Tuesday 26 November 2013

The 3 Molehills 2013


Ahh, the end of another week, the temperature drops below 5 degrees Centigrade and the Half marathon race season grinds to an almost halt the cross country season picks up. After the busiest two months in the history of our work, I'm quite in need of a rest (i.e. a single day off) so the next two months to catch up and see how much the kids have grown up will be good.

If you were to read the regular press and magazines it would seem as busy as anything with planning and the endeavour for the spring marathon season is full of beginners training advice, which races you should enter on the road to London (or not) and the top ten types of races (which are not open for entries yet anyway). But the off road season starts and it's the trail running months for some proper hard training and races lie ahead into the new year.

This weekend was the Events to Live 3 Molehills Race - a challenge made up of 3 non-molehills around the Dorking Vineyard of Denbies - also known as Box Hill, Norbury Park and Ranmore, taking in the stepping stones, the steps, and the crazy 2mile downhill on the last return from Ranmore Common.
About 70 teams took on one challenge each as part of the relay team, and about 149 individuals took on the challenge - which is more than a half marathon. Respect to everyone that took part and the effort that goes into covering these hills - and an excellently well marshalled event yet again from ETL. 

The Events to Live - 3 Molehills race gallery is now live and online:

Of course the end of the season is never really over, there's races every weekend locally and nearby like these ones below:
Future events forecast where we are going to be:

Call for entries:Race Entry links for selected races:
December 2013
1st - Jigsaw 10k  http://bit.ly/jigsawrun-entry
8th - Seaford Mince Pie 10 (sold out) http://bit.ly/Seaford-mince-pie-entry
8th - Hogs Back 11.7km (free race photos) http://bit.ly/Hogs-back-entry
15th - RPAC Holly Run http://bit.ly/RPAC-Holly-Run-entries
28th - Brutal Longmoor http://bit.ly/Brutal-10-homepage
2014 events to follow soon
March 2014
2nd - The Steyning Stingerhttp://bit.ly/The-Steyning-Stinger
9th - Surrey Half Marathonhttp://bit.ly/Surrey-Half-Marathon-entry
23rd - Richmond 13.1 and 10khttp://bit.ly/Richmond131-half-marathon

some people also don't know about the Sussex Race planner, which is regularly update with local Sussex Races: http://bit.ly/Sussex-Race-Planner


The 3 Molehills
Sunday was a bit of a first all round - the kids came out with us to work. So instead of them having a lie in as Mum and Dad get up and go to work at 7am, it was up before usual on a weekday for them and out of the house wrapped up and ready to go. The eldest has come out before, and indeed sold some photos, but this was the first time both the 3yr old and the 6yr old has joined us in our exploits.
First off was over to the stepping stones for leg 1, for those of those interested - that was ISO8000 (i.e. dark - but the 1DX is frankly amazing) for us and a bit tricky for everyone else as they ascended up box hill - which we tried to get in the background for the second leg shots, and then it was trying to get the fantastic autumn colours up the side of Ranmore common and the finish turn.


All go at the start, a sprint to the bottleneck
Quite fast flowing at the Stepping stones
The water motion can be quite unsettling (as I found too)
Apparently they know each other...
Denbies in the autumn colours
That winning smile from Vic Park Harriers

Always show your number !
Perfect Airplanes up to the top of Ranmore and the start of leg 3
Perfect descent technique for 4 legs
Working hard, commission pay only - Xmas coming soon - help her out
Some Autumn colours
The autumn vines

Setting up the second cameras for remote triggering - but handing them to the kids as an extra shot just in case can work out well, keeps them interested - and if you like them - will earn them some pocket money to buy some Christmas presents. All images focus and quality checked as ever - so get them if you like them !

She didn't stop and talk, so we took this instead
Two happy campers after their three hill exploits !
Don't mess with the S
First Three Back in after Leg 1

Photobomb !

Box Hill in the background looming large over the course - Sophie has a sense of timing !

The full race results are available here: http://www.eventstolive.co.uk/results 
and the full race gallery (search by the whole number on your bib, including your relay leg number) is here: 

Good running everyone - it looked like you all had a really good time out there on Sunday !

Remember too - if you were part of a team - make sure you pass the links onto your team members as only one of you will have had a post race email from the organisers - your team mates may not even know about the photos...

until next time,

Anthony




Tuesday 19 November 2013

Brighton 10k and Brutal Long Valley 2013 now live

Two truly excellent and fantastic events just held this weekend - both managed to finish before the clouds came over and started to rain. Frankly perfect timing on both events. What happened before the rain was another matter !

The Brutal Long Valley saw blue skies, bright sun, frost and the wettest course of the series negotiated swiftly by almost 400 competitors and some with their canine assistants.  Fantastic organisation and marshalling by the Brutal Team, the ice broken in advance by Colin and Dave, and a rather unnerving group of lookalike marshals... Thankfully Tom's food wagon was on hand to warm us all up afterwards and the veggie chilli. Check out the Brutal website for some more information, and their facebook page for the additional action photos from the day.

