Guernsey Half Marathon – Jackie Kent reports back from a weekend double

Guernsey is a beautiful place and I have loved running there for years. I have friends who live there so I finally realised that I could combine a trip to see them with the Guernsey Dairy Milk Run half marathon. Last year I travelled on Saturday so just did the half on the Sunday. This year I travelled on Friday and as my friend works on Saturday mornings, I took the opportunity to participate in the Guernsey parkrun. It was a little low on numbers overall due to the half on Sunday but it had a good number of visitors, also due to the half! It’s a two lap course across the common and along coastal paths, making it slightly tricky under foot with rabbit holes and sandy patches. I was especially careful as I didn’t want to go over on an ankle when I still had the ‘main event’ of the weekend to come the next day.

The course is out and back with a loop around the common at one end and a turn around a sign at the other. Being out and back meant that there were runners going in both directions at one point, it was lovely to see the faster runners going past but the path was narrow in places so passing was a bit tight! It was also high tide and the waves were coming up over the sea wall! I was happy to finish with my best parkrun time for over a year and my first ever first place in my age category!

The next day started early as the race started at 9am and I need a good few hours for breakfast to settle before I run. There were 800 entries sold for the half which is the biggest field they’ve had. The first 500 entries get a free technical t-shirt and I wore it for the race instead of my club shirt, because if you run in the Guernsey shirt you could win a £100 voucher for the local sports shop (who sponsor the race along with the Dairy).

The run starts along the west coast and follows the coastline for the first four miles. It includes a few hills which weren’t too bad as I’ve done a couple of SJ Tuesday night hills sessions recently. (hint hint, they’re really good sessions!) After that it moves inland for a bit, along the lanes and through the Island’s housing areas across the north to the east coast. Then you follow the east coast southbound to St Peter Port. The last 3 miles were really hard. I’d pushed myself quite a bit and was determined not to slow down, however the last two miles are along the open sea front with no protection from the wind, which was coming straight towards us! I was running alongside a guy for a while until I realised that if I ducked in behind him instead, he would shelter me from the wind. This worked quite well for me, less so for him…

Finally the end came into sight and I crossed the line with a huge feeling of relief as I really had had enough by then. The Dairy provides each runner with a 500ml carton of Guernsey milk which I drank while stretching and changing my shirt, before meeting my friends for the rest of the day and then traveling home.

It was another good run for me with a 1:48:37 finish.

Coincidentally, the parkrun was #25 for me and the half was also my 25th!

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16th/17th June – SJ Weekend Run Down

It was an action packed week of evening action with Club runs and events plus a number of local open races. The weekend was no less busy with Parkrun, 10ks, Half, Full Marathons and some unique format races not seen before…

Wednesday night saw the second race in the Woodland 5 series on a ‘undulating’ course around Crowthorne Woods and including THAT hill twice. Fourteen members toed the line and Will Firth took third again which puts him in a great position in the overall series.

The monthly Handicap had 19 members taking part which is impressive considering that the Woodland 5 event was running concurrently. Here’s a quick summary of the results and series standings

Over at Dinton Pastures four members took part in the Dinton Summer Series which included both 5k and 10k events.

Patrick Wadsworth made the trip north for the Tour of Tameside which consisted of four runs on four consecutive days (Patrick ran the Woodland 5 on Wednesday night too so had a busy week!) around the Greater Manchester Borough. This iconic event was re-launched in 2015 based on a race originally founded by Dr Ron Hill MBE in 1983 when it was a week-long event, run across different Tameside locations. Currently, the Tour of Tameside consists of 4 races including: the X-Trail 10k, Hell on the Fell, Hero Half Marathon and Dr Ron Hyde 7 mile. We’ll have more from Patrick on this later in the week…

Onto Saturday morning and at Parkrun Frimley Lodge thirteen members joined the 530 strong field. Max Woods was first to finish in 20:24 while both Sarah Hyatt and Sam Weller celebrated PBs on the course with 21:18 and 25:18 respectively.

Ten members at Bracknell this week and huge congratulations to Samantha Wood who recorded a PB of 39:45 in her 24th Parkrun. First timer Nicola Coe also had a great run on her first visit to Bracknell. Krzysztof Zielinski was first SJ home in 20:19 which is his fastest at the venue and bagged him 7th place overall. Matt Jones and Paul Biggs were next both recording their fastest times of the year.

