Cross-Country Results
                    2009/2010

Sat 31 Jul

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Ray on a new pb.

Sat 31 Jul

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Maja on a new pb.

Thur 29 Jul

Near As Damn It 10k

Results Index

Sun 25 Jul

Downland Running Festival

Results Index

Steve reports: "On 25th July 2010, five Collingwood AC Runners travelled to sunny Sussex for the Downland Running Festival.

Gill Stalley entered the 5 mile Jack and Jill Challenge whilst husband Andy Stalley, Dave Ross, Allan Rumbles and Steve Cooney entered the 30 mile Downland Ultra Marathon.

Both races started in Clayton near the bottom of Ditchling Beacon and shortly after the starts, both sets of runners had to climb the massive Beacon. The Ultra Marathon runners had to keep mainly on the South Downs Way for 15 miles, turn around at one of the (only)three water stations and then run 15 miles back to Clayton.

There were some great views of the Sussex countryside but unfortunately some not so great views...mainly a male naturist who decided today would be a good day for a completely naked walk on the South Downs!

All the runners were a bit slower than usual. Gill Stalley was first back in a time of 1 hour 08 mins in the tough 5 mile race. Andy Stalley was next back in 4 hours 43 minutes followed by Steve Cooney in a time of 5 hours 02 minutes. Dave Ross had left his hydropack containing his usual electrolyte drinks on the kitchen table and suffered a bit finishing in 5 hours 30 minutes. Dave has vowed never to leave his hydropack behind again! Allan Rumbles, fresh from his marathon he did yesterday, took it steady and managed a fine time of 5 hours 44 minutes, just inside his target time of 5 hours 45 minutes. He even managed to fall over during the race and had the dirt marks on his white shirt as evidence. Allan will now rest for a few days before flying to Switzerland for the 78km Ultra Marathon."

106 finishers in the 30 miler and 131 in the 5.5.

Sat 24 Jul

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Shaun and Stuart on PBs.

Sat 24 Jul

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Andy and Annette on new PBs.

Sun 18 Jul

Fairlands Valley Challenge

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Andy reports: "Six Collingwood members travelled to Stevenage for the Fairlands Valley Challenge. Same routes as last year except the start and finish had moved to a school a little further on from the old Scout Hall. Better facilities, with more space, better toilets, with showers, etc, but still with the BBQ at the finish.

Mel and Dave started together at 10am on different routes. Mel chose the 12 mile route as her first race back after her operation. She got round safely in 2:07. Dave finished in 3:49:50 on his Garmin for the official 26.4 mile marathon route.

I started with Steve, in the marathon at 10.30am, with Kate Langley escorted by her personal trainer, Annette, on the 18.7 mile route, which was a surprise to both of them as the on-line entry was for 18 miles. Both ran a nice steady race, only once straying from the official route. Both finished in 3:47, which was a big improvement on last week and Kate’s longest ever run.

I ran a much better run than last week to finish in 3:49:13 on my Garmin. Steve completed his 115th marathon in 4:24, again a much better time than last week. We both had uneventful runs around the gently undulating and scenic course. Certificate and medal to all finishers."

Sat 17 Jul

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Sat 17 Jul

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Andy and Maja on new PBs.

Sun 11 Jul

Heart Of The Weald Challenge

Results Index

Steve reports: "On 11th July four Collingwood AC Runners travelled to a very hot and sunny Wadhurst on the Sussex/Kent border for the "Heart of the Weald Challenge". The route was a different route to the routes Andy Stalley and Steve Cooney did in 2008 and 2009.

Andy and Steve entered the 26.5 mile route while Kate Langley, accompanied by her personal trainer, Annette Helliwell both entered the 15 mile route as preparation for Kate's first marathon in September.

Both challenges involved following written instructions navigating around the Sussex countryside crossing numerous fields, stiless, gates and wooden bridges (one of which was marked "in need of repair...use alternative"!).

All 4 members managed to add a bit extra onto the route but they all expected this since this is the Collingwood tradition.

Kate and Annette finished the 15 mile route in a time of 4 hours 12 minutes. Andy was next and finished the marathon in 5 hours 2 minutes followed by Steve who did 5 hours 35 minutes."

Sun 11 Jul

Chichester Marathon

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Sat 10 Jul

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Sat 10 Jul

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Keith and Tom on new CBs.

Sun 4 Jul

Tanners Hatch Marathon

Results Index

Also running were:
Andy Southern
Rob Wilson
Doug White
.

Sat 3 Jul

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Stuart on a new pb.

Sat 3 Jul

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Sun 27 Jun

Herts Hobble

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Andy reports: "Allan Rumbles and I ran the Herts Hobble today, an Essex and Herts LDWA event starting and finishing at the W.I. Hall in Wheathampstead, near St. Albans.

This was Allan’s first marathon after his stress fracture and he was due to take two friends round for their first marathon. He finished in a safe 6:10.

Conditions were hot, very hot. Twenty-two degrees at the start and getting up to twenty-nine at the finish. Combine that with clear skies and a strong sun, meant that this was a bit taxing. Thankfully the lovely route entered many woods and went down many enclosed footpaths that did offer some cover. No real hills, on a gently undulating route, which went through farms, across fields and visited some nice villages.

I started off with Lisa Barry, a 100 Marathon Club member, and we shared the lead for the first few miles, before I pushed on. There were three checkpoints that offered good food and welcome drinks. There were two additional drinks stops that were very necessary.

I stayed comfortably in the lead until within the last mile, when Lisa closed the gap. Typical of her sportsmanship she shouted encouragement for me to finish first, as she felt that I had been stronger. It was only at the finish that I saw the blood on her. She asked if I had seen the low branch at about 24 miles, I hadn’t and unfortunately nor did she. Thankfully, despite a lot of blood, the injury is not too bad.

I was first home in 4:03. Another typical LDWA event, with a ploughman’s lunch with strawberries and cream at the finish. Certificate to all finishers."

Sat 26 Jun

South Manchester 5k Parkrun

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Sat 26 Jun

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Sat 26 Jun

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Janet on a new pb.

Thur 24 Jun

Near As Damn It 10k

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Tue 22 Jun

Horton Country Park Relay

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42 teams took part.

Fri 18 Jun

Marston Forest 5k

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Paul reports: "Friday night is race night for the Beds/Bucks duo for the next three weeks. First up the Marston Forest 5K, organised by Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers, at the Marston Vale Millenium Country Park. The course is described as fast, flat and scenic, accurately measured on private driveways and footpaths - a fair description !!!

Gordon was pleased to go sub 20'00 but I was disappointed to achieve 23'01 again."

Sun 13 Jun

Barton 10k

Results Index 

Paul reports: "The Beds/Bucks duo travelled to the Bedfordshire village of Barton-Le-Clay for their first event in June. The 10K, organised by the Friends of Arnold School Association featured the Barton Hills with the course described as 'scenic, predominantly off road on well made footpaths with a few hundred metres being on road.' Immediately after the start the course was uphill all the way to the 1km marker - clocked 6'40 for the first km - before flattening out to 2.5km, ........ then another hill, ......... and another hill, ........then yet another hill, .......... the last km was downhill to the finish in the recreation ground. Might take some persuading to enter this event again !!! Gordon loved the event and was disappointed that the going wasn't very soft !!!"

Sat 12 Jun

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Sat 12 Jun

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Sun 6 Jun

Poppyline Marathon

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Andy reports: “I ran the Poppyline Marathon on Sunday, starting in Sheringham, on the North Norfolk coast. The event is organised by the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA and was the second event in the TriAnglian Challenge, with the Daffodil Dawdle (March 2010) and the Flower of Suffolk (October 2010). I completed all three runs last year and was third overall, so I am trying to better that this year.

Last year it rained heavily and was very windy, so it took the edge of a good route. This year seemed much better until about sixteen miles, when there was a very nasty downpour which only lasted five minutes, but completely soaked me.

The route is gently undulating, going through lovely woods, heaths, fields, country lanes and following in part the North Norfolk Railway Line (the Poppyline) and the Coastal footpath. There were some lovely views over the fields, the railway and the coast. At one point, I was running along the path next to a steam train. On one of the heaths, a footpath marker was a nice picture of a squirrel, another part of the route used a picture of a butterfly.

There were four excellent checkpoints, including the last one on a station platform, with a good selection of cakes: I again recommend the sponge cake. I took it steady to finish in 4:08 for a distance of 27.31 miles on my garmin; which was 36 minutes better than last year, which was pleasing.

Typical LDWA event; Certificate awarded at the finished, with a hot meal and drink and a fantastic selection of puddings; the fruit crumble was excellent again, with apples and blackberries from the garden of the cook. All of this for the silly price of £5.”

Sat 5 Jun

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Andy on another pb.

Sat 5 Jun

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Dom on a new pb.

Sun 30 May

Grand Union Canal 145 Miles

Results Index

Allan reports: GUCR or how to wing a 145miler on next to no notice.

