Tuesday 26 January 2010

F3 Duathlon and Sparks 10k now live

Sundays Races of the First of the F3 Winter Duathlon Series gallery and the Sparks 5and 10k races gallery are now live on the Sussex Sport Photography website.

For the results of both races - go to Stuweb here: http://www.stuweb.co.uk/swp/default.asp?a=1

The usual curve-ball of Dorney lake and ongoing 2012 development welcomed a change of the course with a new run out on the new tarmac to the south, an interesting cycling course with a safe one way system worked very well, and an interesting detour around transition to get to the finish line only led to one mishap (after cheerfully vaulting the cones) but that all ended ok with St.Johns there when it happened.
A great opener for the F3 events, all well timed by Stuweb, with winners and category prizes handed out at the end.





You can see the start videos of both races here http://www.youtube.com/user/SussexSportPhotos






At 1:30 we had the Sparks 5 and 10k races with about 300 runners turning out for the run. The favourite Hassan Raddi (299) won the 10k in 33:05 minutes, and the 5k Winner Peter Bridger (332) won in  15:49 - a top time by any standard.

It was a  well attended start line for a sunday afternoon, and with a tightly run first 2.5k. With a nice run along the lake side on the second loop, the finish was well supported by everyone - especially family support !
Overall a great event with the results on hand for prompt prizes at the finish was well received.



Next weekend we are at the Epsom Perch - http://www.epsomoddballs.org/perch.php which is based over on Epsom racecourse and a great cross country / lane run. Unfortunately entries are now closed, but that promises to be a good as turnout as usual.

See you at a race soon !

Anthony

Monday 25 January 2010

Snow+Rock G3 now live


Yes ! - The Snow+Rock G3 photos are now available for free download from the Gallery.
which is here: http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/a.tlx?k=3q4zf9c
These will be free to download for three months - so don't miss out ! Add them to your personal gallery, social networking, facebook, blog, hard drive, email, twitter etc. You can post them wherever you like. Better than a medal ? then let us know !


It was in difficult rain free, slippy, misty and darkish conditions that Saturdays first Snow+Rock G3 off road 10k for 2010 took place. Even at the top of St.Marthas Hill  the view had a blueish hue as the sun bounced off the inner layers of the atmosphere and returned to outerspace, leaving it all a bit dark here on earth.


For those of you of a technical camera bent, on top of the hill (as close as you could get to the sun) it was f2.2 ISO 1000 and 1/250th (EV 9.24) - i.e. very very dark. by the end it was f3.5 ISO800 at 1/640th (EV12.93) i.e. 13 times brighter than the start... (an extra EV value is roughly a doubling of the light levels)

However the light levels didn't seem to deter many of you from posting great times. The results are here: http://www.allabouttriathlons.co.uk/data/results/G3_results.xlsx.pdf

and then when you've done that - go and rate it on runners world
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/ratingsall.asp?sp=&v=2&ugn=8849&en=53047



He didn't get the course record, but at 44.15 Sam Gardner managed to pull out quite a long lead on the ascent up St.Marthas on his way to victory by 44 seconds. He wasn't listening to an MP3 Player, and it wasn't playing Kate Bush.

Meanwhile 359 Sarah Rollins did a 47.05 for 7th overall and first woman back - judging from the photo I don't think she noticed the hill and didn't have much time for the views.






For some the joy of descent was just simply too much. I've seen many come a cropper when they do this, but Chris Stephens managed it with surreal magnificence.

If you're wondering how hilly it was - then the route map gives you some idea that it was 1088ft of climbs - with one long climb being just under 400ft on it's own (the second of st.martha) Garmin route map for January G3 alternatively, you can look at the photo taken just before the finish - you can see St.Marthas hill in the distant misty background and think - ahh that's quite large.

Well done everyone on a great turnout - we're looking forwards to seeing you again in February - hopefully it will be a bit sunnier !?

Don't forget your free downloads which are here: http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/a.tlx?k=3q4zf9c and remember to tell and show your friends !

