Running for England and so much more.

Isle of Wight Challenge

Report – Mark Barker

Over the bank holiday I took the opportunity of a weekend break on the Isle of Wight, what could be better, with the lovely scenery, some nice pubs, great beaches for the dogs and a 106km ultra-marathon!

That was the order I put to my partner when I suggested the idea!         

The event was run by action challenge, around 1900 people took part, a mix of runners and walkers.   There were a number of challenges of varying distances, with the main one being the 106km full island challenge, this could be done over 2 days or a continuous 1 day for the very brave!  I went for the 2 day option! 

Starting in Chale on the south of the Island, the route ran clockwise along the cliff tops of West Wight, past the iconic Needles and up to Cowes for the end of day 1.

Day 2 continued from Cowes, through to Ryde, along the seaside towns of Sandown and Shanklin, before climbing up some large hills to Ventnor, before finishing back at Chale.   

The first section started along some very narrow costal paths, with many diversions due to some recent costal erosion, this was slow going due to the terrain and a number of walkers ahead, this slow start turned about to be a blessing later in the day when I needed every bit of energy.          

The weather was perfect on day 1, sunny but cool.   There was a great atmosphere with the walkers and runners all supporting each other, enjoying the weather, the scenery and not thinking too much about how much further we had to go!   

The aid stations were around every 15k, these were brilliant, with a great choice of food & drinks, loos and very friendly, supportive organisers.   

The biggest challenge on day 1 was the mud!  There was section of forest, where a marshal greeted us with a warning of mud for the next 2k, he was not wrong, apart from it being more of a slurry!   I made it through the slurry and onto some much better terrain, through to Cowes where there was a leg massage and some hot food waiting at the half way point!  

It was then back to the holiday cabin for a hot shower and some rest! 

Day 2 started at 06:30. It was very different to the previous day mainly because I only saw a few runners all day.  There were however many of the walkers that I passed and chatted to, these guys I had so much admiration for,  many had been walking all night and been going over 30 hours.   Their willpower and determination was amazing, many raising money for charities that meant something special to them, it was a pleasure to be in the same event.       

My biggest challenge on day 2 was the climb up and over Ventnor downs, I had decided to change to road shoes as 70% of day 2 was on tarmac, my mistake was not considering there might just be some very steep muddy hills on the other 30%!  

There was also very thick fog in the hills with poor visibility,  I avoided getting lost in the fog and found my way down to the final checkpoint.  

The last 10k had the biggest elevation, however this was mainly on road, so compared to some of the other hills, this was a lovely hill, also I knew the finish was on the other side! 

My total time was 14 hrs 7 mins, evenly split over the 2 days.  

As I approached the finish line, I thought back to 2019 when I started running and could not manage 5k without stopping, I took in a moment of pride on what I had just achieved. 

It was then time for that pub lunch and walk on the beach I had promised my wonderful partner and dogs!   

TEC Brecon Beacons Trail Challenge 2024 – Marathon

Report – Sam Wilks

For the last few years, I have flirted with the idea of finally running my first marathon. In fact, on a couple of occasions I have committed to weeks and weeks of training only to pick up injury less than a couple of weeks before the race and had to withdraw. This year I decided it was definitely going to happen but thought I would do a trail marathon as I do prefer a cross country trot!

Without much more thought than “hmm that would be a nice place to run around”, I entered the TEC Brecon Beacons Challenge 2024 Marathon distance (10k, Half and Ultra are all available). A running friend of mine noticed I had entered and promptly informed me I was an “idiot”, as I had clearly not checked the elevation…he was right…nearly 1900m! I also hadn’t noticed that it was slightly over the normal marathon distance at 44k ish…how that extra 2k and a bit would come back to haunt me!

I got lucky with the weather, I don’t need to tell you runners about how wet this winter has been, training in soggy trainers is not much fun, but the day of the race proved dry, bright and by the end even sunny and warm. The day starts with an early registration, race briefing and a start time of 8.30am. The mandatory kit list meant I was carrying a 3.5kg pack, something which in training had given me crushing tension headaches after long runs, but I had slowly but surely got used to running with the weight.

