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This is the week that was… Sun & XC!!!
What You Did Last Week... Our third week of club runs went off a treat, greatly helped by the increase in group sizes allowing more members to join the runs they want! It’s great to see our newest members getting stuck in on club runs and being made to feel involved from the off. We had a great selection of pace groups last week but also some step up groups too! JK once again led his popular Fartlek session on Tuesday; he’s putting to good use the knowledge he’s gained during his training for his LiFR qualification. On Thursday, Chairman Andy led a Caterpillar session around Harrow Road. Both sessions give variety to pace groups and are a great way to mix up your training providing some speed-work. They are suitable for all, so why not give them a go the next time they’re on? Saturday brought XC & Coaching Coach Matt took 5 members to Mentmore Road behind Tiddenfoot to work on some hill techniques and hill reps. It looked as if all were still smiling by the end! Matt’s coaching sessions are selling out super quick each week, which is great to see! Next week they’ll be back on the track of dreams at Astral Park. Talking of the Track of Dreams it was great to see new members Bob Nichol and Jenny Hogan include a lap of the track on their Saturday 5km run! Our 3 XC runners; Ian Bisby, Will Langdon and Paul Thomas had a blast on the final round of XC put on by Active Training World at Merchant Taylor School. They were blessed with sun, warmth and little mud. It’s been a great mini series in the absence of our club league XC that we normally compete in. I hope Active Training World puts on the same series at the end of this year. Sunny Sunday Sunny Sunday came and so did loads of super runs! Sally took a small but fun group out on a 10 mile trail run loop from Eaton Bray to Dunstable to Totternhoe Knolls finishing back in Eaton Bray. Sam Heady hoped her sunny trails would be a good recovery post Pimms! Meanwhile, Tom Ellerton and Paul House got super friendly with a herd of cows on their trail run!!! Lynda Peacock covered an impressive 16.5 miles on a route from MK to Wolverton and back! Kevin made the day even brighter on his run with his dazzling top! Graham Cooper clocked up 10, as did Julie Etherden and Sue Pankhurst who this time shared with us some smiling selfies! Andy Stocks also hit 10 miles on the trails, though post vaccine he took it a tad easier. Getting up in some more training miles was Mike Garner who clocked up 12 miles in the sun! Anne Mason was busy on the Downs getting in some valuable training for her Race to the Kings Event, which is a 53 mile ultra race from Arundel to Winchester. Lesley Wes Barnard and Emma Davis recced another leg of the Weary Soles route. Weary Soles was an LFR event which we hope to run again! Junior parkrun made a return! Special mention to Mini Stocks Charlotte who completed her 50th parkrun! I also saw that mini Parker and mini Laird came in first girl and first boy! Great work boys and girls! I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't wait for the return of parkrun in June for the rest of us!
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This is the week that was… Snow & XC!!!
What You Did Last Week... by Captain Emily As Tuesday evening runs were set to commence, snow flurried all around! Buffs, gloves, jackets and even the odd pair of leggings were grabbed as runners headed out the door as the blizzard of 2021 ensued! Tuesday was also our traditional cake night; so some run leaders met their groups with tasty treats! Once again there was a great selection of runs for members to choose from with practically all the groups being full. I'm happy to see runners wearing reflective clothing and their lights still; although we start in daylight it does soon get dark. Fortunately for the Friday trail run crew, numbers had been allowed to increase, which allowed a full group of 9 to head out. JK led a merry bunch around Rushmere in the sunshine and Kirsty Stocks brought the cakes! Saturday brought XC and Linslade parks run 1st Anniversary... Chris and David Ayers are both RD's for Rushmere parkrun and when Covid prevented parkrun from happening last year the Ayer's ran their own Linslade parks run every Saturday without fail. During the particularly wet weather they were forced to find an alternative 5km route as parts of Tiddenfoot became flooded. During this time, friends have joined them to run the course as and when lockdown allowed! Saturday 10th April marked the 1 year anniversary of running their event! I can't believe a whole year has gone by! Well done to you both for keeping this going throughout a very difficult year! 5 of LFR finally headed over to Merchant Taylor's for ATW's round 2 of XC (due to Covid this was the 3rd reschedule of the event). As per round 1, they had to negotiate the stream that meanders through the school grounds, but fortunately there was less water than the last event! There was also less mud but the odd log had been thrown on to the course to negotiate this time! It was a great event and the organisers made every effort to make it as Covid secure as possible. A