This is the week that was…the MK Marathon Weekend!

The week began with another go at the loops at Appenine Way and the 5-10K group working hard yet again to build up their distance.  Not long now til the big day! Karen took out the Fartlek Fun Runners on a new route on Wednesday.  Andrew was in charge of the Improvers for some hill repeats on Thursday and Jenny led another glorious Friday morning run.  If anyone ever fancies leading any of our club runs, do let Captain Dan or Vice Captain James know.  Full training is given and if you're a regular participant on one of the club runs, you'll know how easy it is! On parkrun day we had runners at Milton Keynes, Linford Wood, Houghton Hall, Springhall and Marston Vale.  We had a massive 30 LFRs at home in Rushmere where Tom bagged a new PB and came third, even after having to stop to tie his shoelace! PBs also from Doyley, Martin W, Martin A and Chrissy.  Great running guys! Saturday was also Star Wars Day! And to celebrate, Team Turner were running ANOTHER marathon at The Dark Side Strikes Back.  Great running, ladies!  May the Fourth be with you. This was also the weekend of the walkers.  Glyn was out Wainwright bagging again.... The LDWA Oxon 40/20 on Saturday saw three LFRs battle the Chiltern Hills on a wonderfully sunny day (with a bit of hail thrown in).  Carrie and Jen took on the 20 mile walk together.  The superstar of the day was Paul Little who ran the 40 mile route, coming in with a fantastic time of 7 hours 45...he also bagged a podium finish and came third!  Excellent effort Paul! Then it was time for the MK Marathon Weekend to begin!  It all kicked off with the MK Rocket 5K on Sunday.  Our recent couch to 5K graduates and new members came out and smashed their runs.  We had so many PBs from our members! Excellent running, all of you! Monday - Early May Bank Holiday - was the big one.  We had runners taking part in every event: the superhero fun run, the marathon relay, the half marathon and the marathon.  We had first time half marathoners, first time marathoners, we had huge PBs through all events, a couple of good for age times, a legend AND a podium finish for Team LFR at the relay!  Well done everyone who took part...you've all worked extremely hard to get to where you are.  You did it! Shout out to Vice Captain James who was an MK Marathon Ambassador this year running his first ever marathon.  He said he had no expectations for his time, was hoping perhaps for a sub 3.30.  He came in at an incredible 3.13....on his first marathon!  Well done, VC!  He'll be writing a blog all about his experience soon....keep an eye out! The participants were not the only LFRs out and about in MK....of course we had Caroline and her team volunteering at Mile 11 of the marathon course, giving the marathoners a well needed boost!  Also volunteering was Gary handing out water, Steph and Annis at the finish and Clive driving the back marker buggy. A HUGE thank you also to those members and former members who gave up their Mondays to come out to support!  The Green family, Neil, Rob, Jim, Paul, David, Emily, Carrie, Helen, Wes, Max, Vicki, Debbie, Jonny, JK, Ian.  If I have missed anyone, do let me know!   It makes all the difference seeing people you know out on the course.  Every single runner will have appreciated seeing your smiling faces! And that's it for this week... Great running, LFR! 

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This is the week that was…the London Marathon!

