Road Results 2009

Sun 20 Dec

Surrey Classic 10k Series - Horton Country Park 10k

Road Results Index  Full Results

A slightly shortened course (5.82 miles) to avoid some icy roads, but still some pretty icy patches anyway. Andy finished 1st M45, Martin 2nd M45, Ruth 3rd L40 and Annette 2nd L50 (after steward's enquiry).

Sun 6 Dec

Luton Marathon

Road Results Index  Full Results

Steve reports: "On 06/12/09 while Kate Langley was running a 9k race around the Lakes around the Central Coast in Australia, Collingwood runners decided to travel to a wet and windy Luton to run the marathon consisting of 3 laps around Luton and its surrounding areas including several local estates.

The torrential rain on the way there fortunately had stopped just before the start as Bill Walsh promised. It was a fairly hilly course and the windy conditions made the course tougher than a usual road marathon.

After a strong first half Steve Cooney slowed a bit in the later stages but still finished in 123rd place in 3 hours 27 minutes 18 seconds. Bill Walsh was next in and was pleased with his time of 3 hours 38 minutes 16 seconds and good enough for 172nd place. Andy Stalley had a problem with his calf shortly into the race so his race strategy changed from aiming for a sub 3 hours 30 finish to just aiming to finish. He was just 2 minutes behind in 3 hours 40 minutes 15 seconds and 189th place. Rob Wilson and Tom Wilkie both did 5 hours 42 minutes. 493 finished in 5 hours 32 minutes."

Thur 3 Dec

Recurring Handicap

Road Results Index  Full Results

Sun 29 Nov

Beddington Park 10k

Road Results Index  Full Results

Sun 22 Nov

John Cock Epsom 10

Road Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Dave on a pb, and also to Nicola knocking 2:12 off her Dorking 10 time.

Sun 22 Nov

Newcastle Marathon

Road Results Index

Allan reports: "No 96 in the bag, 3hrs 11mins. Very wet and windy today. Came 4th overall and 1st male vet 40. Get in..."

Sun 15 Nov

South London 10k

Road Results Index  Full Results

Bob reports: "I ran the South London 10km today, still suffering a bit from a cold I couldn’t shake. We started and finished on the common. After all the rain quite a few surface puddles but a great day to run. I think my time was 44min 02."

Sun 15 Nov

Cornish Marathon

Road Results Index  Full Results

Allan reports: "On Sunday 15 November lone Collingwood member Allan Rumbles ran the Cornish Marathon - his 95th marathon, starting and finishing near Liskard (and passing Daphne Du Maurier's "Jamaica Inn" which was disappointingly unromantic and sited by the side of a main road!).

After driving down to the race through howling gales and heavy rain, things improved and blue skies and sunshine were the order of the day - Allan was even a little concerned that he was overdressed for the occasion having opted for a long-sleeved running vest.

Allan ran this very hilly marathon to finish in an excellent 3:30:50. He was trying for sub 3:30, but the final 2 miles were split into a mile and a half of seriously nasty hills with only the last half mile offering some respite! Maybe next week at Newcastle, then?"

Sun 1 Nov

Surrey Classic 10k Series - Nonsuch Park

Road Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Richard on a pb in pretty foul conditions, and Andy on a course best. Andy had kept Richard behind him up until the last path to the finish. He put a couple of kicks in here to try and keep him behind, knowing that if it went to a sprint finish Richard would gain the advantage. Richard stuck with him though and opened his legs to show his class. Nicola, Paul, Ruth, and Chris were all quicker than last week.

After 2 stages, Andy is in 3rd place M45 and Annette in 3rd place L50.

Sun 25 Oct

Dublin Marathon

Road Results Index  Full Results

Alison reports: "I chose Dublin as my first marathon for a few reasons; it's relatively flat(!), we have family in Dublin so could combine a visit with the race and it was big but not huge - so there was going to be a fair amount of roadside support to keep me going.

I started at the Blue start, which was handily slap-bang next to the baggage drop. I felt bizarrely calm. Which was very weird - I'd expected to be horribly nervous!

After the MC got things going and the National Anthem was sung we started to move forward and I started the Garmin. Oops - false start! We were just being moved up ready for the off. Then with the proper countdown we were off. It took nearly 7 minutes to cross the mat to trigger my chip for the *real* start!
We headed off up the road, turned right and ran towards the Liffey and Phoenix Park. There were lots of people walking the race and they had to be negotiated carefully as they were randomly dotted all over the place across the road.

Phoenix Park was beautiful. Autumn colours, the smell of winter coming, running through the park reminded me of Bushy Park where I'd done some of my training. First gel at 5 and a bit miles. This picked me up a bit. Out of the park and we were started to hit some hills. There were undulations up through interconnecting villages, though several underpasses and up into the suburbs.