Over at Rushmoor the eight SJs running were led home by Sarah Alexander who recorded her best time at the venue since 2016. It was also great to see Sarah’s husband Paul run at Rushmoor for the first time since 2016!

Parkrun Tourism – Kate Parker ran with a friend at Basingstoke before taking on the ‘Pretty Muddy’ 5k event there later the same morning. Dave Breslin cycled over to Homewood to tackle the hilly 3 lap course. Lisa Hale combined a trip to Osterley with the 10k held there later the same morning. John Tovell ran at home course Crane Park. Duncan Laurie-Pile went sub 20 at Luton Wardown. Alurie Dutton was at Swindon. Andy Summerskill at Houghton Hall. John King at Alice Holt. Jon Green at Woodley and Jackie Kent ran at Guernsey; completed her 25th parkrun, claimed her quickest time in over a year and bagged 1st in age category ahead of the Half Marathon on Sunday.

Jackie Kent then went on to complete the Guernsey Half Marathon, also her 25th event at the distance. On a scenic but wind battered course around the northern seafront she finished in 1:48:37. We will have a full report on this soon…

Lisa Hale made a return visit to Osterley Park to complete the double of Parkrun and 10k finishing this year in 41:58 which is nearly 4.5 minutes faster than the same event last year!

Helen Vizard enjoyed the tough Alresford 10k which was one of the toughest 10k she’s done. It made the Woodland 5 course look flat! Helen finished in 49:18 to take 1st position in her age category. Well done Helen!

A trio of members tackled the Hampshire Hoppit Marathon; affectionately known as Hampshire’s favourite trail race due to the beautiful course and affinity with beer. John Featherstone, Martin Gould and Andrea Hadfield enjoyed the event’s delights.

Jim Laidlaw – Adidas 1 Hour, a timed challenge to complete as much distance around a London Landmarks laden course in 60 minutes. Jim completed 8.3 miles in the allowed time.

A huge total of 94 members logged runs on Strava this week with Patrick Wadsworth taking the top spot as a result of the five events he completed. To take part in this just create a free Strava account and link it to the club in your profile. Here’s the top 10 from last week:-

Please let me know if I’ve missed anything and share your results and achievements in the future so the rest of the club know what you are up to. It’s also great to find out about new events or get an honest opinion on the multitude of events out there so we love to receive run reports. Any member, any event, any distance, any surface! Just email publicity@sandhurstjoggers.org.uk

As always keep a look out on Facebook for details of the weekday evening runs.

Tuesday Club Run: The biggest club run of the week will as always offer multiple groups to cater for all abilities from beginners through to faster and more experienced runners. It’s perfect for novices and those coming back from injury or a long lay-off because you can start with an easy group and work your way upwards. The start time is 6:30pm as always, this week from Sandhurst Memorial Park.

Tuesday Intervals: Later the interval sessions will meet at The TYTHINGS in Yateley at 8pm. The session will be run on Yateley Green and will be 2 x 5 minutes, 7 x 2 minutes with 30 seconds recovery between each effort. You can read more about the Tuesday night intervals here

Wednesday: Sharon and Andrea are the General Members for Wednesday and they have a great route planned for this week. Join them at Sandhurst Memorial Park at 7pm. Its week 2 of the latest 5-10k course who will also be starting at 7pm from the Park.

Tonight is also BFR’s Forest Five event in Swinley Forest.

Thursday: This week the threshold/improvers run will be off-road. This run is suitable for all abilities and as this run grows in popularity there are even more groups of varying speed to fit with your ability. There is also a shorter route and a sweeper to make sure nobody gets left behind. Meet at Sandhurst Sports Centre at 7:30pm.

Friday: Track is still free and the coaches have some great sessions planned for all abilities to improve fitness and technique. This is a great way to improve your running form and fitness, get faster and help prevent injury. If you’ve never ran on a track before give it a try, it’s a lot of fun and you are never more than 200m away from the start.

Saturday: This week the latest group of Pure Beginners will be graduating by completing Bracknell Parkrun. If you are free or not sure where to parkrun this week why don’t you head over to Great Hollands Rec to cheer them on. Wherever you are parkrunning – Don’t forget your barcode!