Before we get on to what was of course the biggest and most inspirational event of the weekend (and quite some time), let's have a look at our other goings on... Of course we had our usual club runs all week with group night on Tuesday (followed by a trip to the Black Lion for the 5-10K crowd), Fartlek Wednesday, Captain Dan's track session on Thursday and Karen leading the social run on Friday.   We even had some midweek racing where Sally took on the Keswick AC wet and hilly 6.9K on Wednesday. On parkrun day we had members at Inverness (where Jen and James bumped into former LFRs Dougie and Avril who send their very best wishes to the club!), Linford Wood, Shrewsbury, Wimpole Estate, Aylesbury, Cirencester and Dunstable Downs. We had 36 LFRs at home in Rushmere with Captain Dan coming in 6th; Max was 2nd in her age category; and Jane, Chrissy and Carrie all ran new PBs!  Rushmere also saw the Hen and Stag parkrun for our very own LFR Bride and Groom, Team Sparky - Jen and Mark.  If you didn't already know, Jen and Mark are getting married this weekend!  We hope you have the most amazing day!  The weekend also saw Kelly and Laura return to the Blenheim Palace 7K both shaving off 3 and half minutes from their times last year!  Superb!  Jo was running the beautiful Shakespeare Half Marathon and running a half PB!  The legend we call JK was running a double marathon weekend - Saturday he was at the Bath Beat marathon. 26.7 very hilly and windy trail miles followed by another 27 trail miles on Sunday at Pewsey Dowsaround marathon in Wiltshire.   He did these same two marathons this time last year too.  All in training for the big event in July....you'll have to wait until the July newsletters to hear about that big challenge! Also on Sunday there was this other little event going on in London.  What.  A.  Day.  The London Marathon always causes great excitement and inspires us all to keep running.  Team LFR were out in force with a massive 18 of us taking part!  A HUGE well done and congratulations to Martin, Marianne, Amos, Nicki, Christine, Chris, Jason, Katy, Anne, Andrew, Barbara, Alison, Anna, Lydia, Jeremy. Adam, David, and Paul.  Well done! We’ve had stories of stomach cramps, helping celebrities, some saying they’ll never run again, some saying they’ll never walk again, good for age times, seasoned marathoners, first timers, a 10 time London marathoner (that’s you Paul!), a 102nd and final marathon (happy retirement, Amos), and of course….our record breaking egg Katy!  For those who don’t know, Katy was attempting a Guinness World Record to run the fastest marathon dressed as an egg…and she did it!  She now joins our other World Record holder, Chris, who still holds his record!  I’ll let you ask him what that was for….! We also had the LFR marshals out in force.  Thank you to all of you for spending the day cheering not only our own runners, but every single person that went by.  A wonderful experience for everyone and amazing to see so many runners and the charities they were running for. And finally a huge thank you to Max as ever for organising the marshals and the coach down to London! Phew!  That's all for now.  Have a great week, LFR!

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This is the week that was…the hottest Easter on record!

Marathon fever had not left us on Monday with Peter and Pam both at the real Boston Marathon in the USA.  Peter finished with a fantastic time of 3.37 getting himself a Good for Age time.  And Pam was completing her final marathon of the six marathon majors! She has completed all the marathon majors being:  Boston, Tokyo, Chicago, New York, Berlin and London.  What an achievement...well done Pam! We had a visitor at our Tuesday club run. Carol from Brain Tumour Research - our chosen charity for 2018/19 - came along to say a big thank you for the £6,308.40 donation we made to them and tell us all about the charity. Following this we took on the Out and Back route to The Hills.  Excellent work from everyone. Vicky was on the Fartlek Fun Whistle on Wednesday; James took out the Improvers for Pyramids in the Park on Thursday; and Michelle was in charge of the Friday morning run seeing the largest turnout we've ever seen on a Friday (see main picture) - anyone would think it was a Bank Holiday! On parkrun day we had runners at Swindon, Milton Keynes, Minehead, Pennington Flash (where Debbie was running her 50th parkrun!), Houghton Hall (where Tom came in 1st bagging a 5K PB!), Wimpole Estate, Kingsbury Water, Workington (Len's in the right country now!), Penrith, Keswick, Barry Island, Erdigg, Littleport, Wendover Woods, Dunstable Downs, and of course, Rushmere. At home in Rushmere Ollie, Jen, Karen and mini Stamp, George, all ran PBs!  And Michelle was running her 50th parkrun! We had runners making friends with animals in the sunshine this week with Anna talking to a French cow in a field and David chatting to the seals on a Norfolk beach. There were no official events this weekend, but this did not stop LFR from getting out and about on their training runs, rides, walks and swims all over the Easter weekend from the Smith's 10 Mile, Janice cycling her furthest ever distance, Captain Dan falling over on his driveway, runs in Ashridge, Woburn and Nic running a half marathon PB training run.  Excellent! The Easter weekend was finished off this morning with a beautifully sunny run with Karen and JK around Ashridge.  A fantastic turnout on a glorious day. That's all for now. Have a great week, LFR!