So, how do you prepare yourself for a 145 mile race in the space of a week? That was the question I was asking myself a week last Friday following a flurry of emails between myself, the RD & a certain fetchie. You wing it, that’s how.
The Grand Union Canal Race is one of those races that you hear about in hushed tones amongst the ultra running community, it’s just too far & relentlessly tough, physically & mentally for most people & it’s certainly one that when I first heard of it thought to myself that that was just mental. 145 miles along a canal path can & does destroy the souls of many of the entrants, with an average of about a 60% attrition rate it makes no bones about how tough it actually is.
Let’s start at the beginning. November 2009, normally the entrants in this race are selected purely on a first come, first served basis. Knowing this & failing to get into the event the previous year by missing the deadline only by a day, I was determined to not miss out on this years by actually driving my application over to the RD’s house on the evening that the forms were emailed out to us. However, this was not to be as due to the postal strikes the RD decided that this year the entrants would be selected in an email ballot. Bugger!! Those of you that know me know that I’m the most unlucky person in the world when it comes to things like that. I was proven right when just about every other person I know who applied was accepted apart from myself.
Fast forward onto May 2010, when I receive an email from the RD Dick Kearn on the 20th of May saying that a couple of people had dropped out & would I like a place. I told him no, then posted about it on the ultra thread, I then got an email saying that I’d be mad to even contemplate it at such short notice, **BUT** if I did then they would help out as much as possible. Yes or no, yes or no?? It was only about 6 weeks ago that I’d injured my knee & that still hadn’t healed properly so my training up to that point was pretty poor. Only a few people know why I wanted to do this race & so I grabbed it reasoning that even if I DNF’d it was worth the gamble. A quick email to Dick to confirm my entry & I was in! OMFG!!
Cue Nx, my Crew Captain for this race. I have to say that she as awesome in helping me prepare, I say helping, she actually did all the work & was amazing when I was having my doubts about actually getting everything ready in time. A new thread was started asking for help from fetcheveryone & it was answered fantastically well by the team I came to call Ogees Angels (Sorry Rob, but you were an angel as well).
Friday & registration, Lurker picked me up from the train station & we went off for some very tasty Fish & Chips before heading to get my number. We missed Anna & Mx Hornet by about 10mins but I bumped into Binks at the bar & Harnser who was having dinner with his crew. I sat with them & chatted for about 10 mins trying to pluck up the courage to actually collect my number. A pint of beer later & No 52 was fluttering in my hand. Feeling very drained, Lurks dropped me back into town & off to bed I went.
Saturday, Race Day.
Early start at 4.30 with a quick breakfast of coffee & a banana, couldn’t quite face anything else to eat although I knew that I should eat as much as possible. Showered, dressed & on my way to Gas Street Basin for the start. Saw quite a few familiar faces at the start of the race & plenty of new ones as well. We all wandered down to the start line by the canal & Dick pointed us in the right direction.
A short countdown & we were off, finally all my hard work & preparation was about to come into play. NO HANG ON!! This is where I was going to start winging it. Let’s do an hours running before I have a walk & so that’s what I did. After my hour I had a 5 min walk and then settled into a 25/5 routine which I was going to try to maintain for the rest of the race. (I didn’t)
I kept up the pace all the way to Hatton Locks & the first meeting point for my crew (22 miles) arriving about 30mins ahead of schedule, had a cup of coffee & scoffed a pot noodle (it’s the only way to eat them). Had a quick chat to my crew & I was on my way, spending only 15 mins at the crew point.
Next meeting point was at Birdingbury Bridge 14 miles away which was going to be a proper food stop. I was still feeling strong & running very well keeping to my 25/5 routine. The next 14 miles passed uneventfully & I arrived at the checkpoint 45 mins early. Had another pot noodle & a coffee, keeping myself wrapped up in a blanket whilst Ruth fussed over me like a mother hen. When she was satisfied that I had eaten & drunk enough she let me on my way, another 15 min checkpoint. Keeping these to a minimum was the only way I wasn’t going to get too cold or stiff. Total miles run was now 36.
My next target was 12 miles away at Buckby top lock where I was due to meet my crew again, I was still going strong but the rain had been coming down for several hours now & it was beginning to wear me down a bit, I still kept up my 25/5 routine but having been running for so long, I wasn’t able to digest any food properly & so my stomach was starting to bloat out & I was starting to feel a little sick. A couple of times I had to go to the side & see if I could throw up but nothing was coming out & I really didn’t feel like forcing myself to be sick as I figured that I’d be needing as much calorie intake as I could get over the next 24 hrs or so & didn’t really want to lose any. 30 mins away from the checkpoint & I sent a message to the crew that I needed new socks & a sandwich. I couldn’t face any more noodles at that moment. I stormed into the checkpoint & waiting for me was my sandwich & a complete change of clothes if I needed them, I decided against a full change as although it had stopped raining the clouds were still very dark & threatening. Sitting me down & wrapping me up in a blanket the crew went to work on me, one of them taking off my sodden trainers & socks & drying off my feet while another was making me eat & drink, you may think this a little odd but when you’re worn out you really do need someone to bark orders at you & make sure you’re still doing the right things. New socks on & I was on my way, another quick checkpoint, total mileage 48.5.
Leaving this checkpoint I had to say goodbye to one of my crew members as they had to go, I knew that due to the last minute prep that they all had other things to do & that they were really putting themselves out for me in helping out. This didn’t make it any easier & I was a little upset at them going. This must’ve of come across as they never told me again when one of them were leaving, I’d just turn up at a checkpoint & they’d be gone, I’d ask where they were and was told not to worry as they’d gone & to concentrate on the job in hand. The longer the race went on the more upsetting this actually got for me as I never had the chance to say goodbye to them.
My decision not to change my clothes was justified as within 20 mins of leaving the checkpoint the heavens opened again & it really tipped it down, the rain was almost biblical at times but at least it wasn’t too windy & so I just plodded on. Next crew point was 12 miles away & that was what I was looking forward to. I was feeling quite revitalised by my cheese & pickle sarnie & upped my pace a little. The 25/5 just disappeared for a while as I was feeling very strong & I kept up a good pace for about an hour or so. I flew through the Heart of England checkpoint & never stopped, just shouted a quick hello to Sharon & James who were marshalling & carried on. This running high did come to an end & a running low soon followed. When the low hit I went back into my 25/5 routine & mixed it up with a couple of 10min walks as well. I was still well ahead of schedule & feeling tired but very confident, James caught up with me just before my next crew point when I was having quite a low point & I was complaining about how far away the bridge was that I was supposed to be meeting my crew, having done this race a couple of times before he knew what I was going through & I think he just agreed with everything I was saying at that point knowing that I wasn’t even halfway & things weren’t going to get any easier.
The bridge soon came into view & we crossed it together to arrive at my crew point, again they were awesome, tending to my every need. James also sampled the Angels hospitality along with Vinnie’s crew who had turned up at the same place. There was quite a crowd of us at one point & we were having a good laugh about the absurdity of it all, I spent a bit longer at this checkpoint than I wanted to & it was an effort to get going again as I my legs had stiffened up quite a bit by then. It probably took me about 2 or 3 mins just to be able to get running properly again. Total mileage 60.6
Just 10miles to go to Navigation Bridge, where I was due to change into my night running gear. Knowing how low I felt after my last “high” I made sure that I didn’t fly off again & stuck to my 25/5 routine, time passed very quickly & I made it to Navigation Bridge 2 hrs ahead of schedule, met up with Nicole, my crew captain but sadly lost another crew member without saying goodbye. Goodbye Tess. Into the pub car park where my crew again fussed over me, feeding me & sorting to my every needs, my night time running gear was all ready for me & they were going to hold up some towels so I could change but at that point I couldn’t care less & told them I was just going to change “Au Natural”, they looked away while I changed my shorts & before I could say ok you can turn around, Sarah said “Right he’s done”. “Ha ha ha”, I said “Sarah were you peeking?” “Only a little bit” she replied laughing her head off. Made us all chuckle for a little while. I was force fed another sandwich & drinks & I was on my way. This time it really was hard to get going again & although Navigation Bridge is commonly thought of as halfway you still actually have 75 miles to go. Total mileage 70
My crew arranged to pop up at various locations during the next couple of hrs so that I wouldn’t be too long on my own when night descended. I just agreed with whatever they were saying as I knew they had my best interests at heart.
Night time & so much for the promised clear skies but cold weather we were promised, it was overcast & I struggled to see anything, a quick text to the crew saying that I needed my hand torch as well as the head torch I was already using & up they popped within 3 miles with my torch. My next proper checkpoint was 15 miles past Navigation Bridge but my Angels kept popping up at all these different locations over the next 3hrs just shouting encouragement at me & generally keeping me sane.
I don’t know about other runners but I have the ability to be able to switch off during really long runs & so I never get bored & this ability was worth its weight in gold during the night as you couldn’t see a damn thing anyway.
Next checkpoint & I was still ahead of schedule, more food & drink & away I went again. Feeling very pleased as this was the furthest I’d ever run before. Total mileage 85.
This routine went on all night; I tried just to shut off completely as it is mind numbingly boring trotting along next to a canal in the dark. I tried keeping to my 25/5 routine but as I was very tired now it more or less changed to a 20/10 as I was just keeping going, forcing one foot in front of the other & making sure that I never stopped.
More checkpoints, more food & drink & more TLC from my Angels. The crew were great as they were just popping up in various locations throughout the night which helped a lot in breaking the monotony of the event. At about 3am I saw my first Elephant, I knew from speaking to others that you do experience a few oddities from running non-stop for such a long time & in the dark I could’ve sworn that the tree across the canal was a bloody Elephant. I had to look several times just to make sure it wasn’t, this however was nothing compared to the evil looking Pixie who was staring at me from the fence of a lockkeepers cottage about 30mins later. It scared me so much that if I wasn’t actually running a race I would’ve turned around & gone the other way! Drawing level with it I was preparing for it to pounce out on me but was relieved when I saw that the Pixie was just a clump of weeds, I could’ve sworn he was staring at me seconds earlier. Nasty looking f**ker he was as well!!
Day break & I was one relieved fella, no more elephants or pixies please. I was still going but not feeling very strong anymore, my body had started to complain about the abuse it was under & things were starting to go wrong, another checkpoint & another crew change. More food, more coffee & more complaining from my body, I was starting to get a few issues now but my crew responded to them all, painkillers, gels & a quick massage on my shoulders all helped to get me on my way again. I never told them about the Elephant or the pixie in case they thought I was losing it & wanted to pull me from the race. Total mileage 108.5
Starting off from this checkpoint took me ages, my legs were so stiff that the crew had to physically push me just to get me moving. Only 37 miles to go & all of them were going to be in beautiful sunshine, perfect. I kept moving at a steady pace now but again feeling very tired my 25/5 routine had gone out of the window by now & I was just running for as long as I could before walking, although I did try to keep some sort of timing strategy so that I could keep my mind a little active & not fall asleep. At 8.30 I sent out a text to a few of my mates who were following my progress saying that I’d just passed the 115 mile mark. I’d been doing this for the whole of the race & read the replies from them during my walking sessions. To my surprise most of them were very concerned that I hadn’t texted them during the night & kept them up to date with my progress, however reading all the replies kind of made me quite emotional, with even getting a text from my Godfather in Ireland. I’d kept it quiet from most of my family as it was such short notice & I didn’t want them to worry about me. Into the next checkpoint & I told the crew about the pain in my leg which had started a while earlier, they sprayed it up & gave it a massage, fed & watered me, changed my shirt & socks & sent me on my way again. Total mileage 120.3
About this time I was really starting to have some serious concerns, my body was rebelling about the enormous strain I was putting it under & I’d started to pee blood, this didn’t concern me & so I never mentioned it to my crew as it’s something that happens to long distance runners, something to do with your bladder wall rubbing. However what was concerning me was the pain in my leg that had developed a bit earlier & was getting steadily worse, added to that I’d started to cough up blood. Lots of things were going through my head now & although I wasn’t panicking I knew that I could be in trouble & a DNF was becoming a possibility. SHIT!! All that way & to DNF would’ve killed me at that point. I came into the next crew point & poured out my concerns to Nicole, I was probably very emotional at that point & told her that she wasn’t to let me quit no matter what happened. She was great, sprayed up my leg & gave it a quick rub down but also told me that she was going to buddy run me in just to keep her eye on me so that if I did get in trouble there was someone there to get help. I readily agreed to this as I just wanted to keep going, my poor crew didn’t know what was happening at that point as I’d pulled Nicole to one side to tell her my woes. Total mileage now 127.5
Just moving my body was now a huge effort & even though I was still “running” I was probably only going about 3mph & every part of my body was now screaming at me to stop, sometimes I’m glad I’m deaf as I just ignored it & kept going, my mind had taken over a long time ago & I wasn’t going to stop as long as I could just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Nicole caught me up just after I’d gone a mile from the checkpoint & bless her she ran about 20 ft in front of me as she knew I needed as much space as possible, then the nosebleeds started. “Christ” I thought “Can anything else go wrong?” Luckily it was over quite quickly & only happened a couple more times on the run.
Into the last checkpoint where I saw a face I know I knew but just couldn’t put a name to it until she bounced up to me, it was Claire from Serpentine runners, She’d promised me a Mars bar at that point but I was in no state to eat it, everything was just going wrong now & all I could do was keep down water, however my crew sat me down & fussed over me making sure that I ate something & just gave me water & a quick rub down. They emptied my back pack & just gave me a bottle of water to carry for the last few miles, the sun was now beating down & I was starting to suffer from that as well. Knowing that I’d stiffen up the longer I stayed there but also knowing that I needed to rest they timed it perfectly & got me on my way by dragging me out of my chair & push starting me again. Total mileage 133
12 miles to go, I have to say that they were the hardest 12 miles of my life, less than a half marathon & I thought about 3.5 hrs to finish it. Head down & just go for it as best as we can. James now joined us as there was a diversion just ahead & he showed us the way. At that point the last thing you need are any inclines & just going up the road it seemed like I was climbing a mountain, my quads had been shot by the monotony of the canal by about mile 60 so 75 miles later this was just pure agony for me, going up or down the pain was just intense. Thank god for painkillers.
Through the diversion & James left us to go back & help others through it, back on the canal now & back into some sort of routine, although completely shattered my body now stopped complaining as it probably realised that I wasn’t going to stop, the leg kept getting worse though but I wasn’t listening to it now. The sun was really beating down now & I’d drunk most of the water from my bottle, Nicole came back & topped my bottle from hers & said that we only had a couple of miles to go until we met up with the crew again for a water top up, goody! There was no shade along this stretch & after over 32hrs on my feet I was just shattered.
We met up with Rob & Mel with 6 miles to go, topped up the water bottles & we were on our way again. Total mileage 139
Head down & just finish now, that’s all I kept telling myself, ignore the leg, the blood, all the pain & get to the damn finish. 6 miles is nothing when you’ve already run 139, but they can be the most emotional of your life. I allowed my mind to wander & thought about how much everybody on my crew had done for me, not just over the last day or so but over the last week & so I felt a duty to them to get to the end & cross the line. I have to admit that a couple of tears may have dripped down my face in the last couple of hours. Nics jogged back to me & said that Ruth, one of my crew from the Saturday was waiting for me at the finish along with Terry & wife. Well that gave me a lump in my throat as Terry is my running mentor & he helped me along so much during my early days of running. Got to finish now FFS! Head down, keep going just keep going. 1 mile down, 5 to go although the signs were telling us that the course was longer, Nicole was telling me that they were reading long & after all she had already done for me I wouldn’t doubt her now. Another mile down & 4 to go. I kept telling myself to “Keep going Allan, just put one foot in front of the other & repeat you’ll get there”.
4 long miles to go, suddenly it’s 3 & I could taste the finish line, just moving at a snails pace but I’m still moving & thats all that counts. Just following the path & I could see a couple walking towards me up the canal path. The man took his sunglasses off & had a real hard look at me before bursting into a great big smile saying “Bloody hell it is you Allan”, it was Terry & his wife Kath who had come up to see me finish, I gave Kath a kiss hello & went to shake Terrys hand but he just grabbed me & gave me a big hug saying “well done mate, you’ve done brilliantly”. Well that nearly did me completely & I had to use nearly all the strength I had left to stop from bursting into tears there & then. I said thanks but couldn’t really say too much as I had a huge lump in my throat, I took this opportunity to have a 5 min walk with them as they asked me a few questions about the race, I answered as best as I could but I was also starting to stiffen up as well.
I asked “How long to the finish” & was told about 30 mins run, I said cheerio to them & jogged off as quick as I could, Nicole in the meantime had shot off to see how far away the finish was & came back to me saying that she couldn’t find it, bugger!! Didn’t want to get lost now but her fears were unfounded as we jogged & walked together for about another 20 mins & then she left me again when I was having another walk, a couple of mins later my mobile went off & it was my Captain giving her final orders to me, “When you get to the next corner I want you to run in, everybody is there waiting for you”
Well, you can’t disobey an order like that now can you & so when I was about 10 yards from the next corner I started to run, probably faster than I had in the last 4 or 5 hours as well, I rounded the corner & started to see a few familiar faces, members of my crew, race entrants who had pulled out & other support crews who I had seen throughout the last day or so, steeling myself so that I wouldn’t cry I ran on waving at people who were waving at me & then I saw it. A big white banner with the word FINISH on it, my god I was here, only 100 yards to go & it would be all over!
30 seconds later & that was that I’d crossed the line to the sound of clapping & shouts of “Well done Allan”. First thing was to give Nicole a huge hug & say thanks & second was to get my humongous medal from Dick Kearn. He shook my hand as he put the medal over my neck & congratulated, me on finishing with only having a weeks’ notice. I told him there & then to put my entry in for the next year as I wanted to see what I could do if I actually trained for the event. He just grinned. Total mileage 145: Time taken 34hrs 42mins: Position 10th.
So, that’s how to wing a 145 miler, how would I describe the race? 145 miles of pain, hope & even more pain.
Did I learn anything from this race? Yes, I learned loads from this race; the most valuable thing it taught me was the importance of having a good crew. Given that Nicole & I only had a week to put this together we didn’t end up with a good crew, we ended up with an AWESOME crew, they were fabulous. I couldn’t have asked for any more from them & I am truly in their debt. I know that without them this race would’ve been near impossible to finish given the lack of preparation time. I also learned the importance of a good crew Captain & Nicole absolutely shone in that Dept, she organised everything for me when I needed it, set out the crew timescale & just told me to turn up to the start as everything else was sorted out. She was my rock when I needed someone to talk to about my concerns & she made sure that she kept her promise to me in not letting me fail.
I made it to the finish with a body that was broken & in pieces, I’d suffered a stress fracture in my leg, been peeing blood, coughing up blood, suffered nosebleeds & more than likely had a mild case of sunstroke. As someone once told me, all I’d done was put one foot in front of the other until someone said stop, my crew had done all of the hard work in making sure that I got there, alive & maybe not so well but the alive bit was all that mattered.
Ogee’s Angels were: Ruth, Tess, Sarah, Paula, Mel, Rob & last but not least the captain Nicole
I was very lucky to have them & it showed in the following conversation I had with another racers crew who were buddy running him on the Sunday morning “Are you Allan?” Yes. “You’re the one with all the sexy chicks as your crew aren’t you?” Yes if you want to call them that. “You lucky bastard!!” Yes, yes I am.

