Fell Relays, Llanberis
It’s fell relay time again, and the elite NVRR fell masters made the trip to Wales for this event which no doubt involved some mud and hills. Catherine Barber, Alan Davidson, Edoardo Piano, Simon Harris, Mark David, and Emma David made up the team, and they all had to tackle different legs of the event – some navigation may or may not have been required. Despite being the only team there that has the word ‘road’ in their club name, they managed to put an impressive effort and finish in a combined time of 7:13:22.
Lisbon Rock and Roll Marathon Series
There still hasn’t been a sufficient explanation as to why Carol Morgan decided to dust off her road shoes (very dusty, no doubt), and head to Portugal to run a marathon on tarmac. As each mile passed, I can only assume that she was wishing that she was on some exposed ridge line high up in the hills with biblical rain lashing down on her. Carol managed to soldier on, and she finally crossed the finish line in a time of 3:21:10. Anne-Marie Macpherson was also in Lisbon, but she sensibly went for the half marathon option. As the conditions were probably not ideal for running any sort of distance – very hot by all accounts – Anne- Marie went out and completed the course in 2:58:24. Great running from Anne-Marie and Carol!
Birmingham Marathon
There was another marathon that snuck in under the radar, this time in Birmingham. Alex Crowton and Kevin Mark Nicholas were there flying NVRR colours, with Kevin finishing in 3:20:52, and Alex putting in a tremendous effort to finish in a time of 4:31:22. Excellent running!
Bruges Half marathon
Michelle Smith (or Michelle Smitb as she is listed on the official results webpage) was in Bruges to sample fine Belgian chocolate, exquisite Belgian ale, and run a half marathon on Belgian cobbles. She managed to finish in 2:13:59 – a great effort, and a great excuse to sample more Belgian delicacies. Well done Michelle on completing another big race this year!
Bridlington Half Marathon
The annual jolly girls & boys outing to Bridlington occurred on Sunday, in case you didn’t know. NVRR had about 38 runners taking part (I say about has some just tipped up on the day last minute and took other people’s numbers (J & DD) and most of them were shoehorned onto coach for the trip to the east coast. The coach was driven by The Stig – although some say his real name was Mike, and that his favourite smell in the whole world is a combination of clutch and brake – and we all landed (literally) relatively safely in Brid with a good two hours to spare before running 13.1 miles. Luckily there were plenty of greasy spoon cafes already open and eager to take our cash, so everyone was sufficiently fuelled prior to the start. The overcast skies gave way to some nice sunshine and unseasonably warm weather, probably not the best conditions for running but better than last year’s storm that nearly swept the runners back in to the North Sea. At 10am we set off from the promenade and out of Bridlington on the undulating course that took in lots of nice little east coast villages, before heading back into Bridlington to finish on the promenade once more.
Matthew Wilkinson was the first Nidd crossed the line in 1:22:38 finishing 7th overall, earning substantial cash reward. Alex Patrickson was next in 1:31:47, apparently ‘taking it easy’ after York, then Nigel Scaife wearing NVRR colours for the first time, finishing in 1:35:00. Daniel Eagling was not too far behind in 1:35:22, and then Steve Turner achieved his goal of finishing under 1:40 with a time of 1:39:21. Jonathan Easton could not keep up with Steve and finished in 1:39:44, while Brian Hainsworth took a massive 16 minutes off his previous PB to finish in 1:41:00. Phil Ventress was next 1:41:38, and Sam Fugill after him in 1:42:08, David Shores in 1:43:07, Christopher Beattie 1:43:27. Ian Mcleod crossed the line in 1:46:07, then Mark Armstrong in 1:49:21.
Dave Seaman put in a great performance to finish in 1:49:44, and also bagged 1st place in MV70 category, while Natasha Harrison was the first Nidd lady to cross the line in brilliant time of 1:57:27. Nadene Wilkinson was the next Nidd lady to finish in a time of 1:51:41, with Rob Snow just after her in 1:51:58. Christine Jones put in another cracking performance, despite various ailments (possibly self-inflicted from the previous Friday night) and finished in 1:57:14, and also earning herself 3rd in the V55 category. Sarah Hughan soldiered on despite having a bit of an injury to cross the line in 1:58:32, with Debbie Gibson just a second behind her in 1:58:33. Richard and Christina Taylor crossed the line in 1:59:23 and 1:59:25 respectively, while Michael Benson managed to finish in 1:59:31 despite the lack of sleep from being a new dad.
Robert Hill had a successful run, finishing in 2:03:48, followed by Nick Smith in 2:04:37. Rachel Prince was next in 2:04:45, followed by Rebecca Ventress in 2:05:03, then Tony Ledwaba – Chapman in 2:06:47. Susana Shaw made her club debut in brilliant form, finishing in 2:09:11, Rosemary Thompson was next in 2:17:10, Jane Hill in 2:17:47, and Melissa Thomas-Peters in 2:20:46. Neil Wright was aiming to get round in under 2:30, and did so with a time of 2:24:06, while Debbie Dilasser and Jamie Dilasser finished in 2:25:31 and 2:25:33 respectively (on the day itself, Debbie went by her other name of Claire Killingworth, and Jamie took on the identity of Adam Kirk)
Graham Hyde and Jeff Walker then crossed the line in 2:44:00 and 2:44:01 – a massive achievement for Graham as it was his first half marathon (we are fairly confident that it won’t be his last, although he may have other thoughts on the matter)
Lastly, we can’t forget Mrs Harris. She finished in 3:25:03. An outstanding effort!
It’s fair to say a grand day out was had by all, and it was all expertly put together by Martin Lofthouse…..
I think that’s it for now, apologies for the delay in getting these results published – sometimes there just isn’t enough hours in the day (or night), and before we go, we must say well done to Rebecca Ventress for completing 100 parkruns and Dave Prince for completing his 50th. Also, NVRR junior Jake Escott got himself a PB at Harrogate junior parkrun with a time of 14:15, and there were two other solid performances from Connie Mitton and Liam Escott. Keep up the hard work!