. Katy Taylor and I had agreed to run together and I ran and coughed and walked and ran and coughed and walked. And kept on smiling. Not quite last for the first two races, but a DNF (Did Not Finish) for our last one, we decided to just do one lap. We still ran 20 miles over a weekend - I reckon thats pretty cool.

World War Run 5 miles OCR, West Sussex - Sunday 25th June 2017

WORLD WAR RUN is a 10 mile / 5 mile Obstacle Race created to commemorate 100 years since WW1 and honour our fallen heroes.

WORLD WAR RUN will take you through – some of the toughest mud pits you’ll ever jump in, hilly terrain, barbed wire crawls, 80+ obstacles, mustard smoke and our famous paintball gauntlet!

Boom! Finished in 2nd at World War Run in Dorking today. 55.34 for a 5 mile OCR with mud as far as the eye could see! I would definitely recommend this event to anyone interested in obstacle racing, and the race raises money for Combat Stress "the UK’s leading Veterans’ mental health charity" so double win!

Furth Metropole Marathon, Germany - Sunday 25th June 2017

326 finishers.

Trent Park Triffic Trail - Sunday 25th June 2017

500 finishers.

Dame Kelly Holmes Olympic Park 10km - Sunday 25th June 2017

385 finishers.

Royal Parks 10km Series - Greenwich Park - Sunday 25th June 2017

372 finishers.

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Day 2 - Colworth Trail 8.1 miles - Saturday 24th June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

also Bernard Dumonteil 185th 1.27.29.
1st man - Thomas Grimes
3rd man - Patrick Brown
1st woman - Jennifer Ansell
1st woman V45 - Suzanne Bench
1st men team - ELR, Thomas, Patrick, Ciaran & Dan.

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 24th June 2017

32 parkruns at 8 venues, 3 first finishers with 4 debuts and 4 course pbs.
First finishes for James & Felicity at Wanstead and for Paul Quinton at his debut at Barking, taking Patrick Brown's fastest male ELR time at the same time.
Debuts also for Andy Kumar at Wanstead, Richard at Roding and myself at Guildford. Course pb's for Calvin & Kathryn at Roding Valley, Jakub at Hackney and Victoria Charlesworth at Valentines.
Seven ran there best Age Grades of the year:- Andy, Calvin, Jakub, Richard, Kathryn, Tim & Victoria. Don

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Day 1 - Colworth 5 - Friday 23rd June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

also Bernard Dumonteil 187th - 44.57.
1st man - Thomas Grimes.
2nd man - Patrick Brown
1st woman - Jennifer Ansell
woman V60 - Fiona Day
1st Team Men - ELR , Thomas, Patrick, Joseph Browne & Dan Senior.
1st Team Ladies - ELR, Jenny, Emily Clarke & Ellie Wilkinson.

Springfield Striders Friday Night 5 Mile Road Race - Friday 23rd June 2017

127 Finishers.

Mike. (6.00am Saturday). On Friday evening Kirk Johnson and myself made a pilgrimage once again, (the first time since 2012) to the Springfield Striders Friday Night 5 Mile Road race which this year was held in the small village of Pleshey. My cousin Simon Morgan, another ex chairman and life member of ELR was running for Colchester Harriers AC. I managed to tag behind Simon for the first couple of miles or so, before being too close for comfort; he began to pull ahead slightly. He had a valid excuse that he had also raced the night before. (Maybe next time Simon!). I managed to finish with a time of 34.45 (36th), which I will take for 'the comeback' while Simon recorded 34.16 (34th). Kirk came in on 50.01 (118th) to complete the trio of ELR old boys. After the post race complementary burger, we met up with ex-member Steve Kerns and adjourned to the Ivory Peg pub in the centre of Chelmsford for more food and tales of ELR from years gone by. An enjoyable evening was had by all. The race was held on a good undulating two lap course on quiet country lanes and it was also great to catch up with the old boys afterwards. We will definitely be coming back to run another year.I finally arrived home at 1.00am and was up for work at 4.30am bright eyed and bushy tailed as usual!

Chase The Sun 10km, Greenwich Park - Friday 23rd June 2017

Orion Harriers Fell Race - Friday 23rd June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

100 finishers

Elvis 3 : East End Road Runners Olympic Park 5km - Wednesday 21st June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

101 ELR's of 364 finishers.
( )Last years time in brackets for those that improved.11 ELR's.
* Best 5km Age grade for this year so far. 34 ELR's.
1st Man - Euan Brown
3rd Man - Thomas Grimes
1st Lady - Jenny Ansell
1st Vet35 Lady - Ava Lee.

Grant's Magic Mile, Ashton Playing Fields - Monday 19th June 2017

also Joe Isaacs 5.10

Tour of Tameside 2017 - Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th June 2017

Humphs Hilly Half, Bourton on the Water - Saturday 17th June 2017

142 finishers.

Toughest OCR, Pippinford 8.5km - Saturday 17th June 2017

Too hot to be running today! 8km Toughest OCR in Pippingford Park was roasting! Best race I've done though... 146th out of 950ish with a gammy ankle so I'm over the moon. Much needed OCR League points and my season is starting to get going.

Dambuster Triathlon, Rutland Water - Saturday 17th June 2017

Dambuster Triathlon, Rutland Water
1.5k swim, 42k bike, 10k run
Sarah Burns 2.42.19
157th of 421, 1st V40-44 lady, 13th of 78 ladies.
29.09, 1.13, 1.19.52, 0.44, 51.21 = 2.42.19

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 17th June 2017

41 parkruns at 10 venues. One first finisher, 2 course pbs and 4 debuts.
6 Age grade bests for 2017 and 3 ELR parkrun records.
First finish for Euan Brown at Hackney in 16.39. Course pbs for Andy Kumar at Roding Valley and Adrian Buckley at Millom.
Debuts at Hatfield Forest for James Creed, Fiona & Stuart at Harrow Lodge and Andrew Howard at Mersea Island.
Age grade bests for Shailesh & Saheb at Hackney, Manjit at Valentines, Adrian at Millom, James Creed at Hatfield and Andrew Howard at Mersea Island.
ELR parkrun records for Andrew at Mersea Island, Adrian improved his time at Millom and Fiona took Rachel LeRoux's record at Harrow Lodge by 3 seconds.

Chase The Sun 10km, Olympic Park - Wednesday 14th June 2017

Woodford Green Open Graded Fixture, Ashton Playing Field - Tuesday 13th June 2017

Srichinmoyraces. 5km, Speedy Steeds, Battersea Park - Monday 12th June 2017

Thames Chase 10km, Upminister - Sunday 11th June 2017

147 finishers.

Dinton Duathlon - Sunday 11th June 2017

Dinton Duathlon 5.2k/20k bike/5.2k 75 finishers.
Louis Le Roux 23.20, 1.31,37.38, 0.43, 24.48 = 1.28.01
25th, 14th age group
Michael Bamford 22.46, 0.50, 39.31, 0.41, 24.18 = 1.28.07
26th, 5th age group

St Albans Half Marathon - Sunday 11th June 2017

Man v Horse , Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales. - Saturday 10th June 2017

Jonathan reports:-
Man v Horse, Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales. Take amateur camping, a flooded camp site, stupid amount of rain, mud, bogs, hills, river crossings, repeat for 23 or so miles, with 60 horses, 648 runners, 150 relay teams and you're close a 24 hrs trip to Wales for the Man vs Horse race 2017.

