2019 Race Round-up…
Race 6 – 17th November 2019 – Coltishall 5 Miles
This rearranged race number 5 saw us revisit a classic Jaguar course, home of the original Mike Groves 5 Mile race. A couple of off-road sections and some recent rain made getting time predictions spot on slightly more tricky than normal… Jack Stuttle proving to be the closest on this occasion and with one race to go puts him in a strong position to retain the men’s title. Only Daniel Smith can stop him now.
Well done to Neil Button and John Windham for their efforts to complete the top 3.
The Ladies competition is too close to call. Vicky Tovell maintained her top 3 position despite not running today. She is 5 points behind Hattie Swain who added another 2 points in this event. Ellie Young leads by another 5 points and we can’t discount Rebecca Westmorland who can still win but will likely need results to go her way.
Teamwise, Keith’s Smellies could possibly still take the trophy but it’s looking increasingly likely that 2 Canary Champions 1 Spurs Bottler are going to get the job done… who might still spoil their party though?
Fancy dress in Buxton on the 15th December will sort everything out for this year.
Standings
Race 5 – 10th November 2019 – Coltishall 10k/10 Miles
We’re getting to the business end of the series now and with Jack Stuttle the first runner to drop a low score the real contenders are now becoming clearer. With this event runners have the choice of two distances with results worked out by a percentage of actual time vs prediction. So, although 3 runners were closer to prediction, the winner this time out was Daniel Smith by virtue of the fact he was running 10 miles.
He was closely followed by a pack of three headed by Rebecca Westmorland. Ruth Pilch and Barry Halkyard completed the gang.
Things are getting interesting in both the individual competitions. As Daniel gained 25 points Jack only gained 2 and they are seperated by only 4 points. Jeremy Lawrence and Keith Brighty are both close enough to keep this Neil Button and Barry Halkyard can’t be totally discounted yet either.
The ladies contest is even more unpredictable. With 1 point separating the first 3 and bucket loads of points still up for grabs this is still anyone’s title for the taking.
We’re back in Coltishall next week for a 5 mile race…
Standings
Race 4 – 5th September 2019 – Sea Palling 5k
Pre-measured to ensure a truer 5k distance this year but that didn’t make it any easier to predict finish times. Billy Life, making his handicap series debut, was closest to the mark to take the overall win. Jeremy Lawrence fired himself into title contention with a useful 2nd place and Jack Stuttle strengthened his position as series leader with 3rd.
We have another new leader in the ladies competition as Vicky Tovell bagged 13 points points. Elly Young moves slight closer to Hattie Swain who slips to second place in the standings, just behind Vicky.
Jeremy’s and Vicky’s points haul moves Take That into 2nd place in the Team competition. Keith’s Smellies hold onto third.
From the next race on people will be losing their worst scores (assuming they have run 4 events). Next race is a 5 mile route in Coltishall.
Standings
Race 3 – 13th August 2019 – Swanton Abbott 10k XC
This has become a popular route since we first ran it as a club earlier in the year and had to be added to the Handicap roster for this year. Thanks go out to Rollie for marking out the course and making for an easy night for me, Rosemary and Dave.
How quickly fortunes can change in this competition. After the disappointment that was clearly apparent on the finish line in North Walsham our winner this time will be over the moon… that winner is Hattie Swain! Not only did she win on the night, she is now leading the Ladies competition overall. Vicky Tovell moves into second place demoting Elly Young to 3rd who is joined on 13 points by Lynn Lambert. This contest is wide open!
The Previous top performers had to settle for lower points paying positions while Jeremy Lawrence and James Lambert boosted their points tallies, Jezza moving into 3rd overall in the Men’s standings and within 2 points of Keith Brighty. Jack Stuttle managed to extend his points lead by 1 to remain top of the leaderboard.
We now have a tie for 2nd place in the Team contest as Take That scored well to make ground up on Keith’s Smellies.
Standings
Race 2 – 11th July 2019 – North Walsham 5 miles
Race 2 took us to North Walsham for the first all road event of the series. Starting on the industrial estate but soon gets into the contrasting quiet country lanes. Bit of a hilly one this! Jack Stuttle’s rein as king of predictions continues but on the night he was only able to take 3rd place, just behind Daniel Smith. Keith Brighty got his guess spot on to take the win here.
