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Racing From January into February!
Racing From January into February Finishing Up January At the end of January, our marathon “Wonder Woman”, Lesley Wes Barnard completed not one, but TWO marathons in two days! The first was in Sawbridgeworth and was marathon number 90! The following day, she took to the streets of London and in her words “only walked” the Ultra Challenge London charity walk. Lesley said this one didn't count towards the 100 challenge, however I’m sure it won’t be long until we report on marathon number 100! I'm sure you have the next 10 all planned out?! Watford Half - 6th February Hosted by the Watford Harriers running club and Active Training World, in aid of raising money for Peace Hospice Care; the 40th anniversary of the race. The 6th of February is a date known for many a reason. American astronaut Alan Shepard was the 1st to hit a golf ball on the moon, the "Monopoly" board game went on sale for the 1st time and not forgetting that it is also Bob Marley’s birthday. But in little ol’ Leighton Buzzard, it will forever be the date when eight LFR rockstars conquered the Watford Half Marathon. Gathering in the LB train station were Captains Award winner 2021 Adam Carter, Feb ROTM Graham Cooper, VC Andy Stocks and court jester VC Dougie. The conversation grew steady about the state of the weather. It was wet, cold, and windy. Typical conditions for the Watford Half as it has a reputation for being cold and or snowing. Stepping off the train, the heavens opened but fortunately it started easing as they ventured toward the show, when a familiar red, white and black shirt was seen walking through Cassiobury Park. “Paul!” they all yelled in delight as resident Legend, Mr Paul Thomas turned and smiled toward the group. They arrived in the event village, which was very well organised for number collection, information, bag drops and ample portaloo availability! Here, they were welcomed by Team Turner, Annis and Steph, all happy to back out racing again. After several moments of VC Andy complaining about the “hairpin” corner in the race, they began their preparations, rituals of warm-ups, water, gels and traditional last minute bathroom breaks! On the start line, were a large number of race pacers to support those chasing a time, and here lining behind a flag was Nice Man Dan, Dan Lovelock, completing the LFR team of eight initiative. The sun broke through the clouds, and the timer began. The course was a lollipop route of 13.1 miles starting and finishing at the scenic Cassiobury park. Starting a backwards parkrun route, towards the residential areas, the closed and quiet country roads behind the famous Grove Hotel. Crossing the bridge over the M1 and up the dreaded Bucks Hill, the course made a U-turn at the Cart & Horses pub. Going through Bottom Lane, and unavoidable ankle-deep lake, the roads veered back to Chandlers Cross and the edge of Whippendell Woods before heading back to the finish. There was a great collective of Marshalls, local cadet groups assisting at water stations and photographers capturing the joy of it all. Some clearly enjoyed the camera more than other! Despite the hills and water-traps, all the LFR’s enjoyed the race as smiles were broad and wide at the finish line. The team gathered for their shared congratulations and to enjoy freebie sweeties and cheesecake - Big congratulations to Paul who finished 1st in his age group. Results on the door: Andy Stocks 1:47 Dan Lovelock 1:46 Paul Thomas 2:08 Steph Turner 2:20 Annis Turner 2:28 Graham Cooper 2:28 Adam Carter 2:01 Dougie 1:32 Devils Punchbowl and some 10ks! On Sunday 13th February our capital city was again a destination as Lynda Peacock and Matthew Ladds completed the Cancer Research 10k which started and finished around Trafalgar Square. Matt completed the race in an incredible 41:58 and our sources say there wasn’t a can of beer in sight, but I’m sure there would have been one as a recovery drink? Lynda reported that she felt it was the best run she'd had in a longtime, we can agree the pacing looked great! To the west of London, Andy Griggs took part in the Harrow Hill 10k. As the name suggests it wasn’t overly flat, but on the flip side, the post race cake was abundant! Andy wasn't after a time, he was just looking forward to a jolly day out! Also on Sunday 13th JK, Ian Mulry, Paul Doyle, Glyn Raymen and Rob Laughton took to the South Downs for the Punchbowl. This event covers 30 miles and 2,300ft of elevation, the weather wasn't so delightful, full on wind and rain! Well done everyone, a real challenge in the conditions. This event marked JK's 256th marathon! The Captain had baked him some special flapjacks, which he was grateful for over the last 9 miles! Training Runs Away from racing, many LFR’s have been joining up over the past few weekends and putting in a lot of training miles for upcoming spring events. Former Chair Steve Ellerton has led two 10 mile club runs the last 2 Sundays, which have seemed popular. These have taken in the tow path and plenty of trails. Thank you Steve! Over the fields of Buckinghamshire, expert navigator Paul House took a few hardy souls on a 19 mile mystery tour. The risk assessment didn’t take into account a local clay pigeon shoot, however I’m glad to report all 6 returned safe and sound. Captain Emily has been gradually increasing her mileage and we were all very impressed with how consistent her mile splits were a few weeks ago. Special mentions to Heidi Buck and Megan Francis who have been delivering some impressive training runs, Megan is training for her first marathon, Brighton which is 8 weeks away. Heidi, what's on your race calendar? We love to hear about how your training is going, so please share your achievements on our Facebook page. Likewise, if you’re looking for a training buddy, feel free to use the group. There’s always someone going somewhere, doing something and a pace that will suit!
