Blisworth 5

Blisworth 5

Club Championship Road Race

Having got back into the swing of things a bit recently with 3 Stag Trophy Races and the Round Leighton Buzzard Relay in the last 3 months, we were finally able to get back to racing Club Championship races, with the first in the road champs this year taking place at Blisworth for the 5 mile distance.

As is often the case at Blisworth the evening turned out to be one perfect for running with an otherwise overcast day turning into some welcome evening sun with very little wind. Those who have done the course though will know that it’s not the weather that you really need to worry about! read more

The Mack is Back – Berlin 2018

Berlin 2018

by Peter Mackrell

Berlin 2018 was my 18th marathon and my 3rd Berlin. Germany’s capital has been kind to me down the years, in both 2013 and 2015 I ran PB’s there and my 2015 time of 2:33:35 broke a long standing club record, only for Elliot to take it off me shortly after by a handful of seconds! He subsequently improved it to 2:32:35, exactly a minute ahead of my time.

Following that 2015 run I was convinced I had more in me but then in 2016 and 2017, nothing happened to suggest that I did. Regular niggles meant I went into marathons not fully prepared and at one stage I completely missed seven months due to a combination of injury, studying, and a bit of loss of love for the sport. I began to think I was ‘past it’. The problem is, I’m stubborn and I like proving myself wrong. read more

Chiltern Challenge 50km

Chiltern Challenge 50km – well I was looking for a challenge!

by Jo Sharples

Why would you ever want to? Followed with, are you mad? Seem to be common reactions to me running the Chiltern Challenge 50KM ultra. Mad, in my opinion, no but lost maybe. So lets start at the beginning.

Berlin Airport 2017.

I had just run the 2017 BMW Berlin Marathon, and was queuing to check in at the airport. It seemed most other Brits had also chosen this flight home. Berlin had been a mixed bag for me; I was overall pleased with my time, but couldn’t quite stop the disappointment I was feeling. I had experienced very difficult family issues in the final part of my training, and had been struggling to work let alone have the motivation and determination to train. This alongside an attempted burglary the day before the marathon in our hotel room had me mentally on the next flight home. There were too many problems and worries I could not solve here and I needed to escape. What was I to do? My race pack was collected, I had even already pinned my number to my LBAC vest. I could not honestly tell you what MY decision would have been if Sam had not been there. His stern, fair, and supportive talk was 100% the reason I made it to the start line. So I should have been happy with 2min shy of a PB- but that had not been the goal at Berlin. read more

EAL Round 2 – Luton

EAL Round 2 – Luton

by David Killick After the success of round 1 East Anglian League, I was feeling confident of another good day and it didn’t disappoint. Bad new out of the way first, we finished 7th out of 7 for the match but in this match we were up against some of the big league teams and on their own patch it would be expected Luton would have a bigger squad than last time. That’s the end of the bad news because some age groups really delivered some great results.  Below are the highlights as I cant write everything that was great. Although the u11s don’t score its a great way to introduce them to competitive full match of athletics. 5 in the squad including 1 debut.  I did’t see much of the action but I did see the 600m with Thaila Jade Mason storming the last 300m out to win the race in a new club record of 1:58 and the first girl in club history to break the 2min barrier.  Being on a high she then went and claimed the 80m club record as well.  Great results but for me seeing the u11s enjoying themselves is what it’s all about. Squad – JH, Emily Axten Blackwell, Sophie Ford, Sophie Coleman, Thaila Jade Mason u13girls may have a small squad but they put in some serious efforts with a 5th place finish.  Katie Killick may have hated the 800m but she bounced back in the Discus with a PB and almost beyond 13m to win it. Squad – Katie Killick, Sophia Watt, Jessica Stenner, Harriet Butlin, Charlotte Keane u13boys slightly bigger in number on this match finished 4th and saw Oscar Butlin again break his 75m hurdles record.  Finlay Boyd won the Shot Putt by more than a metre and Toby Evans having been told on the day that he was doing discus, came 3rd. Squad – Ash Carter, Finlay Boyd, Toby Evans, Sid Mead, Oscar Butlin, Archie Wright u15girls were the highlight of the day with a big squad finishing 2nd.  Some athletes were not doing their preferred event but covered some other events to gain vital points.  Niquole Carter broke her HJ PB to 1.45, but a notable performance from Imogen Chesterton who smashed her 1500m PB and would not let the girl from Southend beat her (great elbows out technique!) and showed that hard work in training does pay off.  Annie Rose again stepped up her game and threw a discus PB to win alongside her hammer win. quad– Niquole Carter, Imogen Chesterton, Zara Brooks, Isabel Law, Alicia Down, Julia Bell, Amelia Butlin, Annie Rose u15boys is becoming lonely for Daniel Coleman but he just does what he does best and throws things far.  38m for the Javelin takes him to another PB and close to the magic 40.  Great to see Arty Mead compete at Long Jump but we could so do with more u15s boys coming along and competing. Squad – Daniel Coleman, Arty Mead u17girls  squad of 4 managed a good 5th place and only 1 point behind Southend.  Slightly off form for a couple of them as it is mid exam season but Amy Killick squeezed another PB in the 1500m.  It was also nice to see them get the relay baton around with no dramas. Squad – Amy Killick, Jenny Abington, McKenna Keefe, Dana Carter u17boys managed a 6th place with both of them jumping beyond 10m for the first time and the following up with some good long jump work.  Great results and hard work in training paying off Squad – Harry Bell, Max Rose Senior Women, with a must do attitude, Alex Killick decided to do 100m as long as I didn’t tell anyone so when she flew down the 100m straight in front of everyone there was probably the biggest cheer of the day before returning back to her throwing.  Llinos Coleman again put on the club colours and gave a solid performance Squad – Alex Killick, Llinos Coleman Senior Men managed 5th with what must be the biggest squad in ages and had all but 5 scoring places covered.  A welcome return on the track for us by Ben Corfield, supported by F1 globe trotter Will Ponissi and Matthew Brooks making his debut. Such was the strength of the team I couldn’t get into my own throws team but put on the spikes for the 100m and 400m Squad – Will Ponissi, Nick Stonehouse, Michael Watt, Ben Corfield, James Bell, Matthew Brooks, David Killick Big thanks to Warren Rose for sorting out all the officiating, Sheryl Carter for managing the Girls team and to the parents/carers who helped on the day. The next match is Sunday 22 July, also at Luton. For more details ask David or one of the other Coaches or Committee members. 