huge well done to Will Langdon, Andy Heale, Rosie Booth, Ian Bisby and Graham Cooper who represented LFR. The 3rd and final round of XC takes place next Saturday and I believe you can still book yourself in HERE. Sunday came with sunshine Sunday came and so did Sally's trail run, over 13 miles across Dunstable and Ivinghoe Beacon taking in some stunning views along the way. Well done to those who joined her, especially to new member Megan Francis! Lynda Murray headed to MK where she ran over 13 miles, Lee Garnell clocked up 11 miles as did Kirsty Stocks. Coach Matt headed out for 15 miles as he winds down his marathon training for a few weeks and Dan Green knocked out two long runs over the weekend! Meanwhile, Gavin Prechner, Tom Ellerton and Paul House hit 14 miles of trails around Winslow where Gavin came a cropper in the mud! Mud 1-0 Trail shoes! Though Sunday often means long runs, it doesn't have to be! Tasmyn Simpkins rocked some cool shades on her 10 km run, new member Jenna Parker explored a new route and Sue Pankhurst and Julie Etherden got out for a great 8 mile run and promised us some snaps next time! Well done to every one who was out running...
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Important Update On Group Runs
Important Update On Club Group Runs Dear All, We’d like to share with you all our plan to increase the size of our running groups from Friday the 9th of April. In February, the government announced their Roadmap to easing lockdown, and the first phase of that for us started on March 30th with the return to group runs with a run leader and 5 runners; this was known as “The Rule of Six”. The Government guidance states outdoor sport is permitted in larger numbers provided it is formally organised. By following the guidance of English Athletics through the implementation of the booking system, Risk assessment, Action Plan and appointment of Covid Coordinators, LFR is providing formally organised sport and therefore the “Rule of Six” does not apply. English Athletics have not provided guidance on maximum numbers. The committee has reviewed the guidance and is in the process of updating our documentation and have today agreed that LFR will run in groups with a maximum of nine runners commencing Friday 9th April. This is the Run Leader plus eight. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is great news, however, we are also aware that some of you may have concerns. If you do have any concerns or feedback, then please don’t hesitate to contact myself or our Covid Coordinators Andy and Dougie. We can be contacted here: LFRcovidcoordinator@leightonfunrunners.org.uk chairman@leightonfunrunners.org.uk Stay safe and happy running! Andy Heale LFR Chairman
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This is the week that was… THE RETURN OF CLUB RUNS!!!
What You Did Last Week... After what seemed an eternity the Government's roadmap to easing lockdown restrictions once again allowed us to run in groups of 6. There were 17 groups and 87 individual runs last week. What a great start to the return to group runs! The British weather gave us glorious sunshine and even flurries of snow on Easter Monday! Running attire went from vests and shorts on Tuesday to pulling on the buffs and gloves once again in less than a week! After the disappointment of the postponement of the MK Marathon Weekend, many runners were left in a quandary as to what to do with their training plans. Some seemed to use the Easter weekend to reset and take some time out, whilst others kept on with their long runs; Coach Matt ran an impressive 20-miles around Milton Keynes, Chair Andy earned his Easter Eggs with a 14-mile run before lunch on Easter Sunday, Mike Ellyard clocked up 12-miles to Rushmere and back, and Amanda Godden once again brightened up Facebook with running girls on Saturday; your pictures are a joy! We had members actually RACING over the weekend! A huge well done to Sally Dickinson who completed the St Albans 10k in a great time of 48:39. Steph Turner returned to racing with Virtual Ratana 10k, a great cause in the memory of PC Matt Ratana, well done Steph. Lesley Wes Barnard & Emma Davis completed the Enigma Easter Eggstravaganza marathon, 7.5 times around Caldecotte Lake. They reported good weather conditions and a Covid compliant organised race. This was Emma’s 95th marathon and Lesley’s 71st. That is just amazing and Emma is so close now to her 100 marathons! Away from running, some members took the opportunity to use other sports to improve their fitness and general well-being over the Easter weekend. Jennifer Garner and friends braved the lake and had a swim at Box End, you’re much braver than me!! Katharine Smith braved the cold waters of Woburn Lido and I hear that next week she’s going to take James, I look forward to hearing about that! On Good Friday, Will Langdon and Dawn Kennedy took to two wheels and cycled an impressive 57 miles and Steve Molyneaux knocked out a speedy 16 miles on Sunday. I had the pleasure of Captain Emily and JK’s company on a nice 35 mile cycle loop on Easter Sunday, all the better as JK supplied Easter eggs for extra energy (though I think these were pinched from his Granddaughter!!).
