Blackhill Bounders Running Club.

Report by Ian Young

Less than 24hrs after my last marathon I was back on the start line for another marathon up in the lovely coastal setting of Druridge Bay. I had signed up last year to do the 4 series Tour of Northumbria Marathons organized by the North East Marathon Club and did not realize Haltwhistle would be on the same weekend as this marathon so couldn’t do one and not the other!  My legs felt ok however I was still feeling quite tired so once a can of monster energy was consumed I was ready to go.

The weather was a total difference from the day before with warm sunshine and hardly a cloud in the sky good for chilling out not good for running marathons. We were set off at 09:30 along with the ½ marathoners the course was multi terrain consisting of track, road and beach and was easy going with no hills at all. A mile and a half loop around a lake to start with followed by a section on the road and then onto the beach which was hard compact sand great for running on. Then it was off the beach and back onto tracks and roads around another lake before returning back to the start which was lap 1, only another 3 more to go and I was finished!!

I felt quite comfortable on laps 1 and 2 however when lap 3 came I felt drained by the heat and the marathon the day before taking its toll on me. So gels and energy drinks were needed they took a while to work but when they did I then started to up the pace. About 2 miles from the finish I checked my watch and knew if I pushed a little bit more I could crack a sub 4. Don`t really think my legs were my own on them last 2 miles as I just kept going and managed to finish in 3:56, Happy days!!

2 marathons in 2 days is a bit mad I know however if you train properly and listen to your body it is achievable compression kit is a god send as is having a very understanding wife……….

Report by Ian Young

The challenge is a 26 mile walking event and part of the spring Haltwhistle walking festival with runners only been allowed to take part in the last 3 years. It starts and finishes in Haltwhistle and includes a section up and over Hadrian’s Wall, an exposed moorland section of the Pennine Way, a crossing of the Lambley Viaduct before a low level return past Featherstone Castle along the Tyne.

The weather when we left Consett was cold and raining however by the time me and Besty got to Haltwhistle the rain had stopped but was still quite cold. We met up with Graham Burns and also ex Bounder Philip Johnston in the car park at the school to register and all agreed we would just have a trot around and nothing serious, also I had in the back of mind of another marathon the next day so wanted to keep my legs decent!

10am on the dot and we were off not sure how many runners there were but it looked like a drop in numbers from the previous year`s which is a shame as it is a really good course. Anyone who has done this race before will know you are straight into a big climb to get to the wall, right on cue Besty and Graham were away followed by Philip pounding up the hills. I managed to catch up with Philip at the 1^st checkpoint but the speed freaks were nowhere to be seen. The course itself was hard going due to the heavy rain over the previous weeks with deep black bogs so feet were wet straight away. I managed to pick a few people off as I ran around but still had no sight of Dave or Graham so thought they must have been battling it out to see who would be first.

I managed to get back to the school in 4hrs 14 which I was quite please with and was told I had came 4^th which was even better. Besty with a big grin on his face who was hobbling about the place complaining of cramp and told me he had came 2^nd in 4hrs 04 but even better was Graham who had won it in 3hrs 55. Well done to Philip too who came in under 5hrs not sure exact time but he was pleased.

So another great Haltwhistle challenge, £15 to enter food and hot drinks at the ½ way point and also at the end great value for money and 3 Bounders finishing in the top 4!!

Hi all

Any adventurers wishing to camp on either or both nights please let me know  -  I have made provisional bookings for both nights but need to go back to them with final numbers.  I have also booked a table on Sat night at the pub opposite the campsite & again need to confirm final numbers so please let me know if you would like to be included in the meal.  Luxury travel is arranged  -  names to Ray for this one along with your preferred choice of runs for the weekend.

Cheers

Brian

Blackhill Bounders would like to thank all the clubs that came to our annual invitation Snods 6 run last Wednesday evening once again it was a great event I am sure you will all agree. This year was a bumper crowd of runners 116 in total who all enjoyed the undulating and muddy at times course with only one dropping out due to injury.

Full results are at the bottom of the page well done to PB fitness who scooped both 1^st male John Taylor and 1^st Female Amanda Crooks, you will notice that Patrick Duffy of Crook was 1^st home overall however he agreed not to take any prize as he was not an officially invited club however he is a friend and ex member of Blackhill Bounders and wanted to run so thanks to Patrick for that and what a time he got round in!!

After the run the runners were entertained back in the village hall with a feast of food provided by all the members of the Bounders which included 3 lovely curries provided by our resident Bounder curry man Mark Phillips. This was followed by a quiz thanks to Mike Gill for that and also a very entertaining raffle hosted by Colin and Joy Bell thanks to those too. The biggest  thanks must go out to all the Bounders who helped make the evening successful there are to many to name but I am sure you will appreciate a lot of hard work goes in to make this event what it is.

Hope you all enjoyed yourselves and look forward to seeing you again up at Snods next year.

Thank you

Blackhill Bounders Running Club.

Snods-6-Results

Report by Mike Gill

That’s a vague sounding title for a 40 mile run but that’s what it was.

Rewind to March this year and I was taking part in a fell run called the Trollers Trot and during the course of the run kept yo yo’ing position with a guy called Andy who talked about a long run he was organising a team of 12 to take part in to raise funds for a hospice in Ripon.

