Round up June 7th

Despite some easing of the lockdown guidelines, there are still constraints on group training. However members are still keeping active during the recent spell of very warm weather. We are keen to try and motivate everyone in the club. More people have completed the Tuff Bingo, but read on for our next initiative – the Tuff Fitty ‘Corona Classic’.

TUFF FITTY’S CORONA CLASSIC

Unfortunately the name Corona gained prominence in the dictionary due to the virus, but it also means a ‘circle of light’ and we hope this more positive connotation will enable members to remain active & introduce a competitive spirit as we introduce Tuff Fitty’s ‘Corona Classic’. Furthermore it is at least 12 weeks since members last earnt a medal, so if you enter one of the Corona Classic Run distances you can break your ‘bling drought’ with a Corona Classic Medal.

This initiative is for members to undertake a run, either a 5k, 10k or Half Marathon over a set Run Route in Arundel. Submit your time and once the promotion is over ALL Tuffs who entered a minimum of one distance will gain a Tuff Fitty Corona Classic medal. There will be special recognition for the best result at each distance and the promotion will run throughout June so you can attempt just the one distance, two or all three. Some people may wish to complete the course with others which would be acceptable but of course this must only be in accordance with the prevailing Government guidelines. Whilst Tuff Bingo was aimed at participation, Corona Classic is to introduce a competitive edge, so go on, submit your time. When you feel up for it, or favourable weather conditions, why not have multiple goes to climb up the leaderboard and beat the person above you in the table.

Whilst some may think it will be the ‘usual suspects’ who come out top, the times achieved will be processed through the World Masters Age Grading which takes account of both age and gender which will level the playing field (if not the course!) for all.

We are indebted to Simon Thistlethwaite who has put a lot of planning & legwork into setting up the courses and to Drew Gowland in helping coordinate. So lace up your trainers, and chose your distance(s).

The Corona Classic is now ‘Live’ Who will be first out of the blocks to submit a time? The time will be converted into the WMA Grading and we can start to build a table on the Tuff Fitty Running Facebook page. If your training has taken a knock during lockdown and you want to take part but do not want your WMA score shown, fear not; you can still submit your claim to join but state you would prefer not to show your time and you can be added to the table. The aim is to get as many club members ‘up and running’ as possible. You will see there are very few rules and this is based largely on trust. Whilst no doubt many will go for PB’s please remember the course is on roads & trail, so do please take care. The route maps and instructions for each discipline are listed below, so why not repeat during the month to see how you get on. Any questions please ask – Good luck everyone.

TUFF FITTY BINGO

Thank you to everyone who have stated they have finished their Bingo card. You don’t have to complete all requirements but if you managed 18 out of the 25 boxes you go into the draw for a prize. Lost your bingo card? the full requirements are here. We are in the final weekend for completing your card, so please advise on Facebook or email here before Friday 12th June to go into the draw. Still time to complete…….

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BEN NEVISING

Tuffs are an enterprising bunch, and three created their own Virtual challenge. What follows is an amusing write up from Tom Goddard, Andy Crawford & Joe Pascoe: –

“Since competitive sport was cruelly robbed from us by the Covid-19 pandemic, like bored teenagers lighting farts, Tuffs have been coming up with unpleasant challenges to torture themselves. Now I don’t like running at the best of times, so a back garden ultra-marathon was out of the question. Instead I turned to the world of cycling where Everest-ing on the Alp du Zwift appeared to be the pros challenge of choice. Do you know what’s worse than a back garden ultra? A turbo trainer. Also, no-one with a job and children has the time to cycle up and down the same hill until they hit 8848m elevation gain. Ben Nevis, at 1345m, on the other hand, could probably be done whilst a toddler is having their afternoon nap”.

“The nearest, steepest hill to me is Steyning Bostal, at 17%, and there is a nice 5km loop with 140m of elevation going up Bostal Road, down Sopers Lane, and back to the foot of the climb. So just 10 climbs then! After roping Joe and Andy in to share in the suffering I headed off. Despite it being a bit blowy out, livening up the 80km/h descent, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and I’d recommend any Tuffs pining for racing to give it a go. Maybe Everesting isn’t such a silly idea, or a Three Peaks Challenge! Anyone interested? 

Tom

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“Certainly no one can accuse Tom Goddard of not having imagination. Sometimes though his interpretation of a reasonable challenge needs to be carefully considered before commitment. As such when he suggested climbing the height of Ben Nevis on one hill I didn’t rush to sign up, instead taking a minute to look at the options. So, it was 10 times up Steyning Bostal, 10 times up Bury Hill or 8 times up Arundel Hill. I don’t have a particularly good head for maths, but surely 8 is less than 10, easy.”

“Alas, like so many of our plans it didn’t work out to be that straightforward. Sunday morning came and by that time Tom G had casually climbed the Bostal posting photos of himself looking typically relaxed and colour co-ordinated. Joe had climbed it on a turbo set at 26% in a casual 1h48m without appearing to have broken into a sweat. The pressure was on.”

“Lap one was smooth. On the way up I passed a motorbike guy sat on the side of the verge with his bike broken down, I said ‘hi’. Lap 2 and 3 were actually enjoyable and I was getting a bit quicker. Motorbike guy was just sat on his phone, I said ‘hi’. Lap 4 and 5 started to bite a bit but still things were ok. Motorbike guy no longer said ‘hi’ and now seemed irritated by me. By lap 6 I was getting slower, but motorbike guy had at least got the wheel nuts off and seemed to be doing something. He said something to me which I couldn’t hear but presume he was cheering me on.”

 “In my mind I had thought I would likely get to 1400m half way up lap 8, and so I had made myself not check my elevation until lap 7 to not become obsessed with it. I climbed lap 7 and changed my Garmin screen. 980m!!! I was miles off, or 420m off to be exact. Where had my maths gone wrong? The bleak realisation at this point was I was going to have to keep going, and I was out of all fluids. My head was a bit light and I couldn’t even really work out how many laps I would have to do! My first calculation after 20 minutes came out as 14.”

“Lap 8 and 9 were rough, motorbike guy looked like he wanted to throw his spanner at me. Eventually I realised on lap 10 that I was going to make it on that lap, just. The competitive time had gone completely, I was well behind Tom and Joe, but I could at least finish with the highest elevation. So at the top of lap 10 and at 1400m I turned around and convinced my poor legs to do one more section just so I could at least have the highest number of metres, a somewhat pointless effort really!”

“Three hours of climbing, 1424m elevation, 68km, on one hill. I was ready for home.”

“Even the motorbike guy had gone”.

Andy

Well that was a stupid idea!

Joe

ISOLATION ACCUMULATOR ULTRA

It was only 7 weeks ago that Jay McCardle completed his 100 mile Ultra challenge – in his back garden. However on the 1st May Jay started on his next challenge – the Isolation Accumulator Ultra.

It appeared innocuous enough, run 1 mile on the 1st May and 2 miles on the 2nd. However as an accumulator the mileage rose every day and of course May has 31 days – eek ; a grand total of 496 miles across the month. Surely that would test anyone but as this is Jay we are talking about; he clocked up the miles running up and down Grand Avenue. Another seriously impressive feat. Well done to fellow Tuff Danny Cunnett who joined him on some of the days to help him to his goal – Congratulations from us all Jay.