Like many races, I loved it and hated it. This one was about 20 miles too long, 1300m elevation gain (not forgetting the descent) too high. The Welsh countryside didn't disappoint though. It was truly a very special race and although I didn't look up as much as I should have, the course was meandering through beautiful Welsh scenery along some road sections, (quite a relief) but mainly bumpy grass and mountain trails, and knee deep bog land.

I probably didn't appreciate the elevation involved here. Walthamstow needs more hills to be able to train for this (or just attend coach Conway's sessions) but this race wasn't about running. Having twisted my ankle on a descent at 8 miles, I was cautious not to do it again. Although that only lasted two miles. Now I was hobbling a bit.

I told myself I had to finish, at least ahead of one horse, I pressed on albeit now more accepting of the reality - walk the ascents, gingerly negotiate the descents, and try and run the flats and road sections. It paid off, but I lost so much time. I'm not sure I've ever run for that duration before. So I'm now going to learn from this - I must add more time to my training runs.

Highlights- the terrain, running along side horses and racing ahead of them on the descents. Camaraderie of fellow runners - it was Man v Horse, not man v man after all. Being given a Moam at 20 miles and not being beaten by all the horses.

Lowlights- camping in the rain. Yes that's all. I suppose I loved it really.

All in all, £30 for the race, £10 for the T-shirt. A wonderful experience and lots of memories. I usually like to enter my races twice, but I may make an exception for this one.
7.5M 1.14.08
15.2M 2.47.05
23.1M 4.30.06.

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 10th June 2017

41 parkruns at 13 venues. 2 first finishers, 9 debuts and 3 course pbs.
11 Age Grade Bests for the year so far.
First finishes for Patrick 16.52 at Wanstead and Thomas 17.51 at Grovelands.
Debuts for two at Bushy and Southwark, also at Didcot, Preston Park, Ashton Court also Stuart at Father Collins in Dublin, ROI and Dan Senior at Hackney.
Course pbs for Mark Moir and Katie Whitton at Wanstead, also Kathryn at Roding Valley.
Well spotted by Maud was Steven Bywater at Bushy and Janet Bywater at Ashton Court, Bristol both ran 26.06, coincidentally the same time she did at Wanstead.
Mauds 200th run at Wanstead.
Age Grade Bests so far this year for Katherine Harris, Stuart Barton, Ciaran, Mark, Gareth Davies, Viktor, Katie Whitton, Kathryn, Tim, Maran and Jo Wood.
ELR parkrun records for Katherine Harris at Southwark, Shaun at Didcot and Stuart at Father Collins.
Stuarts report:-
Saturday morning 03:30 alarm can mean only one thing for me,
parkrun Ireland, A quick breakfast (no tins), then off to pick up Louise Taylor From Eton Manor, got to Stansted and met up with rest. Straight through security and a quick coffee. The flight to Dublin was quick and we got through passport control without any fuss.
A taxi to Father Collins park and the place is all locked, it was only 0815 and the parkrun does not start until 0930. We had to climb over the gate to get into the park, After a few minutes a couple of people came over and spoke to us, They had heard of mad English people who fly over to do a parkrun.
As more people turned up we were made to feel so welcome and given ideas of places to go after the run.
I can recommend this parkrun if you want a fast time, its very flat and all the paths are wide.
0930 and we are off the run went ok for me I got a yearly PB, A few photos afterwards and then off for a coffee with the race director and the volunteers, We then took a train to Malahide and walked along the beach in the sun,
Only had time for one pint of Guinness before heading home.
It's a long way to go just for a parkrun, would I go again?

Looking at flights already..

Wimbledon Trail Series - Event 2 - 5 miles - Wednesday 7th June 2017

215 finishers.

Elvis 2 _ Havering Midweek 5m, Raphael Park - Tuesday 6th June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

67 ELR,271 finishers.( )Last years time in brackets.
1st Mens Team , Thpmas, Euan & Patrick.
1st Lady - Ava Lee
1st V35 - Paula Bedford,
1st V60 - Calvin Bobin.
Elvis Scores
Men
1st ELR 1pt, 75pts, - 2nd Ilford AC 2pts, 107pts - 3rd Havering 90 3pts, 159pts.
Ladies
1st ELR 1pt, 20pts - 2nd Orion 2pts, 36pts - 3rd EERR 3pts, 54pts.

Deva Triathlon, Chester - Sunday 4th June 2017

Olympic Distance:- 1500m swim,t1,40k bike,t2,10k run.
Ava - 29.36, 1.23, 1.15.06, 1.16, 41.10 = 2.28.34
Sarah - 29.50, 1.21,1.12.09, 1.11, 48.52 = 2.33.25
Danny - 40.22, 2.49,1.17.09,1.22, 39.43 = 2.41.28

Worthing 10km - Sunday 4th June 2017

2,277 finishers.

Henley On Thames Triathlon - Sunday 4th June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

400m swim, t1, 25k bike, t2, 5k run.
11.31, 7.18, 1.05.54, 2.17, 26.27
Julie Campbell reports:- Finished the Henley Triathlon for the second year running. Loved it. My swim was a minute faster and the cycle was about 3 1/2 minutes better than last year.
But had a nightmare T1, couldn't get the strap on my cycling shoes open. So T1 was over 7 minutes long - terrible. Better next year, hopefully.