Next gel was taken at 10 miles. I remember what felt like a really steep hill that came with a cheering zone at the summit - which gave me a bit of a boost! Ran through Crumlin, (which wasn't the most picturesque of places) and passed the halfway point at around 2 hours 33 minutes.

Onwards through suburbia. Around here there were people offering their houses for loo use, they had tables out with fruit and water for the runners - it was lovely, the support was amazing. There was a local radio station with points along the way playing pop music and I came through at around 14 miles to a bit of Lady Ga Ga's Pokerface!:-)

The next gel was at mile 15 and it was quite warm by now. The sun had come out and I moved across the course to get into the shade when possible. Lost a bit of time having had to stop for a comfort break at mile 16.

At mile 19 I was hungry and my legs started to feel weak. Just as things started to get a bit messy the 20 mile marker came up and I slowed to take a gel. And was caught walking by Rich, his Uncle Pat, Aimee and Dom! My family were waiting to cheer me and I was overjoyed to see them. Ran on and rounded the corner and we were running parallel to University College and the grounds. There were some nice downhill sections here, which was a relief.
I was mentally running two 5k runs now and my head went off elsewhere, which felt weird.

Then at around 23 miles I was about to turn left and on the right-hand side of the road were Rich, Aimee, Dom and Pat again - I filled up and started to cry - it was just such a boost to see them all cheering me on and holding out a bag of jelly babies. Shouted "I love you" and grabbed a couple of sweets and had to run on. If I'd stopped then I don't know what would have happened.

We were running back into the city now, along bus lanes - lots and lots of bus lanes. We crossed a main road with a St John's Ambulance point to our left and things get a bit blurred here. I was just very focused on not walking. We were passing lots of people walking.

Ran through Ballsbridge which was beautiful - lovely houses in lovely streets and on into the city proper. And there were more and more people gathered along the sides of the road. The barriers appeared with even more people. We were coming into the centre. An 800 metre marker. I just wanted to finish now - I glanced at the Garmin; 9.05 minute miling! 200 metres and the cheering was pushing me along. The blue and white balloon banner finish line is right in front. Finished in tears - I'd done it - the sense of relief was massive.

As I cross the finish I receive a text message - with my gun time! 5:08:12. Fantastic!

Collected my goody bag and medal, went and got changed and met up with my family and went to Kennedy's to meet Allan and his gang for a nice pint or two of Bulmers!
What an amazing day!"

Sun 25 Oct

Surrey Classic 10k Series - Oxshott

Road Results Index

Andy ran well despite running the Beach Head marathon yesterday. Ray and Gill were both running their debut 10ks and finished in respectable times. Well done to Kate on knocking 49s off her time from last week's Croydon 10k.

Sun 18 Oct

Abingdon Marathon

Road Results Index  Full Results

Andy reports: “Four Collingwood members started the Abingdon Marathon in cold conditions with the temperature around two degrees in Oxfordshire. The course starts with a lap of the local 400 metre track, then runs out to two relatively flat laps, before returning through the town to the track for the last 385 yards.

A large field was boosted by a large contingent of 100 Marathon Club members joining in the celebrations for Carol-Ann Plater’s 100th marathon. She dressed as a 100-year-old woman, complete with grey wig and walking stick. She was presented with her medal after the race.

Dave Ross ran another good and uneventful race to finish in 81st place in a time of 3:00:27. He just did not have the finish to break the 3 hour barrier, in a good quality field with 706 finishers.

Andy Stalley and Steve Cooney finished in 3:16:33 and 3:16:54, having not raced together and not seen each other until the last 385 yards. They had contrasting runs; Andy started well and went through half way about four minutes ahead of Steve, who started with a steady pace. However in the second half Steve picked up the pace to run a 2-minute negative split. Andy however slowed from 22 miles and died from 24. Another 200 yards on the course and Steve would have passed him.

Mel Johnstone pulled out at 14 miles, having a poor and uncomfortable run.”

Sun 18 Oct

Croydon 10k

Road Results Index  Full Results

Well done to the ladies - they finished 2nd team of 7. Also, well done to Bill on a pb.

Sun 11 Oct

Royal Parks Half

Road Results Index  Full Results

Richard reports: "Bill and I reckoned we were in for a busy race day when we were squeezing into a Piccadilly line train at 8am this Sunday morning to make our way up to the Royal Parks Half. The experience at Hyde Park Corner was no better as there were people looking at the escalators rammed to the gunnals thinking that the 100 yard sprint up a 45 degree staircase to the top was looking like a great option and another reason to get out of the cheesy warm up exercises.

The walk to the start was again a great lesson in the school of thought “all these people going in the same direction must be the right way to the start”.

The approach to the main circus and Brakes food emporium was filled with the sights and sounds of people looking at the queues for the toilets and bag drop thinking “there is no way I’m going to make it to the bliddy start!”

