Weekend Round Up 12th 13th October
ATLANTIC COAST CHALLENGE
We start this week with a report from our very own Geordie, Paul Atkinson on his annual trip to Cornwall for the Atlantic Challenge, a route of up to 78.6 miles broken down into three marathons in three days – As you will read it’s huge congratulations from us all on a big marathon milestone. Paul reports:-
‘Favourite weekend of the year. Like a stag weekend with 3 marathons thrown in. Bit of edge this year though. Kept it quiet, but if all went to plan, this would be Marathons number 98, 99 and 100, finishing at Lands End on Sunday’.
‘The format may be familiar. 3 marathons in 3 days along the Cornish Atlantic South West Coast Path, from Padstow to Lands End. Instructions are simple. It’s a challenge not a race. And keep the sea on your right.
‘All went well fortunately, despite the disrespectful lack of training’.
‘Day 1 was a straightforward marathon with 1,100m of climb from Trevose Head to Perrenporth, finishing with an energy sapping, gut wrenching, soul destroying 4km run along Perrenporth Beach’.
‘Day 2 was a straightforward marathon with 1,100m of climb from Perrenporth to Hayle, finishing with an energy sapping, gut wrenching, soul destroying 4km run along Hayle Sands’.
‘Days 1 and 2 were just the warm up for the final day. Nearly 29 miles and 2,000m climb of mostly un-runable hideousness. Oh, and torrential rain too for the first 30km. But alls well that ends well. The sun came out, the The Old Success in Sennen at 44km was serving Cornish Special, and the last 3km floated by. The Cornish Pasty at Lands End was worth the entry fee’.
‘So, got to be honest, this has been a completely unintentional, random marathon journey. Never set any goals. Just entered what looked like what would provide the best day out or weekend away. It all started 27 years ago. The Long Distance Walkers association Rottingdean Marathon in 1997. Walked that one with the then girlfriend. Looking back at the list of events brings back many happy memories but also evokes memories of torturous pain and misery when I haven’t trained’.
In numbers:
16no two-day mountain marathons
13no three day coastal challenges
11no Ultras
8no Dark Stars
5no Beachy Head Marathons
4no 3 Forts Marathons
3no Brighton Marathons
2no Ironman
1no London
Plus all the rest.
Thanks all who shared the journey. Legends.
So who’s up for the Jurassic Coast Challenge in March? Photo’s from this race are below to inspire:-
Cheers
Geordie Paul
Simon, Pete & Adrian
COWDRAY RUN THE SEASONS – AUTUMN
Raw Energy Pursuits, Run the Seasons returns. Backed by the Cowdray estate, this “Autumn” course is a tough one. Successful runners gain a medal which will link together with the other three season’s pieces of bling. Whilst the rain wasn’t expected until mid morning it arrived early, but this didn’t deter our illustrious trio of runners Adrian Oliver, Pete Littleboy and Simon Thistlethwaite.
As well as the Tuff trio there were nine club members on the organising team, so kudos to Sheila Bailey, Debbie Boxall, Jane Custance, Grant Smalley, Clive Harvey, Trevor Harvey, Jon Roper, Andy Rossiter & Andy Ward. Adrian was keen to do the double of Cowdray and Cross country and he reports:-
‘The first of four races around the Cowdray estate – great running routes – and my highlight – the medal!
‘As with all REP events, Tuffs’ presence was in full force on the organisation and marshalling team to host the 10mile, 10km and 5km runs. Adrian Oliver toddled around the 5km route, spending more time chatting with marshal Sheila Bailey than running. Back-to-fitness Peter Littleboy ran a respectable 10km, finishing in the heavy downpour. At the same time, Simon Thistlethwaite was unsure whether the race description “10mile” referred to the elevation gained, horizontal distance, or both – but still managed an impressive 3rd place‘.
‘Although planning on also racing the Sussex County Cross-Country in the afternoon, good samaritan Simon spent the remainder of the day repairing a boiler that had been condemned by another plumber the previous day, leaving a wheelchair-bound lady with no heating or hot water’.
‘Meanwhile, we look forward to the next Cowdray Run The Season race on Saturday 7th, December at 5 pm to receive the 2nd Cowdray Race The Season medal puzzle’.