Elly Young took 4th on the night and top lady with Nicola Lambert-John and Sharon Jones also in the points. Vicky Tovell has managed to maintain 2nd place in the ladies standings without running this one, but it’s a very close contest at the moment.
The Team competition has a familiar look to it, with 2 Canary Champions 1 Spurs Bottler currently ahead of Keith’s Smellies. Don’t Un-Button us are not far behind in 3rd. Still all to play for though in all categories.
Race 1 – 20th June 2019 – Brundall 5k
A new season, new rules but the same runner at the top of the scoresheet as Jack Stuttle raced to 1st place just 0.13 of a second from prediction. Two relatively new names to the top positions Robert Dye and Barry Halkyard took 2nd and 3rd respectively. Andy Mulligan joined them in 4th as the last runner to get within 1 second of prediction.
The ladies weren’t quite as accurate this time out. Top lady, Vicky Tovell, took 6th Overall by completing the 5k just under 8 seconds slower than planned. Karen Evans ran around 14 seconds too fast to finish second lady and Jenny Norris completes the top 3 in the female contest.
Well done all!
PREVIOUS YEARS’ HANDICAP RESULTS
Race 7 – Buxton 5k Fancy Dress
As with previous years the final race brings out a big crowd and some exceptional fancy dress! Angela Hudson was crowned best female fancy dress but it was a tie between Keith Brighty and Nick Hudson. Being nearly Christmas the prize went to Nick as he’d fallen over and burst his turkey! (Keith did look pretty in his dress though).
To the running… there was a chance for several runners to pass Jack Stuttle for the win in the men’s competition whereas only Jamie Harkin had a slim chance of beating Elly Young to the crown. Elly made sure of overall victory by securing 20 points in the final race to become 2018 Ladies champion.
The men’s race was a little closer. Jack had to withdraw so that opened the door for Lee Emmett and Neil Button to have a chance. Little did they know that, after 6 races of failing to predict an accurate time, Mel Porter would run a perfect prediction of 20:45 and snatch the final race victory of the series. This also meant that we had 8 different winners in 7 races (we had a tie for 1st place in race 3). With Rich Peters taking 3rd overall on the day that left Lee in 4th with only 13 points leaving him just 2 points short of Jack’s final total.
Lee (along with Jack Stuttle and Radley Fenn) also had to settle for second in the Team prizes as the Team of Mel Porter, Elly Young and Keith Brighty took the honours.
Final 2018 Standings:
RACE 6 – 10 Miles or 10k Coltishall 18th November 2018
A new concept for this year trialling 2 distances… not so easy to score this one but I got there in the end! This one was rearranged to accomodate the rescheduled Broadland Half so there were a few other race clashes (Snetterton and Horsford XC the most notable). That didn’t prevent 22 runners form turning out to try and score some big points while others were away.
Biggest points scorer for this one, making it a different winner at all races so far, was Karen Bradley who finished just 4 seconds out from her prediction. That makes it 4-2 to the ladies for outright victories too. Scores were worked out on a percentage of finishing time vs prediction for this race and Karen scored 99.88%… closest to Karen was Ken Bowman 99.76%. Mel Porter finished off the top 3.
So with one race left to run there’s still no guaranteed winners in either Men or Women’s categories. Jack Stuttle has one hand on the Men’s trophy but there’s still a few runners close enough to make him work for it. Elly Young added some useful points but also needs to get the right result in the final race to be certain.
RACE 5 – 5 miles North Walsham 4th September 2018
A new course and another new winner (that’s 6 out 5 races this year!) with Jack Stuttle getting the spoils for this one and also propelled himself to the top of the standings. Tom Johnson continued his impressive comeback with a second place to add to his win last time out Neil Button was the third gent to cross the line finishing 4th overall.
Elly Young (3rd overall) rediscovered her predictive abilities ahead of Simone Holloway, who picked up her first points finish of the competition and Sam Beales completed the top 3 for the ladies race. Elly and Jamie-Anne Harkin swap places once again at the top of the table… the question is who’ll be there at the end of the year?
Jack’s result coupled with Lee Emmett picking up points has moved that team back in front of the chasing pack but only by 5 points.