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Weekly Group Runs: A Guide To Pace
As a member of LFR you will be wanting to join in on our weekly group runs. We have a number of options for every ability and…
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LFR Survey Feedback
Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey last year. We had 106 responses - a great number! LFR is an all-inclusive club, suitable for all runners, whatever your goals or running motivation. And that is how we want to keep it. The feedback from the survey was mostly positive and where there were questions or requests, we have - or will do our best - to take all on board. As we are sure you can appreciate, due to the current Covid situation some changes will not be possible until life is back to normal. A summary of all the survey results are as follows: As to be expected there were a diverse range of reasons why members have joined LFR, which suits the make-up of the club very well. These ranged from those training for events and wanting to run with a club, to those who were bored of running on their own and wanted company. Our Tuesday nights are the most popular club night with pace groups and cake night being the favourites. "Out and Back" runs were also popular, although some may not know the routes. For those that may not be aware of the club's usual routes, we have a huge catalogue of runs on our website which includes many of the Out and Back routes. These can be found here: Standard Club Routes - we will be looking to update these or have Strava routes which are more easily accessible. We have also considered putting on alternative runs on these nights for those who are less enamoured by them. Loop nights had a mixed review. We are considering how we can make this more desirable with the thought of bringing this into pace groups occasionally or on a coached session, perhaps on our Improver Nights. Fartlek was not as popular, with mixed views. A high proportion of our members, however, have never taken part. This could be due to Fartlek occurring on a Wednesday night. During the new restricted group nights, Fartlek was ran on a Tuesday night and was fully booked each week. It has been discussed perhaps mixing Fartlek up with other "speed" or interval sessions or including it within the pace groups. Improvers sessions have been quiet. Again this could be due to Improvers falling on a Thursday. The survey feedback showed that many members did not understand what the sessions involved. We will therefore look to provide a range of articles around the sessions, why these are important and how they can benefit your running. Session demonstrations might also be useful to show members what to expect. The overall aim is to give the Improver sessions a revamp with the involvement of our coaching team. The results showed that there was an interest in a Saturday club run. During the restricted group runs last year we were able to provide extra runs on either Saturday or Sundays starting in September, with either trail runs or coached sessions as an option. It may be that once "normal" returns, parkrun comes back, there would be less of an appetite for this amongst members. Longer Sunday runs may still prove popular, however. 70% of respondents confirmed they were interested in regular coaching sessions. The coaches will be looking at providing these. Between Lockdowns 2 and 3, Coach Matt has been putting on fortnightly Saturday AM sessions which were very popular. At the end of the survey, we invited members to give any further feedback they thought useful to the committee, many of which we have already implemented, and others being considered. There were many comments giving thanks to the committee for keeping the club running as much as possible during a very difficult year. The committee were extremely appreciative of this feedback. Weekend runs were requested - and these have been implemented. There were requests for structured coaching sessions and more general coaching. Some members asked about having runs at different times in the evenings. This does of course depend on the availability of our run leaders. If you wished to be involved in an earlier or later time run than the usual 7.30pm and there is no run available that week, why not put your hand up to lead a group? We are always looking for helpers. During the restricted running last year, we did range our run times from 6pm to 7.30pm. There were member requests for some "step up" pace groups. We were able to implement this during the restricted run groups and received good feedback from this. This is something we hope to continue when we are able. There was a request for formal run leader training. England Athletics recently opened their Leader in Running Fitness Course online. We asked our current run leaders whether they wished to do the course. Six members have come forward and started their training. Once restrictions are eased, they should be able to complete this and be licensed and be a wider part of the coaching team if and when required. The LIRF Qualification is not a requirement to lead a run with LFR. Those who are qualified can issue further guidance to