Author: Andy

Stuck in the Mud

By Andy Inchley

The 137th running of the National cross-country championships at Parliament Hill would struggle to be any further removed from the 136th running at Weston Park last September.

Last September’s race – which was highly unusual due to the postponement from February – was run on a lovely late summers day around grassy parkland at a stunning rural venue near Telford. Amy and I were the only club representatives that day and thoroughly enjoyed the outing (without the kids!). read more

La Santa 2023

Over the years the club has had many group trips away. The Dublin marathon and the Majorca marathon (twice) in the 80’s. More recently, smaller groups have been to Amsterdam, Berlin and even Tokyo. There was a long weekend away for the iconic Ballycotton 10 (look it up) and there are gentle suggestions of a trip somewhere in the UK next year.

However, the one trip that has stood the test of time only came about because of war in Yugoslavia! In 1990, there were plans to go to the Split marathon, but when war broke out following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, that went out the window and someone came across the Lanzarote International Challenge. Four races in four days, sunshine and beer, what more could you want? That first trip took about thirty people and it has been going every year since (2020’s Covid closure excepted). read more

Just Like Being at the Beach!

As it so often does, the first cross-country of the season arrived with blue skies over the Chiltern region of the country as hundreds of runners made their way to the Keysoe International equestrian centre in north Bedfordshire for a quick dip.

This was not the first time we have visited Keysoe in October, but after six consecutive years of kicking off the season in Oxford, it certainly made a change not to be slogging up a big hill! It was also unusual, in that we finished last season at Keysoe, so have had consecutive races at the venue renowned for its water splash. read more

Greensand 2021 and a Little History Lesson!

First, a little bit of history.

LBAC has a long history of running the Greensand Ridge. Back in 1987 we set established a record for running the length of the newly established route all the way from Gamlingay. At the bottom of this report there is an extract from a newsletter at the time, with a rare mention for Mrs Inchley (Snr)! This original relay was done in pairs, with a senior club member and a junior on every leg.

This record of just over five hours was then exchanged with a couple of other clubs for a few years, but in the meantime SMOC (South Midlands Orienteering Club) had set up their own relay race between them and some other local orienteering clubs. In these pre-internet days we were unaware of the race, even when Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers became the first running club to get involved in 1991. read more

LBAC January Challenge

Happy New Year everyone!

We are obviously all looking forward to brighter days ahead in 2021 and the return of “proper” events at some time in the not too distant future. However, we’re not there yet and so we thought we’d try and come up with something to focus on in the dark days of January, particularly for any of you for whom motivation might be a struggle at the moment! read more

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