Roadhoggs Leicester AC
Report to follow.
Report to follow.
It was a cold and grey morning at Bagworth, with showers
of light rain, but that didn’t deter the hardy Roadhoggs as 15 guys and 5
girls came along to our team’s transportable race preparation and recovery
centre and prepared to take on the 5.5 miles of muddy running at Bagworth
Heath. The course is over 2.5 laps, each of which includes sections of
narrow tracks and the tough climb up to the ridge from where you can enjoy a
nice view over the heath if only you didn’t have to keep running!
We welcomed first time runners Sezer and Chris, both of whom only joined
Roadhoggs in the last few weeks and already taking on cross country
running for us. The mens and ladies races started together as 500+ set off
up the long steady climb which greets you at the start of each lap. As the
race unfolded there were some heroic Roadhoggs moments; first, Sam C was
running whilst still suffering a shin injury and tried to keep going but was
advised to pull out on lap 2 by a marshal who could see that he was in pain
... there will be another race for you Sam when you are fully recovered.
Later, Lee fell and rolled in the mud at the hairpin turn at the bottom of
the ridge and came in all muddied, whilst Marcus picked a fight with a thorn
bush and came in all bloodied.
For most of the race Richard (older dude) led Sam J (younger dude) round but
Sam managed to overhaul him on the last hill to be our first guy home.
Chairman Dave was next, and then Sezer with a great debut run which he
seemed to enjoy. Andy and Berhane came in next, and then Steve W with a
strong second half run, and then George completed the scorers. Marcus
finished just outside the scoring positions for the second time, which he
finds frustrating but I’m sure you haven’t finished scoring points for us
yet Marcus. Chris, Mat, Shaun and Brian followed in.
For the girls we missed one or two who couldn’t make it today, especially
the younger ones as out team today were all vets! Jeannette, who has been in
great form lately, found the going really hard today, so Trudy stepped up;
after a steady start she eased her way by other runners to be first Hoggette
home. Jeannette was in next, and then Natasha and Cath before Siobhan came in
with her usual dogged determination.
Everyone was glad to get back to the tent to get warm and dry and enjoy some
coffee and of course Trudy’s fabulous cakes. Teamwise, the girls and
guys stayed in the same positions but in the combined results we moved up a
place ... not quite a promotion charge but the right direction! Anyway it
was tough work for all today but the Roadhoggs team spirit came through
again and they were soon talking up the next race.
RESULTS: MEN: 74th Sam Jolly 46.01, 78th Richard Garnett (V60) 46.22, 85th
Dave Lodwick (V55) 46.53, 131st Sezer Domac (V50) 49.24, 146th Andy Gale
(V50) 50.23, 176th Berhane Germai 52.34, 177th Steve Wheeler (V50) 52.39,
222nd George Barratt 55.29, 242nd Marcus Shaikh (V40) 57.05, 263rd Chris
Brooks (V45) 59.55, 290th Lee Fairclough 63.42, 303rd Mat Jenkinson
(V40) 67.26, 320th Shaun Heaphy (V60) 75.19, 322nd Brian Feldman (V70)
77.17, Sam Crouchman dnf, 327 finished.
LADIES: 117th Trudy Sharpe (V45) 64.13, 159th Jeannette Franklin (V60)
69.27, 173rd Natasha Eastwood (V40) 72.11, 198th Cath Brooks (V45) 78.33,
211th Siobhan Ridgeway (V45) 83.12, 216 finished.
TEAMS (all division 2): Men 7th, Ladies 14th, Combined team 10th.
TEAMS AFTER 4 RACES: Men 10th, Ladies 14th, Combined team 9th.
The 3rd xc league event this season returned to
Bradgate Park, hosted by Roadhoggs. First I must thank our many members (and
families and friends) who volunteered to help out on the day, including some
who would have preferred to run the event but stepped up to help instead,
and others who helped with the car parking and then ran the race. It was
raining as we were setting out the course and putting up parking signs, so
the omens did not look good for the day, but the sun came out later and both
runners and volunteers enjoyed fine weather for the rest of the morning.
Bradgate Park is a superb cross country venue, one of the best and most
popular in the league. The first race was the junior run which saw around
100 children, from the quite tall to the very small, set off around a 1 mile
loop (twice round for the older children), led by our hares Dave Pearce and
Mark Ramsden. As always in the junior races, the pace at the front was
frantic and Dave and Mark had to run as fast as they could to keep ahead!
Mark then had a short time to recover and prepare as he was also running the
adult race, a true Roadhogg.