Sat 29 May

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Sat 29 May

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Keith on a new cb, and Annette on a new pb.

Thur 27 May

Near As Damn It 10k

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Sat 22 May

Gorleston Cliffs 5k Parkrun

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Sat 22 May

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Another new pb for Andy.

Sat 22 May

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Annette on a new pb.

Sat 15 May

Swindon 5k Parkrun

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Sat 15 May

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Andy on a new pb.

Sat 15 May

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Rob, Rupert, and Anne on new bests.

Sun 9 May

Hogsmill 5

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Gill reports: "Ruth, Kate Langley and I ran the Hogsmill Ladies 5 mile race today. Ruth came 43rd in a time of 41:44, Kate was close behind in 45th place in 41:48. I was 76th in a time of 45:01. There were 184 finishers. This was a nice little race based in Ewell, starting and finishing on the track at the Harrier Centre. It was an out and back course with a loop of about 2 miles in the middle. The route was multi-terrain over footpaths, grass and trail. Before the race started there was a mass aerobic based warm up session which was a bit of a laugh as everyone was so co-ordinated. Ruth and Kate ran most of the race together. My knee was hurting before the race, so I decided to start at the back. Once it settled down I picked up speed trying to catch up some runners I know. I nearly caught one. She finished 9 seconds ahead of me. The whole event was well organised and there were plenty of refreshments available."

Sat 8 May

Ridgeway 40

Results Index

Allan reports: "I ran the Ridgeway 40 yesterday. A 40 mile route from Overton Hill in Wiltshire to Streatley in Berkshire. Despite a headwind all the way & loads of rain plus a slight detour which added 3 miles to the course & a devil of a time to find the actual finish (they'd moved it, because of the weather!) I still managed to finish in 2nd place with a time of 7.03. It would've been about 6.50 if they'd kept the same finish line!!"

Sat 8 May

Bedfont Lakes 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Richard on not only a pb but a victory

Sat 8 May

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Gill on yet another pb.

Sat 8 May

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Mon 3 May

Esher School 10k

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Andy reports: "Gill and I went across this morning to run the Esher School 10km, an event recommended by John Allen. It was a friendly fund-raiser that was run mostly on tracks and paths, with about 3km on roads. Good conditions underfoot and a gently undulating route meant that it was a good day for PBs. I ran a steady race to finish 10th of 187 runners in an official time of 41:03, which is a PB for an off-road 10km for me by 1:49. Gill fresh from another 39 second PB down the Woods on Saturday cruised round to beat her previous PB by a massive 6:34 in a time of 57:54. In fact she beat her road PB by 2:05! A good little event which we will return to next year."

Sat 1 May

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Chris on a new course best, and Gill on a pb.

Sat 1 May

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Andy, Rupert, and Dominic on PBs.

Sat 24 Apr

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Shaun and Kate on new PBs, Kate by 6s and Shaun by 12s.

Sat 24 Apr

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Dom on a new pb, on a course that was changed due to the circus being in town, and was probably a little longer.

Sat 17 Apr

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Richard and Andy on PBs, and Keith on a CB. Richard beat his previous best by 10s, Andy by ?, and Keith by 17s.

Sat 17 Apr

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Gill on yet another pb, by 24s.

Sat 10 Apr

Bath Beat

Results Index

Mel reports: "Dave and I took part in the first of our double marathons for this weekend. We travelled to Bath on Friday evening picking up our good friend Dave Bayley on the way, eventually arriving at our Travel Lodge around 9.30pm. No you're not booked in here the receptionist said, I showed him the paperwork and he replied oh its the one on the other side of the motorway - luckily he knew a short cut to get there. We then headed out for something to eat. All we could find was a curry house - perfect race prep. a curry at 10.30pm.

The Bath Beat is a 26.5 mile cross-country route, following written instructions. As we were all running Taunton the next day we decided to stick together and take it easy (Dave Bayley also had an injury) so we agreed to run it slowly as he was struggling a bit. It was a very nice course, leading us along the river, disused canal, through woods etc etc. The checkpoints were heavily laden with cakes, chocolate fudge, sandwiches, sausage rolls,even chilli and nachos that we declined as the effects of the curry were still evident. We all had to stop off in the bushes a few times. Was a really enjoyable day and very warm. We all finished together in 5 hours 55mins. We then jumped in the car and travelled to Taunton ready for the next one."

Sat 10 Apr

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Richard on a new pb by 16s.

Sat 10 Apr

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Kate on another pb, by 21s.

Sun 4 Apr

Compton 40

Results Index

Mel reports: "Dave and I also ran this the day after the Enigma - It was a cross country 40 mile route in Compton, Berkshire. This was going to be a fitness test for us in preparation for the Comrades. We set out and the weather was so bad that we had a brief moment where we considered turning back and going back to bed - we said no hopefully it will clear up the closer we get to Compton. Would you believe it it did clear up and at the race start it turned out to be quite a nice day. However due to the heavy rain the course was extremely muddy and we were both wearing road shoes - bad mistake. The 40 miles didn't seem too bad, but I was getting very frustrated as I just couldn't run without slipping everywhere, some places I simply walked, but felt I could had I worn off-road shoes. Never mind. I finished feeling fine considering the marathon the day before. Dave was also finding it frustrating conditions, runners who he normally beat were going past him (they were in off-roaders and hadn't done a marathon the day before). The weather turned nasty as I approached 30 miles, but I plodded on, passing some runners who had come flying past me earlier - endurance paid off. Final finishing times were Dave in 6 hours 45 min and me in 8 hours 1 min."

Sat 3 Apr

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Sat 3 Apr

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Sun 28 Mar

Equinox Run

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Paul reports: "The Beds/Bucks duo travelled to Elkington in Northamptonshire to take part in the Equinox Run [14.2 miles] an event organised for mountain bikers, runners and walkers to raise funds for the Rainbows Hospice for children and young people. The route was 'point to point' from Elkington to Peatling Magna in Leicestershire via Stanford-on-Avon, Gravel Hill, Walcote, Gilmorton and Peatling Parva and consisted of country roads and dirt tracks. Although the sun was shining, a cold headwind and a number of significant uphill sections - the last quarter of a mile into Peatling Magna was uphill - meant the run was challenging. The tea and biscuits - bourbons and chocolate chips - in the Village Hall at the finish were most welcome !!!"

Sun 28 Mar

Daffodil Dawdle

Results Index

Steve reports: "On 28/03/10, 4 Collingwood runners travelled to Newmarket for the 21st Daffodil Dawdle 26.4 mile marathon which was virtually all off-road. The marathon involved navigating around Newmarket and the surrounding countryside following well written instructions.

Andy Stalley and Steve Cooney had a good start. Dave Ross started with Mel Johnstone but soon joined the other two. Andy and Dave then kicked on together with Andy doing all the navigating. Everything was going well until the 22 mile checkpoint when Dave took over the navigational duties. By 22.5 miles both Andy and Dave were hopelessly lost and had to rely on a helpful runner who found them wandering helplessly in the middle of nowhere. The runner pointed them in the right direction and they joined the correct route with about 2 miles to go.

Dave Ross went past Andy with a mile to go and finished his 170th marathon in 4 hours 17 minutes. Andy Stalley finished his 121st marathon just a minute behind in 4 hours 18 minutes. Steve Cooney was next and completed his 107th marathon in 4 hours 21 minutes followed by Mel Johnstone who finished her 121st marathon in an official time of 5 hours exactly. Mel thought she had broken the 5 hour mark since her Garmin showed a time of 4 hours 58 minutes but there was a delay in the timer recording her time."

