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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This is the week that was…. The Ridgeway Run!

This is the week that was... The Ridgeway Run! This week was one of those weeks where I could throw a dart at a map of the UK and an LFR would be running somewhere. But before I share with you the week's events, we’re going to rewind 7 days to last Sunday’s London Marathon. I missed Natalie Ahlrichs off of my VLM update, Natalie had an issue with her race number and didn’t make the bus to London. After this initial upset on missing out on the big day with 35,000 other runners in London, Natalie dusted herself down, rounded up her family and completed a Virtual Marathon from Leighton Buzzard along the canal all the way to Wolverton in just over 5 hours. A huge well done for getting the job done Natalie! Racing on the Coast Onto the weekend and as mentioned we had runners up and down the country. My standout achievement came in Jersey where Sam and Richard Heady completed a whole lap of the Island. With stunning views a plenty, Sam and Richard took part in the Ultra Tour of Jersey. A two day event that navigates the whole island. Day one saw them complete 31 miles and day two another 21. I know both have been training really hard for the past few months racking up the miles whenever they could. All this with Richard trying to balance a very difficult harvesting season on the farm, well done to you both. Continuing the seaside theme, Jenny Hogan and Bob Nicol both spent the weekend in Brighton. Their weekend seemed a little more relaxing than Sam and Richards with the Hove parkrun on Saturday and the weather looked glorious!  Up north but still on the coast intrepid traveller Andy Griggs PB’d once more at the Morecambe 10K. I’m sure the next time I write about Andy’s exploits it will be to celebrate a sub 47 minutes. Keep up the great work Andy! This was also after a parkrun PB the day before! Manchester Marathon 60 miles south of Morecambe, Lynda Murray, Wayne Walker, Dan Lovelock and Peter Jones were in sunny Manchester taking on the Manchester marathon.  Peter put in a great performance. He completed the marathon in a brilliant 3hr 30. Disappointingly for Peter the V65 category was abandoned this year but he still finished in 24th place for the younger V60 age group. Dan put in a great sub 4 hour performance at 3:55 and Wayne is one step closer to his 100th Marathon. For Lynda it was her 2nd Marathon in as many weeks after completing London last week. Amazing work from all of you. Other Races At a disused World War Two airfield in Northamptonshire myself, Dougie and Matthew Grigsby all attempted to beat Lewis Hamilton’s track record at Silverstone. While we didn’t manage that all three of us got new PBs. The event was yet another carryover from last year's Covid cancellation of events and there were 6,000 runners taking part in 4 different distances. I completed the 10k, with Dougie and Matthew both taking on the Half Marathon. Dougie completed the half in 1:36 a 4 minute PB and Matthew in 1:46 which was a 2 minute PB.  Just down the road from Silverstone at Blenheim Palace and the ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill, Jo Giliberti, Debbie McMillan and Gary Reid took part in the Blenheim Fun 7K. Jo is well on her way to 100km for her monthly target that she set herself.  Moving down to London, Mr and Mrs Smith once again took part in the Royal Parks Half Marathon. Starting at the end of the Mall the route winds its way through the Royal parks of St James Park, Green Park and Hyde Park, finishing within sight of Buckingham Palace. The route is a tourists dream but neither James or Katherine had time for sightseeing, completing the course in 1 hour and 40 minutes and Katherine in 2 hours 16 minutes. Well done to both of you. Back north in the Peak District at the Grindleford Gallop (yes I had to Google it too) Jamie Stamp knocked a stunning 12 minutes off of his PB! Well done Jamie. The Ridgeway Run By far the biggest LFR turnout of the weekend was just down the road in Hertfordshire for the Tring Running Club Ridgeway Run.  We had 21 of you take on the challenge of trails and hills. An event that sold out weeks ago and everyone had a great day. Vicky Green was supporting early on route, with Janet Langdon positioned up at Ashridge and then Kirsty Stocks with less than a mile away with Jelly Babies on hand! Dan Green took a tumble but still managed a great time being first LFR home, followed closely by Jim Buttleman.  Rosie Booth, who I know loves a XC event, came 3rd in her age group and that helped propel our ladies team along with Captain Emily and Jo Hogg into 3rd place in the team event. It was great to see Annis Turner back racing again following her maternity break, I’m sure the first of many races to come? 

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This is the week that was…. The London Marathon!