The Brooks Brighton 10k on Sunday had perfect conditions - hardly a breeze in the air, about 10degrees Centigrade, and 2700 starters on the line. The flattest fastest 10k in the south was prepared and waiting.
Yet again organised by Brighton and Hove City athletics club and Race Director Chris Carter with Keith Donno, all the volunteer marshals, Scouts, Round Table, timing, water, Studio 57, to name but a few put on a perfect show.

We didn't quite see the sub-30 we always hope for in these conditions - but it did allow Mark Buckingham who just held onto an early lead by 2 seconds to win in 30:48.
There's a few race reports flying about - but Reg Hook usually does a good job on the Sussex AAA website: http://www.sussexathletics.org.uk/news.php?id=1453

Here are the links to the race photo galleries:

Race logo Race Photo Gallery links
Brooks Logo The Brooks Brighton 10k 2013

http://bit.ly/Brighton-10k-2013-Photo-Gallery
logo
The Brutal Long Valley 10k 2013

http://bit.ly/Brutal-Long-Valley-2013-Photo-Gallery


So that's essentially the end of the busy season - it's been multiple events every weekend since the start of August - so now it is a gentle return to the holiday season and the end of term, we hope to get the 21st and 22nd of December off !!

Future events forecast:

Call for entries:Race Entry links for selected races:
Events to live - 3 Molehillshttp://bit.ly/ETL-races
December 2013
1st - Jigsaw 10k http://bit.ly/jigsawrun-entry
8th - Seaford Mince Pie 10 http://bit.ly/Seaford-mince-pie-entry
8th - Hogs Back 11.7km http://bit.ly/Hogs-back-entry
15th - RPAC Holly Run http://bit.ly/RPAC-Holly-Run-entries
28th - Brutal Longmoor http://bit.ly/Brutal-10-homepage
2014 events to follow soon
March 2014
2nd - The Steyning Stingerhttp://bit.ly/The-Steyning-Stinger
9th - Surrey Half Marathonhttp://bit.ly/Surrey-Half-Marathon-entry
23rd - Richmond 13.1 and 10khttp://bit.ly/Richmond131-half-marathon

I think the Husky sticking his tongue out at me explained a lot here

Your Brutal needs you

slightly splashy

That cold leg face look

cold, what cold, just look and keep CALM

Crash through the water for that feeling alive effect

hills? what hills ?

it's all easy

Gritted teeth, before the cold really got there

Join the Brutal races and see the parts of exercise land that other races cannot reach

Becky feeling Sy's Left pectoral. When the organiser doesn't want to get her feet wet - then we have a problem

sometimes part of the course can be slippy

The problem with covering a race like the Brighton 10k, after being part of the running scene here in Sussex i various forms since only 1995, you tend to know a lot of people who run in this race, so I could have filled this blog a thousand times over with pictures of people I know - so apologies if I've kept your privacy intact this time ;-)
 


Off at the start - a strong front row

The view from the back of the field towards the Marina and Black Rock

Well done Caroline on the 3rd place, and first V45 in 35:53 

A tidy bit of speedwork for Ironman Dr Jim

Good competition all the way into the line

If you're going to do fancy dress - rip the course up - most people lost to the beer bottle

When it gets busy at the finish it's full on to get shots of everyone individually

Zoe concentrating on her way back past the Pier


Taking a photo of the finish time whilst on the move - probably not really necessary - unlike your race number with the timing chip on it...

Susie - the former world record holder for knitting a scarf during a marathon - back in speed training !

Good running into the finish for Clare

Always nice to help friends around the course

15 minutes better than last time - Caroline lent her orange sleeves to Mike for the race - it seemed to work !

Dan was shouting something to his wife, I won't say what...

In other news, Adam Walker - someone I used to compete with at Crawley AC (he was a polevaulter - read his full story on his website), who then went onto international competition and then fame as a Speed and Power coach - is looking for handful of highly motivated Professional Men to help coach and condition in line with his latest bestselling books and training strategy. 
Probably absolutely ideal for triathletes, runners and sportspeople who are looking to go beyond the training plateau you reach year after year and not just in your chosen sport, but as part of an overall life balance and coaching your personal strategy. 
Adam has coached internationals, olympians, paralympians, kids, and club athletes, read his website and if you're interested contact Adam on  ALWalks79@aol.com for more information.

My only advice is if you're thinking of making a change to your life and yourself- do it before everyone else thinks about it on boxing day...
.. and that also accounts for Tax returns. Apparently.

So, really well done to everyone from the weekend, it was great to be outside and see everyone enjoying themselves, I'm going to try and get my foot fixed and then get fit again now the autumn race season has calmed down !

