Kate Hill, Giles Crist and Clive Agent met up to run in the Pewsey Half Marathon. The event was wonderfully organised by Pewsey Value Running Club in Wiltshre. http://www.pewseyvalerunningclub.org/default.aspx
It was an on road course through a very beautiful part of Wiltshire, taking in the odd picturesque village and the Avon and Kennet Canal. There were hills, with a pretty steep climb at around 4 miles into a cutting north-westerly wind, but overall the course was challenging and interesting.
The winning time was 1.10.52 and I knocked 90 odd seconds off my previous pb to get 1.51.58 (162nd). Kate came in just over 2 hours in 233rd place and that old timer/running shirt bagger Giles Crist came 51st in 1.34.55, representing the might of Littledown Harriers.
273 finished the race.
Attatched is a photo of the three of us at the start with a couple of hangers on in the foreground!
See you soon.
Clive
Lizzie Bird
Lizzie Bird's Flying
Lizzie Bird started her running career as a junior on the Predictor in 2002 aged 8. Now she is a top UK junior runner. On the 10th July she finished 3rd in the 1500m at the All England Athletics Championships in Birmingham in the under 17 category. She clocked a pb of 4:32.78.
The Birds left Dubai in 2004. For 2 years they were very much part of the running scene here with both Patrick and Virginia running in the Dubai Marathon. For those wondering about the connection with "Lover's Bench" Virginia was on of those lovers. One Friday morning on the Creek Striders run the final stop before home was at a Mosque Shop. A tired Virginia and Antonio (Two very distinguished voices of the running scene) sat on a bench to rest. Ever since it has been known as "Lovers Bench"
Virginia, Lizzie and Patrick
David and Tom summers
The Summers' Winter
We all like to get away from the summer heat for a while but David and Tom Summers took it to the extreme and chilled out in the New Zealand winter. Whilst there they entered a 10 km race. David sent me this report.
0n 11th July, Tom and I entered the final race in the Run Auckland 10k series whilst we were in New Zealand. Despite timing chips being used, the results were not available for quite a while, and Tom’s has only now been confirmed. It was a lovely cold morning for running and it took 15 minutes of warming up before I could take my sweatshirt off before the start. We both entered as Dubai Road Runners, and I am pleased to say that Tom came first in the Under 20 category with a time of 38.20, and he was also 8th of all finishers. I was 37th overall with a time of 45.07. Despite it being an official race I am a bit suspicious about the distance and think it was a bit less than 10k – my Garmin had it at about 9.5, but even so it was a great race to be in, and a nice course alongside the sea. I have also attached a picture taken after the finish.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson Lives On
If New Zealand seems a bit far to go to escape the Summer heat then you can always try the UK. As Michael Jackson dicovered, winter conditions often prevail in what is supposed to be summer. On July 18th he ran in a rain soaked 10 mile race in West Cumbria in the UK. On a very hilly course Michael ran an excellent time of 1:22.
Summer Races
Once again it was good to meet up with Dubai runners, both past and present at a couple of events in the UK. The first, the New Forest 10 mile race is something of a tradition as runners from Dubai have been part of this event for the 1st 10 years. I first ran the event in 1993 and it has lost none of its magic. The 2nd event, the High Wycombe half marathon has been a favourite of Rebecca Janaway's for several years. This year she persuaded a few of us to join her. For race reports and pictures, read on.
New forest 10 mile race Sunday 11th July
The turn out from Dubai this year was not so high but still quite good. As you can see from the picture that infamous club hopper, Giles Crist, (former DRR, DCS and ABRaS) has jumped ship yet again and now runs for Littledown harriers in the Bournemouth in the UK. Also pictured from left to right are Peter Young (behind Giles) John (Barbara) Young, Alexandra Hayes, Charlotte Hayes, Adrian Hayes, Kate Hill, Clive Agent and Graham Rafferty. Also running in the 10 mile race were Barbara Young and Shirl Parker.
Here is Giles pictured with his new club members. I suppose that one can see the attraction.
The event went very well. In the week leading up it had been very hot, > 30c, but it cooled off nicely for the 10 mile race with temperatures around 25c. There was partial cloud cover and a good breeze so conditions were good for running. Giles was first home in a time of 1:15:11. He was closely followed in by John Young, 1:17:55. Other times were Peter Young, 1:27:33, Graham Rafferty, 1:24:03, Clive Agent, 1:27:18 and Kate Hill, 1:36:11.
On the right is a picture of Clive Agent finishing. The great attraction of this event is the scenery. The race starts and finishes in a large field in the New Forest. The route twists and turns though along forest tracks, gently undulating. About 2 miles of the course is along a tarmac road which is closed to traffic. As always the race was brilliantly well organised with chip timing. There were only 3 drinks stations on the course and only tap water was available in plastic cups (Softies from Dubai who demand Evian in bottles plus isotonic drinks please note).
There were several support races to the main event and juniors Hannah and Nick Froud represented Dubai in these events. Hannah, pictured left, was first girl in the junior one mile race. She ran a brilliant race running her own pace, ignoring a girl who had set off fast. She caught the front girl with a 200m to go. Nick chose to run in the 3 mile race which was also open to adults. He finished a very good 4th place.
High Wycombe Half Marathon. Sunday July 18th
A week later and time to join Gigi Young, Rebecca Janaway and Carol Pollock for the High Wycombe Half marathon. As you can see from the picture on the left I'm the only one who looks as though he has run a half marathon. Thankfully the temperatures had dropped even more from the previous week to under 20c, as this was a very demanding course. It started innocently enough with a gentle cantor for a few hundred metres on nice level playing fields. Then we hit the hill. It was about as steep as running up the pedestrian tunnel from under the Creek, but it went on for a full km. At the top my pulse was racing and every limb ached, but still 19 km to run. The first water stop was not until 4 miles (6.5 km). I recovered and was passing runners as the course undulated for the next few km through several beautiful villages. I'm not sure of the frequency of the official water stops because many villagers had set up impromptu water stops along the route and we were cheered all of the way round. Then we hit the down hill at around 10 km. It was even steeper than the uphill. I carefully worked my way down it as runners more used to the hills flew passed me. The course then continued to undulate to the finish. With distance markers in miles instead of km I was getting confused and eventually measured the distance by 2 miles = just under a lap of Safa Park.
Although I was not well prepared I did not suffer from the cramp which hit me in all 3 half marathons in the Emirates last season.
Gigi Young was the first to finish in 1:38:13. I crossed the line in 1:54:43 closely followed by Carol in 1:55:07. Rebecca clocked 2:11:51. There were 987 finishers in the half marathon and a further 315 in a 10 km support event. The prize giving took place at about 2.5 hours after the event started and a big cheer went up from the Dubai contingent when Gigi was called up to receive the prize for 2nd place female 40+.
Like the New forest 10 mile race this event was very well organised. It had chip timing. I entered on the day and they were even organised to the point that my name was called out on the pa system as I crossed the line. Again the drinks were tap water only. At the finish they were filling up plastic cups from a long hose pipe connected to a stand pipe in the middle of the playing fields. The changing facilities were very good.
This is certainly an event in my diary for next year.