Timothy James & Partners London 10m, Richmond Park - Sunday 4th June 2017

Maverick X Series Snowdon Marathon - Saturday 3rd June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Maverick X Series Snowdonia Marathon - race report by Maud
I have to admit John & I were a little bit blase about this race. Neither of us had really trained for it. Just a case of walking up Snowdon then clinging on for another twenty odd miles, we thought. Maybe about six hours.
So, on a beautiful sunny morning we set of cheerfully from Llanberis. The ascent of Snowdon was pretty much as expected - a long climb, pretty steep in places, but on good paths all the way. And the views were majestic. I am grateful to John for making me put on some sun cream, otherwise my face would have matched my shorts.
While the weather was as good it gets, it did get colder as we went up the mountain, specially when the wind picked up. Having called John a wimp for putting on his jacket, I kind of had to tough it out in my T shirt all the way to the top. Stubborn eejit. The two of us ran together to the summit (there were a few places where the path levelled out a bit), took some snaps at the top, then John disappeared over a ridge and I didnt think Id see him again before Llanberis.
Idiot that I am, I thought the hard bit was done. Round the next corner I was quickly reminded that I am not great with heights and I was at the top of a mountain. The path was narrow and rocky, and the drop down to my right scared the living daylights out of me. I clung on and inched my way along. So much for making up time on the descent. There was very little on the way down that you could run. Probably a fell runner could, but not a rank chancer like myself. At one point I wasnt sure which was the right way down a rocky headland, chose what I thought looked the least steep, slipped and ended up on my arse in the scree. This was not what I had in mind. I dont normally mind running by myself, but felt thoroughly alone and out of my depth.
I picked myself up and carried on. A friendly local hiker give me some useful tips about the route ahead. And then another runner, Kate from Dartmoor, caught up with me - we would see a lot of each other over the next few hours. A little further down the mountain I caught up with John. Towards the bottom we finally arrived at the promised land - a decent stretch of good path that we could actually run on. Although after all the scrambling & squelching through bogs my legs felt like jelly and I scarcely trusted them to hold me up. At this point we also met up with the Trio - three young women running for a dementia charity who would also be my companions for bits of the route.
The first checkpoint was at the bottom of descent, and after that there was a rally lovely stretch through woodland, with the rhododendrons looking magnificent. Shady and cool, and runnable. John went of ahead again. Now I had looked at the course profile, but next to Snowdon the other climbs barely registered on my conscience. Rude awakening number two. That second ascent was tough, steep and tricky. I passed John on the way up, fully expecting to see him again on the other side. The descent was treacherous, alternating between rocky and boggy. I went down with Chloe from the Trio while her friends scuttled of ahead - glad of a companion in case either of us fell. We had just done a four hour half marathon. Jeez.
At the bottom of the second descent was the next checkpoint in Beddgelert, and then a beautiful path beside a river at the bottom of the valley. Flat, but much of it pretty much impossible to run on as the rocks were pretty big. And then up again. Climb number three. A magical mystery tour through a forest, a slightly hairy fording of a river (OK, maybe a just a big stream, but get it wrong and youre going down a waterfall ). And another tricky descent. I thought Id lost it a couple of times when my foot went deeper into the bog than I bargained for, but again got away with it. 17 miles down. And finally, a prolonged section of the route which was on good solid paths. Some tarmac, even. Undulating though, and while I wished I could run it all, I was struggling a bit at this point and walked up some hills which really weren’t that steep. Mostly with Chloe at this point, with her friends up ahead and Kate a little further back. This was where I thought John might catch me up, but still no sign of him. The Trio were anxious about missing the cut-off and the last checkpoint. I neither knew where it was nor what time we had to be there - I hadnt expected it to be an issue. But they thought we were probably going to be OK at the rate were going.
The checkpoint was at 21 miles, and was reached in good time. I arrived with the Trio, and Kate turned up shortly afterwards. A break is very welcome when youve been running for hours, but I dont like to stop for long as my legs seize up and it can be really hard to get moving again. So I waved goodbye to my friends and set off, relieved to be running on a bit of actual road. Five or six miles to go. One thing I have up my sleeve as an occasional ultra runner is that I am quite used to keeping going for hours, and running on very tired legs. So I was able to make the most of the good going - mile 23 was my quickest. Or least slow. But I did know that the course had a sting in its tail. The finish wasnt far away but it was the other side of a pretty decent sized mountain. I was exhausted but at the same time feeling pretty strong at the start of the climb. I strode purposefully along, gaining on the runner in front of me. But nearer the top the gradient really kicked up and it was hard just to keep moving. I tried walking sideways to take the strain off my ankles.
The top of the hill was at about 24.5 miles. I was pretty certain it was downhill all the way now, but not sure exactly how long the course was - it said 43K on the course map, so possibly a bit more the your standard 26.2. I had caught up the guy on front towards the top of the climb, and we had chatted for a bit, but he left me for dead on the descent. It was mostly a pretty reasonable path, but still plenty of jaggy bits of rock sticking out. I just didnt trust my legs enough to go any faster. I would have felt a right idiot if Id fallen in mile 27 of a marathon. A marshal in a high viz jacket was a very welcome sight. Not far to go now he said. How much further is it? I asked. Just another couple of kilometres he said. Shit, thats bloody miles. My watch was already on about 26.2. Come on, Hodson, youre not going to bottle it now.
The last half mile or so was on the road that we had run up at the start. I would have loved to have charged down it, scything through the tourists, choks away. But my legs were utterly jellied now, so I just leant back and tried not to fall over. I managed the teensiest of sprint finishes and crossed the line a very relieved woman in 8 hours and 11 minutes. I collected my medal and bottle of beer, and sat down on the grass, not sure how I would ever get up again.
Kate came in 10 minutes after me, followed by the Trio 9 minutes after her. But where was John? A few minutes later he showed up, beer in hand. Some halfwit had taken up some of the signs and he had got lost. He found his way back onto the course in the end, but with the extra miles he had missed the cut-off and ended up in the sweepers van. Which is a real shame because it deprived me of the pleasure of beating him for the first and doubtless only time.
But he took it pretty well. We went back to our hotel in Bangor, and then out to our favourite Italian restaurant with the handsome young waiter. Back to the hotel I let John beat me at darts as a consolation prize. The wall took a few hits.
Quite an experience. And overall, an amazing weekend away. Thanks to John & Jenny for the fabulous company.

Orion Forest Five Series - Race 1. - Saturday 3rd June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

QEOP 10km Series - Saturday 3rd June 2017

365 finishers

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 3rd June 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

48 parkruns, 18 venues, 4 first finishers.9 debuts and 6 course pbs.
Four first finishers, Euan Brown (16.29) at Wanstead, Patrick Brown (17.08) at Thetford, Katherine Harris (22.20) at Valentines and Emily Clarke (21.15) at Roding Valley.
Course pbs for Jamie Xavier, Mark Moir, John Booth, Iain Mackie, and Calvin & Emily at Roding Valley pushing each other.
parkrun records
Roding Valley - Emily extended her record to 21.15.
Thetford - Patrick & Fiona first ELR's at Thetford.
Clacton - Marc Akers first ELR man to join Fiona C.
Newark - Andrew Howard debuts.
Great Cornard - Fiona Critchley ELR ladies record.
Parke - Janet Bywater ELR ladies record.
Best age grades of the year so far for Emily, Calvin, Katherine, Iain, John Booth, Shailesh, Dan Gritton, Bernadett, Jamie X, Fiona C and Stephen Swan.
Stephen failed to beat Stuart's record by 4 seconds.
Youngsters - 1st parkrun for Molly Baxter and course pb for Jack Goodwin, leaving mum behind.

Assembly League 5km, Battersea Park - Thursday 1st June 2017

363 finishers.
Note This event took place on Thursday 1st June 2017 but was reported late.

Vitality London 10km - Monday 29th May 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Also Russell Price 37.19 (373rd) and Will Pearce 37.28 (384th)
plus Bob Archer (father of Roisin) 65-69 56.33.

Stuart's report:- It started on the 08:07 train from Woodford, I met up with loads of ELR on the way, Text messages coming in of problems on the trains but this never stopped us.
Arriving at Green park the sun was out and it was warming up, a quick photo and off to drop the bags off,
I walked to my pen with Shaun and Jay, and waited for the start, A quick photo of us three in front of Buckingham palace before the pen got busy, A few other ELR arrived and we waited for the start,
We could hear the first wave set of and we were moved forward, then it was time to start, It took a while to get over the start line but after you cross you find you have a bit more space around you.
I ran the first 1k with Jay, I knew he was going a bit slow for him and I could not keep his pace, after the 1k sign he was off, I settled into my pace its only 2 park runs 4 laps of Wanstead,
I almost missed the first water station just managed to grab a bottle of the last person, It was hot and the water helped a lot,
The race is nice and flat with some great views of the city and St Pauls, I got to the second water station I needed this one, I spotted my nephew on the other side of the road he had started in the wave behind me,
I spotted that Tim Aylett was just in front of me but each time I pushed he seemed to get further away,
Then I was at 9k I felt ok so I pushed a little more, I am sure 800m to 400m was marked wrong this took ages, then 200m to go head up and go.
Very well organized for baggage collection and great bling.
And I got a PB #Result

andykumar.net/2017/05/29/vitality-london-10000-2017-race-report/ Andy Kumar's report on the Vitality 10km

Hatfield Broad Oak 10km - Monday 29th May 2017

1,222 finishers.