Sunday: Check Facebook to find out who is running at The Lookout at 9am. It’s a flexible run to suit everybody’s needs and is either adapted to fit with distance targets or multiple groups are formed. The three ‘Cs’ of Coffee, cake and chat are enjoyed in the cafe post-run.

June Handicap Results

Simon has worked his magic and we have the results for this month’s Handicap Competition.  This was an important month as if you hadn’t ran yet this year you had to run in June in order to give yourself the chance to log seven qualifying runs. With the Woodland 5 down the road in Crowthorne Woods competing for attention, plus many recovering from Endure24 there was a decent turnout of 18 runners of which a third recorded personal bests. But it was a season’s best of 28:29 from Dick Newman that took the trophy this month. Fastest on the night was Krzysztof Zielinski in 26:30, just 13 seconds ahead of Matt Jones.

Colin Carpenter couldn’t better his previous best but his 9th position on the night ensured he stays at the top of the table in the Annual competition with a clear 28 point lead. Lauren Askew and Mike Guess were the other big winners on the night climbing into podium positions overall but both Patrick Wadsworth and Dick Newman are not far behind. Colin is the only runner to have completed all six runs in 2018 so the runners behind with runs ‘in hand’ will be keen to wrestle the lead from him in July.

Endure24 – Richard Boese tells of his solo escapades

I did this event as a solo a couple of years ago, so what possessed me to do it again solo? 24 hours, loads of fanfare and noise, camping, 5 mile laps, busy course with lots of fast people passing by and it’s an absolute blast as a team. I’d have to say my first solo attempt left me with a feeling of unfinished business as, not only had I deferred the race due to injury in 2015, I had very poor training going into the event and managed just 60 miles. The only positive thing from last time was I managed that 60 miles including stopping to watch the footy on the big screen and falling asleep for 4 hours when I had meant to have an hour’s nap.

So, having 5.5 hours to play with, a PB should be on the cards. The only thing was, I couldn’t bring myself to actually train for this event as one might for, say, a 100 miler. I just kept up my usual hit rate of marathons/ultras of one or two a month from January through to June, but making sure I was getting in some hilly and possibly hot weather runs in as well. Thanks to my decision to run a few White Star Running events this year, hills and bonus miles were guaranteed and at The Ox 50 I also learned some new stuff about feeding and staying hydrated an longer runs. Still, even with these kind of big events, it’s not what you’d call training and I’d have to say I feel a lot slower than last year. That may just be down to carrying a hamstring and glute niggle into this event and to feeling generally more tired physically. However, I think I am actually stronger and better prepared mentally to just keep going for the longer ultras. Let’s hope so.

So, the plan as usual for this event, was to knock off work early on Friday, get to the venue in lovely countryside just north of the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment at around 2pm and set up camp. I managed to get a prime spot just next to the road to “Hill of No Return” in the solo/pairs camp. This meant I was no more than 2 steps off the course to my tent and food. I brought my huge family tent, as it’s tall enough to stand up in with loads of room for a bed and space to set out all my gear and food.

MrK also arrived and, having camped together at The Ox races, we set up together to share a gazebo. MrK had brought along his mate Dennis Devey (85yo I think) who was also here to do some solo laps and sink plenty of Prosecco! Having got camp set up for me, I went off to find the Frimley Flyers team to set up a tent for my son Alfred who was running with them and drop off another tent with my club mates, Sandhurst Joggers. With them and the JLPT teams there would be upwards of 50 people that I know running that weekend.

I spent the rest of Friday at home sorting out kit, having dinner and a decent sleep before arriving at about 9:30 Saturday morning to unload the gear and food, get Alf set up with his camp and check in with the Sandhurst teams. I had all my food set up by a chair in the tent and four sets of running kit in the bedroom/changing room. I had compression type shorts, toe socks and calf guards and had decided to run the first and last lap in my club vest, but go for compression tops the rest of the time to minimise chaffage. Shoes were Hoka Mafate Speed 2 trail shoes and Hoka Bondi 4 road shoes. I started in the Mafates. I brought walking poles too.

At 11:45 I wandered over with the other runners to the start, waved a quick hello to WhiteStar Andy and made my way to the back of the field with MrK and a whole load of other solo runners. The 12 o’clock horn went and we were off, jogging past vast cheering crowds of other team’s runners and supporters and out on to the tarmac road to Hill of No Return. The start was a great experience and the noisy crowds make you feel like a hero about to start some great adventure! However, after just 200m it’s just you and the other runners.