(if you're waiting for the F3 events photos from Sunday, we're working our way though them now.. ETA tomorrow morning)

Friday 22 January 2010

Enter the Steyning Stinger Half or Full


A small blog about a big race
For the past five years we have been providing race coverage for the Steyning Stinger and as it's one of our favourite races it seems only sensible to let you know that it is now open for this years entries. It's a small race as numbers go (no 10,000 strong crush here!) but it's a big race in every other sense of the word, so don't miss out. Click here to go to the race website or read a little bit more here...








If you're a regular reader of this blog you're probably a runner. You might do the occasional 10k or Half marathon, or marathon. You might perhaps be in training for the London Marathon or Brighton Marathon in late April or you did the Beachy Head Marathon and fancy something similar-ish ? well, even if you're not *that* kind of runner then the Steyning Stinger might be the half marathon (or full marathon) for you. Read on to find out more...

Where and When ?

The Steyning Stinger now in it's 8th year is on March the 7th. Located near the south coast just north of worthing in the village of Steyning, the race Headquarters is at the local school (see map below). Showers, bags storage and an apres race Breakfast await for everyone completing either race distance, as well as free race photos to download from online later.


View Larger Map

The race itself is a challenging yet friendly off road half marathon or full marathon, up over the fantastic south downs with views in all directions (on a clear day!). There is a full race route mapped out on the race website.
There is also usually a very strong contingent of runners from london looking to get out on a early spring/late winters morning to beat the blues, which always seems like a good idea.


There are only 250 places in the Half Marathon and 200 places in the full marathon - with no entries on the day, last year the Half was almost sold out completely so don't hang around - entry forms are on the website here
Don't read my word for it - the runners world rating stats say it all - since it began - 96% overall score and 96% would do it again - go and have a read what the runners have said here


So - get your entry in soon as it's a popular race and we wouldn't want you to miss out !

Have a great weekend and perhaps we would have seen you out and about ? Check the gallery and have a look..

laters
Anthony



Thursday 21 January 2010

Running the weekend ahead - G3, F3 and Brighton Marathon



Its friday and your wondering what the weekend ahead might have in store. Well fortunately the snow has melted and the rain from today is forecast to have passed (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/index.html) so all in all it should be a good weekend for getting outside and doing something worthwhile.


Saturday 8.30am sees the start of the G3 race series from Newlands corner (near Guildford) for the first of the 3 10k off-road race challenges this year. As part of the overall race package all competitors will be able to download free digital images from our race gallery which will look a little like this one shown here. These will be perfect for facebook, twitter or anything else you care to use it for (well err... don't sell it for a million without telling me). Of course if you want higher resolution or prints then you can get those too as usual (but they won't have the logo things on them).

The course itself is a tough one - upand over the hills to the south of Giuldford and around StMartha's Hill - a stunning church on a remote hill in the middle of nowhere. Quite a race on the sandy paths all around, though scenic woodland retreading the Pilgrims way.
Good luck to you all doing the race - it's sold out by the way so only the last of the races have any places left on them - if you're quick enough to get online...
 
F3 Events - Winter Duathlon 1 Dorney Lake
Once you've finished running up that hill as Kate Bush would say, you can go round that lake on Sunday. Well almost, more like down the sides as the rowers will be in the Dorney lake clubhouse so the duathlon is based at the north west end of the lake (otherwise you'd have to run them over on the way round). Here's the event information on the F3 website: http://f3events.co.uk/race_view.php?i=84
Another early start for the weekend with things getting out of the blocks at 9am.It's going to be a fast flat day for biking with little wind, so a good start to the year and a great marker for the start of the 2010 season.

Great news from F3events for this year is that Stuweb is going to be covering all their race timing, and having worked at events with him before we know his team will do a great job !

 And then - if you've done the duathlon and still fancy doing another 10k, then at 1:30pm you can do the right ting and raise some money for Sparks - with the 5k or 10k course being very flat and fast around the lakesides.


And Finally....




The Inaugral Brighton Marathon 2010, is a week before london on April the 18th.  If you're not running it then you can still have a great day out and be part of the event by volunteering to help on the day. Waterstations, marshalling, and lots of other things for 1200 people to get busy with are all needed on the day and without you 10,000 fellow runners might be struggling a bit - so get yourself onto the volunteering page here and sign up by downloading the form filling it in and getting your name on the list !
There is a deadline of January the 31st for this - so don't miss out on the volunteer place if you are not running it...


