Fred Whitton Challenge - Sunday 8th May 2022
The Fred Whitton Challenge, held in the Lake District, is a cycling sportive attracting 1871 competitors. The 112 mile course was challenging to say the least. With elevation of over 11, 500 ft and at mile 94 a 30% gradient of Hardknott. Bourton’s Darren Long finished well-up a very competitive field, in a time of 7:45:01.
Mallorca Ironman 70.3 - Sunday 8th May 2022
Meanwhile, Maxine Emes travelled to Mallorca for this event, which was rescheduled from 2019 due to Covid. The race comprised of 1.9 swim, 90k bike and 21k run. Maxine came in the top half of her age group and completed the event in 6:11:06.
Winchester Trail Race Festival - Monday 2nd May 2022
Margaret and Alan took part in the 50k Ultra and 19 mile trail events on Monday 2nd May, based at Winchester and organised by Big Feat events. The scenic routes were well signed and marshalled following several of the long distance trails in that area. Jogging through the many tourists around Winchester cathedral near the end proved to be an extra challenge!
Margaret completed her first long distance event of this type in a satisfying 6hrs 4mins. Alan, also new to trail events, completed the 19miles in 3hrs 47mins.
Witney parkrun - 7th May 2022
Bourton Roadrunners has been a big supporter of the parkrun movement for several years, and throughout 2022 is holding a monthly club meet-up at a selected local event, with coffee and cake afterwards. This week it was at Witney.
On a beautiful sunny morning the group consisted of Tim Swalling – 20:57, Margaret Hollamby – 25:11 (1st LV65), Lorna Shawcross – 26:06 (1st LV60), Alan Thomas – 26:07, Tom Knight – 26:42 (3rd MV65), Liz Hulcup - 28.03 (2nd LV65), Nicky Patterson – 35:04, Lynn Hudson – 38:29, Melanie Palmer – 38:30, and Louise Hamilton-Smith 42:32, who was companying her daughter. For Melanie it was not only her first parkrun but her first running event; well done to her.
Great Birmingham Junior Run - Sunday 1st May 2022
Bourton Roadrunners junior, Lucy Hillary, who also represents NCTR, had a superb run finishing the 2.5k course in 9 mins 16 secs and being rewarded with being 1st female and 3rd overall.
Pembrokeshire CTS 10k - Saturday 30th April 2022
Another challenging event, this linear coastal run followed the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path and finished at Little Haven. Matt Price finished in 1:35:58, while his wife Kate finished in 2:02:49. The distance Kate covered was 12.4k and with an elevation of 1,000 ft.
Bluebell Challenge - Tuesday 26th April 2022
This Ultra challenge was held in Hartshill Hayes Country Park, Nuneaton, Warks. It was 95% on trails and was laps pf 2.88 miles with elevation of 404 ft. per lap. Bourton’s Lorna Shawcross, who loves a challenge, ran 29.5 miles with an elevation of nearly 4,300 ft., completed it in a time of 6:13:06.
Chalgrove 10k - Monday 2nd May 2022
This event is part of the Chalgrove Festival. It is a single lap course taking the runners through local villages in the South Oxfordshire countryside. Michela Satori, using the race as part of her training programme, finished in 49:04
London 10k - Monday 2nd May 2022
The Gibson family headed to the very popular London 10k, following its return to the racing calendar of a couple of year’s absence. Having participated each year since its inception in 2008, dad John is always keen to encourage his children to participate in everything sporty.
While Sir Mo Farah was running his heart to its limits, John was pleased to be accompanied by son Alan and daughter Michelle around the city sights in a comfortable 67 minutes, chatting to anyone showing an interest in conversation, and even sneaking two shots on the live BBC coverage of the race - some things never change!
Whitchurch (Cardiff) 5k - Sunday 1st May 2022
Jaq Underwood (2nd claim) recovering from a cold and bad chest still ran a fantastic time of 22:55.
Other recent parkrun Events
Finally, we had our usual presence at a number of parkrun events:
Cheltenham: Chris Dry - 25:37.
Chipping Norton: Niamh Shoemark - 22:09 (course PB, 2nd female and 1st LV50), Chloe Krzywiec - 27:24 (course PB and 1st JW11-14).
Stratford Park, Stroud: Susan Hunt (2nd claim) - 27:47 (1st LV55), Linda Edwards (2nd claim) - 34:09 (2nd LV55).
Highlights
Fred Whitton 112 miles Challenge
Mallorca Ironman
Winchester Trail Race Festival
Witney parkrun
Great Birmingham Junior Run
Pembrokeshire CTS 10k
Bluebell Challenge
Chalgrove 10k
Vitality London 10k
Whitchurch (Cardiff) 5k
Start of Witney parkrun.
Other reports may be found on our recent race reports page.