Monthly archives: September 2013

2 posts

Results Roundup

Results

RR_150913Five Romsey Road Runners headed to Portsmouth last Sunday for the Victory 5, hosted by Portsmouth Athletics Club. Arriving in sunshine, the sky had clouded over before runners started the five mile race with a lap of the running track at Mountbatten Leisure Centre. From here, the course headed out alongside the lake before looping round and then heading back, by which time runners faced a strong head wind. The course finished as it began, with a 400m lap of the running track.

Chris Stocks was the first Romsey runner to finish, placed 189th overall and 19th in category (MV45) in a time of 35:22. Lynda Brown came in next in 35:38, a personal best, 197th overall and 13th in category (Senior Female). Mark Adams, still recovering from injury – and not helped by a collision with a bike in the final mile – came in alongside Lynda in 198th (35:36). They were followed by Di Cross, who ran a personal best in 38:33 and was pleased to be placed 2nd in category (FV50). The final finisher for the club was new member Kirsty Saxton, who had a good run to finish in 41:44.

In contrast to the smooth surfaces of Portsmouth, The Bounder sees runners scurry across the undulations of the lovely Test Valley and is described as ‘challenging’. This nine mile trail race, organised by the Broughton Bounders Running Club, is now in its third year and attracts a good many local runners including four from Romsey.

Matt ‘The Bounder’ Hammerton won the race for a third consecutive year, finishing in 54:12, a little outside the course record which he set in 2012. Fellow Romsey runner, Toby Burrows, finished in second place in 59:58. Becky Tovey and Naomi Farrington completed the Romsey contingent in 1 hour 21 and 1 hour 50 respectively.

Finally, Chris Stocks was on a roll this the weekend, completing the Eastleigh Park Run (5km) on Saturday in a personal best of 21:51, using it as a warm up for the Victory 5 miler.

Results Roundup

Results

RR_09092013aOn Sunday 8 September, Six Romsey Road Runners entered the local Valley Leisure Triathlon (VLT), stretching the length of the Test Valley and organised by Valley Leisure. Participants completed 3 disciplines, including a 600m indoor swim at Andover Leisure Centre, a 30km cycle ride down the Valley of the River Test from Andover to The Rapids in Romsey, and a final run to the Knightwood Leisure Centre totalling 7.5 km.

The cycle ride was undulating following quiet lanes to the west of the river and the run was largely flat and on road, taking runners along Botley Road, through North Baddesley and onto Castle Lane. There was an unusually cold start to the day, with a downpour of rain on the undulating cycle ride making riding conditions difficult for some through the standing water, however the sun did appear on occasions for later riders.

First home for Romsey Road Runners and achieving first overall place in the Woman’s category was Becky Tovey in a time of 1:51:05. Chris Stocks was the first Romsey man in a time of 2:03:55, which included the time taken for the extra 4 swim lengths he swam by mistake! He was followed by Alice Lane 2:07:48, Joanna Weguelin 2:09:46, Derek Kelly 2:11:06 and Julia Abab 2:21:40.

RR_09092013bJimmy Hunt was also competing but in Henley-on-Thames, taking on Challenge Henley – an ‘Ironman’ distance triathlon. Hunt, competing in his first Ironman, finished in a remarkable time of 10:45:45, finishing in 39th place out of a field of 356 competitors.

The triathlon consisted of a 3.8 km swim, a 112 mile bike ride and finished off with a run of marathon distance, 26.2 miles. Hunt’s split times were impressive; the swim was completed in 1.21.50, followed by a cycle ride lasting nearly 6 hours (5.51.56) and to cap it off, Jimmy completed the marathon in 3:19:50. The marathon time alone is impressive, but as this followed two other disciplines back to back it showed great endurance.