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My famous cake
Lots of sugar Loads if butter A bunch of sprinkles A trip to the donut shop 🍩 Cheers.
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My special cake
Choclate So this is my special cake! I didn't really make it, but never mind
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Who’s been doing what in January?
Who's Been Doing What in January? 2 Weeks of Racing After the excitement of the Beds AAA Cross Country 8th January, individual racing resumed almost immediately as we began 2022. Matthew Ma, after placing well in the cross country on the Saturday, laced up his still damp and muddy trail shoes and took on the Stansted Stagger. As we all know, Matthew does anything but stagger when it comes to racing, and completed the 26 mile trail event in 3 hours and 48 minutes. A great way to start the racing season! On Sunday 15th January some of you ventured further afield and hit the roads in some longer distance events. Continuing his great form from 2021, Adam Carter jumped on the train and took on the Battersea Half Marathon which took in the iconic power station and dogs home. It looked like a lot of laps?! Adam again got himself a sub 2 hour time at 1:57. I’ll be looking with interest at how your running continues to develop this year Adam! A little further south of the Thames and to Crystal Palace where Dale Smisson kick started his year with another half marathon PB. Dale knocked a further 4 minutes off of his best time from 2021 with 2:04 as he builds his miles in readiness for the Brighton marathon in April. A great venue and medal Dale. It won’t surprise you to see that ultra duo Lesley Wes Barnard and Emma Davis were once again joined by Helen Crossland as they ventured to Wales and got straight back into their long distance events. 33 hilly miles and some stunning scenery. Well done ladies! On Sunday 23rd January some of you donned your trainers and took on the Fred Hughes 10 mile challenge in St Albans. In its 34th year, this is a well established event that many return to year after year. First home for LFR was former chairman Steve Ellerton in a very respectable 1:15. Just behind Steve was VC Andy Stocks who is training for 4 marathons this year, and is very good at sticking to his training plan. Something some of us could learn to be better at! Also at “The Fred” were Graham Cooper and Paul Thomas. Paul did brilliantly in his age group coming third in a time of 1:33 and Graham who was pictured on social media being chased by a young lady from LBAC finished in 1:38. Wayne Walker completed the quintet of men with an equally impressive 1:23. Flying the flag for the LFR ladies was Lynda Peacock who, having completed the race a few times, noted the course was on a different route this year and much hillier. However Lynda, I’m sure you enjoyed the race all the same? Running the Greensand Ridge Away from racing a few of you joined up to take on the Greensands Ridge on Sunday 23rd. Richard Heady, who is captaining a virtual team challenge for runners to complete 1000 miles this year, took on the Greensands with some LFR Friends. Joining on the run from the start in Leighton was Paul Doyle who likes a long distance run and supported Richard the whole 42 miles. Sam Heady, who you may remember completed the 2 day Run Jersey with Richard in the Autumn of last year, was also along for the first 19 miles to Ampthill. It looks like you’ve got the long distance bug now Sam! Sam was joined by Ian Mulry for part of the run and then he peeled off at Woburn. There’ll be more long distance events from Ian as the year progresses. If you like the sound of the Greensands run, LFR will once again be entering teams into the relay event which is being held on Saturday 18th June. Please add your name to Captain Emily’s Facebook post or send her an email.
