The Epperstone run is 5.9 miles long and takes in country lanes, off road sections and….That Hill.. at the start  Three teams were fielded which included three new club members and Jodie in her first ‘League’ event.

Results, in order:

Richard Hallam           37.28

Jodie Walton               46.03

Martin Dickenson       46.23

Noel Henderson          46.47

Darren Appleton         46.47

Victoria Needle           48.40

Colin Parker                49.15

Andy Pritchett             50.44

Kate Fisher                  50.51

Steve Needham           52.14

David Gill                   56.21

Pete Tatton                  66.03

Thanks also to Andy Watts, Richard Broughton and Colin Green who, along with Ossie the Hound came  along to give encouragement and hang onto warm clothing for the Apres-Run

Liz Fleuty, Richard Broughton and Richard Hallam went to Cotgrave for the annual ‘Cotgrave Paws 10k’. Run in cool but sunny conditions and with only a bit of a beast of a hill at 5k, This run has had good reviews over the three or so years that it has been going.

Liz Fleuty did this in 58.00, Richard Broughton in his first 10k came in 99th in 50.38 and Richard Hallam stormed round in 39.28 putting him 8th overall out of the 234 starters and 2nd in the 40-49 age group.

The Caythorpe Canter offers a 13 mile route or a full Marathon 26 for those who like it tough.

Kath Ashley with Faithful Hound, Wilf did the 13 miler in 4 hrs 6 mins, while David Watt thought that running twice as far was a nice way to spend the morning and covered 26 miles, largely off road in 5hrs 2 mins..a time that many would be happy with in a Marathon on flat tarmac

Stuart Ashley was to be found near Halifax and his own grim account that follows says so much about those who take on ‘Ultras’

Another night on the floor spent at The Church Hall at Sowerby Bridge near Halifax and an early start at 7.00am. – The Calderdale Hike had started, only a mere 37 miles with a few little hills. Well they may be little to the locals but for me they were big hills and lots of them.

If the hills weren’t sapping your energy it was the peat bogs and when you got both together like the  250 foot climb over Hoar Side Moor trying to pick out the dry bits but very often failing, the dirty stinky water by then having soaked through and gone over the top of the boots. This was when I realised my mistake, I should have just done the Caythorpe Canter.

Rain came at about 9.00 am when were low down but changed to hailstones with a cold driving wind on the tops

At some points I was barely managing to do 2 mph and I think had it not been for a colleague  I was walking with, who refused to go ahead and leave me, that I would have retired.

The scenic route took in parts of the Pennine Way and The Bronte Way and had 5600 feet of accent, they’d even put a road hill up a 1:3 hill  half a mile from the finish  – how nice !!!!!!!

I’m sure we all have bad runs/walks sometimes and I think it was my turn !!!

A miserable time of 13 hours and 17 mins finishing at 8.17 pm just before it got dark  – but at least I finished.

The run was a circuitous course in and around the Olympic Village at Stratford, East London. Runners went off in ‘waves’ to prevent bunching.  The attraction of running around the Village with its brand new architectural marvels is pretty obvious, but the opportunity of finishing in the main Olympic Stadium as the first athletes to compete there is a kind of Runners Dream come True

Alison finished in 42 minutes and 12 seconds, coming in 2159th and 298th in age group.   Congratulations from all at Notfast !

The Grantham Cup 10k was staged by Grantham Running Club on a blissful day at Belton House.  It was part of the annual Horse trials weekend where everything Horsey and indeed Doggy can be seen at close quarters. There is an extensive ‘village’ of stalls where a wide range of food and drink can be had as well as all manner of horse stuff, posh clothing, posh everything in fact…I have no doubt that somewhere there was someone selling Tweed Underpants.