With a nervy wave to my wife, the race gets underway pretty much on time, we weave up to the canal and enjoy an unnervingly easy start with a gentle and gradual ascent up through some woodland with the Talybont Reservoir on your right proceeding to Bryniau Gleison at 538m. You then run across moorland which was full of boggy ditches, hillocks, streams and plenty to keep your mind occupied! Dropping down slightly the run passes Torpantau rail station, which I believe still has running steam trains circumnavigating the National Park.

At around 15k you enter the wonderful Taf Fechan Forest you are again lulled into thinking you are on a nice leisurely trail run with even footing and the peace and tranquillity of the forest. Relatively short lived. The route then throws you into its first real climb, a sharp ascent out of the forest up to circa 800m. With your legs now definitely warmed up the course takes you down the other side and in order to reap the benefits of the downhill and a little speed and momentum, you have to navigate through the now masses of walkers who are coming up the side you are trying to run down! I found myself leaping from left to right and on more than one occasion coming very close to an ankle breaking rock or two. A lonely spectator is at the bottom clapping and shouts, “you’re like a mountain goat!”…clearly entertained by my downhill slalom antics…I was just relieved to get on to a flat!

A checkpoint stop arrives (this was number 2 of 3 on the route) I was slightly over halfway and had gone through my initial 2 x 500ml of electrolytes, so needed to refill and fuel up. I follow ZOE nutrition, so I don’t use any gels or processed foods. My fuel as with all my long runs was homemade nut & date energy bars, with a banana. After refilling my water bottles with electrolytes, downing cups of water and eating a banana as if I hadn’t eaten for a week, I loaded the pack on my back and off I went into what proved the ‘worst half’ of the race.

From the checkpoint I started my ascent of Corn Du, a climb which seems to go on forever, but reaches its peak at 873m. Not content with this the race throws you straight into another ascent of the highest peak in the mountain range, that of Pen y Fan which hits you at circa 30km. The views are spectacular, but at this point I have to be honest and say the terrain is so rough and technical you barely want to take your eyes from the floor, otherwise you will be eating Welsh rock and not of the sweet kind!

The slight ups and downs follow between Cribyn and Fan y Big before the descent which is a long steady one across the side of the mountains from over 700m down to 150m…sounds easy at this point? No, it wasn’t!

The paths continue to be treacherous while you initially run along the ridge line, only changing to moorland trail when you get into your last 8k. Then you have to deal with the water run-off across the grasslands and for me it meant surfing down one section on my knees, luckily with no hidden rocks! Once finally at the ‘bottom’ my legs were starting to cramp, and I couldn’t extend my right leg and therefore get any kind of rhythm. The irony at this stage is being on a flat canal path but moving slower than at any point of the race (climbs excluded!) mentally I found this very challenging.

I agonised over my watch with under 5k left, seeing every kilometre like a race within a race. Painstakingly I got to the last 500m, and I could here a faint cheering as I realised the finish is around the corner. The legs temporarily freshened, no doubt the euphoria and extra release of adrenaline running through the body. I was able to descend from the canal path on to the field finish with a steady pace and a smile from ear to ear.

Although this race was not about times, I secretly wanted to get within 5 hours, a time which had won the race in 2023, but I clocked home in 5:08hrs and I was delighted to finish in 5th place overall.

Will I do this race again? Maybe…but what I can say with absolute certainty is that trail running is definitely ‘my bag’ and I am already plotting my next marathon…or maybe ultra-marathon event…but maybe with slightly less elevation!!

British University & College Sports Championships
 

Report – Paul Bearman

The British University & College Sports (BUCS) Outdoor Championships were held over 3 days in Manchester and after a chilly first day the rest of the time the champs were held mostly in bright, warm, windless conditions, so a welcome change from previous years.

BUCS is a very high level competition that attracts numerous young British track and field stars, many with international pedigrees and 5 Stratford athletes were amongst the competitors representing 4 different universities.

Catherine Reynolds (Sheffield) was competing in her second BUCS and had a busy weekend. Her performances so far this year gave her the confidence to take on her heat in a positive way and with a composed run she finished 2^nd in 56.75s to qualify for the semi final.

The semi-finals are where the real shake ups happen and races are considerably harder to judge with much faster athletes in the race, but again a perfectly controlled run saw Catherine qualify for the final for the second year running in 55.32s and a new PB.

