Don’t forget Thursday’s special
22/10/2008 by Dick.
Just one more reminder of the attraction we’ve lined up after training tonight. Welsh Athletic Director of Development and double Olympic marathoner, Steve Brace, will be giving us the benefit of his experience and knowledge down in the Community Room at 8.30.
Steve will be joined by Satu Haikala, East Wales Coaching Coordinator and Brecon AC cross-country star, and Chris Moss, WA Development Manager and sub 20 minute Rose Inn British International for a Q&A session.
So get your questions ready on any aspect of endurance running and Welsh Athletics topics. And get stuck into a tasty buffet too.
UKA British Fell and Hill Relay Oct 2008
22/10/2008 by Lou.
Here is how the day fared:
Despite the event being closer to home than usual, it still meant a very early start for the intrepid seven of us 
. Initially, our spirits dropped on the way up when, during the service station break, a few spots of rain were felt, but these didn’t last and the day turned out fine with beautiful views of a picturesque set of hills, albeit the tops were windy 
.
The walk from the car park to the start proved a warm up in itself, turning into a benefit as all the relay legs involved climbing a demanding climb straight from the start. Once up the hill, each leg followed a different route, with the third leg requiring you to navigate and the other legs marked with tape to follow. Run in a true relay style (other than a mass start for the slower teams for the last leg), the changeover point was the focal point for spectators, with the usual relay baton being replaced by an electronic “dibbing” device.
“Sat nav” Mark powered up the first hill, only to find out how strength sapping it really was and after completing the 5 mile leg, he hurtled over the finish line in 57th place, only to be politely (!) reminded to go back and “dib” at the finish. He handed over to Paul who dragged his partner Matthew (with the Mendip Muddle in his legs) over a demanding 8.2 mile tour of the hills to finish an excellent 24th for their leg. The Andy’s then took over the dibber and suffered an early blow as Andy Blackmore turned on his ankle, which swelled up into a ball. Despite this, the pair navigated for 6 miles to finish 63rd for their leg and ensured that Steve started ahead of the mass start for the last leg. The clouds darkened but the rain held off and Steve and his ponytail flew around to finish 31st over the 5.6 miles and bring home the team in 42nd place out of the 119 starters.
A great result for the club and well done to all who took part, especially considering that this race attracts the top fell runners in the country, who run up hills faster than most of us would run down them and then descend faster than a rolling stone.
We missed out on beating our nearest geographical rivals, Stroud, who were 3 minutes faster and 5 places better. The winning men beat us by 46 minutes but we held off the leading ladies by 2 places and almost 6 minutes.
The successful team were Mark Harvey, Paul Murrin & Matthew Stott, Andy Blackmore and Andy Stott, Steve Caldwell.
Full results at http://www.wfra.org.uk. Click http://picasaweb.google.com/MathernGrizzly/BritishFellHillRelay2008?authkey=BlD8o7zvbrw#5260061893790196866 for some pictures.
Well done all, an enjoyable day out and successful result for the club. Next year …. 2 teams ?
Martin (Team captain and driver)