The warm-up was filled with the shrieks of the obligatory French aerobics teacher trying to motivate 15,000 runners into action, well those not in the endless queues for the toilets or bag drop at any rate! After the change from civvies to top athlete and somehow working our way into an amazingly short bag drop queue we made an effort to warm up by running round the Diana Memorial at the edge of the Serpentine. Based on all the queues everywhere else we thought we needed to make our way to the coloured holding pens, as the start was going to be at 9.30 sharp. This was due to the carnage being caused by the roads around central London being closed to allow a number of eccentrics have a run around on a Sunday morning.

The faceless man on the tannoy thanked all of the main sponsors for their contributions to making the race happen and the celebrities who had contributed to raising the profile of the event.

The race was started at 9.30 prompt and all of the runners made their way over the electronic cattle grid with the deafening beep of people's chips activating. The route made its way down to Wellington’s arch and if you fancied taking the route through the middle you could. We then went past Queenie and the guards at the Palace to then be herded down to the Palace of Westminster. On Westminster bridge we were met with a rather random double back on the middle of bridge, which took you back to the Embankment. This was a good levelling ground as those that had gone out too fast or not done the training were suffering as it was a good 2 mile stretch of running out to Blackfriars Bridge whilst watching those uber fit elite runners run past you on the other side of the road looking fresh.

The next stretch was a flick around the outside of the Admiral and his lions to then go down the Mall, imagining what it would be like to be on the final leg of the London marathon had you been successful enough to have got through the ballet (bitter). Having gone past Buck House for the second time you entered Hyde Park for the final 6 miles of the race, this was where the supporting crowds could be found.

The Park was full of switch backs, bands and people too far away enough to matter. The most memorable bits of this part of the race were two young ladies complaining that they were late for their Sunday roast and seeing Prince Albert in his full glory. On seeing the Prince Albert memorial there was the joyous feeling that you were now only a mile from the finish line and a really great cup of tea.

The finish line was in sight and I could feel that if I didn’t keep up the pace I had set over the past mile and a bit the people I had overtaken were going to overtake me and kick virtual sand in my heavy breathing face. The joy of this race is that you can see the finish line with enough time to pull something out of the bag, as Bill proved. On the finish straight he saw one of the Royal Parks squirrels and thought "I’m having him"! To his joy this Tuffty club member turned out to be none other than Ben Fogle, so if you ever need anything else to give you to that extra bit of effort it is a celeb who looks a little bit in trouble. Needless to say this is now my running buddy’s new claim to fame / unknown fact when it comes to awkward icebreakers at training events.

I didn’t have the luxury of a floundering celeb but a big clock on the finish arch and my Garmin. So the finishing times on this Sunday morning jaunt into London were me coming in with an official chip time of 1.34.55 and Bill recording 1.35 something (waiting official update) on his London Marathon rejection watch.

Overall this was a great event to get people into London competing in a serious run with not too many in fancy dress. Having said that there was the obligatory introvert in the dayglo mankini and Brakes Foods managed to send out two peapods and a carrot!"

Sun 11 Oct

Zagreb Marathon

Road Results Index

Sun 11 Oct

Leicester Marathon

Road Results Index  Full Results

Steve reports: "On 11/10/09 I successfully completed the "triple" over the weekend. The first stage was the Banstead 5Km Time Trial on Saturday morning. Next was the 5 mile cross country race in Cranford in the afternoon where I was one of just 6 male runners who managed to turn out and represent Collingwood. The third stage involved a 260 mile round trip to complete the Leicester Marathon.

I got to the venue in plenty of time but unfortunately there was a massive queue for the baggage so eventually got to the start at 9.14am, one minute before the official start. This was about twice as long as we had yesterday at the cross country!

The half marathon runners started at the same time but split after about 6 miles and then it got a bit quieter for the rest of the race.

After doing 6 marathons in the last 6 weeks, I planned on taking it easy but at 20 miles I thought I could get a sub 3.30 if I had a strong finish. Helped by 7 minutes 04 seconds for the 25th mile and then a 7 minutes 10 seconds uphill for the 26th mile, I completed the marathon in 3 Hours 29 minutes 20 seconds. Ths made it 7 marathons in 7 weeks and all of them comfortably under 4 hours. Hopefully this run will continue next week in the Abingdon Marathon.

Rob Wilson and Tom Wilkie were apparently also running but I did not see them at the start and I had left before they finished."

Sun 4 Oct

Brussels Marathon

Road Results Index

Sun 20 Sep

Great North Run

Road Results Index   Full Results

Bob reports: "Competed in the Great North Run, yet another hot day. Still enjoy doing the race, it was my 10th time."

Sun 13 Sep

Moray Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Andy reports:

28th Moray Marathon

Melanie Johnstone celebrated her 100th marathon today in company of many Collingwood members and 100 Marathon Club members who made the long trip to her home town race in Elgin, Scotland, for the 28th Moray Marathon.