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This is the week that… We Took Over the Beds AAA XC
This is the week that... We Took Over The Beds AAA XC Following last year’s postponement due to Covid, the Beds AAA joined forces with Bucks AAA to hold the County Cross Country Championships at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes on Saturday. The rainy weather forecast was spot on for a change and that made for ideal cross country conditions. With some gentle encouragement pre Christmas, LFR fielded a magnificent 32 runners across the various age groups, which was a great turnout. The event started mid morning with the junior categories testing the conditions and making the route a little more interesting for us to follow later in the day. While we don’t have a junior section ourselves, it was great to see the children of our members doing so well. Charlotte and Elizabeth Stocks came 2nd and 3rd in their age group, Arianna Green and Bella Laird were 4th and 6th in the Girls under 13’s. For the boys, James Parker came 2nd in his age group and Rhys Booth came 4th! Well done to all those youngsters who took part. After the children it was the turn of the adults and at 1.00pm the men lined up to take on the undulating grassland course, which was best described as “Squelchy” under foot. Spikes were definitely the best option, although a pair of wellies would have been just as appropriate! As the gun went off Matthew Ma set the early LFR pace, tackling a steep uphill start, which set the tone for the race. Our mens over 60’s duo of Mike Clark and Mark Viccars were first to finish as they completed two laps of the course. Mike finished in 3rd place with Mark not far behind in 5th, well done both. The rest of the men completed a third lap with Matthew Ma being the first LFR home in 14th place and not far behind was Ian Bisby in 19th place, followed by Dan Green in 25th. Dan was also 2nd in the V45 age group. Well done Dan! In all we had 16 men compete on the day which enabled us to qualify for two teams in the team event, where we placed 3rd and 4th behind LBAC in the Senior / Veterans category and in the Vets Category we came a brilliant 2nd and 3rd. A shout out to Andy Griggs who had earlier completed a parkrun in Maidenhead in the morning and still made the cross country. Without Andy the mens Vets team would not have achieved the 3rd place finish. As we approached 2.00pm the ladies prepared for action and once again the heavens opened, the rain returned and it was horrible! The ladies set off on a slightly different route to the men, who were on supporting duties, shouting words of encouragement as the ladies had done an hour earlier. We certainly embody team spirit at LFR, as I didn’t see any other clubs support their runners as we did! In all 10 ladies made the start line on Saturday and they all did brilliantly. Rosie Booth was the first LFR lady home in 11th place and an impressive 3rd in Age Group. Elle Laird was the 2nd LFR home and came 2nd in her Age Group, with Sam Heady coming 3rd LFR lady and 3rd in her Age Group. Well done all! At the finish line with the supporting crew ever growing, Michelle Evans-Riches put in a finishing kick, which will live long in the memory! Coming around the last bend, Michelle was a good 20m behind the runner in front of her and with shouts of encouragement from a whole entourage of LFR’s she really dug in and won the sprint to the line. A great way to win your age group Michelle and join Christine Ayres and Celia Walker and help the LFR team win the team event. It was the first time LFR have won the team event in any category in 21 years of the Beds AAA Cross Country. A thoroughly enjoyable event despite the weather and great results from every single LFR!