Mud Monsters 10km OCR, East Grinstead - Sunday 28th May 2017

10km Mud Monsters Run completed. Running with an OCR noob so nice steady pace today. 3 hours ish of horrific mud! This was after the water slide so we were nice and clean!

Rock N Roll Liverpool Marathon - Sunday 28th May 2017

2,972 finishers.

Edinburgh Marathon Festival - Sunday 28th May 2017

EMF Edinburgh Marathon 2017 Race Report- from Lucy Barron

I was thoroughly looking forward to the whole weekend as my parents decided to road trip up to Edinburgh from Dorset a few days before as it was my mums birthday on the Saturday and my brother flew over for the weekend too as we were going to have lots to celebrate!
So the Marathon, We were staying not far from where the race started and so my dad dropped me off early Sunday morning and the the rest of the family would come by shortly after, So once id sussed out the baggage trucks (which despite how busy the area was weren't surrounded by cues which was a relief) I made the short walk up Regents Road which was were my start pen was located and round the corner only to be greeted by the magnificent view of Arthurs Seat 'what a setting' I thought to myself, Once Id taken in the beautiful backdrop to the race and worked out were id needed to be I made my way back to the trucks were I met my family, What I did enjoy about this particular Marathon is that friends an family could walk right up to the start pens with you and hang around which was fantastic as I was feeling quite nervous despite it being my 2nd 26.2, I turned around at one point only to see Fiona Day walking towards me (yay someone I know) we were in the same start pen so I had hoped we might bump into one another, I hugged and kissed my family goodbye before setting off with Fiona to our pen.

I started off with a gentle pace of around 9:20 and after a few miles decided that was the bracket I was happy to stick with as it was a lot warmer than anticipated and I was too nervous about exhausting myself but I was happy as I knew that if I could keep up a steady rhythm I was sure to knock quite a bit of time off my marathon debut.
The Route was beautiful taking you out of Edinburgh itself and along the Scottish coast finishing in the town of Musselburgh. I would say that it was more of a mental challenge for a large portion as at times it was quite a quiet race but when you did reach areas where supporters were able to be boy was it welcomed people blaring out music and shouting everyones names as we went past I wished I could of bottled it up, at one point we ran along the sea front through a stretch of beach cafes where people were sitting having their cups of tea and cake when all of a sudden they would get up and start cheering us on as we went by. 'Im in Scotland and Im hot' never thought Id think that to myself, from 15 to 20 miles I started to flag (this portion was through a never ending country road) and really felt quite tired 'get to 20' I told myself then if you need to slow down or walk for a bit then do it, as I got to 20 I kept going until I got to 23 miles I looked at my watch and saw that I was already on for a good time (and many of you might not agree with this) so I decided to walk jog for a small bit as I really was literally running out of steam I was nearly there and wanted to bust out the last couple of miles if I could, mile 25 came and so I did my best to keep up a slow jog until 26 where I managed to use energy from somewhere to 'bust it out' as I knew I was going to see my family somewhere at this point and lets face it we all want to be seen at our best when we spot people we know. Sure enough as I entered the last stretch and could see the finish line I sprinted as best I could (always got energy for a sprint finish), suddenly hearing my mum yell my name in desperation to get my attention I turned and spotted her and my brother I gave them a quick wave and I was over the finish line.

FINISH TIME: 4:14:05, 17 minutes off of my previous 1st Marathon.

Thank you to everyone at club that seems to have an enormous amount of faith in my capabilities as a runner and constantly telling me that I was going to 'Smash it' this time around.
At the end of the day a Marathon is just that 'A Marathon' its not always about the time because really if you tell someone that isn't a runner that you have completed one they are already going to be in awe no matter the performance!

Edinburgh Half Marathon - Sunday 28th May 2017

Vitality Westminister Mile - Sunday 28th May 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Finish positions are for information only, as they are given only for the wave that the runners ran in.

also
Zoe Bolderstone 7.27
Emma Bolderstone 7.58

Race For Life 10km, Regents Park - Saturday 27th May 2017

52.28

Run Through Olympic Park Velo Half Marathon - Saturday 27th May 2017

94 finishers.

OTILLO Swimrun Sprint Uto, Sweden - Saturday 27th May 2017

This is Louise and Richard writing from Sweden! We just finished up the Otillo Uto Swimrun Sprint on May 27 and are pleased to share our results.

ÖTILLÖ Sprint Utö is the start of the Swedish swimrun season. The race is held on a challenging, fun and varied course on and around the beautiful islands of Utö in the Stockholm Archipelago. A total of 9,8 km of running, 2 km of swimming and a total of 7 swims where the longest is 430 metres.

Racers compete in teams of two, some people tie themselves together! This was our first swimrun and we were pretty pleased with our time. We finished in 1:52:49; a crowd-pleasing sprint finish got us one second in front of a Norwegian men's team. Competing against some very tall swedes, including some reigning world champions we are pleased to say that we came 30 out of the total 88 teams, second out of the Brits (and 1st out of British mixed teams), and 15 out of all mixed teams.

Now we're having a week's holiday to swim around the Swedish and Norwegian lakes. See you back in London soon!

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 27th May 2017

PCCW Charity Race 5km, Singapore - Wednesday 24th May 2017

6th place in the PCCW Charity 5km race with a time of 20 minutes 2 seconds...heat was a killer even with a 7.15 am start temperature was 84 degrees!!

Eton Sprints Triathlon, Dorney Lake - Sunday 21st May 2017

750m swim, 21k bike, 5k run
Ava 14.47, 1.57, 37.55, 1.23, 20.33 = 1.16.35
413th/703 entries, 83/235 ladies, 14th/38 age group.
Danny 19.33, 2.34, 39.03, 1.06, 19.47 = 1.22.03.
538th/703, 394th/468 men, 68th/69 age group.


Ava Lee:- Danny and I headed over to Dorney Lake for the Eton Sprints triathlon this morning - 750m swim, 21k bike, 5k run. Felt like we'd been catapulted into the Olympics by accident. Never seen the likes. People swimming faster than fish!! Anyway, we had a great time. Me in 1hr 16, Danny in 1hr 22. And one of us even won a prize (well, not really).....Danny got the wooden spoon for last out the swim in his wave. He's very proud. See, triathlon is for everyone

Richmond Marathon - Sunday 21st May 2017

278 finishers.

