Silsoe Stride 10K - 26.06.16

Hi Folks,

Just a line to tell you Fiona and I did the Silsoe 10K – cross country run on 26/6/16.

Called the Silsoe Stride it does a big loop starting on the entrance road to Wrest park and follows farm tracks and country lanes.

Considering it sold out about a week before I was surprised that only 150 ish finished the 5k and about 80 started/finished the 10k. Maybe the rain the night before scared people off….but not me and Fiona. We loved it.

It was well organised and finishers got not only a medal but also a token for family access to the house / grounds any time this year.

The route was lovely and scenic with only one real hill to speak of which lasted about 200m. The race was in aid of charity and there was a children’s race, a tombola & raffle and a BBQ at the end.

Considering it was cross country we were both pleased with our times though it would have been nice to break the hour.

Fiona came in at 1hr 1 min and 45 sec with me 2 seconds behind her.

 

Pete Jones

Cambridge Parkrun - 18.06.16

Pete and I were on the road again this week and went over to try out the Cambridge Parkrun. This takes place in Milton Country Park which is to the north of the town, just outside the A14.

The run is one short lap and then two large laps. The run is on gravel paths but there were lots of puddles and muddy patches following heavy overnight rain. The event was very well organised and marshalled.

The event attracts a very large field and this week there were 424 runners taking part.

Our times were:

Chris Wright                        72nd in 22.34
Pete Jones                          157th in 25.40 

Stevenage Parkrun - 11 June 2016

Pete, Fiona and I went over to Stevenage to try out the new Parkrun in Fairlands Valley Park. This was only the 3rd running of the event and it takes in 2 laps of the park. Most of the run is on paths but there is a section that goes through the trees and there are roots that need to be avoided.

The course is largely flat but there are some undulations, including a steep one that takes runners up the last 100 yards to the finish.

Out of a field of 266 runners our times were:

Chris Wright                   41st in 22.44
Pete Jones                     98th in 26.06
Fiona Jones                    124th in 27.49 

2016 Vitality London 10,000 - 30th May 2016

Just over 12,000 runners took part in this event which starts on The Mall and takes in many of London's best know sites including Admiralty Arch, Trafalgar Square, St Paul's Cathedral, the Bank of England, Whitehall, Parliament Square and finishes outside Buckingham Palace.

A top quality tee shirt and medal was the reward for all finishers.

This was my 4th time of running with times being pretty consistent:

2013 3721st 53:30

2014 3114th 50:46

2015 3498th 51:50

2016 3439th 51:06

I'm sure I'll be back next year.

Les

London Westminster Mile - 29th May 2016

For the second successive year I took part in this race as part of the Sweatshop Running Community.

Races were staged throughout the day with nearly 5,000 runners making the mad dash to the finish line.

The race started on The Mall and follows the perimeter of St James Park before finishing in front of Buckingham Palace.

This year I finished in 6 minutes 59 seconds some 10 seconds quicker than last year. This time put me in about 750th place.

A picnic lunch was provided by Sweatshop.

Les

Run Bedford 10K - 05.06.16

This was a new event last year and this year it had a much larger entry of over 800 runners. There were in fact 751 finishers. The race takes in a large loop round central Bedford starting and finishing along the length of The Embankment which makes it a very scenic run. Another benefit is that it is run on closed roads so there is plenty of room to accommodate all the runners.


The route is largely flat but there were a couple of drags up slight inclines that provided a bit of a challenge to weary limbs.


It was meant to be a very warm day but thankfully, for running purposes, it was quite a chilly morning and running conditions were pretty much perfect.


The event clearly suited some of our members though with Sian knocking minutes off her previous best and Les smashing his PB and going under 50 minutes (by some margin!) for the first time.


The results were:


Chris Wright             203rd in 46.03
Les Potts                  291st in 49.14
Pete Jones                422nd in 54.21
Sian Jones                 743rd in 1.16.48

Rushmere Parkrun - 04.06.16

On Saturday three of our members decided to go for an off-road park run around Rushmere Country Park near Leighton Buzzard. This is an undulating park run which involves almost exclusively off-road running through woods dodging tree roots as you go.


There were 214 runners taking part in the event this week.

Les and Chloe were both first timers at the event that Pete had run it before and just missed out on a PB.

The times were:


Pete Jones          130th in 30.07
Chloe Potts          161st in 32.18
Les Potts              162nd in 32.19     

Stratford-On-Avon Parkrun - 28 May 2016

Pete and Sian were on their travels again 10 days ago and stopped off on route to take in the Stratford-On-Avon Parkrun. There were 268 runners taking part and their times were:


Pete Jones            102nd in 26.01
Sian Jones             239th in 36.39

Ellenbrook Parkrun - 21 May 2016

On 21st May Pete and I went over to Hatfield for the first running of the Ellenbrook Parkrun. The route was a mix of paths and grass tracks and we were fortunate that conditions had been quite dry in the lead up to the run.

The event takes place just behind the campus of the University of Hertfordshire and this provided free parking with toilets available in the sports centre.

There was good turnout for the inaugural run and 273 people were in action. Our times were:

Chris Wright                 53rd in 22.33
Pete Jones                   132nd in 26.38