The route rises on tarmac road through woodland uphill, which I walked from the first lap, then across a boarded cattle grid on to a wide gravel track past open fields, then a narrower wooded track with another short hill to check point 1 at just past 2k. The route then undulates on a hard packed cambered track before a flat km of stony gravel then grey road chippings to get to 4k and the VDUB bar where Cliff and his mate were banging out some great ska and rock steady tunes.

They also had some tasty apple flavoured energy drink which I had every lap. From this point there was a long mostly downhill km to the aid station where they had water, shot blocks, bits of Cliff energy bar and some kind of supposedly fruity energy drink. I had one mouthful of this chemical disaster and no more. Just past the aid station there were loos – the long drop eco-smelly kind – before a short jog to Heartbreak Hill. Last time I did this it always felt massive and a big struggle to get up this hill, but now it just felt like a pretty short hill that I was always up in just 5 minutes walking. After this big-ish hill there is less than 2 miles to get back to the end of the lap, but it is mostly on pretty woodland trail with a couple of nice technical twisty rooty sections before the race village field and the finish line.

I completed a lap in about an hour and ducked in to my tent to change to my Captain America top and arm sleeves to head out for more laps.

This I kept up until I had met my first target of getting past marathon distance and finishing 30 miles. I then decided to have a break, see how Alf was getting on with the Frimley Flyers and visit my Sandhurst Joggers club mates. I got the kettle on for a cuppa and found myself drawn to the SJ club cocktail bar for a double rhubarb vodka on ice, before wending my way back after about an hour for more laps.

My laps by now were pretty consistent at around 90 minutes. Feeding again was my big problem. Here’s the food and drink that I brought: Milk, pineapple juice, tomato juice, water, coconut water, bananas, tomatoes, pita bread with hummus, peanut butter and nutella, mini scotch eggs, porridge pots, ambrosia rice, flapjack, jaffa cakes, chocolate and fruit jelly sweets.

What I managed to eat each lap was milk, juice, 1 or 2 mini scotch eggs or 1 or 2 flapjack bites and a bite of a banana. Anything more and I felt really uncomfortable. I also had half a cup of appletizer, a cup of water and 2 shot blocks out on the course and I think I had three salt tablets over the first day when it was warm to help hydration.

Over the 24 race I probably had 5 pints of milk, a litre of coconut water, a litre of pineapple juice and nearly a litre of tomato juice, and I felt that was a good way to get some protein and minerals, as well as energy. By 2am and 50 miles, though I felt really low on energy and rather than get really miserable I decided on a bit of rest
and went to bed for a 2 hour nap.

Up at 4am for more laps. I had breakfast of milk, bananas and flapjack and got out on the course. I was wearing a long sleeve top thinking I might be cold and after 200m regretted it as it was a really muggy morning. I was half way up Hill of No Return by the time I realised and so I had to just sweat through that lap. I had also changed my shoes to Hoka Bondi and, even though I have done over 400 comfortable miles in them I quickly started to feel a hot spot on my left little toe. Both the shirt and shoes were changed back at camp.

The laps ticked by and I thought this could be pretty monotonous, but on every lap there were a few shouts from Sandhurst Joggers or Frimley Flyers runners as they went past or stopped for a few seconds to chat and check up on me and that, along with the general runners calls of “Well done Solo!” really kept me going. I still stuck to my usual plan of having a chat with everyone I caught up with and had a fun little natter with Fetchies Serrendippily and StuH and of course CStar (SJ Charlie). Come 10:30 I and there was definitely time for another lap. I had got to my second target of beating my previous highest distance of 60 miles and reached 70.

One more would get me to 75 miles, so I set off with that in mind as my last lap and made it in to the race village field with time to spare and being in real danger of crossing the line with enough time to start another lap. There was a lot of high fiving to do and stopping to have a few hugs with friends and the supporters who were camped by the course and called out well done for all of my laps. Just before the finish straight I found my wife and daughter for a quick hug and photo, before Elinor grabbed my hand and dragged me running towards the finish line at 23:56:42. But, not wanting to spoil the moment I decided to round it up and call it a day.