In the main event, the men set off first and the ladies followed a few
minutes later. Dave Lod, your Chairman and course director for the day, had
designed a 5.4 mile course over 2 different loops around the park, with
plenty of long hills and scenic views included. Although many Roadhoggs were
marshalling out on the course or patrolling the roads , we still had full
teams out as 13 Hoggs and 4 Hoggettes ran for us. We welcomed debutants
Berhane Germai and Anna and Daniel del Greco. Mark, despite his earlier
efforts leading the juniors, was first home for us, and then James with a
terrific run just getting by Richard in the latter part of the course. Next
in was Berhane, despite falling in the mud on his first cross country run,
and then Andy and the 2 Sams. Steve W was our final scorer, just edging out
Marcus who was disappointed not to earn points for us! They were followed
home by Daniel, Lee, Mat and then Shaun, all in close order. For the girls,
it was good to see Leah back again as she led the team home, followed in by
Aruna, smiley Janet and Anna, who nearly fell at the halfway point but
somehow regained her footing and carried on. It was good to see more younger
Roadhoggs out there and not leaving cross country running to the older
dudes. Both Daniel and Anna only started out running in the summer and this
was their biggest challenge so far ... I hope they and Berhane come back for
more!
A lady runner from Stilton Striders collapsed in a faint around 2 miles into
the race but was attended by the medics and park rangers and recovered ok
back at base.
Afterwards there was coffee and Trudy’s magnificent cakes to enjoy back at
the Roadhoggs tent. The updated team results are not out yet but the ladies
team should have held their place whilst the mens team should have improved
a little. Thanks to all Roadhoggs who ran and gave 100% on what was a tough
course and a long day for some, and again to our volunteers on the day who
helped to make it all happen. We have a terrific team spirit and cameraderie
in this club, which is so evident on days like this.
RESULTS:
MEN: 64th Mark Ramsden 37.32, 102nd James Thurman 39.50, 110th Richard
Garnett (V60) 40.06, 124th Berhane Germai 40.56, 142nd Andy Gale (V50)
41.47, 150th Sam Jolly 42.23, 159th Sam Crouchman 42.50, 201st Steve Wheeler
(V50) 44.49, 203rd Marcus Shaikh (V40) 44.52, 284th Daniel Del Greco 53.37,
285th Lee Fairclough 53.47, 288th Mat Jenkinson (V40) 53.59, 305th Shaun
Heaphy (V60) 62.02, 311 finished.
LADIES: 51st Leah Boatman 46.07, 121st Aruna Bhagwan (V55) 53.24, 164th
Janet Hall (V40) 58.11, 187th Anna Del Greco 65.34, 199 finished.
TEAM (division 2): Men 7th, Ladies 14th, Combined 9th.
After 3 races: Men 9th, Ladies 14th, Combined 10th.
It was bright and calm, but a little cold, as our
Roadhoggs assembled around the club hospitality centre in the tent village
alongside Holly Hayes Woods. It was good to welcome new runners Cath Brooks
and Mat Jenkinson who were making their cross country debuts for us, and it
was also good to see Steve Wheeler and new dad Sam Jolly back again. In all
we had 11 guys and 8 girls, who prepared for the race with some jolly chat
and mutual encouragement as the Roadhoggs who have run this event before
were passing on tips and advice about the course. Usha and Siobhan left it
late and didn’t have much time to prepare, but they were ready when the time
came to walk the short distance to the start.
The men started 10 minutes before the ladies, but the faster girls were soon
mixing it with the men. The Holly Hayes course is about 6 miles around
2-and-a-bit laps of fairly flat terrain, with just a few lumps and bumps
here and there to break your stride. Much of the course is along narrow and
uneven woodland paths with plenty of trip hazards and a difficult stream
crossing over boulders, so you had to watch your footing and pick your
moment to overtake. The stream crossing was a bit of a bottleneck where some
runners had to wait their turn, and all had to step carefully across the
boulders and scramble up the other side.
Mark was first guy home again, with Chairman Dave next in and still showing
that hard training produces good results. Then came our Sams with Sam
Crouchman chasing Sam Jolly the whole way, followed by our vet guys Andy,
Steve, Marcus, and new guy Mat. Lee was next, still re-discovering the joy
of cross country running, and then golden oldies Shaun and Brian brought up
the rear. Aruna led the girls home, followed in by Helen and then Janet and
Jeannette who also had their own battle with Jeannette hanging on to Janet
despite falling in the woods and grazing her arm! Next in were Hilary and
new girl Cath, and finally another personal battle which saw Siobhan get the
better of Usha for the first time. The mens team slipped a bit from the
first race, whilst the ladies held their place; credit to all of the
Roadhoggs guys and girls for giving 100%+ as always, on a tricky course
which required extra effort just to stay on your feet.
We missed Trudy who was working, but she didn’t let us down as her delicious
cakes were brought in by Marcus and much enjoyed by everyone after the race,
along with coffee from Brian and Kim.
