Stevenage Striders Running Club
Annual Strider 10k Handicap
This gave all the amazing Striders who marshalled at the Menzies 10km race last Sunday a chance in a race environment to earn their medal and t-shirt.
How does a handicap race work?
Each runner is given a target time based on their current form. This target time is used to work out the order in which runners are started, with the slowest runner going first and the fastest runner last. Each runners handicap is calculated by taking the difference between the slowest runners start time and the runners start time. As each runner finishes, the race stopwatch time is noted against their name. Their actual race time is calculated by taking the recorded stopwatch time and subtracting the runners handicap. The winner of the race is the runner who beats their target time by the greatest margin.
This weekend’s Handicap Race was a testament to the determination and enthusiasm of our runners! Despite the wet weather, the rain was no handicap to the 33 brave participants who laced up their shoes and gave it their all. In true Striders spirit, the downpour only added to the excitement and camaraderie of the event!
Runners of all levels embraced the challenge with laughter, cheers, and plenty of high-fives along the route. The tricky conditions tested everyone’s grit, but nothing could stop the smiles at the finish line especially with a delicious slice of cake waiting for all the finishers! The post-race celebrations were filled with joy, stories of the race, and lots of laughs. Congratulations to all who participated, and thank you to everyone who came out to support! The weather may have been gloomy, but the energy was anything but!
Parkrun…
There were some really beautiful courses visited this week which saw Striders running around locations like Penrhyn Castle in Wales, and Wollaton Hall in Nottingham – which was used as Wayne Manor in the Batman film, The Dark Knight!
There were some fantastic times and achievements that I would like to highlight below.
- Matthew Robinson 18:28 – PB
- Steve Moore 21:45 – 1st in age category
- Lina Mi – 1st in age category
- Helen Moye 25:16 – 2nd place lady and 1st in age category
- Felix Azagbadah 26:47 – PBand parkrun milestone
- Eden Hudson 28:32 – PB
parkrun milestoneNow onto the races…
- On Thursday Marc Hagland completed the Phoenix Ricky Races Half at Rickmansworth in 2:31.This weekend Marc then completed another half marathon at the Ipswich half in 2:12, well done!
- At the Vitality 10k, a superb race through the streets of London with incredible atmosphere, Archie Brown finished in 50:26, followed by Daniel Meadows in 51:38. Great work!
- Peter Monk had his first competitive run post knee surgery at the Westminster Mile, finishing in 8:15. It’s so great to see you back in action Pete, well done!
- Jon Renney completed the Sarajevo half marathon in Bosnia. The trip was certainly worth it as he earnt a new PB in a fantastic time of 1:29:38! Awesome running!
Fairlands Valley Spartans
Fairlands Valley Spartans tried something new on Saturday. A one hour time trial at Ridlins Track. How far can you run in 60 minutes? Well for KRISTIAN ATANASOV it was 15.68 kilometres!
Ten kilometres was a neat target for many people but even that represented 25 laps of the track.
There was another stand out performance by YUKO GORDON. Her 12.21 kilometres represented an age grade performance of 104.65%. If it had been an official session that would have been a new British record.
The whole event was organised by BRIAN WHITE who was second overall with 12.58 kilometres (85.65%). The others in the top ten were MATT CLARKE 11.05 kms (65.62%); JIM BROWN 10.82 kms (75.44%); JOHN NELMS 10.63kms (65.62%); MARK FREEMAN 10.55 kms (75.19%); FIONA CLARKE 10.27kms (70.73%); ANDY JAY 10.27kms (67.93%) and JUDY KING 10.01 kms (83.03%). There were 17 runners for this first running of the event.
Vitality London 10K
Spartan CHARLES ARNOLD ran the Vitality London 10K in 46 minutes 51 seconds and BECKY RAYNER finished in 1:23:21.
Charles said, “I took my stripes to the Vitality London 10000 today. Travelling down I encountered torrential rain which had me wondering what to expect on the all road course. Fortunately when I emerged at Green Park the rain had stopped, and, although damp, there were no issues with standing water. We were ushered in our waves onto the Mall and had to wait as the elites and faster waves ahead took off. My target was sub 48 minutes and to achieve a negative split, which was helped as we set off and approached the first pinch point under Admiralty Arch. The course is fairly flat with a small climb up to Holborn Viaduct and from a personal point of view is my PB course from many moons ago. I was running for 48 but saw myself on target for sub 47 so kept pushing to hold that during the final km from Parliament Square up Birdcage Walk to the finish in front of Buckingham Palace, finishing in 46:51, a season’s best.
It is a good event and a good course, well organised (as you would expect from a London Marathon event) and well attended, if a tad expensive (the cost of closed roads in the centre of London!)”
Handicap 5K
Very well done all 22 runners in this month’s Handicap 5k. Paul Holgate organised and thank you to Sharon Crowley, Keith Fenwick and Samantha Sutton for their assistance, support and photography.
Winners were Sally Pickles, 1:16 quicker than last months 5k in 35:49, and David Ackery, 1:31 faster than his previous handicap 5k in 24:56, closely followed by pacing assistants Annabelle White and Amanda & Tony Vickers. Steve Tinsley finished second man, 8 seconds quicker than August in 28:13 and Tim Robinson third man in 27:43 despite starting 1:30 later than handicap! Marleen Van Zwieten was second lady in 40:25 – almost identical to her previous time and Liz Carvell 3rd lady in 31:46, just behind another pacer on the night (Nikki Nation).