Mel had her grandmother, parents and many other family members in attendance, including a piper, to celebrate her achievement. She was also featured on the event website and in a nice article in the local paper.

Accompanying Mel were Dave Ross, Andy and Gill Stalley, Steve Cooney, Allan Rumbles, Martin Lloyd, Nicola Stevenson, Ruth Cottam and Annette Helliwell. Two other significant attendees were David Thompson (with Sheila Thompson) and Michael Grehan; friends and members of the 100 Marathon Club.

The race unfolded with Michael and Andy setting off ahead of the others, both looking for a good time; and with Andy trying to forget last week’s poor run. Next came David dressed as ‘118’ from the TV advert (and no I have not worked that one out). Behind them Mel and Dave were running together dressed as pirates (with no obvious connection to anything as well), with Dave intending to pace Mel to a sub-4 finish. Nicola in her 1st marathon was escorted by Allan, Martin and Steve; looking for sub-4 as well.

There was some misty rain in the air for the first couple of miles, followed by what were excellent racing conditions; overcast, relatively cool and with a nice gentle breeze. Gill was the fastest on the course, but she was in a Ford Focus acting as official photographer.

The course sets out from the town of Elgin heading to Burghead through arable fields and forests, with the one hill on the course peaking at 3½ miles. From Burghead the route turns right to follow the scenic and gently undulating coastal road into Lossiemouth, passing RAF Lossiemouth. Part way along this road, the half marathon runners are bussed to their start, for them to race the last half of the full marathon course. Ruth and Annette, both started 90 minutes after the full start, both in form and both looking for PBs.

As the race developed Michael ran consistently well to stay comfortably the first runner from the 100 Marathon Club to finish, in 3:11:48 and 20th place, another excellent time, after his 3:15 last Sunday. Michael and Andy both passed Annette and Ruth, both clearly running smoothly and clearly on route to their PBs. Annette was concerned to see a huge dead sea gull, a dead rabbit and most tragically a dead squirrel.

Andy ran a conservative 1st half to then pick up the pace from half way to run a negative split of 2.17, to finish in his 5th best time of 3:16:20, for 27th place.

Next home was Ruth, who finished strongly to beat her previous PB by 2:10 minutes, in a time of 1:50:27, in 118th place. Her previous best time was 1:52:37.

Not long after Ruth, Annette cruised home in 1:53:51 and 139th, having improved her PB of 2:06:53 by a brilliant 12:02 minutes. There were 282 finishers in the half marathon.

David had taken it easy for a good while, before picking up the pace well in the 2nd half. As ‘118’ he heard some novel banter along the way including “what’s the number of the Elgin chip shop?” His finishing time was 3:28:45 and 40th.

Mel and David came home together, accompanied by Allan who had started out with Nicola, Martin and Steve and then swapped groups halfway through the race. They crossed the line together in 3:48:40. Mel had no problems with her recent injury and was therefore able to celebrate the moment of her achievement. They were 80th, 81st and 82nd.

The last Collingwood runners home were Nicola in her first marathon finish with her two escorting gentlemen in 3:53:29, well inside her target time, in 90th, 91st and 92nd. Nicola had started to really understand the marathon distance in the last four miles, but finished well without any reaction from her recent injury. Nicola’s time was an excellent one for a debut; clearly more to come. There were 155 finsihers in the marathon.

Dave disappeared for while only to return without Mel’s 100 Marathon Club medal which he had left behind in the guest house! Therefore after an additional run there and back, he was ready to give Mel’s presentation speech. He also presented her with her 100 Marathon Club vest, bought by a secretive group of Collingwood members, which you are not allowed to wear until you get to the magic century and full membership of the ‘100 Marathon Club‘. The organisers of the event then presented Mel with £100 in vouchers for sporting goods.

Steve set another marathon PB in his post-race acquisitions; 3 t-shirts, bottles of water, numerous packets of biscuits, bunches of bananas and numerous cups of tea.

Stop Press - Ruth and Michael must have looked dodgy at Inverness airport, being called for random baggage searches!

Sun 13 Sep

Moray Half

Road Results Index   Full Results

See above for race report.

Sun 6 Sep

Kent Coastal Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Dave reports: "The alarm went off at 5.15am and I thought oh no not another marathon, especially as I'd probably had the equivalent of 3/4's of a bottle of wine on Saturday night. I had the obligatory cup of morning tea and lazed about for half an hour before getting up and having one piece of Pitta bread and jam for the pre-race breakfast. Hunger is not an issue at that time of the morning......................

Allan arrived just before 6.30am followed by Fu Cheung (100 Club man) and his sister Yinhaii to give us a lift to the race in his very comfortable Audi, though I nearly ended up crushing Allan's legs with the electronic seat adjuster,which I finally got the hang of !

Interestingly en route, we passed the Formula 1 racing team, for Renault, 3 large lorries with all the advertising under the sun were heading down the M25 as we sped past !