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It’s too late to worry about it now… by James P Smith

IT’S TOO LATE TO WORRY ABOUT IT NOW… According to legend, in 490 BC, Pheidipiddes ran the 40km from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia – with the word “nikomen” – “we win!”; at which point he was given a silver blanket, a blingy medal, a banana, and a flyer for the upcoming Corinth 10k - 2 Tetradrachms off for affiliated Atheneans. (Sub-editor: hang on – did he not drop down dead?). To this day, we celebrate his epic achievement by running through deserted industrial estates and complaining about our sore hamstrings! I know I bang on about it endlessly, but I haven’t ever done a marathon (I’ve eaten a few though ho ho! Hang on this doesn’t work as a joke at all, as I don’t like milk chocolate very much, so why would I eat a Snickers! And they’ve not been called a Marathon for 29 years – I KNOW! So please let’s all forget I said that!). Anyway, what I mean is this is very much uncharted territory for me – but since my last update I’ve finally gone further than my previous longest run of 15.5 miles. The great Bruce Tulloh claimed that you could do yourself justice in a marathon if your 5 longest runs added up to 100 miles – really? - good luck with that! To be fair – he ran barefoot – yes… Barefoot… As in “NO TRAINERS”! He doesn’t sound like my kind of go-to-guy at all! On a completely unrelated “Bruce” running theme – I’ve always felt a bit for Bruce Fordyce – who won the Comrades Marathon a record nine times (and London to Brighton 3 years in a row) – after all that amazing running, I’ll still bet that whenever anyone in this country hears the name Bruce Fordyce - the first thing they think is “nice to see you, to see you nice! “ – poor Bruce Fordyce; still he was very good on Play Your Cards Right! So… I had a go at running 16 miles down the canal (there may be a theme emerging here), and it was fine, more than fine, I ran faster than I was planning to run MK – which completely screwed up my pace planning – but we’ll come to that later. So, feeling strong off the back of the 16, and as I’d forgotten to enter the Oakley 20 until it was full, I last minute entered the MK Festival of Running 20. And it was (mostly – Campbell Park I’m talking about you) a joyous experience, robots galore, not too busy, and a chance to test out trainer, sock, arm-warmer combinations – useful arm-warmer fact – you can get 2 gels in the top of each arm-warmer if your shorts are too short to have pockets – even with my HUGE GUNS! I broke it down into half hour sections until 16 miles - hitting 16 miles in 1:59:58 – a massive 2 seconds ahead of my dream schedule! I’d done 16 miles before so I knew how that would feel, so each mile was a new experience, although 17 felt fine and 18 too; but at 19 I perceptibly slowed – I didn’t feel that I’d hit any wall, just a bit slower, and mile 20 involves running to the very top of the Campbell Park mound so I’d expected to slow down there anyway. But when I came into the finish the clock said 2:30 – a good 10 minutes faster than I’d planned. At this point I felt relaxed, and happy that if I could run 20 miles, I could maybe run another 10km – even if I was getting slower; and then I got the email… “Here are your entry instructions for the Oakley 20” – bum! I’d already entered a year ago, forgotten, and deleted the email – drink “may” have been involved. Could I do another 20 mile race a week later? I know that you should do your long runs at a gentle pace, and these are a bit more racey – and as Johanna Sharples had told me at the MK Festival 20 - “you can’t jog in a vest”; but I’m not all that competitive – I’m really not – truly – I’m a lazy, lazy runner, if I can’t chat/ get on the nerves of my fellow runners I’m not playing. I’m genuinely in awe of runners like Tom, Elle or Paul Little who absolutely empty the tank – I wish I could do that, I just haven’t got it in me. Plus, I wanted a hoody – especially as the word on the street is that it would be “salmon” (genuinely) one of my favourite colours – as it goes so well with aqua (like most of us, I have a lot of aqua) – I am ALL about the complementary palettes… And Oakley was better (and faster) than the MK Festival 20 – a beautiful course, well marshalled, great weather (which helped). Loads of LFR there to chat to; and although it was hilly, I still managed to run sub 2:30 – a time I could not have comprehended 18 months ago (it was 10 seconds a mile faster than my first club run – for 4 times the distance) – and the hoody was SAPPHIRE – let joy be unconfined! And so, I have a quandary… assuming I only do one marathon (even I don’t believe this now) – and I have since run another couple of 17 milers down the canal (I know it’s boring, but I can’t get lost or run over), and over 500 miles for the year – twice what I had run by this time last year; how fast do I run at MK? People talk about a marathon being a race of two halves – a 20 mile and a 6 mile race; and that you should start really easy, then wind it up – but let’s be honest – that is NOT going to happen; I am absolutely going to get swept up in the excitement and try to hang on – and maybe that’ll work – I’ve got the miles on my legs after all; I’ll let you know how well that turns out…

