Sunday September 27th: Undoubtedly, the biggest race of the weekend in the UK was the Vitality London 10,000, which attracted 19,424 participants on the day, starting and finishing close to Buckingham Palace, with the HQ next door in Green Park. Five Joggers took part. Ace veteran Carol Cienna Carter (39:46, 72nd F of 9,318, 2nd of 606 in F55-59, 91.62% age grade) forged her way home, a little ahead of her husband Richard Defries (40:55, 1,153rd M of 10,071, 53rd of 905 in M50-54, 75.97%). In the F55-59 age group, Cienna was up against her nemesis, the world record holder Karima Harris (37:38), so was forced to settle for 2nd place…certainly no disgrace. Next Jogger to finish was Anna Mayhew (58:24, 2,853rd F, 142nd in F55-59), who loves this race and makes it a pilgrimage most years, from Martin Smith (49:33, 3,815th M, 377th of 1,036 in M45-49) and Bridget Wallwin (1:11:02, 6,443rd F, 391st in F55-59).
Above left: Carol Cienna Carter & Richard Defries after Vitality London 10,000; right, with family members Aaron and Alice, who also ran.
Above from left: Anna Mayhew with medal; the Vitality London 10,000 Medal by Anna; Bridget Wallwin & Martin Smith in blue, with friends.
Above: Buckingham Palace (top left), as seen from start wave queue; night scenes in London, by Bridget.
The next biggest running event on Sunday was the Ealing Half Marathon, which NJ Paul Holley chose as his first half marathon attempt of the year. He was well satisfied with his chip time of 1:25:47, finishing 114th of 4,313 overall and 1st of 134 in his M60-69 age group, giving him an excellent age grade of 83.17%.
Above from left: Paul Holley during the race; with medal after race; receiving £50 reward for 1st in age category.
On the same day, Marc & Angela Drury opted for the Ipswich Half Marathon, which was started up again by Larking Gowen a few years ago, along the same route, after being dropped by the Great Run group around Covid time. This year it attracted a big field of 3,098 runners; better than it used to be, pre-Covid. Marc put in an excellent time of 1:30:05 SB, finishing 136th M of 2,073 and 5th of 305 in M50-59, so was well pleased. Angela also ran well in a time of 2:05:55, 267th F of 1,025, 34th of 243 in F40-49. They will be tackling the York Marathon next.
Above from left: the Ipswich HM route; Marc & Angela Drury at Ipswich Town FC, in the start/finish area.
Meanwhile, Richard Gash enjoyed his run and the scenery in the Sandringham Half Marathon on the Royal Estate, clocking 2:34:57 and finishing 940th of 1,118 runners overall, 36th of 43 in M55-59.
Above: Richard Gash during Sandringham HM; the Sandringham route through the woods.
Also on Sunday, four female Joggers took part in the St Nicholas Hospice 10K in Bury St Edmunds, a much more local, charitable event with 557 participants. It started on Angel Hill and passed through the scenic Abbey Gardens on its way around the town. Three of the Joggers were very close together, headed by Sophie Adams (1:06:05 SB, 139th F of 239, 39th of 62 in F40-49), who put in her best time this year, followed by Sarah Last (1:06:46, 147th F, 18 of 35 in F50-59), Jo Bouttell (1:06:53, 148th F, 8th of 20 in F60-69) and Gillian Green (1:26:18, 234th F, 19th in F60-69.
Above: Sarah Last in the start area on Angel Hill; Sarah & Gillian Green before the race; Gillian, Jo Bouttell and Sophie Adams with medals.
Above left: Sarah’s bib & medal; relaxing after the race.
On the same day, the long-established Bourn To Run 10K took place in the village of Bourn in west Cambridgeshire, attracting 129 runners in all. NJ Paul Roberts (49:06, 20th overall, 7th of 17 in M40-49) put in a very good effort. His best 10km time this year remains 45:52, at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in April.
Also in Cambridgeshire, Ian McClements took part in the Phoenix Water Run multi-lap event, along St Neot’s Riverside. He completed two laps of the course with his wife Dorota, covering a quarter marathon distance of 6.6 miles in 1:27:03.
Above: Paul Roberts with medal after the Bourn To Run 10K.
RACE WALK NEWS
The results were recently released for the Enfield Race Walking League (ERWL) monthly fixture on Saturday 5th September, which was a 5K Handicap Race Walk at HQ in Enfield. Junior Jogger Lily-Ann Cooper (U16) represented Newmarket Joggers and finished 7th of 12 overall in the Handicap. Her actual time was 34:51, giving her a very good age grade of 60.40%.
On Wednesday, 9th September Lily-Ann Cooper U16 (9:40.84 PB, 68.09%) also represented Newmarket Joggers in the Biggleswade Open One Mile Race Walk, along with juniors Sophie Blundell U16 (8:49.90 PB, 75.67%) and Rio Mcandrew U14 (8:07.03, 76.69%). They all did very well to post PBs, with Sophie and Lily-Ann posting their best ever walking age grades.
On Saturday, 19th September, Sophie Blundell (Junior, U16) was joined by Cerys Bithell (Senior, U20) in the Bedford English Schools Athletics Association (ESAA) 52nd Race Walk event, both representing Cambridgeshire. Sophie clocked 11:17.60 (73.48%) and took 3rd place trophy of 6 in the 2km walk. Cerys (17:58.24, 65.76%) took 1st prize in the 3km as the only participant in the senior girl’s event. Thanks to Phil Blundell for race walk news and photo.
We certainly have a strong team of junior race walkers in the club.
Above: Sophie Blundell receives 3rd place trophy in the Bedford ESAA 2km race.
A note from Phil Blundell regarding the Forest Heath Junior XC meeting at the Links Golf Club on Tuesday, 29th September:
“Tangential news: Alan Shand and Cerys Bithell generously volunteered at the Forest Heath School Sports Partnership cross country competition today at the Links golf club. The number of entries was much greater than in previous years and there were about 300 competitors from years 5, 6 and 7 at local schools. The club will receive a small financial donation in recognition of their efforts which were much appreciated. No photo of Alan sadly but here is Cerys processing the results and a photo of the start line for the boys’ race”.
Thanks very much Cerys and Alan; your help was much appreciated.
Many thanks for all the photos, news and Strava posts.
The best of luck in your training and upcoming races!
Chris.