Author: Phil Henry

On 24th September several Jags ventured out of the county to race in a warm and sunny Nottingham at the Robin Hood marathon and half marathon.

James Lambert and David Platten had both signed up to tackle the marathon initially but injury prevented them from getting in sufficient training and so they wisely opted for the half marathon option. This meant it was just Rod Bye who ran the marathon for the club. Joining James and David in the half marathon distance was myself, Nicola Lambert-John and Jackie Bye. Those running the full and half all start together in allocated pens depending on your predicted time. I managed to find David in the pen we were in and it was good to have a chat before we headed off, 3 minutes after the pen in front. Now I mention this as I found out at mile 4 when I caught up with Rod as he wanted to stick with the 3:15 pacer who he saw at the start to then realise he was in the pen ahead and so the pacer had simply disappeared by the time we started! Rod and I ran together for a while but tough for those doing the marathon who are fed off onto the second half of their route right near the finish for those doing the half!

This was my target race for the year as it’s a race I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years in my home city. It was a tough course with some hills in the first half  and the end seemed to stretch on forever! Normally target races don’t  seem to go to plan for me and having had shin splints for the previous 4 weeks I was apprehensive that I could reach my goal. However I dug deep and hung on in there, giving myself a good talking to when I wanted to quit at mile 10 and was really pleased with my time, achieving my target.

James Lambert finished just ahead of me as he was in the previous pen and David Platten achieved his target for the race of sub 2 hours. Rod and Jackie both told me they found the course challenging and were disappointed with their times, but I feel they both did fantastic and achieved gold standards for their age categories.

The event was well organised and there was support along the closed streets, along with several bands playing.   I particularly liked the water pouches provided as they meant you could create a small fountain of water to drink from/tip over you without the difficulty of trying to run and drink from a cup simultaneously! As well as the half and full marathon they  offer a very popular children’s race.

No plans to give it another go next year, but wouldn’t rule it out for the future!

Nicola Lambert-John

	MARATHON
Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Rod Bye	3.25.58		GOLD
	1/2 MARATHON
Nicola Lambert-John	1.36.31	YES	GOLD
James Lambert	1.38.57		BRONZE
David Platten	1.59.53
Jackie Bye	2.06.24		GOLD

Ode to RNR

Sitting at home drinking my wine
Reflecting the weekend O’ what a time
The Round Norfolk Relay a top class event
Starting at Lynnsport where our hero’s we sent

Brave hardy runners ready to travel
Off down the road and on to the gravel
Heading for Hunstanton it’s starting to rain
It’s blowing a gale to add to our pain

No turning back our journey has begun
No rest for the runners till all miles are done
Reaching the lighthouse first leg nearly complete
Just passing the baton then time to eat

My teammate my friend has no time to chat
He’s off with the baton he’s going flat out
The weather gets worse he’s getting a soaking
He’s heading to where the rich do their boating

Third runners are waiting to take their turn
This leg is short and easy to learn
Off to the beach sand in their trainers
But runners are tough and not complainers

Baton safely delivered to the Wells runner
Off down the harbour wow she’s a stunner
The weather has abated the going is good
She’s flying along as fast as she could

Hand over at Cley he’s got a tough one to do
Four miles on the shingle it gives him the hump
Then up on the cliffs to do Beeston bump
Arriving at Cromer his job is over

The baton must continue it’s journey for many more miles
Each runner will carry it with grimaces and smiles
We run as a team together we are strong
Bound by our colours what could go wrong

Runners take the glory in their bright orange vests
But without our support crew we’d be in a mess
They are the heart of our Club this is so true
Just one thing to say we love you

Through the night it continues everyone plays their part
Till it comes full circle and they are back to the start
The runners are weary they have given their all
But so proud of their Club as they chat in the hall

They will return next year to do the same
Stronger and faster and hopefully not lame
Together forever the wind in their hair
Running with friends we hold so dear

Rod Bye

On Sunday 10^th September six Jags were amongst the 43,127 finishers of the world’s largest Half Marathon, The Great North Run.

The extremely large crowd of runners had gathered at the mass start in the middle of Newcastle on the central motorway, ready to begin their 13.1 mile journey to the finish on The Leas in South Shields. After the Elite athletes including Sir Mo Farah were introduced to the crowds via several large screens, Brendan Foster fired the starting gun to get the event under way. Shortly after the race start, runners were treated to a fly-by from the famous Red Arrows, a long standing tradition of the Great North Run.

