Just to confirm that the Guy Fawkes run is now full and no further entries are being taken.

Anthony

Hi Everyone,

Here's the updated set of tables for the 10k Leagues. There have been nine races so far and most leagues are quite tight but with 4 races still to go there are still 800 points up for grabs, so there still a chance to win a league!

Cheers

Jeff

Click here to download the October Update for the Quaker's Running Club 10k league

To view the update, you'll need a PDF reader. If you don't have one installed you can download a free version of FOXIT reader.

Dawn Richardson took third prize for ladies over-35 at Sunday’s Harewood 10 Mile Trail Race.  After recovering from climbing Snowden on the previous day, she ran the undulating circuit in 69:55 to lead home 23 Quakers and finish 59th overall.  The course took in the grounds of Harewood House, the scenic Eccup Reservoir and the filming location for Emmerdale.  There were numerous hills, with one notable one at the ninth mile, which some runners tackled after negotiating a group of bullocks.  Apart from the cattle, conditions were good for the 570 entrants, with just a slight breeze and no sign of the mud, which was a major factor at last year’s race. 

With Championship points up for grabs, eight of the top-ten runners were on the start line.  Wayne Bramley (63rd, 70:39), the current favourite for the title, finished one place ahead of fellow contender Brian Martin (64th, 70:50), with another potential winner, Steve Snook, 61st in 70:37.  Next was David Todd (113th, 74:30) ahead of Dave McLachlan (139th, 76:20), Phil Rutter (148th, 76:41), Andrew Lambe (251st, 83:52), Danny Gordon (261st, 84:37), Ian Hammond (271st, 85:20), David Curtis (297th, 86:35), Richard Payne (347th, 89:31) and Mark Colling (383rd, 92:05).  Second Quaker lady honours went to Abbie Hull (389th, 93:01) who was followed by Anthony Corbett (446th, 97:13), Michelle Boshier (453rd, 97:51), Sandra Park (454th, 97:51), Sally Singleton (462nd, 98:36),Leigh-Marie Ainsworth (477th, 100:07), Kate Schweizer (484th, 100:59), Bev Snook with badly stung legs (516th, 105:47), Diane Adkins (527th, 107:41) and Jill Wallis (545th, 112:24). 

Mark Robinson made the long trip to Suffolk for the Felixstowe Half Marathon, where he took 211th place.  He was rewarded with a new pb of 1:50:55; knocking over two minutes off his previous best time, set at the Great North Run.  There were 467 finishers, with two runners, including the fourth placed athlete, disqualified for wearing iPods.

The fourth and final event in the Puma Lakeland Trails series took place at Coniston, where Saturday’s high winds provided challenging conditions for the 469 finishers.  Stuart Hardcastle came 206th, completing the 15km course in 1:23:03.

The NYSD cross country season kicks off at Croft Circuit on Sunday afternoon.  The ladies’ race starts at 14:05 and the men’s event begins at 14:30.

Quakers train at Carmel School on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm.

www.quakersrunningclub.org.uk

Having to get up at 5:30 on a Saturday morning made me wonder if travelling to Sheffield for a race was such a good idea, but a shower and a cuppa revived me, and Wendy and I were soon loading the car with changes of clothes, towels, bin bags and several litres of water.  This might seem a bit excessive compared to just making sure you’ve remembered some safety pins, but all will be explained!

With Gill Wallis arriving bang on time, we set the sat nav with an alleged postcode that would take us to the remote field that was our destination.  Picking Diane Adkins up on route to the A1, we were soon discussing the usual topics on a runners mind before the race; mainly “will there be toilets”!

Amazingly, we found our field without mishap, and a regiment of air cadets were on hand to sort the parking out.  It became clear that this was a major event as there were already around 100 cars, and we were early.  Heading down to the registration area to pick up our race chips, we were able to enter a draw for a new SAAB, and browse the sponsors’ stalls from Up and Running and Goretex.

As we awaited the start, we chatted to other runners – with this being the inaugural race on this course, many were unsure of what to expect.  The race announcer clarified things a bit by warning people that conditions were extreme, that trail shoes were recommended , and that laces should be tied securely as it had been known for runners to finish similar races barefoot!  At this point my late decision to purchase some trail shoes (the night before) seemed like quite a good idea.