This is the week that was... The London Marathon! Race reports! Ok, hands up if you wish you lived in a bungalow?  The weekend was mostly about Marathons, so no better place to start than Estonia, yes Estonia! Population 1.3 million and a lone Brit, our very own Matthew Ma, who booked a cultural holiday to Tartu and took part in their annual marathon and got himself 28th place in a time of 2hr 55 minutes. Another outstanding result, enjoy the rest of your holiday Matthew.  Up in Scotland Jen Garner, Mike Garner, William Burchell and James Bassil completed the long awaited Loch Ness marathon. All four had a brilliant race for different reasons. For Jen it was a stunning 64 minute PB on her previous marathons. I’m sure you’ll all agree that is a massive improvement and a great reward for all the hard work that Jen has been putting in over the past year. For Will it was his debut marathon and a 4 hour 25 time was the reward for all the training he’s been putting in, well done Will. The Loch Ness marathon is a well respected PB course in a stunning location. James and Mike both battled through ongoing injuries to get to the finish line in 4:18 and 5:51 respectively. Well done all of you!     Before I talk about the achievements of our runners at the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, it would be amiss of me to mention the wonderful Christine Ayres, whose training runs with the boys over the past few months have certainly inspired me. Christine had to pull out of the London marathon on Saturday following a gardening injury which fractured 2 ribs. This injury has also stopped Christine representing England at the York marathon and also in an upcoming swimming event. We all wish you a speedy recovery Christine.  Of course, with any event, it wouldn’t work without the help of an army of volunteers and once again LFR did a great job at mile 21. Tracy Cardno and her team were suitably kitted out in VLM branded gear and did an amazing job of marshalling members of the public and seeing the runners were supported along the way. Thank you ALL! We had 9 runners take part in the 2021 VLM, all of whom have put in 100’s if not 1,000’s of training miles over the past year and longer, to be ready and that training certainly paid off.  With nearly identical times, Katy Garnham-Lee and Elle Laird led the team across the finish line with great sub 4 hour times. Separated by less than 20 minutes were Adam Carter, Lindsey Rigby and Steve Lymbery, all safely home in under 5 hours. Lynda Peacock, Jo Secker, Lesley Wes Barnard and Helen Crossland who all regularly complete marathons and ultra events also completed VLM 2021. Well done to you all. I hope you are all enjoying some well deserved rest days.     As the 2020 event was replaced with a virtual event due to Covid, the London Marathon organisers once again organised a virtual event this year so so-much needed money could get back to the charities. Our very own Stephen Moore and Vicky Green took part in the virtual event and I was lucky enough to see both of them pounding the streets of Leighton Buzzard early on Sunday Morning. I can only imagine how hard that must be without the big event crowd support, well done both!    Another of our team Martin Addrison was also racing on Sunday. He completed the Rochdale half marathon in a great time with a member of the family. Martin only completed Brighton Marathon a few weeks ago! Great going Martin.  parkrun day! It wouldn’t be a LFR newsletter without a reference to the weekend’s parkruns, where we had 55 runners out running at venues far and wide. Dougie was busy celebrating his first sub 22 minute parkrun after 4 years of trying. This PB was on one of his tourist runs in Brierley Forest. At Rushmere we had an amazing 30 runners turn out, 10 of whom were on Emily’s parkrun train from HQ, which took in a run to Rushmere, the parkrun itself and run back to town. There were plenty of course PB’s at Rushmere with VC Andy Stocks knocking 18 minutes off his first attempt a few weeks ago. My standout run from Saturday though goes to Graham Cooper who completed the 10 mile club run, then did it all over again to turn it into a 20 miles training run, brilliant running. Megan Francis and Andy Griggs were both tourists at other parkruns where they also grabbed some great PBs! Way to go team 🙂  

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This is the week that was…. The Dunstable Downs parkrun Takeover

