Category: 5 Mile

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Worstead 5 Mile Road Race

Thanks to Malcolm for putting together his report of the Worstead 5 Mile Road Race:

This village is the original home of worsted – a woolen cloth woven by Flemish weavers who settled here in the Middle Ages. Attracted to England by its abundant supplies of wool, a large number of weavers settled in and around Norwich where Norfolk sheep produced the same long wool as they had used in Flanders. This was made into the cloth called Worsted. Today, Worstead is famous for its annual Worstead Festival taking place on the last weekend of July every year. This year was the 34th edition of the Worstead 5-mile race! The race kicks off the celebrations of the Worstead Festival with live music, food and beer/drinks at The White Lady after the race.

After a warm week the temperature was forecast to be 22 deg at 7pm with light winds. When we arrived preparations for the festival were well under way with marquees, catering vans of all descriptions in the field adjacent to the community hall.

The start line is in the small village square and it was a squeeze to get the 650 runners behind the start line. The route takes you out on country lanes, thankfully shaded in places via over hanging trees. The first mile is downhill, before turning towards Sloley where you complete a loop before and inevitably heading back uphill to the village across a little green and across the car park onto the field and the finish.

I found it a tough race, only my 2nd since end of September 2023.

A great turn out for Runners-Next-The-Sea with 19 finishers from the 645 finishers:

Position Forename Surname   Category Tag Gun Time Chip Time
23 Tim Mardall M M50-54 413 28:44.5 28:42.0
73 Anthony Cude M M45-49 416 31:53.8 31:48.3
84 David Coslett M M40-44 39 32:27.6 32:22.3
158 William Ayley-Dodd M M45-49 155 35:55.4 35:29.7
159 Rob Jackman M M45-49 213 35:58.0 35:33.2
171 Ellis Samuel M MO 403 36:15.1 35:56.6
305 Paula Smith F F50-54 405 40:07.6 39:41.6
442 Marie Pacey F F55-59 397 44:39.4 44:09.2
479 Malcolm Senior M M70-74 630 46:20.0 45:47.9
495 Lucy McCallum F F40-44 400 46:50.6 46:20.9
513 Nita Jackman F F50-54 212 47:52.1 47:16.7
549 Nick Loades M M55-59 1864 50:07.0 49:13.8
555 Debbie Moore F F55-59 404 50:36.1 49:41.8
621 Allison Graves F F55-59 411 58:19.0 57:26.3
624 Francesca Iaccarino F F45-49 154 58:29.0 57:34.4
625 Catherine Thorpe F FO 401 58:29.3 57:36.8
629 Vicki Armes F F40-44 402 59:46.1 58:51.4
631 Kerrie Coslett F F45-49 41 01:00:04 59:10.3
632 Denise Leeder F F65-69 40 01:00:04 59:10.7

 

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Bonfire Burn 10K, Houghton XC & East Coast 10K

Bonfire Burn 10K

Paul, Paula, Nita and myself had a most enjoyable Sunday morning 10k at Histon near Cambridge.  Our day started with a wonderful brass band playing, then at 10:33 we all set off in wave 2.  Though the start was congested, after the first km we were soon on our way. The weather was good for running though  windy conditions between 6 – 9 km made it challenging as the buses went quickly past on the tramlines. The final km on grass made it slippery in places, but it never stopped being fun!  The stewards were friendly and supportive and the person on the microphone enthusiastic!!  Fun was had by all and we collected a lovely wooden medal and bought refreshments from the Scouts. I would recommend this run for others.

Report by Rob Jackman

Official Chip Results

Rob J – 49:01
Paul – 49:48
Paula – 51:44
Nita – 1:00:47

Houghton 5 mile XC (Club Champs Event)

A team of 6 RntS took to the grounds of Houghton Hall on Sunday, competing in the 5mile XC Race. This was my first time doing the race and I was aware of the course being described as ‘mud fest’, ‘cow pats’ and ‘the awful dyke’ . With the amount of rain in the build up to the race I was certainly expecting to get muddy. But I was wrong! The ground was relatively dry, bar areas of long damp grass, and there was no mud or cow pats of any significance. This may have been due to the course being changed at the last minute however it saved me a job as my spikes which were still bearing mud from my last XC race in March, came out nice and clean and shiny which was a welcomed bonus! Overall the course, in my opinion, was mainly flat with 2 technical sections- one being in the wooded area with some short steep drops and then a U- bend section which had large wooden steps to go up! I cant say I have ever been in a XC race with steps before! It certainly disrupted your rhythm and gave you ‘thigh burn’ as described by Mark who didn’t seem too impressed at having to climb the stairs one extra time then on previous races! Other than that it was longish stretches of grassy terrain and a stretch of a sandy gravel path which gave you opportunities to stride out and pick up the pace. It was a 4 lap course which can be either a good or bad thing depending on how you feel!

Leading the club home was Liam Dawson as he continues his fine form. Liam crossed the line in 7th place overall and also picked up 3rd place for the golden oldies (veterans). Not far behind Liam was Cat, finishing in 9th place overall and 1st female .  Cat was more pleased that she was classed as a senior than a veteran – every cloud! At the younger end of the spectrum, Cam had a solid run coming home in 32nd place. Bob Lyddon crossed in at 39th place and running partners Mark Riseborough and Vikki Powles crossed the line in 62nd and 63rd place.

A big shout out to Pete Alder who gave up his morning to take photos – they are a great set of snaps!

A classic XC race, friendly and well organised. It was a shame the field was quite small however it did clash with several other races. Personally, I prefer XC running as it is off road and is a great strengthening discipline, so for me there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ xc race as even if you may not finish as high up as you hoped, you will still be gaining a good strength session.

Report by Cat Foley-Wray

Official Chip Results

Liam  – 37:08.9 – 3rd male veteran
Cat FW – 37:51.4 – 1st female overall
Cam – 45:54.8
Bob L – 46:56.4
Mark – 1:02:17.2
Vikki – 1:02:17.5

Runners-next-the-Sea male overall team result – 2:10:00.1 – 3rd

Supporters:
Pete
Alex

East Coast 10K

Having heard good things about last year’s event from Kirsty I was not disappointed.

The course is 1.5 laps by the beachfront which is lovely and flat with the only real obstacle being the wind and the odd slippery surface. Well organised and great support from the marshalls. Definitely a PB potential course! Thanks to Kirsty for driving and Francesca for the track side support.

Report by Will Ayley-Dodd

Official Chip Results

Will – 00:47:24.4 – PB
Kirsty L – 00:57:40.4 – PB