Exeter Marathon - Sunday 21st May 2017

310 finishers.
Morning! I'm very excited to be writing my first race report for the Exeter Marathon last Saturday! I never thought I would get round to doing a marathon it seemed too far and would require too much training but after running a PB in a half Marathon in January I thought that I was probably as fit as I was ever going to be and I started to wonder if it would be a good place to start training for a marathon from. Of course the first person I consulted was Sarah ( my little sister, running coach, masseur, cake baker and amazing and supportive friend) She gave me her well thumbed “Mastering the Marathon, Training for the over 40s book, pointed me to the bare bones training plan and told me to get on with it! Now I had to find a marathon to do that was no too far away from home, that was flat, on a weekend free of kids activities and that would give me enough time to complete a 16 week plan. After much internet searching I came up with the Exeter Marathon! It’s a small event, about 350 runners, it's only been going for a few years but it ticked all the boxes!

Sarah did not hesitate on offering to come with me to be my number one (and only) supporter on the day. I was so grateful for that offer as quite frankly was terrified and knew that I’d be so grateful to have her there for hand holding at registration and the start, times at which historically I can be relied upon to forget something or just generally be in a right panic. Also this being my first marathon I was hoping a friendly face in the later miles could be just what I needed to get me to the finish.

We stayed in an Airbnb the night before in Exeter where I slept well despite surreal dreams of having to run the marathon in my flip flops. The weather on the day look promising, no rain and no too hot either. Although I hadn’t thought about the wind…. The race started from St James football club, what with the small number of racers and football stadium faculties there were no queue s for the ladies, which was just as well as the nerves got the better of my bladder and did not calm down until I been 6 times!!

The rather unclear route map was pinned to the wall of the registration room, it made no more sense looking at it there then it had when I’d looked at in online in the weeks before. But I got the gist, it was basically 3 laps and we mostly along the river in Exeter. I also figured I be following people so was not too bothered about knowing where to go! So from the start at the stadium we ran through town down to the river where the 3 lap circuit began. The road was closed and there were a few spectators out at the start which was rather nice and my nerves soon settled. I was really paranoid about setting off too fast as I have a tendency to do this and had read many horror stories of those who had made that mistake so I just trundled along, but after 5 miles and having chatted to a few people about their hoped for time I realised that i needed to get a wiggle on as i was really not going as fast as I had planned! My gold time ( I decided to use this approach after reading some East London Runners London marathon race reports!!) was 3.48, Silver was under 4 and bronze was just finishing!!

Sarah by this point had done a far bit running too, popping up as if by magic at various points on the course to cheer me on, I couldn't quite figure out how she did it!! She also managed to pop up at water station and was happily handing out water to the runners, She had also, i found out later, rearranged the water station so it had better feng shui which enabled runners running in both directions of a dual lane section of the course to be able to get water easily!! Thank goodness she was there!

So I upped my pace a bit from then on and really enjoyed the rest of the first and the second lap. The route took as along the river path but then into a wooded area which reminded me of Wanstead flat park run. It was nice to have a change of scenery and run in the shade of the trees!!
So I kept focused as the miles ticket over but started to worry a little about the rather fierce head on wind that was blowing directly at me on the later stages of lap two, I wondered how that would feel on the final lap! I could feel myself slowing down at mile 21 and at this point felt that I should focus on the bronze! When suddenly Sarah appear on bike behind me telling me to grind it out and keep on going. She held my water bottle for me and was there with words of encouragement! By this point there was no way I could talk to tell her to shut up so just listened and tried to keep going. The wind was the last thing I needed at this point but it was blowing right at me and I got that I'm running backwards feeling but soon we changed direction again, crossing the river and I was out of the wind and only a Parkrun to go. Never has a park run felt so long. Although i had already put all thoughts of my silver time out of mind with some final words of encouragement from Sarah that I could get in under 4hours I dug deep and tried to pick up my pace, or at least not slow down anymore. One the busy Quay side full of Sunday strollers Sarah rode ahead on her bike ringing her bell and the crowds parted (just as well as I was in no fit state to dodge them) Then there it was the finish line..... what relief and with a final sprint i snuck in with a time of 3:59:43 and a third place in my age group (one of the benefits of a small race!!!!!) I was totally chuffed, utterly unable to talk and so happy that I'd made it round. Beer and burger followed. So I have to say a big thanks to Sarah for being such an amazing supporter, it really made my first marathon very special. I'm off on holiday today and looking forward to resuming some shorter runs on my return so have signed up for a couple of Elvis races !!!

YMCA North London 10km, Crouch End - Sunday 21st May 2017

Decided to go for 4 PBs in a week over 10 miles, 5 miles, 5k and 10k and only managed the first one. Gave it everything today but forgot how tough the course was having done it 2 years ago. This is a great event but happy to say that's my last race until ELVIS 3, time for a rest!

Southern League, Woodford Green Meeting - Saturday 20th May 2017

Battle Of The Boroughs 5km, Greenwich Park - Saturday 20th May 2017

56 finishers.

White Peak Swift Half Marathon - Saturday 20th May 2017

305 finishers.

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 20th May 2017

65 parkruns at 11 venues, 43 ran at Wanstead Flats for the 6th Anniversary and my 100th parkrun. Attendance broken again up to 267 from 230 a few weeks ago.
5 first finishers, 3 course pbs and 7 debuts.
First place for Euan at Wanstead in 16.30, then four ladies in first place. Felicity ta Wanstead, Karen 20.04 at Valentines, Fiona Critchley at Great Notley and Roisin Archer a pb and 1st lady with 20.46 at Hackney.
Course pbs also for Sheetal at Hackney and Andrew Baxter at Bognor Regis.
Four debuts at Wanstead, Shahib, Alexandra, Grant and Samia bring the total on the ELR page to 194 runners. Debuts also for Ciaran at Rostrevor, Iain Mackie at Harrow and Janet Bywater at Raphael.
Sixteen ran there best age grade of the year so far with 10 at Wanstead, 4 at Valentines and 2 at Hackney.

Chase The Sun Run, QEOP - Wednesday 17th May 2017

Elvis 1 - Dagenham 88 Runners 5 mile - Wednesday 17th May 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Last year's times in brackets
Men's team (3 to score) Paul, Billy and Patrick.
Ladies team (3 to score) Emily, Ellie & Julia.
Elvis Score: Men - Paul, Billy, Patrick, Dan, Danny & Scott.
Elvis Score: Ladies - Emily, Ellie, Suzanne & Sarah.
1st V60 man - Calvin Bobin
1st V45 lady - Suzanne Bench
Elvis team scores - Men - 1st ELR 69, 2nd Ilford 131, 3rd Barking 188.
Team Scores - Ladies - 1st 42, 2nd EERR 45, 3rd Barking 59.

Essex County Championships, Chelmsford - Day 2 - Sunday 14th May 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Great Baddow 10 - Sunday 14th May 2017

Run Through Olympic Park 10km - Sunday 14th May 2017

561 finishers

Essex County Championships - Day 1 - Sunday 14th May 2017

Medals Evening - The Duke, Wanstead - Saturday 13th May 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Nuclear Rush, Brentwood - Saturday 13th May 2017

Nuclear Rush - 12km OCR (was 13km)
1.51.04 - currently 55th of 2114

Nuclear Rush - 7km OCR (was 8.5km and an hour after the 1st)
Sarah Stephens - 2.48.30 - 682nd of 1915
Me - 2.48.32 - 683rd

So so so so so so so muddy! But finally picking up UK OCR League points.