We’re now in the phase where some people will start dropping their worst results and even though there’s only 2 races left it’s still mathematically possible for almost anyone to win the trophies! There’s a bit of a gap now until the next race in November, enjoy your running until then!
RACE 4 – 5k Brundall Parkrun Course 16th August 2018
So local knowledge was obviously going to help some runners in this race wasn’t it Julie Jardine, Nick Eley and Paul Taylor? 😉
One local who did get it nearly right was Neil Button but his 2 second difference wasn’t quite enough to beat Tom Johnson who missed a perfect prediction by 1 second. Jack Stuttle claimed 3rd place with an impressive 18:55.
First lady home was Jamie-Anne Harkin who used her sprint finish to good effect. She has now opened a gap to Elly Young in the overall standings. Jenny Norris was second lady home (her supporters will be happy with that) and Sonya Turner was 3rd.
The Team competition has taken another twist. The team of James Lambert, Neil Button and Paul Emery now lead by 2 points from Lee Emmett, Jack Stuttle and Radley Fenn.
RACE 3 – 10k Mike Groves Course @ The Base 17th July 2018
**EDIT there is one slight change to the results as I’d recorded an incorrect prediction for Jamie-Anne Harkin – this has been amended in the Race 4 standings.
Familiar turf for the Jaguars as we stayed at the base for this one. Once penalties and handicaps were applied there was no way of separating Karen Evans and James Lambert so they both take 25 points for 1st position. Andrew Wicks was only 2 seconds away from making it a three way tie! That result has propelled James to the top of the standings with Lee Emmett not far behind after a solid score for him.
Race 1 and 2 winners Elly Young and Jamie-Anne Harkin both failed to score so the lead in the ladies category was also taken by Karen Evans, that competition is starting to look very exciting!
The team contest is starting to close up a bit after the first round saw Keith, Mel and Elly get off to a great start. Guess who’s leading the team standings now? That’s right… it’s Karen Evans! She’s not alone though as Julian Jardine and Simone Holloway’s points have moved them into 1st place (for now).
Apologies from me again as I got the runway cone in the wrong place. I have adjusted times to account for the shortfall and I’ll try to get the distance right for Brundall!!!
RACE 2 – 5k(ish) Sea Palling Beach 19th June 2018
A new race to the series and perhaps a few things to iron out for next time, mainly getting the distance right! Due to the course being slightly long (ok, more than half a mile!), the times have been calibrated to the 5k point using maths.
Running on sand isn’t easy but that didn’t put off the 50 runners who turned up to test themselves on what has to be the toughest races in the series. With not much to guage times on predictions were interesting, that said eventual winner, Jamie-Ann Harkin was spot on with hers! Emma Wilcock was just 2 seconds out to take second place and Sam Beales took third just 7 seconds away from prediction.
First male to finish and first to finish on the night was Andy Mulligan, but he was 12 seconds outside prediction and took 11 points for 6th.
No points in the team competition for the current leaders has allowed the team of Lee Emmett, Jack Stuttle and Radley Fenn to close to within 4 points thnaks to Jack scoring 9 in this race.
Races are coming thick and fast over the summer months so plenty can change before the October break…
RACE 1 – 10k Swanton Abbott 12th April 2018
Kicking things off for 2018 with an old favourite, the Swanton Abbott race was well attended with 40 runners turning out in the cold and mist. Lots of excitement surrounding the series this year as the new team competition has been introduced. With another new for 2018 Mel is now running against you and it will be interesting to see if he’s learned much from watching on as race organiser for the last few years…
A wide range of times were submitted from 38mins up to well over an hour so a real mix of abilities, but the great thing about the handicap races is anyone can win. Proving experience doesn’t necessarily count for much in this series we had relative newcomers filling the first positions in both the Men’s and Women’s categories. Elly Young taking the outright win and 25 points with a perfect time for good measure. Lee Emmett also ran a well measured time to take second overall and 20 points. Nick Hudson rounded out the top 3 running marginally slower than his predicted time in the process. A special mention to top Jeffer, Annette Yeomanson who took the second spot in the Ladies contest!
So Mel may not have got it quite right on his first attempt but can be glad his teammates both scored reasonable points. With Elly getting the win and Keith Brighty picking up 7 points, added to Mel’s single point puts them firmly in the lead of the team competition after one race. Still a long way to go though!
