Round Up 22nd February – 2nd March 2025
This bumper edition includes accounts of last weekend’s super successful Tuff Fitty Frosty event, along with write ups of Brighton Half Marathon, Eastbourne Half Marathon and the Winchester 10k. A huge well done to everyone who took part in or volunteered at the Frosty. Extra kudos to Adam Stringer who did the Frosty / Brighton Half double and to Mark Walford who competed in both the Frosty and the Frostbite! Read on to find out all about it ….
Winchester 10k – Sunday 23rd February 2025
Clive Harvey finally found out what it is like to be on the receiving end of requests for a write up and was kind enough to tell us all about a Harvey brothers birthday run with bling:
Clive & Trevor Harvey were in Southampton for the weekend to help their brother celebrate his birthday. Saturday morning saw them run at Netley Abbey parkrun, stopping for birthday cake with his running club, before the celebrations continued for the rest of Saturday. It had seemed a good idea for the three of them to run the Winchester 10k, but after several beers the night before, the early 8:30 start time wasn’t so appealing. Whilst the wind did start to pick up, thankfully the forecast rain stayed away as 1,300 runners formed up by the King Alfred statue. The course took runners out of Winchester around a rather lumpy route through villages before heading back. It was nice to run round a different course on closed roads, albeit to collect the substantive medal, finishers were routed onto a muddy playing field.
Eastbourne Half Marathon – Sunday 23rd February 2025
While your past editor was running in Winchester, your current editor, Kate Cooper, was tackling the half in Eastbourne:
The idea behind running Eastbourne Half Marathon was to do a half as part of my London Marathon preparation. A few days before the race, the forecast of high winds and rain, coupled with an unflattering review of the course by a running mate, had me questioning the wisdom of my choice of race! Thankfully, the forecast improved and we actually set off in sunshine, albeit that the sun promptly disappeared. The atmosphere at the start was relaxed and there was a really supportive, local vibe on the course too with lots of people turning out to cheer and provide sweets, especially on the stretches along the seafront.
You start by going west along the seafront until you go up the extremely long and steep hill: at the top, there is a switchback and the sight of happy faces heading downhill spurred me on for a final push. After a long and most welcome descent down to the seafront, you run along past the start, wind around the marina (dead turns on dead legs anyone?), before heading back along the seafront to the finish. A fast course it is not, but it is definitely friendly, well-organised and relatively local.
Frosty Sunday 2nd March 2025
A trio of Tuffs have been kind enough to share their racing experiences at the Frosty on Sunday. In addition, Clive Harvey (old habits die hard!), has provided an excellent summary of all the fabulous Tuff participation.
FROSTY AQUATHLON 800m SWIM / 10k RUN
The Frosty race was first off, covering 32 lengths of the pool and we were pleased to report that the Tuff contingent represented 45% of this race’s field. There were some competitive swim splits which included transition. Jon Cassell didn’t have his best transition, with his number falling off, but still exited the building with the 5th fastest split as he headed onto the run. There were only two competitors to achieve a sub-39 minute run. One of these was Jon (38:56) finishing to become Frosty Aquathlon overall champion 2025.
Mark Walford had entered both the Frosty and the Frostbite and to ensure he didn’t miss his second start time knocked out the fastest run split of the morning of 38:49 and was the second finisher overall just 12 seconds behind Jon. There was excellent work from Nathan Cooper, who achieved a sub-40 minute run split which saw him home in 3rd place. This meant Tuff Fitty locked out the podium places in the men’s race.
Meanwhile in the Ladies race, Alice Gatland was in strong form and our fourth club member to finish. Alice bagged the third fastest swim split across the Frosty, finishing second female overall.
Running alongside the individual competition is the team event for the first four from each club with at least one open and female; Tuff Fitty romped home, defeating SUTri, the defending champions by an incredible 34 minutes!
Our next athletes were also recording strong times with Gareth Coombes 9th male and Simon Thistlethwaite 3rd in his age category, just 21 seconds off second. Abi Clark only became a Tuff last October but demonstrated what a great addition to our club she is by finishing as 4th female. Next came Adam Stringer, who despite using the Frosty as part of his ‘double event Sunday’ across at Brighton Half Marathon, ensured this group of four were third team overall not far behind SUTri. Clare Worgan once again demonstrated how she practises what she preaches as a coach and then Steve Bridgeman completed the Tuff ten and was pleased how his knee had held up on the run.
