"Eight seconds, can you believe it?". Imagine hearing that in a wee Scottish accent on balmy but breezy Wednesday afternoon in November and you will be able to picture Fiona feeling robbed at Club la Santa! The eight seconds to which she was referring was the overall gap between herself and Dave Adams after four days and thirty miles of running around the roads, volcanoes and beaches of Lanzarote.

Our party of seventeen this year was made up of mostly LBAC representatives but also contained Terry and Dave Stanley from Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers and Julie, Neil and Fay from MK. As ever, the 23rd club trip to Grotty was seen by most as an opportunity to get away from the miserable November weather in the UK and have a couple of shandies in between a plethora of sporting opportunities. read more

Even as those of us from the delayed Monarch flight were checking at Club La Santa, the senior Inchley's were already playing their first competitive round of crazy golf of the trip. For those that have been before, the Canarian sports resort is something of a home from home that can be settled into immediately. For most La Santa virgins, the challenge is deciding what to do first.

As a club, we have been going for the last week in November since the dawn of time to take part in the International Challenge. The challenge consists of four quite different races over four days which can be taken as seriously as you like. The general attitude is that it is a holiday first and races second. We all want to run as fast as we can on the day, but not to the detriment of the night before! There is also no compulsion to take part in the races, but if you are up to it then you are encouraged.

Once you are there, all of the sports facilities are free to use and you can enter tournaments, take lessons in most sports, join fitness classes both in the gym and outdoors, take a bike around the island or simply sit by the pool and get a tan. It is entirely your choice and all are included in the price. There are approximately 20 sports covered and facilities include a 50m pool, a full size track, 6 court badminton hall, 10 tennis courts and the resort's own lagoon for windsurfing. However, there were a decent number of our crowd that settled into their first day by acclimatising in the bar for a few hours.

This years group consisted mostly of Leighton runners but we had four MKACers, a couple of Ampthill & Flitwick Flyers, a Bearbrook Jogger and two biddies from Richard's old tennis club in Birmingham, all of whom contribute massively to the atmosphere of the trip.

In the last week of November, nine LBAC members plus a few hangers-on, made the executive descision to leave the autumn weather behind and head off for sunnier climes. What a great plan that was……

Whilst the UK was coping with floods across the country, this small group of athletes were enjoying the hospitality of all the Club La Santa has to offer. There was running involved in the trip which is a focus, but it didn't in any way detract from the holiday and having a good time in eighty degrees of heat. read more

This year an elite squad of fifteen people made up of club members, families and friends of the club made the trip to the Canary Islands for a warm weather autumn holiday with a few races thrown in for good measure. The group included ten runners, of which two were friends from Ampthill and Flitwick Flyers and each one entered the four race series which took place over four days. The time between races was spent doing anything from badminton to bolas and cycling to wind surfing for the more active. Crazy golf, ice-creams and the odd beer also proved to be popular activities amongst most people at various points of the week. The weather was the best ever for having a holiday - if a little warm for running - with blue skies and a gentle breeze on most days.

The serious competition of the week started on Sunday with Fiona and Jill taking the annual egg throwing competition on the beach day, with a magnificent effort of 16.5m. Their team name of Strictly Don't Dance With Us was inspired by the previous evening's Cha-Cha-Cha and Jiving. This championship taken by the girls, was followed up by the bolas tournament where Mr & Mrs Inchley senior fought of stiff competition from tall blonde Danish girls and a small Irish contingent to win the final for another year. It just shows what experience can do when the pressure is really on!

Some people took up Ballroom dancing (Badly) and some don't really remember utilising the podiums in the disco! There were cycling trips around the island, a wine drinking trip to an old bodega, badminton tournaments, tennis matches and even a few miles swum. A wonderful time was had by all and most were already talking about next year before the week was out!

There was also some running........