This is what Tracey, the official Brighton Marathon volunteer organiser has typed to explain what it is all about:
"One thing can be sure in 2010 and that is the fact that Brighton’s first ever 26.2 mile Marathon will take place at 9am on Sunday 18th April 2010.

If you are not already planning your training schedule or choosing which charity you want to run for then you might be feeling a little bit left out. Well there is no need to.

To make this event happen the team at Brighton Marathon are appealing to the whole community to take part by volunteering on the day. We need 1200 volunteers to make this a safe and fun event and it’s a great opportunity to be part of something really new and exciting.

There will be up to 10,000 runners taking part in this exciting new event for Brighton, which will take in the city centre, fabulous stretches of coastal road, panoramic views of the South Downs and the sea.  The Finish in Madeira Drive is the last stop after the final mile along the seafront with an audience of thousands of cheering spectators.

However we need marshals and more and by being a volunteer you also get to improve your skills away from what you do on a day to day basis. Expand your people skills, use your communication skills, surprise yourself with your ability to take instruction and have a fabulous confidence boost at the end of the day when you realise you made invaluable contribution to the community and helped us raise up to £3 million pounds for charity.


So do you fancy being part of the big day without the running bit? Maybe your partner or friend is running and you want be there too.

Please download the volunteer form at www.brightonmarathon.co.uk/volunteers and email it to  tracey@brightonmarathon.co.uk  by the deadline which is January 31st 2010"



Have a good time out at the weekend and we hope to see you run past the lens sometime soon !

laters
Anthony

Friday 15 January 2010

Sussex X-Country League on this Saturday



Bexhill XC-League back on !

As some of you will know the Sussex X-Country League Race 3, at Little Common Bexhill last week was cancelled due to the snow and general impassable transportation problems.

Well if you like running about in the mud, slush, rain and cold - good news ! - it's all been rescheduled for tomorrow Saturday the 16th of January. Yes - Races are back on.
More news here:
http://www.sussexathletics.org.uk/news.php

All following the usual  race timetable for the sussex XC-League : Entry forms and timetables

It's based at Bexhill Leisure Centre, and the races are on the common just across the road. Have a great time - I'm not sure if I will see you there quite yet, things are a bit busy here..but good luck to everyone taking part


View Larger Map

Friday 8 January 2010

Ice-Cold in a Sussex

Yep - just a quick note - Everything is cancelled, due to the snow.
That being specifically:
  1. Saturdays Sussex X-Country League race 3 at Bexhill (more info)
  2. Sundays Stubbington 10k (as previous blog) (more info)
  3. The Sunday Plumpton Classic (more info)
If anyone has any further information then please let me know and I'll post it up here.

Apparently there might be a parkrun in hove (more info) (facebook page info wall) at 9am on Saturday the 9th - what with it being a free to enter event and you can always go for a run in the park if you are that way inclined BUT - it will be icy and very cold - so no trying to set a PB !. p.s. the cafe asks you bring change, not notes, but it's worth it.

Go safely out there, time to hit the treadmills...

Anthony

Thursday 7 January 2010

Snow, Races and Stubbington 10k Cancelled


Just a quick note to make sure that you all know that the Stubbington 10k due on Sunday the 10th of January has been cancelled. Based on the current snow levels and the adverse forecast for continuing cold weather the organisers have cancelled the event in plenty of time for you to plan something else !

Hopefully there will be more information and possibly a run later in the year, and if we find anything out we will pass it on.
If it was me I'd ask them to organise it on July the 11th - there are no othere events going on that morning - which might be because in the afternoon there is the British Grand Prix and the world cup football final - but that's in the afternoon - and everyone would be home in plenty of time !



Sussex Cross Country League
In the meantime The Sussex AAA are awaiting advice on conditions and travel for the Saturday Cross Country League race 3 at Bexhill, and will be making an announcement on Friday at Midday. We'll post an update when we know.



Haywards Heath Harriers - The Plumpton Classic @ the Racecourse - West Sussex Fun Run League -on Sunday 10th of January - No news shown anywhere as yet - as soon as we know - we'll post a message, someone must know ! There has been racing recently on the race course, but goodness knows between now and Sunday..



Stay Safe
Good luck and keep safe in the cold and icy conditions. Perhaps time to stay in and do that core conditioning you always promised yourself after christmas or a go on the wii fit ? (or another mince pie anyone?)