FROSTBITE AQUATHLON 400m / 5k RUN
Next to start was the Frostbite and Tuff Fitty had an impressive 19 racing. Having finished the Frosty barely 15 minutes earlier, Mark Walford was back chasing both race distances. Mark wasn’t slowing down, as he was just one of four athletes to complete the 5k course with a sub-20-minute split. Mark finished the race 4th overall and second in age group. Jacob Bowen Jones used his swift swim and transition split of just 7:22 to finish 11th overall. Fraser Kidd finished just 30 seconds later, 14th overall. Next Katie Young achieved the 3rd fastest 400m swim split of the morning (6:58) finishing 3rd female overall and 1st in her age group. This completed our group of four who were edged into second team position by Worthing Otters.
The strong results continued with Hazel Tuppen gaining strong splits to finish as 4th female. The event was a fantastic way to showcase one of our newer members Katie Harmer who only joined as a Tuff just two weeks ago. Katie joined Katie Young & Hazel in achieving top ten splits in each of swim and run in the female field. Paul Martin was next to cross the line just 3 seconds behind. It is great to report another age group success as a very surprised Leah Simms secured a trophy for first almost 2 minutes ahead of 2nd. Just 9 seconds later Amanda de Ridder completed, 3rd in her age group and a great way to welcome a previous Tuff back who re-joined just 2 weeks ago.
Will King was our next finisher and then Clive Doughty, another one securing third in his age group. Susan Douglas was our next finisher. Al Evans managed to get exactly the same time to the second as he recorded in 2024! Next, Katie Yates-Hill who took the 10th fastest female swim split.
Further Tuff finishers saw Kate Evans crossing the line, improving on her last year’s time by 30 seconds. Bob Rogers was next, followed by Christine Griffin competing again this year, but now as a Tuff. Claire Moyle and Judith Molka-Danielsen, completed our Tuff twenty nine racers across both races.
To organise the event Tuff Fitty have a Frosty sub committee of five personnel. Adrian Oliver is the overall Race Director alongside Jenny Oliver, who was also in charge of the Sportshall. Clive Harvey was the pool coordinator with Sue and Colin Simpson in charge of the run course. This group of five held regular meetings, (and one to shovel shingle from the prom!) to ensure all aspects were covered. It is gratifying to see the large number of very positive reviews about the event, and monies were collected for our charity partner – Cancer United.
For the event to succeed, Tuff Fitty are reliant on our team of volunteers on the day; so a huge thanks to our 56 volunteers. Special thanks to Olly Sampson undertaking his first official Chair duty at the presentation.
Now to our first-hand accounts… First up, a very modest Jacob Bowen Jones who competed in the Frostbite:
The last multi-sport event I competed in was a triathlon at North Leamington Secondary School: two lengths of a 12.5m pool and then probably a mile on bicycle and foot combined. It was so long ago, the charts were filled with artists like Britney Spears and Peter André, and songs like Cha Cha Slide and Milkshake. (I think most adults at the time agreed that the quality of popular music had taken a colossal slide.)
So I would consider the Frostbite my first multi-sport event, which meant that unlike most Tuffs taking part, I was coming in with no baggage, no expectations and none of the nerves that accompany expectations. I was more worried about the early start and making it to Littlehampton for registration by 7 a.m., though I needn’t have been; the scarcity of cars on the road at half six meant it was possible to take a lot of the roundabouts on the Littlehampton Road in fourth, a luxury not available on Thursday evenings.
However, the speed at which I rounded the Frostbite course didn’t quite match the journey from Worthing. The swim went quite well – I think I might have exited the pool in joint first – but by the time I put my T-shirt on (backwards), tied my laces and handed my bin bag to the race marshals, I’d been overtaken by about half a dozen people. I then had the morale breaker of Mark Walford, whom I’d seen looking a bit red in the face on poolside after his completion of the Frosty, breezing past me in the first kilometre. (As well as a lot of lovely people at this club, there are some impressive athletes!)
But, of course, you can only do what you’re capable of, and now that I know roughly what that is, I can look forward to the future disappointment of losing to my past self as well as other competitors. And though I’m aware many things could’ve gone better during the race, and my preparation was suboptimal at best, I thoroughly enjoyed myself! The weather was great, the event was well-organised and company was great.
Thanks to all the organisers and well done to all the competitors.
Secondly, an equally modest Mark Walford, who as already mentioned decided to compete in both the Frosty AND the Frostbite:
I love the Frosty: it was my first event as a Tuff and a great season opener. But this year my targets are different, so it didn’t fit into my race schedule that well and I planned to volunteer. Then I had the mad idea of trying to do both the Frosty and the Frostbite. It didn’t seem too crazy: set off at 7am, steady pace swim and run, then 5-10 mins rest and go again, which fits with my challenge.
