Blog

Thank you for the Chardonnay, which I very much enjoyed.  I also enjoyed running the Banbury 15.  It was my first time at this event and I’d definitely run it again and encourage others to do so.  Here are my reasons why:

·         Joker – even if you are not the best runner in the club you can score well in the league with this race, especially if everyone else is at the Jolly Boys and Giggly Girls. 

·         Value for money – it only costs £1 a mile to enter.

·         Quick and easy to get to with parking right next to the start/finish line and race HQ which is the Spiceball Park leisure centre.

·         The leisure centre has plenty of lockers for your bags and loads of toilets, so no need to queue before the race.

·         It’s a fairly fast out and back course so even if you have never run it before you know what to expect, at least on the way back.  It’s described as having some “sizeable hills”, but when you have done Wytham woods and Botley hills it’s practically flat.

·         There is a small field of runners so you are never boxed in.  It’s ideal if you are training for a Spring half marathon or marathon or just want to try a different distance.

·         After party – as you finish the race they call out your name, there’s music playing, the sun was shining, and there are vintage vans offering drinks and food for you to enjoy.

I hope to see the race in the league again next year and see you there!

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Back in the day (4 words in and already sounding like a Creasey), the Horspath Cross Country used to include the full glory of Shotover Hill. You'd leap over/into a muddy ditch, trudge up the hill, then stagger down it at breakneck speed, trying not to trip over the steps and tree roots, then wade through a mile or so of mud before doing it all again. This year, partly because of the dry weather, partly because of something else (health and safety?), Horspath XC seemed positively benign, though not without a few cheeky climbs.When we arrived, there was already a healthy crowd outside our (well, Witney's second) tent, including our 2 juniors, Charlie and Chloe, who announced that she had overtaken loads on the run-in because her legs are built for sprinting. Maybe she could make some sort of motivational speech before the men's race in future. As more of the team arrived, there seemed to be quite a few who claimed to be recovering from injuries, or from Christmas in some cases (who shall remain nameless). Possibly as a result of this, the order of the men's team was a bit of a random affair. The likes of Tom, Dafydd and Mark T took a strangely long time to overtake me, and I went by such notables as Dave and Pete, which is a rare privilege these days. Making the A team used to be a badge of honour for me. These days it's maybe not such a healthy sign, and the ERR men finished 7th in Division 1 on the day.
We then watched the ladies race, which appeared to be dominated by the bright young things of Newbury and Abingdon. Indeed the winner was so far ahead she seemed to be in a different race - maybe that's why she didn't show in the final results. Not too far behind was Hannah, in sadly her last appearance in an Eynsham vest for a while, who finished 12th, just ahead of Liz. A few places further back was Laura, who continued her excellent recent form, and just pipped Kate on the line. This meant we had 4 ladies, including 3 veterans, inside the first 22 finishers, so possibly in contention for a team medal.The main thing to take away from the day was the number of ERRs who took part (37 in total, plus Karen who marshalled), and the number of those who stayed behind for tea/coffee and cakes. It seemed that everyone enjoyed the experience, hopefully including the running part, so let's hope for a similar turn-out at Adderbury.

Roll of Honour:
Ladies

Bronze LV35: Liz McAllister

Silver LV45: Kate Allred

Silver LV55: Katherine Bates

Gold Veteran Ladies team: (Liz McAllister, Laura Leach, Kate Allred)

Men

Bronze Senior Men's team: (Mark Baker, Tom Baker, Mark Tyrrell, Nick Leach)

Silver MV40: Dan Lewis

Bronze Veteran Men's team (Dan Lewis, Dafydd Warburton, Graham Bridges, Dave Ferrier)

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ERR Breakfast Run, by Rain Newton-Smith

It was a perfect morning for the breakfast run with the sun lighting up the frost-covered hills of Wytham Woods. Almost 40 runners gathered at the bottom of the endless hill up Wytham Woods. ...
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Broadway Marathon, Sunday 18 November, by Nick Sheard

When Salman Rushdie had a fatwa against him from the Iranian government in the 1990s he holed up at The Lygon Arms in Broadway. There is a plaque on the wall of the inn, and it was clearly the place in the UK that the British Government felt he was least likely to be tracked down and killed; Broadway is a very picturesque traditional Cotswold village. ...
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Hanney 5 – 14^th October 2018

  I’ve been running a Parkrun most Saturdays for the last eighteen months, gradually improving so I made a decision at the end of the summer that I needed to start running further and I needed a new challenge.  I decided I would enter the Hanney 5, my sister Tina an experienced runner from the Brackla Harriers said that she would like to run the race with me.   I managed a few weeks of training with my ‘Nike Coach’ on my watch and felt inspired and ready to go. ...
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Alchester 5k, August 15

Was this going to be the start of my comeback? That was my thought a day or 2 before the race. It was going to be nice, short and flat. What could go wrong? ...
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Hornton 6 Miles, July 21st

  Checking my previous Strava entries for the Hornton 6, they all seemed to feature the words ‘hot and hilly’ in the title. This tells you 3 things: that I have very little imagination, that the race takes place at the height of summer, and that it’s about as hilly a race as you’ll find in Oxfordshire. This year’s event, the 30^th anniversary, was no exception, and the Strava history had the added bonus of indicating how much slower I was than in previous years, but that’s another story. ...
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