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This is the week that was…full of PBs!

It was group night on Tuesday where we tried something a little different.  The run leaders were pushing the groups to go just that little bit faster on their runs:  the 11s were running 10.30s, the 10.30s were running 10s, the 10s, 9.30s and so on.  Everyone enjoyed it and lots of runners ran further and faster than they’d done before.  Excellent! Janice was the Mistress of Joy and Pain for Fartlek Wednesday.  Coach Matt took out the largest group of Improvers we’ve ever seen for Catterpillars on Thursday. And Katharine took out the LFR boys for a wonderful Friday morning social in the sun.  A big thank you to our wonderful run leaders as usual.  We couldn’t put on any of these runs without them.  If you ever fancy being a run leader for any of our runs, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, do let Captain Dan or VC James know. On parkrun day we had LFRs at Brighton & Hove, Boston, Linford Wood (where Claire ran a PB!), Houghton Hall, Aylesbury, Tring, Daventry, Dolgellau (where Steph and Mariam were both second in their age groups!), Richmond Olympic (Len, we miss you), Great Denham, Watermeadows, Jersey Farm, Marston Vale and of course….Rushmere.    At home in Rushmere, Jamie made it into the top 10 and Janet, fresh from her age category win at the Leighton 10K two weeks before, bagged a PB! Saturday also saw the return of the LFR Ploggers!  You go for a jog and as you go, pick up litter and help the community by doing so.  A massive thank you to everyone who joined us for the morning and gave up your time.  Everyone found the experience rewarding and enjoyed a well deserved pint in the pub.  The plog was covered by the Daily Mail as part of the Great British Spring Clean.  Keep an eye out! The weekend continued and it was a weekend full of training runs, rides and swims with some excellent efforts put in.  And of course it was a weekend full of events: Jo was at the Draycote Water 10 Mile.  Sparky was continuing his comeback with a great run at the Brighton 10K.  Team LFR had some fantastic performances at the Flitwick 10K with Chris winning her age category AGAIN and some superb PBs from Laura, Tom, Andrew, Paul, Seri, Captain Dan, Coach Matt, Gavin and Fiona! All this training is paying off.  Well done, all of you! At Boston (no not that one), Clare was smashing out a half marathon and we also had some marathoners… Kevin completed his first ever marathon coming in with a great time for a first of 3.48.  Katy got a cracking time in preparation for her world record attempt at VLM to be the fastest egg to run a marathon!  Doyley was smashing out ANOTHER marathon.  Mark bagged a superb PB of 3.15 as did Paul who ran a 3.17 getting himself a Good for Age time in the process!  And finally Ian was running Boston as a training run of all things following an 75 mile cycle to get there the day before.  Brilliant.  We also had a smattering of LFRs at the Brighton Marathon.  Niki was running her first ever marathon.  Niki has come so far…she was a couch to 5K graduate with LFR not that long ago!  Well done, Niki!  Carole was running her first marathon as a member of LFR. Caroline ran a 31 minute PB!  Annis was running marathon number 11.  Stephanie ran a 25 minute PB.  Duncan ran a 15 minute PB.  And Elle ran a PB and also got her Good for Age time! Some excellent performances all round.  Every single one of these marathoners has put in hours and hours of training to get to where they are.  It takes a lot of hard work to complete a marathon.  Even more to get such huge PBs and the fantastic times these guys have achieved.  Well done team! There are still more marathon stories to come in the coming weeks with the Spring marathon season in full flow - and even today with Pam and Peter running the real Boston.  Look out for their stories in next week’s newsletter!  That’s all for now.  Have a great week, LFR!

