Runners

Results

Race Entries

Runners Profiles

Club Runner of the Month

Distance Log

Club Records

Club Person of the Year

Results Jan-June 2019

Leeds Castle Standard Triathlon (Olympic Distance) - Sunday 30th June 2019

1500m swim, t1, 40km cycle, t2, 10km run
31.49, 1.12, 1.17.19, 1.07, 44.19 = 2.35.49 Ava
44.14, 2.33, 1.18.25, 1.16, 43.07 = 2.49.36 Danny

ETU (40 - 44 Female) Sprint Duathlon European Championships, Targu Mures, Romania - Sunday 30th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

23.46, 1.08, 34.29, 1.08, 12.47 = 1.13.17

Super proud to find myself standing on the Podium to collect my Bronze medal at the ETU Sprint Distance Duathlon Championships. The odds of a medal were pretty good as there were only 5 in my age group (it's complicated) but the competition was still fierce. And you've got to be in it to win it! My asthma caused me some issues on the run (the air quality was pretty poor) and my time suffered as a result so I had a lot of ground to make up on the bike. I got my head down, took some risks, stayed up right, found someone to work with half way through and got to the second run knowing that if I could hold a decent pace a medal was mine. Cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats at the end of May may not have been the best training for a short and sharp race but it certainly gave me a renewed sense of self belief that served me well. It was tough and great fun, plus I had a beer in my hand by 10:00am. RESULT.

25th Hella Hamburg Half Marathon - Sunday 30th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Hella Hamburg Half Marathon 2019 - 8604 Finishers
The race started along the Reeperbahn strip, opposite my hotel. I was awake most of the night due to the revving of the bikes and chatter from the 'Harley Days' weekend, where Harley Davidson enthusiasts meet up. I took to the start line with 10 minutes to go and the sun was burning down on me, with no shade. There were three pacing groups; 1.30, 1.45 and 2.00 hours. After all the good advice, I very foolishly started with the 1.45 pacer. I thought I would keep up because that is roughly my time for the first half of a marathon. Straight away I was gasping for breath and after a short while I felt light headed. I was breathing fast, into the pit of my stomach and my heart was beating fast. There was no shade or breeze at this point. I thought I would either collapse or just give up after a couple of miles. I slowed down to a jog and still I could not breath properly. The first 10k was horrendous, I was looking around at everybody and they seemed ok. After a couple of miles of no hydration, there were then water stations and showers at every mile. The fire brigade were also out with their hoses. All I could do was soak myself and keep on drinking. I always felt I needed to drink more and more water. I actually started to feel slightly better after half way. There was more shade and also a slight breeze. My legs were alright but I still could not breath properly if I tried to run faster. When we turned round at Approx half way, I saw the two hour pacers on the opposite side of the road and I was determined they would not pass me. I had trained for a sub 1.40 half, my previous worse time was 1.48 (not including Hog Hill Half Marathon) and I finished in 1.58.47. I put this one down to experience of running in 34 degrees heat - just one of those things! I was so grateful I was able to finish and get under two hours, but that is a small consolation. A good weekend break away again, especially for the Harley Davidson enthusiasts!

The Family Marathon, Victoria Park - Saturday 29th June 2019

(My first) race report: The Family Marathon, Victoria Park
What better to do on the hottest day of the year than run a marathon? Luckily this wasn't something I was attempting on my own! Saturday was the first Family Marathon, a new event organised by the charity Hope and Homes for Children. The concept is that you work as family team any definition of family goes, with up to 6 people per team to complete the marathon distance. We signed up as it looked like a great way for the kids to be part of a longer race.
Thankfully, given the heat, the route was a 1-mile circuit mainly under in the shade of some lovely trees in Victoria Park. Cold water was handed out half way round, there was an amazing cheering team. I've no idea how they kept up the cheering and flag waving for hours, it looked more exhausting than the running and a local gospel choir too. You could complete the 26 laps any way you liked. There was one team of 6 adults who were done in around half an hour, running the laps together. We took it in turns to run in smaller groups, taking breaks for snacks and lots of water. The 0.2 miles isn't forgotten as there's a final stretch you run as a full team to cross the finish line, and where you get a team photo taken. And it is chip timed so you get a total time for the team, plus lap times for each person.
The event was well organised and pretty relaxed. There was a decent race village with a climbing wall, bouncy castle, some food stalls, bag drop etc which would probably have been busier had it not been for the super-hot weather. I reckon there were a couple of thousand runners in total. There were great t-shirts and medals afterwards, and the entry fees/money raised goes towards helping families stay together , apparently 80% of children in orphanages are not actually orphans. It's a race the charity plans to organise again, including potentially outside of London. I'd really recommend it as a way to include a range of family members and friends in the running experience as it's very easy to combine different paces and distances so everyone's happy.

Run Through Velopark Half Marathon - Saturday 29th June 2019

Run Through Velopark 5km - Saturday 29th June 2019

parkrun - all venues. - Saturday 29th June 2019

Finsbury 5000's, Finsbury Park Athletic Track - Friday 28th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Antonio: Last 5000m race before starting with the Berlin training
in 9 days. 5000m in 15:52, PB by 23 seconds. First 3k in 9:37 and last two
in 6:15. It seems Paula is my talisman, two races and one win and a PB.
A shame she is not coming to Berlin.

Orions John Clarke Memorial Fell Race - Friday 28th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Dartford Bridge Triathlon - Sunday 23rd June 2019

1500m Swim, T1, 42km Cycle, T2, 10KM Run
26.04, 1.20, 1.15.16, 1.01, 48.52 = 2.32.36

Triffic Trail, Trent Park 10km - Sunday 23rd June 2019

Harry Hawkes 10m - Sunday 23rd June 2019

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Final Results - Sunday 23rd June 2019

Mens Team Overall: 2nd team: East London Runners.

1st man overall Thomas Grimes
2nd man overall Patrick Brown

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Day 3 - Half Marathon - Sunday 23rd June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Mens team 2nd place East London Runners

Stuart Barton reports: I went to Colworth hoping for some good runs, the weather fairies were very kind to us all.
Last weekend was horrid weather and I was thinking that the campsite and races would be like a mud bath,
Anyway myself and Diana Rexhepaj were first to arrive and started to set up camp ELR. we pitched our tents and started on a couple of others, Patrick Brown and family were next to arrive followed by Kirk.
The Friday race is 5 miles and I got myself a PB, we had a great night at camp a few beers were sunk.
Saturday 8.1 all off road run this can be the hardest of the 3 but this year I enjoyed it, I got myself another PB this was thanks to Rachel Le Roux pushing me the last couple of miles.
Saturday night we were treated to Louis Le Roux cooking for us all #Cheersmate, a few more beers were sunk.
Sunday we packed camp ELR away before the 13.1 race, the sun started to beat down as soon as we started to run and I was not in a good way,
the first lap was ok I walked a couple of hills but did not think I would get the PB I was aiming for, but once again Rachel Le Roux caught me up at about mile 10 and pushed me along, she would not let me walk.
So Colworth is done for another year, not as many ELR this year let's hope this changes as it's a great event.
Thanks Grant Conway for talking me into going in the first place you,

Midnight Sun Marathon, Tromso - Saturday 22nd June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Arthur's Race report ' Midnight Sun Marathon, Tromso Norway – 22 June 2019
Pre-race day - Friday
On my flight descending down in to Tromso, while watching the never ending thick clouds, I thought to myself, how the hell could sunlight pass through this! And I, in my overly optimistic mode would only foresee it as its going to be dry, cloudy, 12 degrees , perfect weather condition for running a marathon. And yet again, was I wrong.
After checking-in at my accommodation, I made my way to the City Hall to collect my bib but couldn't resist catching a sight of the torch relay run by representatives from various countries. It's the first time the Marathon Flame from the city of Marathon and Athens has made its appearance in Scandinavia to mark the 30th year anniversary of the Midnight Sun Marathon in the Arctic Capital of Tromso.
Having had my usual pre-race day energy food of pizza and beer, the time is now 10pm on Friday; I made sure I stay up till 2am so I could get my body clock in sync for tomorrow's race. To pass time, I video chatted my folks and sisters' family in Australia where it's now their 7am on a Saturday, and we were all in awe that we can finally share the same daylight on this occasion even when being on the opposite side of the globe.
Race day / night ' Saturday
Woke up at 8am, late breakfast 10am, looked out the window and it's raining. Weather forecast 9 degrees with 100% chance of rain.
I made my way to town for some panic buying of running tights and a light wind jacket. The thought of running with a rain jacket and waterproof shoes will probably be too warm for me, so I didn't get those. After lunch, I made my way back to the hotel, had another 3 hour sleep, woke up (again) at 6.30pm, got changed into my running gear, zoned in with some music and did my warm up at the hotel gym while it was still raining outside.
Marathon race starts at 8.30pm, with the 10km race at 7pm and the half marathon at 10.30pm. Cut off time is at 2am.
Runners going over 5:30 will not be recorded.
At the baggage drop, I saw the usual pre-race worried faces of anxious marathoners but nothing more worrying to me than when I asked a cold-looking, soaking 10km race finisher on what he thought of the race course today (i.e. tonight). All he said was, 'it's really bad out there!' For him to say that and then I'm thinking: (1) I'm probably twice older and less fit; and (2) I am going to have to run over four times his race distance!
Time to put on my overly optimistic mode again, telling myself: 'Will knows no limits' (Marathon Flame), 'Pain is temporary, quitting is forever' (Rocktape), 'Marathon are stupid' (Stuart Barton). Now I'm all good to go.
During the race
The marathon route starts and finishes at the city. After the first 2 kms. it then crosses The Bridge (distance 2km) where you will be greeted with sight of the Arctic Cathedral and snow-capped mountains. Then it vear to the right and straight for 4kms up to the first turning point, back straight for 10kms, crosses back to the bridge and back to the city, runs along the South side of the island for 10 kms all the way to the airport for the second turning point, then back to the city again till the finish.
The countdown at the Start line had a party atmosphere. There were less than a thousand marathon runners from different countries, looking joyful and dancing while they were getting pumped up with some music by the gym sponsor. The rain eased off at the beginning, but it quickly got back when we first started crossing the bridge and hasn't stopped even on the next day.
Going to this race, after the hip injury two weeks ago at St Albans, I knew my confidence level is at its low point. Did my worst half marathon time at St Albans and worst 10K run at Regents Park a week prior. The only mental strength I could go by now is clocking 226km in a month in May, doing the hilly half marathon in Croatia and the occasional recovery and cross training at the gym.
I ran the first half of this course in a nice steady pace, no heavy breathing, and just listening to what my body is telling me, then adapting with the appropriate body alignment movement . I was even glad the hip pain didn't rear its ugly head, but then got my big surprise with 15kms to go.
The South side is actually coldest part of the island and it's the side facing the Arctic Ocean. With the rain, cold temperature and fatigue, I could tell my body temperature is deteriorating with my clothes, gloves and shoes soaking wet from the rain. Its time I now wear my new light wind jacket!
Thinking the worst case scenario is I get hypothermia, I tried to wipe the cold sweat off my chest, made sure I keep moving (walk, run, walk) so my body temperature does not go further down and not give-in to the negative thoughts of calling it quits, I hate PB's or blaming myself on why did I not train in wet, cold conditions!
As I crawled my way back with 5kms to the finish, I heard these two old local ladies cheering me on from their bedroom window with 'Heia, Heia, Heia' (go, go, go), I clapped and smiled with 'Go Norway!'. They were so happy I acknowledged their cheering, to which replied with their best English and shouted, 'You Go Girl!' I thought that was super.
In the end, I finished the Midnight Sun Marathon at 5:16:53 , my worst marathon time to date.
Toughest? Yes. Memorable? Definitely!