Arrival at the race start was nice and early (8.15am ready for a 9.30am kick off) so we mutually decided to go to a greasy spoon for bacon butties and cups of tea, though I opted for some nice scrambled egg on toast. Well and truly carbo-loaded, we headed off to change and register and get ready for our race.

At promptly 9.30am the race got underway and we headed out to the historical Old Town of Margate, along the coastal path which was to prove quite undulating, with a slight headwind, which was to pick up a bit more later on !

Andy on the way back nearly got struck by a flying golf ball which must have been a terrible shot, and according to Andy he would have relished being struck and having an excuse to pull out of the race as he was having a tough run!!

I went though halfway in 1hr 29 mins as planned, on target for my sub 3hrs, but needless to say need not have been so optimistic as the course certainly got the better of me in the 2nd half.

It was flatter on the 2nd half and we traced the coastline through Ramsgate, as each part of the course split in two was about a 6.5mile out and back each way. Drink stations were giving out mainly water but SIS Go Gels were also on offer on certain stations and we very gladly received. The mile markers were very clearly marked in luminous yellow, which made judging time and pace much better, though they couldn't come quickly enough at the end of the race. The last mile involved a small hill climb (seemed like Everest to me) and then a nice flat bit to end back at the starting point, to rapturous applause which was greatly received.

All in all it was a very well organised race and one that I personally will probably do most years as it's relatively flat and the prizes were really good !

We WON 2nd Team prize overall and I was fortunate to WIN the 2nd Vet 40 prize too, so all in all it was a great day at the office."

Sun 30 Aug

Moulton 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Chris reports: "My brother and I ran in the Moulton 10K (near Northampton) on Sunday (30th Aug). Before the race Paul said it was the hilliest 10K he'd ever run. As it turned out he wasn't far wrong. The course included having to run through a ford. I was pleased to make it round as it was my longest run for some time. Paul was a couple of minutes quicker than last year."

Sun 16 Aug

South Coast Half

Road Results Index

Graham reports: "I competed in the South Coast Half Marathon today in Seaford. The race consisted of 4 laps which were advertised as "mostly flat but with one short but steep hill". However, on getting there I found that they'd had to make a late change to the route which meant we didn't have to climb the hill. Having looked at it, I was pleased as it was quite a bit higher than the description suggested.

As the course was now completely flat, I "Garmined" it all the way round, keeping to my intended pace of sub 7:30 miling. How people coped before GPS watches I'll never know! Anyway, I kept to that pace all the way round which should have brought me in under 1 hr 39 mins, but I actually achieved a time of 1:34:41 as the course was short by about half a mile. I measured it as 12.67 miles and other people with Garmins had similar readings. It's a pity that I can't consider this as an "official" time as I'd definitely have knocked a sizable chunk out of my 1:44 pb."

Sun 9 Aug

Belgrave Bolt 5k

Road Results Index  Individual Results  Team Results

Well done to Bill on a pb, first time under 20.

Final Road League Result Tables

Sun 25 Jul

Elmbridge 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Another pb for Nicola, by 48s, and also for Bill by 46s. Also a cb for Ruth.

Sun 19 Jul

Worcester Pitchcroft 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Well done to Dave on another 10k pb, the third in a row.

Sat 18 Jul

Elmore 7

Road Results Index   Full Results

Sun 11 Jul

British London 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Doug reports: "I ran the London 10k on Sunday 11th July. It covered most of the the landmarks of London i.e. The London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge etc. finishing down the embankment. As you can see from the time from the gun to chip time there was a bit of hanging around at the start."

Wed 8 Jul

Reigate Priory 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Thur 2 Jul

Nonsuch Park Relay

Road Results Index  Full Results

Official times

Mon 29 Jun

Self Transcendence 5k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Sun 28 Jun

Dysart Dash

Road Results Index   Full Results

Nicola reports: " Now I like to pride myself on always arriving with plenty of time to prepare but if it could go wrong as they say....

It all started like any other journey; I picked Alison up at 7.45am with the plan to be at race HQ at 20 past giving us plenty of time for a pre-race wee and gentle trot to the start.

I set the Tom Tom the night before for Petersham Road and was chuffed because I had my kit ready and everything. It wasn't till we arrived at my hairdressers in Putney that I realised I'd picked the wrong destination on the list. When I re-set the Tom Tom there was a big sigh of relief we were only 15 minutes out of the way and should arrive by 8.30-ish. No problem we thought and carried on driving and chatting.

On the approach to Petersham Road good old Tom said we were only 25 seconds away, but wait, the road was closed, what to do? We decided to park up and walk to the HQ. We packed up the car and put on our race numbers and started what we thought would be a couple of minutes walk.

How long is Petersham Road? Looking at the time we only had 12 minutes till the start of the race and we needed a pit stop.

