Stubbington 10K Sunday 19th January

I'm not sure why I've never thought to do Stubbington 10K before - Clare W & Louise both extol its virtues as a motivation to keep the running up over Christmas - and apparently last year, Jude Law was on the route.  I was really surprised that the run took place last year as it was snowy to a level that I would have struggled to get there.  Stories about "undulations" didn't encourage me - I'm learning that at I'm at my best on the flat - but more of that later.

No weather issues this year - unseasonably glorious sunshine and almost wind free - and thanks to Dee, I had a last minute place.

Rachel let me & Louise persuade her that we needed to be there ridiculously early - more runners than before combined with picking up race numbers - but this did mean a lovely close parking spot and short loo queues.  We found nearly all the SRS runners with the exception of Tanya.

And time to admire Rachel's "sports bag" that brought a rare touch of glamour to the utilitarian pre-race activity in the sports hall.  And to admire the auto close gizmo on the fire doors that kicked in as the cafe set off the fire alarm on a regular basis.

Finally got running - and we all opted to funnel onto the pavement at 2K, sacrificing speed for the sake of not running the remaining 8K in soggy socks - the only flooded bit of the course.  I ran with Rachel - our pre agreed plan.  Ref those undulations - it wasn't dead flat, but to be honest, I expected a higher level of hilliness.

I felt for the marshals who seemed to be dealing with some very impatient drivers - it's only about 1 hour, once a year & there is plenty of notification about the road closures.   It was well organised with a welcome drinks station.  Nice work Stubbington Green Runners!

The star of the course was the scenery - especially the bit along the coast which looked stunning in the sunshine.   I found it interesting as it's not a bit of Hampshire I know very well - and it was a mixture of farmland and housing as well as the seaside.


Very pleased to be cheered in by Louise and Claire D.  We passed the favour onto Claudia and Dee - but missed Tanya as we weren't completely sure she'd run.

Dee is marathon training so set off to repeat the route on completion to get the right length long run - most impressive!

No medal, but none expected.  We were however expecting a mug at the end - but instead got microfibre tubes resembling those bearing the brand name "Buff".  Pleased me as a Buff user - but I don't think Lou was too impressed.  Still, she could have picked up a mug bearing last year's details as they were available too - because of the snow in Jan 2013, they didn't arrive in Stubbington on time.  Long queue for baggage collection is the only criticism we could levy at SRG's organisation - and even that was dealt with.

Nice 10K, worth doing!

Results:

1. Dawn H 49:16 (sadly, her last run with SRS)
2. Claire Deacon 51:59
3. Jo C 57:04
4. Louise 61:26
5. Suzanne 63:23
6. Gin 63:21
7. Rachel B 63:21
8. Dee 64:59
9. Claudia 69:16
10. Tanya 70:03

CC6 - Dibden Race Report 5th January

“Vertical cliffs, mountains” – how we mocked Louise when she reported back, having been the first brave Hubster to try out a CC6 (this one, Dibden), not long after we joined Southampton Running Sisters.  Reason for mocking is that the New Forest has a few undulations, but is a little more sedate in gradient than, say, Snowdonia, the Lakes, the Cairngorms – even less hilly than Hampshire around QE Country Park (must try that parkrun sometime).

But to be fair to Lou, she has a point.  There are 2 sharp, steep climbs on this CC6 route plus a few long drag inclines.  We were all set to get wet, following the vast volumes of rain that have landed on us over the last few weeks – but we stayed dry from above for the run.  Like the last CC6, it adds onto the route dodging around swamps and leaping over streams.

We started better than last time – the flag went up and stayed up!  And it looked super clean thanks to some tlc applied by Louise.

Having told Louise I wasn’t going to be able to overtake any others so wouldn’t be able to improve my place, I found a rare bit of speed after a couple of miles – although 2/3 of the overtaken were blokes so no impact there!

Marshals were great – well placed and very supportive.  The route was very varied – the steep climbs, equally steep downhills giving us a chance to practice crazy runner balance arms (technical term).  Gravel tracks, mud, streams.  Open forest, woods.  And I loved having a clear view of the end from about 500m so I could up my pace to a crowd pleasing glamorous sprint (others may not recognise it as a print though – these things are all so subjective….).  Fab brownies amongst the cakes.

Results - check out Claire D's 32 - a full 10 places ahead of the last CC6 and her season best!  As a team, we're in 11th place with 2 left to go - so please do come & try out Dennywood - I can promise you it starts in the prettiest car park in the Forest....

All good – bring on the next one.

Claire D Position 32

Sarah N 37

Dawn 43

Donna 52

Gin 62

Louise 64

CC6 Janesmoor Pond 15th December – Belated Race Report

Lowri

This race didn’t start too auspiciously for us – no mallet in the flag bag meant we had to borrow one – only to find it impossible to get the flag’s spike deep enough into the ground! This bit of the Forest was part of an air strip during the war – I suspect concrete under a thin top layer of soil. 