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This is the week that was…Ultras, Loops and Lakes!

The week began with a 5cake night and two new course records for the men and women.  Tom came in at a brilliant 18.30 for the 5K and Elle ran a superb 21.13.  We had plenty of PBs on the night and our Couch to 5K Graduates joining the club run for the first time! Well done guys. Vicky took out the Herberts for Fartlek Wednesday.  The C25K graduates were back in action on Thursday trying out Andy’s Hills at Improvers.  And Karen led a lovely social run on Friday. On parkrun day we had LFRs at Bedfont Lakes, Linford Wood (where David bagged a new PB), Houghton Hall, Aylesbury (where Team Turner both ran PBs!), Kingsbury Water, Fell Foot, Rushmere, Marston Vale and Richmond Olympic (when are you coming home, Len?). Sandra, Lindsey, Doyley and Carrie were being tourists for the day at Fell Foot parkrun in the Lake District.  A beautiful course and a gorgeous setting.  Carrie and Doyley were the multisport parkrunners cycling 11 miles to get there! At home in Rushmere, we had PBs from Kevin, Gavin, David and Mini Stamp George!  Excellent running. The weekend came and we had a few members out running at events:  Julie and Sally was running the Sandy 10 mile – Julie bagging a 10 mile PB.  David was at the Grand Union Half Marathon and following his parkrun PB from the Saturday ran an excellent half PB of 1.38.  Emma was totting up her marathon total yet again with a great run at the Manchester Marathon.  JK aka the Legend was running the Shropshire 80K Ultra.  A self navigated brutal trail run.  But with fantastic views he says!  All worth it in the end.  He does this a lot…you see why we call him the Legend?  And also running an ultra at the South Downs Way 50 and getting her first medal of the year was Claire!  50 miles up and down the South Downs.  Superb!  Sunday was the day of the LFR Training Loops! A massive 30 runners turned up to run the loops – not all LFR – some completing a few loops, others running 20 miles.  Superb efforts from every single runner.   Thank you to everyone who took part and big thank you to Pam, Vicky and Matt for helping out on the day and Captain Dan for his organisation.  Another successful training run!  And finally the Lakes…what’s this?  A bunch of LFR took to the Lake District this weekend for some training.  They fit in running, cycling, fudge, parkrunning, gingerbread, hiking, more cycling, swimming, and lots and lots of laughs.  Some were doing a recce of the Lakeland 50 route (wait until July to hear all about this one).  Some were getting the miles in the legs in their cycling training, cycling up the steepest hills imaginable and showing off their LFR Cycling Jerseys at the same time.  Others took to Rydal Water for a glorious, but freezing open water swim.  And it was all finished off with a hike up a mountain (bagging eight Wainwrights on the way round).  Well done guys.  Excellent training weekend! And that’s it for this week! Have a great week, LFR!

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This is the week that was….the Leighton 10K!

