Roadhoggs Leicester AC
A much better turnout this week, as the Derby Runner caravan made its way to Bagworth Heath; 6 ladies and 13 men. As ever, there was plenty of mud at 'Bogworth' but thankfully, lots of good ground as well. James and Becca B led the teams again and Ben survived his first taste of the muddy stuff. Results and Kim's report.
Congratulations to Mark Ramsden, who was voted 'Athlete of the Year' by the members for his outstanding performances in the LRRL. Other award winners were; Trudy Sharpe and Mark Ramsden (Road Running), Vicky Salt and Steve Robinson (Most Improved), Vicky Sutton and Dale Jenkins (Cross Country). There were also Special Chairman's Awards for Ludo Renou (2.33 Marathon), Jerry Wilkes (Solo Round Leicester) and John Stew (10 Marathons in 10 days). To mark the club's 30th anniversary, life memberships were awarded to Baz Barratt, Barry Waterfield, Keith Dakin and Alison Lodwick.
Whilst not quite rivalling Heinz, Roadhoggs were involved in an amazing variety of events this weekend; Parkrun, Autumn Shakespeare Marathon and Half, Leicester University Relays, Derby Runner XC, Beacon Hill Trail HM, Shillington Shuffle Trail Marathon, Leeds Abbey Dash and The Winter Beast. Congratulations to James B, Stephen D, Steve R and Ludo for setting impressive PBs.
Despite the windy conditions, several Hoggs managed to pick up PBs; Craig and Fabio in the full and James D, Jon M, Steve W, Steve B, Drew and Emma in the half. Congratulations too, to Mark R on his GFA time and to Hannah, who broke 2 hours in her first HM.
Congratulations to Afra on a great run in the Loch Ness Marathon. Sub-4 at the first attempt is a brilliant effort!
A new version of the course for the traditional season
closer met with almost unanimous approval. Although two of the
killer hills had been replaced by something gentler, the race remains a
proper challenge. We were missing one or two regulars but were able to
welcome James Boyd and Stephen Dunne, who both made accomplished debuts
for the club. Mark R managed to break 60 minutes; a real landmark
achievement and a great reward for an excellent season. Rae came back
from Newcastle to spearhead our ladies team and the 'super seven'
completed their full house of 11 LRRL races; Alison, Ben, Dan, Dave L,
Ferrante, Lee and Mark R.
Draft
results
Chris Peach has added another fantastic achievement to his impressive running CV by completing The Ridgeway Challenge; 86 miles in a little over 23 hours. At least he confessed to feeling shattered at the end.......
Jerry is a superb athlete but his heart and determination are second to none. Inspired by a charity set up by a work colleague in memory of his lost son (The Bodie Hodges Foundation), he has just completed the full, 102.5 mile, Leicestershire Round footpath in a jaw-dropping 22 hours and 41 minutes (an 'un-official' record for the feat). While conditions for the first 50 miles were ideal, much of the remainder were completed in energy-sapping rain as the remains of Hurricane Bertha hit the UK. Years of planning and rehearsal have gone into realising this most personal of challenges. Jerry, we are proud of you; you are truly a one-off!
There were twenty finishers in the Annual Club 10K Handicap. It was a beautiful evening and the scenic nature of the course was appreciated by all (even if the undulations/hills weren't universally popular). In all, 8 members managed to beat their handicap time but the clear winners were Steve Palmer and Vicky Sutton. Congratulations to you both (the handicapper will have his revenge, next year!).
A humid morning but thankfully the temperature didn't reach the heights of recent days. A tough one, with plenty of climbing, but some lovely countryside and extensive views to take your mind off the slog. Holiday season claimed a few but we still managed 22 finishers and plenty of good runs. Provisional resultsV2.
'Flaming June' finally arrived to bathe Swithland in its traditional sunshine. Zorro celebrated his local race with the VM50 prize and Mark Ramsden was on hand to pick up his trophy for finishing 4th Senior man in the Winter League. Valerie, Dan Barnes, Dave Bullivant, John Hallissey and Martin all made their first league starts of the year and there was also a very welcome return by Colin Bowpitt, who has been suffering with long-tern injury problems. Draft results.
