Wow, this news roundup certainly took a while to round up!
Despite some varied and often inclement weather, there were a lot of Pensby Runners determined to get out and race in one form or other, somewhere in the world!!
The weekend started early with our quarterly Chairman’s Challenge event, which for anyone outside of the club or new to it, takes in three of the highest and lowest points in the Heswall area of the Wirral, where we train. The title ‘challenge’ is no joke, with 993 feet of climb in the 7.6 mile route. Nine runners turned out on Friday night, lower than normal numbers, but not surprising given the amount of running and travelling the rest of the weekend had in store. Well done to those who ran, and thanks to those who helped keep time.
Australia was the starting point for Saturday’s running – the wonderfully named Wollongong Park Run (I have always secretly wanted to work at the University of Wollongong because of its name), where Tracy and Brian rocked up to grab 1st and 2nd places in their age groups. Back in the UK we had runners and volunteers out at Birkenhead and Princes Park.
The Cross Country Nationals were down in London at Parliament Hill on Saturday afternoon, and four of our runners made the trip south to take part. A huge well done to Helen, Rob, Andie and Nigel, not only for your running but also for making the effort to get down there on a freezing cold day and literally fly the flag for the club. There were well over three thousand runners in the senior categories, quite an event and one we’re very proud to have some jade vests competing in. Next year the Nationals come North, and hopefully we’ll take even more of our runners along.
Then on Sunday the intrepid cross country crew were at it again – Rob quite literally having run the day before in London – at Birchwood country park. Six of our runners turned out in total, and special mentions goes to Lucy who came 6th in the ladies field. By all accounts it was another rather ‘fresh’ race.
Meanwhile on the road, there were Pensbys in action both in the UK and on the Continent. Rebecca was down in Brighton for the Brighton half, in arctic conditions, her first, and run in a brilliant time – well done Rebecca. In Wrexham five Pensbys including your truly were out for the Village Bakery half, where notably Kate smashed five minutes off her PB in what were at times quite breezy conditions – I found them hard going in comparison to other years at the VB. Ben was at Oulton Park half and admitted that after a while the laps start to get to him – although it was his third time back there, so there must be something going for the route! And finally on the road, we had two runners, Rob and Iain, running in the Malta Marathon, and two more, Emily and Victoria, running in the half. In contrast to the UK weather it sounded rather hot and humid over there, but the waterside photos all looked rather appealing!!
And rounding things off, some of our fell runners, Dave, Paul and Lisa to be precise, were out in the Clwydians taking part in the 18.5 mile Sheeptracks race. This is a tricky run, with 4500 feet of climb and a lot of navigation required – but plenty of cake as a reward for your hard work at the end! It sounded like they all got home in one piece – as you can see from Paul’s photo there was some concentration of the navigation element required.
Well done everyone! I’m sure I missed a few people out (apologies), but what a weekend of running!
