Sandhurst Cross Country Results and Video

It was our second race in the Thames Valley Cross Country League last Sunday, this one in the woods and hills of Hawley Lake, hosted by Sandhurst Joggers. Definitely a tougher proposition than the first race at Eton.

The team came in sixth overall out of fifteen, following our fifth place in the first race. In both cases, our ladies team has performed brilliantly, placing third and fourth, and lifting us up the points table. We have had great turn-outs  so far, with 22 runners in this race, and 24 in the one before.

One sorry note - Laura Hales fell and gashed her knee during the Sandhurst race, and will be out of action for a little while. Get well soon Laura!

Here is a video of race highlights, featuring all our team at one stage or another, plus the race winners. Apologies to Jo Smith for missing her finish, but we did get her in at the start and in a few of the still photos. Welcome back after your long absence Jo, and wear green next time :)

Here is a link to the team results, showing our points scorers (3 ladies, 6 men):
http://www.tvxc.org.uk/results/team/?race_id=35
(Though it's worth noting here that ALL OUR RUNNERS contribute to our finishing position, as even those who finish out of the points make the scores worse of all those rival runners finishing behind them - and our margin over Burnham in 7th place was only 5 points - so we need to keep these large turnouts going.)

And here is a link to all the individual results:
http://www.tvxc.org.uk/results/detail/?race_id=35

Next race is on December 9th, so please mark your diaries.......

Katie's run of the month

What a good turn out on a glorious sunny November morning

Did not quite make the bakers dozen but a very enthusiastic crew ready for a cross country spat

We headed for the informal H G Wells site where his science fiction novel “The War of the Worlds” had his disgorging Martians who are "big" and "greyish" with "oil brown skin," marking their landing site.

Well, a few of us did look vaguely familiar to those said creatures, after a mile into our run, but heh, who’s pointing fingers

We set off towards another famous site, the  McLaren HQ. Heavily into Formula 1 racing, and designed by the one and only Norman Foster.

It is the show piece of this company and has a staff of around 1000

Off towards a small airfield, Brooklands. Light aircraft taking off whilst we jog past.

Our ladies captain, Dee, has to examine the woodland correctly and decides to stop for a rest

I believe she just tripped and belly flopped into a muddy puddle. If anyone knows the true story, then please, answers on a post card

As we skirt the airfield, the track takes us towards a minor road then back onto a small track again.

Avoiding most of the boggy bits, we all head back towards the parking plot

End of the run and a slow jog to Katie and Giles drum, where we were all treated to a splendid continental breakfast

Job done

A big thank you to Katie, Giles and Lucie for hosting a brilliant “Run of The Month”

Tony Sheridan

Datchet Cross Country - Photos and Results

Many thanks to Robert Fudge for adding this excellent set of photos to our Facebook Group page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.477898662254502&type=1

And here's a link to the full individual and team results:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3UI8QeayughZTZJSjBtTjRLdjA

Our Cross-Country League Debut!

Sunday November 11th saw our first race in the Thames Valley Cross Country League. The league consists of seven off-road races staged by local clubs between November and January. Fifteen clubs take part, including large clubs like Reading Roadrunners and Sandhurst Joggers.

The first race was hosted by Datchet Dashers at The Brocas, Eton, and was distinctive for being flat - unlike the remaining six!

The league has its own website at http://www.tvxc.org.uk/, though right at the moment it is being redeveloped and does not have much info on it.

We had a great turn-out on the day with 24 of our members taking part, and you can see them all in the video below. We are still awaiting the results, so we don't know our finishing position as a club, but we'll post them here as soon as we get them.......

Update: 

We came 5th out of 15 !!! Ladies were 3rd, well done, brilliant stuff, coming behind only Reading Roadrunners and Sandhurst Joggers. The men were a creditable 7th, and overall that placed us in 5th.

Let's hope we can continue at that standard - next race is at Sandhurst on Sunday 25th.