Loch Leven Half Marathon - Saturday 13th May 2017

Essex Cross Country Series - Hylands House, Chelmsford - Saturday 13th May 2017

206 finishers.
Julie reports:- Completed in the first 10km race of the Essex Cross Country series at Hylands Park. Lovely course, running over grass trails and through woods. Bit disappointed with the overall time: 4th mile was slow. Distance was over 10km / 6.2 miles (6.41 miles by my Garmin) . Will definitely do this next year. Thanks to all the marshals and volunteers.

Southwark 10km - Saturday 13th May 2017

384 finishers.
John Booth says:- First podium today at Southwark Park 10K (3rd). Rather pleased ,good form going into ELVIS next week...

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 13th May 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

54 parkruns, 14 venues, 2 first finishes, 4 course pbs, 12 debut runs and 20 age grade bests for 2017 so far.(With 12 more ELR competing elsewhere).
Two first finishers for Thomas & Karen, Course pbs for Shahib & Grant at Valentines, James Nichols at Maldon amd Bex at Royal Tunbridge.
Nine tourists debuted at Southend with eight of them getting there best time's of the year so far.
Finally congratulations to Oliver Szabadi (JM10)on his 50th parkrun in a pb of 24.23 and a 1st parkrun for Emma Bolderstone (JW11-14)in 28.38.

Chasing The Sun Finsbury Park 10km - Wednesday 10th May 2017

339 finishers.

Halstead & Essex Marathon - Sunday 7th May 2017

390 finishers.

East London Triathletes Dragonslayer Duathlon, Velopark - Sunday 7th May 2017

3 mile run/15 mile cycle/ 2 mile run. - 80 finishers.

Sunderland Half Marathon - Sunday 7th May 2017

finishers.
Jay Sangha reports:- Sunderland Half Marathon Report
Well what can I say I finished my 1st half marathon in Sunderland, woooooooo, you might ask me why there, all I can say is why not. It was fun, well except the wind in your face and so many hills. Even though I was exhausted around about 8 miles because of the hills, I was keep telling myself I CAN DO THIS!! I had a target in mind around 2 hours and Well i smashed it in 1:46:11 (even though I dont know how I done this) but I gotta say Im so proud of myself and also proud to be an ELR and all of your support help me too, so thank you guys and Im thinking of doing this again in the future....

Rat Race Dirty Weekend, Burghley - Saturday 6th May 2017

Greetings one and all. You have signed up to take on the Worlds Largest Assault Course and for that we salute you. Its a huge outing whichever way you cut it and you have got sports most notorious after-party to contend with the other side of the finishline too. Of course, you will want to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other to get the miles under your belt and put the obstacles behind you.

Josh Stephens reports:- Marathon on Monday, few days rest then...

Rat Race Dirty Weekend!

The OCR event of the year, 20 miles, 200 obstacles!

I ran in a 'fun wave' which featured 5hr49 of smoke bombs, garden shed dance parties, sword fights, a huge washing machine for people, and an inflatable monkey that I carried for 19 miles...

Also as a sidenote, this week has really helped my years mileage!!!

QEOP 10km Series - Saturday 6th May 2017

Me and Liz and Sophie ran at the QEOP this morning. They have changed the route, its a lot more undulating than it was in January! A goodie bag with lots of snacks too. But Im unsure what to do with my pea protein

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 6th May 2017

48 parkruns at 13 venues, 3 first finishes. Euan Brown at Wanstead, his 35th finish against Thomas Grimes 40 at Wanstead. Billy Rayner at Mile End and Katherine Harris at Valentines. Tim Aylett did his 50th parkrun, Steve Bywater his 150th but no tshirt. Janet Bywater changed her club to ELR, you know it makes sense.
Course pbs for Billy Rayner, Paul Marshall at Mile End and also Spencer Evans and Stuart Barton at Roding Valley.
Record attendance of 230 finishers at Wanstead including Craig Simpson, back after a year away from parkrun, Sharon Springfield, didn't loose her barcode this time, Sarah Burns, back in the UK, and Ellen Jones, welcome to ELR.
Finally the ELR Club List reached a 190 runners, so next target is 200. If you havnt run at Wanstead Flats yet, our 6th Anniversary is in two weeks time.

Wimbledon Trail Series - Event 1 - 5 miles - Wednesday 3rd May 2017

Thomas says he's happy with that as not 100% since London.

Woodford Green & Essex Ladies Open Graded Meeting , 3000m - Tuesday 2nd May 2017

Milton Keynes Marathon - Monday 1st May 2017

2,020 finishers.
How Not To Run Marathons 101

In 2005 I challenged myself to complete a marathon every other year to check my general fitness. It was unwritten, but my ridiculous laziness prompted these to be marathons with little to no preparation...
At aged 18 London Marathon was completed in 4.34.
4 further biannual marathons followed in the 5 hour area.
1 year was replaced with my first 2 OCRs ( total around 26 miles)
Add in 2016s mountain marathon (1000m of ascent) in 5.59.

2017s chosen race was the Milton Keynes Marathon, as it was cheap!

Training
A half marathon in December
Most of the winter off as it is cold
Most of the spring off as it is wet
Some 5km wanders
9 and 6 mile slow runs in April
2 weeks in America eating ALL THE FOOD

Race prep
New shorts - not tested over 5k
New gels - never used gels before
Cinema and pub the night before
2 x pain au chocolat for breakfast
2 x caramel snack a jacks en route
An hour of pop punk hits in the car

Race summary
Miles 1-10 - wow I am fitter than I thought, on for sub 4.15
Miles 11 - 13 - hmm maybe not, on for sub 4.15 just
Miles 14 - 16 - I'm sure there was a 4.15 pacer around here somewhere...and why do my legs feel so bad? Is it as my last time running this far was July 2016? Probably not
Miles 17 - 23 - quads hurt. Knees hurt. Calves hurt. Feet are sore and pancake like
Mile 24 - see above and add strange sensation in hip. Not music related and more painful
Mile 25 - this is not a mile...where is that bloody marker
Mile 26 - oh wait, if I speed up my legs hurt less!
Mile 26 - 26.2 - SPRINT FINISH SUCKERS!

4.46.20 finish time
Lessons learnt
Train and prepare
Body still works

To add, really well organised marathon. Well marked, bang on mileage. Great tshirt and medal, goody bag with chocolate milk!!! Parking at the stadium so got from finish line to car in less than 5 mins!
Now to 'taper' for a 20 mile obstacle race on Saturday...

Run For All - Gear 10km, Kings Lynn, Norfolk - Sunday 30th April 2017

2100 finishers.

ETU European Championships , Soria Duathlon, Sofia, Spain - Sunday 30th April 2017

5km/t1/20k bike/t2/2.5km
20.34/ 1.53/ 44.00/ 0.58/ 10.44 = 1.18.14


Sporting the GB Colours , A little race report...