Sat 27 Mar

Oner 78.6 mile Ultra

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Allan reports: "This event started for me as a chance remark on the Ultra marathon thread on Fetcheveryone, I had no intention of doing it as I’d already booked up Glasgow to Edinburgh as my ultra for the month, however due to the flu I missed this race & so had decided not to do anything other than The Cotswolds Ultra on the 21st instead.
This all changed quite suddenly when the Oner thread opened with the stunning line of “Stupid”, followed by “Does a little Jig” then myself with “Mentalist”. A general chit-chat ensued with all the usual nonsense & then the killer post appeared.
“The history of this event goes some way to describing how hard the event is. In 2007, 20 runners started the course and only 5 finished. In 2008 the event had to be pulled at the first check point as the weather had deteriorated to the point where preventing loss of life became a priority. The 50 or so runners were taken to a shelter point until 5am when they started a short version of the course (50 miles!). Only 18 made it to the end. If you want a real 'life' challenge do this race. If you want an easy life, don’t”
Organised by Votwo the weekend is split into 2 different events, one is 3 very hard Marathons spread over 3 days (The JCC) or you could choose the Oner & do all 3 non-stop in 24hrs.
Well that was that really, those of you who know me, know that I cannot resist a challenge like that, so I signed up for the Oner the next day.
That was it then; at 6pm on Saturday the 27th of March we were standing in a field near Charmouth in Dorset about to retrace the route that several hundred marathon runners had taken 2 days previously doing the JCC. A quick group photo followed & then with the casualness I love about Ultra marathon running the starter just shouted “GO” & that was it, we were off.
Having never done this distance before I didn’t really have a gameplan or tactics for this, but having my one & only DNF along this coastline I knew how tough it potentially was & that I was going to walk the hills & take it steady going down them. What I didn’t realise was how bad the mud was going to be! The first couple of miles were ok & I took it nice & steady, nobody seemed to be in too much of a hurry although a couple of folk just headed off into the distance at about twice my speed. After the first few miles the mud kicked in & that was that really, it all seemed to degenerate from there! I was having a particularly bad time of it as I just couldn’t seem to get my feet out of the mud & my headtorch was next to useless as it was just reflecting back from the water on the floor & so it seemed to make the mud look just like a pond. At the race briefing were told to try running without them as your night vision should be able to cope & so I turned it off. Worked great for about a mile or so until I was going down some wooden steps, didn’t see where they started & then twisted my ankle. I was in agony as it’s an old injury & so I knew that it could go 1 of 2 ways, if I took it easy for about 15 minutes & it didn’t swell up then I’d be ok, if it did swell up then that would be game over for me. Quickly popped about 4 ibuprofen (I know that’s too many but I was a worried man) & tried to slow my pace for a while. This was a bit harder than it seemed as I’d joined up with a group of runners & we seemed to be working well together in a team & I didn’t really want to lose that comfort zone as I was feeling quite low at that point. The pills worked in that they stopped the pain & I didn’t get any swelling but they never helped the mud. At this stage it was truly awful, we were less than 10 miles into a 78 mile race & all I could think about was binning it as I just couldn’t get any grip anywhere. I think I used & heard about every swear word going over the next couple of hours as we all struggled with the terrain.
All this time our group was getting smaller & smaller & I ended up running with James Adams & Mark Cockbain, 2 legends in the ultra running world & I felt quite honoured to be in their company. We stayed in our little group for the rest of the first Marathon & finished it in just over 6hrs. I managed to break out of my melancholy at this point and actually started to look forward to the next phase.
Off to Portland to run around the island. Glad to get out of the mud we set off at quite a good pace to try to make up a bit of time, we soon slowed down though as the fog was coming in as we were running around the cliff edge side of the Quarry. Only being inches away from a cliff edge in the fog really does sharpen all your senses & it did get a bit hair-raising at times. I slowed down to a walk at this point as there was more mud on the ground & I didn’t fancy taking a header into the sea.
We found checkpoint 5 fairly easy & we all took the time for a brew, nice warm sugary coffee to keep us awake was the order of the day, Mark was the first one to head out as he seemed to be anxious about the cut off times. We all followed him & by now our group numbered about 6, we pushed on quite hard made good time until we went passed the prison, somehow all of us missed the coastal path sign & we ended up on the road heading into the centre of the island, luckily we were caught up by a support crew member who told us of our error & we quickly back tracked. We made a couple more wrong turnings in Portland before we finally got ourselves back on track & headed in the right direction. Checkpoint 6 & some warm food, Pasta & another brew were in order, Mark was getting very concerned about the cut offs now but James & myself were a lot more relaxed about it & thought that we’d be fine. We flew out of the checkpoint & hammered through the town of Weymouth to try & make up any lot time, James at this moment made a comment about shorts & running tights which upset one of the other runners a little bit but hey ho, never mind. Through the town & helped by a local runner who did our guiding for us we got to witness the 4am kick out of the local clubs & kebab shops, ah teenagers, you’ve just got to love them.
Back on the coastal trail now & the sun was starting to come up, we all felt a lot happier now as we could start to see exactly where we were putting our feet. It’s amazing how little light you actually do need to see properly when you’ve been running in the dark for hours. We stopped for a few photos on the way to Lulworth Cove as the scenery was just fantastic, watching the sun rise along the coast seemed to make the nights efforts all worthwhile & although we still had about 30 miles to go I somehow seemed reassured that all would be well.
Lulworth Cove &the end of the 2nd Marathon, time taken so far was about 12.5hrs in pretty awful conditions & although this last section had the reputation of being the hardest I was feeling confident about getting to the end in plenty of time.
I soon found out that its reputation was in my opinion very understated. The hills were absolutely horrific, we were having to take rest breaks walking up them & at one point I was on my hands & knees just trying to climb up as my quads & calves were burning with the pain of working so hard. We really had a very hard time of this section & I took us 6hrs or so to do 13 miles at one point we only managed half a mile in 30 minutes!! Tough goes nowhere near to describe it. We sat down at the top of one hill for a rest & actually had a discussion about whether or not we would be able to maintain our speed & do another 13 miles in the remaining 6hrs!! Blimey, there I was running with 2 blokes who have done the hardest races in the world & we’re actually talking about trying to cover 13 miles in 6hrs & not the normal 1.30 to 1.45 we would normally do it in.
We weren’t to worry though as we’d broken the back of the last leg & although it was still a bit hilly in places it wasn’t nowhere near as bad as the previous 65 miles had been. We upped our pace & cracked on hoping that no JCC runners would go past us, that wasn’t to be though as first one & then another & another went passed us, all of them were saying well done, congratulations telling us how brave/mad/mental we were, but it was nice to have the interaction & their comments were certainly helping me along as I was feeling very tired then.
Onto checkpoint 11 & James was starting to seriously lag behind because an idiot on a motorbike had made him fall over twisting his ankle, he told Mark & myself to go on & he’ll make it back to the finish on his own, but running 70 miles plus with someone doesn’t make you want to leave them & so we slowed down a bit & waited at the next checkpoint for him to catch us up. A couple of painkillers later & we were on our way again with a swift walk through a very slippy harbour & then some good old fashioned tarmac to run on. At every checkpoint I’d been asking how many in front? How many have dropped out? How many more miles to the next one etc etc. This helped me along just by trying to keep all the numbers in my head & giving me something to concentrate on when I wasn’t concentrating on not falling off the cliffs. I’d worked out that we were somewhere in the top 15 or so & when I saw 3 other Oners ahead of us just before we reached the beach, it got the competitiveness in me going & I told the other 2 that if we took these 3 we’d get a top ten finish, Mark & myself went for it straight away & ended up dragging James with us as he was still in loads of pain with his ankle. We overtook them fairly easily but I still wanted to beat them by more & so didn’t let the pace drop for ages, a quick walk followed & Mark was continuously glancing behind us to check that they weren’t catching us up, if they jogged then we ran & so it went on until we reached the beach. A quick check behind & they weren’t there so we walked for a couple of minutes to try & get some energy back. Onto the beach proper & we saw the 3 oners again, they’d cut through the side to get on the sands a bit quicker & so any distance advantage we’d had on them was now gone. I’d like to say that at this point we just carried on until the finish but we never, it was then eyeballs out time to try to get home in under 21hrs, we could see the marshal in the dunes & we were going great guns, James’s girlfriend Gemma was there taking photos of us as we ran in, we made it to the marshal in just over 21hrs, about 10 seconds over only for him to tell us that the finish was another ½ mile away!!!! Cue loads of swearing and gesticulating at that moment but Gemma reassured us that he was right & that it was no more than that little ½ mile left to run.
Well we ran it; all 3 of us grinning like Cheshire cats splashing through all of the puddles on that home straight towards the finish to finish in a time of 21hrs 7mins. A truly awesome feeling of achievement swept over me as I went over the line, this was the longest & hardest race I had ever done & I felt very proud of myself & of James & Mark for running this remarkable race.
I have a mantra by Ralph Waldo Emerson that I tell myself when things are getting a little tough & I certainly said it to myself more than once throughout the whole Oner experience
“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.”

I certainly saw what was behind & in front of me & I managed to catch a glimpse of what is inside of me during those 21hrs out on that coast. Will I do it again? Maybe, but the ultra world is big & I want to see a lot more of it."

Sat 27 Mar

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Sat 27 Mar

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Gill on another pb, by 2s.

Sun 21 Mar

Cotswold Ultra

Results Index

Allan reports:
"Four Collingwood members travelled to the village of Temple Guiting today for the Cotswold Ultra Marathon, a 35 mile road event through the countryside.

The race start was over a mile from the race HQ so we had to walk up a big hill to get there, a small taste of what was to come. They held the entire field of runners back at HQ for an additional 15 mins or so due to getting the marshalls out on the course, which in the end was a good thing as due to a badly fitting door Dave had managed to get himself locked in the handicapped toilet!!!

The race itself started over 15 mins late but once we got going it was out into the beautiful Cotswold countryside & for once the sun was shining down on us. At one stage I was considering going shirtless as I'd overdone it with my longsleeve shirt. No incidents to report during the race other than the course itself was very very undulating with a couple of nasty hills thrown in for good measure.

Dave was the first one home for Collingwood in a time of 4.39. I was next in 5.06 followed by Steve in 5.31 & last but not least Mel came in with a time of 5.55.

Mel, Dave & Steve were using this run as part of their training for the Comrades 56 mile Ultra Marathon in South Africa in May, whilst I was using it as a warm up for next week's Oner a 78.6 mile Ultra in Dorset.
We were all very pleased with our performances today & with the organisation & checkpoints for the race. We got a nice crystal paperweight for our efforts & we were also rewarded with some free cake at the end as well. All in all a great day out."

Mel: "Slight correction to times - Steve 5h 25 mins and me 5h 44. I didn't start my garmin, so I worked out the time from 10am start but of course we started late and my official time is 5 h 44 so even happier!!!!"

Sun 21 Mar

Sevenoaks Circular Walk

Results Index

Andy reports:

"35th Sevenoaks Circular Walk
I was the only Collingwood runner at the 35th Sevenoaks Circular Walk, organised by the Kent LDWA, starting and finishing at the Sevenoaks Rugby Club. However, the day started a little oddly as I arrived at the start of last year’s event, the Sevenoaks Cricket Club. I thought it was easy to park, not surprising really.

Anyway, unusually for an LDWA Challenge event all walkers and runners started together at 8am, meaning that after 100 yards I was in the lead with no one to assist me with the course narrative. The event is meant to be 30 miles, but after running with Richard and Dave in the last two weeks, I clearly had caught their ‘navigational virus’. This was going to be a really eventful and painful run!

Firstly, I slid ten foot down and across a very muddy path into a large bush that thankfully saved me from injury. Conditions were good in part, very muddy and slippery in parts and there were some very claggy clay fields, making going not that easy on a constantly undulating route, with many gates and stiles.

Next, I started a really heavy nose cold, which I really wanted. Then, I smashed my left ankle into a metal sqeeze gate. If you thought that you heard a very loud scream this morning, it was me. Cut, bruised and swollen, my ankle settled after a few miles, but became very painful for the last ten miles.

By 8 miles I was about 600 yards in the lead and running well. At the second checkpoint at 8½ miles, I was 600 yards off the lead in fifth place. I completely missed a waymark, partly obscured by a hedge and took a lovely tour of an orchard and some country lanes, before approaching the waymark for the second time and seeing it, arghhh!

I got back to second and then took a tour of the local golf course, watching a low drive pass ten foot over my head. I got back in to the lead by the third checkpoint, before getting myself totally confused by the route narrative. It said ‘turn right on to the path and the path bears left’. However, the turn was left and the bend right. Not only did I add distance, I lost time stacks of time as well. So, back in fourth and struggling with my ankle, I decided to write the day off as, ‘a bad day at the office’.

I jogged into the finish, only just in third place; having added two extra miles to the event, which cost me about thirty minutes in total. If I had stayed on route, I would have been comfortably first; clearly I am a true Collingwood marathoner! My finishing time on my Garmin was 5:24.

£5 got coffee and biscuits at the start; four checkpoints with a great array of food and drink; beans on toast and coffee at the finish; a certificate and results to be posted out this week. Another great LDWA event. Now, all I have to do is free my ankle enough to get to work in the morning!"

Sat 20 Mar

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Nicola on a new pb by 13s.