John West Great East Swim - 2 mile - Saturday 22nd June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Great East Swim 2mile open water race report
2 weeks ago I'd completed my longest ever swim of 10km in a totally unexpected great time and thoroughly enjoyed the whole event. I therefore didn't spend too much time thinking about this race, in hindsight perhaps resting on my laurels. I'd done no swimming over the last 2 weeks due to one injury or another but didn't worry too much about it.
My number 1 supporter (mum) and I got to Ipswich late last night, checked into our rooms and set off early this morning. No sight seeing on this trip - are there any sights in Ipswich??
Anyway, arriving at Alton Water it was clear to see this was a well organised event - and large. They were expecting 2,000 swimmers throughout the day taking part in distances ranging from 250m to 10km. A very commercial event - the same organisers as The Great North Run etc.
The weather was perfect, the venue picturesque and the water, although murky, inviting. With the water temperature at 19 degrees wetsuits were optional but towfloats compulsory if swimming in skins. Having never used a towfloat I stuck with my suit - today was not the day to try something new.
My 2 mile wave was at 10am with a 20min warm up first. My friends doing the 5km and 10km had started at about 8am and were well on their way to finishing by the time I got started.
Ego got the better of me and rather than starting last and getting some room I was probably in the first half of the wave with fast swimmers. And right from the start I didn't enjoy it. Not because of the speed but because the pack was large and it hardly thinned out for the whole distance.
There were some competent swimmers who simply didn't care if they got in people's way or swam over them, there were others that were quite frankly a liability thrashing around all over the place.
As with running I don't like being caught in the middle of a crowd and always try to get to the outside edge but try as I might I just couldn't get out of this pack. I picked off several slower swimmers, getting them out of my way early on and quickly worked out those who would be an issue for me and to try and steer clear of.
After about half a mile the course became extremely choppy and I found it hard to keep a good pace, ride the waves and spot not only the swimmers in front of me but also the bouys to ensure I was staying on course!
After the first lap my thoughts were, "crickey another lap to go". A stark contrast to my thoughts at this stage of my 10km race in Windsor. I lost sight of several of the faster swimmers and although I'd picked up 2 women who seemed intent to stay either side of me and in very close proximity it was nothing like my experience swimming with Steve 2 weeks ago. I couldn't shake these 2 for the majority of the race, only ditching them into the 2nd mile with some concerted effort on my part.
The home strait seemed to take an age to complete and only towards the end did I get into a comfortable steady pace. Again like running I seem to take a while to warm up before I can then push it.
I finished in 1.15.05. Slow. I knew I hadn't done a good time and I was pleased to finish and get out. By this time the grounds were packed with swimmers and spectators and I can only aliken it to the event village at The Hackney Half - only compounded by swarms of bugs!! I thought of Maya and how she'd have disliked the finish as much as me, gritted my teeth and found my friends to see how they'd done.
The goody bag was quite good - t shirt, medal, sunglasses, various food stuffs. Not sure I'll make use of the tub of tuna which had been sat in the sun for hours before I got it!
It was a rather subdued drive home, reflecting upon the event & my performance and feeling a little down that I hadn't enjoyed it anywhere near as much as I thought I would. I think it's made me appreciate even more my race from 2 weeks ago. I think I'm definately more suited to long distance, I doubt I'd do this event again and doubt I'd put in for another event under 5k...which makes my next adventure appear more appealing...an 11 mile race in Windermere (but I'll tell you all about that next year)!

Run Through Battersea Park 10km - Saturday 22nd June 2019

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Day 2 - 8.1m Forest Trail - Saturday 22nd June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Men's team 2nd place East London Runners

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 22nd June 2019

The Golden Stag Mile, Finsbury Park - Friday 21st June 2019

Euan : Cheers everyone! I'm happy with getting another Pb
but was aiming to go a bit quicker than that. Got stuck behind
the pack at the start so the first lap was slower than planned,
then couldn't make up the deficit. Will have another crack at
the soar mile in August.

Colworth Marathon Challenge - Day 1 - Friday 5 Mile - Friday 21st June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Mens team 2nd place East London Runners

Elvis 3 - East End Road Runners Midsummer 5km, Olympic Park - Tuesday 18th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

1st man: Jose Rodriguez

1st FV40 : Ava Lee
1st FV50 :Karen Levison
95 ELR runners
Massive congrats to all our runners yesterday, you all did amazingly.
Male scorers on the night were Nacho Aguirre Rodríguez (1st), Mark Boulton (2nd), Lee Johnson, Scott McMillan, Dan Senior and Danny Lee
Female scorers were Ava Lee, Karen Levison, Paula Bedford, Emily Clarke, Laura Kemp & Becky Evans.

With the Elvis points released after 3 events, ELR LADIES came 1st in race 3 and ELR MEN came 2nd to Ilford AC.
Ladies lead after 3 races with 3 wins, the men lead after 3 races but Ilford AC are close behind.

Endure 24 - Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Endure 24 2019 Epic, Brutal, Relentless. Described as the Glastonbury for runners and it doesn't disappoint. This year we even got the rain, mud and wellies!
This is the 3rd year I've competed in this event the previous 2 as a large team of 8, but this year as there were 10 of us who wanted to join in the fun we had 2 small teams of 5: the gin drinking team and the slightly faster but still gin drinking team.
Because there were only 5 of us I knew it was going to be hard but I definitely underestimated how hard. 2 of my team are seasoned ultra runners, 1 is a regular sub 3.30 marathon runner, 1 is a decent triathlete then I was the 5th. We were the 'Mums Run the World A Team'
4000 runners take part in this event, everyone camps and the organisation is amazing. Given the rain in the week leading up to this weekend I was amazed how dry everything was.
The idea is simple between noon on Sat and noon on Sun run as many 8km laps as you can- either solo, in a pair or a team.
Given we were celebrating two significant birthdays within the teams most of us arrived on Friday and consumed a suitable amount of pre race Prosecco and cake before calling it a night, ready for whatever the 24 hrs of racing we're going to throw at us.
The course is hilly and mostly off road with a few bits of single track and mostly in the woods.
I was no 2 in our team to go we decided to do 2 single laps each then go onto doubles to give us more of a break. My first 2 laps were really fun, it rained in between but I didn't get wet. However as the rain continued the course turned more and more boggy and there were reports of people slipping and sliding down the hills.
Doing a double back to back (16km) was a first for me and I was a bit worried how it would go. Unfortunately I was right to be worried as my right calf started hurting and then at the last km my ITB went. I had a massage, went back to our campsite, ate then went to bed, setting my alarm for 4 hrs later 2.15am.
Not sure how much sleep I got, but when my alarm went off I ached everywhere and wasn't looking forward to running 8km in the dark. After mile 1 everything gave up and it was a huge struggle I made it round in 50 minutes (before that I was averaging 40 minutes) and told my team mates I was done. I was properly broken and hobbled back to my tent, froze solid and tried to get some sleep.
Meanwhile it kept raining, the course deteriorated and they re routed parts of the slipperiest bits as so many people were falling over.
We had known since the very first lap that we were doing well, so then the tactics were all about how many more laps we could manage with me out of action and without anyone else breaking themselves.
Thankfully my team mates managed enough and we came 2nd out of 52 small female teams completing 33 laps not bad for a bunch of middle aged women (average age 43) with 11 children between us, who met over 10 years ago through a mutual love of running-proving without a doubt that mums really do run the world.

Victoria Park Summer 10km - Sunday 16th June 2019

Midnight Half Marathon, Dartford - Saturday 15th June 2019

Run Through Regents Park 10km - Saturday 15th June 2019

Mencap Hyde Park 10km - Saturday 15th June 2019

Mencap Hyde Park 5km - Saturday 15th June 2019

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 15th June 2019

Pitsea Crown to Crown 5km - Wednesday 12th June 2019

Chase The Sun 10km, Victoria Park - Wednesday 12th June 2019

Chase The Sun 5km, Victoria Park - Wednesday 12th June 2019

Run through Chase the Sun 5km & 10km Victoria Park
Course - fast and flat
Weather- Wet! Wet! Wet! (and not the band - I'd have preferred that to be honest!)
Attendees- website said 600 but considerably less ran, I suspect due to the weather
Race organisers & marshalls - fantastically friendly and encouraging as always
When I signed up for this race approx a month ago I was on a high from having just got a 10km PB on the same course and not a little PB either but a 4mins PB - I signed up that night full of enthusiasm to kick some more PB butt. I'd had a fantastic race and wanted more!
Tonight as I started running I wondered what on earth had possessed me to think I'd be capable of racing any distance just 2 days after my 10km swimming race?? What a wally!!
All day I'd been looking out of the window hoping the rain would stop and when it didn't I was trying to find all kinds of reasons for dropping out. All as feable as each other and all I could think of were 2 voices; my brother, "it's rain, you made of sugar or something?" and Marc, "man up princess"!! Marc was also running and I was his lift home so no getting out this one really.
I didn't have high hopes for tonight, my arm where I had my accident has been in a lot of pain, but that's just overuse on such a long distance on Sunday. Painkillers have been helping but I've also felt incredibly down. I can only guess it's the flipside of feeling so euphoric after my swim on Sunday where I literally would never have expected to swim so well and enjoy it so much. Being back at work today has been a welcome distraction from kicking around the house feeling unnecessarily sorry for myself and not being able to shake it off.
As soon as we started the race I wanted to stop! My breathing felt bad, I couldn't get a good pace, my arm was throbbing and I almost immediately decided to cut the run to 5km -one of the many great things about the Runthrough races is you can decide as you're running which distance you want to go for as it's laps.
I've always tried to hold on to the mantra "never judge a race by it's first mile". Tonight's first mile felt awful and I knew 3 would be bad enough, no way could I do the planned 6. But then looking at my watch I could see why .... 8.52mins! That's speedy for me!! Not my fastest but fast to go out on the first mile with tired legs. I put it down to the guy running next to me - it was like Steve in my swimming race all over again! He just stayed on my shoulder, neither of us able to talk but being the only 2 together you just knew we were pushing each other on. So for the purposes of this report we'll call him Steve.
Steve was constantly at my side and so my competative streak took over, not wanting to let him get the better of me. Mile 2, 9.09mins. Not bad but I was really feeling it now. I just wanted to stop. Steve kept me going, the rain was pouring down and I don't think either of us made an effort to smile for the official photographer. The almost undetectable downhill section seemed to have been moved on this lap as it all felt difficult, but Steve was still going so I kept going, no way was he getting past. Just before mile 3 the course cuts off for the 5km route. I'd loved to have given Steve some words of encouragement or thanks as we went our separate ways but in all honesty I'd more likely have thrown up all over the place, that's how bad I felt!
The last bit of the course is across grass - if ever there was a recipe for going a**e over t*t in front of everyone this was it. I therefore gingerly jogged this section back onto the path and the home straight.
I was able to see Marc on his last lap, shouted some words of encouragement - of course I wanted him to run well, but I was cold and wet and wanted to get home as well so wanted him to hurry up!
I did chuckle when he did a double-take trying to work out how I'd already finished! 😂
Result? 28.09mins. 45 seconds away from a PB! After the weekend I've had and the training leading up to it I'll take that thanks! On top form I'd definately have got a PB, on tonight's form I'm chuffed. Of course I can't take all the credit, I couldn't have done it without my mystery Steve!
Thinking about tonight's race reminded me of the end of some of my relationships - not much talking and one of us goes off huffing & puffing!!
Anyway, all in all a good result but I think I want to rest now.