The start, when it came was somewhat sluggish as the 350 runners got moving, only to stop after 400 metres as we funnelled onto a narrow track – nobody seemed bothered though, as the objective for many was just to complete the race and have some fun.

For the first couple of miles, the trails seemed relatively straightforward, which lulled many into a false sense of security as we crested the brow of a hill to look down a steep rocky slope that signalled the time to disengage the brain and just go for it.  Nearing Usain Bolt pace, I heard someone comment that it wasn’t running – it was falling with style, and I had to agree.

Now was the time for the mud.  Sometimes it was possible to skirt the muddy pits, sometimes it was worth a try before falling in anyway, and sometimes it was just a case of ploughing through regardless.  Occasionally you could hear various expletives, followed by barely suppressed laughter, as footing was lost and a hapless athlete sprawled face first into a bog.

With our shoes a couple of pounds heavier, we emerged from our valley to head up steep hills, one of which had a torrent of water coming down, bringing some bright orange mud with it that forced people onto their hands and knees on occasion.  With our strength sapped, we reached an ascent that resembled something out of a Vietnam war film – checking our timings later, we were down to a 20 minute mile at this stage!

Reaching the top, we had the luxury of a dry trail to follow for half a mile or so until we could hear loud music coming through the woods.  This, we knew, signalled the start of the “Turbo Zone”, a route of around 1 ½ miles of extreme terrain that was timed separately.  Running through dry ice with “Welcome to the Jungle” echoing through the fog was an amazing experience as we headed to long trenches of what appeared to be knee deep porridge!  Running was impossible as the quickest pace was achieved by leaning forward and trying to get your feet to follow the momentum of your body, whilst ensuring you didn’t lose your shoes!  Again, many people fell into the gloop, emerging like a badly modelled Morph, before struggling on again.

Leaving the trenches, the energy levels were nearly down to zero, as our tired legs were now caked in mud, and it was like running with breeze blocks on our feet.  Help was soon at hand though, as we had a thigh deep river to wade through which washed most of the mud off before the last couple of miles to the finish line.  There were a few surprises left in store, including a steep muddy slope where you had to help the person in front of you get up as well as yourself, or they’d flatten you when they lost their footing.

The final run to the finish was uphill through grass, and seemed to go on forever, but Wendy and I got over the line together in 2:14:59.  I don’t think I’ve ever been as drained in my life, and I struggled to lift my foot onto a stool so that my timing chip could be cut off.

The commentator asked for a few words, and whilst Wendy said she loved the mud, I told him that it was the single most ridiculous thing I had ever done in my life – and I loved it!!

Meeting up with Diane (2:34:29) and Gill (2:51:07), we compared goody bags – an excellent technical tee shirt, a drinks bottle, sports fuel and gel as well as numerous other bits and bobs.  Now was the reason for the water and bin bags as we sluiced ourselves down as much as possible before dumping our shoes and clothes into the bin bags to be hosed down when we got home.

This was a fantastic day out and, even though I’m still aching writing this the following morning, I’m also looking forward to running it again.

Michael Joyeux was the first Quaker home at the Sedgefield Serpentine Trail Race, where he took 10th place with a time of 44:09.  Despite clashing with the annual club trip to the continent, Quakers made up a sizeable proportion of the 73-strong field.  Brian Martin (16th, 45:33) picked up good Championship points for the second consecutive weekend and could still feature in the race for the title.  Next was Peter Smith (21st, 48:05) followed by recent recruit, Andrew Lambe (32nd, 51:59) with Mark Colling (47th, 56:50), Wendy Colling (48th, 57:15), Julie Jefferies (51st, 58:26), Julie Whinn (58th, 61:42), Sally Singleton (63rd, 66:10) and John Whinn (64th, 67:59). 

Alasdair Tatham put on a superlative performance to win Sunday’s Great Langdale Marathon.  Clocking 3:04:21, he finished seven minutes ahead of the runner in second place.  Ninety-six runners completed the mountainous course.  Stuart Hardcastle, a regular in the Lakes, took part in the half marathon, finishing 137th in 1:49:26. 