the current group if required. Coach Annis has also prepared guidance for all our run leaders, which can be viewed here: Run Leader Guidance There were some queries as to our methods of communication via Facebook and email with not all members being on Facebook. We would like to reassure you that all notifications are first sent via email. An update is then posted on the Facebook Group asking members to check their emails. Lastly, there were some responses which made comment regarding the club's ethos and asked us not to forget the club is a "social club" and we are "fun runners” stating we are too focussed on coaching and fast running. Some of these comments were helpful. Some not so. The committee has discussed this and we do believe we do everything we can to ensure the club is suitable for all runners of any level: from beginners, to marathoners, no matter your pace, no matter your style. The club has always put a heavy focus on the social side of running. In normal times we put on social runs, breakfast runs, cake nights, pancake nights, fancy dress runs, we play games in the park. All of our runs have always had a social focus. The club as a whole has always had a social focus. We are a community. During Lockdown 1, the captains made weekly challenges that were suitable for all. The great aspect with the challenges is that you could complete them within a mile of your home if that's what you fancied, or challenge yourself to go further to make them harder. The choice was yours. When we could start running again after Lockdown 1, we managed to get a feel of the most popular run groups with the social groups always filling up first and we therefore endeavoured to put on as many social runs as possible every week to meet demand. What the survey feedback does show is that we do not do enough for those members who have asked for more coaching or training or even general running information. As stated above, we have the ability to provide this and is something we want to work on. We are a social club and we will continue to be the Leighton Fun Runners with cake nights, charity nights, all the nights, but we want to ensure that all our members are getting the most from their experiences with us. When we are able, we will do our best to ensure there are enough suitable runs for all paces and all members who want to run, every week. Sometimes this is just not possible. We rely heavily on our run leader members who give up their time to lead runners near and far. If you see a gap or want to run a different pace to those being offer, why not out your hand up and volunteer? All run leaders are provided with guidance and if when you first lead you would prefer a more experienced run leader to run with you, simply ask. Our club runs are often led by the same members, week in, week out. We want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you. We are nothing without our members and nothing without those who volunteer their time to keep us going. It was great to see more members joining the pool of run leaders as the restricted group runs continued. So Thank you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Should any member want to provide further feedback or have any queries at all, contact a committee member who can help.
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LFR’s Lockdown Year
2020 began with so much promise. Our first few months were just as usual. New Year’s Day saw LFR’s at different parkruns; the usual marathon gang were running marathons; Team LFR took to the Cross Country Championship Race; we put on our annual Watchless 5 where Emily took home the prize; and we finished the Three Counties XC league with the best results we have ever had…let’s remind you… Overall league results: Team 7th Men 6th Ladies 7th Category results: Tom Ellerton 3rd 25-29 Martin Crane 3rd 45-49 Mike Clark 3rd 60-64 Paul Thomas 3rd 70-74 Rosie Booth 2nd 40-44 Zoe Illingworth 2nd 45-49 Chris Ayers 1st 65-69 A brilliant team result and some fantastic individual results from LFR! We battled storms at the beginning of the year. First came Storm Brendan, swiftly followed by Storm Ciara (I still don’t know how to pronounce this) in February which caused the first race cancellations of the year, a few trips and slips and gave Matthew Ma Hypothermia at the Brecon to Cardiff Ultra! We were still excited in February for the year ahead, many of us putting in the miles for upcoming marathons, half marathons and other races. We were planning for our own 10K race, The Greensand Ridge Relay. Such joy to be seen everywhere! February was also the month we had three of our members qualify as Run Coaches passing their CIRF course with England Athletics! Superb work Debbie, Annis and Matt! Coaches for Life. Following Storm Ciara (seriously, how is this pronounced), Storm Dennis quickly arrived and cancelled more events: parkruns were cancelled, our favourite XC event the Hardwick X-Stream cancelled and the LDWA Punchbowl was cancelled! At least we were used to cancellations at this point… Things were still somewhat normal at the beginning March. We had our AGM and elected a new committee; we made a donation of £5,289.95 to the 2019/20 