Many congratulations to Miguel and Sara on their wedding. We are proud to think that Roadhoggs played a part in bringing them together! We wish you every happiness in your new life together and the best of luck for the move south.
Whilst some Hoggs were taking care of business in Edinburgh, it was Will who summoned the spirit of that Scottish hero Robert The Bruce. He was gutted when his plans for a sub-3 Marathon were (literally) blown off course in Blackpool, recently. Not one to give up, he swapped the elegant moves of the Tower Ballroom for the more elemental energy of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and stormed it; taking 10 minutes off his PB and smashing the 3-hour barrier.
Liverpool was clearly a good place to be; Ferrante set a new PB and Fabio made an impressive debut over the classic distance. Up in Edinburgh, Steve R and Stuart did well on their debuts; Steve showing how the strong endurance base of a mountain sports enthusiast translates into Marathon speed. Barbara showed she can run a good Marathon on minimal training and Dan set a new PB.
Mark has been in a rich vein of form in the last year and he just keeps on getting better. Despite the rather warm conditions he broke in to the top 10 for the second time time this season in the West End 8 at Queniborough. Will and James D finished well up and John D, Steve W and Ferrante joined them in the top 100. We had a good turnout from the ladies but they found it hard going in the heat. Full Results + Tables.
STOP PRESS: Mark wins prize as 4th Senior man for 2014 LRRL Winter League
James put his fell running skills to good use as he scooped a brilliant second place in the annual Ted Toft Croft Hill Race. The race is named for the late Ted Toft, who helped to found many of the things that make Leicestershire running so unique; the LRRL, The Round Leicester Relay and the Charnwood Hills.
There is a long tradition of states ensuring future peace with their neighbours by marrying off their most eligible youngsters. Roadhoggs are therefore delighted that negotiations with Coritanians have been successfully completed for the betrothal of Princess Jackie of Brown to Prince David of Pearce. Seriously, we're all made up for you both and hope to beat OK Magazine to a deal for pictures of the nuptials!
It was the turn of the Shakespeare this week. Jerry starred with a great PB (booking his place for London, too) and Vicky made her debut in fine style. There were PBs for Ash and Trudy, too. In the half, Will continued his run of form with a top class 30th place finish (and possibly a PB as well). Valerie and Lucy also got themselves back into the HM habit.
One that nearly slipped under the radar was Will's magnificent 2nd place finish in the Northampton Running Festival HM. And last, but by no mans least, John D has laid claim to the northernmost race in a Roadhogg vest after bagging 4th in trail race in Thurso while on holiday.
When talent and dedication come together, the result is sometimes spectacular. Those twin planets came into perfect alignment on Sunday in the person of our very own Ludo. Dr Daniels' most avid disciple achieved something very special on the streets of London; he eclipsed all but one previous Roadhogg Marathon time, recording a quite unbelievable 2.33.25 for 67th place. Mo would have hardly had time to book in for his post-race massage before Ludo was storming up the Mall. [Photo courtesy of Baz.]
Mark put the club place to good use with a 3.24, Dave B set a PB and Chris H paced himself perfectly to a sub-4 debut. And finally, little more than a year after falling off a forklift and having to be welded back together, Rich celebrated his recovery by passing the audition for the Marathon Club with flying colours.
The remarkable Jerry successfully defended his title in the 'A Coventry Way Challenge' 40 mile race. His 5.51 might have been slower than last year but he still won by 13 minutes; even the relay teams couldn't get anywhere near him! Don't forget his 100 mile Round Leicester challenge coming up in July; if he continues in this form we'll have to handicap him just to keep up.
We had two men with sub-3 hour potential in action today. James Dunham chose the super-fast Manchester event and recorded a brilliant 2.58.37, coming in in 176th place. Will chose the bracing seaside air of Blackpool and his attempt was blown off course by a strong headwind in the final 4 miles along the prom. Keep the faith Will, none of us can beat the wind; it's only a matter of time before you do it.
Manchester was obviously the place to be because Paul Langham bagged himself a 3.48.38 PB, too.