A course to demonstrate that Lincolnshire can be anything but flat…the run takes participants up to Bellmount Tower, the Folly Arch via a leg-busting hill of over 200 feet. This is no run for the weedy or unfit.  In such perfect conditions all who took part seemed very pleased with their times.  All the course is off-road and suits those who like it tough and who can run downhill fearlessly.  Well organised and marshalled, the ten Notfasts who ran had a great time of it with the added bonus of having loads of grub available in the Village.  Here’s how they did:

Mike Bullock               42.56…12th finisher

David Watt                  49.55

Darren Wilkinson         52.12

Noel Henderson           52.48

Darren Appleton          52.49

Caroline Upton            54.06

Dick Brumby                54.16

Andy Pritchett              58.20

Kate Fisher                  58.22

Ann Manley                 60.24

A little more about the event. Its Patron is a Lady called Claire Lomas, a horse rider of some standing. In 2007 while ‘Eventing’ she had an accident involving her horse and a tree. Airlifted to hospital she was left paralysed from the chest down. A very tough and determined individual she fought herself back to some fitness and as a true test, in a couple of weeks time she will be the first paralysed person to walk the London Marathon using a ReWalk Bionic Exoskeleton Suit.  This amazing 29 year old has raised £50,000 for the Charity “Spinal Research”…she expects to take two weeks to cover the 26-odd miles…amazing !

Anyone moaning about their current injury status ( and that includes me) could do with a bit of serious thinking, it seems to me.

A late result from the recent Lincoln 10k from one our newer members, Richard Hallam.

Richard was 69th overall in a time of 37:19 – about 30 secs quicker than 2011 Lincoln 10K and was 11th in M40-49 category.

69th out of 4375 !!!  ——-  Well done Richard.

Lyn and Chris McDonnell went to Retford for the 6 Mile Sports Relief event. Lyn was 1st Lady home (the ladies behind her had pinned their numbers on their backs ). Lyn reports of a ‘low-key event, run mainly on grass’

Chris did       41.30

Lyn did          54.09

Jill McIntyre ,having done no training for 3 months as a result of a prolapsed disc, took it steadily (her word was ‘crawl’) round the East Leake Triathlon.

400m Swim..20k Bike Ride..5k Run.  Jill knocked this lot off in 1hr 45mins…PB time by 8mins !

Steve Needham didn’t need his cossie for the Clumber Classic Duathlon. Coolish conditions suited him as he took on a 10k run, followed by 40k on the bike, with a 5k run to finish…His times :-

10k….54.57

40k….1.25.31

5k……30.26

Steve had planned for a time of 3.15 +, so his actual time, including Transitions ( parking bike , shoe changing , helmet on etc ) of 2hrs 52 mins was excellent.  This was Steve’s first Duathlon.

The Charnwood Marathon and 15 Miler attracts both Walkers and Runners, and indeed those who do both, and not surprising given that in the longer event a total of 3000 feet (933 metres) have to be negotiated. The course takes in the highest ‘peaks’ of Leicestershire..Broombriggs Hill- 248m….Bardon Hill-278m…Old John in Bradgate Park-212m.  The two courses start at Quorn and this year proved tricky at 8 am because of the foggy conditions, though later it was hot enough for t-shirts and shorts

Gill Beaumont walked the ’15′ in   5 hours

John Miller ran the 15 in                3.13

Kath Ashley + “Wilf” walked in      5.11

The Marathon Men were:

Edward Casebourne and Stuart Ashley strode the 26 miles in 7 hrs 51 mins

Dick Brumby also walked and completed  the 26 in                 6 hrs 30 mins

Lincoln 10 k attracts massive numbers of Runners, Walkers and every kind of Fun Runner, and who could blame anyone, on a warm morning, for choosing to dress up as a Banana?

Organisation gets better each year, this being the 16th ‘Lincoln’. On a traffic free, flat roads with excellent crowd turnout and the magnificent finish that sees competitors pass the Cathedral to sprint the final cobbled yards into the finish on the Castle Green…Lincoln is one of the Countries best…just ask the other 4000 that were there on Sunday. Good conditions saw some excellent results…here goes, in order.