Essex Championship 5000m , Braintree - Wednesday 12th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

64 runners spread over 4 races, ELR had 3 in the top 2 fastest times.

Yew Tree Staplehurst 10km - Sunday 9th June 2019

Boxted 10km - Sunday 9th June 2019

184 finishers.

St Albans Half Marathon - Sunday 9th June 2019

Southend Half Marathon - Sunday 9th June 2019

Aaron reports: Anyway, fast forward to today (the day of the Southend half marathon),
and I promised myself that even if I had to crawl I would finish and would not pull out and
DNF. Time was not a factor today. Finishing was the main task. It got pretty difficult and
I almost gave in after 10km, I decided to keep going even if it meant walking. I kept going
in this way (run, walk, run). I rounded the final turn and saw I that the clock was reading
sub 1:30 I gave it everything I had and just scrapped under. I was ecstatic because I'd proven
I could go the distance and still have the will to finish. Going back to the talk I heard at
work, the reason I wanted to post this was that I think it's important to have conversations
about wellbeing. Now on to the next 16 weeks of training for the Berlin marathon and reclaiming
my fitness. Thank you to everyone who supports me. I will keep getting stronger.
Thank you to Regis for the lift back.

Santander Monchengladbach Half Marathon - Sunday 9th June 2019

Jubilee River 10km Swim - Sunday 9th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

leg 1 - 1.9km 36.20, leg 2 - 3.5km 1.18.04, leg 3 - 2.6km 1.00.35, leg 4 - 1.5km 32.49

Joanna Wood:Jubilee River 10km Swim race report - a long one I'm afraid!
I entered this race at the end of last year having only competed in 2 open water events and done a handful of training sessions at the docks last summer. My pool swimming has been coming on and so as we've got nearer to the event the distance, although double the longest distance I've ever swum before, in my mind was doable. It was everything else that I was getting anxious about.
The logistics of the race played on my mind. We had to drive to and register at Royal Windsor Race Course, get a shuttle bus to the start in Taplow (about 15min drive away) and then a straight out route with 3 weirs to navigate (get out, stop at feed station if required and then back in). My mum was coming with me but due to health issues there's no way she could walk the entire 10km route to watch me and so we reluctantly ended up planning for her to see me off at the start and then return to town and await my return several hours later. Not an ideal day for either of us. To add to the mix my fellow club swimmers are much faster than me and were in the wave an hour behind me. As I dwelt upon all of this over the last couple of weeks I became despondent at it being quite a lonely event for me and got quite emotional about it all.
BUT... Stuart to the rescue!! After feeling sorry for myself he suddenly announced he and Marc would come and support me! Looking at the race info their route was planned to drive from one feed station to the next - which meant my mum would be able to see me and I'd get to see some friendly faces along the way. I was over the moon and extremely touched by their offer - great friends and ELR team spirit is truly outstanding!!
So, race day saw an early start, perfect weather, easy journey to registration and the start in Taplow. Met my support team and the race soon started. I thought I had been a little optimistic in my estimated finish time of 4hrs 30mins but chatting to a lady at the start she had anticipated 6hrs!! Crickey, surely one of us was way out on our guestimation and I really hoped it wasn't me!!!
One downside of wetsuit swimming is that once it's on you really don't want to have to go to the loo whilst you're hanging around on land. The upside however is that once in the water what a relief!!!! No having to use portaloos along the race route like running!
Leg 1 - 1.9km. This was a nice distance for the first leg to get settled into a pace. Lots of swimmers in each others way but as the course thinned out a little I found I was swimming next to a guy of a similar pace - well actually he was a little faster than me but I pushed to keep alongside him. Several bridges to swim under and a few twists in the river made it a good leg. We got out together and had a little chat about how nice it was pacing each other. I felt good, had a gel and water and even jogged a little to the start of the next leg. Stu's flip flops were a godsend on the gravel path!
Leg 2 - 3.5km. This was the longest leg. Get this done and I'd be halfway there. My new swim buddy (I found out at the finish his name was Steve) and I started off together and stayed together for the leg. It felt a little longer than I expected but in all honesty the whole leg I felt great- even thinking to myself that it was quite easy. I'm not the fastest swimmer but I'm not too shabby at keeping a consistent pace either. This leg seemed to have less twists than the first which probably added to it seeming longer but overall a good leg for me and I think it was this leg that I got to see my supporters on one of thd bridges, giving them a thumbs up as I swam underneath.
Steve and I got out together, my support team were there waiting which was great! Another gel and water and we were off again - my splits were great and I wanted to keep the momentum going. Steve said he'd have preferred a little longer break but apart from pacing each other I think we were starting to get a little competative now (and between you and me he didn't really need another jaffa cake as you'll see in a couple of the pics!).
Leg 3 - 2.6km. This leg seemed so much longer than the last! My shoulders started aching a little and the route just seemed to go on forever! I did wonder if they'd miscalculated the distance, it was just never-ending. Steve & I stayed together, each of us having a bit of a sprint and leading the other at various times. We'd also picked up another swimmer on the last leg who stayed with us for most of this as well before we got out.
No gel but water and a flapjack at this one, I was starving! Still felt good if a little tired but only 1 leg to go. I looked around and saw Steve a little way down the path. Now anyone who knows me well knows I'm competative so it would probably come as no surprise that I was in two minds as to whether I should wait for him or just get in and go. This guy pulled me along this course so far and we'd both enjoyed having each other's support. I doubt I'd have swum as fast on my own. But when I said to Marc, "I want to get in and smash this last one" it was music to my ears when he said "go on then". I didn't need to be told twice!!
Leg 4 - 1.5km. Last leg and I wanted to go all out. After a short time I saw Steve out of the corner of my eye on my left - there was no way having dumped him at the feed station that I could now let him catch me - I had to make it worthwhile ditching him in the first place! And this is what kept me going. No, not very sporting of me I know but I knew I had more in the tank and wanted to go all out. And as my nephew would say; "eat my waves!".
This leg didn't fly by but probably coz I was working really hard by now and feeling it in my shoulders. However seeing the end in sight I gave it all I had, really trying for a sprint finish, no one in front and no one behind catching me and I did it!
The finish was a little underwhelming, a steep bank to climb out onto, not much room for spectators and having the medal handed to you as you get out of the water was a little unceramonious. Having swum that distance I expected a fanfare and fireworks! However nothing can take away the feeling of finishing a marathon swim!
Each leg was continuous swimming, no stopping, no breastroke or treading water for a break but constant swimming.
The advert of "people on the side to help HEAVE you out" at each weir was spot on - they were great and I'm amazed none of them ended up in the water! (one unflattering pic included at Caroline 's request!).
The river was a great place to swim (apart from the long reeds in places - I had visions of being tangled up and dragged down like in Harry Potter).
The weather was freakishly perfect and water temperature just right (16.8 degrees).
But the best part by far was my support team. If it hadn't been for them it would have been a very long and lonely event. I can't thank them enough and they really made all the difference!
So onto stats:
The race is supposed to be 9.5km swim, with .5km walks between weirs, making it 10km and my anticipated completion time was 4hrs 30mins.
My chip time, which includes getting out at each weir and walking to the next was 3hrs 27mins.
Checking my watch data (and I knew I went off course several times today as the river is very wide in places) I actually swam 11.87km (that's my actual swim distance no walks) was 3hrs 11mins!!!!
And at the end of the race I actually felt I could have swum further!
I finished 263/403 overall, 115/208 females and 38/73 for vet40 category.
I am bloody over the moon!!!
Running I find hard, I constantly doubt myself and as soon I start a race I'm thinking I can't do it and can't wait to finish.
Swimming is a different kettle of fish. The whole race I felt good, I felt confident and I felt chuffed that I'm pretty good at it!
A great day which I think I'll be smiling about & mulling over for weeks to come. Oh and to top it off we saw Right Said Fred in town 2 nights in a row! No not performing but having dinner. I didn't get a pic, the shame if they'd said no to me would be too much to bare! I do wonder where they went last night though as today they were in the same clothes - their partying days are obviously not over yet!
Anyway I'm off to get 40 winks, thanks for everyone's support it really does mean a lot and kept me going today x
Who knows what's next.