Before heading to our main event, let’s have a quick recap of the week gone by…  Tuesday saw us run to the pub and back again!  The legend we call JK had his first go as the Master of Pain on the Fartlek whistle – everyone finished smiling.  More pain next time, JK.  Jen took charge of the Improvers on Thursday making them do sprints, bands, star jumps and lunges up the steepest of hills.  And Vicky led a Friday morning social run in the glorious weather – the lake looks beautiful in the sunshine!On parkrun day we had members at Milton Keynes, Rosliston, Houghton Hall, Kingsbury Water, Exmouth, Dunstable Downs, Millennium Country parkrun Forest of Marston Vale (yes it has a really long name), Richmond Olympic (Len's in Canada again) and of course, Rushmere.  At Milton Keynes David was running his parkrun anniversary.  In one year his time there has progressed from 31:31 to 21:37.  What an incredible achievement!  At Rushmere we had a massive 44 LFRs!  Steven, Kevin and Andrew took their places in the top 10 with Mr Sugars and Mr Hare bagging themselves PBs; Mrs Sugars came in third lady; mini LFR Arriana ran herself a course PB (now beating her mum’s time!); David, Elle, Caroline, Ami, Jen, Annabelle also ran PBs! Some of the 44 were Debbie’s Couch to 5K runners who having completed the course tackled one of the toughest parkruns.  Excellent running all of you and I think it was a couple of you who bagged PBs! And they all finished with a post run beer. Superb! New members…remember to amend your parkrun profile to show you’re a member of Leighton Fun Runners!  You can also join our private Strava group here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/36030 Whilst the majority of the club were busy at some 10K event over the weekend, other members were also busy getting in the training runs, rides, swims and some were taking part in other events:  Elle and Mr Elle were at the Bedford Running Grand Prix Half Marathon.  Both absolutely destroyed their PBs with Elle taking 5 minutes from hers!  Also at Bedford, but running the 20 miles was Duncan smashing out a great run.  The Legend was back marathon running this week and doing what he does best at a navigational trail marathon at Thaxted.  Great work, JK! Now…this 10K event?  Of course it was LFR’s brand new Leighton 10K!  If you were not already aware, we were forced to move from our usual route this year due to a housing development and traffic restrictions on the roads we normally use.  And we moved to Long Marston Cricket Club!   347 runners finished our new route and the feedback we’ve had so far is that everyone loved it!  There has been a massive amount of praise all over social media for our wonderful marshals.  Thank you every single volunteer for the event: the cake bakers, the setting up team, the design man, the man with the van, the take down team, the marshals, the car parking people, the water station team, the pleasure zone, registration, baggage, tshirts, cake givers, tea makers, bacon sandwich makers, photographers, tail walker, lead bike, finish team, and of course our wonderful Race Director and the Captain.  We could not have put on this event without every single one of you.  Thank you. (Also – whoever made the jam tarts, these were a personal favourite). Thank you to our sponsors Quarters Estate Agents and The Rocci Tree. We'd also like to thank our hosts, Long Marston Cricket Club, Miles Scaffolding for the loan of their field, The Queens Head Pub, Morrisons, Ukie Toones and The Guitar Ninja for the music. Thank you also to every single runner who entered and ran.  The race can only work when we have runners who run and enjoy the race so a big well done for coming out.  It was a tough ask for runners and volunteers on Mother’s Day AND with the clocks going forward.  The coffee was in high demand. To the results!  It was a purple and gold 1,2,3 in the Men’s Race with Rob Elmore, Peter Mackrell and Chris George coming in from Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club.  They also took the top spot in the Ladies Race with Johanna Sharples and with Sam Dear coming in just before her they took home the team prize!  Well done LBAC! (Someone photo bombed their photo...) Second in the Ladies Race was Sarah King from Redway Runners and third was Nicola Mellor. Our age category winners were as follows:MV40 – Piers Vallance from Redway RunnersMV50 – Christopher Noble from Brackley and District RCMV60 – Terry McHugh from Ampthill & Flitwick FlyersMV70 – Paul Thomas was Leighton Fun RunnersFV35 – Abi Gooch from Redway RunnersFV45 – Debbie Channer from Vale of Aylesbury ACFV55 – Sheila Turner from Tring Running ClubFV65 – Janet Langdon from Leighton Fun Runners Some superb results and even some prizes for LFR!The first LFR home was of course our young star Tom Ellerton coming in 6th overall and bagging a 10K PB of 38:01.  There is no stopping this guy!  A 37 minute 10K is coming….  The first LFR lady home was….yes you guessed it….Katy GL! Even dressed as a fried egg she smashes out some superb times.  Katy is training for VLM this year and is hoping to get a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon dressed as an egg.  You’ve got this, KGL!  We had a total of 26 LFRs take part in the end.  It was fantastic to see each red and black come across the finish line.  Some superb results from you all. A massive shout out to LFR member Claire Bartlett.  For the last few weeks she has been working with Coach Matt and his team on a 5K to 10K course and completed her first ever 10K event with us on Sunday!  Superb effort Claire! Full results of the Leighton 10K can be found on the Races Online website here: https://www.racesonline.uk/results/2019-results/lfr10k-2019/ Photos will be made available online soon.  We will email all race participants with details and let members of the club know when these are online. So that’s it for another year.  Look out for the next one! And that’s it for this week! Have a great week, LFR and friends!