Some good runs today; PB's for Mark R and Jon M, excellent debuts from Fabio and Natasha and a welcome return from Fi. Draft results.
Ludo showed that his training has been going well, slicing over 5 minutes from his PB and picking up a magnificent 3rd spot in the popular Belvoir Half Marathon. Sam is also in great nick and he smashed his PB too, getting tantalisingly close to the magic 1.30 mark.
Strongman Jerry showed his class over the country in this toughest of county off-roaders. Not content with just the challenge offered by the event, he made his way to and from the start in Quorn by a combination of bike and bus. The course, which thankfully was pretty dry, takes you over some of Charnwood's highest points; Broombriggs, Beacon Hill, Bardon Hill and Old John. Throw in more stiles and kissing gates than you'd want in a lifetime and you'll get some idea of how good a performance is required to cover over 27 miles faster than most of us can do a flat road Marathon. This superb run was enough to earn him a well-deserved 3rd place.
For many people, this was a new race. We last ran it in 2010 (and before that, you had to go back to 2004). The venue is still to small but the lovely spring sunshine meant no one was bothered. An unfortunate date clash with the Midland 12-stage meant that some of the elite clubs were fighting on two fronts. Form man, Mark R, took full advantage of this to finish a magnificent 5th (after running 3rd for a while). Will, Sam, Ferrante and John D all came in the top 100, too. Jackie led in the ladies, before rushing off to support Dave in the relays and there was a first start of the season for super-vet Barry. Results and tables
Trudy achieved a personal milestone with her first Marathon on Saturday in the beautiful Vale of Belvoir. Seen here with grizzled veteran of 65 Marathons, Jon Heap, she debuted over the classic distance in one of the hardest races in the county. It was a beautiful spring-like day but there was plenty of ankle-deep mud and more puddles than a puppy in training; just staying upright was a challenge in itself.
There was also a fantastic performance from Jerry; the tougher it gets, the better he seems to like it. He covered the challenging terrain in a scarcely believable 3.33.31, finishing in 11th place.
With the final race only counting for the team competition, the final individual standings have been calculated. Vicky Sutton was our highest placed senior lady in 14th, with Amy in 25th. Ruth was 16th V40 and Trudy 29th. Nick was 5th senior man, with Sam 32nd and Steve R 42nd. Steve W was 30th V40. Dale was 10th V50, with Dave 20th and Hitesh 28th. Full tables.
A good showing in the final race will see us keep our place in mixed division one, but it's going to be tight.
A bit of a wrestle in the mud but good fun on a super morning. Results and Kim's report.
Unfortunately, we've lost a second race. The course for the Ashby 5 has caused concerns for a number of years, particularly the town centre start. Regrettably, the organisers have not been able to satisfy themselves that they could stage the race within the terms of their race insurance and have therefore felt compelled to cancel.
You can see what County Standard you achieved in the Kibworth 6. Remember that it's a slow course and there should be plenty of opportunities during the season to bag a better time.
The opening of the 2014 League campaign dispensed with the hors-d'oeuvres and went straight to a main course of hills. Kibworth is certainly the race to determine who over did the turkey and who had been doing 'secret training'. Happily, it seems like almost everyone fell in to the latter category. We were pleased to welcome some very accomplished league debutants; James Bostock, Ferrante Neri, James O'Rawe (back for a second spell with the club), Ben Milsom and, making his first 'official' start, Jon Millett. Full results and tables.
A lovely bright cold morning; perfect for cross country running in some very scenic countryside. The recent rain had made the course even more treacherous but happily everyone got home with ankles intact. We had a strong turnout, particularly from the ladies, including accomplished DRL debuts from Becca and Afra. Especially notable was the fact that several of our runners had completed long runs the day before but still turned out for the team. Results and Kim's report.
Roadhoggs hit the County XC Championships in force; battling the elements and a course made challenging by recent rain. Best of the bunch were our Masters Ladies (Vicky, Jackie and Ruth), who ensured that our first foray into the big league was a successful one; picking up the team bronze medals. A great start to the year!