Sat 20 Mar

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Richard on a new course best.

Sun 14 Mar

Bedford Clanger

Results Index

Andy reports: "Five Collingwood marathoners travelled to the start at Box End Park Watersports Centre, south of Bedford for the first "Bedford Clanger", a mixed terrain marathon, where the route was a 27.15 mile circular course around Bedford. It was mostly off road following footpaths and where possible stayed in open countryside. The course was not marked, but excellent written route instructions were issued at the start.

The course was very flat with only one very short hill to speak of. Conditions were good underfoot and the weather fine, but with occasional strong winds. You could start when you wanted so telling where you were on the day was impossible.

Mel Johnstone, Dave Ross, Steve Cooney and Andy Stalley started together, with Allan Rumbles following behind with two other 100 Marathon Club members.

Andy and Dave forged ahead and stayed roughly together until the last couple of miles when Dave pushed on to finish in 3:55, in first place, with Andy two minutes behind, in second place. Dave however did on three occasions previously disappear into the distance ahead of Andy; just a pity that he was not on the race route!

Steve was next in having helped another 100 Marathon Club member around, to finish in 4:16, in 6th place. Mel came in with a time of 4:38, in 20th place; which given some nasty blisters on her feet was an excellent achievement. Allan was a little held up by one of his running partners suffering a leg injury, so finished in 4:43, in 28th place. There were 56 finishers.

Mel, who was wearing green, was escorted down one path by a large butterfly, in a perfectly matching green. How did Mel coordinate that? Other than that a pleasant day out in Bedfordshire.

Excellent value event, only £4 for three checkpoints with food and drink at the finish, which included ‘Bedford Clangers’, a sort of sausage roll with meat at one end and apple at the other."

Sat 13 Mar

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Gill on a new pb, and to Bill who equalled his.

Sat 13 Mar

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Well done to Nicola on a pb and 1st lady, and to Graham on a new course best.

Sun 7 Mar

Steyning Stinger

Results Index

Andy reports: "Richard is now officially a true Collingwood marathoner! Four Collingwood members travelled down to Sussex for the 9th Steyning Stinger off-road marathon, over the lovely South Downs, but with a number of good climbs, hence the title as it has four major ‘Stings’.

The race started in cold conditions on rock-hard ground under clear blue skies. It clearly warmed up in the second half of the race, but as the wind got up, it never really felt any hotter. However, the ground thawed and the conditions became very slippery under foot on a number of sections. One stretch from 18 to 19 miles, along a very rutted and very wet and muddy uphill section was particularly hard on the legs.

Richard Fox and Andy Stalley started out together swapping places on numerous occasions, twice as Richard failed to follow the clear course markings to go off route. The first time he followed a jogger out for his Sunday exercise, but not in the race and the second time following a Reigate Priory runner. Richard clearly has the navigational ability of a true Collingwood marathoner, a skill which he has acquired in just five marathons. 26.2 miles over the South Downs is clearly not enough, so an extra 0.5 miles made Richard’s finishing time even better and shows clear potential for a road marathon PB in the near future.

Richard eventually broke away after 21 miles to finish in 3.55, a personal best time for an off-roader, having really enjoyed the views of the South Downs and Worthing. He nearly had another detour near the finish, slipping off the path on a steep muddy downhill section, only saved by a helpful bush.

Andy only realised that this was a 118-118 weekend on the route down, having completed his 118th parkrun yesterday and today being his 118th marathon. He persuaded the registration desk to allow him to have the race number 118. Andy finished in 3.58, a time that was better than recent outings; having run well up to 17 miles and again after 22 miles, but in between was a challenge.

Steve Cooney and Bill Walsh worked together for large sections of the route until 22 miles, when Steve pushed on to finish in 4.17, in his 104th marathon; having broken his 103-103 (again parkruns and marathons).

Bill was not far behind in 4.22, his 13th marathon and stated the course was “b$^&*$ hard!” Both had a slight detour when someone moved a direction arrow on the route, which also affected a large percentage of the field.

All four enjoyed the cooked breakfast at the finish, but amazingly Steve only had two cups of tea; far off his PB of seven. No medal, but a shot glass for finishing."

Sun 7 Mar

Wellingborough Multi-Terrain Series - Wendover Woods - 5 miles

Results Index

Paul reports: "Gordon Mathewson - 34'09 [1st SuperVet]

Paul Brooke - 42'01

A sharp overnight frost resulted in the surface of the challenging Wendover Woods course being hard and uneven."

Sun 7 Mar

Leith Hill Half

Results Index

Kate reports: "A tough hilly race, but a great day, and a good race to run, also very pleased to say I managed a PB, my quickest time previously was 3.25 and this race I made it home in 3.17. so well pleased to have pb'd by 8 mins."

Sat 6 Mar

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 6 Mar

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Bill and Gill on new bests.

Sun 28 Feb

Wellingborough Multi-Terrain Series - Irchester Country Park 15k

Results Index

Paul reports: "Gordon and Paul completed their current current "off-roading" programme when they travelled to Irchester Country Park to take part in Round 3 of the Wellingborough Multi-Terrain Series 15 K Event and Wendover Woods for the Wendover Multi-Terrain 5.

Gordon Mathewson - 66'56 [2nd SuperVet]

Paul Brooke - 77'44

Following a week of wet weather the course was extensively "mudlogged" and "waterlogged" and as a consequence both our times were slower than for Round 2."

Sat 27 Feb

South Devon Coastal Marathon

Results Index

Mel reports: "Dave and I left Friday afternoon with the view to getting to Devon fairly early and beating the rush hour traffic, however nothing seems to go the plan. Firstly we were stuck on the M3 for two hours due to an accident then the A303 was closed and we had to follow a diversion along narrow country lanes. Just to top things off I had taken the phone number down wrong for the bed and breakfast so had to phone Steve to ask him to look it up on his computer (thanks Steve). We arrived in Devon at 10.45pm and still had to find somewhere to eat. We went to the local Chinese takeaway then checked in to the B&B. Eventually getting to bed about 12.30 - not ideal race prep.

Sat morning race day- the weather looked ok it was dry at least, we couldn't wait to see how our new inov8 mud claws were going to fare after all they were sopposed to be exceptional on mud, and due to all the rain we were certain there was going to be lots of it.
We got organised and made our way to the start at Beesands, on our way we came across a colleague going the wrong direction, hey follow us we said. There was a convoy of cars going down the narrow lanes towards the coast to the start of the marathon. The start on the village green was so beautiful right by the sea, although it was extremely cold, it turned out to be ideal weather conditions. The route took us along the coastal path up towards the start point lighthouse, passing several sandy coves and stunningly beautiful coastal views. Trying to look at these views however was a different matter the conditions underfoot were horrendous, the coastal path had suffered large amounts of wet weather and the mud was so deep in places, when there was no mud the rocks were very slippery and very dangerous. We did pack our essential kit of foil blanket, food, water, first-aid kit, hat and waterproof jacket but it would have been handy to have a mountaineering kit too. So far the mud claws were indeed serving their purpose. After weaving our way along the treacherous coastal path, the course then made its way inland up and over several of Devon infamous hills - along tarmac roads, now the mud claws were difficult to run in as the roads were very slippy, neither of us actually did fall over but it was close on many occasions. The final miles took us through the village of Tolcross up a steep set of steps then through a nature reserve to return to the end along the coast again to where we started at Beesands. We were given a dog-tag as a medal, t-shirt and For Goodness Shakes milkshakes (the guy handing them out said when you drink this you will feel so good you will want to do that run all over again - funny but I didn't!!). The final distance was 27.5 miles and our finish times were Dave in 10th place 4 hours 24 and me in 90th place 12th Female in 5 hours 43. We were both a lot slower than the same race last year, shows how bad the conditions were.
New trail shoes were good but I now have so many blisters it's sore to walk, that's what I get for wearing new trainers for a marathon eh, least I didn't fall over and it was great running down the hills passing people slipping around and running straight through the calf deep puddles whilst others ran round them. Hope feet recover ready for the Wye Valley ultra next week. Dave didn't get any!!!!

All in all this is an ok race, very very scenic, one of my favouries for that, but it is a hard one and is quite expensive to enter and not good value for money, really we even had to buy our cups of tea."

Sat 27 Feb

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 27 Feb

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 20 Feb

Surrey County XC Champs

Results Index   Full Results

Sat 20 Feb

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 20 Feb

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Kate and Gill on PBs.

Sat 14 Feb

Punchbowl Marathon

Results Index

Andy reports: "I saw Rob and Tom on route and they were finishing as I left, so they must have done the 20 miles route, as there is no way that they would have finished that close to me on the 30.

I was pleased to run a lot better than at the Tanners. I was second back, but due to the staggered start I doubt if I was second, probably top ten? 5:15:34 for 30.31 miles. Time on my certificate was 5:16."

Sat 13 Feb

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 13 Feb

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 7 Feb

Wellingborough 15k Multi-Terrain Series

Results Index

Paul reports: "The Beds/Bucks membership travelled to Irchester Country Park [Nr Wellingborough] on 07/02/2010 to compete in Round 2 of the Wellingborough Multi-Terrain Series 15 km event [5 km & 10 km events take place at the same time]. The course, a 5 km lap, with a number of significant uphill sections was very muddy in places. Gordon was first SuperVet in a time of 1:04'12 and Paul completed the 15 km in 1:16'23. The date for Round 3 is 28/02/2012. Will we better our times?"

Sat/Sun 6/7 Feb

Pilgrim's Challenge

Results Index

Allan reports: "I completed the Pilgrims Challenge this weekend, a two day event covering 66 miles across the Surrey Hills and The North Downs Way.
Day one involved running from Farnham to Merstham, passing through Denbies Vineyard & climbing the notorious Box Hill steps! I got lost for about 20mins at one point & added an extra mile to the route but after I found my way back on course the rest of the race was tough but uneventful.
I finished the first day in 5hrs 37mins which meant that I would be classed as an Elite runner for the following days start. As Merstham is my home town, I went out with a few of the runners to my local hostelry & quaffed a few beers on the Saturday evening finishing off with the obligatory Kebab, not quite Elite status I thought!!!!
Day 2 was a reverse of Day 1 & as I was classed as an Elite runner I had to start the 2nd day at 9am whereas the main bulk of runners left at 8am. I was struggling for the first few miles and was soon left behind at the back and thought ‘oh bugger I’m going to be the last finisher at this rate’. Thankfully, after about 6 miles I managed to pick up the pace and soon started overtaking runners and walkers. I completed day 2 in 5hrs 36mins, 1 minute quicker than the previous day but I never got lost so really I was about 30mins slower.
I finished the whole event in 10th place overall & 4th place for my age group. I was rewarded for my efforts with a couple of technical T-shirts & a medal. Will be back next year as it’s a great weekend’s running.
Ps, Got some Mega chafing issues though!!!!!!"

And another report from Mel: "On Sat and Sun 6 & 7th Feb Myself, Dave and Allan took part in the Pilgrim Challenge North downs way multi-stage Ultra.

This was a multi-stage race along the north downs track way, the oldest trade route in England and the route used by Pilgrims for Winchester, Canterbury and Dover, hence the name. On this occasion we were only following the route from Farnham to Merstham - 33 miles then back the following day (well some of us were only doing one way)

Dave and I decided we would run one way only as we had run a marathon the week before and have one next week - Allan however decided to run both days.

The event was very well organised by a company called xnrg who organise various ultra/extreme events. There were three start times 8am for walkers, 9am for runners and 10am for elite runners, Allan and I started at 9am, Dave started at 10am. The directions were easy - well should have been! Basically we had to follow the North downs way all the way from the start at Farnham to the finish at Merstham sounds easy eh!
Why did I still get lost? For extra training maybe?
I lost a north downs way sign at one point and continued ahead as the organiser said in the briefing if in doubt go straight so I did and ended up by the lime kiln and the Brookham quarry with paths in every direction - so I decided to re-track my steps until I found a north downs sign. Unfortunately this added on an extra three miles and lots of wasted time.
Dave had a good run, even starting an hour behind me he still came past me and I was walking at the time - good excuse though as I was going up the steps on Boxhill, The course was pretty tough generally and very muddy, but also very very scenic. As I was running along I thought about the guys returning to run this in reverse the next day, glad I wasnt!!!
We also had to carry quite a lot of kit which became quite heavy as the miles passed. Never mind although was hard was well worth it, checkpoints were well stocked which cheese, mini sausages, sandwiches, cake, pretzels etc and at the finish there was tea/coffee and cakes lovely.