Liverpool to Manchester – 50 Miles Ultra!

L2M – 50miles Ultra

by David Killick

So anyone goes back through the annuls of time you will see reports from me for 10km, East Anglian League, Being a lonely Thrower so for good measure I decided I needed to write a new report so entered the Liverpool to Manchester 50 miler. Not the full truth but hey makes me look like the strangest athlete in the world. Why Liverpool to Manchester (L2M).  After the Wendover 50 failure I had serious beef with this distance.  My first foray into the longer mind messing world of 50 milers went completely wrong.  So what better than to choose a flattish course with likely to be perfect spring weather and a tail wind on your back.  Richard Steely sold it to me as a perfect race, So Mrs K and I thought why not. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell the weather gods that I don’t do torrential rain, snow, blizzards, snow, 20mph headwinds, more rain, cold, even colder. Knew it was not going to be nice but when you pull back the curtains at your hotel at 5am in the morning and see flooded paths only 300m away from the start line you know its gonna be a long day. And that it was.  Predicted time went out the window as finishing became the objective. First part of the course was ok until 19km where I stupidly got lost for 27mins and 5km.  Unfortunately this is where I lost Richard who had gone for a pee and never caught me up (he was deluded enough to think I was beating him).  I say ok if you like a blizzard to run in either side of heavy rain.  soon after that you hit the pure trails and with it the puddles that splattered the Pennine Way and there was no avoiding running through them as the path was basically a flood., so a good 50km of very wet feet. Check points came and went, gladly people and supporters on hand to open backpacks as hands were frozen and the mind stop coordinating with the body. By 60km checkpoint I was being given a man up talking to by some guy who gave me detailed instructions that the worse was to come (cheers mate) but I just had to dig deep.  I would have said thanks but I had my mouth full of cola bottles (my new friend),  And off I trudged talking to myself. The next 10km was the longest 10km ever in my life.  I am sure it was longer, time passed by as did more distance.  so 10km left, stocking up on more food (oh how I love Ultras just for the food).  And off I went in 50th place.  Unfortunately got taken about 2kms from the end to finish in 51st in 9hrs 27m.  By then the rain had stopped, I had sweated to death inside my rain jacket and my club vest didn’t see any cameras on route. Sorry I cant remember much about the route as I spent a lot of time looking down at my feet as I ran through puddle after puddle.  I just know it was for me an emotional rollercoaster, banished the disappointment of Wendover, and pretty much proved that if you dig deep enough you can do anything. So after I finished the heavens decided to give those left on the course a much needed wash (and me as I walked to the hotel to get the car).  I know Mrs K was going to appreciate the cooling rain as she must have been boiling hot. So back to the finish area to see Mrs K come into the finish area to do a lap (swimming by this stage) of the rugby pitch.  Finishing in 12hrs 44, to take the womans 50m club record and 188th place Richard finished in 8hrs 31, down 50 mins on the previous year but an indication of how bad the weather was. We also qualified for the team rankings as we had a team of 3 and came 7th out of 11 teams.  I can’t think if LBAC have ever had a an ULTRA team before so happy to be the inaugural team members. So will I do another. hmmmmm…………..
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