Congratulations to Katie and Giles

Club members Katie and Giles have got engaged!

Here's a picture of the pair looking very happy about it after this morning's mince pie run:

Click the picture for the larger version and see Katie's ring properly

XMAS PIE RUN 30TH DEC 2012

Well, what a turn out for the belated Xmas Pie Run from Dave’s drum

I counted thirty three bodies but I might be a couple of bods out! Maths was never my strong point!

We headed off to the soggy marshes of Chobham Common. I think most of knew that it may be a bit damp, so it was no surprise to find that it became a bit of an assault course underfoot, for most of the pie journey.

We were very lucky with the weather, as it was a tad chilly at the start but did warm up after the first mile or so. The sun made an appearance most of the trip and we were entertained for a short while, as we struggled up our first hill. A group of enthusiastic model airplane and helicopter display artists happen to be showing off their latest kit. We were not exactly dive bombed  by the these grown up boys with their toys but I expect we were moving targets for them to play with? 

Still making our way  through the undergrowth we skirted a lot of the common and said our “happy new year’s” to a few horse riders who very kindly halted their beasts, so we could continue our allotted course.

Now on the home straight and we encounter a couple of fields where a lot of nervous horses were giving us the curious eye. I had a chance to pat and quietly say a few words to give them a calming reassuring nod. (They obviously understood “cockney” as they did not run away!) whilst guys were completing their last sty and field gate exit. 

Back to base and kicked off most of the wet gear so we could invade the Pearce’s gaff. Hot tea, hot wine and hot food awaited us all. As thirty odd of us all continued the invasion, Carol (Dave’s wife) and co put on a really nice foodie spread. I ate a few of the sausage rolls and devoured quite a few of the customary mince pies, downed by at least four cups of tea. 

Both our Men’s Captain (Steve) and Ladies Captain (Dee) encouraged us all to enjoy the occasion and continue the turn- outs that we have been experienced during our X Country exploits 

A big thanks to Dave and Carroll for putting fabulous after run do

A happy new year to all

Tony Sheridan

Video from Bearwood College Cross Country

Here is the video from the race last Sunday.

The results from the earlier post are now confirmed, and we now stand fourth in the league.

Chris, after a few months out found the Cross Country run at Bearwood a bit of a physical challenge!

Editor's comment: this post was nothing to do with me!!

Stop Press - Reading Cross-Country Results

Well done to Reading Roadrunners for doing a superfast job in getting this morning's provisional results on-line already.

And well done to the Windle Valley team for achieving our best result yet, provisionally!

Click picture for larger version

If the results are confirmed, this is what they will be:

Ladies' Team: 1st (again)
Men's Team: 5th (best ever placing)
Team Overall: 4th (equal best ever)

And we are now up to 4th in the league, which we didn't expect! (We have a single point lead over Datchet Dashers)

I will get the video done and uploaded ASAP, the speed of the results service has rather left me behind this time. Meantime, here's a pic of Bracknell's Christmas Tree to wish you all a Happy Christmas:

Ruislip Cross-Country Results - Best ever placing and scores

Latest news is that they are having a bit of trouble correlating the results from last Sunday, so everything is still provisional.

However, our ladies definitely won, our men definitely had their best race ever with their best ever points total, and we are 99% sure that we finished 4th overall, which would be our best placing so far.

So well done and thanks to everyone who ran - once again we had a super turnout with 21 members running.

You can see it in all its (muddy) glory on the video, squelch squelch.........:

By the way, the Cross-Country website now has the detailed team and individual results available from the Handy Cross race the week before, for those who like that sort of thing.

Update: Yes, we were fourth, a great result! Well done to our team.

Photos from Ruislip Cross Country, 16th December

Another super turnout today with 21 members making the long trip to Ruislip for Metros' cross-coutry race in Mad Bess' Wood. The sun shone for the race once again, and the course was gloriously muddy and slippery from Friday's rain. No results yet.......