Finishing times were Dave 5 hours 5 min
Mel 7 Hours 7 mins
Allan first day 5 hours 36 and second day not sure

Well done to Allan for completing the two days he finished 4th Male Vet and 10th Overall."

Sat 6 Feb

Men's Surrey League XC - Fixture 4 - Wimbledon Common

Results Index   Provisional Results

Sat 6 Feb

Ladies Surrey League XC - Fixture 4 - Wimbledon Common

Results Index   Provisional Results

The team was 20th of 38 on the day.

Sat 6 Feb

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 6 Feb

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 31 Jan

The Perch

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 30 Jan

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 30 Jan

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 24 Jan

Winter Tanners

Results Index  Full Results

On Sunday 24th January, eight Collingwood members ran the rescheduled Winter Tanners 30 mile Ultra event and one member run-walked the 20 mile alternative, starting from Leatherhead and running through the Surrey countryside.

Sat 23 Jan

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 23 Jan

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Dominic on a pb in his 10th parkrun, and to Ruth on a cb.

Sun 17 Jan

Fairlands Valley Winter Challenge Marathon

Results Index

Steve reports: "On 17/01/10 I was the only representative from Collingwood AC who travelled to Stevenage for the Fairlands Valley Winter Challenge Marathon. The route was exactly the same as the Summer Fairlands Challenge and we were given the same route description. The differences were only 100 Marathon Club members were allowed to enter and there was only one checkpoint just before the half way route.

The snow had thawed but this meant that much of the course was very muddy in places and it also meant that runners had to run through knee deep ice cold water to get past certain points.

I had a fairly good run and finished my 101st marathon in 4th place and a time of 4 hours 18 minutes and 14 seconds."

Sat 16 Jan

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

The Banstead regulars were back at Roundshaw again as Banstead was still too icy to run. Well done to Shaun on a course best, and Kate on a pb by 34s, despite the muddy conditions.

Sat 9 Jan

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 9 Jan

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Congratulations to Shaun on his win.

Sat 2 Jan

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Richard and Dominic on new bests.

Sat 2 Jan

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Fri 1 Jan

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Fri 1 Jan

Zurich NeuJahrs Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

Allan reports on his 100th marathon - (congratulations on the century Allan):

"It’s not every day something like this happens & so I wanted to celebrate my 100th Marathon in some sort of style. I had slowly but surely been working towards my target of 100 Marathons ever since I’d met a member of the 100 Club at my 2nd marathon in 2006, what a long time ago that now seems. As I said, I’d been working slowly but surely towards my ultimate goal of the 100 Marathons until I’d reached 52 & then I just seemed to gather momentum & accelerated the frequency I was doing them. I finished 2008 on 52 Marathons & 2009 on 99!

Whilst I was in the planning stage for my 100th I realised that it would probably land sometime around February/March time & that there weren’t any races around then that I wanted to have as my centenary. So without a definite date or a plan as such I looked around for alternatives, I remembered a friend of mine had done a Marathon at New Year a couple of years ago & he’d enjoyed it, even coming in as the first Briton to finish. I emailed him for the details & said that I may be making this race my 100th. He emailed back & said that it would be a great idea to do it as it was a great race. In the new decade
“Fantastic” I thought, “What better way of seeing in the new decade, than by running my 100th Marathon”. I emailed all my friends & told them of my plans but as it was New Year most of them had family commitments but the ones who could make it said they’d be there.
This was now September & I still had about 18 marathons to do to ensure that I’d get there. By careful planning & a lot of jiggery-pokery I managed to get them done & was all set for Zurich.

The big day arrived 31/12/09 & I was in Zurich Switzerland ready for my race, a few of us met up in the coffee house at Zurich main train station before heading over to Schlieren for the start of the race. As you can guess, with a title of New Years Marathon the race started bang on midnight with an enthusiastic countdown in German for the start of the race & of course the start of the New Year. 3, 2, 1 the starting pistol fired & everybody cheered as we set off into the night surrounded by an amazing display of fireworks which quickly took away any night vision you may have had. I quickly settled into a fast pace as I had set myself a couple of targets for this event, all of my planning & race strategy quickly disappeared when I found myself on the course proper. Although it was New Year in Zurich the weather was remarkably mild & warm with a full moon as well, but there was a fog around the course, which made visibility a bit poor. Added to the fog was the smoke from all of the fireworks & if anybody’s been to Switzerland they’ll know that the Swiss do like an explosion or two!

The course was made up of, as the organisers describe it, 5% Asphalt & 95% Trail, what they don’t tell you about are the tree stumps, gravestones, drain covers & the ten foot drop into the river by the edge of the path by the point where the fog was the thickest. I wore a head torch during the run but for most of the race it was pretty useless as the light was just reflecting back from the moisture in the air & blinding you so in the end it was a choice of being blinded by the light or being blind in the dark (Rock & Hard Place, spring to mind).

As it was a lap course there were only 2 drink stations on either side of the river which we had to cross twice per lap & at each of them we were given hot wasser (water) or hot iso which was a very funny tasting isotonic drink, it may sound a bit funny but hot water on a cold night is actually quite nice, apart from when near the end I came into the drinks station on my own with my head torch turned off & gave the marshals a shock & they practically threw boiling water over me in their haste to get me some, that was a bit hot. Took a hot iso from them along with a couple of bite size banana chunks & carried on. Thankfully apart from this near boiling & a couple of small ankle turns I had a relatively incident free race although I did slow up considerably in the last mile as the race had taken a hell of a lot out of me. Finished the race in 3hrs 22mins 3secs.

I went to Zurich with three intentions, of which I achieved two:
1st was to finish the marathon & get my 100 Club Medal. Done
2nd was to finish as the fastest Briton. Done
3rd was to actually win the Marathon. Didn't happen
Roger Biggs, the Chairman of the 100 Marathon Club was there to present me with my 100 Club Medal, although the start of my speech did shock him a little bit because I swore when I tried to stand up & my legs gave way beneath me.

I received a jar of honey for becoming the fastest Briton, again though my legs failed me & I had to get a young lady to help me onto the podium to receive my award & say a few words to the crowd, who did cheer when the announcer told them I was celebrating my 100th Marathon that night.

Many thanks to my friends who made the trip to the race & to help me celebrate my 100th Marathon, you made a special night more magical for me."

Sat 26 Dec

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 26 Dec

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 25 Dec

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 19 Dec

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 19 Dec

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 13 Dec

Winter in Wheathampstead Marathon

Results Index

Steve reports: "On 13/12/09 I was the only member representing Collingwood AC in the Winter in Wheathampstead Marathon, a marathon organised by the 100 Marathon Club for runners who had completed 50 marathons or more. This was my 99th marathon and the last of the year.

The marathon consisted of 3 different loops of 10 miles, 8.3 miles and 8 miles and we had to follow written instructions around the Bedfordshire countryside. Fortunately although it was cold, it remained dry throughout the race. The recent rain did make the ground somewhat muddy in places. I ran with a group of 3 other runners and we added in a few detours to make a total distance of 27.5 miles. This was not too bad considering even the 100 Marathon Club President did longer than this!

All four of us managed to be the first runners back in a time of 4 hours 35 minutes."

Sat 12 Dec

Ladies' Surrey League XC - Div 2- Fixture 3 - Richmond Park

Results Index  Full Results  Tables

Sat 12 Dec

Men's Surrey League XC - Div 4 - Fixture 3 - Lloyd Park

Results Index

Unofficial times

Sat 12 Dec

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Shaun on a new pb.

Sat 12 Dec

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 5 Dec

Endurance Life - Gower Coastal Marathon - 27.4 Miles

Results Index  Full Results

Allan reports: "On Saturday I took part in the Endurance Life Gower Coastal marathon. Part of a series of seven races around the coastlines of South Wales & England, The Gower starts & finishes in Llangennith just to the west of Swansea. Being born & bred in Swansea it’s an event that I couldn’t miss. It takes in the beautiful Welsh beaches of Oxwich bay, Port Eynon & Rhossili Bay, although it does miss out the one I think is the nicest which is Caswell Bay. Running around these beaches brought back plenty of memories from my childhood & I was amazed at how much of the place I still recognised.

Starting in the wind & rain at 9am the conditions seriously deteriorated over the next two hours until it was blowing a gale & absolutely tipping it down with rain. Obviously being a coastal path I had no concerns about the mud as the water would quickly drain away, how wrong was I!!! I’ve very rarely run in such bad conditions, the water was running down the hill paths like they were streams, the wind was constantly in your face & the mud was 6 inches deep!!! I managed to keep my footing for most of the way round but did trip over a tree root at about 10 miles & hurt my shoulder when I landed.

Kept upright for the rest of the race until the last hill when I slipped & landed on my bum, then went on my back & ended up careering down the side of the hill at about 80mph for 200 yards, I went flying over rocks, stones & bushes eventually hitting the biggest rock there which luckily (??) stopped me from going any further. I was pretty frightened by this but the bloke who was next to me seemed more scared than I was, he came flying down to me to ask how I was. After I checked myself over I just replied that I was ok but just a little embarrassed by what had happened. He replied that he thought I’d bloody killed myself & I had to agree with him as I thought I was a gonna at one point.

Carried on going down the hill & fell over once more but only slid about 5 yards that time. I was pretty shaken up by the experience but managed to get to the finish without any further incident. Told the race organiser at the finish what had happened & said he might want to put some safety ropes out on the course as it was getting very dangerous. He didn’t & I found out later that my mate David slipped down the hill in exactly the same place as myself but luckily for him he only went about 30 yards or so.

For my efforts in my 98th Marathon I received a technical t-shirt & a dog tag to say I’d finished the race. After the race I then had a 4.5hr drive to Arundel for my 99th Marathon the following day."

Sat 5 Dec

The Pirie

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 5 Dec

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 5 Dec

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 29 Nov

Gatliff 50k

Results Index

Mel reports: "Not much to say about this one!

Horrendous conditions, not very nice course to navigate yourself round, thunder and lighting, very heavy rain at the start, wading through thigh deep water (that was in the fields) then Dave's bag went missing at the end - with the car key in. Luckily our knight in shining armour Allan Rumbles came to the rescue, so less said about it the better.

I know that Dave and I certainly won't be doing it again. At least the Collingwood trio finished as apparently most of the 25 or so Serpentine Runners pulled out at half way, London softies eh!!!

Finishing times Mel and Dave 7 hours 7 mins, Allan set off later but still finished in 7 hours 8 mins."

Sat 28 Nov

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 28 Nov

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 21 Nov

Wisley Common 10k

Results Index

Chris reports: "Paul and I did the 10k at Wisley Common today. It was a tough old run with plenty of climbs and severe weather. We had torrential rain and a heavy hail storm which made an already wet course even wetter: quite enjoyed it though. Paul did 50:05 mins and I did 56:22."

Sat 21 Nov

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Gill on a new pb by 24s.

Sat 21 Nov

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 14 Nov

Men's Surrey League XC - Fixture 2 - Lloyd Park

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 14 Nov

Ladies Surrey League XC - Fixture 2 - Denbies Vineyard

Results Index  Full Results  Tables

Results amended 27/11/09.

Collingwood was 24th of 38 on the day, and is 22nd of 42 after 2 fixtures.

Sat 14 Nov

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 14 Nov

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 8 Nov

Steppingley Step

Results Index

Andy reports: “Steve Cooney, Allan Rumbles, Andy Stalley, Doug White and Rob Wilson ran around the gently undulating, but quite muddy 9th Steppingley Step marathon challenge event from Barton Le Clay in Bedfordshire organized by the Beds, Bucks and Northants group of the LDWA.

This was another excellent value LDWA, which cost just £4.75 in advance for Collingwood Members and £6.00 on-the-day. There was tea and coffee, with biscuits before the start. There were four checkpoints with a range of cakes, sweets and biscuits, most had tea and coffee as well. Hot drinks at the finish with quiche, new potatoes, peas and carrots, with pies and custard. All received certificates for their running.

