Weekend Round Up 14th 15th September
Another varied week of great Tuff activity
OUTRUN CANCER
Cancer United based in Angmering is our charity partner due to the impact cancer has had on our members. They stage two successful fund raising events, February up in Arundel and this event from the Fox Pub. Adrian Oliver takes up the story of the morning:-
‘After a week of autumnal/wintery weather, we were delighted to be greeted with a warm, dry, and sunny morning as over 300 participants assembled, registered, and warmed up for the annual Outrun Cancer Run/Walk race at the Fox, Patching’.
‘After the traditional Cancer United Warmup led by Dwayne, first off was the 5km race down Selden Lane, led from the start by our own Simon Thistlethwaite to win the mostly dry course by a comfortable margin in 24:49. It turned out Simon had mistakenly thought the race started at 9 am rather than 9:30 am, and had arranged to meet someone at 10 am … was Simon just in a hurry? Also running the 5km race was Kate Evans who completed it in 46:11 (41st), followed by Hope Newcomer in 48:57 (48th)’.
‘Next up was the 10km, which undertook the same route but included an extra forest lap. The winning time was an impressive 43:37 by David Slater, with Stuart Harvey as first Tuff over the line in an equally impressive 47:39 (8th). Hazel Tuppen was 1st Tuff lady in 51:04, and 2nd lady overall (19th overall), having just been overtaken on the final hill back up Selden Lane to be robbed of 1st place. Next up was Adrian Oliver in 51:46 (21st), Sophie Garbo in 56:12 (38th, 6th lady?), Mark Dinsdale in 1:12:15, Janet Shepherd in 1:15:09, Susan Douglas with Stigg in 1:17:49, and Debbie Birch in 1:20:32.
There were also 10km and 5km walks, which did not include any Tuff Fitty representation this year due to the Evans family being away. Marshals included Chris Evans and Jon Babbage, whose encouragement around the race was greatly appreciated.
Cancer United is Tuff Fitty’s nominated charity, and we are delighted to be able to support them in their work in the local community.
We look forward to the next Cancer United event in Arundel next February!
Adrian
Adam
IRONMAN WEYMOUTH 70.3
There was no Bolton full distance Ironman this year leaving just Ironman Wales this coming weekend 22nd Sept as full distance Ironman in the UK. It has been announced that the replacement full Ironman for England will now be Ironman Leeds UK scheduled for 27th July 2025. This leaves Ironman 70.3 races at Swansea, Bolton & Weymouth. Did you know that UK athletes are second in the world, only behind the United States as having the highest number of participants in Ironman branded events worldwide.
We are delighted to report Tuff Fitty added to this number as Adam Stringer raced at Weymouth 70.3 swimming in Weymouth Bay before cycling high up into Dorset and back before a run along Weymouth promenade. Well done to Vicki Hedger who spectated as she looks to compete next September. Adam is having a fantastic season having completed three Triathlons in successive weekends, Brighton, Southwater and now Weymouth:-
‘What an exhilarating experience!!!! Ironman Weymouth 70.3 did not disappoint!
‘From the pre swim DJ blasting out “The final countdown” to the hundreds of people gathered along the route and the famous red carpet finish line, the atmosphere was electric. The 1.2 mile sea swim started from the beach into a fresh, calm, clear sea, This was really enjoyable, I felt calm and relaxed and finished this after 38 minutes. The description of “rolling hills” were not wrong, 56 miles of constant rolling hill course soon started to take its toll. The hills seemed to be non-stop but eventually in a time of 3 hours 39 minutes I made it back to transition where I left my bike and collected my running shoes. The route followed Weymouth’s famous coastline beach from one end to the pavilion at the harbour, hundreds of spectators lined the streets cheering everyone on. The atmosphere was amazing with so much support from everyone along the route. I found myself having to really dig deep and force myself to keep pushing forward in order to complete the final section. After a long 2 hours and 40 minutes of running I reached the red carpet to welcome me over the finish line, with a body draining total time of 7 hours 16 minutes, but worth it just for the medal.’
‘I absolutely loved it and will definitely be doing this again next year!!’
