May 2010 Running report

Last Update 17th May 2010

Suffolk Heritage Coast

Sunday 2nd May was another fairly hideous day for the time of year! 5 Hares joined 341 other runners in Thorpeness to run 26, 13 or 6 miles.

 Before even getting to the start line their spirits had been dampened as they were met with 7 degrees, 20mph northerly headwind for the first few miles (on the coastal path from Sizewell up to Dunwich Heath) and cold horizontal rain. Much of the 26 mile route was off-road and some of this was on loose sand which was hard work.

The gently undulating course starts at Thorpeness, goes up the coast to Walberswick marshes then heads inland to Darsham and Westleton before heading south past Eastbridge and back to Thorpeness.

Not to be deterred by the elements Steve Cox was the first Hare home running a superb first marathon in 4:07 (also coming 27th out of 66 fellow marathon runners) followed by Sarah Hunt, also running her first marathon, who completed 26 miles in 5.00. Congratulations also to Sarah Grimsey (57.50) Gale Pryor (59.32) and Jackie Kirk (59.40) who all took part in the 6 mile challenge.

Breckland 10k

On May Day bank holiday Becky Smith found it best spent joining 309 other runners battling relentless blustery weather on the open expanses of this fairly flat route. Starting straight away with a hill and then along tree-lined country roads, it was ideal for PBs, as Becky found finishing in 51.58 mins. A strong cup of tea and an excellent Thetford AC kit bag to all finishers added to the occasion! Well done!

Hares at Halstead Marathon

Halstead Roadrunners hosted the 16th Halstead and Essex Marathon on Sunday 9th May. Having been training hard since January, husband and wife team Andrew and Deb Stewart were the only two Hares among the 500 or so competitors this year.

The marathon is run on a figure of eight course around Halstead, Twinstead and Pebmarsh, and is fairly 'bumpy' in places so all that hill training was well worth it. The field was soon strung out, and by midway there were just sporadic groups of runners for the supporters to cheer as they passed by the centre of the figure of eight at Pebmarsh.

As usual, Deb had a terrific race, smiling all the way round and enjoying it far too much! Despite expecting a finishing time of around five hours, she crossed the line in a brilliant 4 hours 32 minutes to collect her huge medal and rather nice T shirt.

Meanwhile, Andrew had started well and was going well until hit by cramp at about mile 17. He persevered though, and although finishing much slower than he had hoped, still managed to cross the line in 4 hours 26 minutes.

Alton Water 10k

Most of the Hares, runners and triathletes alike are familiar with the reservoir and use it as part of their training runs but only 4 brave souls turned up on Sunday 9th May to run the second 10K event to be staged there.

On a bitterly cold and drizzly morning the Hares joined 378 other runners in completing 6.2 miles around a very undulating hilly but scenic course.

Valerie Gladwell was the first Hare and first female runner home in an excellent time of 41.13. Chris Burke followed behind in 49.25 whilst both Rachel Cole and Corinna Hussey set PB’s, Rachel in a great time of 50.40 and Corinna shaving off a full 5 mins of her previous time to finish in 54.41.

Well done to all.

The Gauntlet

2 members of the Hares extreme running sub group (Brian Airlie and Steve Hunt) ran a new race called the Gauntlet on Sunday 9th May, organised by Mucky Races, on behalf of the NSPCC in the bowels of Bures Pit between Colchester and Sudbury.

Although not as long as their previous outings at the Grizzly (20 miles through bogs, along beaches and up cliffs in Devon) or Hell runner (13 miles in an Army tank range including the Bog of Doom and Hills of Hell on the South Downs) the Gauntlet managed to pack into its 10k distance the stickiest bog they had ever experienced. Being stuck waist deep in thick clay being virtually unable to move was interesting! - At least 3 more deep water filled ponds cleaned the clay off! A zig zag of 5 consecutive hills and a steep valley climb as well as many short near vertical climbs and falls in the pit.

All in all it was a very enjoyable experience! Brian completed the course in 52 minutes closely followed by Steve. Both Hares were well up the field, leaving many fit young athletes in their wake!!

Next outing for them is the Midsummer Munro - 3000ft of climbing up and down Box Hill in Surrey- labeled as England’s hardest half marathon.

We wish them well!