Weekend Round Up 2nd 3rd April

Whilst Covid is still around, perhaps British Summertime signals an improvement as we have two international reports and a national race this week as Tuffs spread their wings.

SCHNEIDER MARATHON DE PARIS

This was the Paris Marathon’s 45th race and 45,000 participants braved the freezing cold and the wind of the capital. This year Matthieu Cauchy-Duval was in attendance and thanks to him for submitting his thoughts on the race:-

“Ouh la la!

After a far from ideal preparation (sprained ankle and Covid), I ran Paris Marathon at the weekend, as an early 40^th birthday celebration with my big sister. I had planned it as a nice social run with her, going through the famous landmarks in Paris, enjoying the route and the company.

I had just forgotten how competitive my sister is! She told me a few weeks before the race: ‘I am running in 5.30 min/km, if you cannot keep up, I won’t wait for you!!!’ My race plan (I had one now!) was to keep up with her for as long as I could!

After an eventful journey there and back (EasyJet cancelled both my flights!!!), I finally arrived in Paris on Saturday early afternoon. Met my sister and then made our way to the ‘Expo’ to collect our race numbers. I was shocked when I saw the Union Jack on my bib!!! I would expect people to throw snails and frogs legs at me on the route!!!

Race day was great! It was very sunny. The route is incredible. Start on the Champs Elysées, make your way to the Opera, the Louvres, The Seine, Eiffel Tower… and finish with the Arc de Triomphe in the background! Didn’t really like the long Tuileries tunnel on the Seine bank though. A 1 kilometre long dark tunnel on km 25. The echo of people playing the drums at the start of the tunnel and the obscurity made me think I was entering hell! Luckily, I was still with my sister at this point as she helped me through that dark place!

I managed to keep up with her until kilometre 34 (better than I thought). She finished in 4.00 and I struggled in the last 2 miles to finish in 4.07. Definitely one to do again in the future!”

Matthieu

LUCKY’S LAKE SWIM

Thanks to Dom Mason for reporting in from Florida after his participation in Lucky’s Lake swim. There is a very lengthy waiver that all swimmers must sign and there is an interesting footnote on Lucky’s website – “We provide all alligators for free. There have been a few in the past, and there may be some now. It would be unusual to have a large one over 5 feet, but alligators migrate and you just never know. There are also snakes, turtles, fish, etc…. When you participate in an open water swim you enter the food chain! .

” I swam the 1km “Lucky’s Lake” crossing at 06:45AM on 4th April, Lake Cane, Florida. Some of the Lake Cane inhabitants (see picture) that regulars refer to as ‘little nippers’ were less than impressed, but they inspired me to keep with the pack and go bloody fast!”

Dom

ENGLAND NATIONAL DUATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS – YORKSHIRE DUATHLON

Several club members have national/international races coming up this year as the race scene resumes fully and thanks to Steve Feest for reporting in following his trip to Yorkshire at the weekend:-

“I flew the flag for Tuff Fitty up at the Croft Circuit, South of Darlington, last Sunday 3rd in the England Nation Duathlon Champs.

It’s a long way to drive but I know the area a bit as our eldest son has lived in Northallerton, just down the road.

There was a sprint distance race going off at 9:00 then our standard distance race went at 1:00pm.

10k run, 40k bike, 5k run.

The runs were on, and around, the motor racing circuit, whilst the bike was predominantly around the undulating quiet country lanes, lovely route.

My training didn’t go exactly to plan as I pulled my Achilles early in the new year, as I upped the miles, but I managed to get to the start line.

Not one of my best races, I even tested positive for Covid on my return Monday, but a well organised and friendly race by “Tri Hard” events.

I came 2nd in my Age Group.

Steve

ARUNDEL LANDMARKS HALF MARATHON -SAT 2nd APRIL

Next up a race report from Graham Liddell on his ‘not the London Half’ in Arundel. Clearly Graham went to a lot of effort to complete his goal; if you wish to support his fund raising efforts, the link to his page for the British Heart Foundation is here

“Just in case you skim read race reports, here is a summary:

• planned to run in London as Barbara with my sister in memory of my mum
• prevented by ironing board
• ran in Arundel with Tuffs instead
• got a medal and a baby
• emotional

Part 1 – ironing board thwarts run

Back in January, my sister and I decided to run together for the first time. We would run the London Landmarks Half-Marathon for charity in memory of my Mum, who we lost in March 2021. And until three weeks before the race everything was going to plan: I had a confirmed place, the British Heart Foundation had sent me a T-shirt and the hotel was booked.

Then in the final three weeks, things didn’t quite work out.

• Firstly, BHF lost my entry. All, however, was not lost. With the help of Tuffs and the wider running community I found an unwanted place. The only snag was that I would have to run as Barbara.

• Then my sister broke her toe on an ironing board (moral: if you are preparing for an important event, stay crumpled).

• There was no way my sister could take part, and I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to go up to London on my own and run as someone else.

Part 2 – The Arundel Landmarks Half Marathon is born

Well, if I wasn’t going to travel to London to see the landmarks, perhaps the London landmarks could come to me. And Arundel is the only place in Sussex that a self-respecting London landmark would want to hang out. There is a castle, a river, bridges, a cathedral, pelicans and more. There is even a Beefeater at Crossbush.