What did we do you'll ask! Well the only thing we could do, start flagging down all the passing cars. That’s when the dad of Max and Lottie came to our rescue. Our knight in shining armour (well silver car) drove us to the HQ with 7 minutes till the start of the race and nearly got his car reversed into for his trouble.

After our pit stop we then had to make the jog to the start line. Unfortunately for Alison that meant a warm-up at race pace. We made it with 3 minutes to spare. Didn't run a PB but did run my second fastest time which considering the heat was pretty damn good.

Alison, you can drive next time, I'll just give you the petrol money."

The men's team were 22nd, and the women's 15th.

Mon 8 Jun

Westonbirt 10k

Road Results Index

And again.

Sun 7 Jun

Fairford 10k

Road Results Index

Well done to Dave on the pb, his first time under 40 mins.

Thur 4 Jun

Recurring Handicap - Race 4 - 5.33 miles

Road Results Index   Photos   Full Results

Mon 1 Jun

Cork Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Bill reports: "Richard and Myself did the Cork Marathon on Monday 01/06. My time was 3:43:12, 242nd position PB by 1min 9secs. Richard's time was 3:44:44, 254th position PB by over 24 mins. Both times were chip times.

Myself and Richard combined family visiting with running the Cork Marathon. We knew from the previous couple of days it was going to be hot, and it was straight from the start at 9.00AM. It was a Bank Holiday in Ireland so the support was good all along the route.

The course was fairly flat for the first half east of the City, but after coming back to the centre we then headed out west, where in parts it became fairly steep in places.

After 22 miles, and heading back into town we hit a dead flat, dead straight road to the 25 mile marker. For me this was worse than the hills, the only distraction being the different varieties of road-kill.

Overall it was a well organised race, they even laid on extra water stations on the hills due to the heat. We both got a PB and had a great time in a lovely part of Ireland. Highly recommended.

P.S. Don't visit Richards relatives for a barbecque prior to running a marathon, not good prep. They look and drink like a rugby team, and the men are even worse!"

Sun 31 May

Edinburgh Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Steve reports: "It was baking, hotter than London. Thought Scotland was meant to be cold. Plenty of Sutton Runners here and I think I beat them all."

Kate reports: "6 hrs 26, which I was very pleased with since in the baking hot conditions, it was 10 minutes quicker than last year's Edinburgh time. Even though, some of the water stations were out of water when I reached them. Still a wonderful marathon to run, and plenty of support from the other runners. I also joined up with the Sutton runners on the Saturday night at one of the local restaurants for a pre-race party, there was a large turn-out."

Sun 31 May

Dorking 10

Road Results Index   Full Results

Well done to Nicola and Ruth on PBs, Nicola by 6:38 and Ruth by 24s.

Mon 25 May

London 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results

Doug reports: "I ran the London 10k on Bank Holiday Monday 25th May. It was organized along much the same lines as the London Marathon.
I was in Blue wave - the middle of three - 1st Red and 3rd Green
A breezy, drizzly start was replaced by a cloudy but dry (though windy) morning - perfect for a quick time- especially as it was so flat; so I had little excuse for mine. Mo Farah broke the British 10k record by 5 secs in 27:50 - I think I saw his blur as I slogged up the embankment.
At least I had more time to enjoy the brilliant course which may be part of the 2012 Olympic Marathon course."

Sun 17 May

Windermere Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Sun 10 May

Morden 6n6 Aquathlon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Graham reports: "I think I transitioned quite quickly, it helped that I decided not to wear socks. The only downside of this was that the run was through woodland paths around Morden Park and I kept getting stones in my shoes. I had to stop during the third mile to empty out one particularly big one, which probably cost me 30-40 seconds.

I did use my Garmin for the run, and measured the run at 5.6 miles, not 6 as advertised. This agreed to the distance clocked by another athlete with a Garmin. I measure my run time, excluding transition, as 42:54."

Sun 10 May

Halstead & Essex Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Steve reports: "On 10/05/09 Collingwood members participated in the 15th Halstead and Essex Marathon. The race was mainly through "quiet and picturesque country lanes, undulating with small valleys" according to the organisers.

There was a run from Halstead through to Pebmarsh into the Essex/Suffolk border and the route was run twice. There were 7 Collingwood Members present who had completed over 800 marathons between them. Sadly there was only one single member from local club Sutton Runners who was somewhat outnumbered. Allan had completed a marathon the day before so decided to run with his sister-in-law who was competing in her first marathon.

The highlight of the day was when an old Spitfire was seen doing stunts in the countryside just as Andy Stalley was following a runner from Spitfire Running Club.

Dave had a strong run and finished in a course best of 3 hours 05. Andy was next home, also in a course best of 3 hour 17 minutes. Steve Cooney was just behind and completed the hat trick of course bests in 3 hour 19 minutes. This made 5 marathons in 5 weeks and 5 course bests for Steve. Both Andy and Steve overtook several runners in the second half and were not overtaken at all.