Hopefully see you all soon, otherwise I'll starve from lack of work...which won't be much fun.

Anthony

Monday 4 January 2010

2010 Sussex Cross Country Champs



The Sussex AAA X-Country Championships are now online here: http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/a.tlx?k=2mpzf87

Start of the u15g race signalled the start of the 2010 Annual Sussex Cross country championships held at Stanmer Park.


It what can only be described as some of the brightest and lowest sun we have had for a few days, the races all went off in good conditions. With some very tight racing all the way to the line - check out some of our other videos on youtube and you can see just how close the race finishes were.

A complete race report by Reg Hook can be found on the Sussex AAA site here along with the results in excel format.

The pictures below are some of the winners from each age group, so have a look to see if you can recognise them !



Have a good time looking through the images - please make sure you get yours in plenty of time as we do remove images after 3 months (we run out of server space otherwise). Because it takes so long to relocate images from archive (of over 6 Terrabytes and growing) we are seriously considering withdrawing or charging a one-off £10 admin fee for any archive searches and possible retrievals, and yes we have also considered changing our processes to speed up archive searches, however that would not be back-compatable at the moment. So, please make sure you buy these images before they go - it makes things so much simpler and a lot quicker for you !

A big well done to everyone who took part, the individual efforts and the team placements and team support was great to see and be part of again - you only have to look at the tented village to see the great turnout and a healthy 2010 for Sussex Athletics.

The Sussex AAA X-Country Championships are now online here: http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/a.tlx?k=2mpzf87


See you out and about soon on the 10th - Stubbington for Triss, Ian and I, Plumpton for Mick.

All the very best and go carefully in this cold weather (indoor gym running perhaps!)
Anthony

Saturday 2 January 2010

New Years Day Serpentine 10k


Hello and Happy New Year to you from me !

I hope you have had a good break and managed a bit of exercise, no matter how small (unlike me - I've done none). Meanwhile, apart from the odd Boxing day race, the first opener for 2010 was at the Serpentine New Years Day 10k in Hyde Park.

The pictures from the 2010 New Years Day Serpentine 10k are now online and available here:
http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/a.tlx?k=4l7zf80

The Sun shone. Very Brightly. Too Brightly. Far Far too brightly. It threw almost everything into shadow, or melted it. See if you can see the marshals face in the photo above and you'll see what I mean - and that one's with extra flash. You can just about see the big wheel.
Despite this rather major technical challenge (bright sun, low on horizon) we did manage to get some pretty panoramic photos:
http://www.mikeanton.com/360panos/Miscellaneous/AlbertHall.htm
http://www.mikeanton.com/360panos/Miscellaneous/Serpentine10Ksigningon.htm

However if anyone tried to take a picture of the runners with the Albert Hall in the background - they were going to be disapointed, just like we were, so no halfway race pictures this year I'm afraid. The sun was bright and the silouettes dark.

The race started smoothly enough and on time - as you can see below (the winter wonderland blaring out music in the distant background)



Some people even managed to give a shout out to their brave-the-cold supporters (it was extremely cold all day):


The race was eventually won by Serpentine homeboy Nicholas Torry in 30:23 age-graded 89.1%


Whilst Hannah Walker from Tring, didn't walk it in 35:48 to win the female race age graded at 85.7% - the same as the overall second place in the race - and miles ahead of the next lady.


The race sponsor Andy from Brooks (who do shoes, by the way) made it round in a respecatable 48:18 or something, I won't mention his age grade as he is currently still a friend. And no, he has not tried Newton shoes yet according to my sources.


There were some competitive finishers pushing things along as they came into the final straight.



And the sweeper bike this year did an excellent job of making sure the course was clear and finished. He was also faster than last year, and we have a positive feeling he may yet speed up next year too...



So remember the gallery is here:
http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/a.tlx?k=4l7zf80
and you can see pictures of the marshals and other serpie nice people by putting "marshal" or "misc" into the race number search box.
The results are on the serpentine page here by the way.


Finally let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year for 2010, may your running plans become a running record, and hopefully in some small way our photos will help you to set some of these down and commit them to memory and perpetuity.


Have a great year and see you out at a race soon !

Anthony