RESULTS:
MEN: 27th Mark Ramsden 35.28, 114th Dave Lodwick (V55) 40.17, 141st Sam
Jolly 41.24, 147th Sam Crouchman 41.44, 168th Andy Gale (V50) 42.52, 235th
Steve Wheeler (V50) 46.31, 256th Marcus Shaikh (V40) 47.30, 321st Mat
Jenkinson (V40) 53.07, 322nd Lee Fairclough 53.11, 349th Shaun Heaphy (V60)
58.18, 357th Brian Feldman (V70) 66.30, 357 finished.
LADIES: 130th Aruna Bhagwan (V55) 53.02, 162nd Helen Arthur (V50) 55.19,
180th Janet Hall (V40) 58.23, 185th Jeannette Franklin (V60) 58.44, 202nd
Hilary Browne (V55) 60.36, 213rd Cath Brooks (V45) 63.39, 222nd Siobhan
Ridgeway (V45) 66.38, 223rd Usha Goyal (V45) 66.48, 228 finished.
TEAM (division 2): Men 12th, Ladies 14th, Combined 13th.
After 2 races: Men 12th, Ladies 14th, Combined 13th.
The 2018/19 league season licked off in bright sunshine in
the beautiful rolling hills and green pastures surrounding Launde Abbey, a
new venue for the League. As you drove down into the valley where the club
tents were being pitched and banners being erected with the Abbey in the
background, it looked like a medieval battle encampment. The air was cold
and breezy, but the sun was out as we gathered around the Roadhoggs mobile
hospitality centre and looked out across the landscape ... wherever the
course was going to go, it was going to be very hilly! Gemma Steele was
there as a guest, a national champion but still not forgetting the
cross-country league where she started out.
We welcomed xc debutants Hilary, Andy and Lee, and welcomed back Amy, as a
total of 11 hoggs, 9 hoggettes, and 2 hoglets turned out to run for the
team. First, the Singh dynasty included Gurmit’s 2 boys in the junior races.
Young Gurtej ran an excellent 5th in the primary race, and then older
brother Ashveer came in 12th in the secondary race, though he found the
second lap really tough going ... we have future Roadhoggs in the making
here.
The adult course was indeed hilly; it was 2 laps which started with a long
climb and then continued with more ups and downs than we have seen for a
long time ... Siobhan called it ‘challenging’. Also much of the ground was
sheep grazing land and so the surface was uneven and you had to watch your
footing. A number of runners slipped or tripped, including our own Sam who
went down on the second lap and hurt his ankle and finished the race in some
pain (the next day it was sore and swollen, but no serious damage done). One
West End runner survived the race and then fell while jogging back to the
tent village! Great credit to everyone for working so hard on what proved to
be a tough course. Mark was our first guy home in a gutsy 31st, followed by
more mature runners Chairman Dave and Richard, then Gurmit and debutant
Andy. For the girls Aruna led the way home, and then smiley Janet and then
Jeannette who seems to be enjoying a real purple patch these days. In fact
the Roadhoggs team is more ‘older’ than ‘younger’ and, with great respect to
the older runners who always run so well for us, we could really do with
more younger guys and girls racing out there in the countryside and bagging
more points. Come on you younger Roadhoggs, don’t let the old guys rule!
Back in the tent we enjoyed Trudy’s marvellous cakes, always a welcome
reward after all that running. Launde turned out to be a good new venue for
the league, very scenic and with good parking (though it’s on grass, so it
has to be dry). There are plenty of course options and they should be able
to find routes with less hazardous ground next time.
RESULTS:
MEN: 31st Mark Ramsden 39.57, 97th Dave Lodwick (V55) 44.04, 101st Richard
Garnett (V60) 44.34, 140th Gurmit Singh 46.43, 175th Andy Gale (V50) 49.10,
176th Sam Crouchman 49.12, 194th Marcus Shaikh (V40) 50.15, 202nd George
Barratt 50.59, 269th Baz Barratt (V55) 58.36, 275th Lee Fairclough 60.26,
296th Shaun Heaphy (V60) 67.45, 298 finished.
LADIES: 117th Aruna Bhagwan (V55) 61.03, 141st Janet Hall (V40) 63.24, 144th
Jeannette Franklin (V60) 64.05, 148th Trudy Sharpe (V45) 64.30, 156th Amy
Gasper (V40) 65.35, 165th Natasha Eastwood (V40) 66.34, 173rd Hilary Browne
(V55) 67.36, 197th Usha Goyal (V45) 76.28, 198th Siobhan Ridgeway (V45)
76.36, 204 finished.
TEAMS (division 2): Men 9th, Ladies 14th, Combined 10th.
Reports from previous seasons: 2018-19,
2017-18,
2016-17,
2015-16,
2014-15,
2013-14,
2012-13,
2011-12,
2010-11,
2009-10, 2008-9,
2007-8, 2006-7