Last One Standing - Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Last One Standing Race Report (make yourself a cup of tea first)
Alarm clock 6.30, out of the house by 7, buy breakfast at Pret in Stratford station, eat my breakfast on the 7.38 to Ipswich. Then rail replacement bus to Diss which would be met by the race organisers. That was the plan, anyway. I bought my breakfast - porridge, chocolate croissant, fruit salad and a latte. Even remembered to get a fork to eat the fruit salad with. Then I made my way to the platform, and just as the earlier (delayed) Ipswich train rolled away, mine appeared on the departure board. Cancelled. F&*%.
Fortunately Peter wasn't using the car that morning. I would have plenty of time to go back home and drive instead, although it would bu&*er up our plans for P to fetch me after the race if the car was at the wrong end. I hadn't packed a house key - didn't think I needed one, and when I got back, P was out walking the dog and the teenagers were in bed. So I sat down on my doorstep to eat my breakfast. Eating my porridge with the fork which I had so cleverly remembered to pick up.
When I arrived at the race venue, Knettishall Heath in Suffolk, it was 10 degrees and raining. Great British summer weather. My dislike of camping is well known. Add in the rain and the howling wind you can easily imagine how much I was enjoying myself. While I was unlikely to be doing any sleeping in my tent (borrowed from Stuart), everyone brings one to store belongings etc. I was greeted by James, my friend from last year's race, and pitched my tent next to his.
And at midday we were off. The format of the race is simple - a lap of 4.1 miles which starts on the hour, every hour. You must finish each loop before the hour is up, and be on the start line for the next one or you are DNF. So easy to begin with, pretty brutal later on. 47 runners started. The rain didn't seem so bad once we were moving, and I was relieved to return to base after lap one to find that my tent had not in fact blown away. I spent much of those early laps with John who I'd run with at the Monster Ultra a few years back, and they rolled by easily enough.
Ultra running is all about the snacks, and there is one tent where runners can keep their own refreshments and another where the organisers supply a range of cold snacks, squash, coke, tea, and hot food every few hours. I spent most of my time between laps in here. This year I decided to learn from last year's male champion, Richard, and not sit down between laps. Because that way you don't have to get up again. A couple of times my resolve weakened, but other than I stayed on my feet all the time. Apart from toilet breaks of course.
All 47 runners made it safely round the first 5 laps, after which there was a steady stream of retirements. Pasta at 6pm, and the promise of hot dogs at midnight. A breathtaking moment round about dusk - wild ponies roam freely on the heath, which is a nature reserve, and as John & I came out into a clearing a whole herd of them galloped past right on front of us in the fading light. It was quite magical if slightly scary, as we were so close to them.
The Curse of Lap 11 struck again this year - last year a runner dislocated his finger after tripping over the Tree-root of Doom, this year a guy fell heavily and dislocated his shoulder. Running around the forest in the dark is not without risk. So I was not very happy when, a few minutes into lap 13, the (brand new) batteries in my head touch failed. Proper dark now, just after midnight. I had spares in my tent, but would have to get round another 3 miles within in the time, leaving enough slack to go get back to my tent & change them. I would simply have to stick close to other runners. But then there was James, who had spares with him and bailed me out. I loved him very much at that moment.
One thing that was just the same as last year was that my pace dropped during those night-time laps, so I had to cut down on the walking breaks. I would still walk up the two main hills, but start walking later on. And the funny thing is that I don't notice the little ups and downs so much when I can't see them.
My next tech fail was at the end of lap 16, when my watch ran out of battery. It was fully charged and on the settings I was using should have done over 30 hours, so again I was Not Very Pleased. At the end of the lap I went to my tent, put it on the charger & grabbed my phone - I would use the Strava app for the next lap. By the time I had done this and go to the loo there was no time to eat - I missed the bacon sandwiches. Dammit. I tried to start up the app, and it said I had to change something in Settings, and when I went to Setting that option was disabled (all this at 4am while attempting to run). I ran that lap with only the time on my phone to guide me, and I was hungry. Not in a good place. 100 miles seemed like an impossible ask.
I'd managed to get 60% charge into my watch during that lap, which would probably see me through to 25 laps. And I had something to eat, and it was now daylight again. The rain and wind was a distant memory and we were set for a warm sunny morning. 17 runners were still going. I was so tired - I felt my eyes closing a few times when I walked - but still in it. My personal target for this race was always to get to 100 miles, which would be the furthest I had ever run. Whether I could win again was beyond my control. I completed 20 laps, last year's total, and apart from the general fatigue didn't really feel much worse than I had 12 hours ago. At this point what really kept me turning out again was knowing that P had made an arrangement with my mother that she would meet him off the train and they'd arrive around 12. Let's try and still be in the race.
There were just two women still in the race now, but Laura was such a strong runner, with a lot of 100 milers to her name. She was also lovely, and before the race she & her boyfriend, who was also running, had got engaged. I was pretty sure that whatever I could do, she could do more. In any case i think all that got me through those last 5 laps was promising myself that I could then stop with a clear conscience. Also it was Gregor's 18th birthday, and I wanted to be back at a decent time to celebrate with him.
At the start of lap 25 the remaining 14 runners posed for the 100 mile club pic. I could afford to take my time a bit over this one as I didn't need to think about the rest time. But of course I didn't - when did I ever slow down towards a finish line? In any case I always prefer to front-load the lap so as not to have to worry about not getting back in time. There was even enough in the tank for a sprint finish. I sat down with a sausage sandwich and listened to the 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute whistles in the blissful knowledge that they were now nothing to do with me. Collected my two medals - the DNS medal that everyone except the winner gets & the 100 mile club medal.
Job done, pretty happy with my performance, and off home to see my boy and stuff my face with cake. Later on I started berating myself a bit - if I could showboat around with a sprint finish could I have done a few more laps? Turned out that while Laura appeared unbeatable actually she was feeling sick and hadn't been able to eat for a few hours. She just did one more lap. Could I have challenged her? But really, I'm happy. There were plenty of times during the race where I was sure the 100 miles was beyond me, but I hung in there and finished the job. And the birthday cake was delicious.
© Maya Goodwin 2019

Essex Cross Country 10K Series 2019 - Belhus Woods Country Park - Saturday 8th June 2019

Phoenix Running D-Day 75th Air timed run - Saturday 8th June 2019

Orion Forest Five Series - Race 1 - Saturday 8th June 2019

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 8th June 2019

Fast Friday - 5000m - Friday 7th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Fast Friday - 10,000m - Friday 7th June 2019

Phoenix Running D-Day 75th Sea timed run - Friday 7th June 2019

Phoenix Running D-Day 75th Land timed run - Thursday 6th June 2019

Wimbledon Trail Series - Race 2 (5 miles) - Wednesday 5th June 2019

Run Through Chase The Sun 5km, QEOP - Wednesday 5th June 2019

Elvis 2 - Havering 90 Joggers 5 miles - Raphael Park - Tuesday 4th June 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Results are provisional and finishing positions subject to change.

1st man - Antonio Martin Romero
3rd man - Lee Jackson

1st FV40 Caroline Frith
1st FV50 Karen Levison

Great Midlands Fun Run (8.5 miles) - Sunday 2nd June 2019

Ardingly White Bird Duathlon - Sunday 2nd June 2019

5km run 22.03 23km cycle 50.14 2.5km run 12.49

34th Plitvice Lakes Half Marathon, Croatia - Sunday 2nd June 2019

561 finishers.

XII Cursa La Maquinista 10km, Barcelona - Sunday 2nd June 2019

ING Night Half Marathon, Luxembourg - Saturday 1st June 2019

Plitvice 5km - Saturday 1st June 2019

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 1st June 2019

67 parkruns at 28 venues, 100th parkrun for Diana, 50th for Liam,
17 debuts and 4 course pb's, 1 first finisher Patrick Brown.

LEJOG cycle by Sarah Burns - Friday 24th - Friday 31st May 2019

24/05/19 Day 1 Today i mainly ate things encased in pastry and rode up
hills. Rode with a guy from the YHA for about an hour first thing until I peeled
of to go to the big Tesco to buy a phone charger. Luckily I happened up him on
Bodmin Moor so we rode the rest of the way to Okehampton together which was
nice as the last 30 miles we're a struggle.
Today's stats 113 miles, 9,800 ft of climbing. Day 1 done.


25/05/19 Day 2 Today I mainly ate bread based foods, rode with my new TBCF
(temporary best cycling friend) through beautiful Devon in to Somerset. We
chatted to people along the way, finally ate some fruit and climbed Cheddar
Gorge before parting company until Monday. The day was topped off with drinks
in Bath with Kate Gildersleeve. Still feeling human, the cough is easing and
I'm increasingly comfortable wearing my water shoes in public.
Today's stats 113.6 miles 6,162ft 8h 40m.


26/05/19 Day 3 Today I mainly ate Welsh Cakes and flies. I cycled across
the Severn Bridge with Mr Orange sheltering me from the wind. Made a new friend
Julian on the road to Leominster ( he's doing LEGOJ on a really heavy bike carrying
16 kg of camping kit and has Parkinson's) After leaving Julian I bumped in to my
other LEGOJ friend Sean in Ludlow. Tough windy day made bearable by the kindness
of strangers.
Today's stats 110.8 miles 7,583ft 9h 30m.


27/05/19 Day 4 Today I mainly ate tarmac. Sean my original LEJOG buddy
picked my up at 7am at All Stretton and deciding that the main roads might be
quiet we risked it on the A49 and pretty much 2 up time trialled it to Warrington
arriving at 12:10 after an hour long stop at the lovely Lockgate Coffee House
where we dodged the rain and chatted to Laura who was working there and had done
LEJOG twice! Once with School?! and then with her boyfriend. As we were ahead of
time we took a diversion along the Sandkey canal. Meeting up with Sean again
tomorrow who's being joined by his son before we will part ways.
Looking forward to spending the evening watching TV in bed.
Today's stats 78.2 miles 2,626ft 6h 17mins


28/05/19 Day 5 Today I mainly ate codeine and paracetamol as mother
nature mercilessly sent forth the worst "women's" pain. I met Sean my original
LEJOG friend, who had been joined by his son Will, at the library in Ashton-in
-Makerfield just before 7am. We made swift progress through Wigan, Preston and
Lancaster, avoiding the worst of the traffic despite sticking to the main roads,
and before long we were enjoying the sunshine on quite country lanes and happened
upon a beautiful cycle path enjoying the dappled shade it offered. We lunched just
outside Kendal before parting company heading out of town as Sean and Will peeled
off Edinburgh bound and I headed north bound for Glasgow. The last 25 miles to
Penrith included the climb up Shap Fell whos reward of a fast decent from the
summit was cruelly robbed by the strong headwind resulting in a tiring down hill
pedal. I battled to Penrith rewarding my self with a degrease and re-lube in the
local bike shop accompanied by a good strong brew. And as a special treat to lift
my mood I re-allingned my middle class chakra with a mooch round BOOTHS.
On my own tomorrow as I cross the border. I'll take the high road...
Today's stats 98.9 miles 4,754 ft 7h 37m.

29/05/19: Today I mainly ate Borrowdale Fruit Cake and got piss wet through.
The good times had to end sooner or later and after a sunny and fast ride out of
Penrith to Carlise they certainly did. I had a little cry as I passed the boarder
In to Scotland and almost on cue the drizzle came down. I followed a road tracking
the A74M for the rest of the route to Hamilton. The drizzle stayed with me the road
surface was worse than that of the Epping Road and there was nothing until I reached
Abington 83 miles in to the ride when I finally managed to secure some tea and cake.
I pushed on through the rain wanting the ride done arriving at my B (she doesn't do
breakfast) wet, dispondent and very shaken from the road vibrations. Releived to be
greeted by a cup of tea and a cosy bedroom. Currently watching TV in bed. Early start
tomorrow to get through Glasgow before it gets busy.
Looking forward to seeing mum in Fort William.
Today's stats 110.5 miles 4,435 ft 7h 33mins.