Mark Jackson                 44.05….PB

Simon Martell                 44.10….PB by 4 mins

Lee Crossland                44.26….PB

Steve Hodson-Mackey   46.22….PB

Darren Wilkinson           48.37

John Geeson                   52.48

Ann Manley                    55.33

Claire Moyes                   56.38….PB, by about 4 mins +45th in age group

Suzanne Birkett               57.11

Mary Freer                      62.32

Pete Tatton                     65.12

Bob Oakham                  DNF…2km covered on foot, the other 8k in the Red Cross Mini Bus..’Calf Pull’… he sadly didn’t make it…Funeral details to follow   !!!!!!!

“Exotic Run Prize” goes to John Geeson  A few days ago he did the  ‘Bermuda Zoological  7.4 mile Race’ …I think we would all agree that 7.4 miles is a lovely round number..John did this in super conditions, judging from the pictures that he sent me, and romped in with a time of   1 hour 5 mins.

Well, things were not looking good …. at 4.20am this morning the rain was hammering so heavily on the windows that I woke up wondering what on earth I’d let myself in for.  It was no better when Martin collected me later BUT when the air horn sounded at 10am the sun came out (well vaguely) and off we went.  Ashby 20 is a hard race and although scenic and interesting, you can’t help but notice the hills; there’s one around every corner.  The worse one, in my opinion, within the last mile of finishing …. now that’s just downright unfair.  We both finished with brimming smiles having knocked 10 minutes off our previous time, and getting a PB!!  Yippee, two very happy bunnies J  Definitely recommend this race for marathon training; fantastically well organised, lots of water stops, gels, jelly babies, great marshals and a cheese sandwich and hoodie to finish!  What more could you ask for ….. umm now I need to think seriously hard before answering that one!

Times:  3hr 5 mins for both of us

Diane.

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DAFFODIL DAWDLE  Stuart’s report.

A good day weather wise, despite the showery day that was forecast we got virtually no rain although there was a little mud around in places, so at last I’m sure the residents of East Anglia will be pleased they had had a little rain although a lot more is required.

The Daffodil Dawdle 26.3 miles  7 hours 12 mins. ( a PB for the course

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About eleven Notfast runners met at Flintham Cricket Club last Sunday morning . The day looked far from promising earlier in the morning, as it had been lashing down with rain and the prospect of a good soaking seemed to be guaranteed.  As it turned out the great god or running had a change of heart, with the weather turning to blissful conditions for the morning out.  Andy Pritchett had devised courses of 4ish, 6ish and 10ish miles and off we all trotted.  The courses took in Flintham, Screveton, Car Colston,  Hawksworth and Sibthorpe.  The terrain round that neck of the woods can be a bit roly-poly, particularly  round Sibthorpe to Flintham…everyone got round without incident.

So with all safely back home to the Clubhouse…itself a great venue, with showering and changing facilities,…the task in hand was to get down to some good old fashioned gossip and leg-pull.  Ably catered for by Nigel Dalby, Jean Dickenson and Chris Maxwell the  aptly named Bacon Butty Run became just that,…loads of tea and coffee and the opportunity to put away quite the biggest bacon baps that this writer has ever seen.  By this time the number had swelled to 15 or so.

Many thanks to Andy for masterminding the outing and the Caterers for making sure that no-one left for home un-fed-and-watered.

Congratulations to Lee Crossland and Steve Needham both I believe in their second  race  wearing Notfast colours and both getting  PB’s !!!

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Mike Bullock drove up to Blackpool for their Marathon. Now this race is billed as ‘Flat and Fast’ and is two laps of a Half Marathon circuit,  taking in in the local sights of Lytham St Annes and the Golden Mile.  Sounds good eh ?

Mike had been “Not well” for the two days before and was perhaps ill advised to have a KFC the night before the run, especially as it reappeared not long afterwards, proving beyond any doubt that these Fast Food ‘Restaurants’ are very poor value for money.  Mike was not well set up for 26 miles next morning.

Mike reports somewhat chaotic organisation with a massed start resulting in Half-Marathoners blocking the first mile. Once through Mike was ok till mile 4 when throwing-up was his only option and this was repeated (sorry !) at mile 5.  Quite how he got to 26 plus miles with the energy to sprint the last 400 metres is any ones guess, but that’s what he did.