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This is the week…we found out the colour of the Oakley hoodie!

Before we turn to the long awaited result of the Oakley hoodie colour bingo, let’s have a look at our week… Another glorious week of club runs, with no wind.  We had pace groups on Tuesday, Paul and his ladies not Fartlekking on Wednesday, Captain Dan putting the Improvers to the test on Thursday and Katharine and Jenny leading the social run on Friday.  We’ve not seen any Strava artwork for a while – step it up run leaders! The weekend came as did parkrun day where we had LFRs at Arrow Valley, Linford Wood, Barrow, Houghton Hall,  Aylesbury, Buckingham, Exmouth, Watermeadows, Dunstable Downs, Marston Vale, and of course Rushmere.  At Rushmere we had some fantastic results and PBs galore!  Andrew took his spot in 2nd place – equalling his PB.  Jamie came in 4th, Kevin 7th, Ian 10th and Paul close behind in 11th.  Ian and Paul also bagged themselves new PBs, as did Gavin and Richard.  Flying the flag for the LFR ladies, Emily was 2nd lady and guess what…she also ran a PB!The half marathon runners were out and about on Sunday. LFR Dan was running a half marathon at Coventry.  Following his Rushmere PB, Gavin then landed a half marathon PB at the London Landmarks Half Marathon!  Also running at the LLHM was Adam and also Sarah (with Keith in full support/photographer mode). There were lots of training runs and rides as well over the weekend.  Shout out to Janice who cycled her first ever century on the bike –that’s 100 miles!  To put that into perspective, it’s the equivalent of running a marathon.  Superb. Andrew and Mark were flying the LFR flag at the final Gade Valley Training Run of 2019 – 20 Miles.  Both had storming runs and right on track with their marathon training.   Keep up the good work fellas! AND finally.  The other 20 Miler of the weekend, the Bedford Harriers Oakley 20 event.  An LFR favourite we had a gaggle of the team head to Bedford for a Sunny Sunday Run (a marked difference from last year’s event which was called off due to the snow!).  We had some fantastic results, excellent runs from everyone, all stepping it up in their marathon training.  We also had some first time 20 milers and first time Oakley 20 runners.  Everyone loved it!  Superb running efforts from everyone.    A big thank you also to the supporters at Oakley, JK and Karen were at the side of the road and Will was on hand to take plenty of photos as usual.  And the colour of the hoodie? This might be the best one yet….blue..... Well done everyone on another great week of running.  See you next week!

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This is the week that was…Storm Gareth!

Storm Gareth came and went this week.  We ran in the wind doing loops at Chartmoor Road; Janice beasted the team at Fartlek; James took the Improvers for some park Sprintervals; and Katharine and Jenny led a windy, but wonderful Friday morning run. parkrun day saw LFRs at Westmill (where Chris and Dave completed their parkrun compass challenge), Linford Wood, Houghton Hall (where Tom came 2nd and bagged an incredible PB of 18.44), Aylesbury, Kingsbury Water, Longrun Meadow, Buckingham, Tring, Rushmere and Celia still parkrun touring at Gisborne parkrun in New Zealand running a fabulous time of 27.59 – the southern hemisphere suits you, Celia!Also running a parkrun on his 75th birthday was LFR Len at Sheffield parkrun. Unfortunately the parkrun had to be cancelled.  But Len and 150 other runners ran it anyway!  Happy Birthday, Len! The weekend was another busy one for Team LFR.  The weather did not stop us. Here we go…. Team Turner, Stephanie and Annis, were running six laps around Thames Valley Nature Park for the 20 miles Doh’Nut Run. There were even doughnuts at the end (real ones, not those medals!);  Peter was at the Fleet Half; and  Emily bagged a 10K PB at the Richmond Riverside 10K. Sally, Jen and Andrew took a road trip to the Scottish Borders to take part in the Mighty Deerstalker.  A night time headtorch run weaving up and down two mountains in the wind, wading through rivers, tunnels, and mud galore!  Andrew managed a super fast time and even came 4th in his age category! The team took on the Ashridge Boundary Run on Saturday– a 16.5 mile hilly trail run.  Hugely windy.  Mud everywhere.  Superb efforts from everyone!  A big thank you and well done also to the LFR supporters who stood out in the wind cheering the team on. And finally it was the MK Festival of Running on Sunday with LFRs taking part in all distances: 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and 20 Miles! Well done everyone! Of course not all LFRs were taking part in events and some still made it out in the wind getting the miles in for their training runs.   Well done all.  Another great week.  Happy running, LFR! 

