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HHH SSVR The Troublesome Ten Race results FINAL report
(March 28, 2021)Note from the Commisioning Editor of EPSR: We are delighted to give our club member Ian Dumbrell an opportunity to report on this race under his own name. Give him a fair hearing, we'd like to use him again as he's cheap!
HHHSS VR Troublesome Ten - Final Report and Race Results
Congratulations one and all. Awesome performances from everyone out there over the last four days. Mixed fortunes for sure, but everyone dug in and found something to get them to the ten mile mark. Sometimes the ten mile mark wasn’t at the end of Bolnore Road where the race should have finished for everyone, but the Race Referee looked beyond the mere technicalities of a finish line and helped out with some logical support to the Lost Ones. Thank you to the Race Referee!
Firstly, lets give Graham Kenward our very best wishes and a speedy recovery. Graham was admitted to hospital today for observation overnight of his heart after falling ill towards the end of his race this morning. Clare, his wife, is with him and says he is comfortable but still a bit foggy.
Lets look at the outrageous performances at the speedy end of the race. James Collins continues to get quicker and became the only runner to make it under the hour mark. Russ just missed out but lets face it 01:00:22 is not too shabby, and Phil and the Two Matts, King and Cook were 3 and 4 minutes back respectively.
Leading the women speedsters was our Kim, at 01:10:07, a tremendous early effort on Thursday morning that appeared to spur on the women’s performances for the rest in the race window. Shiv pipped Emma to second this time, ahead of Lins, Olivia, Karen all posting awesome gun-to-tape times. Bring on some club races please, that’s a speedy team!
Also, some great performances around the field. My personal favourite being Tim Miller, who despite suffering from some after effects of his Covid jab still went out and ran 01:11:32! Nic Skov decided to swap the monster hills of Haywards Heath for the dead flat seafront of Brighton marina - points for front there Nic.
Josh Franks give it a good stab but ended up in Finches Gardens in Lindfield at one point (don’t ask!) so we will DNF Josh for this race and look forward to a stand out half marathon from him next month.
I also want to note Harvey and Lara’s performances. Two 17-year olds really showing us the future of Harriers running. So good in fact, that I co-opted Harvey into Team Malbec for this race in place of Ryan Armstrong who was too young for this one. Team Malbec are all about growing talent for the future.
The Age Grade competition went like this:
Congratulations to Lins Blain for joining the pantheon of Age Grade Legends alongside Madam Chair and The Legend. Lins needs a nickname worthy of that exalted position. Suggestions to me privately please.
The team results are as follows
Team Albarinho continue to rule the roost with 5 runners over the Golden 70% Ag mark. Paul ‘The Legend’ Cousins showing his strength over the longer distance, with almost 5 point increase in AG from the 10K Doubleback - awesome.
In Team Tempranillo, Matt King stepped it up 3 points from the Doubleback, and Lins continued her inexorable climb to 80% AG running.
Team Chardonnay step up a place overall with James and Karen leading the charge. Karen stepped up 5 points of AG from 10k so is beginning to work out that maybe her ankles are getting stronger again?
Team Malbec are busy building a strong base of young, local talent. It may be that this Spring Series has come just a smidgen too early for them and that they are in fact a summer team. Russ stepped up three AG points from 10K to maintain three 70%-ers in the team. Great looking team though - probably.
Team Shiraz saw some solid performances plus a startling, and competition leading, uplift in AG points from the Doubleback of 7.64 for Tim Hicks. Suggests the conditions in Helsinki really were quite bad! Team Shiraz moved 11.58 AG points in total in a month - top stuff.
And what can we say about Team Pinot? Smiley, supportive, improving are all relevant here. They are I think a team of half marathoners just warming up for the big event.
So thank you all to the event organisers, course designers, course testers, social media marketing team, Race Referee, and above all, you runners for making The Troublesome Ten such great fun for all.
Check back here in April as the plans on-fold for the third and final leg of the Spring Series - the Harriers Spring Half. The race window is April 22nd to April 25th. Course TBA. Do look out for training tips from Martin to help prepare you for the race. Its going to be fun!
Ian
HHHSS VR Troublesome Ten to End of Day Saturday - Report 2
Happy Birthday Madam Secretary Kath. Cracking run yesterday too.
Lots of Beetroot running around today with 40 or so Harriers braving the 10 Mile Monster.
Big news at the front is that Russ has set the target of a sub-hour run to take the segment record for anyone that wants to really give it a crack. [James James Morrison Morrison (Commonly known as Jim) - you know who you are....after AA Milne Ed.!]
Team competition is looking close. Team Tempranillo making a bit of a charge mid-doors. Pinot Noir remain a very nice team. The Albarinho's are sipping chilled, the Shiraz is showing body, the Malbec's are dealing with a bit of cork and the Chardonnays would like a rebrand it seems.
Good luck all, stay safe and PLEASE be sensible at the road crossings and take note of Lydia's advice on BA about earphones.....
Ian
note: Stewards working on Caroline's time
HHHSS VR Troublesome Ten to End of Day Friday - Report 1
Since my jab, I’ve had some pretty vivid nightmares. Last night was a real doozy. I watched Michael ‘Evergreen’ Parish start his Troublesome Ten. He reached the top of Bolnore Road but didn’t know whether to go left or right. He stumbled, fell and landed sideways across the road, immovable. Of course after making sure Michael was OK, I panicked about the route. He was blocking it! I ran back to the start and it was filling up with eager Beetroots dressed like Crusties from Bristol and they were getting lairy about the delay! They marched revoltingly up Bolnore Road led by an incensed head crusty, Gemma Morgan, and started throwing stones at the Police Station!! I have decided not to watch the TV news or read the paper for a bit…..
Meanwhile, racing has started, and HOW! Some very impressive performances have already been laid down by some eager beavers with Andy Hind and Kim Lo leading the way for the speedsters, Kim especially pushing the boat out with a 1:10.07 - woof! Greg Hilton also smashed out a great time laying down a marker for Group 2 folks to aim at, and Harvey Alcock not far behind at all. Pete Francis had a glitch in the matrix but the Race Referee was lenient due to the technical nature of the issue so Team Pinot are UNDERWAY! Only a couple of issues with tracking today which bodes well for the Race Referee’s workload over the weekend.
The team challenge is moving along with some great performances, with our Queen Strava Art, Michelle posting a great time for Team Malbec, and many others representing their teams in blowy conditions. Shiv made it all the way round without falling over(smashing out a 1:11!), and Mike made it round the entire course from start to finish rather than finish to start this time - and in an impressive time. Well done Mr Parish. Things are looking very positive for team A
Your correspondent fought the course and the course won. Thanks to Marcus and Sarah B at various points along the course for the encouraging words but it would have taken a miracle to make me move any faster today. A recce is a must as I set a faster time doing that than when I try to race!
One more Team substitute to announce with Jac Barnes coming in for Michelle Baillie at Team Shiraz.
Good luck to all those racing over the weekend. Remember to stay safe and be sensible at the road crossings. Also remember the major hills are in the second half of the race so keep some oomph in reserve!
Ian
Early Age Graded table (stewards working on La Mugridge's track). Teams all have participants on the board but too early to see any markers. The ladies are showing STRONG.
