New Website - technical problems - fixed now

Just a note here to say that we are having some teething problems with the new website this weekend. Sorry if you have been unable to access it. I hope it will all be sorted out on Monday morning and will not recur!
Updates will be here as I get them.

Monday update: the site is now working OK.
Steve

January 10K Handicap - Results and Photos

The snow washed away, the rain stopped, and the sun came out.
A fantastic turnout of 37 runners (a number we haven't seen for many a year!)) responded by coming out to run the first 10K handicap of the year, and recorded some excellent times into the bargain, including new PB's for Lisa Norman and Dee Green, amongst others. First home was Chris Dent, and most accurate predicted time was by Christine Flynn.

There is a set of 38 photos here - thanks to photographer Dave S

Thanks to volunteer helpers Christelle (apprentice), the two Daves, Bob and Steve.

The results were as follows:

Laura Hales	40.48
Jon Payne	41.01
Mike Hewison	41.07
Jenny Livesey	41.26
Dario Cambiano	41.32
Keith Hull	42.17
Jim Brown	43.10
Geoff Williams	44.11
Jo Obertell	44.40
Russell Conaway	44.49
Julie Barclay	45.22
Iain McDermott-Paine	47.17
Dave Nicholls	48.27
Mark Wye	48.33
Joe Conlan	49.25
Gordon Trout	49.27
Dee Green	49.36
Suzanne Barnes	49.37
Mary James	49.38
John Coffey	49.44
Christine Flynn	50.09
Robin Wakefield	50.25
Phil Wragg	50.32
Roland Clapton	50.37
Mark Coxhead	50.59
Nick Cook	51.32
Debby Hewison	53.56
Barbara Rodriguez	55.09
Lyn Taylor	56.36
Pam Berriman	57.14
Zira Longley	57.14
Adrian Jones	57.41
Chris Dent	61.11
Lisa Norman	62.14
Sophie Lovell Smith	64.48
Amanda Borthwick	65.35
Tony Sheridan	DNF

Photos from Tadley and Bearwood College Cross Countries

Thank you to Robert Fudge who was out with his camera for the Cross Country races at Bearwood College and at Tadley.

The results can be seen on the following links:

Bearwood College Photos

Tadley Photos

The albums are public, so there is no need to log in to anything to see them.

Tuesday and Thursday training sessions cancelled this week

With apologies to everyone, we are unable to do tonight's training because all the pavements and backroads are frozen over and very dangerous. Please watch here and your email for updates about the Sunday 10K Handicap.

Club Trophies and Awards 2012, Awards Dinner Photo's

Last night, over 70 members, partners and guests gathered in the Montgomerie Suite at Chobham Golf Club to enjoy an evening of fine dining, presentations and dancing, for the annual Windle Valley Runners Awards Dinner.

Congratulations to our 2012 winners, who were:

Ladies' Champion: Jenny Livesey
Men's Champion: Danny Mahoney
Runners Up: 2nd Lorayne Hockin, 3rd Jo Obertell; 2nd Peter Mannion, 3rd Keith Hull
These are determined by race times over 10K, 10 mile and Half Marathon

Peter Dimmock Trophy: Pam Berriman
This is awarded for special achievement during the year

Roland Trophy: Geoff Williams
This is awarded for the best age-graded performance in the Club 10K's during the year

Captains' Awards:
- Mark Coxhead
- Peter Jones
These are awarded for for special contribution to the club and its activities

The championship trophies were presented by our special guest for the evening, Paula Fudge. Paula, who is now a member of the club, is a former Commonwealth Games gold medal winner, Ohio Marathon winner, World and UK record holder, and many other achievements too numerous to mention.

Thanks to Peter Berriman for the following photos:

   

 

 

Click any of the images for a larger version.

See Peter's full album here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjDFYmTy

Our ladies' champion, Jenny, couldn't be there last night, but we did catch up with her this morning for the run at Chobham Common, and Dee presented her with her trophy:

And finally a mention for our super cross-country team, who received certificates to mark our achievements on our first season in the Thames Valley Cross Country League. 

Tadley Cross Country - Results and Video

Well done to our super cross-country team once again!

A great turnout at Tadley of 25 runners saw us take fifth place again, and strengthen our grip on fourth spot in the league (out of 15).

Our accident-prone quartet from earlier races all came back strongly here, with Laura (cut knee, Sandhurst) leading the ladies home, and Dario (broken finger, Ruislip) doing the same for the men. Keith (wrenched back, Handy Cross) and Lorayne (ill, Bearwood) both scored highly. And we are not aware of any new mishaps this time out, happily.

The ladies team came second, narrowly squeezed out this time by Thames Valley Triathletes, after our two race victories in December. The men came fifth, equalling their season's best, and that gave us overall fifth place.

The sun came out as it has done all season, enabling the runners to see the deep mud on the course that much better!

Here is a video of the race, which has a less picturesque start/finish than many of the others.

If you have any problems viewing the video from this entry, this is the link to it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/WindleValleyRunners

So now it's on to the final race in Lightwater on Sunday, with the forecast of snow on the ground and possibly also in the air!

Photos from Bearwood College

Robert Fudge has posted a great set of photos of all our runners at the Reading Cross Country at Bearwood College, in our Facebook Group, here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/152475384796833/

I will repost them later this week in another place for those who don't have Facebook access.

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.