Toni Chaplin-Armer ran at the considerably larger Berlin Marathon.  Her time of 3:41:51 gave her 572nd place in the ladies results and 77th place in the F45 category. 

Anthony Corbett ended a highly successful summer hill running season at the Castleton Show Run, battling his way around the arduous 6-miler in 56:59.  His reward was fourth place in the final standings of the M40 category, where Nick Wadd finished ninth.  Andrew Knox took fourth spot in the M45 age group, Stuart Hardcastle was the sixth M50 and Danny Gordon finished as fifth over-65. 

Saturday’s Albert Park Time Trail saw Peter Smith running a new course pb of 20:07 with Phil Penteney finishing the 5k circuit in 26:06.  

There was a large Quaker contingent on the congested roads of Tyneside at Sunday’s Great north Run.  The finishing times were Brian Martin (1:44:30), Peter Rowley (1:46:51), Diane Vaughan (1:47:00), Mark Robinson (1:53:08), Barry Mahaffey (1:54:03), Jon Foulds (1:54:32), Victoria Wilson (1:55:25), Andrew Wilson (1:57:43), Sandra Park (2:02:26), Julie Crocher (2:02:36), Paul Appleton (2:04:21), Leigh- Marie Ainsworth (2:07:59),  Carol Penney (2:11:04), Sally Singleton (2:11:05), Michelle Boshier (2:11:29), Keld O’Shea (2:16:46), Jeanette Maughan (2:16:55), Penny Lamont (2:18:39), Brenda Jackson (2:23:27), Paul Carling (2:28:52), Naomi Pearson (2:32:14), Rachel Maddison (2:45:29), Andrew Robinson (2:56:53), Alex Simpson (3:05:18), Linda Norminton (3:05:26) and Catherine Horan (3:08:23). 

The Paras’ 10 race gave the general public an opportunity to attempt the Parachute Regiments endurance course at Catterick.  Six Quakers ran the undulating ten miles over loosely surfaced tracks with cattle grids, steep tank hills and a stretch of knee-deep muddy water.  Runners had two options; either running with or without a 35lb rucksack.  Diane Adkins was the only member of the club to choose the tougher option.  Despite being dragged down by laryngitis, she was adamant that her many weeks of training around Darlington were not going to be wasted.  She made it round in 2:21:33 to come 1053rd from 1146 finishers.   A smaller field of 473 completed the course without the extra weight on their backs.  Andrew Todd (45th, 1:11:24) was the leading Quaker ahead of Phil Rutter (53rd, 1:13:13), Lee Coles (1:19:10), Ian Scott (134th, 1:20:11) and Michelle Boshier (303rd, 1:34:12).

Meanwhile, Quakers’ other Ian Scott was tackling a 10-miler near Selby.  At the first running of the Wistow 10 Mile Road Race, he took first prize in the M55 category, clocking 1:04:03.  Diane Vaughan was the first female over 40, with a new pb of 1:16:31.  Richard Hughes (1:11:54) and Kate Schweizer (1:33:23) also recorded new best times. 

Alastair Tatham ran 33:20 to take 13th place at Middlesbrough’s Tees Pride 10k, where over 2600 participants enjoyed good running conditions.   He was followed by Simon Paul (42:58), Diane Vaughan (45:06), who finished sixth in her age group to record a new personal best, and Dave Thompson (45:55).  Julie Jefferies (48:42) continued her fine season, taking fourth place in the F50 category and slashing the club record by over two minutes.  Next was Lee Coles (45:26) ahead of Claire Gargett (51:07), Jackie Nicholls (51:05), Adele Clark (49:57), Paul Appleton (52:51), Paul Howell (51:05), Julie Crocher (51:56), Juliette Lee (51:44), Sam Edwardson (54:14), Angela Clement (55:50), Jackie Taylor (57:06), Kate Schweizer (56:29), Sally Singleton (55:51), Nigel Walker (58:30) and Rachel Maddison (1:07:04).