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| The leaders take the race out to Hove straight from the start past the Pier in this years Brighton 10k |
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A weekend of the three B's "Brutal, Brighton, and Back", although that would also accurately describe the Brighton 10k wind conditions alone.
Saturday saw the return of the
Brutal 10 to Long Valley but from a new start location to the south east that worked out well, along with a new route that discovered some of the boggier parts of the course. The long bog and marsh between the 2k and 3k points really tested the field, which interspersed with hills, woods, trails and lakes made it a very multi-terrain course and one of the most varied there has ever been - and the toughest naturally challenging race there is. The rain and mist just added to the atmosphere !
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| Everyone seems to enjoy a bit of the Brutal washing machine. |
Sunday's
Back 2 The Trenches was challenging as ever with slides, trenches, mud drenches, fire jumps and somewhat surprisingly, no rain ! Some new obstacles and course variations made for a new challenge across the hills, mud and of course - trenches...
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| Sliding back into another trench has never been so much fun ! |
The
Brighton 10k down on the seafront had a few changes too this year - due to the roadworks at West Street (which the council still have not decided to fix as it's the seafront arch works that are unstable) - the course had to be run in reverse - out to Hove first and then 5k back to Black Rock near the Marina.
This arrangement meant that at West street the runners would only be going in one direction at any one time (the normal way around means that you'd have runners going in both directions). Also the reverse direction means that the usual downwind run into the finish for the last 3.5k is replaced with a 1.5k (roughly 1 mile) run back into the wind from Blackrock.
Of course the overall course is still 5k into the wind and 5k down wind, but the psychology of a finish into the wind is much much harder, and anyone who has run 400m on a track with it downwind on the back straight will know exactly how much you look forwards to the wind hitting as you come off the last bend onto finish straight ! How fast can you go downwind and save enough for the last effort ? These questions are only answered on the day - and by trying again differently next time, because experience makes all the difference.
It will be interesting to see if the Council fix the underground arches before next year - my bet is they won't unless it all collapses, so you'll all have at lease one more chance to chase your reverse course PB !
The high speed winds also meant no inflatable arch, flags or banners to make it look colourful, but that's usually preferable compared to it all blowing away to Lewes ? Whilst it gave the race a stripped down to the bone look, it wasn't to save money, it was to save the race !
It's also the last year that your race photos will have the Brighton Eye in them (that big wheel thingy) - because next year it will be gone and the i360 tower will be in Hove, so if you like to have a bit of history in your race photo archive - these are the photos for you !
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| The Brighton Eye - It's now a historical "how it was" landmark for the archives ! Make sure you get yours to remember. |
Here are the galleries from this week, there is of course a complete list on the gallery front page - just scroll down the page here:
http://gallery.sussexsportphotography.com/
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| Click on the links below |
One last thing I have to mention - is get your entries in for the Worthing Half Marathon 2016 as a romantic race for you on the 14th February. It's not limited to couples only - (just as well eh?) - and a chance for a fully closed road wizz around Worthing on what is possibly the flattest half marathon course there is - here's the website:
Now, here's a few more shots from the weekends fun, and in other news - independently Facebook was deleting peoples accounts with images they found with our splash/diagonal watermarks last week (yes, it's in their Terms and Conditions that they can do that) - so it's probably best to buy one if you want to put them out there for your friends and family to see...
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| one advantage of that Bus, I got a nice head on shot at the start |
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| Everyone off and Hove beckons - and yes, who would park a bus there then ? |
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| 6 seconds in and someone is still smiling |
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| Past the Pier and the wheel |
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| Ever get that sudden feeling that someone isn't waving at you ? |
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| I think it's my ex-coach from my days at Trafford AC |
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| Any attempt at Solar Powered running was doomed on sunday |
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| Blown past the turn point !?! |
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| Hold onto your number ! Perhaps the one pin wasn't quite enough? |
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| Three legged race ? |
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| Laurel and Hardy throwback opinion on the reversed course |
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| Breaking the age barrier - top work |
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| You try having a Doctor who's this fit, there are no excuses Dammit ! |
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| Nice time, nice Brighton Backdrop, now what was your race number ? Ah, no I can't see. |
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| Emma put in the win for the Ladies |
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| The Monty Python Hand of God chased the pigeons off |
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| Top supporting |
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| This is how it feels. |
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| Definitely running away from something |
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| Good work into the wind |
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| The wind was so strong it blew Ed's hat round... |
Meanwhile at the Trenches
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| That moment being in front wasn't ideal |
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| UP. And then back down... |
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| Pushing on through |
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| All is good |
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| doing your duty |
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| Nobody mentioned this |
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| Safe landing |
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| do it with style and confidence |
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| or not |
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| We left her there for days - Deer Hunter style |
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| The firepit was a lot longer jump this time... |
On Saturday at the Brutal they did this:
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| a nice gentle warm up to the first hill |
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| need a rest ? then take one ! |
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| A sort of helping hand |
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| A Michael Jackson Thriller fan |
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| Limbo down into the mud... |
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| A message to Paris and France from the night before |
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| Ollie all ok through the Swan Lake |
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| Good teamwork ! |
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| Some didn't enjoy the cold quite as much |
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| Harry Potter and his invisibility cloak do Brutal - he's in the middle |
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| Don't think she was too impressed with the swim section |
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| Good run in for the win |
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| Is it me or are they getting younger these days ? |
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| Good family team |
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| Somewhere there's an owner with a lead, calling his name, in a bog. |
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| You can take sheep too if you like |
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| Well done on the finish - good work out there |
So that's it until next weekend. Oh, hang on, there's nothing on for us. First weekend off in er, 7 months, and as we work every day during the week - so guess who's going to be getting a lie in on Sunday for the first time in for ages ? Yep Me. and I'm telling the kids too. And then a full english. BRING.IT.ON.
Catch you soon,
Anthony
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