Weekend Round Up 21st 22nd September

We have now reached the autumn equinox where the number of sunshine hours (12 ) matches the number of darkness. However Tuff Fitty continue to cram a lot of activity into these daylight hours.

There is simply too much race action for one Round up, so our Track ‘Respect Power Hour gained its own report, and rightly so, our amazing Tuff quartet out in Vichy France for the ITU European Championships will see their report follow shortly.

IRONMAN ITALY 70.3

For the second week running we had a club member race an Ironman 70.3 – this week the location was  on the eastern side of Italy at it’s popular beach resort, Cervia, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Isis Solato took part, swimming in the Adriatic sea before a one lap ride and then running through the centre of Cervia. Isis reports:-

Isis

‘Just sharing about the event I completed. My first Ironman 70.3 in Italy, finished at 5h47 and I have no words to describe that feeling!!

‘It was an amazing day after the storm and really rough sea 2 days before the event’. 

‘The sea was calm, and finished the 1.9k swim and off to a long transition, literally more than 1k long :). The bike course was flat and with amazing views of lakes full with flamingos! There was a hill half way through but everything that goes up, comes down right?! I Finished in 2h57, back to transition and off to the half marathon, the legs started to cramp a lot right at the start but kept pushing and they finally got better. It was 3 laps through the historical town centre and lots of people cheering, after 2h I found myself running through the red carpet 🙂

Definitely an amazing event and day!!

Isis

CENTURION CHILTERN WONDERLAND 50 MILE

Centurion stage a series of well organised ultra runs with the Chiltern Wonderland returning for the ninth time. We have a great tale of endurance & positivity from James Hodge who provides an enthralling report:-

aka :- Chasing Cut offs in an Autumn Wonderland

‘It finally arrived, my first attempt at a 50 mile ultra run and I couldn’t have been more excited or more terrified’.

‘The Centurion Chiltern Wonderland is a 50 mile single loop around the beautiful Chiltern countryside. The route takes in 5600ft of climb and visits picturesque villages, featuring locations made famous by British Film & Television. Highlights were passing through the village where the vicar of Dibley is set and past the Windmill made famous in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Midsomer Murders although to reach the windmill is a climb so steep you almost need to use your hands as well as feet’.

‘I hadn’t visited the Chilterns before and was surprised at just how beautiful and quiet the countryside is. We started out alongside the Thames, into woods, through Stonor deer park, crashed through a field of I think sweetcorn towering above me. There were so many amazing houses tucked away to marvel at. I am sure its where they store the Omaze houses before they raffle them’. 

‘We had every kind of weather on the day from storms to sunshine with the temperature really picking up in the afternoon. I was thankful for the rains cooling effect. I knew the course especially the middle section was going to be hilly and it really didn’t disappoint. The wooded sections were muddy, slippy and strength sapping and from aid station 2 to 3, miles 17 to 25 I made slow progress. Just as I was nearing aid station 4 I was caught by another runner who shouted, “C’mon we have to make the cut off”. I hadn’t realised time had slipped away so we ran hard together and arrived at Grims ditch aid station at 40 miles 10 minutes before cut off. I scrambled for my head torch, filled my water bottles and headed off’.

‘All the pre race info had said the last 10 miles were runnable so I was confident I could still make it before the final cut off though I knew it would be tight. Every time I got into a rhythm another steep hill would appear that reduced me to walking and I could feel time ebbing away. I pushed as hard as I could whenever it was runnable, the trail lit up by my head torch, trying to avoid roots laying in wait to catch out the weary runner. There were no lights behind me and I knew no one else had made it out of the last aid station in time. I could see a light ahead and overtook a runner on the outskirts of Goring Village.  The finish was getting closer but after every turn yet another hill. I came into Goring Village running as hard as I could but the Village Hall just would not appear in time. I crossed the line in 13 hours and 1 minute just missing the 13 hour cut off so no result, no medal and no qualifier for Centurions longer events’. 

The runner who I had been with at the last aid station missed the cut off by 6 seconds after missing a turn in the village which also stopped them completing the Grand slam of 50 mile races having already successfully finished the South Downs and North Downs way 50 milers. Heartbreaking. 

‘Am I disappointed? Absolutely not. I ran farther than I have ever run, 50.55 miles by my watch, enjoyed a great day, shared an experience with some amazing people, had no idea what my legs were capable of and finished the last 10 miles running all but the hills. Just as I was thinking I don’t have to do that again James the organiser came over and offered myself and the other close finisher places in next years event as consolation. So it looks like I’ll be going for it all over again. Whose with me?

The race was won in 06:32:49 – just how? The three top women were all within 6 minutes of each other which must have been some close and exciting racing.