This is the week that was... The Dunstable Downs parkrun Takeover! Before we get on to parkrun and races I am pleased to report that Jen Garner, Tori Guy and Ian Bickers all completed the final piece of their LiRF qualification under the watchful eye of VC Andy. I look forward to reporting on 3 more qualified run leaders in the coming weeks. parkrun day! Saturday came which meant it was parkrun day! It wasn’t just any parkrun day, it was our LFR takeover at Dunstable Downs parkrun day. Up in the Downs it was like being on a mountain, heavy fog ruined the views and the mist felt like light drizzle, however LFRs spirit brightened up the morning. Anna Mead was RD for the morning and a further 15 LFR's covered the various positions, with another 13 running the course.  Jim Buttleman led the team home in a none too shabby sub 21 minutes, which was a new course PB. Post parkrun, Emily led an enthusiastic group on a challenging 10 mile trail route to Totternhoe and back. We had a further 45 runners taking part in 15 other parkruns around the land with many of you still doing your tourist runs. Gavin Prechner and Nic Dimmock were away in Bicester and just down the road in Buckingham were Dawn Kennedy and Will Langdon. Over in Dublin Alex Nixon did well to get a parkrun in after a night in the brilliant Temple Bar, though at least it was a 9.30am start time! At Rushmere we still had a great turnout with Team Sugars putting in great runs. Steve was placed 10th and Julie wasn’t far behind being the second lady home. Races! I thought it was a quiet weekend for races but I was wrong! LFR seemed to be scattered about at various races. It’s been many months since JK completed any long distances but on Saturday JK was at the XNRG Humanity Direct Tring ultra, where he was “sweeping”, 33 miles in the legs across the Chilterns. Meanwhile, Lesley Wes Barnard and Helen Crossland finished yet another marathon, this time in Shropshire. They got a very interesting looking medal for their fabulous efforts! Debbie Elborn and Caroline Clabburn took the LFR brand to Windsor where they raced in the 10k. On Sunday, Sally Dickinson raced in the sun at one of her favourite races, the Standalone 10k. Jo Giliberti also ran a 10k and claimed a PB at Race For Life in Stockwood Park. Next month Jo is starting a charity 100km running challenge, I’m sure you will pass that target with ease Jo! Andy Griggs found the sun in the north in Manchester where he raced a 10k bagging a PB in the progress at the Great Manchester Run. I’m sure Eilish McGolgan was getting some handy tips, when she grabbed a selfie with him afterwards! Coach Matt was in Sheffield where he ran his home town’s half marathon, considering Matt has been suffering from some post MK marathon niggles recently he still ran at an impressive pace!

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This is the week that was…. The Leighton 10

This is the week that was... The Leighton 10! Club Runs Tuesday was PACE NIGHT and everyone was catered for by our brilliant run leaders, and it’s fair to say we had a great turnout again. On hump day Captain Emily led a super six group at Astral park for Meet and Retreat. This is a slightly different version of an interval set that pairs runners to run in opposite directions of a track, meet then retreat. By all accounts it was a great session that pushed most out of their comfort zones and left everyone a little out of breath! On Thursday we had the two very popular groups out; Tori led the socials while VC Andy led the step-up group. Finally Friday rocked up and it was time for the social trails, this week with Peter Jones whom treated the team the infamous “Jelly Legs Hill”! parkrun Day! Saturday came and 54 LFR's rocked up at various venues across the country, even I managed to find my barcode and get a cheeky parkrun in around the lovely Fairlands Park in Stevenage getting an unexpected parkrun PB! Lucky Linford Wood had a great crowd of LFR's, 9 I believe. Is that a new favourite ladies? We also had runners at Thomas Mills, Great Denham, Dunstable Downs (where Sally Dickinson came home as first lady), Rushmere, Bicester, Croxteth, Cassiobury Park, Druridge Bay, Tonbridge and Aylesbury. Some great tourism going on! While I am on parkrun, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE support our DUNSTABLE DOWNS takeover NEXT SATURDAY. We have all the volunteers that we need to support the event, now we need as many of you as possible to take part, have a load of fun, bag some PB’s and of course stay on for some post-event cake. Races Matthew Ma was at one of his amazing events... He completed the Equinox 24 Hour race at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire. Matthew completed a quite staggering 73.78 miles or if you prefer 118.7 kilometers. Making the distance even more staggering Matthew said he called it a day after 13 hours, but he did enjoy the weekends camping. Again, a quite magnificent achievement Matthew!  On Sunday we had the long awaited Leighton Tough 10. 31 LFR's signed up and raced at this local event supporting our friends at LBAC. Tom Ellerton led the team home in 10th place. It was great to see that Martin Crane made it across the counties to have a race in his LFR colours, with Zoe as top supporter with puppy Nora! Martin came in 13th! I’m going to spare you the bloodied T-shirt pic of yet another bleeding nipple "injury", this time it was Will Langdon! Ouch... VC Andy used the event to “Double Up” in his preparation for the Beachy Head marathon in a few week’s time. Andy ran the 10 miles in the morning then went out for a second run of 10 miles in the afternoon pretty much matching both runs pace for pace. A lesson to us all in preparing for a long distance race. Taking advantage of Andy’s pacing was SAM HEADY who not only got herself a 10 mile PB. She also came 2nd in her age group. Well done Sam. Be sure to show off your medal when you get it! Later the same day there was post race curry meet up at the Methi Indian restaurant in town. Thank you to those of you who came along, I hear a great night was had by all had the carbs were certainly replaced!  The committee hopes to organise a similar post race night after the “Dirt Half” in November. Watch this space! Finally, away from running I am delighted to report that Tracy Cardno and Michelle Evans-Riches finally completed their postponed “Swim Serpentine” 2 mile swim in Hyde Park. They had an amazing day weather wise and their post swim smiles indicated they had a great day. Well done ladies, I'm sure you're both itching to complete the London Classics now by completing the Ride London 100 mile cycle when it returns. 