Time  – an amazing 3 hours 19 minutes. That is only about 4 to 5 mins off his PB. Mike, chirpy as ever reported that in the words of Wallace and Gromitt..” It was a Grand Day Out”…Nitwit !

Rushcliffe 10k, out at Ruddington is a super, purpose built circuit at the Country Park. This park was formed out of the old Ministry of Defence depot, where, years ago you could buy really well looked after ex-MOD Morris Travellers .  The running course follows a comfortably undulating and softly surfaced trail and is, would you believe, distance marked.

John Geeson and Wyn ran this event last year in much better conditions, so their results on Sunday demonstrate that they are still improving considerably..good stuff !

Wyn 51.03…………..3.51 better than 2011

John52.21…………..1.58 better than 2011

Further afield near Ancaster, Toonie Express staged a 10k and a Half Marathon on overlapping off-road (mainly) courses. Starting at the Woodland Waters Centre the rain had already marked the day out as tough with slippery mud underfoot pretty well all the way round…for myself, just staying upright was a real challenge as I had only packed regular trainers..(Note to diary ).  The Toonies always put on an efficient and well humoured event and the weather did little to dampen spirits at the start.

Toonie runners do a great job of  marshaling and know exactly what to say in the way of encouragement…it was certainly needed !

The 10k runners had it miserable enough, but for the Half Marathon people the weather changed about 90 mins into the race with bitter, driving rain that gave many a very nasty soaking.  At the finish and in the Centre the atmosphere was, at times quite tragic with runners, spent of energy, some of them just standing like soggy, shivering Zombies…some had a look in their eyes that simply said “that was horrible and now I’m standing here and I have no clue as to what to do next”

On a brighter note, the catering after the event was very good with the usual soup, cakes etc.  A weird consolation also comes from the fact that Ancaster Mud ,being sandy is SO much nicer than Belvoir Mud which as we all know is largely made of Glue.

10k Runners:

Darren Appleton and Noel Henderson……53.06

Kate Fisher and Andy Pritchett……………..1.01.15

Bob Oakham………………………………………1.13.18

Half Marathon:

David Watt…………………………………………1.58.24

Caroline Upton……………………………………2.07.21

Dick Brumby……………………………………….3.21.0       Walker

Gill Beaumont……………………………………..3.50.0       Walker

Andy Pritchett was in Blackpool, for a Half-Marathon imaginatively called…The Blackpool Half-Marathon. Our Man was happy with the run except for the last 3 miles of headwind along the sea front.

1 hour 49 mins is a pretty decent time, given that he was munching a stick of Rock and was wearing a Kiss-me-Quick hat !!

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The annual ‘Belvoir Challenge’ has an appeal that few events, if any, in the district can match…perhaps the only rival is the world famous Ponton Plod !

Based at Harby, this well organised event offered a choice of 15 or 26 mile routes that weave around the fields, hills, trails and villages of the Vale-of-Belvoir. The terrain is extremely variable, everything from a bit of tarmac here and there to really tough rocky farm tracks, fit much more for a John Deere than a pair of Mizunos…chuck in ploughed fields, farm yards, stiles, bridges and one or two tricky downhills and you have a perfect recipe for a demanding day out.

Some of the views from the high ground, if you could take your eyes of the ground for a second are truly glorious, and, for the first time in years, this was a Mud-Free-Belvoir Challenge !!…at the Start they even apologised for the fact !