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This is the week of… The Christmas Party 2021 & Awards Night
This is the week of... The Christmas Party 2021 & Awards Night Well, we did it....! After months of planning and two years since we last got together we pulled off a brilliant Christmas party and awards night. The joint evening was new this year, did you like it? Let us know! With the government announcement of the country moving to Plan B, the Committee were so relieved we were able to go ahead as planned and over 100 LFR’s dusted down their party dresses and high heels and partied like it was 1999! (The boys didn’t look too shabby either). Is it just me, or is it really hard to recognise people when not dressed in Hi-Vis or a particular brand of trainers?! The evening started with a fabulous meal, organised by Michelle, the first element of a very successful evening, well done Michelle. I’m sure none of the food went to waste and the complimentary drink also went down a treat! We were then treated to a video to commemorate the past year that Captain Emily had spent many a late night putting together for our entertainment! A great reminder to highlight all that you have achieved during 2021. I’m sure we can find a way of sharing the film so more of us can watch it over. Before the dancing commenced, the awards ceremony was conducted and it was great to see so many receive their award in person and take the adulation of their successful year, which was so well deserved. Sadly, two of our award winners were not able to be at the evening to receive their award or congratulations. So on behalf of everyone congratulations to: Sagar Kharab for Runners Runner: As voted by the members. Emma Davis for the Special Award: Given by the committee for completing her 100th marathon this year. There were two acknowledgements of awards already won during the year with Tom Webster and Matthew Ladds picking up their trophies for The Watchless 5 and Beer Mile. Who will take on these two in 2022? With any awards evening I feel that to be nominated and voted for by your peers holds just a little more kudos. It says that your team mate’s acknowledge your effort, your performances, and results. The ultimate being awarded to Sagar Kharab with the Runners Runner trophy. A great reflection on the running improvement that Sagar has made since he joined LFR and importantly the amount of times Sagar puts his hand up to help with any requests for volunteers that go out. LFR members also voted for the winners of the Golden Boot and Photo Competition. From a short list, you voted for Gavin Prechner’s “Mud Suction” moment for the Golden Boot award and to Andy Griggs’s “Bring Me Sunshine” in the Best Photo Competition. Well done to everyone who was on the shortlist. From a running perspective, there were a number of awards given out. All the deserving winners join a long list of former winners and become a part of the history of LFR forever more. For her outstanding year and on the back of being named as December’s Runner of the Month, Jen Garner won the female coaches award for her consistent improvements in her times and PB’ing at all distances this year. In the male category and for very similar reasons the winner was William Burchell. Captain Emily and her VC’s had a tough choice when it came to the Captain’s Award but in the end Adam Carter was their choice, which was very well received by those at Brooklands. Adam has seen huge improvements this year, ran a great London Marathon and has knocked minutes off his half marathon times throughout the year. Adam is also a very popular run leader and has recently completed his LiRF training. There were three recognition awards given out by the Captain’s team. Emily loves a spreadsheet and since we started back running since March 29th to the present day, every run is logged and recorded. Kevin Hare was recognised as the member who has volunteered the most (not including run leads), this included C25K, events such as the Beer Mile, cake nights, etc. Len Holland was awarded as the LFR who ran the most runs during the year with a staggering 69 runs. Dougie was awarded for the member who has led the most run leads, 43 in total! The Chairman’s Award is awarded to “ Someone who is a great ambassador to the club” and there was no more worthy candidate than Tracy Cardno to receive that award this year. Tracy massively helps with other events such as VLM marshals, Santa Dash and regularly represents LFR at local parkruns. She does all this despite having an injury that prevents her from running. The next award was debated long and hard by the Committee and I think the final choice was perfect. The Clubman’s Award is awarded to “Someone who upholds the values of LFR',' and this year it went to Andy Griggs. Andy is always on weekly club runs, supports everyone helping them to feel welcome and is always out and about spreading the LFR brand at parkruns up and down the country. If you don’t know Andy, he wears his trademark bucket hat on every run and as an extra recognition we had a special LFR branded hat made for Andy, which he proudly wore at Rushmere parkrun on Saturday. The final award of the evening was a great surprise which the committee somehow managed to keep quiet. Since joining the committee as Vice Captain in 2020 Emily has been one of the driving forces that helped us all get through the various stages of lockdown with weekly challenges and motivational tasks to keep us all running. Since she became Captain this year back in February, Emily has taken the club to new levels. She will tell anyone it’s a team effort, and of course we all know that but every team needs a leader. The Committee felt that the work Emily does behind the scenes was very worthy of the Extraordinary Recognition award. On behalf of the Committee and all the members, thank you Emily. We of course, also said a big thank you to Michelle for all her hard party planning work. After the awards were over there was plenty of time to party. Our live band “Big in Brazil” were again on form, knocking out classic party songs and dance floor anthems. But if the dance floor wasn’t your thing, just spending the evening catching up with your running friends was a great way to spend a few hours. On behalf of all our members I’d like to extend a huge thanks to everyone on the Committee and anyone else who helped on the night. The evening was a huge success and capped a brilliant return to running at LFR.