Until next time,
Anthony













Tuesday 12 November 2013

Poppy Half, Grand Union Half, Veteran Car Run 2013 and Loseley 10k all live

I hope you all survived the wind and rain over the past few weeks. Trees down and broken fence panels here.
Four events now on the gallery since last our last update, all of which have managed to avoid the rain (mostly) by a fraction hairs breadth (thank fully), although a few cars got caught in it at the south downs.

The Loseley 10k and Veteran Car Run both awoke to clear skies and a chilly air, and that warmed up quite quickly. The gusty wind was a different matter down on the coast for the finish line of the Cars at Madeira drive in Brighton, but at least the finish arch stayed up this year !

Then we have just had the Purple Patch organised Grand Union Half Marathon, and the Bexhill Poppy Half Marathon, organised by Team Lifestyle. Both took place (again) in clear skies with bright sunshine and perfect conditions for running in along the towpaths and coastal roads. Almost the two flattest races over half a marathon distance on the same day.

Working unfortunately meant I missed my daughter run the Phoenix Preston Park Races, although I'm informed she put in a good kick at the end to overtake some others. Just waiting for the results to go up sometime soon to see how much she improved on last year.

Its a Brutal 10 next Saturday - probably the muddiest and hilliest race you can do this weekend, followed up by our end of season Brighton 10k - probably the fastest 10k you'll get a go at .

Here are the latest gallery links:



Race 
Gallery link
logo The Loseley 10k and Fun Run

http://bit.ly/AAT-Loseley-10k-2013-Photo-Gallery
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run 2011: Celebrating Germany
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run

http://bit.ly/LBVCR-2013-Photo-Gallery
purple_splat PP Grand Union Canal Half Marathon

http://bit.ly/PP-Grand-Union-Half-2013-Photo-Gallery
Bexhill Poppy Half Marathon

http://bit.ly/Poppy-Half-Marathon-2013-Official-Photos

Future events forecast:

Call for entries:Race Entry links for selected races:


November Races
16. Brutal 10k - Long Valley  http://bit.ly/Brutal-10-homepage
17. The Brighton 10khttp://bit.ly/Brighton10k-entry-2012


December
1st - Jigsaw 10k http://bit.ly/jigsawrun-entry
8th - Seaford Mince Pie 10 http://bit.ly/Seaford-mince-pie-entry
8th - Hogs Back 11.7km http://bit.ly/Hogs-back-entry
15th - RPAC Holly Run http://bit.ly/RPAC-Holly-Run-entries
28th - Brutal Longmoor http://bit.ly/Brutal-10-homepage
 
March 2014
2nd - The Steyning Stingerhttp://bit.ly/The-Steyning-Stinger
9th - Surrey Half Marathonhttp://bit.ly/Surrey-Half-Marathon-entry
23rd - Richmond 13.1 and 10khttp://bit.ly/Richmond131-half-marathon

Lee and Ross had one hell of a support team at Bexhill



Correct bridge slope running technique - straight back, good knee lift, smile (optional)


incorrect slope technique, almost overbalancing and going down the slope into the canal - but fortunately didn't

Close finish, #45 underestimated the width of his vehicle during the undertaking move - check the gallery for the shot by shot sequence !

Mark seemed to enjoy his day off race timing !

First to the finish, and the sky is blue

Two Napiers made it to the line together, the third was delayed due to a puncture

Nick Mason (Pink Floyd Drummer) was chuffed he finished again this year

Last run after 50 years for Sir Ray Tindal

The release of Endorphins that is caused by running along a bit of water


Clearly Not running near enough to water. 

busy at the start at Bexhill, James Baker having to get a bit of a shift on to stay in front.

Concentratey face at the start

Do you think they had a nagging feeling something was wrong as everyone else ran off with no numbers on view ?
If you do see someone put their number on their back, please tell them and help them out #smallactofkindness


Emily flying along the seafront - as usual !!

Double thumb surprise !

Quite a nice shot that over Westminster bridge. remove the white lines for a timeless picture.

The steamer at 7:10am - thankfully made it before 4pm this year !

Zooming along the sussex countryside in good weather is quite nice

Sir Dennis drives the car his Grandfather built - who also built fire engines !

All go at Loseley into the shady light

Euphoria at the finish

Spare runner attached to your back. Just in case you get tired you can swap.

If you don't want to get overtaken, this is just one technique

sun, barges, canal. What more do you want ?

Lovely views and paths along the banks of the Grand Union Canal

Running in a friends memory is always good commemoration

You'll never be as warm as this instructor...

beware of ghosts on any halloween races !
Thats it, until next time, enjoy the galleries and very well done to everyone who took the "rain doesn't matter" decisions on early weekend mornings. So far - we have won !

All the best
Anthony