club charity (Reclaim Life) and chose our new club charity for 2020/21 which was the MK Hospital Charity. Members were smashing out PBs, coming first in races, parkrun was back, ultras were back, we had our pancake run, we even had our breakfast run. And then the news came. Coronavirus had been in the news for some time and was steadily causing concern until eventually we made the decision to suspend all club runs in mid-March and cancelled our 10K soon after. A week later, the whole country was in lockdown. It was an odd time. Being in lockdown. None of us knew what the next few months would entail. We were all scared, anxious, running out of toilet paper. Someone bought all the pasta. Who bought all the pasta? WHO? What were we going to do? Well…we were still allowed to run. On our own. So run we did! And we shared so many smiling seflies to motivate everyone else to do the same. The Captains put on weekly challenges for all of us: these included bingo runs – going on a run and taking a photo of various different things; rainbow runs; Strava Art; spell your name in road signs; Alphabet challenges; Graph Club; Chairman’s Quiz Run; Pacing challenges; out and back; and many many MANY more. We made sure we still had cake runs and created a method for online donations. You can still make donations here: Donate to Club Charity You can still eat cake whenever you want. We started a weekly virtual racing league where people challenged themselves each week to beat the previous times. Kudos to Linda who ran faster week on week and achieved her fastest 5K in 2020! We also had the Lockdown Relays organised by Wellingborough District Athletic Club. Members were given a time slot to run as far as they could in 30 minutes! Everyone enjoyed the first event so much, we had two more! We EVEN managed to squeeze our Annual Awards Night in, this time virtual, with HUGE thanks to Captain JPS for organising this and giving us all a brilliant laugh. Do you remember who received the awards? Here are our winners…. Chairman: John Kirwan Coaches: Ian Bisby, Katharine Smith Captains: David Hanley, Mike Clark Clubman: Will Langdon Couch to 5k: Andy Shadbolt Watchless 5 Mile: Emily McClelland Runner’s Runner: Katharine Smith Golden Boot: Tom Ellerton Special Awards: John Kirwan - for completing 250 marathons. Helen Crossland - for completing 100 marathons. Extraordinary Recognition: Nic Dimmock Photo: Chrissie's Wedding A huge well done to everyone who received an award! And then we were back….July saw the return of the club runs! Following the easing of restrictions, and the go ahead from the government and England Athletics, we started our club runs again. Of course, we had restrictions on these and we started slowly. We implemented a booking system on our website (big thanks to our webmaster, Nic Dimmock, for all his efforts in this!), and eventually we got into the swing adding more and more club runs each week. We would not have been able to put on any club runs without the help and commitment of our run leaders who put their hands up each week. Thank you so much for all you do and continue to do for the club. By the end of the summer, virtual events were filling up the calendar and was the way to race for 2020. The Virtual London Marathon came; the Virtual Snowdonia; Virtual London Vitality 10K; Virtual Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park 10K. Anything you can think of was now a virtual event. Paul Little took to Ashridge to run loops of the boundary for his virtual event. He ran a MASSIVE 105 miles for the Virtual Lakeland 100 , running from LB to Ashridge, ran the loops and continued for 26 hours. We had LOTS of members getting involved in the MK Reimagined Events – Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K and Relay. Who could forget Steve running the 10K, getting lost on a route that goes twice around the same lake! The relay saw LFR teams come first in both the men’s and ladies’ races, LFR Go Nuts and the Nifty Fifties! And Katharine Smith. Well. She ran her FIRST EVER MARATHON. We all know Katharine had an inspirational year in 2019 raising funds for charity and this year she went even further. She raised a whopping £3,220 for Young Minds which was matched by Morrisons meaning a massive £6,440 is going to a wonderful charity! Well done, Katharine. We are all so proud of you! Some real life events also took place with members taking on the MK Autumn Half, the Hillingdon Half, the Beachy Head Marathon, a local race at the Long Marston 10K. Even cross country made it’s way back into our lives with the first race of the ATW XC Series. What a glorious sight to see LFR back in the mud! The club were still adding more and more club runs, we started weekend running and doing long trail runs. Then all of a sudden November hit and we were back in lockdown. Heading back into lockdown meant the captains coming up with more challenges: we had an Everesting challenge – who can run the most ascent in their run? – and VC Chris made some scavenger hunts – finding iconic sights of LB and the surrounding villages... We still had a virtual event within Lockdown 2.0 and another horde of LFR took on the local Dirt Half Challenge