Adam
Swim Serpentine
Swim Serpentine is held in London’s Hyde Park, a bumper event with 6,000 competitors. We had both Karly Martin and Elaine Rousseau present. Both reference the London Classics in their reports. If you haven’t come across this before, Swim Serpentine is staged by London Marathon Events, so if you complete London Marathon, Ride London (100 mile option) and Swim Serpentine (2 mile option) (their three toughest events) you can apply for a special London Classics Medal and go on their hall of fame. There is no time limit so even having run the marathon back in the 90’s you could still add the other two. Of note though is the the UK’s largest Sportive – Ride London is taking a hiatus in 2025. Karly & Elaine take up the story:-
Karly
‘Swim serpentine really is a fantastic event well organised with Friendly atmosphere. I would highly recommend’.
‘You can choose to swim half a mile, one or two miles, I signed up for the two as would like to get the classics medal 🙂 plus I think its always best to go big right? My start time was 2.20pm there were a lot of swimmers. I was a little worried about a mass start but luckily you walk down a ramp in waves of 20 or so and dive in, my dive was more like a plop in, haha!’.
‘Two laps of the lake, the water was colder than i’d been used to as the weather had turned cooler that week, took it steady on the first lap as was unsure I’d make the second comfortably but I surprised myself with a great time of 1h 29mins and felt amazing and still buzzing now. I also had the bonus of the best support from Paul and Leah, they definitely soaked up the atmosphere’.
‘Just need London Classics to sort the bike ride to complete the trio as unfortunately they’ve cancelled it for May next year’.
Karly
Elaine
‘Today was swim the Serpentine 2 mile swim. Should have been a piece of cake having trained for Outlaw Full triathlon, should have been a given right? – well after a horrendous swim at Southwater relay last weekend nothing was a given’.
‘We were given details of the water temperature throughout the coming weeks which dropped in the last week and after Southwater I decided I would wear my gloves and my towfloat just in case I struggled’.
‘At the briefing we were told we would need to dive off the platform (not step off and plop) – like really!!! (I’m never going to get my breathing controlled I thought)’.
‘After a short distance I was actually able to put my head in the water and swim properly. The gloves were a good idea but I needn’t have worried about struggling. I even enjoyed being in the mix of lots of swimmers on the second lap when the next wave joined us. (I’m defo not wired right 🙂 ) ‘
Time not important but over the moon I felt comfortable. London Classics complete 🙂
Elaine
SCILLY SWIM CHALLENGE
Held by Swimquest on the second largest island in the Scilly archipelago, we have a great report from Susan Douglas:-
‘Scilly Swim Challenge – Tresco 360 and Invasion of the Jellyfish!’
‘Last week I travelled to the beautiful Isles of Scilly to take part in the swim around Tresco’.
‘I’d last visited back in 2014, when I rather naively took on the first Scilly Challenge, 6 swims between the islands, but only managed 4.5, petering out on the swim to St. Agnes’.
‘So, this time I thought I’d try the Tresco 360. Split into 3 swims totalling 10k’.
‘But unfortunately, it was too windy to swim around the north of the island and you might have seen on the news that Cornwall and the Scilly Isles were experiencing unprecedented numbers of jellyfish “mauve stingers”. This meant that all our swims had to be altered’.
‘The first swim was out and around a bay. Still quite blowy and the water quite cool, probably 16/17˚C and in defiance of the situation I wore my jellyfish bikini’.
‘We were split into 3 groups based on our abilities and a flag carrying kayak led the way, which at least didn’t involve any navigation skills. Lovely swimming in the crystal-clear water until we reached the bay where we started with just a short swim across to the beach to finish. Unfortunately, in the time we’d away the bay had filled with jellyfish, which meant we had to get out and then be ferried back in the safety boat’.
‘Next was a welcome warm-up walk around the north of the island, with lots of chat on what must be the friendliest event’.
‘The 2nd swim had been surveyed and if we kept close to the beach, we should be safe. Gorgeous white sand beach and now the sun had come out, turquoise seas. And all was fine, brushing past mermaids hair seaweed and seeing the creatures on the seabed. There were a few jellies which I mostly avoided with just one sting on the back of my knee, no worse than a stinging nettle’.