The fastest runner on the night was Charles Arnold in 22:59, with Yuko Gordon (23:17) second quickest (fastest lady). Marie Colucci (24:07) was third quickest (2nd fastest lady) and Chris Watling 2nd fastest man in 24:17. David Ackery was third fastest man and Jo Cooksley (25:16) third fastest woman.
Three Peaks Challenge
Barry and Trudie King, Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge on Saturday 21 September 2024. The challenge is to complete the three very different, but all tough peaks in a time of 12 hours. Trudie King came in at 9 hours 42 minutes, Barry King in 9 hours 47 minutes, with Karen Liddle and Tricia Hopper in 9 hours 53 minutes. Start was at Chapel Le Dale and finish was the same. They did Ingleborough first, then Pen Y Gent and then Whernside. All were very pleased to complete in under 10 hours and enjoyed a well earned pint at the end.
Parkrun Highlights 21st September
Many were running elsewhere but there were 18 Spartans among the 410 finishers of Saturday’s Stevenage parkrun. This week there were two in the top ten. SIMON JACKSON second in 17 minutes 27 seconds and GRANT RAMSAY sixth in 18:52.
MAURICE BALLARD ran his 20th parkrun in 30:01; CLAIRE EMMERSON her 160th in 30:13; and VICKY ARCHER her 20th in 31:52.
Spartans running elsewhere included DANIEL and PAMELA VILJOEN at Hove Promenade. Daniel finished in 23:33 and Pamela in 29:32.
Stevenage Phoenix Running Club
Equinox24
This weekend, Head coach Emma Mead, travelled to Leicestershire to take part in Equinox24. Equinox24 is a 24-hour running event in the grounds of Belvoir Castle. The beautiful but challenging 10km course has varied terrain, going past lakes, through wooded areas, up and down “That hill” and round open fields. Emma took on the event as a solo and supported herself with nutrition throughout the duration of the event.
Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t quite go as planned, as this was supposed to be a night training run and Emma had hoped to continue for the full 24 hours. Five hours of high heat threw a spanner in the works for Emma’s planned fluid intake and nutrition. Sunshine turned to thunderstorms, which made the ground incredibly wet. The mixture of tiredness, nausea and weather conditions ended up with Emma taking a slide on a divot and hurting her back, forcing her to retire at 1am after 50 miles.
Surrey Tops
There must be something in the water as Deputy Head Coach, Lisa Liversidge, also completed 50 miles this weekend. The Surrey Tops is a self-navigated 50-mile cross country walk/run, with 6750ft of ascent/descent, mainly on footpaths and bridleways starting & finishing at Witley with a 20hr time limit. It covers colourful heathland, open Downs and dark woods and many of Surrey’s highest hills. It features a significant amount of night walking/ navigation and is a qualifier for Flower of Suffolk 100 next year.
Lisa completed the course at 2am in 16hrs 9mins and said “It was extremely challenging, even more so with the weather the day before and during the event. Rain, thunder, lightning and a hot sunny afternoon. “
Lucky Horseshoe
On Saturday 21st September, Mark Legate took part in ZigZag running’s Lucky Horseshoe event. This out and back course in Suffolk had a seven-hour cut-off and Mark had intended to complete 50km. However, the run took a turn for the worse and Mark made the decision to complete the marathon distance instead.
Vitality London
We had several runners taking part in Vitality London this weekend. First up was James Woodcock who completed the 1-mile distance with his young son in 12mins 16s.
On Sunday 22nd, seven Phoenicians travelled to the big smoke to tackle the 10k. First home was Alex Wasley in a personal best time of 38mins 52s. Next up was Neal Crawley in a personal best time of 48mins 31s and Martin Wasley finished in 01hr 01min 54s. Zoe Shreeve and Jo Heasman completed the route together in 01hr 07mins 34s and David Poulter was just behind them in 01hr 08mins 45s. Charlie completed the course in 01hr 16mins 40s, which is quicker than his time last week and a step closer to where he was before his injury earlier this year.
This weekend’s Vitality 10k means that Neal has earned himself the Club level award and Alex’s PB run broke the record for the senior men’s 10k, shaving off 1min 9s from the previous record.
Royston Harvest trail half marathon
On Sunday 22nd September Chris Leigh completed the Harvest trail half marathon in Royston. The course is all trail with a 300-foot climb early on going into Therfield. Hard rain, wind, sun and heavy fog all made an appearance during the race. Chris remarked that “the final few miles across ploughed fields, woods with multiple tree roots, slippery bridges and sharp drops on mud paths made it great fun! A total of 1100 feet of ascent. Pure challenge and I loved it!” No official times yet but Chris’ watch recorded 2hrs 23mins 17s.
Tough Mudder, London south
Last week’s triathlon clearly wasn’t enough for Nick West. This weekend he completed a 10-mile Tough Mudder in 2hrs 14mins with a group of friends.
ParkRun
This week we had 16 runners at 5 locations. Well done to Katka Laughton for being the third female finisher at Stevenage and the first in her age category with a time of 25mins 25s.