The weather wasn’t good either with high winds & drizzle.  

I forgot my shoes – so had to run in my walking trainers.  

And very sadly, Dawn told us it will be one of her last races for SRS as she’s running more these days with Lordshill – we’re going to miss you Dawn!

The things on my head are antlers - honest

More positively, the marshals were in Santa outfits – and we had a good turnout of 7.

Louise smiling

The drizzle seemed to ease as we set off – and a marshal advised us to “mind the mud”.  I was glad of the grippiness of my walking shoes – and I felt for Lowri & Claudia with road shoes.   I have to admit though that it wasn’t the wettest I’ve found the Janesmoor Pond route.  I was also pleased that I found the killer hill easier than before – still appreciated the jelly baby from Santa at the top,

Sarah managing to smile whilst finishing first of SRS

Us - no flag

Ponies looking stoic in the mist, more ponies running around and the highlight for me was a little group of black pigs with white saddles rootling for acorns (pannage).  

Even Louise who admitted to not feeling as enthusiastic as usual at the start seemed to get more into the route as we progressed.

5 miles ish, muddy, soggy, fun.

Over the line and please to find that there were still cakes & mince pies left.  And I’m pleased to report that my trainers were so effective, I will be using them again in the future.  Later on that day, the rain set in – a reminder that a bit of drizzle isn’t so bad as conditions go.

Results:

• Sarah:   38
• Claire:   42
• Dawn:    47
• Gin:        53
• Louise:  54
• Lowri:    56
• Claudia:55

Many thanks to Paul Hammond for all the photos - except the group one.

Badger Farm CC6 - Race Report

I’ve volunteered at this race a couple of times – but this was the first time I’ve run it.  Louise, our winter race director, was working with Southampton AC and Winchester AC to organise this event & had agreed to supply 12 of the 36 volunteers needed.  The rules of the CC6 series allows the organising clubs to have a team of 3 running – so once Lou was sure she had the 12 required, she gave me & Claire D permission to run.  I think 1 more could have done, but the problem is that volunteering kit varies majorly to running kit - the former is all about staying warm enough to stand still for an hour or so in the great outdoors, the latter is about keeping cool enough!

So I felt very lucky to have a running place.  Conveniently, this CC6 was on 1^st December, the first day of Marcothon – a challenge to run every day in December that I am repeating, having enjoyed it last year.

Volunteers were sent off to various corners of the course, leaving Claire & I to set off – and Pat to hover by the funnel as a proper EA race official.

4.2 miles, one short loop, one big loop then a repeat of the short loop.  Looking at the route map before we set off avoided the “I thought I’d finished” crisis I experienced at the Alverstoke RR10 having completed the big loop!  Terrain was mostly chalk path, a little mud, many leaves and some field bits.  I was grateful that it hadn’t rained much in the preceding days so the mud was a little sticky as opposed to full scale slippery.

There was one big hill, Yew Hill, and apparently all runners were a bit subdued leading up to it.  Seeing a snake of runners working up it from my normal position towards the back was impressive.

What made a huge difference on this run was the quality of the marshals (yes, I’m biased!).  SRS marshals were fabulously enthusiastic – and I loved the extra encouragement from Daisy, Japser and Brandon – excellent cheerleaders.   And boy, we do cake well.  

Well done Claire, thanks to all the helpers - and nice work Louise!

39: Claire D

61: Me

Volunteers included: Louise, Sam, Sally, Rachel, Jo, Jasper, Tanya, Tess, Pat, Claire H, Brandon, Sarah N, Genie, Daisy, Marian, Siri, Vicky, Dee, Wendy and Claudia.

Photos: Paul Hammond

Gosport Half - the race of cake? Race Report

"It's laps of a semi derelict MOD airfield."  Not possibly the most inviting prospect, but Louise must have made Gosport Half Marathon sound good as I was keen to run it this year - and Louise was up to repeat it.

2000 runners apparently.  The facilities at the start were fine with enough loos, baggage drop off, massages available and even the opportunity for a cup of tea.  It was in Louise's old school - she's a Gosport girl - and we'd parked near her Dad's home just a few streets away.

The start was vaguely segmented by times - we just ensured we weren't too far forward.  Louise spotted a former colleague who kindly took our final pre run photo.

Flat, yes.  The route had an impressive number of miles away from traffic - making use of Daedalus airfield but also wide tarmac cycle paths.  I actually found the airfield bit interesting, making our way past derelict MOD buildings from the 60s, 30s and earlier that would make for some stunning apartments.  A boat building bit smelt strongly of solvents! Other highlights included a filling station and lots of wire fencing.  Not too much congestion as most of the paths were wide and well surfaced.

 We appreciated a drumming band that the route took us past lots of times.  

The most scenic bit was at the end, along the shore at Lee on Solent back to Gosport.  I appreciated the wind free, dry and cool weather - high wind would have been serious hard work!