Just before mile two, runners made their way over the main landmark, the Tyne Bridge, and on into Gateshead where they found many people lining the roads cheering on family, friends, and other passing runners. The route continued out of Gateshead, and wound its way on to Heworth and South Tyneside.

Along the route runners were treated to numerous bands and singers as entertainment at almost every mile marker. Numerous water stations and Lucozade stops were split over the length of the course to keep runners hydrated, and unless my eyes deceived me, a cheeky beer stop had been created around mile 10 with beer being served by the side of the road (possibly by the local community!) in plastic cups.

The route eventually wound towards South Shields where after a steep downhill you entered on to the seafront road – a long, straight, last mile which on the day was rather blustery. Large crowds helped draw the runners towards the finish, where they were rewarded with a great medal & goodie bag.

Depending on your starting point, it may not be a PB course due to the sheer amount of runners sharing the same stretches of road – unless of course you are Neil Button who recorded a new PB of 1:34:02. Well done to all who took part!

Angela Bell

Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Neil Button	1.34.02	YES	GOLD
Angela Gallen- Bell	2.14.11
Clive Cartner	2.14.11
Carolyn Gerber	2.29.52
Paul Gerber	2.30.22
Barbara Button	2.37.52

The Wissey Half Marathon  is an undulating rural course, in the west of the county, starting and finishing next to the National Trust’s Oxborough Hall.

Just three Jags took part this year, as with chip timing being in place for the first time, the race sold out well in advance. It was near perfect weather conditions for running, and Lee Emmett ran a great first time race, finishing in 1:40:53 for a bronze standard. Scott Shrubsall was hard on his heels with a time of 1:45:29 and I finally managed to get under 2 hours (1:59:07) PB Silver.  In fact I almost caught up with Second Claim Jag Keith Brighty (Norwich Road Runner) who limped home with a nasty blister in 1:52:04!

For those who had worked up a thirst there was real ale waiting on tap at the finish (Scott!), though I must admit an ice cream went down really well!

Ruth Gainsford

Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Lee Emmett	1.40.53	FT	BRONZE
Scott Shrubshall	1.45.29
Ruth Gainstford	1.59.07	YES	SILVER

I have never been to Bedford before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I was surprised it only took 1 ½ hours to arrive from Norwich.  The start was in a gorgeous park called Priory Park.  It reminded me a bit of Whitlingham in Trowse.  It was surrounded by woods and lakes.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning.  3000 entries started the course, it was all off road taking in a couple of laps of the woods before looping back to the park.  It was flat too!

This was Bedford’s first half marathon so I was expecting them to have a few teething problems.  On the contrary, it was so well organised and thought out.  We received a really great t-shirt and medal plus goodie bag.   It has got to be one of my favourite half marathons now and I have already signed up for 2018 which will take place on 2^nd September.  I can highly recommend this course.

Angela Bell

Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Clive Carter	2.12.52	FT
Angela Gallen Bell	2.12.52	FT

 

Nearly a score of Jaguars signed up for the Dereham Town 5K on 20th August, as the target race for their 5K Improvers Course, which they had been following for the previous couple of months under Ken’s leadership.

It was a bright, breezy but not too warm day for the run, which is a double loop of the town centre. There were plenty of supporters around the course to encourage us. There are some interesting twists and turns to negotiate around the market place, but that made it quite interesting. Almost everyone achieved a PB, some spectacularly, and the Jaguars took five of the age category awards: Ken Bowman was third, as was Rosemary Jackson (by a tenth of a second!), Dee Neal was thrilled to be second and gain her first trophy, Vicky Tovell was also second, and Nick Holden won her age category!

It was a really successful culmination to the Improvers Course, and we are so grateful to Ken and his team for helping us along the way.