Steve ran with Andy maintaining a steady pace throughout. Andy’s recent lack of training showed and he struggled in the last few miles, but received strong support and encouragement from Steve. The pair finished together in 4 hours and 29 minutes, 72 minutes quicker than last year. Allan was running a steady pace with other 100 Marathon Club members, to finish 4 minutes behind the others, 68 minutes quicker than last year.

The event itself was run in cool conditions, but after some recent rain, included many wet and very muddy sections. These included a few heavy clay fields, during which trainers became heavier and heavier as they collected more and more clay.

Rob Wilson and Doug White also took part, but we have no details of their run, but they were seen eating at one of the checkpoints on route.”

Doug reports: "Rob and I arrived nice and early to find the Village Hall not yet open and waited patiently in the rain (well, in the car, in the rain.) till 7:30 and then registered, receiving our check point cards. Soon after setting off my relatively clean XC trainers were covered in cloying clay adding pounds to every step (free weight training) but at least the rain had abated to be replaced by a chill breeze. Thanks to the L.D.W.A. for the checkpoints being plentifully supplied with such a splendid array of energy giving comestibles and drinks. My particular favourites were the Penguins at checkpoint 3 where we were joined by Andy and Steve. The rest of the run was fairly uneventful till about mile 23 when the heavens opened, which enabled us to run just over 3 miles in real XC conditions. And finally back to the Village Hall which I had left 7hrs and 46mins earlier. Then home at the end of a delightful day."

Sat 7 Nov

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Nicola - 1st lady in her first run at Roundshaw - and Bob on a course best.

Sat 7 Nov

Dorset Coastal Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

Mel reports: "On Saturday Dave and I took part in the 1st of the Endurance life coastal series of 7 marathons on various coastal routes, Having done a few of these last year and Dave coming 2nd overall for the whole series we used his prize money to enter this one. We thought we would see how it went before entering any of the others.

We travelled down Friday afternoon with the aim of missing the traffic, but it was a nightmare journey, what with the weather and traffic we didn't arrive until after half seven. I suddenly had a thought oh no I didn't pack my running tights or shorts, what will I do, Dave said don't worry I have a few pairs you can borrow mine - so I did.

Race day we made our way to Charmouth to register and attend the race brief. Then all marathon runners had to join a procession and walk to the start, There were 2 separate challenges made by the Endurance life team:
1. To pick up as much litter as you could along the beach stretch
2. At the end of the beach stretch cross the river instead of taking the bridge.

The course started at the bottom of a very steep grassy hill and followed the Jurassic coast along predominantly clay and grassy trails also known as a UNESCO world heritage site(the only one in the uk).

The course overview stated that it was a trail runners paradise! offering breathtaking views, demanding cliffs and additive exposure to the elements. Well that's not how I would decribe it!! The course undoubtedly was very scenic and did indeed boast breathtaking views, however to see these we had to run up the highest peak in South England known as Golden Cap which rose 191M above sea level. This was no paradise but extremely difficult to run in places, forcing most to walk, even down hills which were so muddy and steep. I only managed to fall over once though, splat on my bum. Eventually I reached the stretch on the shingle beach. This again was very difficult to run, I walked and ran along looking for litter, didn't find any! all the faster people must have picked it up. On reaching the end of the beach I came up to the river before I realised to get the the bridge you had to turn right, I looked over and thought it was quicker just to cross the river so I did, it wasn't very deep but quite fast flowing, then finished the remaining 3/4 mile in very dirty, soggy trainers.

My finish time was 6hours 12mins and Dave managed to take a detour adding on extra mileage and losing his 4th place and lots of extra energy to finish in 4hours 32. The winning time was just under 4 hours so that indicates how hard this race was, and dare I say it but we both thought it was harder than The Picnic.

We probably won't do any more of the series as it costs £50 to enter, and you now have to pay for tea/coffee and your meal afterwards which used to be included. It seems these endurance life races are getting more expensive every year but you get less for it, and the courses also get harder.

Never mind we stayed the Sat evening in a lovely bed and breakfast and spent Sunday in Lyme Regis which was very nice.

Sat 7 Nov

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Kate and Ray on new PBs.

Sat 31 Oct

Blackwater Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

Steve reports: "On 31/10/09, Allan Rumbles and Steve Cooney travelled to Purleigh just outside Chelmsford for the Blackwater Marathon. Surprisingly, this was the first time either runner had entered this marathon despite completing 188 marathons between them.

The marathon was a 27.2 mile run through the Essex countryside following written directions. The torrential rain in the morning made the conditions that much tougher, especially running through churned up fields which meant that the mud stuck to their feet making them feel twice as heavy.

Steve Cooney completed his 96th marathon in 4 hours 24 minutes. Allan Rumbles, who plans on another ultra marathon on 01/11/09, finished in 4 hours 46 minutes."

Sat 31 Oct

East Surrey League Fixture 1 - Lloyd Park XC

Results Index  Full Results

Presentations were made at the event for last season's winners. Well done to Nicola who won an award for 1= Senior Lady.

Collingwood teams were 16th and 29th of 33 in today's fixture.

Sat 31 Oct

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 31 Oct

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 25 Oct

Greensand Marathon

Results Index

Mel reports: "On Sunday the 25th, three members of Collingwood (Mel Johnstone, Dave Ross and Allan Rumbles) who had run the Beachy Head Marathon the previous day turned out again this time to run the first ever Greensand marathon. We didn't know what to expect but were quite nervous as it was organised by Dr Rob who organises the Picnic and on the instructions it mentioned lots of hills with an ascent and decent of 5200ft..

The start was in a field close by The Priory school in Dorking. Dr Rob had all the runners gathered there 5 mins before to sing Jerusalem - what a wonderful sound. I hoped that everyone could run better than they could sing!!!

The course was absolutely beautiful and very well marked. We started on a hill, what a surprise and ran through woods, country trails leading up to Leith Hill, this first part was hard as there was a cut-off of 1 hour 20mins. Tt was 6.5 miles but seemed to be all uphill. After reaching Leith Hill we continued up to Somerset Hill, onto Holmbury hill, Pitch Hill, Reyards hill and then Winterfold hill. Then we had to do all that in reverse to return to the finish in Dorking. You could see the faster runners on their way back, just as I was about to go through a gate I saw this mad man hareing down the hill saying be careful it's very steep there, - it was Allan. He had a very good run to finish 8th in 3 hours 54 and well on target for his sub-12 hours for the treble.

Dave decided to take it easy and run with me all the way round. I was finding it quite hard on the hills of which there were a lot! And they seemed to be getting bigger as the course went on!! Then after a really nice gradual down hill towards the end we turned the corner out of the woods to see the finish. We sprinted to make it in 4 hour 59mins.

A very good marathon overall - received a medal, wicking t-shirt (not fluorescent yellow like The Picnic) a ruck-sack in fluorescent green and a breakfast, with orange juice, tea and coffee.

I would definitely recommend running this one and will be doing it again."

Sat 24 Oct

Beachy Head Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

Steve reports: "On 24/10/09, 7 Collingwood members participated in Britain's biggest off road marathon, the Beachy Head Marathon. Entries for the 1750 places sold out months ago.

The previous night's rain and constant drizzle throughout the race meant that the conditions were extremely slippery in places, especially on many of the downhill sections. A strong wind also made the race tougher than the last couple of years.

Steve Cooney started well behind all the others except Rob Wilson. Over the first 7 miles Steve overtook Mel Johnstone, Bill Walsh and then Andy Stalley. Bill found running in road trainers rather tough and on 2 occasions he ended up not being able to turn the corner and ended up in a ditch!

Steve eventually caught Allan Rumbles and finally Dave Ross at about 22 miles then disappeared into the mist. Dave was running with a cold and also, like Allan planning on finishing the Greensands Marathon on Sunday.

The visibility was down to about 50 yards with a mile to go. Steve was ahead of a group of about 8 runners and unfortunately led them the wrong way adding on an extra half a mile onto the race before rejoining the correct route. Because of the detour both Allan and Dave had both, unbeknown to them, gone ahead of Steve. On the steps about 100 yards before the finish Steve saw Dave suffering from cramp and being helped by a marshall. Steve passed him and finished in 53rd place in a time of 3 hours 54 minutes. A confused Allan was at the finish trying to work out how he got ahead. Allan finished just a minute before in 50th place and a time of 3 hour 53 minutes. Dave was able to finish a minute behind in 3 hour 55 minutes.

It was another close race between the next 2 Collingwod runners with Andy just edging Bill by a minute. Andy finished in 4 hours 15 minutes with Bill finishing in 159th place. This was Bill's 10th marathon and he plans on joining the rest of the Collingwood Marathon Club in many more marathons next year. Mel also got lost in the mist and finished in 4 hours 49 minutes. Rob's time is not known at present."

Rob found similar poor conditions on Beachy Head and considered retiring at that point as many others were doing. He persevered though to complete his 361st marathon.

Sat 24 Oct

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Kate on another PB, by 12s.

Sat 24 Oct

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Sun 18 Oct

Founders Challenge

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A challenging, hilly, self-navigation trail marathon from Peaslake near Guildford around the Surrey Hills.

Sat 17 Oct

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Kate for a pb by 39s.

Sat 17 Oct

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 10 Oct

Surrey Men's League XC - Cranford Park

Results Index  Full Results  Div 3 & 4 Tables

Collingwood finished in 7th of 10, 1 point behind 6th.

Sat 10 Oct

Surrey Ladies League XC - Reigate Priory Pk

Results Index  Full Results

One short of a full team. Collingwood was 21st of 37 teams. Well done to Wendy who despite arriving a little late for the start due to parking problems still managed to catch up and work her way through the field a bit.

Sat 10 Oct

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 10 Oct

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

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Sun 4 Oct

Flower of Suffolk Marathon

Results Index

“I ran the Flower of Suffolk Marathon today, starting in Walberswick, on the Suffolk coast, level with Diss. It is a pity that this event is 136 miles from home, because this is another really good LDWA Challenge event and one that I will return to next year.

The event was organised by the Norfolk & Suffolk LDWA and was the third event in the Tri-Anglian Challenge, with the Daffodil Dawdle (March 2009) and the Poppyline (June 2009). Many of the usual 100 Marathon Club runners were in force and the Village Hall was full of club vests before the start.

This was a really flat course, following an estuary and rivers; going through forests, reed beds, moorland, fields and a few nice villages. The local farmers seemed to have a competition to see who could stack their hay bales in the tallest and most artistic way. Cold at the start, but under a cloudless sky and bright sun.

There were four excellent checkpoints, with a good selection of cakes, biscuits, fruit, sandwiches and rice pudding with jelly and fruit cocktail.

In the end instead of the official 26.6 mile distance, I managed 28.2 miles; thanks to a tricky route narrative; which caused me and many of the field problems. I missed a turning when I did not see a line of pine trees in a pine forest. My biggest problem was where the narrative said, ‘bear left on indistinct path’, which translated to, ‘turn right on large path’; how did I not see that? My detours cost me about 30 minutes in lost time. Add to that, I had a generally poor run, but finished in a official time of 4 hours and 21 minutes.

I may have been 2nd, but probably 5th. However, I was 3rd in the times after two events, but the first two runners did not run today, so I may have been 1st overall.

Certificate awarded at the finish, with a hot meal and drink and a fantastic selection of puddings; the homemade red cherry cheesecake was worth the trip alone. All of this for the silly price of £5.”

Sun 4 Oct

Clarendon Way Marathon

Results Index

Steve reports: "On 04/10/09, Collingwood members Allan Rumbles and Steve Cooney were back in action once again in their quest to reach the magic 100 Marathons. Both plan on reaching their Centuries in the first week of January 2010.

This time they took part in the Clarendon Way Marathon which started in Salisbury in Wiltshire and runs along the historic Clarendon Way to Winchester in Hampshire. There was also a half marathon which started in Broughton 1 hour 45 minutes after the full marathon.

The marathon route passed through some stunning countryside along the mostly off-road course. According to the organisers, the marathon was "tough and challenging but one of the most scenic races you'll ever enter".

Allan went off at a fast pace and Steve took it steady for the first half, which he completed in 1 hour 53 minutes. He eventually caught Allan at about mile 19 and helped by the half marathon runners around him, managed to complete the second half in 1 hour 52 minutes. This gave him a finishing time of 3 hours 45 minutes for his 92nd marathon. This was also a course best by 3 minutes. Allan's legs felt the numerous marathons he has done recently and he finished his 87th marathon in a time of 3 hours 58 minutes. This was still a course best by 12 minutes for Allan."