30/05/19 Today I mainly ate Tablet and got piss wet through again. Left Hamilton early doors to clear Glasgow before the traffic. Soon pick up a cycle route by the Clyde that then followed a old railway line then the Forth & Clyde canal to the bonnie, bonnie shores of Loch Lomond where the Glasgow drizzle turned to driving rain. I wasn't long before I met Ian on the cycle path at Luss as he was Fort Bill bound we cycled together for 10 miles to Tarbert where I stopped for lunch. 20 miles of miserable, wet solo cycling came to an end when Ian reappear at Tyndrum . As we climbed to Glen Coe I discovered that Ian (Porter) was running buddies with William James Pearce. Small world! The weather was hurrendous. Cold and wet we stuck together for the rest of the day. Someone seriously is looking out for me. Ian is running the 3 Peaks but cycling in between. We said farewell at Fort Bill where I met up with mum and we made a beeline for the hotel Spa. Tough, wet, trechourous day again made bearable by the kindness of strangers and of course the ledg that's mum. Todays stats: 113.9 miles 4,665ft 8h 13 mins

31/05/19: Today i mainly ate thing prefixed with Scotch or Scottish. It was pretty evident when I set off that I'd left my cycling legs In the hot tub at the spa. What with that and the rain a straight forward day on paper was going to be a struggle. Met mum for lunch on the shore of Lock Ness at 55 miles after she'd revived me with a fruit slice 10 miles up the road. After lunch I headed to Inverness where I got a puncture ( first one so not that bad all in all) but fixing it in the rain wasn't fun. The run out of Inverness was on the busy A9 but the cycling gods delivered me the Worthing MAMILS (not their officially club name) so I tucked in with them until Dingwall when they stopped for coffee. It was pissing it down so I pressed on. Shortly after the Garmin died so the next 30 miles were stop start whilst I checked the route and the rain got worse. Thankfully mum was waiting on the main road In Edderton and directed me safe to the B&B. You know it's a bad day when you've had to eat the Kendal mint cake and have a whiskey to steady the nerves.
Todays stats: 100.6 miles 5,606ft 7h.36 mins.

01/06/19: Today I mainly ate anything I could get my hands on. Fed-up my the B&B owners I headed out of Edderton and up along the coast to Bonner Bridge then headed inland to Lairg. From Lairg I headed north in to a cross headwind for some miles with the sun on my face. I met Tracey as we entered some much needed shelter in a valley. Tracey was 60 and had been on the road since 3rd May with her husband as support in the camper van #ridelikeagirl She was raising money for sepsis after her daughter survived it 2 years ago. We cycled together chatting for 10 miles until our paths parted as I took a right to Betty Hill where I met mum for lunch. 50 miles to go... The roads were like glass and the wind was on my tail and the miles flew by. With 10 miles to go and conscious I was running late for mum i got my head down and before long I was celebrating with a Whiskey and mum at John O'Groats just before the heavens open. It was hard, it was fun and I met some super people. It was a proper adventure. Thanks for your likes and comments they've truly kept me motivated.

Watford Open Graded Meeting - 1500m - Wednesday 29th May 2019

Elvis 1 - Dagenham 88 Runners Off Road 5 mile - Wednesday 29th May 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

71 ERL finishers
267 finishers overall

Dagenham placings
2nd man Thomas Grimes
Men Team - East London Runners

1st woman Ava Lee
2nd woman Ellie Wilkinson
FW40 Caroline Frith
FW50 Karen Levison
Womens Team -East London Runners

Hatfield Broad Oak 10km - Monday 27th May 2019

Maya reports: I've just started a book about Mindful Running. I've only read the prologue, but as far as I can tell, the premise is; no one is making you do this, you decided to run, so own your choice and appreciate all of it.
Hatfield Broad Oak 10k. Less glitz and glamour than the London Vitality 10k. No Nelson,s Column, but there were poppies and thatched roofs in abundance. Also shorter loo queues.
I've been doing ok with my running recently, but I was slightly perturbed when I got on the scales this morning. I REALLY need to stop eating Percy Pigs. That was a lot of extra weight I was going to be dragging round a 10k that was advertised as 'undulating'. Anyway. Nothing I could do about that now. 'Be zen Maya.'
And I WAS. Totes Zen. Hatfield Broad Oak is the prettiest village. Thatched cottages, flowering hedgerows, trees giving dappled shade to run through. This event is obviously a big deal for the village and the crowd support was just brilliant, everyone was at their front gate out to cheer us all on. It was lovely. (If a little 'Midsummer Murders' ) I particularly liked the two students in their pyjamas standing wrapped in duvet.
Undulating though. Let's not forget the undulating. I realised after my first mile that a time PB wasn't going to be today. So I focussed on being mindful and noticing All The Good Things. The scenery, the spectators, the other runners, and also my own running. When it seemed hard, I tried to 'feel' my body more and appreciate its effort. When a hill started, I reminded myself how I'd decided to be here because I liked how happy being a runner made me. I also decided on a different goal.
Now I love a walk. Any excuse and I'm walking. But today, I kept reminding myself how happy I was to be running, and decided that today was the day that for once, I'd run ALL the ups. And so I did. I finished in my third best 10k time ever and with a smile in my soul.
'It doesn't say East London Walkers on your shirt Maya'


Anna Dingle reports: Very brief write up of Hatfield Broad Oak 10k. This was my first outing this year with the rest of the club due to various injuries and it was great to see some friendly faces again.
This is a lovely friendly race in a very pretty village. It also coincides with the village fete which is great for post race festivities. The course is undulating and quite challenging. That all said, I thoroughly enjoyed the race and will definitely be back to race it again. I wanted to be under the hour but didn't quite make it today. I am still way off my best but I had fun today all the same. I like the little races and for little over £15 you can't go wrong with this peach of a race!

Vitality London 10km - Monday 27th May 2019

Antonio reports: First proper race after the Manchester Marathon and after the baby was born.
Vitality London 10K in 32:31 (16:21, 16:10) @ 3:15 / km. PB in 5K and 10K. Very congested start and
very slow first kilometer (3:25) Happy with that, considering the intermittent sleep in the last few
weeks, and because I haven't done much speed yet.

Stuart reports: One of my favorite weekends of the year this one, it started with a parkrun as they always do. I did Northampton fast and flat they said, I found hills and I have the Strava to prove it(22:42)Saturday night was a curry with coach Grant Conway. Early start Sunday off to the Westminster mile not once but twice. This as well as being a vision in pink helping out giving out the goody bags,6:43 and 7:27
A course PB on the first mile a lot slower on the second. Sunday night was quiz night at The Birds in Leytonstone all question about Marvel (I answered one).
Another early start Monday and we're off to the Vitality 10k in Westminster, A good group of ELR met and traveled together.
This is a good race around central London you get to see all the sights, You get a medal T shirt and goody bag (not as good as the ones we gave out yesterday).53:16
However the toilets had massive queues and it seemed to take an age to drop off baggage,
Another course PB even though I don't think this is great event to get one as it's far too busy.
I did see a few other ELRs on route and it great to cheered in by Mark Boulton.
Would I do it again next year, The mile yes but I think I will do Hatfield Broad Oak next year.

RocknRoll Liverpool Marathon - Sunday 26th May 2019

Simplyhealth Great Birmingham 10km - Sunday 26th May 2019

Vitality Westminister Mile Volunteers - Sunday 26th May 2019

and Thomas Bamford.

Vitality Westminister Mile - Sunday 26th May 2019

Craig reports: Race report incoming:
So it's been four years, four damn years since I've competed in a mile race of any description. And upon arriving at the race village at 07:50...after waking up at 05:30, aka silly o'clock...the first thing on my mind was finding the loos (which is super important before a race). Not long after proceeding back on my way to the bag drop, I ended up getting a tap on the shoulder from a friendly face I haven't seen in ages, Jay Sangha. We were having a catch up whilst waiting for all the other volunteers from ELR to meet up, and needless to say it was nice to see everyone else before the race, as it put my mind at easy briefly. I say briefly, as the nerves crept back in again, as me and Jay were working our way towards the starting pens.
Whilst in the pen I felt alone, yet not, as everyone else must've been feeling similar. But I got talking to some new friends I made in my wave, and all we could think about was the race ahead, also talking about our previous race results to whittle the time down. It was also reassuring to see Euan and catch up with him before we set off.
In the final minute before the start, everything was cramped, and I was under no illusion as to how tough the task I had ahead of me would be. "Knuckle down and focus", is what I was trying to tell myself to keep calm.
And then...the klaxon sounded, and we were off. The first 400m were but a blurr (actually, the whole damn thing was), I got a brief shove from someone beside me, and that ticked me off into overdrive, setting a stupid 400m time of 1:12. By the time I got to 800m, it was a more realistic and representative effort of 2:32, but the last half of the race I ditched the clock, and looked at my watch to gauge my pace. It was still gradually increasing, but given where I'd gotten my pace to there was no way in hell I was giving this opportunity up. With around 300m to go, I threw what little energy I had left at it, and crossed the line in 5:20.
Now by self admission, that was a PB I could never of imagined, as seeming as my original goal was to finish just under 5:30. And seeing my fellow ELR's at the end...at the goody bag volunteering station...brought a wry smile to my face and a sense of elation.
As I was getting changed, someone mentioned about the official times being sent by SMS. So I checked my phone, and my god could I not believe it. The final result was a 5:18, and a PB by 16 seconds.
The only downside to the race was the pollen levels were horrendous, as it left quite a lot of people in coughing fits, myself included...I found that aspect quite funny later on though.
It was also nice to have met up with Jakub, Jay and Robert, after the race was over. And we got talking for a fair while before I set off for home with Rob.
All in all, 4 PB's in 4 weeks, it's been one awesome journey, and one that now has to come to an end for now. As there's something much bigger planned for the week after next, but I'll leave you all in suspense for that one. ;)
Well done to all the runners and volunteers today, you were all superb. Also good luck to all of those competing in the Vitality London 10k tomorrow, May the force be with you!!

Run Through Velopark Half Marathon - Saturday 25th May 2019

Zoila's report: Lee Valley Velopark Run through half marathon Race Report
Having had a few niggles recently I woke up knowing that a PB was not going to happen. However. It wasn't the niggles that led me to have a not so great day running. It was my sugars levels that let me down.
Everyone who takes part in sport in expected to have bad race days, I have been lucky enough that in the time I have been running this hasn't happened too much, and when it has, my type one diabetes never had anything to do with it. It was always my lack of training.
When I woke up today my sugars levels were ideally higher (at 11.2) than I had wanted them to be, which lead to me misjudging how munch insulin I should give for breakfast... I still reduced my baseline insulin/ background insulin to the minimum as I do normally 2 hours before any form of exercise to prevent any sever drops.
I tested again 5 minutes before the race and my sugars were even higher?! 17.4. Luckily I am on an insulin pump, and the handset will inform me how much insulin I have on board. I had about 1 unit left. This should be ok to bring it down to a safe level. I set off with a very good pace which I was happy with. Then realised I had forgotten to start my garmin so I spent the whole way round trying to calculate when I needed to pull off across the finish line...
Luckily my partner was there to help me manage and advise me on what to do. We did a blood glucose test at mile 3. Great 11.7 perfect. Safe. My pace was good. I had also just had my first pick me up glucose gel.
Getting to mile 5 and I started to feel tired, it was a very hot and humid day and the clouds that tried to rain on us had completely disappeared. My pace had dropped quite a bit and so I tested at mile 6 again. 4.2. Even though this is in the normal range for people without diabetes I had a set rate of insulin going so I knew that if I were to continue I would drop to dangerous levels. So I forgot about any possible PBs. Suspended my insulin, and had to have more regular intakes of gels and testing more often than I would normally.
I started to feel better and my pace picked up again. My sugars being this low had knackered me out. I tested again every 2 laps and they were at an OK level (around the 7 mark) So I continued with the gels. I got round. Even though I didn't feel like I had a good day running. I was only 3 minutes slower than my PB: 1:38:22, and was the first lady across the line, and my sugars were at a good level.
I understand that everyone has bad race days, and I have had them in the past. But today I had a bad sugar day which meant a not so great feeling race day for me.