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This is the week that was…. The Brighton Marathon

This is the week that was... The Brighton Marathon! Club Runs As summer turned to autumn the irony wasn’t lost on many of us that the sun made a welcome return, as did some not so welcome warmth for those racing. As Tuesday was the first one of the month, Cake night returned with the sunshine and 85 of us ran either the 5 Mile or 5k option. I was with some members of the Triathlon Club on Sunday who were celebrating their 10th Birthday and they could not believe that on a club night we have 85 members come and join us for a run!!! A huge thanks to everyone who again made and donated cake, to those who volunteered on the night and a special thankyou to Charlotte Gilbert who’s been nagging Coach Matt to come down and help out so she could! Wednesday saw JK lead a great gang of Fartlekers and on Thursday Victoria led the Social team while Captain Emily took many who were preparing for the weekends racing on an equally sociable Zone 2 10K. The Friday Social team were back out in full force following the end of the summer holidays. They were greeted with a deluge of rain and rivers running along the Rushmere Trails. Steph Turner who secretly LOVES a muddy run was especially delighted! parkrun day Saturday brings parkrun, which had a real family affair about it this week. At Rushmere “Team Stocks” completed their FIRST parkrun which I am staggered with. Charlotte and Elizabeth did a great job dragging Andy around Rushmere. VC Dougie was continuing his parkrun tourism this time with Captain Emily and her brother Matthew (for his 1st parkrun) at Wardown parkrun in Luton. Will there be another McClelland joining the club?!  At Willen Lake “Team Simpkins” were also out in full force with Tasmyn’s son knocking 3 minutes off of his PB. Well done all! At Millennium parkrun Matthew Ma came in first place with a staggering 17:58, what can I say!! At least a further 51 of you were out and about at various other venues, please can I remind you to update your club details on your parkrun profile page as I know there are more. At Rushmere Tom Ellerton came home in 1st place, with Will not far behind in 4th. Still at Rushmere Sagar and Jenna Parker both banged the “Gong of Glory” with new PB’s. Megan Francis PB’d at Dunstable Downs (the wonders of a good Fartlek Session no doubt!), as did Patrick Waring. Further afield Andy Griggs was preparing for the Great North Run at The Riverside parkrun and just down the road Graham Cooper was celebrating his 6th year of parkrunning at Jesmond Dene. Races! Before we get to the Sunday races, Dan Green was racing the Marsworth 10k and came 7th. Not bad considering Dan described it as his “Worst time ever”, you must be doing something right Dan? On Sunday we had runners up and down the country. Starting in the North East, VC Dougie, Sonya Thompson, Matthew Grigsby and Andy Griggs joined over 55,000 in the 40th Great North Run. The route was slightly different this year and started and finished in Newcastle rather than the beach at South Shields, (did you see the Red Arrows over the Tyne bridge?). They all ran half marathon PB’s which I’m sure you’ll agree is a great effort. 350 miles away on the South Coast a somewhat controversial Brighton marathon finally got to go ahead with a not so bonus extra 568 meters. Saying that the team did great. Wayne Walker, Martin Addrison and Paul Thomas were running for our previous charity “Reclaim Life”. Paul Doyle made a return to the race 9 years after his first Brighton Marathon with daughter Erin, who was running her first. Will Ellis also took on the marathon. Anna Mead, Ian Mulry and Ruby Lee ran the Brighton 10k. Closer to home, the traditional pre marathon favourite, The Twin Lakes was again back on the calendar. Starting and finishing at Willen Lake, the route took in two loops around Caldecotte Lake. Preparing for the Loch Ness marathon were Jen Garner, James Bassil, William Burchell and Mike Garner. You four seem to be ready for Scotland in 3 weeks time!  Vicky Green completed the 20 miler, making a long awaited return to racing, the post race smile said it all! Lindsey Rigby had a great run in her preparation for the London Marathon, which is again just 3 weeks away. If that wasn't enough Lindsey was also embracing the Raducanu effect making the Mixed Doubles tennis final at her tennis club with her son! The Twin Lakes also had a 10 mile race, were Jo Secker and Megan Francis who completed the 1 loop, Megan getting a second PB of the weekend with a brilliant 1hour 35 minutes! Away from “Just Running” we had a few members again trying their hand at Triathlons. In the beautiful setting of Blenheim Palace Steve Molyneaux returned for the second year running and had a great event. At St Neots myself and Mike Ellyard completed a slightly shorter “Sprint” distance, both of us getting top 20 places. Then over at stunning Bowood House to the west, Mark Kleanthous completed a 70.3 at an Outlaw event.  

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