After the finish I felt pretty tired and shuffled around in a daze for a few minutes with Elinor and Julia, before heading off to pack up my tent and find out how my other running friends had done. There were a lot of great achievements, particularly Cove Jogger’s MrK and our own SJ Lina Johnson who both reached 100 miles. I got to 75 miles with not a whole load of pain, no blisters and no feeling like a zombie on a death march. I was very surprised to see out of 130 male solos I was 40th, I thought there loads of solos passing me all the time who probably hadn’t been for cocktails at 7 or had a couple of hour’s kip. There’s still room for improvement and maybe 100 miles will be my target next time.

Yateley 10k Race 1 – SJ Member Highlights

Richard Boese

I was volunteering on the bag drop before and after the race, and as usual there was a late rush to drop bags but I left the hall with 10mins to spare for a bit of a warm up jog with Jacquie Kent, before lining up about mid way down the field.  I was just thinking this would be a steady run with Endure 24 solo coming up on Saturday, so set off up the first hills quite slowly, but gradually catching people along the way. Approaching the 5k water station I was with Lina and Jacquie but I needed to drink water and walked a few paces and Jacquie got away. I managed to pace myself off her all along the road to Eversley, but was starting to feel the heat a bit before the welcome sponge station. The push up the hill past Waitrose was hard work, but I managed a bit of a sprint to the finish line to finish in 51 minutes. Nearly 4 minutes slower than last year, but then I had not long finished training for London, whereas this year has been more about really big miles to get ready for Endure.

Highlights of the race were running reasonably comfortably ahead of my ‘A’ race and seeing so many friendly, faces both on the course and from the amazing SJ marshals. It gives me such a lift to get such great support. Back in the hall with Chris Lambourne, who also ran, we were given high praise by lots of runners for both running and volunteering. Another great event.

Andrew Brooks

As always, the Yateley race has a great atmosphere – really friendly number pick up and everyone there is out to enjoy the race. Being a fairly hot evening, I went into the race with no expectations for achieving a target time, my race plan was to start steady and try and enjoy it! For once, I managed to follow my race plan and went through the first 3km in a fairly easy pace. I could still see a group of red Sandhurst vests ahead of me and just tried to keep them in sight. As the race progressed I still felt pretty strong to pushed on a bit managing to pass a few other runners. The last 2km of the course are as always the toughest and as I reach the school field again, I could hear the announcement that we were close to the 40 minute mark – a final sprint to the line and I just ducked under 40 minutes (by 1 second!) – achieving a long standing personal goal for Yateley. One of the best organised races of the year – excellent on course support and brilliant marshals as always, a real credit to everyone involved.

Neil Praine

A superbly organised race with friendly volunteers from the moment you arrive and get your number, all the way through the course to the finish line and then on the way out too! Loved the run, lots of sandhurst friends to chat to on route and always love the ‘well done Sandhurst’ cheers from the crowds.

Sarah Alexander

I only picked up my place a couple of days before the race but am so glad I did. A lovely start to the evening giving out race numbers, there is such a buzz in the hall beforehand followed by a great run with brilliant support around the course as usual. Highlight of the run this time was crossing the line to find that Josh had won the Fun Run

9th/10th June – SJ Weekend Run Down

This was dominated by two events. First up the best mid-week race series in the UK… if not the World… The Yateley 10k series and then at the weekend the Festival of Festivals for runners… Endure24.

We’ll start with the Yateley 10k where sixty-five members lined up at Yateley School and covered the ‘undulating’ course out past the airport, down the hill to The Cricketers, back through the village, along Reading Road before looping back and ascending the dreaded Waitrose Hill! Fantastic performances throughout and special kudos to those who completed the 5-10k course and really challenged themselves stepping up the distance. We’ve got the full SJ results package below (hopefully capturing everybody, although I might have missed as not all runners had the club linked).

Also a massive ‘Thank You’ to all the members who volunteered and helped on the night in a variety of tasks. The event couldn’t go ahead without you. Here’s a selection of pictures from the evening.

 

Onto the weekend and no Parkrun held at Frimley Lodge this week so members mostly spread across Bracknell and Rushmoor who attracted 349 and 632 runners respectively.

At Great Hollands Rec for Parkrun Bracknell, Matt Jones was first of the eight SJs to finish while Martin Steadman helped his daughter to a PB in her second parkrun.