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 25th May 2019

Liz ODonnell:- In Berlin with work so did Hasenheide parkrun today.
Lovely course and very friendly crowd. Cut it a bit fine with the flight
home so pity the people who had to sit either side of me on the plane in
my sweaty kit. Definitely worth the effort though! #ELRonTour


Alexandra : Fifth country where i ran a parkrun !
Gorgeous irish one in the forest !

SuperSports 10 Mile , 2019 International Run Series , Thailand , (Race 3 of 5 Bangkok - Sunday 19th May 2019

Virgin Sport Hackney Half Marathon - Sunday 19th May 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Craig Livermore:-The Build Up:
So the build up to this race has been far from ideal from a mental standpoint, as three weeks ago, my nan suffered a fall and broke her hip. This left me all out of sorts, and I felt broken inside. This lead me to think of a way to alleviate my mood, and so I turned to the one thing that usually perks my mood up, parkrun.
I felt that the only way to cure myself, was simply to throw every fibre of my being at it. The end result was a surprising 18:37, a PB no less. Little to my surprise this wasn't a mere fluke, as a week later I decided a change of scenery was in order. So I went to Mile End with the simple mindset of just beating my previous best time from over a year ago, this stood at 20:37. I gunned it off and never looked back, only thinking when I might fade. The worrying thing was I didn't, and I netted another PB by a mere second, 18:36.
And now we get on the the Half in question.
The main event VSHH:
I must admit, after a heavy work week and my 5k PB's, I was a nervous wreck. I mean I had set myself up perfectly for this, but that's the scary prospect, venturing into the unknown, you never know what to expect. Alas I somehow caught the back of the ELR group heading to the venue, a nice unexpected surprise that kept my mind off the race. It was nice chatting with a few people before the race, we had the group photo taken and then me and Jacob proceeded to the bag drop. We also happened to bump into Arthur whilst we were there, had a short-ish chat and a group photo, but then I had to dash to get everything else sorted.
I got chatting with a guy by the name of Connor, he recently moved from America to London due to work. We got talking about all kinds of things, but what stuck out to me is that he had only started running 5 days ago (after a 3 year hiatus), and was aiming for a 1:15 - 1:20 for his first ever half. If you think that was nuts, he had the number pinned to his chest...I mean his actual skin, the guy was topless if I hadn't mentioned that before.
Here we go, 9:00 am beckoned and we were off. Immediately I knew I was out of my depth, and started off to quick as a result of being surrounded by sub 1:10 and 1:20 half marathoners. So sensibly I "tried"...and note the emphasis on tried...to back off into a more sensible pace, which to be fair I did. Stuart Kelly passed me somewhere after the first mile, we said hi to one another and wished each other luck, and it was back to business.
I was sinking back into the pack at a steady rate, not a problem as that was part of the plan anyway.
It was all going well for 5 miles at least, but I was starting to struggle due to the humidity picking up and my energy levels dropping. I took a gel during the 6th mile...hence a drop off in pace...and tried to pick the pace back up for the subsequent mile, but after that any thought of being in the 6:40's was well out of the window. I was suffering cramps and heat exhaustion galore, yet I still persevered on. It was nice to see the ELR lot at the 8.5 mile water station, you guys and gals gave me a lift when I really needed it, much love and thanks a heap.
I somehow managed to speed back up again in the final mile, seeing one of my mates with his wife cheer me on. And that gave more fire to my armoury, as when I looked at my watch with half a mile left, I noticed 1:25 slip out of sight. But that was fine, sub 1:30 was the goal and target, as I haven't hit that in three years, and with one final push and a mad dash to the line it was over.
Finally, a result I've been longing for that has eluded me for long enough, a PB by 1min 40secs, 1:28:12, and my 3rd PB in 3 weeks. What has contributed to all this? I have no idea, but I'm just going to roll with the punches at this point.
First off I'd love to thank all that came along to spectate, you have no idea how much it elevates me when I'm hitting a wall. Secondly, much love to all the ELR out there, both runners, marshals and spectators alike. I'd also like to thank everyone from strava for their messages, it really brought a few tears to my eyes to say the least, you lads and lasses are awesome.
But this isn't over yet, I still have the Vitality Westminster Mile to deal with this weekend. Kind of hoping I haven't lost my touch on the mile front, as it's been around 4 years.
Anyway, well done everyone on your achievements and results. I hope you all had a great time, and see you Wednesday!!

Jacob Stevens:- Another Hackney Half report. Hackney 2017 was my first half - the race that got me motivated to start running properly - so running it again, this time as part of such a great club, was a bit special. It was really nice walking from the station with everyone - so much more enjoyable than the first time on my own, not knowing what to expect. The start was well-organised (no bag drop queues despite the size of the race - 24,000 runners apparently), and after the obligatory ELR photo and a short warm-up, we were off.
I wasn't sure how well the race would go: having been too busy to run much over the winter, my spring training had been entirely focused on the Manchester marathon, so I hadn't done much in the way of specific HM training (tempo runs etc.). It started off well, but sure enough, I wasn't able to sustain PB pace, and by half-way my energy levels were really sagging. Supportive shouts from the ELR gang at the mile 8 water station helped me get through the long section by Vicky Park, but after that it was pretty tough. I managed to speed up slightly in the last mile though, ending up with a time of 1:32:11, just 30 seconds slower than my PB at Royal Parks last year. Pretty happy with that, given my lack of preparation, and I really enjoyed the event - a good route with great support and entertainment. Beer and a full English breakfast with the club at the Coach & Horses was the icing on the cake!


Becky Evans:- (Hackney Half Race Report ... (my mixed feelings/outcome!)
Hurrah, i did it! (1.51:01) my first half marathon.
Boo! I have a bloody calf injury.
I have always run a few miles here and there over the years to keep fit, alongside other exercise, but in June 2018 I decided to join ELR so i could run a longer distance (10K) on a regular basis. I knew that i was unlikely to do this alone, but maybe if I tried running with a group it would motivate me to do it, especially when it's cold or wet.
A year later, and I am a regular. I LOVE Wednesday evening runs, chatting to range of fabulous interesting people and not having to think about running routes. I force myself to Ashton track most weeks (I have no excuse as I have to drop my teenage son and his mates there to do football training) and although I hate the thought of track, I always feel great afterwards.
Along the way, I have also completed the Chingford League races (they fitted in well with a busy family life) and thoroughly enjoyed them. Then I joined a few of the Sunday social runs which I loved (especially the coffee, cake & conversation at the end!).
Logical next step - enter a longer race.
The Hackney Half came highly recommended and lived up to it's reputation - lots of music, dancing, cheering, banners and encouragement along the way. (except the men dressed as devils holding pizza and chilled wine with a banner saying 'You deserve a rest!)
But before that - plenty of moral support from ELR friends who were able to answer all of my 'silly' questions before we started, kept me company and took my mind off the race as we waited for about half an hour to cross the start line.
I had had a sore calf for about a week before the race, and it felt okay, as I had rested it for several days beforehand. I felt that I had prepared really carefully, so was annoyed that I should have this 'niggle' just before a race. I knew that I must not run too hard as it was likely to flare up again. I ran at a reasonable 8.30 min mile for most of the first 6/7 miles and the calf seemed okay, if a little sore. I counted down the minutes to mile 8.5 where I knew ELR would be supporting (and they were - many many thanks to all!) Whenever I saw people I knew or heard some rousing music, I got 'overexcited' and had several 'mini sprint' sessions along the way. By about mile 11, my calf was really hurting and I just wanted to get to the end. I kept going, I found the last two hills hard work (thank goodness Marc & Sonia were there to help me up those) and finished in a time I was really pleased with 1.51:01 (10th woman in my age group). It was probably my 'silver' time (scale according to Maud which I find helpful).
However, walking to the pub afterwards I could feel my calf swelling up and it has been sore ever since. The entire bottom half of my right leg is red and swollen. Going up and down stairs is painful. I've been using the RICE techniques ever since (luckily didn't have work today) but i am GUTTED that I now have to rest it and I am unsure how long I will be 'out' of running. As I write this, i am really jealous of those of you heading to track tonight and wishing could be on my way there too. I also HATE the fact that I am unlikely to make Wednesday's run. I know that this is hopefully just a minor set back, and I am desperately hoping I will be back and ready for the ELVIS series I have signed up for.
So. I'm with you in spirit, but may not be with you at club for a while. Any recovery tips gratefully received, i thought I would give it a few days and see how it's going... but wonder if I should seek any professional advice?
All the best - Becky Evans (feeling sorry for herself).

Virgin Sport Hackney Half Marathon - Sunday 19th May 2019

Stuart Barton reports: Hackney Half Report
Marathons are stupid but a half is a different thing, today I did not know how it was going to go as I struggled at parkrun yesterday.
Meeting with so many ELR always help me, we met at Leyton and walked in the village. A great set up but not enough toilets, photos taken and baggage dropped if we then bumped intoMaya Goodwin who told us the toilets at parkrun were empty, a great call, we all got into our pens and started more or less on time, I started with Joanna Wood for the first 2 miles, then we got split up. I started to feel like today was the day for a PB. The miles passed and I spotted Alexandra Elise a few times. The ELR water station was as expected amazing,
You guys are all amazing such a lift at the perfect time,
The last 2 miles and I started to struggle, who knew Hackney had hills, I was on for a PB maybe sub 2,
The last mile and sub 2 was not a possibility but I knew a new PB was mine.
Finished in 2:02:00 that’s 5 minutes faster than my old PB.
Once again to all at ELR I get so much out of the club,
A few drinks at the pub afterwards was well deserved.


Lee Rand:- Hackney Half Race Report
I've never written a race report before, I've never felt worthy. Today is different, today I am feeling all the awesome.
I haven't been attending the club for a while as I've been busy saving the world and turning my flat into a psychedelic head-mash.
I have been training though, training a lot with Hackney in mind.
I have a friend down from Lancashire to race and was lucky to meet with Stuart, Joanna, Cat and a few others before the race.
My pace felt good, I was keeping at about 8.50. I don't actually know what that means but I felt fast and slightly sick - that's gotta be good. right?
The water stations were a mess. I skipped one because of the queues, then at 11.5 I needed water bad. The station was manned by children with no adult help when I was there and my heart bled for them. That knocked a minute off.
Then I arrived at the ELR station. Really well run.
I was actually delirious at this point. I think I tried to snog Sandra, I almost asked Don to marry me and just dribbled at Jonathan.
Seriously, that was such a boost! Cheers guys!
A couple of KM to go and I was completely out of steam.
My trick of milking the crowd by pointing at my name and begging them to scream for me had dried up (but damn that works)!
High fiving babies had also started to fail to hit the mark, especially as their mothers were crying and running away from me.
Then I could hear my name being screamed. THANK YOU SO MUCH Marc and Sonia. You have no idea how much that helped.
2:01:41 PB.
Fricking ace.
Cheers guys.