Well done everyone who took part, some of you will be disappointed with the result but pleased with the times I’m sure.
Next time out we’re on the sand at Sea Palling, Tuesday 19th June…
Race 7 – 5k Buxton 3rd December 2017
The series wrapped up with the traditional fancy dress event around the Buxton Fun Run course. As ever a lot of effort had gone in to some of the costumes, Andy Mulligan went as far as building his own sleigh which he was seen pulling Santa (Jo Cottrell) around in. Julian Smith also revealed why he was desperately trying to obtain a green wig a couple of days before as he turned up as an Oompa Loompa!
The results can’t be revealed yet, this is saved for the awards night at the end of January so it’s a long wait for those in contention… here’s a little run down of the contenders:
Ladies: Rosemary Jackson vs Ellie Gaskins… this had for a long time looked like an easy run to glory for Rosemary but Ellie has been chipping away at the points and remained mathematically in contention. For Ellie to win though she’ll need to gain 19 points on Rosemary. Anything less than 2nd place for Eliie and the title is Rosemary’s. Rosemary can win by finishing higher than 10th regardless of where Ellie finishes. We’ve seen some big turnarounds in the handicap series before, so can Ellie do it or will Rosemary lift the first place trophy again?
Men: This was a little bit closer with Keith Brighty, Tony Aldborough, Paul Gerber, Phil Henry and Ivan Westley all in with a chance. Phil and Ivan would have needed to win without the others scoring points but they didn’t enter the last race and with Tony having an unfortunate tumble at Parkrun the day before this has become a two horse race. Keith needs Paul to finish outside the top 3 to guarantee the title without scoring himself, but the points gap is smaller for Paul to close
With 29 running the race there was plenty of opposition to steal points from the leaders. No penalties applied to this one as it was closest to prediction.
Race 6 – 10 miles Horning 12th November 2017
A subdued start to this event and slight lack of ambition in some of the time predictions. Rod Bye gave in to competitive urges and smashed his prediciton by over 3 and a half minutes, giving him a nice 7 minute penalty. That wasn’t enough to drop Rod out of the points though. Fastest runner of the day was Andy Mulligan who completed the course in 1 hour 4 minutes. That was too fast though as this put him in the penalty window. Tony Aldborough was smiling though as this meant he got the win running to within 4 seconds of his predicted time. However it’s Keith Brighty who now sits top of the table after finishing 2nd, whilst Paul Gerber drops to 3rd. Any of those 3 could still win the competition with Phil Henry also in contention.
The ladies competition will be a straight fight between Rosemary Jackson who, despite taking a break to go trail running in France, still holds a 19 point lead over Ellie Gaskins. It could still go either way as yet though!
The final race of the series is on 3rd December in Buxton and is the traditional fancy dress run around the Buxton fun run course. Let’s see as many jags there as possible!
Race 5 – 5k on the Base 7th September 2017
A last minute realisation that this one had been forgotten about accounts for a slightly lower turnout than normal. Those that did enter put in some good times and only a few penalties were applied.
Rosemary Jackson yet again asserted herself at the top of the standings running a 24:34 to take maximum points for the second time this year. Rosemary is also the only runner to compete in every event and has had the result from event 3 dropped. Ellie Gaskins still has a mathematical chance of stealing victory from Rosemary though so it could still get exciting before the competition is over! She scored some good points taking 3rd on the night.
In the men’s competition Paul Gerber remains top but both Keith Brighty and Ivan Westley closed in a little with some decent points for joint 4th place. Lee Emmett completed the top 3 on the night and gaining his first points in the contest.
Remember, only top 4 results count.
Race 4 – Swanton Abbott 10k Handicap 24th August 2017
Good weather, a tie for 1st place and a change to the leaderboard! Swanton Abbott had it all. With two or three of the main contenders so far absent for this round it offered a chance for some others to make gains in the competition. Indeed grabbing his chance with both hands Paul Gerber now sits proudly at the top of the Men’s standings with a near perfect run, 29 seconds faster that prediction.
There must be something in the name though. As name sake Paul Emery was every bit as accurate with his run and took joint first place on the night, after calculations and penalties were applied. This was Paul’s first race in this year’s series but he seems to already have the hang of it!