After running with his sister-in-law for the first 3 miles, Allan decided to run off with some of his mates and apparently left his sister-in -law to it! He finished in 3 hour 47 minutes. Mel Johnstone was next in a time of 4 hour 12 minutes. There was a close battle between Rob Wilson and Tom Wilkie with Rob outpacing Tom to finish in 5 hour 17 minutes. Tom was not that far behind in a time of 5 hour 24 minutes after struggling for the last 2 miles."

Sun 10 May

Ranelagh Richmond Half

Road Results Index   Full Results   Surrey Road League   Tables

Well done to Richard and Annette on their PBs. Annette beat her Hastings 2009 time by 9:18 and Richard was around 5 mins quicker than his previous best. You can find results for the Surrey Road League by following the links above.

Thur 7 May

Dave Clarke 5k (?)

Road Results Index   Full Results

A new course in Nonsuch Park, but a little shy of 5k. It seems that it was actually about 4.51k. This stymied one or two who were on target for either recording a pb for 5k or posting their first road 5k time.

Collingwood was well represented, with 11 members taking part, and 4 in the top 16 finishers. Well done to Amber on her first race representing the club.

Wed 6 May

Forbanks Relay - 3 x 2.6 miles

Road Results Index   Full Results

The official results have Ruth at 18:59 and Bill at 19:00, but according to our unofficial timing that should have been 20:59 and 17:00 respectively. 40 teams took part.

Sun 3 May

Sutton Runners 10k

Road Results Index   Full Results  Surrey Road League

Well done to Nicola, Alison and Kate on their PBs. Nicola beat her previous best at Wimbledon in March of 46:15, Alison beat hers by about 45s, and Kate beat her Nonsuch Park 2008 time by 2:29.

The men (4 to score) were 16th of 24 teams in the race. The ladies (3 to score) were 9th of 14. This was the first event in the Surrey Road League and you can find results by following the link above.

Sun 26 Apr

Shakespeare Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

See London Marathon below for report.

Sun 26 Apr

Shakespeare Half

Road Results Index   Full Results

See London Marathon below for report.

Sun 26 Apr

London Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

A Tale Of Two Cities. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….

On Sunday 26 April, 13 members of Collingwood AC ran the London Marathon, whilst 2 were in the Shakespeare Marathon, and 2 in the Shakespeare Half Marathon at Stratford-Upon-Avon. Some fared better than others in the warmer than forecast conditions with results ranging from personal bests to a personal worst.

At London, Dave Ross was the first member home in 3:03:14, somewhat outside his best and suffering after the finish. Andy Stalley was next home in 3:18:56 having started off at an optimistic pace and then fading a little and having to take a couple of walking breaks to regain his breath. Steve Cooney followed him in 3:23:23.

Steve had opted for a sensible strategy of a conservative start and a late push to finish strongly and dampened Martin’s spirits as he passed him on Parliament Square. Martin Lloyd caught sight of Dave Johnson at around 4 miles but lost him again until the 19 mile point in Canary Wharf. Dave was complaining then that his legs were gone and Martin passed him, only to be passed back late on in the race when the tables were turned and Martin’s legs were protesting. Dave seemed to have rejuvenated somewhat and finished in 3:25:49. Martin was treading water by this point and had his worst ever time of 3:26:55.

Having run 3:12 last year, Bob Chart was aiming for sub 3 hours this time but the heat got to him and he faded badly, ending up with 3:36:30. Bill Walsh had a good run in 3:45:27 not far outside his best. Ben Cady also did well in his debut marathon. Ben had been aiming for 4 hours and wasn’t far off the mark, finishing in 4:13:05.

Mel Johnstone was still suffering from a leg injury and took things steadily for 4:09:48. Rob Wilson is still continuing to knock out repeated marathons at around the 5 hour mark even though he’s now 75 and today was no exception with 5:04:20 in his 350th marathon for a 9th place in his age group. Doug White did 5:44:27 and Kate Knight 6:26:45. Alex King was another running his debut marathon and managed a creditable 5:38:17.

Meanwhile, at Stratford, Nicola Dicks and Maja Mosegaard were running the half marathon. Nicola started off at a pace that would bring her home at around her best time and felt so comfortable that she was able to surge later in the race to finish strongly and beat her best by about 3 minutes, in 1:42:05, still with energy to spare. Maja was running her first half marathon and was very pleased with her debut, finishing in 2:23:56.

Allan Rumbles and Annette Helliwell were running the full marathon at Stratford. Allan was a little disappointed with his 3:11:22, wanting to beat his best time of 3:10 from a few weeks ago. Annette however, was very pleased with her time of 4:53:26, hammering her previous best at last year’s London Marathon by about 58 minutes.

The club concluded the day with a post-race party at All Bar One in Sutton to refuel and swap stories of their various fortunes and what might have been.