Every inhabitant of a relatively unknown town in Spain, called Soria, was out in force this weekend to create the most friendly atmosphere you could hope for at the European Duathlon Championships. It was my first chance to don the Team GB kit and to be quite honest, that was enough to make me happy. Id qualified, I got the kit, what do you mean I now need to do the race!! I had prepared well, but I didnt have huge expectations for my first GB Age Group Event. I wanted to enjoy the experience, finish the race in one piece and feel like I had tried my best. In the end it turned out rather better than that, but still I have the niggling feeling that I have a little more in me, next time!
Danny and I met a local man in the pub who told us endurance athletes from all over the world come to Soria to train. Why, you ask? Well, its over 1000m above sea level and rather hilly, and is quite the place for altitude training. Although its good enough for the Kenyans, it adds a few challenges for us lesser mortals.
I lined up on the start with my fellow athletes ,of a certain age , and felt very professional as the drum rolls began and the hooter sounded. Off we went on our first run , a few elbows out! It was a slower course than Id hoped, but we were all in the same boat. The altitude and the deceptive slope made it a challenge, a 5K PB was not on the cards, but I pushed as hard as my little lungs would allow. After not too long, Im getting into the swing of this. Ive successfully managed to change my shoes and put on my helmet and Im on my bike, heading out into the charging headwind and up a few inclines. I love my bike, and a wind in your face one way is a wind behind you on the way back. I hit 65 km/hour , thats fast for me! I normally get loads of people overtaking me on the bike. Not today!! Me and my bike didnt get overtaken by a single female , take that, suckers! Of course, I did get lapped by tons of blokes, but they dont count. So, no puncture, no disasters so far. Managed to change my shoes again ( its complicated, this multisport thing), and Im off on my tiddler of a final lungbusting run. And before you know it, its all over! Id kept my position all the way round, managed to gain one position to come 7th in my age group from a field of 21. Im very pleased with that , those were 20 super fit girls.
Danny (Chief coach) and I celebrated with a little too much vino Rosado and more Pinxtos than you can count. Amazing what the Spanish can do with a little bit of bread and a few anchovies. All in all, a fun weekend.
On the plane home I was studying the results. It appears Ive got the running and the biking thing down quite well, however Im not so good at changing my shoes. If Id been a faster shoe changer and helmet clipper Im sure I could have come at least 20 seconds faster and been 6th in my Age group!! Thatll teach me , new training plan, less running, more shoes.

Virgin Sport Hackney 5.5k/Chase Your Mate - Sunday 30th April 2017

Virgin Sport Hackney Half Marathon - Sunday 30th April 2017

Andy Bolderstone Hackney Half Report

So after 2 marathons this month I was unsure of whether to run this one. Every morning this last week I have woke up feeling exhausted and that I couldn't run this weekend. By the end of each day I had changed my mind. You only regret the things you don't do so they say so that's how I found myself in a pen with Nick and Lance this morning. As soon as we started I realised I needed to run my own race. Nick was away from the start and Lance soon disappeared up the road. I changed my expectations to wanting to keep under 9 min miles and not stop running. In the end only 11 and 12 were above 9 mins and my overall pace was 8.53. As I came to the last hill (how many ups were there? More undulating than I thought) I literally ground to a walk for about 10 seconds but then the sight of ELR red on the crest kickstarted me. Keep your head up, shoulders back, run from the hips and ignore the burning lactic in my quads. This was first race or parkrun that I haven't got a pb this year but weirdly it was the most satisfying. I did as well as I could given the circumstances and learnt a lot and tried a few new things that I had forgot in the craziness of a marathon.
It was great seeing so many ELR around the course. I am lucky to have the support of such a great club. Onwards towards Elvis.

Muhammad Iqbal:- One year of road traffic accident complete with the finish of Hackney Half Marathon.
There were several reminders of the accident during run. I spent 3-4 months on crutches, had ankle operation, knee displacement and elbow hurt from accident. I could give up but huge thanks to team ELR, helped me keep going. Now it's Done and I'm a Runner, once again.

Scott McMillan:- Daddy's Hackney Half race report.

Given the form I've been in, and despite an incoming cold (thanks, children!), I decided to stick it on PB pace today and see what happened. I flew through the first five miles like they were barely even there, ticking off the local landmarks (the Clapton Hart, the Star at Hackney Downs, the Pembury Tavern), and gleefully hi-fiving Maya at the Homerton two-way section as I went. But something inside told me this wouldn't/couldn't last. And sure enough, my heart rate was way above what I'd like, and I panicked a little.

Whether by design or not, my pace slowed from a 1:25 pace to something like a 1:30 pace, though it didn't feel any easier. The local landmarks (The Cock Tavern, The Fox on Kingsland Road) passed more slowly.

But from 8 miles on, something lovely happened. People I know started popping up in the most unexpected places to cheer me on. Adrian from Orion on a roundabout outside the Lauriston. Bolts round by Victoria Park. Ciaran on a traffic island outside the Crate Brewery. And on the increasingly bleak and hilly (and entirely pub-free) section around the Olympic stadium, James and Antonio, followed by Maud at the top of Clarnico Lane (Hackney's half-hearted Heartbreak Hill).

Duly encouraged, I pushed on, and my speed came back, passing dozens of runners, reeling in a clearly struggling Spence (hope you are OK, mate), and engaging in a sprint battle which seemed to make it onto the big screen, judging by the commentary I could just about hear - "And here comes Daddy, and Daddy takes it!". 1:27:32, not a PB, but four minutes faster than last year, and hopefully still a time to make the kids proud.

Alexandra reports:-
My first race report, because I've done my pw at Hackney Half today and hopefuly learnt some lessons from it (sorry I realise it's a bit long!).

I was a bit anxious starting the race cause I haven't trained much in the last 3 weeks being abroad #excuses, but as I ran 2 half-marathons in March and had a 15 miles training with Helen 1 month ago, I was kinda hoping i would still be able to beat my Roding Half pb. Plus, seeing so many ELRs and knowing that my great friend Oscar was coming to watch the race gave me confidence. Thanks Robert for helping me with my camel bag and (not) to Jono for rolling your eyes at my Wonder Woman on it tongue emoticon:-P.
All started super well, saw Jay very early, and shouted for many ELR runners that were coming opposite (yes the crazy voice was me, Spencer tongue emoticon:-P) Helen and I decided to stay with the 2:15 pacer from the start (a french guy, we had to talk politics, obviously), I was felling very well, giving high five to the kids, making jokes (sorry Helen), promoting the club on camera (sorry again, Helen tongue emoticon:-P), but we were slowing down and started loosing the pacer... I thought it would be fine cause once I'll see the ELR bunch on Mile 10, I'll start going faster and catch up with him.