Rosemary Jackson is currently head and shoulders ahead of the competition in the Ladies standings. She has already amassed more points than both her nearest competitors combined. Fear not though ladies, with 3 races left there is still all to play for!
Race 3 – Worstead 5 mile Handicap 20th July 2017
The traditional Worstead 5 mile recce was the scene for the third handicap race in this years series. True to form, everybody is still struggling to predict their times with any degree of accuracy. Only a third of the field escaped penalties for the second time in 3 races, as Wroxham doesn’t incur penaties that’s 100% of races… come on Jags, you must do better!Worst of the bunch was Paul Gerber. His game plan went to pot and earned him a whopping 7:36 penalty, surpassing Jackie Bye’s effort from the Mike Groves race.
Proving that some Jags have a concept of pace though was Neil Button, running a near perfect 27 seconds inside his predicted time and earning himself the victory by 1 second ahead of a flying Tony Aldborough. That leapt both of them up the standings but not enough to pass new series leader Phil Henry who took third place on the night.
Despite only picking up 4 points Rosemary Jackson still extended her lead in the ladies competition, currently holding a 22 point lead over Nic Holden with Ruth Pilch only 3 points behind Nic. However, with only the best 4 scores counting in the final tally, there’s still all to play for in both male and female categories!
Round 3 ResultsRace 2 – Wroxham 5k Series 2&3
With this being the 2nd Race in this years Handicap it was split between the 2nd and 3rd Wroxham 5k races you could give me a time for either or either! There are no penalties just outright time difference.
We had in this last Wroxham Race 3 joint winners who were Rosemary Jackson and Keith Brighty both running to within 3 seconds of their time they gave me before the start, as this means there is no 2nd place, 3rd Place goes to Paul Gerber in Race 2 who just pipped Owie Barber by 1 second difference to get 16 valuable points in this years Series, Owie having to settle for 13.
The wooden spoon this Race goes to Ruth Pilch who on a 5k was some 73 seconds out on her time estimation! i put it down to the awesome 5k improver’s training the Club is currently running and threw her right out!.
A big well done goes to all other competitors who took time to give me a time and run watchless to see how good there pace judgement is.
Mel
Race 1 – Mike Groves 10k Handicap 25th May 2017
So by now most club members should be familiar with the format for the Handicap series… give Mel a time, try and run no more then 30 seconds faster or get a penalty and so on. It will come as no surprise then that only 9 out 24 runners managed to complete the race without a penalty.In a change to previous years all runners set off at the same time so it was impossible to really guage who officially finished where. Tony Aldborough, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the first to finish with a fantastic 38:34. Well normally that would be fantastic, but as he’d predicted 40 minutes he earned himself a mighty 2:52 penalty and tumbled from first to 20th and well out of points contention. That was nothing though, as four runners got it even more wrong, most spectacularly was Jackie Bye who incurred over 7 minutes of penalty time added. That must be some sort of record!Not everyone misjudged their paces and tied on in 2nd place were Phil Henry and Ben Gaskins who both ran just 20 seconds over their predictions. Not good enough for 1st place though as by running 28 seconds faster than predicted, not quite perfect but good enough this time, was newcomer to the series Ivan Westley. Well done Ivan!The first three ladies in were Ruth Pilch (6th place overall), Rosemary Jackson (10th) and Nic Holden (11th). Still all to play for at this early stage but it looks like being another exciting competition again this year. Well done all, the second handicap is the Wroxham 5k series where you can predict a time for either race 2 or 3 and closest to prediction wins.
Race 6 – BUXTON 5K Handicap 4th December 2016
On amild morning for the time of year again for this year’s Fancy Dress pre Buxton Fun Run Race we had a great turn out of runners in some extraordinary costumes! And then in walks a Snowman, Good old Andy who was still certain he could run 18 mins something!
The runners, after a small photo shoot (pics on facebook), set off in the usual manner slowest runner to fastest last. With some great help from Scott Shrubsall, Dave Simpson, Jackie Gooch and Emma Jordan the runners started returning. The first lady in was Lisa Appleton about 4 minutes faster than estimated, at this point we knew something was array, Lisa had taken a short cut! So I then Google searched the route she had taken, averaged time over distance and increased to proper 5k giving Lisa her overall time and finishing position.
