Month: July 2018

In the Clutches of the Heatwave

Beds AAA 10k

10k Road Club Championship Race

The Club Championships race for 10k this year was in Bedford. With Pete Mackrell involved in the organisation and 4 other club members helping him out, the race had a very LBAC feel around it.

As the 15 competitors wearing Purple and Gold rocked up at the Bedford Athletics track to collect numbers it was all rather friendly and could well have been the Leighton 10 that we had entered. Pete Mackrell and Chris Norman were hunched over a laptop working on a spreadsheet covered in numbers and figures, Stu Blofeld was handing out the numbers and pins with a cheery smile and words of encouragement, Richard Inchley and Uncle Pete were then milling about near the start and later marshaling and Chris Dimmock was proudly offering water to all those that finished. It was hard to avoid our club members! 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

Miles & Miles of Miles – 1mile Club Champs

1 Mile Club Championships 2018

LBAC descended upon Stantonbury track on Sunday 8 July in baking hot sunshine. The track itself wasn’t the only thing on fire, with lots of fast miles completed, with many improving on last year’s efforts.

Parents and club members took up the stop watches and timed so firstly a big thank you should go out to all of those who made the mile possible.

Thirty three members took up the challenge across four different heats, which were indeed, incredibly hot as everybody ran well in difficult conditions. read more

5k Road Club Champs

5k Club Champs – Aylesbury parkrun

Another sunny morning greeted the  LBAC runners as they commuted to Aylesbury for the 5k Road Club championship race. As has been custom the last few years, the 5k race has taken place at a local parkrun and this year Aylesbury was the location of choice.

Purple and Gold vests packed the starting line with 28 runners turning out in the Meadowcroft area of Aylesbury.

As is custom with parkruns, the start was a fast one with runners haring off between the trees. The route itself follows the River Thame and is fairly flat and fast, but with a few tricky corners and slight inclines it can also sap your energy somewhat. read more