James

THE SUFFERINGS

Staged by our very own Jay McCardle and Danny Cunnett, directors at Sussex Trail Events, The Sufferings is a new event in their portfolio. Unfortunately our initial trio of entrants reduced to two through illness but good to see Andy Vincent and Jon Babbage crossing the start line. It was very gallant of Jon to even start as he had been dogged by a bad cough, but having survived parkrun the day before, off he set. Jon completed the Half Marathon as 7th individual in a strong time for the conditions and then turned around and climbed again but felt it best to stop after 15 miles – good work.

Andy Vincent was also tackling the ‘undulations’ and tough conditions; he has sent in the following report (and this week’s banner photo) :-

‘I love what the Sussex Trail Events team do. Marathons in prisons. Marathons in multi-storey car parks. Ultra runs along the Downslink and point to point races from river mouth to river mouth. And there was something about the idea of the Sufferrings that grabbed my attention enough to make me want to sign up. Plus, I needed to complete a marathon to qualify me to start the South Downs Way 50 miler in April next year’.

‘And so it was that I lined up on Sunday morning with about 50 other people to run up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down to complete one 13 mile lap before turning round and setting off for a second one’.

‘Starting in Washington the course runs straight up to Chanctonbury and then straight down to Wiston. It then runs (walks) up to Chanctonbury again before heading off to Cissbury. Passing the defibrillator and the trig point it then heads back up the motorway to Chanctonbury and off the edge of the hill to Washington’.

‘It’s about 2000 feet of climbing each lap. In comparison the South Downs Way 50 is 5,700 feet in total. Practically flat!’

‘So how did it go? Well, I loved it. I loved the “atmospheric” rain and low cloud that made parts of the ascent through the woods look like a film set for Jurassic Park (or Blair Witch Project on the second lap). I loved enjoying the downhill runs through the back of Wiston and also down to Cissbury. I loved the fact that I still felt good halfway through lap 2. But most especially I loved the fact that I finished. Five and a half Hours in total. First lap in two and a half. What’s not to love?’

‘Bring on the SDW50!’

Andy

Editors note: Sussex Trail Events next race is the Downslink Ultra (38 miles) Sunday 6th October. (entries still open)

Kate & Sheila

ETON DORNEY TRIATHLON

Organised by VoTwo Events, Sunday morning at Dorney Lake saw both a Standard and Sprint distance triathlon together with team events. Both Sheila Bailey & Kate Evans were present with Sheila reporting in:-

‘From random racking, and only one place for 100’s of people to get coffee, to bad dad jokes at the race briefing Eton Dorney has it all and so much more’. 

‘Kate and I returned for a second tri at the Eton Dorney course, whilst Kate remained on the sprint course, I took on the Olympic’. 

‘The event is well organised, and a whole lot of fun. It was lovely to swim 2 laps in such clear water and thankfully the reeds/weeds were not like Southwater. Jumping out the lake I found Kate who was ready with my glasses so I could see to find the right bike! Off I went for 8 laps of the left hand route, the rain held off until lap three and then it fell out of the sky along with some sharp stingy hail! It was quite random to suddenly see Ollie Thomas out for a jog round the course! Well done Ollie on completing the long swim’. 

‘As I headed out of lap 7 I could see Kate’s sprint swim in action, thankfully the rain eased off so I quickly completed lap 8 and met Kate in transition. We had a quick chat about the conditions on the bike route and she headed out for 4 laps and I went down the right hand side of the lake for 2 laps! ‘

‘As I was on my way back to the finish I saw Kate nearly halfway through her one lap run, we were both still smiling which is always an added bonus.’ 

‘Medals obtained, pictures taken, we headed back to transition to grab bikes and kit before finding coffee and heading home.  We both had a great day out, Eton is always a nice relaxed event and being flat is just the icing on the cake’

Sheila

SWIM LONG ETON DORNEY

As you will have read above – Sunday also saw VoTwo stage their ‘Swim Long’ event where swimmers could choose between distances of 2.5KM, 3.8KM, 5KM or 10KM. As this is Oliver Thomas we are reporting on with his swimming prowess, he selected the full 10k distance, doing very well to finish as 4th in his age group. Whilst most of us would have simply waited for the 12:30 lunchtime start to do such a long swim, Ollie set off for a 10k run beforehand at 10am finishing inside the hour as a warm up; what a tremendous set of results.

VITALITY LONDON 10K

Established in 2008, Vitality took over the sponsorship of the London 10K in 2016 and for the last two years moved from its traditional May to September date. This year there were 15,102 finishers gaining their medal and t-shirt – included in these was Mark Walford:– (entries already open for 28th Sept 2025)

‘Turning up to do school run on Friday I didn’t expect a teacher to ask to talk to me privately. Instantly naughty child in me thought I had done something wrong. Instead he said he hurt his leg on Wednesday was due to run Vitality 10km on Sunday, he knows I run and would I like his number. Knowing I was free I just said yes. No idea what or where it was. London and 15,000 people racing, I thought this could be fun’.