In the final she was up against some seasoned junior internationals and so the plan for the final was simply to follow the same race plan as the semi final and in a hard run foot race down the home straight 

Catherine came home in 5^th place in 55.60s.

Her weekend was then filled with relays and after helping her team qualify for the 4 x 100m (she was rested for the 4 400m heats after competing in the individual event), and after her exertions in the 400m final earlier Catherine ended up running both relay finals within 20 minutes of each.

Her team finished in 8^th place in the 4 x100 but her team were “over the moon” to pick up bronze in the 4×400 after Catherine ran a storming second leg to take them into third and their last 2 runners held on to head a tight pack chasing the inevitable Loughborough and Birmingham1-2.

This is where the 2^nd medal for our athletes came from. Imogen Sheppard is the epitome of a team player and competing for Birmingham she ran the first leg in the heats of the 4 x 400m to help her team qualify for the final and although she was replaced in the final by her international team mate Orla Brennan, she was awarded a silver medal as a member of the squad. 

To gain more points for her team Imogen “volunteered” to throw the Hammer and after only one training session she surprised herself, and to the amusement and of her team mates, threw competently to a new PB of 24.19m. To put that in perspective the winner threw 58.39m.

Imogen has finished her BUCS career with a gold and 2 silver medals so she’s now the 2^nd most successful Stratford BUCS athlete behind Andrew Pozzi.

The horizontal jumpers had a mixed weekend and despite Nick Butler (Sheffield) hitting the take-off board consistently and jumping very well through the hop, step and jump phases in the Triple Jump he was disappointed to finish his qualifying heat with, by his standards, a relatively modest 12.92m. In his Long Jump, ironically his run up was out of kilter and he managed one jump of 5.84m. 

After a 5 year layoff due to Covid and Uni commitments, Grace Fairweather has returned to training at Nottingham Uni, but with very limited coaching she returned to the club for 3 weeks of training prior to BUCS so she felt confident enough to compete. However, a week earlier she had an accident that required extensive emergency dental treatment but determined to compete in her qualifying heat she got her 3 jumps in with a best of 4.29m.

Emily Field (Bristol Uni) ran her 1500m in 4:32.6 just 0.71 seconds off qualifying for the final. Emily got herself boxed in with not far to go and although aiming for sub 4:30 she was delighted with what was a 5 sec PB, a 1500m club record that was previously held by Georgie Campbell.

Bannister Community Mile.

Oxford

6th May.

Report – David Jones
 

Last Monday was the 70th anniversary of what, according to Seb Coe, was the greatest sporting achievement of the past 100 years. The 6th May 1954 was the day that Roger Bannister was the first person to break the 4 minute mile.

Every year commemorative mile races are held at the Iffley Road track in Oxford to celebrate this achievement. I personally competed in one last year and it was a wonderful experience.This year, as well as the track races for elite runners, it was decided to run a community mile. This  started in Oxford City centre close to Christ Church Meadow and finished just outside the Iffley Road track.

There were multiple waves for the 1000+ runners, one of which incorporated the Midland Masters Mile Championship. Phil Brennan, Dave Battersby and myself competed in this wave. Phil and I came away with gold medals in our respective age categories with Dave grabbing the silver in his competitive V45 category, this despite us all suffering from various ailments.

Some 1069 runners competed in the various waves with Phil finishing 1st in his age category for the whole event. I was pretty happy to finish 2nd out of 13 runners in my age category with Dave finishing 9th overall, this despite a calf injury requiring him to jog at certain parts of the race.

Club member Nic Reynolds ran in one of the other waves and said that she really enjoyed taking part in the event and that it was the fastest she’d run in a while.

It was a wonderfully organised and friendly event, my only caveat being that the race started with a 200m incline, ouch, something you don’t get on the track.

One of the competitors was a 91 year old gentleman who had been at the track when Bannister broke the record.

Steve Cram’s daughter Josie started us off and part of her speech was to outline Bannister’s day. He worked as a hospital consultant in the morning, caught the train to London, changed in to what by todays standards were very heavy spikes, broke the record on a cinder track and then it was back on the train to London, out to the pub for a pint and then back to work the following day.

It is a testament to what an achievement it was, in that of the almost 150 runners competing in the men’s elite races on the track later in the day, only 4 broke the 4 minute barrier with the winner being just over 3 seconds quicker than Bannister.