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:
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:
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| I think the Husky sticking his tongue out at me explained a lot here |
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| Your Brutal needs you |
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| slightly splashy |
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| That cold leg face look |
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| cold, what cold, just look and keep CALM |
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| Crash through the water for that feeling alive effect |
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| hills? what hills ? |
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| it's all easy |
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| Gritted teeth, before the cold really got there |
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| Join the Brutal races and see the parts of exercise land that other races cannot reach |
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| Becky feeling Sy's Left pectoral. When the organiser doesn't want to get her feet wet - then we have a problem |
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| 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 ;-)
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| Off at the start - a strong front row |
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| The view from the back of the field towards the Marina and Black Rock |
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| Well done Caroline on the 3rd place, and first V45 in 35:53 |
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| A tidy bit of speedwork for Ironman Dr Jim |
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| Good competition all the way into the line |
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| If you're going to do fancy dress - rip the course up - most people lost to the beer bottle |
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| When it gets busy at the finish it's full on to get shots of everyone individually |
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| Zoe concentrating on her way back past the Pier |
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| 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... |
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| Susie - the former world record holder for knitting a scarf during a marathon - back in speed training ! |
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| Good running into the finish for Clare |
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| Always nice to help friends around the course |
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| 15 minutes better than last time - Caroline lent her orange sleeves to Mike for the race - it seemed to work ! |
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| 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
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