The Grizzly

By Chris George

It was my second time at the Grizzly 20 miler down in Seaton (Devon) after racing last year for the first time and enjoying it so much. I entered the ballot again for 2017 and was lucky enough to get a place.

So what’s it all about “Twentyish muddy, hilly, boggy, beachy miles of the multiest-terrain running experience you will find this side of the end of time” is the quote on the website, and to be fair that’s pretty accurate

The Grizzly has over 3,500ft of ascent in its 20 miles; there are two sections of beach, totalling close to 2 miles; 2 bogs and the infamous “Stairway to Heaven”, a steep path up the side of a cliff.  The pre-race advice is that it will take roughly your road marathon time, perhaps longer if conditions are grim. read more

The other Leighton 10 (k)

Leighton 10k

by Jenny Rawdon

As the mummy of three children I don’t get the chance to enter many races. I’ve dabbled in a couple of half marathons over the last few years but my one and only 10k race was over 7 years ago, which oddly enough was the old style Leighton 10k. This was pre children, relatively flat and I managed 51 minutes 44 seconds.

I joined LBAC about 9 months ago along with Suzy B and ‘our’ Leanne at the recommendation of my friend Lisa Bowyer. Lisa’s ‘project’ was to get us to all enter a race together… cue the Leighton 10k, which now, much to my dismay contained the dreaded Shenley Hill. read more

2017 UK Inter-Counties XC Championships

By Rob Elmore

The last cross country race of the season (unless you’re young enough to be at the English schools or good enough to represent Great Britain at the World Cross Country Championships in Uganda!), were the British Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships which took place at Prestwold Hall, just outside Loughborough, this weekend.

For those not familiar with this event, the Inter-Counties is a chance for the top runners in each county to compete against each other. Selection is based on your positioning at regional county championships and/or your cross country performances during the season. Ideally 9 runners are selected for each county, however, due to injuries/illness this isn’t always possible. read more

Record Breaking Girls in the MK Festival 5k

MK Festival of Running – 5k

by Amy Killick

When I first arrived at the event it was chucking down with rain and was very chilly. I was frozen but still ran in shorts and my club vest. Whilst waiting in the car the rain began to stop and we then began to journey over to the starting area. As I was one of the first racers there I found a spot at the front of the line and began to warm up.

As we set off I was quite near the front and in sight was the lead cyclist. The first kilometre of the race was all downhill and was very fast as I ran it in 3:51. It stayed downhill for the second kilometre as well but began to incline at the fourth kilometre making it a lot slower. I eventually warmed up about a kilometre and a half into the race which made me a lot happier. At the end I did a sprint finish as everyone was cheering me on to beat the man in front of me. As I crossed the line my time was 21:25 which was a new PB that has beaten my mother’s and father’s official times (not parkrun times). Also I was the second lady through the line. I was shortly followed by Zara and Daisy who both ran under 25 minutes. read more

More from the MK Festival of Running

MK Festival of Running – Half Marathon

by Coralie Anderson

So, the morning had arrived of the MK Festival of Running Half Marathon.  I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this race.  Having run it twice before I don’t really recollect enjoying the course on either occasion!  However, the last time I ran it three years ago, I got my PB so that was an incentive enough to tackle the course once again.

The day was certainly not a day to even consider a PB given the weather conditions, it was a horrible cold, wet and windy morning.  As I sat in the kitchen eating my marmite on toast (minus the crusts) and drinking a cuppa I was trying to remind myself why I was doing it when I could have had a Sunday lie in!  My sister had travelled up from south London specially to support me so with that in mind we bundled into the car and headed off to MK. read more

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