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This is the week that… LFR Became EA East Region “Club of The Year”
This is the week that... LFR Became EA East Region "Club of The Year" There’s only one place to start when we review last week... and that's with LFR being WINNERS! In the 38 year history of LFR, Wednesday 17th November 2021 will forever be remembered as the day we won the EA East Region "Club of the Year award". Our fingers are crossed that we'll get forwarded to the National Awards and of course we will share more details as we have them. While we all know that if a certain Danish Brewery did running clubs then LFR would probably be the best running club in the world. What we all believe about our club was highlighted in the awards citation from the judging panel. They said... “The club has a welcoming atmosphere, a variety of sessions and running groups to suit all. The club takes great care to train and develop its volunteer leaders, so they can continue to offer top quality coaching and advice, whatever the members’ aims, experience or ability. This has led to the club not just retaining members through lockdown, but actually increasing its membership as restrictions eased.” The judges continued... “As their name suggests, Leighton Fun Runners have made running fun at the heart of everything they do, but they also have their share of more serious runners. Clearly being all inclusive, friendly and accessible are the secrets to the club’s success combined with a commitment to ensuring future growth through encouraging and developing run leaders through its enthusiastic and committed volunteer base.” Club chairman Andy Heale acknowledged that the award was only possible due to the wonderful membership and volunteers who make the club such a great club to be a part of. If you missed the awards ceremony you can watch the moment we were announced as winners from 1hr 15 minutes on this YouTube link HERE. parkrun Day! On Saturday LFR descended on Dunstable Downs to take part in the Club Takeover day. Other local clubs including LBAC, LBTri, Tring, Dunstable Lions, Redway Runners came along too, to help showcase the running club community. There were about 25 LFR’s running and it was great to see some of you taking part with your families too. Ian Bisby led the team home with a 15th place finish in 20:26, with Rosie Booth being the first LFR lady to finish in 22:16. There were also great PB’s among the team, well done to Kevin Hare, Tom Webster, Elle Laird, James Booth and Pauline Glen. Thank you to everyone for coming down and representing LFR. LFR members were of course also running other parkrun courses with 59 of us taking part at 10 different venues. Even with a large contingent at Dunstable, Rushmere still drew in 10 runners, with even more volunteering... Thank you! Some other members headed to a fairly new local parkrun venue in Newport Pagnell, Bury Field. Finally, Dougie was in Portsmouth and clocked up another tourism at Portsmouth Lakeside where he ran a 5km PB! Sunday Races At the picturesque Barton Hills we had runners past and present taking part in the Shillington Shuffle. JK, Paul Doyle, Paul Little, Rob Laughton, Paul Thomas and Glyn Raymen completed the marathon distance, this was JK’s 255th marathon and the second in just a little over a week. Lesley Wes Barnard and Emma Davis completed the 18 mile event, while Matthew Ma was taking it easy and enjoying the sights on the half marathon route. A little further afield and I imagine a great deal warmer was Martin Addrison who took part in the Gran Canaria Marathon. Martin completed the course in a very respectable 4hr 19 minutes. I hope you get a chance to enjoy the sand, sunshine and Sangria before you come home Martin. I’m sure all three are well deserved! Another LFR completing a marathon this weekend was Will Ellis. I can vouch that Wendover Woods was certainly a degree or two colder than Gran Canaria. Will is one of our newer members and only took up running last year through lockdown. This was Will’s 3rd marathon this year and he completed this extremely technical and hilly trail event in a very impressive 4hr 13 minutes. Ruby Lee was also running in Wendover and only signed up for the event on Sunday morning to keep herself busy while Will ran his event! This being Ruby’s 3rd half marathon in as many weeks... Well done to both of you! At the Watford autumn 10k, we had four members don the red, black and white over at Cassiobury Park. Bob Nicol grabbed himself a 10k PB 50:25. Bob has seen some great progress this year in his times! Fresh off his marathon and then last week’s Dirt Half, Graham Cooper ran a decent race, as did Rob Pargetor and Andy Griggs who said this was his last event of 2021. Great running gents! The final race for this week is at the historical venue of Hampton Court where it is rumoured that King Henry VIII liked an early morning 6.2 mile run around the grounds! Iain Summers was the solo LFR there for the 10k event and he ran a great 52:11. Great work team!