Then, from Mile 7, my right hip started to hurt (as usual) but this time, it was really bad, even going down to my leg... I was handling it, repeating to myself "you don't train so it doesn't hurt, you train so that you learn to handle the pain", miles after miles , i was grimacing, lost my smile and was seeing on my watch that I was getting slower and slower... Saw Mark Boulton at Mile 9 who gave me a big boost calling me :"That's my girl" (that was enough to make me blush , didn't even need a hug or a kiss smile emoticon:-) ) I was very impatient to see the beautiful ELR bunch at Mile 10, I thought, i will stop there, strech and take a gel , then it will just be 30 mins to run... But they were not there ... It's fine, they are just a bit further... Mile 11, James Nichols was marshalling and helped me carry on but still no Don, Maud, Jan, Ciarán ??? Where were they? Did I miss them? Oh I need to stop and walk now, what is it with all those hills now... Stretching this hip, running again while massaging it , then a hill again, I am gonna walk again then... oh , here they are I see Don.... Yeah !!! Copyrighted Maud flying, gave high fives, my energy was back for.... not too long, unfortunately...

With just a bit more than 1 mile to go, I was now feeling very low in energy, having not taken my gel, I had sugar-lemon water with me so immediately took some but I was feeling feverish, dizzy, nauseated...no, no, no, I can't do that now, I have to finish this, then the 1 mile left board: ok, get it together , you can do this, your pb is gone but you have to finish it well and the hell with that right hip... Managed to sprint the last 200 meters to overtake a runner and bursted in tears just after the finish line...

I was feeling extremely down, till I saw John who was giving us medals and again cried in his arm which worried him crazy (sorry John! ). Found Helen quickly to head up to the free massage with a worthy long wait , i could barely walk there...
So many lessons for me here:
1.Don't expect a pb if you have skipped too many tracks sessions with Grant !
2.Really really start having sports massage if I want to be able to do the VLM next year and maybe getting that hip checked
3.Eating more carbs the night before and at breakfast despite what others told me about the risk of being too heavy
4.Don't skip the gel at Mile 10
5.Maybe don't zigzag that much to give high five to all the kids till mid-race
Will end this with wise words from Joanna who nicely checked on me after the race: "as people told me on my last one it's the bad runs that make us appreciate the good runs."
Thanks to all of you for your support and hope to see many of you on Wednesday evening !

Maya reports:-
Three years ago, I ran Hackney Half, and I got a right cob on. I hated it. My friend Sara rolled her eyes and said 'you missed it all because you insisted on listening to music, you div.'

So I decided to enter at the last minute. I cajoled the lovely Jessica Trayler-Moore to join me. She's never run more than 15k, but was game and chipper and totally up for it. And off we set. Not a great time in the end, but it was a lovely run, the whole of Hackney came out to cheer us on.

So many friendly faces on the way round too, but my favourites were in the last three miles. Run Dem Crew are just ACE. It was like a mini Tower Bridge. And I saw one of the girls from Mind over Marathon! I gave her a huge hug. Probably a bit forward, considering we'd never met. And then the Purple Water Station. I love East End Road Runners. I squirted Katherine Bellinger in the face. Just to be cheery.

Up a small hill, and... 'JESS! THERE THEY ARE!' And there you all were. Thank you for waiting for us! You're all ace.

Jess Trayler-Moore reports:-

Imagine you'd been teetotal your whole life. Then, nearly a year ago, you got wasted on half a shandy and ended up with a two-day hangover. Suppose you then spent months nervously building up to tackling a bottle of wine - only to be whisked off to a club when you least expected it, downing vodkas until dawn.

Swap alcohol for running and that's my story. I'm a newcomer to ELR. I started running in 2016 and I've never so much as tried a Parkrun before, but that didn't stop Maya Goodwin messaging me on Wednesday. 'I've got you a ticket for this Sunday's Hackney Half'. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, despite my nerves and thanks to an awesome crowd and Maya's endless support, not much. It helped that we had a plan. We'd take it slowly, we'd walk the hills, we'd keep each other buoyed up. With others chasing down a PB, and Maya - fresh from the Brighton marathon - promising me she was happy to go at my pace, our only definite aim was to finish.

And so we began! I arrived at Leyton station far too early for a Sunday to see a familiar red top, so I bounded over and introduced myself to Lucy Barron. After a brief chat, she set off - and then Maya arrived. We walked to the starting point where we spotted the sea of ELR runners almost immediately. Along with some other friendly faces, I met Alexandra Rutishauser-Perera, Jonathan Wooldridge and 'Daddy' (said his race number. Turns out it was Scott McMillan, who'd asked his daughter to fill in his name). We just about had time for a team photo before heading to the starting pen.

Maya and I set off with a rhino hot on our heels and a pink tutu to our left. I've never known Hackney look so bizarre or so friendly. The streets were lined with families cheering and steel bands playing. The sun shone to just the right temperature. At around the 1 mile mark, Maya and I high-fived the speedier ELRs as they ran past us in the opposite direction (the 4-mile point for them). We marvelled at their speed and admired their long legs. We ran on. I brought annoying first-runner enthusiasm to our party of two, along with endless nervous chatter (Maya was very patient). I pointed out all the houses I like (Maya was very patient). I noted a spelling mistake on a banner (Maya was very patient). I complained at not having my name on my top (Maya was very patient). We both experienced a coughing fit after drinking lucozade sport (what is IN that stuff?). This conversation happened:
Maya: Quick! Hold hands Photographer!
Me: [excitedly] What??
Maya: PHOTOGRAPHER!
Me: [disappointed] Oh. I thought you said 'funfair'
At one point, the crowd thinned and we wondered whether we were either last or lost. But the highlight was just near the end, as we were both starting to struggle and there, at the top of a hill no one had any right to put at such a late stage of the run, was the ELR crew, spurring us on. And do you know, slow and steady might not win the race - but it definitely meant we finished smiling.
Of course, breaking your running cherry with a half marathon isn't quite the same as a drunken night on the tiles - but I'll probably wake up tomorrow with the mother of all aches, just the same.

Run Through Velopark 5km - Saturday 29th April 2017

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 29th April 2017

46 parkruns, 2 first finishers, 10 course pbs and 10 debuts.
First finishes for Euan & Karen. Course pbs for Dan, Calvin & Tim at Roding Valley. Sheetal & Julie Campbell (75.02%) at Hackney, Robert Rayworth at Wanstead, Mary Connolly at Barking, Mary OBrien at Sligo, Paul at Mile End and Mark Kerry at Cassiobury.

Southampton Marathon - Sunday 23rd April 2017

1073 finishers. Katherine reports:- Well done to everyone at London today! Really fantastic times, well done to you all.
I'm going to attempt my first ever race report and will try and keep it brief, apparently there was another race today... I also did a marathon today, the Southampton marathon (that famous one!). In a nutshell: hot and hilly! It was Southampton's first marathon in over 30 years. An undulating course with some fairly big hills but there were good downhill stretches. A few miles through pretty parks and amazing views up on the bridge (just a shame it was a long uphill to get there...4 times...and at mile 24 which was not my idea of fun). There were good pockets of support along the way and plenty at the start and finish, with bands playing and cheerleaders cheering along the way.
The organisation was good, although I left my bags at the hotel so I can't comment on the baggage. Minimal queues for the loos (bonus!) and free massage and beer at the end.
A nice 10 minute PB for me, just missing GFA by seconds so I have to admit to being a tiny bit disappointed. My watch tells me I ran 26.46 miles so in my head I did manage sub 3.45 and also ran my first ultra marathon, sadly officially this doesn't count.

Virgin Money London Marathon 2017 - Sunday 23rd April 2017

Pictures available in Photo Gallery