Thirteen SJs joined the masses at Parkrun Rushmoor with Andrew Brookes first member to finish, he remembered on the startline that the dog groomer was due at 10am so had plenty of incentive to finish quickly! Jim Laidlaw was only five seconds off his best time on the course. KJ Kajla ran for the first time at Rushmoor while Gareth Hopkins recorded a course PB in his second run at the venue.

Not so much Parkrun Tourism this weekend with Endure24 happening over the weekend but a few members still managed to squeeze in a Saturday morning 5k. Starting with the regulars; Andy Summerskill ran at Houghton Hall and Sharon Conquer at Northampton. On the local scene Clive Rolfe tackled the hills at Alice Holt while Simon Whillis survived Achilles Hill at Homewood. Further afield George Green traveled to Hereford and Andrew Parkes to Leamington.

And onto Wasing Park near Aldermaston for Endure24. The concept is simple is a little daunting! The event starts at 12 Noon on Saturday and the challenge is to run as many laps of a five mile off road course as you (and only you if you are running solo) and your teammates can (or want to) before 12 Noon on Sunday when they sound the horn and everyone must complete the lap they are on. The course was entirely off road on mainly well surfaced gravel tracks but there were three hills to contend with; The ‘Hill of No Return’, the one with the marshal dressed at a penguin and the infamous ‘Heartbreak Hill’ which fuelled mush discussion the best approach – to walk or to run, that is the question? The lap wrapped up with some tricky rooty trails a sharp drop and some twists and turns near the finish.

Onto the action an the SJ Women’s team were back to defend their title and ‘Run Like Girls’. It was a close run race with an average of only 8 seconds per lap covering the top 3 teams and they finished in the bronze medal position ensuring all members of the got to run as many laps as possible. The ace squad comprised Nikki Stanley, Sarah Hyatt, Lisa Hale, Katie Herrington, Heidi Zymela, Sharon Burfield, Sophie Le Saux and Gemma Potter.

The Men’s 8 also had great runs completing 39 laps for 7th position in the ‘Big teams’ category. Led by Captain Graham Robinson the team comprised Dave Ayling, Stuart Overhill, Chris Lambourne, Mark Fallowfield-Smith, Dave Breslin, Ian Watson and Erol Ali.

The Mixed 8 (sounds like a rowing team) also had strong runs, completing  and balanced that with lots of laughs, some prosecco and some sleep en route to completing 30 laps. Kudos to John Tovell, Nigel Evans, Blanche Barnes, Carl Bradshaw, Caroline Cutliffe, Jim Casey, Hannah Glaister and Jamie Potter.

Next the smaller team of up to 5 runners, although our two teams wanted to get more running done so opted to only run with teams of four!

The SJ Heroes lined up with Wayne Boardman, Patrick Wadsworth, Jane Bannister and guest SJ Baggie. They also completed an impressive 30 laps running the furthest that some of the team had ever run!

 

Close rivals the SJ Legends adopted a double lap strategy overnight which meant they all got more sleep (and are probably functioning better for it right now!) but dropped a few laps on their rivals The Heroes to finish with 27 laps. Still a hugely impressive total for Charlie St Aubyn, Kate Parker, Andrea Hadfield and Will Lucas.

 

The were many other SJs in action at Endure24, moonlighting for other teams such as The Frimley Flyers and the Three Counties Triathlon Club which made for a hugely sociable weekend.

And finally onto the Soloists. Those with legs of steel and wills of iron to keep plugging away during day and night to rack up huge lap counts and massive distances to boot. Huge congratulations on incredibly determined performances.

Richard Boese kept spirits high and legs moving to complete a massive 15 laps or 75 miles!

In the Women’s event Lina Johnson completed an incredible 18 laps or 90 miles to take 3rd place. Incredible!!!

 

There were some BIG totals on the Strava Leaderboard this week with 92 members logging runs this week and many members clocking up big totals at Endure24. Inevitably the top positions were filled by our awesome Endure24 Soloists. Lina Johnson’s 18 laps at Endure plus the Yateley 10k gave here a huge total. Not far behind Richard Boese’s 15 laps plus Yateley grabbed second. To take part in this just create a free Strava account and link it to the club in your profile. Here’s the top 10 from last week:-

Please let me know if I’ve missed anything and share your results and achievements in the future so the rest of the club know what you are up to. It’s also great to find out about new events or get an honest opinion on the multitude of events out there so we love to receive run reports. Any member, any event, any distance, any surface! Just email publicity@sandhurstjoggers.org.uk

As always keep a look out on Facebook for details of the weekday evening runs.