‘Belvoir’ attracts every kind of outdoor person, … from the Tweedy, Rohan and Big Boot Walkers, that wear Jackets with extra pockets on the pockets and zips where you would not expect zips to be, right along to runners wearing singlets and shorts, .. clearly the whole range of people who have fun in the great outdoors…fabulous ! Let’s see how they fared:

26 Mile Route

Caroline Upton 5.14.58

Liz Walton 5.26.42

David Watt 5.26.42

John Miller 6.20.48

Dick Brumby 6.23.39

Edward Casebourne 7.40.10

15 Mile Route

Noel Henderson 2.37.33

Darren Appleton 2.37.33

Gill Beaumont 4.24.44 (Walker)

Bob Oakham 4.24.44 (Walker)

All this looks good…there was a sad episode that nonetheless needs to be reported. Mike Bullock was lying in third place at about the 21 mile mark, having taken on the Marathon distance, with No 2 in his sights when both he and No 2 went off-course by some 4 miles. A Marshall told Mike that waymarkers are often taken away by mischief makers ..( not Mike’s actual description !). It is known that other runners had their day ruined in this way..this writer spoke to one at the Finish.

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On a brighter note, Stuart Ashley went to Cromer on the North Norfolk coast to participate in The Winter Poppyline….a mere 52.7 miles no less. This he completed in 15 hours and 17 minutes and his personal account follows here…

Whilst most members opted for a local event this weekend, I broke with tradition having done The Belvoir for at least 12 consecutive years, and opted for a day at the seaside !

I left home at about 7.00 pm on Friday to go to Cromer, had a rather disturbed sleep on the floor of the gym at the local school, it would appear that at every 20 minute intervals someone would decide to go to the loo, clip clop, clip clop as the noise echoed around the gym. Anyway, Saturday arrived, a nice morning but a cool breeze and at 8.00am 128 brave souls set out on The Winter Poppyline. A nice walk on the cliff top path to Overstrand and then inland skirting North Walsham on field paths, tracks and through woods.

After the second checkpoint at 13.2 miles there was a long stretch of 13.7 miles to the next checkpoint at Buxton (no, not the one in Derbyshire) where the beans on toast and the fruit cocktail and rice pudding went down a treat.

It was on the section prior to this 26.9 mile checkpoint whilst on the cinder track at the side of the narrow gauge Bure Valley Railway that disaster struck. I heard the train coming and thought I’d grab the camera and get a quick shot whilst I was still on the move. The loop on the right bootlace hooked itself around the eyelet of the left boot effectively tying my feet together, the torso still going at about 3mph. CRASH – straight to the ground with no warning, prostrate on the ground, no photo of the train, just one close-up of the ground and it was out of focus! ….. and perhaps all the people on the train wondering what this stupid walker was doing spread eagled across the footpath.

Well I did what your supposed to do, picked myself up, dusted myself down, unhooked the laces and got back in the saddle. No major damage I thought but as time went on I realised I had badly bruised my leg and ribs which obviously took the impact and only minor scuffs to the hands which would normally take some of the impact.

Anyway, after the ‘energy beans’ the second half was fairly straightforward and managed to make the finish after 6 hours of night navigation, at times though woods, with footpaths going in all directions, without making any navigational errors.

I was really looking forward to a nice hot shower at the finish but all I got was any icy cold one but it was nice to get rid of the sweat and get into clean clothes. After a further 5 hours on the gym floor where I did manage to get some sleep, I think I was so exhausted, a two hour drive on quiet early Sunday morning roads I was home by 8 am and back to bed for a few more hours.

52.7 miles in 15 hours 17 minutes!!!!

The race started at RAF Cranwell and the thirteen -odd miles is mainly on rural roads, with a bit off road for about a mile…” A testing rural route” is how it is described. There we 337 finishers.

This is how our three did :

Steve Needham, in his first race in Notfast colours……2.10.47

Darren Wilkinson………………………………………………….1.54.17

Wyn Thomas, happy with a Personal Best……………….1.56.55

(PB by 2 mins 7 secs)

A decent-looking t-shirt for all finishers, and a cup of tea that clearly impressed Wyn!

The lure of hills, mud and stiles was just the thing to attract the Three Musketeers of Upton, Walton and Watt to the inaugural Caythorpe Dash. Given that this trio did fifty miles at Whitby only three weeks before, it would be unlikely that a mere thirteen miles, to them, was anything more than a warm up:

Caroline Upton romped in with a time of 2.05.04

Liz Walton and David Watt followed with 2.09.26

Congratulations to all five runners, who had such a lovely morning in which to stretch their legs