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This is the week that was…. The Dirt Half
This is the week that was... The Dirt Half! parkrun I thought this week's parkrun would be a little quieter due to the Dirt Half, however I was pleasantly surprised to be proved wrong. An impressive 44 of you took part in parkrun’s at nine venues up and down the land. Carrie Tyas and Paul Doyle were in Whitby, while keen parkrun tourist Andy Griggs was at California Park in Berkshire. On holiday in Scotland, Jenny Hogan and Bob Nicol were in Montrose flying the LFR flag. Back home at Rushmere we still had 24 of you taking part, well done to Clare Kleanthous, who bagged herself a new PB of 31:20. It looks like you gave the “Gong of Glory” a decent whack! The Dirt Half Our #LFRrocks hashtag really came to life on Saturday as we “took over” The Dirt Half. We had an amazing 41 LFR’s running on Saturday with lots of the LFR family out marshalling and supporting. On paper, the race seems reasonably straightforward, a half marathon starting at Cedars Upper School, running along the canal, then up and through Rushmere and back. Simple? Possibly. Easy? Definitely Not! The race is so much more challenging than that, as anyone who has run it will tell you. The big debate throughout the week was whether to wear trail or road shoes and even at the end of the race I think many of us were still undecided but more of that later. Every single runner had some kind of story to tell. From first timers to seasoned runners, those returning from injury or illness and those competing or just being happy completing, there was a real sense of anticipation as the flag dropped at 10am. Along the canal, The Globe was awash with supporters, turning it into a tunnel of noise and friendly faces. A few miles further on at The Three Locks, more support was waiting on the bridge including chief cheerleader Clare Kleanthous, fresh off her parkrun PB. More support was waiting near the top of the hill into Great Brickhill with JK and granddaughter Elle-Mai dishing out Jelly Babies and encouragement to keep running up that hill. At the same point, Lisa and Jason Charley were also supporting along with their LFR kitted out dogs. Or perhaps Lisa was checking that her patients were behaving themselves?! Julie Sugars, The Greens, Janet Langdon, Mark Kleanthous, Dora Parra, Tracy Cardno and Stephen Moore were also out providing support. I know I speak on behalf of every runner that the support out on course was immense and did not go unnoticed! Thank you! Onto the results and Team LFR certainly delivered! On an individual level, Mike Clark won his age category in a time of 1hr 39minutes and Rosie Booth came 2nd in her age group and 3rd overall female in a time of 1hr 41 minutes. Well done both! We then found out we had won the team event! This result was based on the top five runners of either gender from any club that took part. Our team was made up of Ian Bisby (first LFR home), VC Dougie, Paul House, Mike Clark and Kevin Hare. This really put the icing on the cake, what a day!! Unfortunately due to an admin error, Dan Green’s time did not count towards the team time. As I said at the start, it certainly wasn’t an easy course, especially at the back of the Globe where the choice of footwear would come back to haunt a few. Despite the challenges, many of you still put in PB performances. Watchless winner Tom Webster ran his 1st half. The ever improving Adam Carter got himself a PB of 1:54. I think it’s fair to say Adam has had a brilliant year! Two more PBs were achieved by Mike Ellyard in a time of 1:44 and Ann Hopper with a time of 2:24. Amazing statistics warning delivered to us from Mike Garner... The average LFR time for the race was 1:59:41 with 25 of the 41 LFR runners getting a sub two hour time. An excellent achievement from everyone, we all should be very proud of our efforts, I know I am!!! Full results can be viewed HERE. More Racing On Friday JK completed marathon number 254, supporting the XNRG Druids Ultra. He was the sweeper, removing event signs and tape from the 32 mile, hilly course along the Ridgeway trail, starting at the top of Ivinghoe Beacon and finishing at Watlington. Well done JK and great to see you back doing the long distances again. Over the weekend around Caldecotte Lake we had runners taking part in yet more Enigma events. Lesley Wes Barnard completed another Marathon in her quest for 100, supported by great friend Emma Davis, who dashed off midway through to marshal at the Dirt Half and then returned to support the last 3 laps... Top work team! On Sunday, Jim Buttleman, Wayne Walker and Lynda Peacock took the gentler option and completed the TBL 5k. Up in Staffordshire VC Dougie and Dale Smissen took on the Alton Towers Half Marathon, a race through the theme park before it opened. For Dougie this was his second half marathon in two days and allegedly his last for the year? He ran a brilliant 1:36 on both days! For Dale, this was his first official half marathon and he improved his time by a massive 6 minute over the 13.1 mile distance. Brilliant running both and I hope you enjoyed the rides after the race.