Tuesday Club Run: The biggest club run of the week will as always offer multiple groups to cater for all abilities from beginners through to faster and more experienced runners. It’s perfect for novices and those coming back from injury or a long lay-off because you can start with an easy group and work your way upwards. The start time is 6:30pm as always, this week from Sandhurst Memorial Park.

Tuesday Intervals: Later the interval sessions will meet at the Morgan Rec in Crowthorne at 8pm. The session will focus on ‘Hills’. You can read more about the Tuesday night intervals here

Wednesday: It’s the second Wednesday of the month so time for the Handicap. It will be the sixth opportunity of 2018 to improve on your previous times. This four mile run over a two lap course around Crowthorne is ideal for all abilities and starts from the Morgan Rec in Crowthorne at 7:30pm. Don’t forget the post run curry at The Raj in Sandhurst.

Also on Wednesday, a new 5k to 10k course will be starting this week from Sandhurst Memorial Park at 7pm.

Its also the second Woodland 5 tonight organised by Finch Coasters on a hilly course in Crowthorne Woods.

Thursday: This week the threshold/improvers run will be off-road. This run is suitable for all abilities and as this run grows in popularity there are even more groups of varying speed to fit with your ability. There is also a shorter route and a sweeper to make sure nobody gets left behind. Meet at Sandhurst Sports Centre at 7:30pm.

Friday: Track is still free and the coaches have some great sessions planned for all abilities to improve fitness and technique. This is a great way to improve your running form and fitness, get faster and help prevent injury. If you’ve never ran on a track before give it a try, it’s a lot of fun and you are never more than 200m away from the start.

Saturday: Lots of members will be enjoying their weekly Parkrun fix at 9am on Saturday morning. Wherever you are parkrunning – Don’t forget your barcode!

Sunday: Check Facebook to find out who is running at The Lookout at 9am. It’s a flexible run to suit everybody’s needs and is either adapted to fit with distance targets or multiple groups are formed. The three ‘Cs’ of Coffee, cake and chat are enjoyed in the cafe post-run.

 

John Tovell reports back from the Neolithic Half Marathon

Continuing my search for events off the beaten track, last Sunday I did the Neolithic Half Marathon.  I was attracted by the fact that this was to be run on Salisbury Plain over military land normally closed to the public.  This is one of a number of events organised on the same day by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.  As well as the Half, there are 5k, 10k and full marathon events.  And as well as running events, there are events for walking, trail biking and canicross. 

The half and full marathons follow a point to point route so, having parked at the finish line, we boarded buses to take us to the starting point at Redhorn Hill.  This was a lovely spot up on the plateau of Salisbury Plain with views for miles around and skylarks singing overhead.  The weather forecast was for thundery showers all day.  In fact, the only rain was before the start while we were registering.  We all managed to squeeze into the registration tent, so that was OK, if a little cosy.  The rest of the day was warm, humid and later on, sunny.  I got quite sunburned as I took the weather forecast too literally and did not pack any sun cream.

After a safety briefing which included “Don’t stray off the trail and don’t pick up anything which might be unexploded ordnance!”, we were on our way.  For the first 2k, the trail was newly laid with what seemed to be railway ballast, so quite uncomfortable to run on.  Luckily, the surface soon reverted to hard gravel/mud which was easy to run on.  There were a few gentle hills but nothing too dramatic.  That is until about 8 miles when the surface changed to a claggy, chalk/mud mix and the trail became more rutted.  Up to that point, I was doing OK, keeping my pace below 9 minute-miles.  But afterwards, I struggled to keep to 10 minute-mile pace.  My final time was 2 hours 7 mins.  I guess I need to work more on my endurance!

Highlights of the rest of the race were passing Larkhill (horse) racecourse and crossing the lovely River Avon.  After climbing out of the Avon valley it was downhill to the finish where Wiltshire Wildlife Trust kindly provided a lunch box with sandwich, chocolate bar and crisps.  There were hay bales spread out on the ground so you could sit and listen to a live entertainer playing some surprisingly good cover versions.  There was also an exhibition caravan by Wessex Water, one of the event’s sponsors.  Unfortunately, I was too tired to visit the caravan!