So, I helped with race numbers before racing and it was great to see so many Tuffs helping put on such a good event.
I was all set at 7am, then they said go and I went! Not as slow as I planned, but I felt good, with a steady transition and then onto the run. My watch was saying slow down, but my body said, ‘Run, it’s cold, keep warm’. Seeing a Tuff marshalling at least every 1km, if not 500m, is a great way to keep enjoying it. Crossing the line, I was happy with my pace, but also laughed at myself thinking I would stick to a steady plan. Going back for round two on a Lucozade and Kit Kat, the Frostbite is my normal race. I love the dynamic nature of racing, but I had burnt a lot of matches, so just stayed at a quickish pace but couldn’t give any more.
Seeing so many people doing the Frosty for the first time or coming back time after time reminds me of what a great club we have. Well done to everyone involved and thank you!
Finally, not to be outdone, as you have already read, Adam Stringer came up with the plan of competing at the Frosty AND the Brighton Half. Here is his account of event 1!
Since I started with Tuff Fitty in May 2024, this was my first Frosty event and it was organised to perfection. It was such an enjoyable event. Drafting Mark Walford was a challenge to keep up with, but he pulled me through the swim with a swift 13.51 which I was very happy with. I then took my time in transition and headed out for a frosty 10k, this felt very strong and the support around the course from marshals and public was a great encouragement. Finishing the run with a solid 56 minutes, I really enjoyed the event.
A big thank you to all who made the Frosty possible!!!
Brighton Half Marathon – Sunday 2nd March 2025
While many Tuffs were in Littlehampton either competing or volunteering at the Frosty, 10 Tuffs were rewarded for entering Brighton Half marathon with some great conditions for their event.
First Tuff home in a super speedy 1hr 25 minutes was Cameron Coe. Next, Dave March in 1:34 who got boxed in at mile 5 and ended up twisting his ankle but still finished with an impressively swift time. Pete Littleboy was our third Tuff home in 1:44. Jay McCardle, Grant Smalley and Ed Lay all finished within 4 minutes of each other. The good news didn’t stop there, as Karl Halom was followed by his brother Jonathan Halom. What a performance from Adam Stringer having dashed over from a successful full distance Frosty! A strong performance from Debbie Birch completed a terrific Tuff set of results!
Here is Adam again describing event number 2 of the morning(!):
I quickly got changed and headed over to Brighton Half Marathon for a 09.30 start. I arrived with plenty of time and still had time to warm up before I started. There were around 10,000 runners taking part this year. The atmosphere was electric and, with already heavy legs, I was underway, starting at Hove Lawns, heading up to the marina, then up Madeira Drive and finishing with a long stretch looping past Hove Lawns before reaching the finish line. The first 10k felt strong considering the earlier race, the second 10k was a steady pace with regular walking breaks, but I dug deep and got the job done. The legs are still burning now, but well worth it for the medal and Tuff changing mat!
parkrun Round Up
Saturday 22nd February 2025
There was a wider than usual selection of south coast parkruns with Tuff representation on 22nd February. As mentioned above, Clive and Trevor Harvey were at Netley Abbey refuelling on birthday cake. James Mapley was speeding along further west at the Poole parkrun. Closer to home, Dave March clocked up his 50th parkrun at Worthing, with Nathan Cooper, Stephen Feest, Les Pearce, Rhian Standley and Nina Tully all running too. A further 8 Tuffs were in action at Littlehampton, namely Fraser Kidd, Kev Pearson, Emma Hinton, Adrian Oliver, Clive Doughty, Al Evans, Katie Yates-Hill and Debbie Birch, who also picked up a volunteering credit, along with Hope Newcomer, Al Evans and Chris Evans. Colin Simpson made another appearance at Malling Rec parkrun.
Saturday 1st March 2025
Tuffs were out in force again at parkrun on 1st March, mainly closer to home. We had 10 Tuffs at Littlehampton: Steve Fryer, Adrian Oliver, Kev Pearson, Emma Hinton, Amanda De Ridder (welcome back!), Clive Harvey, Al Evans, Chris Evans, Jenny Oliver and Debbie Birch. Again, Debbie Birch, Hope Newcomer and Chris Evans were all on the volunteering team. Trevor Harvey was back at his home Maidenhead parkun, while in Worthing Ed Lay notched up his 199th run, accompanied by Nina Tully, Dave March (loosening his legs ahead of Brighton Half the next day) and Rhian Standley.