Adrian
Adrian & Jake
SUSSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – RACE ONE – GOODWOOD
The first fixture of the Sussex Cross Country league with its traditional venue of Goodwood adjacent to the racecourse. Tuff numbers this time were depleted but thanks to Adrian for this thoughts below with an album of pics from Clive Harvey below:-
‘Sussex County Cross-Country Race #1 at Goodwood included the usual appearance of super skinny, super fast athletes, with Kate Cooper, Simon Grundy, Jacob Bowen Jones and Adrian Oliver making cameo appearances. Kate, running for Harriers, completed her 5km race in 79th place in 25:23 (winner took 17:28). Simon, running for Run Academy Worthing, came 70th in 33:14 for his 8km race, Jacob in 77th in 34:26, and Adrian in 101 in 37:39′.
‘Despite only having Jacob running for Tuffs in the Senior mens, and Adrian as the only Vet 50, Tuffs Senior mens team placed 18th out of 26, and Tuffs Vet 50 in 19th out of 23!’
Adrian
Nathan
OXFORD HALF MARATHON
Starting in Oxford city centre, including the Bodleian Library & Bridge of Sighs,the Oxford Half has been sold out both for 2023 and this year. There was a fantastic run from Nathan Cooper who finished just outside the top 2% with 9,500 runners completing the course. Nathan finished in just 1 hour 24 min and he has kindly submitted his thoughts:-
‘The Oxford half started in a very chilly 4 degrees celsius, forcing me to wear gloves! The field was quick and the atmosphere was fantastic as we raced around the picturesque city. To summarise, super flat and super fast and would recommend this race for anyone going for a PB!’
Nathan
Nina & Sue
ROYAL PARKS HALF MARATHON
Next up, the Royal Parks Half Marathon, attended by Nina Tully & Sue Pinky, with Sue reporting below:-
‘I was chuffed to get another ballot entry for the Royal Parks, I’ve been lucky enough to have done this 4 times now. Previously though I’d been able to stay in London the night before which made getting to the start very easy.
I kept checking trains a couple of weeks before and was gutted to find that there were no trains direct to Victoria so started looking at parking in London and comparing travel times with driving up, parking outside of London and training in.
I found parking literally a 10 minute walk away from the start line which was very reasonably priced so I booked it.
I then gave my support runner, the wonderful, amazing Nina the bad news in that I’d need to pick her up at 6am.
Alarm set for 04:00 so I had time to walk the pooch first and then off I went to collect her
We had an uneventful journey up and were in the event village before 8am. Bags dropped in and then we joined the mega long toilet queue. Once that was done it was time to get into our start wave.
Training for me has been hit and miss, so I decided on one minute run one minute walk.
Nina and I chatted pretty much non stop and during one of the walk breaks I noticed that my pace was just over 13mm, I honestly thought my GPS was wasn’t working but it was, I was just running and walking really well. Everything felt comfortable and it didnt feel like I was pushing myself. About 5 miles in, I got the dreaded stomach cramps so we stopped at the loos and queued for ages again but it wasn’t the right time for my tummy. We set of again and I was having to walk more due to the cramps, just before we hit 6 miles, I noticed that I wasn’t far of my 10k PB time for this year (I reset my 5k 10k and half times at the start of each year) so I made a point of ignoring the cramps and hoped beyond hope that there wasn’t an explosion, it was at this point we saw a rather amusing sign saying something along the lines of be glad you havent sh1t yourself which I was praying not to happen! Ignored my watch beeping at me and kept running, it looked as though I had beaten my time but I couldn’t be sure. We went back to run/walk, having fun and putting the world to rights. Everything still felt really good. I was running well, heart rate low and I wasn’t getting out of breath.
Then we hit the camber and the wheels fell off. My knee started giving me jip, then my hip and then my back. I had no choice but to walk pretty much the last 3 miles. I did my best to run when the camber was flat and my pace was still OK when I did but it was uncomfortable. So I saved everything I had left for the finish. Nina and I sprinted over the finish line with a time of 3:13:39, however, due to congestion on the course and much weaving our actual half time was 3:09:39
Very pleased with that as we had two toilet stops where we waited at least five minutes each time. I did also get that 10k PB, knocking a whopping 4 mins of my Brighton time!
A huge thank you to Nina for being my support runner. I really couldn’t have done it without you. You’re a real life superstar and I look forward to running the Great South with you!