Next in was 2nd to last starter Ben Gaskins who ran a blistering pace of 19.18! giving me an original start time of 20.30 oops! The third Person in was Neil Button who predicted 22.10 and ran like everyone does watch less and recorded 21.40! exactly 30 seconds faster than his prediction which is maximum seconds without incurring penalties.
So well done Neil button 1st place, 2nd was Paul Emery who just coming back from injury done excellent and 3rd was Sonya Wragg again excellent pacing.
Well done Andy Mulligan and Nic Holden winning best fancy Dress awards.
Please see below link to table of the top 13 in each gender. With a winner and runner up award available in each, all 13 can still achieve either of these awards! Usually it’s a foregone conclusion before the last race but this year its wide open!The last race is going to be a 10 Miler on the 15th January 2017
at Coltishall Village Hall at 8am.
This is a chance for all of you to do a Sunday morning run out of Coltishall over to Palmers Lane at Horning. Please message me your suggested times to be included in the starting list for last race in the series!
Your best four results to count with the worst one dropped if bettered in the last race.
Leading positions below;
standings-december-2016With 25 points for a win, 20 points for 2nd, 16 points for 3rd, 13 points for 4th, 11 points 5th, all way down to 1 point for 15th place, anything can happen and usually does in last race!
Mel
Race 5 – Two mile efforts
Handicap 2 x 2 Mile Efforts
With the 5th Handicap being varied from the usual this time I added in a 2 Mile x 2 efforts combining your deficits in seconds together to give you overall Handicap.
With a few runners unable to grasp the concept on first 2 mile effort realizing they should get close to their time and not Race anything with legs and blitz their time by a long way ( which is good for training I must add!)
For the few that did Tony Wilson on his first run was 3 seconds out and Keith Brighty 4 seconds out and third after first run James Fuller being 12 seconds out, with thinking they just had to go slower or faster on second run took some doing over a further 2 Miles but winning the day and doing his second run only 4 seconds out when he done the first effort 3 seconds out and winning this Handicap with a difference of just 7 seconds! congratulations goes to Tony Wilson, in second place and just 7 seconds off his second run to add to his first 4 seconds out on his first run was Keith Brighty, third and coming from outside the top three after the first run recording 20 seconds out on her first run and recording the exact time on her second run 3rd place goes to Ellie Bye and this elevates her up current standings with 2 Races to go.
Next being fancy dress (min requirement a Santa Hat) around Buxton 5k Race route!
On Sunday 4th December 2016, 8am.
Meeting at Rosemary Jackson’s House in Buxton.
(Please speak to Mel for directions)
handicap-2016-race-5
standings-after-race-5
Race 4 – Mike Groves 10K
With 35 runners turning out for this race it was biggest field ever in a Handicap and made for some great times! With 29 of you breaking your allowed 30 second window running faster then predicted it changed all standings dramatically after final results. From initial 1st Place Shirley Wilcock (because of such a great run time plummeted down to bottom with biggest ever penalties of 14 minutes. The winner of this Race finished initially in 30th place out of 35 finishers and running 28 seconds faster then the time he gave me. Congratulations in this Race goes to Keith Brighty (2nd claim member and unable to take overall Trophy but with this win he has leapfrogged the joint leaders who were Stephen Pointer and James Lambert with only James Lambert running in this race he now, with a 6th place finish puts himself in a clear 2nd position in the men’s overall standings. In 2nd place and finishing 31st provisionally goes to one of our newest members from the Couch to 10k course program running 24 seconds faster then time predicted is Karen Webb, well done Karen this lifts you to 7th place in the female standings, and in 3rd Place and finishing 32nd out of 35 runners! Is Ruth Pilch and she instantly gets 16 points to her name. With 4 runners going sub 40 minutes and lots of you running faster times then previous 10k times this just goes to show, 1) you can and 2) how fast and flat the MG Course really is! Many thanks to all the people who helped me on this occasion with time keeping, marshalling, bicycle support and water station assistance.
