Leighton Buzzard Athletic Club

By Sam Dear

I’m not sure whether a certain Inchley brother had a hidden agenda or whether it was a new and genius coaching technique, but with most of the eight Buzzards present at the Silverstone 10k believing the start time was later than it actually was, a bit of an almighty scramble took place to get there on time for 7.30pm.

The Silverstone 10k is organised every year by Silson Joggers as the first race in the East Midlands Grand Prix series of 8 midweek races and has now been running for 31 years. The course is two laps of the old “Bridge” circuit which up until 2010 was the British Grand Prix Circuit. Now decommissioned, it’s good to hear that they will be keeping the tarmac down so this race can continue unchanged for years to come. read more

By Katie Haylock 

As the Milton Keynes Marathon runners were in their first hour Adam and I were lined up on the start line of the Thornborough 5 Mile Fun Run event, this is a yearly run which takes place in the beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside.  It was the second time I had taken part in the event and Adam’s third, the last time I had run the course was in 2008 alongside Adam, his sister and his mum.  The 5 mile fun run event commences at 11am, a respectable time for a Bank holiday Monday!  20 minutes prior to the start of this is the opportunity to take part in the 10 mile race which Adam and I would have considered, however, we are running the 10k Silverstone Grand Prix race on Wednesday and therefore wanted to save our legs for this (not sure if this is an excuse or common sense!).   read more

By James Bell 

The Ridge Off Roader (http://www.ridgeoffroader.co.uk/index.html) is held in the village of Bledlow, west of Princes Risborough. I took a 45 minute cross country route that passed an old hilly 10k route that I had done in the village of Prestwood last year. Driving through reminded me how hard I had to work to get below 40mins in the Prestwood 10k and how course knowledge was vital on such a challenging 10k. Rather disturbingly, as I headed west towards Bledlow the hills seemed to grow in stature and incline. At one point in my little car, I changed down to second gear and put the brakes on because the hill was so steep. As I drove along thinking that I could have easily been in the Cotswolds, I knew that I was not going to get below 40 mins on 'The Ridge' but might manage 42 minutes if I pushed really hard. read more

Looking down the list of previous winners of the Christmas handicap, it is a veritable who's who of past LBAC stalwarts, but one thing that is very noticeable is the lack of youth who have won it. Time and again it is the more "senior" members of the club who have taken the Langmay Trophy home. When Chris Dimmock won it last year I would suggest he reduced the average age significantly, despite being a V40 himself.

This year, there were some gallant efforts to get the better of Dave put in by some of the slightly more youthful members but it was to no avail. I don't think Fred will mind me saying that he has had a lousy winter. He's been injured and ill at various times and his regular performances in both the cross-countries and Stags have not been to his usual standard and it is these runs that Dave is aware of. read more