Great to see a former SRS runner Jennifer marshaling - and cheering us on with gusto.  And a lovely surprise to see Mel G who's just graduated from our beginner programme supporting us at the start.  Pat was there too - but unable to demonstrate any bias as she was a referee, coping with random incidents like a scooter insisting on riding over the chip timing mat at the end - strange.

Donna, Sam, Louise and I cheered Sally over the line.  I think we managed 3 PBs today - me, Tanya & Sally.  And it was Sam's first ever half - so an automatic PB for her!

And then we moved onto the cake. Goody bags had proper fruitcake, flapjack & chocolate biscuits.  Demolished the former & then enjoyed a rather good fatless sugar free fruitcake that Sam had brought (need the recipe!), then a piece of Running the World's flag cake.  And a chocolate biscuit courtesy of Louise's Dad to finish off.  The sugar high helped with the tedious queue of traffic homewards - and meant that I got home still feeling buoyed up by a rather good run.

Dawn 1:51:05
Verity 1:57:11
Gin 2:13:51
Louise 2:14:11
Sam 2:26:33
Tanya 2:26:30 - a PB I believe
Sally 2:46:51 - this is 15 minutes faster than her first half!
Jo - can't find her on the provisional results

CC6 - Kings Enclosure - Race Report

Glorious autumn colours, gleaming in the sunshine - mornings like this are one of the reasons why I love running in the Forest.  We started from the area near Fritham that's used for a number of the RR10s and CC6s.

I thought we had 9 runners today - an impressive 3 teams - but then Bridget & Nikki arrived rather breathless at the last minute having got a bit temporarily misplaced on their way from the car park.  It was a good warm up/cool down opportunity length trek to the gathering point - and then a second walk to the start.  I have to admit to being a bit bemused as to why we didn't start at the gathering point & add a little to the distance - but that is being picky.  Being Remembrance Sunday, it was good that we observed a silence before setting off.  Claire ran with her poppy intact - most impressive.

Paul Hammond photo

Did I mention it was muddy?

"F-ing challenging" was the rather accurate description given to the route by one of us afterwards!  Yes, there were lots of hills, but none would have been overly taxing if they weren't covered in gloopy, trainer tugging mud.  And there was water.  And slippery leaves.  It was really obvious afterwards that Sarah N had thrown herself into the cross country ethos with mud splatters up to her waist on her clothes!  And Sally had some rather fetching splodges on her face - a bit like a Hollywood heroine emerging from a forest adventure.  I did check with the marshalls en route if we were looking glamourous - apparently we were - so all good.

Paul Hammond photo

4.2 miles with a loop in the middle.  I did get lapped on that, but it wasn't too bad.  The volunteers were good - positioned so that the route was clear and all gave us encouragement.  It took me over 51 minutes - a useful reminder of just how much difference terrain and gradients can make to a run.

We joined Sally to run her in at the end - she did incredibly well and was buzzing afterwards.  I was particularly impressed with Jo C's performance too as it was her first cross country since returning to running this year.  

Our results (remember these are positions, not times):
Siri 32
Sarah N 33
Claire D 39
Dawn 47
Bridget 66
Wendy 67
Nikki 68
Gin 69
Jo 71
Sam 73
Sally 75

Lordshill 10 mile - nice race, would've liked a medal

Race report for Lordshill 10 mile 

It was pouring with rain when I left the house on Sunday - last year's Lordshill 10 mile was incredibly wet so I wondered if it was going to be a repeat performance.  Blue sky appeared though - and held.

There were just over 500 runners in the sports centre where we started.   Proper loos, well organised baggage drop and rather good technical t-shirts.  No chip system which surprised me a little.
There were just 3 of us from SRS - me, Siri and Linda - so just enough to make up a team for the league.  I was very pleased when Linda asked if we could run together once we'd established we'd be around the same pace.  We quizzed a colleague of mine about the route - tales of rivers to ford and acres of mud.
Luckily, he was wrong.  And the rain held off.   Linda & I set off a tad to quickly (my fault as usual), doing a weird dogleg before heading north to the other side of the M27.  We were mostly on lanes that were not closed to traffic, but good, active marshaling seemed to keep the cars at bay without any aggro. 
I love running through countryside I haven't seen before - and this run delivered giving views that I'd only glimpsed at part of from the motorway.  I am regretting not taking a few photos en route.  Not too wet - certainly no rivers to wade across this year!  Chatting to Linda made it very enjoyable.
The marshals were particularly good - as I expected as Lordshill do deliver on their claim of being a friendly running club.  Informative, very encouraging - although 1 did give me false hopes of a beer at the end.
Towards the end, their support was very much appreciated, slogging through the industrial estate and Nursling felt hard.  I did muster a little energy for a sprint finish.
1:23:20 for the amazingly speedy Siri, 1:42:24 for me and 1:42:25 for Linda.  Later, the rain returned - I can't believe we stayed dry for the race.
Do this race next year, it was good.  Maybe they'll get some medals....