On Friday, in Italy near Venice, Newmarket Jogger Elke Hausler put in a great run to win the bronze medal in the W55 (Women 55-59) 5000m track event in the European Masters Athletics Championships. She clocked 21:27.01, which was also a new track PB for her by a small margin. This earned her an age grade of 82.44%. The gold went to another top veteran GB runner Clare Elms (19:00.30), with Swede Karin Schon (19:17.17) claiming silver. Hausler also ran in the W55 Road 10K event on Sunday under very hot conditions of 26° C, finishing 6th in 45:28. The previous Sunday, she finished 9th in the W55 4K cross country race and just missed out on a team GB gold medal as 4th W55 GB runner home.
Elke Hausler with her bronze medal for W55 5000m. Photo: Elke Hausler
On Friday evening, in Horringer near Bury St Edmunds, the Ickworth Sunset Chase 10K certainly lived up to its name at the end of a lovely sunny day. Simon Harris led the way home for the Joggers, finishing 4th of 336 runners overall in a time of 39:35. Next Jogger to finish was Stuart Sowerby in 14th position in a new PB time of 43:29, followed by Jonathan Ollington in 47:40, his first 10K race this year. Olivia Carter (47:32) was first female Jogger home and 8th female of 202 overall, followed by Emma Newman (48:45) 10th, Hannah Short (55:22) and Anna Mayhew (55:22). Other Joggers putting in good efforts were Malcolm Osbourn (1:00:53), Sarah Kinston (1:07:14), Orla Dockery (1:07:27) and Jenny Osbourn (1:16:16). Former, longstanding club member Nicky Chapman, ran very well to come 6th female home in 46:45. We wish her the best of luck for the future.
Some of the Joggers in the 10K Sunset Chase, in front of Ickworth House.. From left: Emma Newman, Orla Dockery, Jenny Osbourn, Olivia Carter, Jonathan Ollington, Sarah Kinston, Anna Mayhew and Stuart Sowerby. Photo: Sarah Kinston.
Action photo of Olivia and Emma setting a brisk early pace in the Sunset Chase. Photo: Andrew Russell
The promised sunset. Photo: Sarah Kinston
In the picturesque Dedham 10K on Sunday, in the heart of Constable country on the Suffolk/Essex border, Clive Purbrook clocked 52:15, finishing 5th of 18 in MV60 in a total field of 478, with Belinda Schofield following on in 59:27, 5th of 10 in FV60, her best 10K time this year.
Round Norfolk Relay
James Thomson with his support crew at King’s Lynn. From left :Danielle Jones, Jim Withers, James Thomson, Brian Munns. Photo: James Thomson
The Round Norfolk Relay got off to a bright, sunny start in King’s Lynn on Saturday morning, with 59 teams from local clubs competing and it stayed sunny the whole day. There were 17 stages of varying distances between 5 miles and 20 miles, the earlier coastal stages mainly off-road, with the route going clockwise around the North Norfolk coast and turning inland near Great Yarmouth, roughly following the Norfolk/Suffolk border back to King’s Lynn. It went on all day and through the night, with the start times staggered so that all teams finished around the same time on Sunday morning in King’s Lynn.
Newmarket Joggers began at 7:30am on Saturday and the team took 25h:6m:19s to complete the 198 mile distance. Full results are now available (see below) and the Joggers’ finishing time puts them 20th overall of the 59 teams competing, just one position lower than last year. In our Open Class (no restrictions on the make-up of the team), we came 7th of 22 teams.
The fastest team was Riverside Runners from St Neots in 20:40:10, the first time they have competed in the Round Norfolk Relay, so a great debut for them. All the more impressive, Riverside Runners competed in Club Class, which meant they had to include at least five women and six veteran runners (FV35+ or MV40+) in the team of seventeen. Newmarket Joggers entered as Open Class, meaning, in theory, that we could have included just our 17 fastest runners in the club, all men if necessary. As it was, there were 4 women in our team and 12 veterans in all. Surprisingly, we would have finished lower down at 8th of 24 had we recruited another female runner and entered in Club Class, so Jim Withers had it all sussed out beforehand when he decided on the team!
All in all, it was a great team experience and team achievement for everyone, including the vital support crew, who followed behind all the road runners on bicycle during the day and in a van by night, ensuring safety for all.
Alan Shand sort of hands over the baton to Jan Holmes at Lessingham (Stage 8), with a dance thrown in for good measure. Photo Jan Holmes
Running the stages were: Stage 1. James Thomson 2:23:08, King’s Lynn to Hunstanton 16.90 miles; 2. Ruth Eberhardt 1:57:08, Hunstanton to Burnham Overy 13.75m; 3. Chris Aylmer 58:17, Burnham Overy to Wells 5.76m; 4. Jeremy Reader 1:37:31, Wells to Cley 11.14m; 5. Jon Brooker 1:28:26, Cley to Cromer 10.81m; 6. Sarah Boneham 1:03:22, Cromer to Mundesley 7.90m; 7. Alan Shand 1:20:20, Mundesley to Lessingham 9.24m; 8. Jan Holmes 1:06:22, Lessingham to Horsey 7.52m; 9. Neil Williamson 2:09:23, Horsey to Belton 16.60m; 10. Neil Pollard 1:53:56, Belton to Earsham 18.13m; 11. Paul Dockerill 1:28:36, Earsham to Scole 12.45m; Paul Holley 2:04:38, Scole to Thetford 19.67m; 13. Neville Clarke 1:38:30, Thetford to Feltwell 13.25m; 14. Joe Cormack 56:22, Feltwell to Wissington 7.27m; 15. Sam Sadler 1:08:01, Wissington to Downham Market 10.59m; 16. Olivia Carter 42:16, Downham Market to Stowbridge 5.49m; 17. Mark Hayward 1:10:03, Stowbridge to King’s Lynn 11.73m.
FULL RESULTS:
http://www.roundnorfolkrelay.com/results_main_page.php
Thanks to the fabulous support crew: JIM WITHERS, BRIAN MUNNS, DANIELLE JONES, EMMA READER, JEREMY READER, LISA JENNINGS, CHRISTINE SHAND.