Now that the hills, mud and water of cross country are over, road races are now very much on the agenda. To start the year off was the Tarpley 10 and 20 mile race on the 23rd February. This race is often used as part of Marathon training and with its many undulations, it is not an easy one. The stronger winds decided to make an appearance which made it even tougher. Aden Bell and Joel Bamsey tackled the 20 with Aden finishing strong in 10th position overall. The 10 was run by Rory Hanley, Kay Oxford, Nathalie Hooper, Julia Bilotta and Rebecca Martin with all putting in sterling performances. Julia and Nathalie were also presented with their trophies for the Age Category winners in the Suffolk Grand Prix.
The 2nd March, Kevin Long had an early start for the inaugural Southwold Half Marathon. This new closed road race took runners around Southwold and into neighboring Walberswick. Runners were asked to park 2 miles away and take a shuttle bus, but Kevin found the queues too long and so used the 2 miles as part of his warm up. Other than the queues, Kevin really enjoyed the race saying it was a great route with lots of spectators and very well organised. He finished in an amazing 22nd place knocking off 2 minutes of his personal best giving him a time of 1:25:50. Would he do it again? Yes! Although he says he might have to leave a bit earlier next time.
Sunday 9th March Aden Bell, Steve Cox, Kay Oxford, Julia Bilotta, Rebecca Martina and Geraldine Suckling made their way over to Cambridge for the half marathon. The sun was shinning and the crowds were out supporting over 13,500 runners. Temperatures soared to an unseasonal 19 degrees and Julia found this particularly challenging as all training to date had been in temperatures below 8 degrees. Added to that the water stations were running out of water, which for Julia, was both a mental challenge and a physical one.
Julia had a plan and everything she had learnt about race day came into play. Not to start to fast and adjust the pace to suit the heat and most importantly to keep hydrated. Rebecca and Julia, both novices to half marathon distance, finished slower than expected, but elated to have completed the course. For them it’s about the challenge, not the time. They both use the Jeff Galloway method of running (run/walk/run) and it has enabled them to do many things they didn’t think possible. For Julia, at the age of 68, entering half marathons and the London Marathon is a personal achievement of which she is very proud and as a club we celebrate all the achievements of our runners.
The following weekend was a busy one with Hares running in three different races. Saturday 15th Joanne Sargent, Nathalie Hooper, Fiona Holland and Geraldine Suckling travelled to Swanage to complete the Jurassic Express 10 mile trail run from Swanage to Corfe Castle. To say it was hilly was an understatement and thankfully they had a steam train to take them back to the start. They will never look at the ‘hills’ of Suffolk in the same way!
On Sunday as part of his marathon training, Stuart Price ran a speedy Fleet Half Marathon in Hampshire. Meanwhile, in Colchester, Rory Hanley, Kevin Carpenter, Ben Roper, Paul Barton, Katrina Rigby and Lucy Day also ran a half marathon, all coming home with amazing results.
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