navigating through flooded fields and mud. ALL THE MUD. Dawn showing it perfectly here... When this second lockdown ended, we were back club running seeing all the festive displays around the town and back at the last race of the year every year – the MK Winter Half! New member Alena ran her first ever half marathon during this and we even had some age category results with Paul Thomas winning his and Rosie Booth coming second in hers. We found ourselves in Tier 2. We were running again. Just getting back into the swing of it, organising runs. Then it was announced we were entering Tier 3 and then immediately we were moved into a brand-new tier…Tier 4. And club runs have been suspended again. The whole year saw our members dig deep and keep on running. There were so many superb performances and results all year and some incredible personal challenges. There are too many to mention, but a few shout outs now... To parkrun heroes David and Chris Ayers who run on their own Linslade parks run each week, reporting their results and keeping us entertained. Michelle and Tracy, ran walked, swum and cycled to complete their Route 66 Challenge - 2,280.3 Miles in 137 Days! Dan Green ran 1,684 miles in the whole of 2020. VC Emily ran 750 miles in a year she was injured more than she was not! Vicky Green finding solace in her treadmill. Amanda Godden for her array of photography skills week on week. Here's a brilliant example... Kama Langham for improving her 5K time in 2020 by a massive 8 minutes! Paul House and Gavin Prechner for their beard growth. Adam ran a lot of half marathons and ended his streak with a PB of 1.58. James Bassil who made the ultimate progression chart during eight weeks of running. 48 runs in 54 days. Looks like this..... Wes and Emma who never stop running. The whole committee for leading the club through the toughest of years and staying sane throughout. The captains for everything they have done. You know! Every single one of our members for sharing their runs and continuing to support the club through these difficult times. And finally Captain JPS who took it upon himself to run every single road in Leighton Buzzard. Let me repeat that. Every. Single Road. To create this amazing heat map... This is just a selection of amazing feats in 2020 from our members. There have been more and too many to list everyone! Well done to all of us for getting through one of the toughest years any of us have ever experienced. We are heading into 2021 with uncertainty still and Lockdown 3 beginning. But we know we can get through it. We already have. See you on the other side, LFR.
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Meet Our Members: Will Langdon
My running journey started about three years ago, it was not something I’d really done outside of school, I did participate in a couple of cross-country events whilst at…
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EasyFundraising for LFR!
Did you know you can help raise funds for the club charity simply by on-line shopping and it won’t cost you anything extra by using the Easy FundRaising Link? If you have not already registered with the site, please use the following link, as this will also enable to collect an additional bonus for new referrals: Register for EasyFundraising You may already be registered but please add the LFR link to your list of causes with this link: EasyFundraising Causes - Add LFR How Does it Work? When you are online shopping, start from the easyfundraisng page, view and purchase as normal. The retailer will then make a donation to LFR via Easyfundraising at no extra cost to you. You can also download a “reminder tool” that prompts you to click on the donations link whenever you are shopping if that retailer offers a donation, and of course there is an App you can also use. You can read more about it on the easyfundraising website. We would really be pleased if members made use of this facility, as an easy way to help boost our charity donations!
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This is the week that was….our last week of running….
Following the usual club runs in the week, it was a weekend full of events. parkrun Day saw LFRs at Luton Wardown, Hamstead Heath, Linford Wood, Houghton Hall, Seaton, Buckingham, Rushmere and Dunstable Downs. Emma and Wes took to the track to complete 106 laps and ANOTHER marathon. Nuts! Jamie Stamp galloping 21 miles through mud at Grindleford in the Peak District. 3000ft of climbing. Wow! And Team Turner in the midst of the current climate decided to run their own half marathon on Sunday rather than the planned Hampton Court Half. They're still getting their medal! Saturday was the return of the Ashridge Boundary Run. Perfect running conditions with plenty of hills and mud for the gang. They all loved it! And Team LFR made their way to the MK Festival of Running on Sunday where we had runners in the 10K and the Half and some superb results inclduing Ian Bisby running his first half marathon event for 14 years and ran a brilliant PB of 1.32! That's all for this week. We are running in uncertain times right now...stay safe LFR.
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