Team results - courtesy of Sandhurst Joggers website:

October Run of the Month - report by Mark Coxhead

Run of the Month: 14th October 2012
 

 

Ten members of Windle Valley met at Ockham Common for the October Run of the month. This was a five mile course around Ockham and was based on a course that was originally run in 1892 for the National Cross Country Championships.   Mark Coxhead had obtained copies of contemporary newspapers cuttings about the 1892 race, from which he was able to re-construct a route along present-day public footpaths.
 
Mark led the group to Chatley Heath semaphore Tower used at the beginning of the 19th century to send Admiralty messages between London and Portsmouth. The Hautboy Inn, sadly now derelict, but was the venue for the start and finish of the 1892 race. Followed by Wisley Airfield (built for WWII and subsequently used by Vickers until the early 1970s).  
 
Returning back to the Commons Car Park we enjoyed a welcome drink at the snack bar. 

27th Octber Northern Run

A bit of a frosty morning here in Blackpool. Finished scraping the ice off the windscreen using a credit card! ( OK, I was not in the Boys Scouts for very long) 0715hrs and I think I will venture out to the next big town, Preston. Having looked up the other day, where I could possibly participate in a “Parkrun” Well, I found one just on the outskirts of Preston. So as I had downloaded my latest app to my Android contraption I dutifully plumbed in the post code where the event was taking place.

Heh presto! The device is now talking to me and directing me South, which I suppose is a start. I did cheat a bit, as I had viewed the venue on the internet prior to my northern excursion.

The time now is about 0825 and the old currant bun had blistered out of the clouds shining across the river Ribble. Unbeknown to me, I had walked upon a stunning riverside reserve, married alongside a beautiful park (Avenham Park) There were two pedestrian bridges and a much larger viaduct. Now thinking, why the hell did I leave my android gismo in the car, as I could have taken some spectacular shots of the location, never mind? I am sure that one can look at other bloggers snaps. Check this link out (http://parkrunfans.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/prestons-perfect-parkrun.html)

I arrived nice and early to meet up with a whole bunch of friendly folk. I had read up a little bit about the course and knew that it was a three lapper. What I did not know and anticipate, a really nasty 50yd (yes, I still work in pounds, shillings & pence) bloody hill. After a fifteen minute warm up I stripped down to my race clobber and headed to the start.

Some bod shouted “GO” and we were off alongside the river bank, then the bump I had mentioned earlier. After the second lap, I was starting to feel a tiny weary attacking this hill. Third lap and the field had by now, spread out a lot, with a few lads crossing the finish line. I still had a lap to go. I had a lady who was running my pace, but trounced me three times on the dreaded hill. A half mile left and I am tailing the same lady, yes, caught her at the last 800m (back to metric lingo now) and satisfied that I had gained a few seconds on my time for this year.

Race over and into a really posh café overlooking the flower and plant festooned park. I sat down and devoured a nice cup of cappuccino with some really friendly ladies who had entered the local half marathon, the following day.

I walked back to my car with a local lad, who filled me in with work that has been on-going for the last two years. The council had built cycle path, and had linked up existing routes, making a continuous thirty mile route. I might explore this for a future event. Marks out of ten, well, I would have given it a ten but for that bump. 9 out of 10

“Running, you know it makes sense”

Cheers

Tony Sheridan

More October Race Results

There were some excellent performances by WV members at the end of last month.
In ascending race distance :-
 
Peter Mannion - 1st in Bedfont 5k Park Run on 27th in 19.02
 
Fleet 10k - Danny Mahoney, 6th in 36.43

                Luan Mahoney             50.53

 

Dublin Marathon - Jenny Livesey - 3.25.35

 

Beachy Head Marathon over the hills of the South Downs -

               Pam Berriman - 5.12.55

               Julia Robinson (sc) - 4.01.35

               Jayne Raby  (sc) - 4.43.50

 

Trionium Greensand Marathon over the hills of the North Downs -

              Peter Hansen - 4.14.28

 

Well done to all!!