Weekend Round Up 5th 6th November
Whilst well into the down season, there are still some great results from Tuffs being accumulated; read on:-
HOT CHOCOLATE RUN – CHICAGO
The Hot Chocolate run in Chicago is just one of 17 events spread across the whole of the US. Run by the HC Run Club where they quote ‘America’s sweetest run’. They also have a motto ‘Will run for Chocolate ‘; which we know many Tuffs would do. In this case it was Jason Rae out for a holiday with Alex ; thanks to Jason for reporting in (with Chicago as this week’s banner shot) :-
“After booking a holiday to Chicago we found out they were holding a run called the Hot Chocolate run. We thought there were going to be 10,000 runners but there were actually 25,000 running over the 3 distances of 5k, 10k and 15k”.
“Anyone who has done a big UK run will know about queues for loos. I reckon the longest I’ve waited for a pre race comfort break is 45 mins at Brighton”.
“With a field 2-3 times the size of the Brighton Marathon there were enough loos at the start and finish to have no queues at all. Something UK race organisers could definitely learn from”.
“We opted for the 15k run – a strange distance when everything else in the USA is measured imperially”.
“The weather forecast changes by the minute out there and all night before the race we could hear and see torrential rain outside our hotel window”.
“10 mins before we left the hotel the rain stopped so we avoided getting wet. The day prior to the race I had picked up a gastro bug which lasted for 4 days, so couldn’t keep any food in. I had been thinking this could read like a Glenn P or Muzz style race report if I’m not careful as my training plan is similar to theirs as well – Just turn up and see what happens”.
“Into our start pens – a very emotional rendition of the Star Spangled Banner then we were off. The route took us under a few sky scrapers then out into some of the shopping district under the railway tracks. It looked like something out of a movie”.
“We reached the first checkpoint. Having not been able to eat breakfast I took some sweets off of one of the aid station runners but spat them out immediately. I soon realised I would not be able to keep any food down so just sipped water at each table”.
“Chicago is just lots and lots and lots of straight roads . From 2.5 miles to about 6 miles seemed to be just running in a straight line. I’ve never wished for a corner to run around as much before. Finally we got to the far end, round a corner then into the far end of one of the 2 parks the race was based in. The wind was gusting at about 50-60 mph so the run back along the shore of Lake Michigan was tough. Alex pretty much dragged me all the way around”.
“At the finish we were given a medal and Hot Chocolate, Chocolate dip and lots of things to dip in it. A really well organised event in a really interesting city”.
Jason
HAYLING 10 MILE
The Hayling 10 is a fast flat 10 mile race starting from the northern end of Hayling down to, and along the seafront taking in part of the Billy Line on the way. Having to postpone the race for two years with Covid, the race was back for the first time and entries filled before the day.
In amongst the 560 finishers was Nathan Bilham racing in his running club colours. He stated it wasn’t a PB for him but pleased how he is building up again.
GUNPOWDER TROT
The Gunpowder trot was fixture number 15, the last in the West Sussex Fun Run League for 2022. Held at Denne Park Horsham, the course is one of 4.5 miles undulating over multi-terrain. Just one Tuff present at this; Tony Pearce wearing his Striders vest.
The next Fun Run League fixture is HangOver 5 on New Year;s Day. Usually popular with Tuffs, this year was restricted to WSFRL clubs, but the Chair has written to ascertain what the position is for 2023 and will advise once position known.
PARK RUN ROUND UP
Up at Maidenhead park run everything was turned on its head as Joe Wicks was in attendance; billed as a ‘Walk with Joe;. Normally Maidenhead will see circa 300 runners but with a celebrity, it saw three times the number of attendees with 965 participating. Normally frowned upon by parkrun; Joe Wicks led a warm up and also in attendance keeping an eye on things was parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt and his wife. Trevor Harvey was present as his home PR, who explained it was part of BBC Children in Need and saw Sophie Raworth and Jake Quickenden present. The morning was grey and damp and Pudsey Bear, began to look a bit soggy at the end. As Trev predicted just getting across the start line proved a big time constraint and then trying to get around the 2 lap course as Joe with his entourage of fans walked meant quick times were not possible. Trev explained the course had to be changed as the usual route with a 2 way crossing over a bridge could not have coped. The organisers didn’t have enough timing chips and worried people would keep the chips as souvenirs printed 1200 paper ones, but had to re-print when they realised each one carried the same bar code for finisher number one!! .
October marked the 18th anniversary of parkrun and there has been a push to include more participants within parkrun through ‘parkwalk’ In South Africa it is estimated that 30% of all parkrun attendees are parkwalkers, so if you lap a blue bib with parkwalk on, you will now know what its all about.
Littlehampton parkrun was back after the previous week’s absence due to the Bonfire event and in some style Emily Vaz was first female home and 8th overall in 21:04. 14th overall was Rick Budd crossing in 22:35. Our third runner was Alistair Evans as he continues to build his total having reached 104 PR’s. Nick Hartfield was on the organising team.
Yet again we had some parkrun tourists with Colin & Sue Simpon heading for the start at Tidworth. Tidworth parkrun is on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain with a three lap route around the park.
Worthing parkrun saw Dave March in attendance crossing for his 47th parkrun in 22:26. Maisie Johnston also ran finishing as 5th female home in 22:46. Great to see Verity-Jane Lacey ‘going short’ after her Ironman season finishing 9th female overall. A good time also from Les Pearce at his ‘home’ parkrun where he has run at Worthing 166 times.
Hove Prom parkrun saw Edward Lay attend for his twelfth time out of his 104 parkrun in a very useful 23:29.
Bognor parkrun saw a good run from Nathan Bilham ahead of his next day’s event clocking up his 84th PR. Also well done on her 31st parkrun to Claire Luckham.
Well done to all fourteen of our parkrunners.