Race 3 – Wroxham 5k races 2 and 3 Predicted Times Race
With only a handful of people wishing to predict their Wroxham series race 2 or 3, running these races watchless too gave all these people points in this third handicap of the year. For the second year in succession within the two races someone predicted their exact time! The winner of this third handicap elevating her to joint third position in this year’s standings was Carolyn Gerber, predicting a time of 26.30 and running exactly that to the second! Well done Carolyn! In second place and within 2 seconds of their time and narrowly missing out on the win was Steve Pointer who predicted 20.30 and ran 20.32. In third place on this handicap and only 3 seconds off her time was Ruth Gainsford, running 25.12 after predicting 25.15.
Next Race is MG10 at Scottow Enterprise Park on Thursday 18 August 2016.
Race 2 – Swanton Abbott – Thursday 5 May 2016
A great turn out of Jags again for tonight’s handicap at Swanton Abbott on the old 10K Valentines run route.
Jackie Bye came in at provisional first, absolutely blitzing her time! But as we know its all about the time you gave before the start!! In the end the race was won by Nic Holden who came in at 17th position!! Second place went to James Lambert and Steve Neal came in for third position. Tom Johnson did a phenomenal sub 40 minute 10k in 39.08!
Thank you to all helpers – Mark Bradley and for him collecting my signs in, Martin Bagnall for assisting with time keeping, Owie Barber for drinks, Clare and Sarah for encouragment and “Jaffa Cakes” great move!!
Next race is the 2nd or 3rd of the Wroxham 5k series. You can run either race but you need to let me know before you run which race you wish to be handicap and give me the exact time you estimate you will run it.
Races are Wednesday 15 June or Wednesday 6 July at Broadland High School. Enter via Norwich Road Runners’ website.
Race 1 – Wroxham 5k Handicap 7th April 2016
With a brilliant evening of weather it was great to see 22 runners turn out for the first of this years Handicap Races. There will be 7 Races during the year and your best 4 place finishes will count and if you wish to run all 7 you can. As with all Handicap Races (Except Wroxham 5K’S) you will give me a time and can run up to 60 seconds quicker (no watch to be worn at any of the races) any more then that and you will incur time penalties! If you are 61 seconds too fast you get double time penalties so you will have 122 seconds of time penalties added to your finishing time, moving you backwards in your finishing position!.
In this first race Steve Pointer won quite comfortably but unfortunately ran 2 mins 46 seconds faster than time he gave me, so got 5 mins 32 seconds added to his time demoting him from first place to last place in this race! After all time penalties were added to appropriate runners times, the congratulations goes to Sharn Ponsford who ran 26 seconds faster then the time she gave me having 30 seconds allowance! Brilliant pacing without a watch Sharn! In second place and 1 second behind! was Sheryl Goodwin excellent run also and one second behind in third came Ben Gaskins who didn’t even give his time – Ellie Did! (He did complain at the start as usual Ben!) but ultimately I think she knows you very well Ben! well done.
Please note: In fourth place Paul Taylor finished, having ran prior to the race timed independently by myself and Steve Neal so he could help marshall. The top ten runners who finished were split by just 15 seconds in total so brilliant Handicap times you gave me well done all! Unfortunately there was one DNF which was Keith Brighty who was making a cameo appearance from Norwich Road Runners and did not finish due to a work call and not any injury!
Please Note Next Handicap to be on Thursday 5th May – Swanton Abbott 10k meet at Swanton Abbott Church Car Park from 6-15pm for usual 6-30pm start. You have 60 seconds allowance in this Race. MARSHALLS REQUIRED!
HANDICAP RESULTS 2015 The final results are in…..
Handicap 2015 Final Results Well done to all that took part this year, especially to Rosemary Jackson and Scott Shrubsall for winning the handicap series, and to Emma Jordan and Jeremy Lawrence as runners up!
Race 7 – Sunday 6 December 2015 Well with this year’s Series the outcome goes down to the last race in both the Female and Male categories! In contention for the Females are Emma Jordan, Rosemary Jackson, Jackie Gooch and Clare Hicks with all in this Race and in the Male Series between Jeremy Lawrence, Scott Shrubsall and Owie Barber again all present in this Event. With everyone having perfect weather conditions this was set to be an epic and how the results have gone, an eventual winner in both categories will be announced on our annual presentation night!