Sun 19 Apr

Bungay Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Allan reports: "Following on from their recent triumphs, Collingwood's Marathon division were out in force again for the running of the Bungay Black Dog Half Marathon & Marathon.

Ruth Cottam was the sole representative for Collingwood in the Half
Marathon & whilst she ran a good steady race to finish in a course best
time of 1hr 55mins & 218th place (see below), she said afterwards that she felt she could have done better.

The marathon crew have been very busy recently with, Melanie Johnstone doing her first in a while following injury; Steve Cooney doing his 2nd marathon in a fortnight; Tom Wilkie doing his 2nd marathon in a fortnight; Rob Wilson doing his 2nd marathon in a fortnight; Dave Ross doing his 3rd in 3 weeks; Andy Stalley doing his 5th in 5 weeks; Allan Rumbles doing his 7th in 6 weeks.

All of the runners ran a reasonable race except for Andy & Allan. Mel
cruised round making sure that she didn't aggravate her injury. Steve &
Dave had a good run with no incident. Andy was struggling with a cold
whilst Allan had serious issues with his hay fever, struggling to catch
his breath for the first few miles & then having to cope with his eyes
closing up due to the pollen at mile 14. He was glad it was a straight
bit of road as it took a mile & copious amounts of water to open them up again.

Regarding the squirrel watch, no squirrels were to be seen but
unfortunately there were 5 dead rabbits on the course. Everybody say
aaahh."

Sun 19 Apr

Bungay Half

Road Results Index   Full Results

Provisional results

Fri 10 Apr

Maidenhead 10

Road Results Index   Full Results

Graham reports: "I competed today in the Maidenhead Easter 10, achieving a gun time of 1:18:13 and a chip time of 1:17:35. Taking the chip time, I have reduced my 10 mile pb by 2 minutes and 6 seconds."

Tue 7 Apr

East Surrey League - Fixture 4
Ewell Court 4

Road Results Index   Full Results

Unofficial times. Well done to Nicola on a massive pb, beating her previous best at this race last year by 4:43.

Sun 5 Apr

Paris Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Bob reports: "Me and the wife decided to take in the views of Paris. The weather was brilliant. Took us 16 mins to cross the start line. I ran at Karen's pace and she was on for a 4hr 30 (which would have taken 40 mins off her pb) until 21 miles when it all went Pete Tong. Chip time 5hr.04. She still took 6min off her pb. 5hr 20 otherwise"

Sun 5 Apr

Kingston 16

Road Results Index   Full Results

Bill reports: "I did the Kingston 16 mile run yesterday. I had a 1:57:12 Gun time, and a 1:56:47 chip time ( PB )

I did see Kate at the start, we were having a chat when the race started. I didn't realise the women started 5 mins later than the men, thought she was a bit relaxed.

I was a bit further back in the field than I would have liked at the start so had a bit of bobbing and weaving to do in the first couple of miles, but managed a PB and negative split so might have helped overall."

Sun 5 Apr

Taunton Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results

Allan reports: "Andy Stalley & Allan Rumbles were the only representatives of Collingwood Marathon club in action today at the Taunton Marathon. It was Andy’s 3rd marathon in three weeks & Allan’s 4th in four weeks as they’re both powering towards their goal of 100 marathons.

The race started promptly at 10.30am on a beautiful spring morning & consisted of 2 laps of the surrounding countryside with a couple of miles through the town. The first lap through town went well although it was a very congested start but the second lap was a bit more tricky as the cars were back on the roads.

Andy ran a steady race but found he couldn’t get himself going until mile 11, when he finally found his rhythm & started to knock in some regular miles. He finished in 3hrs 14mins 19secs.

Allan was using the race as a guide for his fitness for the Shakespeare Marathon in a couple of weeks when he was going to attempt a sub 3.15 marathon & get a GFA place at London next year. However he set off at a cracking pace which he managed to maintain despite stopping for a toilet break on the first lap, to romp home in a personal best time of 3hrs 10mins 24secs, knocking a staggering 16 minutes off his previous PB.

Both runners thought it was an excellent event & said they would be back to do it again.

Would like to write more but I’m off to the pub."

Sun 29 Mar

Cranleigh 21

Road Results Index   Full Results

Sat 28 Mar

Victoria Park Open 5

Road Results Index   Full Results

Sun 22 Mar

Wimbledon 10k

Road Results Index  Full Results

Official results. Well done to Nicola on cutting 2:47 off her pb.

Sun 15 Mar

Hastings Half

Road Results Index  Full Results

Provisional official results.

Sat 14 Mar

East Surrey League - Fixture 3 - Box Hill Relay
4 x 2.1 miles

Road Results Index  Full Results

These are now official times, revised 19/03/08. Well done to Maja in her first race for the club. Martin.

Sun 8 Mar

Duchy Marathon

Road Results Index   Full Results