‘The 3rd swim was again hugging the coast and just as beautiful as the previous swims. I was happily swimming along, when pow, I was mugged by a gang of “mauve stingers” who did their best to cover my body in stings, the final straw was a big sting on my chin, at which point I thought it’s time to get out and took refuse in the safety boat, along with several others’.
‘So, an eventful time, but the organisers did their best in difficult circumstances’.
Susan
Amy & Matt
LONDON TO BRIGHTON
Whilst there are other London to Brighton Cycle Sportives, this one has the Alzheimer’s Society as their “trailblazer Partner” and connected to this we have a very powerful report below from Amy Flinders:-
‘This weekend, my partner Matthew and I took part in the London to Brighton cycle for the first time, in honour of my dad, who has completed the event several times throughout his life. Now facing Alzheimer’s, we wanted to ride in respect to his passion for cycling and the memories he’s made along the route. The ride covers just over 55 miles, starting at Clapham Common and winding through beautiful countryside, including the notoriously steep Ditchling Beacon (not my favourite!)’.
‘Although the atmosphere wasn’t quite as lively as some other events I’ve been to, it was still well-organised and enjoyable. The best part, by far, was celebrating at Brighton Beach with a well-deserved piña colada at the finish line. It was a tough ride, but a meaningful and memorable experience for both of us’.
‘We’ve got the Rome half marathon 20.10.24 so will be sure to check in again with some info on this too! ‘
Amy
PARKRUN ROUND UP
At Worthing parkrun there was a strong performance from Dave March racing home in just 20:56 . Ed Lay was accredited a strong age grading as he was our next runner back into Beach House Park. Paul Fielder has run over 40 times at Worthing so he has a strong record yet still managed to beat his PB by 10 seconds – well done Paul. Les Pearce kept up his excellent record at Worthing achieving his 205th run at Worthing. Kate Evans ran with a group from her running club to complete our Tuff quintet on the Prom.
Littlehampton parkrun saw a rapid run from Colin Simpson, first in his age group by three minutes scoring a large age grade score, just outside his PB. Our next runner was Sheila Bailey who gained a new PB knocking a very significant 1 minute 15 seconds off her previous best – awesome. Sue Simpson followed notching up her 228th parkrun. Good to see Vicky Cooper back on the parkrun trail as our next runner home. Hope Newcomer gained double credits as she both participated and was on the volunteer team
At Bognor parkrun there was a Tuff duo who ran the twisting four laps around Hotham Park – Clive Harvey & Steve Feest.
Our furthest tourism this week was from Alistair Evans who travelled to Hove Park for Brighton & Hove parkrun. Surprisingly for Al who has visited 36 parkrun location this was his first time at the undulating course of one small and two bigger laps.
Well done to all thirteen.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
This week was Tuff Fitty’s first Monday run on our ‘winter route’ as the evenings are now closing in. The meeting point is Sea Lane Cafe (Goring) on the prom above the car park. It is a linear route so if a speedier group wish to push on, as they return on the out and back route they can pick up other groups. This week the group bowed to “pier pressure” and ran around Worthing Pier both times as they headed eastwards. All welcome. Congregate ready to canter off at 6:30pm
TUFF FITTY’S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Tuff Fitty’s Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Friday 18th October at The Fox Pub. Meet in the bar area prior to the start has the emphasis on ‘social’ and attendees may wish to take the opportunity to eat as the kitchen is open prior to the meeting. Members are welcome to attend from 6:30pm with the AGM starting at 7:30pm out in the marquee. The AGM will not take long and if similar to last year, many returned to the bar afterwards.
It is acknowledged that the initials AGM may worry people thinking that they will be pressganged. Whilst true that we need more committee members, the Chair assures everyone that there is no need to stare at the floor. Please do come along and find out what your club have been up to and future plans. Don’t forget if you wish to submit any item(s) to be raised at the AGM you will need to submit this prior to the meeting to our Secretary at secretary@tufffittytri.club