Sat 3 Oct

Gibb 5

Results Index

Collingwood won the prize for first visiting team, assisted slightly by being the only visiting team.

Sat 3 Oct

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Kate on a pb.

Sat 3 Oct

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Alex on a pb by 1:33.

Sun 27 Sep

New Forest Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

Steve reports: "On 27/09/09, 6 Collingwood Runners took part in the New Forest Marathon. The marathon is now classified as a multi-terrain marathon instead of a road marathon due to much more of it being in the New Forest National Park itself.

The race started in bright sunshine and warmed up during the morning. The scenery was definitely better than the old course. There were hundreds of horses and ponies near the course and they did not seem that bothered by the sight of thousands of marathon and half marathon runners passing them. They just carried on grazing as if it was a normal Sunday morning for them.

Dave Ross had another great run and finished in 3 hours 4 minutes 39 seconds. This was good enough for 12th place and 2nd MV40. Bill Walsh had a fast start and Steve Cooney took it steady for the first 3 miles before upping the pace. Steve did not catch Bill until mile 25 and then had a storming finish overtaking a number of runners in the last mile. Steve finished in 69th place in 3 hours 31 minutes 30 seconds with Bill finishing in 76th place in 3 hours 32 minutes 55 seconds. This was a massive pb by 10 minutes for Bill who had every right to be very pleased with himself. Allan Rumbles was not that far behind Bill and came home in 86th place in 3 hours 35 minutes 31 seconds. Mel Johnstone was only 15 minutes behind Allan and was 173rd in 3 hours 50 minutes 37 seconds. This was a course best for Mel by 22 minutes. Annette Helliwell was the next runner in 444th place and a time of 4 hours 51 minutes 15 seconds. 514 finished from 864 entrants.

The Collingwood Male team finished in 4th place overall which was impressive. However due to an admin error, Allan was listed as an unattached runner so if the organisers entered him as a Collingwood runner then they would have got 2nd Male Team place."

Sun 27 Sep

Switchback 5

Results Index

Sun 27 Sep

JW Ultra 30

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 27 Sep

JW Ultra 30 Mile Relay

Results Index  Full Results

The team were 14th of 25 overall, and 3rd ladies team.

Sat 26 Sep

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 26 Sep

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sun 20 Sep

Green Chain Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

Steve reports: "On 20/09/09 I took part in the second Green Chain Marathon which was run over a 27 mile scenic multi-terrain course, and on a well sign posted course of the Green Chain paths around the South East London area.

The course started in Avery Park and followed the Green Chain paths to the River Thames at Thamesmead then onto Erith, Plumstead Common, Mottingham, Chislehurst and then back to Avery Park. Historic sites included the Lesnes Ruins in Abbey Wood, The Crossness Engine pump and Eltham Palace.

A route narrative was also supplied so the course was fairly easy to follow although some runners went the wrong way when a sign was moved to face the wrong direction.

I completed the 27 miler (my 90th marathon) in a time of 3 hours 54 minutes 14 seconds and was well inside the top 10.

The £15 entry fee included unlimited water, squash, biscuits and jelly babies at the 7 check points as well as a good quality medal, tee shirt and baseball cap.

My next marathon is on Sunday where a number of Collingwood's marathon runners will compete against a similar number of runners from Sutton Runners at the New Forest Marathon to help celebrate Jim Mundy's 200th marathon."

Sun 20 Sep

London To Brighton

Results Index

Allan reports: "Marathon no 84 in the bag. 58 miles cross-country. I'm ******** knackered. Only one diversion of a mile or so near the end. The course is about 70% different this year."

Sat 19 Sep

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Andy on yet another CB, and to Kate on her first run for the club.

Sat 12 Sep

Lea Valley Three2Go Trail Marathon

Results Index  Full Results

On Saturday 12th Sep three Collingwood members ran a very warm Lea Valley Three2Go Trail Marathon - starting in Ware in Hertfordshire and
finishing at Hackney Marsh. Richard Fox finished 30th in 3:49:45, Bill Walsh came in 34th in 3:52:12 and in 123rd was Doug White in 6:16:15. (126 ran).

Doug reports: "Using my new SatNav I arrived bright and early at the start in Hackney Marsh and met Richard and Bill in the car park before we set off by coach for the start in Ware. After registration there was a bit of standing around waiting for the start during which time I remember saying to Bill that I quite liked running in the heat. I was to regret this over the ensuing hours. What caused the conversation about the weather was the fact that even at 9:30 it was beginning to warm up - and continued to a very hot day. I began quite well taking care not to overdo anything after some small problem with my piriformis. Everything went well till about 18 miles when 8 miles seemed a long way off. However eventually the 40kms mark arrived and a complicated game of in and out the dusty bluebells began as several loops and u-turns inserted, by Hugh Jones, to make up the distance, rather detracted from a very enjoyable marathon.

P.S. I counted the first lap of the field as my warm-up"

Sat 12 Sep

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Keith on a new course best

Sat 12 Sep

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Janet and Wendy on massive new PBs, Wendy by 1:35 and Janet by 1:13.

Sun 6 Sep

Dry Hill 10

Results Index

Sat 5 Sep

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

4 runners, 4 course bests, including new member Alex. Well done to Bill (7s), Martin (55s), Alison (72s), and Alex (7s).

Sat 5 Sep

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Shaun (13s), Andy (2s), Ruth (5s), Gill (26s) and Janet (5s) on CBs/PBs.

Sun 31 Aug

Pathfinder Marathon

Results Index

Andy reports:

12th Pathfinder Marathon

“Five Collingwood members made their way to Conington in Cambridgeshire for the 12th Pathfinder Marathon, a scenic off-roader crossing many fields, a few woods and some lovely villages, with mostly a good set of route narrative instructions. One thatched cottage, by a stream and ford, was postcard perfect.

The event is named after the 2nd World War Pathfinder Squadrons which flew from airfields in the area and provided routes of 42km, 32km, 23km & 14km, for runners and walkers.

Steve Cooney, Allan Rumbles, Melanie Johnstone, Dave Ross and Andy Stalley started together in good overcast conditions around a gently undulating course with no real hills to speak of. The sun rarely appeared and the temperature luckily never reached the forecast 26 degrees.

Steve and Andy were returning after finishing joint 1st last year; Allan was using the event as a test after injury; and Dave’s job was to escort Mel around to safely complete her 99th marathon.

Steve and Andy soon moved ahead in a lead group of five. After ten miles, the group had split with Mark from Sheffield and Dave from Cambridge in the lead, then David Thompson from the 100 Marathon Club, followed by Andy and then Steve. The two leaders took a slight detour to emerge behind Andy and David. The four then worked well together for many miles. Unfortunately Steve had problems in the same wood and lost time, but gained a third of a mile in extra distance.

David was dropped after 17 miles, leaving Andy to run in the lead group of three back to the event HQ, in the village field, to finish in joint 1st for the 2nd year running. Andy’s time was 32 minutes quicker than last year in 3 hours and 35 minutes with a PB for this type of event by 16 minutes.

David finished 4th just 20 metres ahead of Steve and Lisa Barry, another 100 Marathon Club member, in joint 5th. Steve was also 18 minutes inside his time for last year and also had a PB for this type of event by 3 minutes, in a time of 3 hours and 49 minutes.

Allan, Dave and Mel stayed together finishing in 4 hours and 39 minutes. A relieved Mel had safely completed her 99th marathon ("I felt ok and ran ok, knocked 37mins off last years time too") and now has a week off before her big day in Scotland at the Moray Marathon, her home event.

Medals, mugs and a cloth patch were all available at the finish, along with cheap teas & coffees; and very tasty bacon rolls.”

Sat 29 Aug

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Bob on a new course best.

Sat 29 Aug

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Andy on a new course best.

Sun 23 Aug

Dorset Doddle

Results Index

Dave reports: "Mel and Dave travelled down on Saturday to do the Dorset Doddle today.We got to our Hotel called the Junction in the late afternoon. When we checked in we were told by the barman, another Saffer that there would be a Disco from 9pm until 1am, I thought yes I am up for that but having looked around the pub we realised we might not fit on the dance floor as the locals were gigantic ! The pub was part of the hotel so after our wee walk through Dorchester we popped back for a sumptuous meal, fish and chips for me and fruit crumble, Mel had liver and bacon with sticky toffee pudding, no alcohol after getting a bit blotto on Friday at our engagement meal which was great.

I stayed up until midnight watching the moto X finals live from Battersea Park while Mel caught up on her beauty sleep. We set the alarm for 5am as we had to drive to Swanage, the finish, in order to get the bus from there to the start back in Weymouth. The latest bus left at 7.30am,we arrived with plenty of time but as we were getting on the bus Dave Lewis from the 100 club said they weren't taking bags back to the start so we raced back to the car to dump our stuff and just managed to get the last bus whew.......!

The race started at 9am from the clock tower in Weymouth. Weather conditions were sunny and slightly windy. I ran with Paul in joint 1st place for about the first 6 miles then was joined by the European 100km champion a lady called Heather Fairling. We maintained a steady pace for virtually the rest of the ultra continually switching between 2nd and 3rd places.

We finally caught the then 1st placed man at the final checkpoint, though as we left slightly behind him and missed a turn about 2 miles from the end we couldn't quite catch him. He finished 2mins ahead. There was a fairly steep hill at the end which I ran up strongly to come in in 2nd place with Heather quite close behind. Mel had a very solid run maintained a steady pace but felt quite hungry towards the end of the race so she resorted to picking blackberries to stave off her hunger.

Unfortunately apart from cold orange and blackcurrant cordial at watering stations of which there were only 5, there wasn't much to eat and when Mel got to them there was no food left i.e. Flapjacks and biscuits. I fortunately had one biscuit and one Flapjack and half a piece of cake. I will be feeding Mel up tonight with a 5 course meal. The drive home was a nightmare, we went to get the ferry back across from Studland bay but the traffic queue was horrendous so we backtracked and went via Wareham instead only to get stuck there too. The Satnav said that it would be about 10pm by the time we got home.

Anyway we both enjoyed the race thoroughly, final times were Dave 5.28 2nd place and Mel 7.29.We might go back next year but if anyone does it, do stay Sunday night and have a day off on Monday, it's lovely scenery. We got a chicken and mushroom pie a salad and baked beans washed down with tea or coffee and rice pudding and fruit salad
The cost of the race including the bus to the start was £12 quid what a bargain !

Mel & I would like to say a heartfelt thanks you all for such a lovely evening on Friday night too, it meant a lot to us."

Sat 22 Aug

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Annette on a new pb.

Sat 22 Aug

Banstead Woods 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Sat 15 Aug

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

89 ran. Well done on course bests for Richard, Keith, Andrew and Martin.

Sun 9 Aug

54321 Marathon/30k/20k

Results Index  Marathon Results  30k Results  20k Results

Steve reports: "On 09/08/09, Collingwood members travelled to Salisbury in Wiltshire to participate in the 54321 Marathon, 30k and 20k runs.

The trio of Dave Ross, Andy Stalley and Steve Cooney entered the marathon, Nicky Stevenson entered the 30k run as part of training for the Moray Marathon next month and Mel Johnstone changed her entry from the marathon to the 20k run since she was recovering from her recent swine flu illness.

The marathon took in 5 rivers, 4 large hills, 3 country estates, 2 castles and 1 cathedral. A variety of other sites of historical interest were also on the route. Amongst them was a large yew forest dating back over 900 years when the Normans planted the trees in the 11th century.

Dave finished in 6th place in a time of 3 hours 28 minutes. Andy was close behind and finished in 10th place in 3 hours 33 minutes. This was a course best by 11 minutes. Steve was next in 23rd place and a time of 3 hours 46 minutes. This was also a course best but by 9 minutes.

Despite the course being signposted, Nicky took a wrong turning and was helped back onto the correct route by a friendly local (who apparently spoke with an American/Canadian accent). She still managed to finish the 30km run in 33rd place in 2 hours 51 minutes.

Mel finished her 20km run in a time of 2 hours 05 minutes in 67th place which was a good effort given the circumstances."

Sat 8 Aug

Roundshaw Downs 5k Parkrun

Results Index  Full Results

Well done to Keith on a new cb, and Andrew by 46s, Callum a pb by 1:18, and Maja by 12s.