Virgin Sport Hackney Half Marathon - Sunday 19th May 2019

Alice Barrett:- This is my first report as this is the first race I have truly enjoyed, so I apologise for the length. Hackney Half was only my second half so I woke up feeling quite anxious. I was keen to improve on my previous time and wanted my time to be 2 hours and 30 something.
It was lovely to meet everyone this morning at the station and start the day with Stuart’s wise words. When arriving at Hackney it instantly became my favourite race after getting given free crisps and free protein bars before even making it to the bag drop.
We waited ages in the start pen but thankfully Maya and Bella kept me entertained especially Maya Goodwin who was saying what we were all thinking. As we crossed the line we were told the first runner was going to finish in 15 minutes which made me fed up as I knew they would have their first beer before I did 5k.
I broke the race down in my mind to complete 10k and then aim for the ELR water station, then a park run and the last bit would do itself. I enjoyed the race and had a huge boost at the ELR station it was so lovely to see some familiar faces.
I then aimed for 10 miles as after the 8.5 my legs were starting to hurt. I had a lovely boost at 10.5 miles when a group of children were going wild saying 'it's Alice'. I was extremely motivated even though I quickly realised I was being over taken by a man dressed as Alice in Wonderland.
I then reached 12 miles and was told that the last mile does itself,it doesn't! I began to really ache and looked at my watch and realised I could get a good time. I then gave it everything and finished in 2:28 which was 14 minutes faster....and I was smiling!
Thank you so much to the ELR water station you were honestly the most organised one on route

Liz ODonnell:- Infrequent attendance at club recently but so good to see everyone at Leyton. Thanks Stuart Stupot Barton for organising. I loved the run today, really enjoyed it. Was so happy to see everyone at the water station. Thanks so much volunteers, the thought of getting to you kept me going. Rachel Le Roux and gang were the best water station en route, thanks Sandra Hiller, Bernadett Kalmar, Don Bennett Andrea Waller for the cheers. 2:59 but I know I need to work on my speed, if nothing just to spend less time on my feet! The support of the crowd, even at the tail end of the field was amazing and I'll be back next year ( hopefully faster).



‎Rajeshwari Parthasarathy:- Hackney Half 2019 race report( and my very first race report here) : Finish time 02:21:06
Background:
I joined the club in Oct 2018 and was pretty much a non runner then. I have been very regular with Wednesday club runs and progressed from being in the Improvers group to the 09:30 - 10:30 pace group, which greatly helped me with my trainings for the half marathon ! It helped me built my stamina and now 6-7 miles is quite doable for me.
Race Day:
19th may: This being my first Half marathon ever, I was quite nervous and was planning to just completing it. Timing was not imp as any time would be a PB for me:) meeting the ELR at Leyton this morning was great ! Got to talk to a few whom I had never interacted with and then there were a few known faces. The crowd in the morning at the Hackney village was quite overwhelming, the queue at the loos, bagdrops, rushing back to the H Pen after the bag drop! I think I was more exhausted from the early morning start , travel to the village , wait time till the race started rather than the race itself:) Saw a few more ELR's at the H pen! All the while I wanted to follow the 2:30 pacer( as I am not too good at pacing my runs on my own) , and just before the race started, I changed my strategy and decided to stick to the 2:20 pacer and started following the 02:20 pacer, plan was to drop back to 2:30 pacer at the end when I slow down. I had no ELR's running at my pace and hence was always on the look out for anyone I knew around me, but there were none. 8.5 miles at the ELR water station , could hear a big cheer for the club which greatly helped! The last 1-2 miles were the hardest due to the uphills while entering the Hackney village but somehow dragged myself to the finish line! Quite happy that I kept running most of the distance and did not resort to walking very frequently in b/ w the run.. I was able to follow the 2:20 pacer throughout the race till the 12 th mile ! Completing the race in 2:21:06! . Quite happy with my timings as I was hoping for it to be somewhere slightly above 2:30 initially!
All in all, had a great day ! And have a great feeling of accomplishment having completed my first HM today! A big thanks to ELR club, runners , volunteers at the 8.5 miles and my family for all the support provided for this day to be a success for me!

Joanna Wood:- Hackney Half Marathon race report.
Having had some good training runs and 2 PBs in a week for my 5km & 10km recently I was hoping for a hat trick but it wasn't to be
I did try hard though, my first 5km was 27.42 - considering my PB 27.24mins I was flying. Same for 2nd 1/4, got to 10km in 57.34mins - my PB is 56.09!
I was chuffed but then hit a wall at mile 8. My legs just didn't want to move and having missed my mum at 3 of the points we agreed I felt a little downhearted, it's amazing how the support of others keeps you going.
Saw some ELR at the 8.5 mile water station who looked frantically busy! It was the first one I'd actually been able to get to on the route as the others had just been soooo busy. This was the first time I hadn't taken water with me as I planned to take some at each station so I think this threw my race plan from the start.
It was muggy in some places, ear shatteringly loud in others with supporters and overall a good route - but I don't know where all those hills came from, they weren't there last year!
Anyway I managed to finish in a not too bad 2hrs 16mins. 13mins faster than last year so a pretty good course PB, my fastest half marathon in 4 years and only 4mins away from a real PB. Got to be pleased with that effort!
I'm now on the hunt for a flat half to get under 2hrs 12mins which I know is in me.


Maya Goodwin:- Hackney Half gives me Bad Zen. I keep entering it and going back to it in the hope that I will change the Zen to Good.
It's the race village that gives me the bad zen I think. It's just SO flipping busy. Last year I spent a bazzilion hours in the toilet queue. Anyway. This year I had the BEST IDEA EVER. Shh. It's a secret, but I found toilets with no queue. None! And they flushed! Shhhhh.
So I started with good zen. I drop my bag off and go to my pen. My pen is the absolute last. Sigh. I hate that. Most ELR are in the pen TWO in front of me! But I find Alice and Isabella and we moan together. We didn't cross the line until 9.45. By then I was all Bad Zen, I'd had enough time to worry myself than think about how far there was to go.
This year I've been delighted with my race times. Absolutely delighted. I've finally refound a bit of pace, and more importantly, stopped the walk breaks. My half PB is 2:24. I had my eye on 2:20 this morning. And finally we are across the line.
Hackney Half is a lovely race. It's pretty flat, and the support is outstanding. The charity cheer stations are dotted all round the course and lots of the local clubs have cheer stations too. Run Dem Crew is literally like running though a nightclub. It's ace! And the purples are always there at the end. The lovely Taffy from EERR kept on catching me up and filming us - that made me laugh. And then there was YOU. At mile 8, I wanted to stop and walk and hug you all, but I just kept on going.
But here's the thing, right from the off, both achilles were hurting. And my right knee had a stabbing pain. Oh no. My ankles are always a bit sore, but the knee is a new thing. I thought I might have to stop at mile 2. But then it went away. It came and went though the race. But because I knew it would go away again I felt ok running on it.
I kept on running. I took a gel while running. I ALWAYS walk for a gel break. I don't even count those breaks as walk breaks. I didn't stop for water, not even at ELR. I knew once I stopped that would be it, and the stations were a bit of a bundle, and the cups looked tricky to manage while running. I was getting tired though. I haven't run more than 10k since the Bristol Half in September, and it was starting to show. At 9.75 miles I gave up and walked. And that was pretty much it. I saw my goal of 2.20 slip by. Then 2.30. But I was just so tired I didn't really care. I saw Jimmy at 13 miles, and I was even walking then! (Sorry about the swearing Jimmy COC )
2:33 on the nose. A course PB though, because like I said, Hackney gives me Bad Zen, I've never done good times there. But I think I was also a fool to think I could chase something that I hadn't put the work in for. And I'm really pleased with the 9.75 miles without walking. So I'll take that. And train for Bristol in September.

Virgin Sport Hackney Half Volunteers - Sunday 19th May 2019

Paula Bedford:- A big thank you to to the lovely ELR volunteers whose cheers
and support really made my race. I was feeling pretty done it until I saw you all
and got a real boost afterwards . You are all stars for helping, without you it
wouldn't happen xxxxx


Rachel:- Well done to all the runners today at the Hackney Half, and a Big Big
Thank You to all the volunteers who helped out today and always do, these events are
a big deal for the club which in return we receive race places or money that goes
towards food for the medals night, ELR birthday celebrations, Christmas do etc so
without you people we wouldn't be able to do this, so it's very important we keep up
the good work and continue to volunteer as much as possible!

Dobbs Weir Double Marathon (2 of 2) - Sunday 19th May 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Dobbs Weir Double Marathon race report
Nathaniel Dye often messages me about crazy races he thinks I might be tempted by - he is a Bad Influence. Anyway, having finally got off the fence and entered the Last One Standing again, I found myself once again needing to panic-buy my training, with time running out. Last year I ran 20 miles every day for 7 days, so this year I though I would up my game and make it 26.2. And just plodding round the streets by myself gets a bit monotonous, so I though I would enter these races, which would then become days 3 & 4 of my training week.
They're very small low-key races - 33 finished on day one, and 23 on day two, with 8 DNFs. Some people did 'just' one day.
Day one was almost all trail, much of it alongside the Lee Navigation & the New River, with the odd sharp climb - both days had just under 1000ft of climbing. A decent 'Ronseal' sort of day - nothing big or clever but consistent enough. Nice to see former ELR Bozenka - we ran together a bit.
Day was more road, but also some really nice bits of woodland & riverside paths. We were supposed to do one large (24 mile ish) loop, back to almost the start then the small loop, but the leaders went out on the small loop first and almost everyone followed them. After a bit of what-do-we-do-now-ery, the RD said just go out do the big loop, come back over the bridge and in to the finish.
Felt pretty sluggish to start with but got going OK. There were a few of us going at a similar pace so little groups & pairs formed and re-formed, and we helped each other with navigation (the routes were nominally marked but really you needed your own directions).
Again decently consistent until the last 3 miles or so, when I allowed myself to get faster (8.38 for mile 25), which I will probably pay for tomorrow.
Yesterday 12th place, 4th woman, 1st F40-49.
Today 13th place, 3rd woman, 1st F40-49 (although I think I was probably kind of 2nd really - there was a bit of confusion as to which bridge to take back to the finish - I think the 2nd place woman took the shorter route - pretty sure I overtook her with a couple of miles to go). Doesn't matter as there was only a trophy for first.
4.42.31 for day 1, 4.44.56 for day 2 - I was the quickest of the women who did both days.
Now just got to keep it going for another three days...

Rush, Nuclear Races 12km, Brentwood - Saturday 18th May 2019

Para 10m - Saturday 18th May 2019

Dobbs Weir Double Marathon (1 of 2) - Saturday 18th May 2019

Hackney Community 5km - Saturday 18th May 2019

Richard Potter 21.34 182nd to be confirmed.

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 18th May 2019

London 5k Fest at Lee Valley - Wednesday 15th May 2019

Velo Birmingham 100 mile Cycle - Sunday 12th May 2019

Essex Sportive Cycle ride - Sunday 12th May 2019

25th Halstead & Essex Marathon - Sunday 12th May 2019

386 finishers

Sunderland 10km - Sunday 12th May 2019

Essex Cross Country Series 10km, Hylands Park - Saturday 11th May 2019

British Intercounties Fell Running Championships, Todmorden, West Yorkshire - Saturday 11th May 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

13.3kms (8.3 miles) with 600m of climb. Flower Scar has been selected as the
British Inter Counties Hill and Fell Championship Race for 2019.
This is a gem of a race with steep climbs, rough moor and fast paths, typifying
all that's best about South Pennine fell running. Starting close to Todmorden
town centre, this race will take you to the parts of Tod that other races don't
reach.