Sue
Mark
IRONMAN 70.3 – NEW YORK (JONES BEACH)
Having previously congratulated Mark Dinsdale on completing Ironman 70.3 in New York, Mark has now returned to the UK and submitted his thoughts:-
‘As I’ve mentioned before my daughter and her husband got me involved in Triathlon in 2019 – last year they moved to New York City and we all agreed when I visited we would all do the local Ironman 70.3. The Tri takes place on Jones beach about 20 miles outside the City – it’s a sea swim. closed road bike along the freeway and a sea front run. I can imagine in fine weather it would be very picturesque – unfortunately we got caught in the edge of storm Helene. The course was brutal – choppy seas, gusting winds and heavy rain all day – this resulted in a lot of DNF. But whilst tough it was a good day all round – we all finished and have got the medal and T Shirt. It was also nice to hear them call out my name, country and club as I crossed the line – so Tuff Fitty got a tannoy mention in New York!
With kind regards,
Mark
Fraser
RUN BOURNEMOUTH 10K
Next up a report from Fraser Kidd running Bournemouth 10k who had the goal of guiding his sister round to get under the hour. A target they achieved by some margin. Fraser reports
‘I am an annual visitor to the Run Bournemouth festival as I have free accommodation! Variety of events over the weekend, finishing with the half marathon on Sunday at 11, which I am very glad I didn’t sign up to as this was my original intention giving me an hour to recover and get back to the start after the 10k!’
Fraser
Kate
EAST GRINSTEAD AQUATHLON
An autumn Aquathlon up at East Grinstead utilising the swim and run course from the Spring Triathlon. We had a Tuff duo competing. Susan Douglas used her strong swim to get off to a flying start and Kate Evans who has raced a lot recently. Thanks to Kate for reporting in:-
‘Having done East Grinstead Triathlon before, I knew I didn’t want to do the ride again any time soon, but enjoyed the rest there, I thought I would give the aquathlon a go. It’s a small event, with only about 58 entered this year. A typically early start for multisport, but it means you are home before most people have even got up! I was in the water at 7.30 and home by 10.45! A well run and friendly event, with free cake given at the end!! I found out that Susan Douglas was entered too, so it was nice to see a familiar face and have someone to chat with at the end. This is an event I’d recommend to you all as a lovely season finisher!
Kate
WEST SUSSEX FUN RUN LEAGUE – GREAT WALSTEAD 5
Starting from Great Wanstead school in Lindfield we had two club members running for their respective running clubs. The course is an off road mixed terrain course of approximately 5 miles with a couple of moderate climbs. First Tuff under their Worthing Gazelles banner was Steve Feest. Next, a strong result from Kate Cooper after running the previous afternoon at the Cross Country league race.
PARKRUN ROUND UP
Worthing parkrun saw Edward Lay as our first runner home completing his 185th parkrun. Paul Howie was our next runner to finish just 20 seconds later. Katie Goddard also took part and did well shaving 2.5 minutes off her previous outing along the prom. Les Pearce was on the volunteer team so thanks to him.
At Littlehampton parkrun our first runner home was Gavin Sewell, who opened his parkrun account setting a good benchmark to beat crossing the line in 22:33. Alistair Evans has completed this course 129 times so it is fantastic that he attained a new PB shaving 2 seconds off his previous best set in February. Kudos to Hope Newcomer on the volunteer team.
There has been some good parkrun tourism this week:-
Chichester parkrun was the choice of Catharine Gray as she took part running the 3 laps of Oaklands Park course above the Festival Theatre.
Moors Valley parkrun was the choice of James Mapley – who flew around the course in 19:22. Situated to the west of Ringwood the one lap course is on gravel and tarmac paths around Moors Valley Country Park and Forest.
Colin & Sue Simpson travelled to Feltham, close to Heathrow airport for the Hanworth parkrun. The two and a bit lapper is around the edge of Hanworth airpark. Despite their extensive tourism, this was their first visit to Hanworth with Colin gaining a fantastic 71% age grading.
Going international, Steve Fryer was our furthest Tuff this week as he was taking part in the Malahide parkrun. Situated north of Dublin, the course took in a lap of a golf course before some wooded sections. Whilst his first visit, Steve did well crossing in 20:15
Well done to all twelve
