The Oakley 20 Mile race on 23 March was the latest entry in the LBAC running diary, with an impressive nine runners from the club making the trek to the far reaches of north Bedfordshire. The event is staged by Bedford Harriers and also doubles as the Bedfordshire 20 Mile County Championship.
Oakley's reputation precedes it – at least, the famous hoodie for all entrants does. Although this year's choice of white wasn't overly well received from the practicality brigade!
On Sunday 16 March, 12 male Buzzards made the short trek to Stantonbury Track in Milton Keynes to represent the club at the Southern 12 Stage Road Relays. The warm and sunny conditions this year were in stark contrast to the snow that caused last year's event to be postponed.
The relays take place each spring and are an opportunity for clubs to compete against each other directly. They are the key races on the calendar for big athletics clubs who take them very seriously.
Provided below is a list of race results where LBAC members have taken part. If you would like us to add any performances please let us know.
There is a website called Power of 10 which records all performances in races which have a UK Athletics permit. You can add in any past performances for which the results are online. You can also add in a photo of yourself and a personal profile. It's ideal for keeping all of your races up to date with very little effort!
***********************************************************************************************"This can't be right, it's not freezing cold or snowing!" This is probably the thought that most runners were having on Sunday morning if they had run the previous two years in the MK Half Marathon. In complete contrast to 2012 & 2013 it was the warmest day of the year so far and people might actually want water instead of tea at the aid stations.
The event is actually branded as a Festival of Running as there is also a 10K and a 5K fun-run to go alongside the traditional half marathon. All the events are based around the Xscape Snow dome which may cause a small amount of chaos for Sunday shoppers but certainly gives an iconic backdrop to the races. A couple of years ago there were some teething problems with the events but these seem to have been smoothed out and it's a fairly slick set-up these days.
By Dan Webb
This may come as a surprise to you, it certainly was for me, but apparently there is another running club in Leighton Buzzard. Leighton Fun Runners (who knew). Anyway they seem like a decent bunch and happened to be organising a 10k race this Sunday. Nine runners from LBAC elected to grace them with our presence, and what a glorious morning for a run it was, with blue skies and not a cloud in the sky, not too hot and not much wind. The course itself is was less forgiving as it was fairly hilly throughout with the infamous Shenley Hill at 8k.