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This is the week that…..started and ended with food!

PANCAKES!  Yes it was the annual pancake run on Tuesday where we had our usual groups running and all passing by Captain Dan’s house for pancakes! No naked chef this year.  Perhaps he’ll make a return next year…   Kevin took on the Fartlek group on Wednesday to burn off the pancake calories from the day before.  Andrew led another big crowd of Improvers on Thursday and Peter and the boys, plus Rachel, had a glorious morning run in the woods on Friday.                                                                       The weekend was again full of parkruns, events and racing, so hold on tight…. parkrun day saw LFRs at Heaton, Milton Keynes, Arrow Valley, Cannon Hill, Killerton, Winchester, Eastville (the second of the compass tour from Debbie, Carrie and Jon), Houghton Hall, Buckingham, Ellenbrook Fields, Great Denham, Wendover Woods, Dunstable Downs and Celia continuing her parkrun tour at the Tauranga parkrun in New Zealand! At home in Rushmere, LFR Julie was the first lady home and we had some fantastic PBs from Paul and Amanda.  Great running! The LFR multisporters were sporting again with Jen, Ali, Paul and Verity at the Berkhamsted Spring Classic ride in Aldbury – a lovely, but windy cycle ride around the Chilterns followed (of course) by cake!  And a new LFR sport….Mark was wearing the LFR colours on the ski slopes. Interesting ski equipment, Mark. Clare and Kirsty  ran the Enigma 5K Dragon Race on Saturday.  Kirsty followed this on Sunday with a 5K PB out on her solo run! Nolan, Laura and Kelly were at London’s Big Half with Laura and Kelly running their first ever half marathon!  (I don’t know how many Nolan has run…tell us, Nolan!)  Kelly and Laura joined the club last year after completing the Winter Couch to 5K and just a year later they have completed their first half marathon! Great work, ladies!Also running her first ever half marathon this weekend was Katie at the Harpenden Half who was also running her first official race in an LFR vest!  Gale force winds and mud throughout, but it’s done!  Well done, Katie! Mud seemed to be the theme for the weekend… Sally ran through lots of mud at the Hunny Bell Cross Country.  Rob took on the muddy hills at the Wendover Woods Half Marathon.  And in preparation for the breakfast run, Stephanie finally got herself muddy on a run along the canal (if you haven’t already heard, Stephanie doesn’t care for mud).The big event of the weekend was of course our first fundraising event of the year…LFR’s annual Breakfast Run!  We had six groups running from three stations along the canal or cross country.  Cold and windy in places, warm and muddy in others! All went really well and everyone returned to the clubhouse for their scrummy breakfast.  Everyone had a brilliant time and for the first time most groups actually met on the canal and some even joined up to run back together.  Wonderful!   A huge thank you to the clubhouse breakfast team: Max, Jason, Jane, Chris, Jess and Fiona and huge thanks to the run leaders Gavin, Dave, Annis, Michelle, James and Captain Dan.  Also a massive thank you to our train man, Graham, for arranging the train tickets with LNW. And fundraising? We raised about £300 in donations which will be added to the pot to for our charity donation next year.  Thank you everyone who ran, donated, ate and had fun!  That’s all for this week.  Happy running, LFR!

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