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This is the week that was…. The Halloween Run
This is the week that was... The Halloween Run! Friday Fright Night! After weeks of planning, many miles racked up on recce runs, hours of online and actual shopping for props, Friday night came and the Halloween Run was a huge success. I was going to resist “spooktacular” in this week's newsletter, but I’m afraid I can’t! On behalf of the whole club I think it’s right to acknowledge the work that especially Emily, JK and Dougie put in beforehand. In total we had 15 scarers spread out in the woods hiding. The outfits and effects were straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, or actually out the tool shed with the chainsaw man the axe man! Our Chairman even had what looked like a body wrapped up! We had enough runners for 4 groups. The groups set out from The Globe led by Emily, JK, Nic Dimmock and Dave Ayers, with 2 groups taking the 5.5 mile route and 2 taking the 3 mile route. We also had some friends from Bearbrook Running Club and The Redway Runners join in the fun. I heard there were quite a few screams on route, though rumour has it Emily's group needed a few more scare effects, we'll get them next year! Everyone made it back to the Globe having survived ghosts and ghouls, a special episode of the Squid Game and the Plantation Road chainsaw massacre! I’m not sure what the locals thought when we descended on the pub! I’m sure you all celebrated your survival! I for one will be making sure I’m able to make next year's event! There were some cracking outfits and makeup and a lot of fake blood. Mark Kleanthous won best dressed, but special mentions go to the identical twins Ruby Lee and Will Ellis, Steve Baker for his half naked warrior outfit and Emily for her 90 minutes of face paint, it did look good though! Rushmere parkrun takeover Less than 8 hours after some of you left the Globe, LFR were back out in force at Rushmere. This was our second “Takeover” in as many months. We had 21 volunteers scattered around Rushmere covering all the volunteer roles. We also had 34 of you out on the course, and some of you decided to don your Halloween gear once again! Onto the running and Matthew Ma put in a storming run and came home in first place in a staggering 18 minutes and 44 seconds. Jim Buttleman and Calum Holmes (who got a new PB) both finished in the top 10. Our first lady home was Julie Sugars in 24:19. One of our newer members Jasvinder Mahey also got a new PB. Elsewhere in the country, Anne Graeff took on Belfast and we had 3 gentlemen consisting of David Parker, Gavin Prechner and Paul Thomas who were at three different parkrun events in Wales. Anne Mason ran Halifax, Paul Doyle was in his hometown and ran Sedgefield, and Ann Hopper (though I can’t work out where she ran!) ran a PB! Race Day at Love Luton On Sunday, there appeared to be just one race to report on, The Love Luton Half Marathon and 10k. At best the weather could only be described as awful, despite the elements you all did remarkably well. In the 10k event, Carole Osborne and William Burchell flew the LFR flag. Will ran himself a PB and his first sub 50 time at 49:12, for Will this also gave him a full house of distance PB’s for 2021 and topped off his month of Runner of The Month quite nicely. Well done, both of you! In the half marathon we had Adam Carter, Jen Garner and James Bassil taking on the route from Stockwood Park to Luton town centre via the picturesque Luton Hoo and Wardown Park. For Adam, it was his first race since the London Marathon and he completed the course in 2:08. Duo, Jen and James ran together and Jen acknowledged James’ support for them both finishing in 2:04. For Jen this was a new PB and caps of the perfect year of PB’s in 5k, 10k, half and full marathons. An incredible achievement Jen!
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