Mallorca 70.3 Half Ironman - Saturday 11th May 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Half Ironman Mallorca
swim 1.9km /T1 / cycle 90km /T2 / 21.1k run
Ava Lee 35.40/ 4.08/ 3.09.24/ 2.35 /1.38.23 = 5.30.09 Finish
Danny Lee 41.42/ 6.02/ 3.02.48/ 3.26 / 1.39.24 = 5.33.36
Sarah Burns 32.18/ 5.02/3.11.41/4.39/ 2.07.40 = 6.01.19
Michael Bamford 47.46/ 9.42/ 3.41.59/ 5.41/1.53.50 = 6.38.55
Jimmy Dale 34.31/ 8.02/3.45.38/ 8.40 /2.15.01 = 6.51.51
Emily Clarke 49.15/ 10.25/ 4.11.48/7.18/ 1.56.22 = 7.15.06
Rachel Le Roux 49.09/ 7.14/ 4.04.13/ 5.39/ 2.20.29 = 7.26.42

Placings - Age Cat - Gender - Overall
Ava 9th of 79 - 60th of 493 - 915th of 2877
Danny 80th of 306 - 920th of 2384 - 992nd
Sarah 29th of 79 - 157th - 1636th
Michael 247th of 306 - 2014th - 2305th
Jimmy 326th of 554 - 2110th - 2438th
Emily 58th of 67 - 400th - 2632nd
Rachel 61st of 67 - 428th - 2713th

Maverick Dorset Trail (16km middle) - Saturday 11th May 2019

Southwark Park 10km - Saturday 11th May 2019

Run Through QEOP 10km - Saturday 11th May 2019

Run Through QEOP 5km - Saturday 11th May 2019

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 11th May 2019

Crown To Crown 5km - Wednesday 8th May 2019

BHF Tower Of London 10km - Wednesday 8th May 2019

54:57
5:15 / 5:23 / 5:30 / 5:34 / 5:33 / 5:34 / 5:34 / 5:35 / 5:38 / 5:22

765 finishers.

Chase The Sun 5km, QEOP - Wednesday 8th May 2019

Chasing The Sun 10km, QEOP - Wednesday 8th May 2019

Lee Valley Aquathlon (250m swim, 3km run) - Tuesday 7th May 2019

Race report about the Lee Valley aquathlon last night because I think that they deserve some advertising.
With the marathon training behind me, I have planned to refocus a bit on my swimming as I need to be ready for a 1.5k swim as part of a triathlon team relay end of July.
So, i thought that this aquathlon would be a good start and a good baseline to actively get back to swimming.
Luckily, during my work trip to Indonesia , I managed to use the hotel pool regularly so I was not feeling too stressed despite the jetlag.
There is a train from Stratford that takes us not to far from the Lee Valley White Water so it wasn't too much of a hassle to travel there.
Once there, everything went really smoothly with registration, changing room, a friend lent me his wetsuit so I was covered but you can rent one for only £5.
I was super happy to see that another friend from the Ilford AC running club: Seb had decided to join as well as there were no ELR takers on that one :-)
We got our briefing at 19:20 , then at 19:30, the first long distance went (pink hat), followed by the second long distance wave (blue hat) one min later and my short distance one (250m swim and 3krun: yellow hat) started at 19:33.
Despite the water being at 13 degrees, i wasn't feeling cold and quite comfortable in the water , i know my technique is good, what I miss is muscles in my arms (yes, Karen i know what to do!) ... I realised around half way that there were not a lot of yellow hats in front of me and I was undertaking already some blue and pink hats...That gave me confidence to continue to push and when I got out of the water, I was told, i was 3rd women out which seemed amazing !
I don't know if it was that or the hyperventilation of the swimming (probably more likely) but after being able to remove my wetsuit quickly, my head was now starting to spin really hard and I was incapable of thinking straight... I tried to put my ELR vest on top of my triathlon suit but with the water, it rolled and i was suddenly incapable of straightening it, tearing my number in the process... Then I suddenly realised I hadn't stopped my watch and starting loosing time switching to the run instead of putting my socks and shoes... In a nutshell, the transition was a total disaster...
Then, i was feeling a bit better and started running , my legs felt ok but my breathing was a real problem and I couldn't really increase my pace which led to having 2 more women of my group overtaking me...
I finished as exhausted as at the end of the marathon but quite chuffed to see that I was only 5th women and 12th overall (and the only one in my age group) ...
I learnt plenty lessons on that race and despite all really enjoyed it... It's quite ideal for beginners if you want to try , the next one is on the 4th of June but it's an ELVIS night so no go, I'll go back on the 2nd of July ! www.gowhitewater.co.uk/activities…lon-7-may-2019-final.

Revenge Of The Sixth, Brightlingsea - Monday 6th May 2019

Maud reports: Hare & Tortoise Revenge of the Sixth Ultra
I'd been feeling a bit out-of-sorts running-wise since Manchester, so I decided to enter an ultra to pick myself up. This was a small, relaxed event consisting of a 6.55 mile lap, which you could run once, twice, four times or five times for the 10K, HM, Marathon or Ultra distances.
For the most part, a very attractive route, starting from the Essex village of Brightlingsea. The first section was along the sea wall (sweeping views, cute lambs, but windy), then turning along the Colne Estuary, winding back inland through some lovely bluebell woods, then running adjacent to the sea wall, waving to runners coming the other way on the upper level. Not a quick course, mostly trail, with a one hill on each lap and a few quite rutty bits. I enjoyed seeing the tide coming in over the course of the day.
I ran the first three laps with the only other woman in the ultra, Jess, and the other two by myself. Overtaking a few people and lapping the marathon runner (we had different coloured bibs). At no point did I lose the will to live or decide I was never going to go running ever again, which is quite unusual for me. For the first time ever (I think) I ran a sub-9 mile in a ultra - two of them, miles 32 & 33 out of 33. My lap splits made me purr. Maybe I was a bit easy on myself for the first half of the race, but it was so good to finish in a blaze of glory rather that coming-back-from-the-dead malarkey I did in Manchester.
2nd out of 5 in the ultra, and first woman (the other woman was 14 years younger than me). No trophy, but £20 off my next race with them.

Herne Hill Harriers Stan Allen Mile - Monday 6th May 2019

Milton Keynes Weekend Marathon - Monday 6th May 2019

Milton Keynes Weekend Half Marathon - Monday 6th May 2019

Mid Sussex Burgess Hill 10km - Monday 6th May 2019

Mid Sussex Marathon 2019
1st Patrick Brown 2.37.18
106th Fiona Day 4.11.54
233 finishers.

Regeneron Greater Limerick Run Half Marathon - Sunday 5th May 2019

Gun time 1.14.17 7th, chip time 1.14.15 15th.

Three Forts Challenge - Sunday 5th May 2019

Pictures available in Photo Gallery

Devil's Dyke - Chanctonbury Ring - Cissbury Ring 27.2 Miles MARATHON :
Known as 'The Tough One', with 27 miles of mixed terrain and climbs of 3450 feet.


Zoila reports: (Apologies it's a tad lengthy)
Race report. The Tough One. 27.2 miles 3000+ feet of climbing.
After not getting a ballot place for the 2019 London Marathon I thought I would look for something different to run. Even though I love running flat city marathons. I for somehow in my search for spring marathons on google stumbled across the three forts challenge, and decided I would enter.
Now with about 4 weeks to go I ran the Orion 15 in preparation for the three forts challenge, and after completing Orion I began to realise the challenge I had coming and question what on earth made me enter it. Never the less. I continued with my training. More than I had done before, with and including appropriate tapering and carb loading week which also meant cutting back my miles on the bike(which I had not done before a marathon).
It's my first weekend away on my own. My first endurance event on my own. So I was a bit anxious about going to a place I had never been to before and running a marathon, considering how injury prone I have been recently, also stressing about any mid night low blood sugars I may have post race.
The night before the race I didn't have a great nights sleep, one of the neighbours of the B&B I was staying in had been playing loud music through the night until the early hours. Seeing as I was awake I decided to test my sugars as they felt high, which they were so I gave myself a dose of insulin, as waking up with high sugars meant I would have felt really rough for the race and would have made breakfast a little trickier. When I woke up they were spot on. Wahay! One less thing to worry about for now.
I walked up to the field where the race started. I had gotten there an hour early, just to chill absorb the atmosphere and appreciate how luck I was to have such amazing running condition for the day 13 degrees, sunny and dry. I also strongly considered downgrading to the half marathon in that hour. Before I knew it, it was to late to make such a decision and it was time to set off. The race is started by a man dressed as a town crier ringing the bell. Making you feel like you were sort of in an old fashioned very British race across the country side.
The first 2 miles weren't so bad there's a slight incline to the cissbury ring, one of the three forts with a steep decent and a few ups and downs descending slowly to the Adur River. Already the views were already beautiful. After the Adur river I looked across the road that we had to cross and I saw the most horrible hill yet to come, this steep hill (which I had to walk up) took us up to devils dyke where the turn around point was, but before the turn around point there were a couple of undulating hills in comparison to this steep incline, which I managed to run up because they didn't seem so bad now...
On the way to the turn around point we ran through fields of cows and there were lots of people hiking. It started to get a bit chilly and windy up here which I didn't think about when I whacked on my vest in the morning. We did the same route back the descending the steep hill we came up was a lot harder. I think I prefer going up than going down! Back across the river back along the same way for a while, then the route took a different turn, up some more steep climbs towards the Chanctonbury ring, the highest point and mile 21. The views were spectacular from here and it was downhill for the next 4 miles until we got to the bottom of the first descent, which was steep, but at this point I had about 2 miles to go so I ran up the hill and my pace began to increase the closer.
The spectators were few and far between, but were amazing and with a mile to go I had one lady who had been wandering around watching the event tell me I was the only one smiling for the whole race. This gave me a little bit of encouragement to speed up for the last mile. Before I knew it I was in the familiar foresty start, and then into the field where the race began, and I felt myself just going for it. I felt my legs speed up like they hadn't just done 27 miles of hilly trail running, and ended up with a strong sprint finish.
I entered the three forts for fun, to enjoy some views and fresh air from the top of some hills, and wasn't expecting a fast time because of the hills, the cross country and the extra distance. So I was looking to get at least 4hr30. Instead I finished with a 4:03:50. 30th/252 and 6th Lady. Which even though not my marathon PB, I knew it wouldn't be. I am incredibly happy to have come out injury free too, and without having any glucose level complications during the run!

Mid Sussex Haywards Heath 10 mile - Sunday 5th May 2019

Mid Sussex East Grinstead 10 mile - Saturday 4th May 2019

parkrun - all venues - Saturday 4th May 2019