As for the race it was a fancy dress code and people did not fail to impress with their great ideas. We had a Runner Bean, Christmas Cracker, Shepherd, Father Christmas, Holly Wreath, Reindeer, Elf, Angel and Fairy to name a few all great costumes well done all for being so creative!
With certain outfits very tedious to run in and proved difficult for a few, the majority dealt with their outfits with extreme confidence out of 21 starters 20 did make it all way around in some really good times! I will give nothing away and I hope the runners on this day do not either as each placement and time can have a big bearing on eventual winner in each category. Every runner has now been informed of their own personal achievement today and it just leaves me to say “until the Presentation Night” well done everybody who has participated, given up their time to help in any way shape or form and Alan for assistance in timings and water. Good luck to each and everyone of you who stand a chance of winning this years Series and better luck for all again next year!
With a field of 25 runners doing this 10 Mile Handicap and predicting their own times as the five times previously have proved you all underestimate how fast you can run! With 20 of you beating your times by over a minute hence getting “PENALTIES!”. This then propels those few who have done within a minute or slower then their time a quick rise up the finishing board.
With another first timer taking the honours predicting 31 seconds from her time the winner this time goes to Adele Bushell well done! Within 3 seconds was Dean Blake grabbing second place and third goes to that man again! Jeremy Lawrence, With this result he has propelled himself 13 points clear of Scott Shrubsall and 15 ahead of third place man Owie Barber. All three of these can still win the Award if they can predict and run well in “Fancy Dress” on Sunday 6th Dec around the Buxton 5k dry course! The Female category is also winable by top four ladies in standings with only two points now dividing Rosemary Jackson 44 points from Emma Jordan 46 points and currently leading series.
Welcome goes to Alicia, Jackie Bye, Adele, Dean, Michael F, Nick, Rod and Paul Emery all taking part for the first time this Series now making 61 members having had a go at some point in the six Races so far well done all.
On a perfect evening for good running everyone set off totally oblivious that to start with I ran out of till roll after only third person had set off! So panic! I quickly worked out a way around that “sorted all your Handicaps were correct for starting”! Next problem how will I know finishing times pressing device but no printout! Ah ask people what times they have done? No that cannot happen you all have to run without a watch! Ah Ellie has it around ankle and one or two of you had strava going on phones! but that was only a few. Ok finishing order of names was correct had to judge distance between each of you for different seconds between times. Ok when I go home I can download all results from memory on devices that’s how I will do it! Get home, check device, it has a full memory after 9 starters how unlucky can I be! Next problem is you all only ran 4.8 miles as I changed finish just before we started as football training on field and lots of cars backwards and forwards and you had all given me a time for 5 miles! Ok so next I worked out every single minute mile average pace and added the 0.2 miles at that pace which eventually gave me you exact times. Confused? Yes? So am I, but these are as very close as I can get for you all and with adjustments only two of you got time penalties at last you are all getting it well done on your estimations this time they were very good.
So onto the Results with Emily Hannant and Deb Jones running way inside their times and picking up penalties this demoted them both to bottom places giving the Win to Emma Blake with dogs! in Second place came Sue Allen and in third place came Emma Jordan. With these results and with top 5 finishers all being Ladies this has put Rosemary Jackson and Emma Jordan in joint first place after 5 Races with two more to go and only two points and demoted from top spot is Clare Hicks. The mens leading three did not change as although Scott Shrubsall ran he scored no points in this Race and could not increase his two point lead he holds over Jeremy Lawrence with Paul Taylor sitting third only six points of top spot. Congratulations goes s to Henry Neal who in his first Handicap finished a creditable 6th place and Josh Neale also first Handicap came in 17th on this occasion.
More photos on facebook!! Handicap Dates 2015 Starting at 6.30pm Thursdays and 8am on Sundays PROMPT Please!!!: Thursday 21 May – Swanton Abbott 10k route Thursday 4th June – Wroxham 5k route Wednesday 17 June or Wednesday 8 July – Wroxham 5k series races, race 2 or 3 (hosted by Norwich Road Runners, 7.15pm start). Thursday 16 July – Mike Groves 5 mile route (starting at football field in Coltishall). Thursday 10 September – Belaugh/Worstead 5 mile route Sunday 1 November – 10 mile route, 8am start. Sunday 6 December – Buxton 5k route, 8am start.