Rosemary Jackson

Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Peter Nelson	19.00	YES	GOLD
Tom Johnson	19.17		SILVER
Nick Hudson	19.49		SILVER
Paul Emery	20.40	YES	DIAMOND
Nicola Holden	20.48	YES & AGE GROUP RECORD	GOLD
Ken Bowman	21.01		PLATNUM
Vicky Tovell	22.09		GOLD
Ruth Pilch	22.09		GOLD
Sonja White	23.04		SILVER
Ivan Westley	23.10		BRONZE
John Windham	23.18	YES	GOLD
Emma Jordan	23.37	YES	SILVER
Julian Jardine	23.38	FT	BRONZE
Graham Fryer	24.26	YES	BRONZE
Ruth Gainsford	24.28	YES	GOLD
Rosemary Jackson	24.47	YES	DIAMOND
Dee Neal	25.10	YES	GOLD
Jill Cole	26.21		GOLD
Julie Jardine	34.05	FT

After booking a long weekend t’ut North to see my Dad in Carnforth, Howard and I were looking for things to do. We saw that there was an Airshow at Blackpool that weekend and on studying the schedule, we also saw that there was a 10k race and we all love a bit of parkrun/race tourism don’t we?

We arrived early at Bispham race HQ; first time I’ve picked up a race number in a Fire Station! Disappointingly, no hunky firemen but I did see a runner who was the spitting image of an actor from the TV series “Shameless”.

As we walked in to the Fire Station, someone said “Coltishall Jaguars? You’ve come a long way!” It turned out this particular runner had once supplied the Jags race vests! Small world!

The race was really cheap at £6 Affiliated so we were not expecting a medal; as it turned out there was no chip timing either! Two painted white lines marked start and finish with a stopwatch at the end. The bibs were recycled from previous race leftovers so the numbers were random with the names of the previous races cut off the bottom. If you want to put on a cheap 10k, this is how!

The start of the race was down a slope away from Blackpool and I had to slow down as I got a bit carried away! After turning on to the lower promenade I settled into a comfortable 4:50 km/min and had a brief chat with a friendly runner. The run towards Blackpool tower was pleasant; warm with a nice breeze and a lovely view out to low tide. I then saw that I had to run up a steep slope back to the upper promenade; luckily I’ve done my hill training because I didn’t want the Northern runners to think I was a soft Southerner from flat East Anglia so I ran up it!

The run back to Bispham was up a few unexpected slopes but I took my mind off it by looking at the Blackpool illuminations and I was soon running downhill to the finish picking up speed. I achieved a new 10k PB and came fourth in my age category at 48:24! Howard finished at 44:17 and won a spot prize of a packet of cookies! The post-race goodies consisted of helping ourselves to crisps, chocolate biscuits and fizzy pop 🙂

After a quick spruce-up in the Fire Station, we headed back to Blackpool Tower to watch the airshow and the Red Arrows did not disappoint! All in all a nice, friendly little race and a great day out. Oh and after looking at the results and race photos, I found out that Ciaran Griffiths who played Mickey in “Shameless” had run part of the race right beside me. Doh!

Vikki Harper

Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Howard Harper	44.18	YES	SILVER
Vikki Harper	48.24	YES	SILVER

Name	Time	PBs	Standard
Nick Hudson	41.21	YES	SILVER
Neil Button	43.04		SILVER
Tom Johnson	43.23		BRONZE
Lee Emmett	44.22	FT	BRONZE
Graham Johnson	44.48		SILVER
Howard Harper	44.49	FT	SILVER
Shane Biddle	45.20	FT	BRONZE
Nick Eley	45.49		GOLD
Jack Shuttle	46.01	FT	BRONZE
Radley Fenn	46.07	YES	BRONZE
Paul Taylor	47.00		SILVER
James Fuller	49.09
Julian Smith	50.56		BRONZE
Peter Kean-Cockburn	51.18		SILVER
David Platten	51.21	FT	BRONZE
Roland Talbot	51.30	FT	SILVER
Vikki Harper	52.18		SILVER
Paul Gerber	54.29
Julian Jardine	54.59
Owen Barber	55.26
Phil Henry	55.43
Claire Owen	55.55		BRONZE
Sonya Wragg	56.38		BRONZE
Martin Bagnall	56.38
Graham Fryer	56.54
Nicola Lambert-John	59.18
Karen Evans	59.37
Joanna Cottrell	1.00.30
Barbara Button	1.01.04
Stewart Marden	1.03.29
Clare Hicks	1.03.29
Carolyn Gerber	1.03.55
Fiona O'Hara	1.09.05
Julie Jardine	1.19.30
Caren Maidment	1.20.02
Penny Murray	1.20.13