I checked with the Saturday run regulars, would they fancy doing a 13 miler with me? They were up for it and the Arundel Landmarks Half Marathon was born. We would start and finish outside Arundel Museum (own very own Victoria and Albert Museum) and include as many London landmarks as we could including:

• The Tower of London (Arundel Castle)
• The Mall (Mill Road)
• The Serpentine (Swanbourne Lake)
• The Shard (Hiorne Tower)
• Primrose Hill (Crawford’s Original Hill of Death)
• Tower Bridge (The Gurkha Bridge)
• The Thames (River Arun) with view across to Westminster Abbey (Arundel Cathedral)
• London Bridge (Arundel Bridge)

We would run together and for those who wanted to go shorter, we built in turn-off points.

Part 3 – The Big Day

The run was scheduled for Saturday 2^nd April at the usual time of 07.30. Of course, we followed the standard Saturday morning protocol of faffing around, chatting, setting watches and making sure everyone had arrived. And at 7.40, off we went.

The weather was perfect for running (sunny and cool), the trail was dry, the views were fantastic and the company just brilliant. As for the actual running, it comprised:

• lots of ups (Why do my legs feel so heavy?)
• mysteriously fewer downs (I’m actually not too bad at this running thing.)
• frequent stops for photo, Haribo and loo breaks (Don’t we look good? Just one more. That feels better.)

Some 13.9 miles and two and a half hours later, we arrived back in Arundel and that was that. (Apart from Clare who did extra bit so that her watch read the same distance as the rest of us.)

Part 4 – Medal and baby and the emotional bit

No Arundel run is complete without a visit to the Edible Sandwich Café for breakfast. Once we had found a place, sat down and ordered, there was an impromptu awards ceremony at which I was presented with:

• an Arundel Landmarks Half Marathon finisher’s medal (made by Catharine) which I shall always treasure; and
• baby Finn (made by the Crawfords) who I gave back once the food arrived.

It was just about the best morning I could have hoped for, and I am so grateful to all who turned up. I really couldn’t imagine running with a nicer and more supportive group of people. Many thanks to:

• Clive H, Jon, Muz and Glenn who we dropped off at Swanbourne Lake;
• Adrian and Dom who headed home at the top of The Original; and
• Andy, Catharine, Clare and Nic who ran the whole distance with me.

You made it day to remember”.

Graham

ENGLAND ATHLETICS AFFILIATION

As we start a new financial year, it means that another of our affiliations has just been paid for the forthcoming 12 month period – that of England Athletics. Tuff Fitty have paid the sizeable annual club fee to continue our affiliation and it is now up to individual members to chose whether they wish to affiliate themselves. We will also shortly be paying a fee to Sussex County Athletics as that enables us to participate in local events such as the West Sussex Cross Country League.

As stated it is up to each individual Tuff to decide whether affiliation is appropriate for them. Affiliation for the 2022/2023 year is set at £16 per person. The most immediate benefit is that any runs organised under the governance of UK Athletics mean that when entering as ‘affiliated’. athletes would be able to click on the affiliated entry box which would usually see a reduction of £2. So if you are planning to race a number of events this year, then it is worth affiliating as you recoup your fee across 8 eligible races. Another benefit is that most affiliated races will accrue under each Athletes “Power of 10” listing on your own England Athletic portal returning your race results and highlighting your PB’s. For example with many club members having raced at Brighton Half Marathon or Hampton Court Half, your results are listed on the ‘Power of 10.’ Those racing Brighton Marathon will find their results get logged there as well. One of the high profile benefits is that usually our club get awarded one guaranteed slot for London Marathon. We will not get a slot for the October 22 race as a previous golden ticket had deferred, but in checking, it is believed we should be eligible for one slot when the race returns to its traditional April slot in 2023. Only those affiliated will be eligible to go into the club draw.

If you are interested please pass £16 to Clive Harvey and existing members will be renewed. Anyone wishing to affiliate for the first time, we can set you up quickly if you are looking to enter any runs. Each affiliated athlete would need a URN (Unique Runner Number) but this can be established on our England Athletic portal if you wish to join. Any questions please ask.

The final race in this year’s Chichester Corporate challenge – a 4,500m run around the city centre over 4 laps. This race saw the return of Debra & Matthieu Cauchy-Duval – particularly impressive as this was Matthieu’s ‘warm up’ for the weekends Paris Marathon. They formed half of the Felpham Community College Team.

PARKRUN ROUND UP

Worthing parkrun saw three scintillating times as a trio of Tuffs were close to the twenty minute threshold. Steve Fryer led the charge with 20:07, James Togneri 20:23 & Niki Treacy 20:27. This was Niki’s parkrun debut, but what a start as she romped home first female by a margin of 2 minutes 3 seconds over second female. The good new continued as Ed Lay crossed in 22:43, Maisie Johnston not only reached her 30th parkrun but broke her PB at Worthing by 24 seconds. Tucked in just behind Les Pearce reached his 151st PR in 23:30. A strong 24:28 followed from Mark Sole. Phil Turner followed for his 74th parkrun & Elaine Rousseau on her 121st.

Chichester parkrun saw another great run from Emily Moore finishing in 20:16 – her 122nd parkrun and second female overall.

Littlehampton parkrun saw Richard Budd lead the Tuff charge home crossing in 21:56 for his 168th parkrun. Charlotte Pryer was the next Tuff home. Alistair Evans finished his 78th parkrun and Al was also on the organising team as was Nick Hartfied

Well done to all with some great times.