‘No taper and 15km run Saturday after ‘Power Hour’ I wondered what I had in me. 5.15am alarm didn’t help but the buzz around the event was enough to make up for the bad weather. I was in the second wave and from the first moment I just didn’t feel in top shape but stuck at it. Going through ups and down I was pleased to pass the finish line and get my medal. Shame about the weather but a great event running on clear roads’.

Mark

HELLINGLY 10K

The Hellingly 10k is staged in East Sussex above Eastbourne and thanks go to Colin Simpson for reporting on his run. Colin does himself a disservice in his report because the event was part of the Sussex Grand Prix, so a high standard and his second place in age group was 4.5 minutes ahead of third place :-

‘Due to some ongoing but hopefully minor health issues I had decided to pull out of the European Tri champs at Vichy. Feeling a little guilty and disappointed I decided to have a weekend run duo. First up parkrun at Littlehampton where I felt lethargic so started easy. Coming up to the final turn opposite Mewsbrook i spotted the club chairman just ahead (my poor eyesight missed him earlier). Without realising, my natural competitive instinct kicked in and I snuck past…Luckily with the wind behind I held on and was pleased for Clive as he got a course pb…

‘Sunday i went to run the 37th Hellingly 10k. This used to be a regular of mine 20 plus years ago.Its a nice rural course and real old school with parking in a ploughed field and a couple of tents for registration. The start and finish are a mile apart so logistically a challenge. Advertised as undulating it was a course I enjoyed and ran well in the past. This time it seemed hilly..no..very hilly and I struggled…for the last half mile round the cricket pitch I was an overheating sweaty mess and as Sue said like a zombie!!! I took ages to recover confirming my lack of fitness but recovered after tea and cake…I stayed to collect the over70 award…..not mine ….but an old clubmate of mine about 8 mins ahead!!!  Made me realise that missing Vichy was the right call…’

Colin

Alistair participating in visually impaired run guide training.

PARKRUN ROUND UP

LIttlehampton parkrun had an abundance of Tuffs under the expert guidance again of Debbie Birch who was race Director. Nathan Cooper was flying around the course, crossing the line 4th overall in just 19:05. Steve Fryer was also running well completing in 21:49 which when you consider he was in the canicross division with Ziggy, underlines what a great partnership the two have developed. Next home Jon Babbage who whilst stating he was taking it easy ahead of his marathon the next day, still moved up through the field smoothly finishing in the top 50. Colin Simpson finished as our next runner on his 275th run, 1st in his age group by almost three minutes and shortly after Clive Harvey finished achieving a PB for the course, taking off 36 seconds from a year ago. Kudos needs to go to Alistair Evans who joined a group training to be guides for visually impaired runners. Pairing up, each person had to take turns at wearing a blackout mask, and then leading the other with a tether. This initiative is to encourage more visually impaired runners to take part. Well done Al who rightly earnt both a run and volunteer credit. Vicky Cooper was our next runner and with Hope Newcomer on the volunteer team that was an impressive nine Tuffs on the prom.

Worthing parkrun saw Dave March as our first runner home as he notched up his 75th parkrun in 21:20. Next home was Jay McCardle accumulating a strong age grading in the process. Next was Ed Lay completing his 151st Worthing run out of 182 parkruns. and then Paul Fielder who is also a Worthing regular. Phil Turner completed his 111th parkrun around the Worthing course. Our sixth runner was Sue Pinky.

Maidenhead parkrun was the choice of Trevor Harvey who gained both a volunteer credit for the first timers briefing and then ran the grass and trail terrain course.

There was parkrun tourism out at Brockenhurst parkrun where Chris Evans ran for the first time around the single lap run in the New Forest.

Top parkrun tourist this week goes to Steve Feest who was also visiting a venue for the first time up at Fulham Palace parkrun – a three lapper starting near Fulham FC stadium and back along the Thames towards Putney Bridge,

Well done to all eighteen

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Picture of the week is provided by our Saturday morning runners, Tuff Fitty’s longer distance run, which includes that magic phrase ‘undulations’ with several preparing for autumn longer distance races. 7:30am start from Arundel, outside the lower Castle gates.

TUFF FITTY’S HILL CLIMB

The return of Tuff Fitty’s cycle hill climb. Our inaugural event was held at the beginning of October last year and the return is scheduled for Sunday 6th October. The HQ will be at The Fox Pub at Patching where riders congregate ready for the event. The course starts along Swillage Lane and riders will be set off at intervals for the climb back up to the finish line adjacent to The Fox.

The event is open to all Tuffs and as over a short course of half a mile is suitable for all abilities. Riders will have two timed rides. We have Tom Frith who is our male champion setting a time of 1 minute 41 sec and ladies champ of Emma Kuusela with a time of 1:52. Fancy seeing if you can claim a new course record? Perhaps you prefer to simply see how your time compares and indulge in some food. As a breakfast bap will be included there is an entry fee, please see the full terms on the Spond event. If anyone wishes to help on the day, please reply on the Spond event.