Pete Berriman was busy with his camera and has shared his album of photographs from the race, showing the agony and the ecstasy of cross country racing :-)

(Apologies if the link is not working, we will have it sorted out soon........)

Update: here is a new link for the photographs: -> Click here

Johnson Arabia Dubai Creek Strider's 2012 Dubai Half Marathon

When you arrive in a country that has air conditioned bus shelters, you get a sneaky suspicion that it may become warmish during the daylight hours

My suspicions were confirmed when I turned up at the local Dubai golf club at 0530 in the morning. This was the meeting place and start of the eleventh local half marathon event. 

I participated in last year’s race so knew the routine. This time there were over 1500 runners competing. As daylight was breaking through, you were directed towards our allotted time pens. I plumped for the 1hr 50 to 2hr slot, being optimistic. There were loads of promo tents flogging their wears and dishing out lots of freebies. With the tannoy blaring out info, we lined up for the phased start. I seemed to be in good company as I waited for the kick off. A few alongside me were from Britain and Australia so we exchanged lots of pleasantries and of course injuries tales. 

Temperature now about 18 degrees and we set off with the second phase. With drinks stations at every 5K one did not need to carry any fluids. I did take a gooey gel thingy to consume mid race and swallowed that at about 9 miles. Found out that you do need plenty of water to wash the stuff down as its sticks to your mouth like glue.

You are duty bound to take in the scenery along the route as the views are stunning crossing the creek via the numerous road bridges. The first bridge has the sun just creeping above the horizon and mirrored along the still waters with the Burj Khalifa in the background. I am talking about the tallest building in the world. You may have seen it displayed in the latest “Mission Impossible” film starring Tom Cruise. Just a thought, tallest building, shortest actor! I digress. 

Just passed the halfway mark and entering the old fashioned Souks (local markets) Lots of locals watching these mad runners pass and smiling their support. There were plenty of marshals directing and shouting their encouraging supportive gestures. The temperature now has risen to about 23 degrees and a lot of runners including myself are feeling the heat. I have now reached the final leg and over the last bridge. Watching the fishermen below we witness a guy pull out a very large fish to the delight to all my fellow runners who all gave a loud cheer and applause for the star fisherman. 

Final 200 metres and feeling the strain, I pass the final chip mat to record my time.

Where is that bloody water station? The organisers offer you a free breakfast, but I declined and headed off to my daughter's apartment for a very welcomed family breakfast of our own.

The winner was from Uganda with a time of 1hr 10min 58 and the first Briton was Chris Sellar 1hr 18min 24 and first lady in, British again, Jane Khan 1hr 20min 47 

Back to old blighty and the cold, heh ho! 

Tony Sheridan

Congratulations to Wendy and Miles

Wendy Davies and Miles Cudmore got married this afternoon at 4.00, so congratulations from Windle Valley Runners to Mr and Mrs Cudmore, we wish you all happiness and all the best for the future.

Click above for larger image

Handy Cross X-Country Race, 9th December 2012

We have now had the provisional results from last Sunday's race at Handy Cross. More excellent performances saw our ladies' team finish 3rd and our men's team come in 9th, giving us 8th place overall. Thank you to all 21 members who came out to run, once again another sunny day and an amazing course (or "the hardest race I've ever run in" according to one of our team!). 

It's not every day that you get the chance to race on a course described as "70% uphill" by another of our runners, through a herd of cows, deep mud, and a diagonally slanting field. Probably just as well, really......

Jenny, Sabine and Chris - before the hills started

However, no cross-country Sunday would be complete without its tale of woe, and this time it was cross-country stalwart Keith Hull who suffered an injury - putting his back out as he packed his kitbag getting ready to leave the house! We wish you a speedy recovery Keith. Happily, Laura Hales had recovered from the last incident, at Sandhurst, and was our first lady home.

If you want to see how your fellow club members pushed themselves to the limit, the video is here:

So far, 33 members have taken part in the league races, with 10 having run all three.

Detailed individual results will soon be available as soon as they are finalised by league admin, on http://tvxc.org.uk/league-results