It went quite for a while until a couple of days before I left to do the Madrid Marathon and Andy was in contact asking me to join his team as one of his runners had dropped out. Must have been half way down the bottle of red at the time as I agreed to make his team back up to full strength.

Whilst I’ve ran marathon distances quite a few times the step up to 40 miles was a daunting prospect but hey ho no time like the present to have a bash. I had a nice warm up with doing the Keswick Half Marathon 6 days before so did not need any more miles in my legs (actually couldn’t have done anymore as was a poorly bairn for a few days after Keswick)

I’d never heard of the K2B before but this year was it’s 46^th year of running.  The event started in 1966 when the first Polaris submarine HMS Resolution was being built at Barrow and the concept of a 40 mile walk from Keswick to Barrow was developed to foster relations between the crew of the submarine and the workers of the then Vickers shipyard. Whilst the event is billed as a walking event each year there are large numbers of teams who run the 40 miles

Within the space of just 7 years, the walk had grown from 63 participants to over 2,000 expected walkers (1974), and people from across the country were taking part. In 1974, a team from HMS Vulcan travelled all the way from Dounreay (Thurso, Caithness) at the very top of Scotland to take part in the walk: that’s over 400 miles! Nowadays, it is common for over 2000 walkers start the walk, and charity donations of over £200,000 to be reached with each walk. Over 44 years of walking, £1,642,607 has been raised and more than 1.860,000 miles have been covered.

On the afternoon of Friday 11^th May I drove over to Barrow in Furness and met the rest of the team and back up squad at the Travel Lodge where we were all booked in. Andy Wray who organised the team was the only one I knew prior to the event.  We had 3 serving soldiers, a female kick boxer, a guy who was part of the British RAMM 2011 team (Race across America, 3,000 miles on bikes), 2 personal trainers, 2 Physio’s, a guy who takes out running groups plus ‘ordinary people like me’

Wasn’t long before we found ourselves in the nearest pub initially to get fed but you know how it is, a few drinks later we eventually got back to the Travel Lodge very late. There wasn’t much chance of sleep as we were up again at 02.45 and set off at 03.30 in 2 vans to drive to Keswick for the start of the run at 5.30 am. We collected our chips which you hung round your neck, filed past the start reader to register your chip.

Team pic.

Bang on 05.30 we were off over a field and then picked up a forest path for a good way.  The route throughout was on quiet lanes and very little traffic was encounted (some of the roads were closed to traffic) the course undulated but for every uphill there was downhill’s.

The views in that part of our land are glorious, big hills, valleys, lakes, attractive villages and the weather was great as well.  The atmosphere at times was like the Tour de France as back up vehicles were parked together in designated parts of the route and the support they put on varied from shouted encouragement to full breakfasts of bacon and eggs, pretty naff when running past them and the smell of bacon was very tempting but you had to keep driving on.  The event was very professionally organised with very effective marshalling, waters stations, first aid and impeccable route markings.

My legs were feeling distinctly weary by the 30 mile point but this was also the last of the climbing done, from this point it was a gradual descent towards the west coast and the finish at Barrow.  Funny enough I would have rather gone up hill than down hill.  The last mile and a half are through the outskirts of Barrow and the least interesting part of the run. Time for a final sprint into the finish at the leisure centre to give the appearance that I ran the whole lot (not true as I did my fair share of walking on some of the stiffer climbs)  There on the line to present me with my medal and press the flesh with me was the Lord Mayor of Barrow.  A nice finish.

Backup squad at rest.

The checkpoint technology was great, swipe your chip across a reader and when you got to the finish swipe it for the final time, walk into the finish marquee and a nice lady printed out your named finish card with all the checkpoint times and your finish time (well impressed with that) and also gave you 2 tokens for free drinks or food which ever you wanted.

Finish.

The sun was out, free beer, food, great atmosphere whilst we waited for the rest of the team to finish.  The grassy finish area was a throng of family members lying around in the sun.  They had put on bouncy castles and other stuff for the kids to do so it felt good.

Results.

Our team AVA Physiotherapy Ltd

8^th Dave Jelly  5.21.11

13^th Martyn Fox 5.38.01

46^th Adrian Potter 6.13.54

48^th Sam Wrist 6.14.32

53^rd Ritchie Peet 6.17.50

95^th Karen Thompson 6.44.50

96^th Nick Crosby 6.44.52

133^rd Mike Gill 6.59.51

196^th Andy Wray 7.27.34

212nd Sean Cairns 7.35.47

591^st Gaynor Loraine 9.23.41

592^nd Sam Barrett 9.23.46 (ankle problems at 27)

2,303 took part in the event either running or walking.

We finished in 6^th Team position out of 310 Teams who competed.  The individual winner was Ian Symington of team ‘Sercopaths’ in 4.18.04, the first lady was Annemarie Almond of team ‘The Sneaker Pimps’ in 5.53.57

Come the night it was team bonding (or was it boozing) at a very select Italian restaurant in Barrow.  Champagne to start with, followed by wine, red & white, beers, Lemoncello, Sambuca’s……..Oh and we had some food.

Had to go back home on Sunday …Boo Hoo was starting to enjoy it (only joking)

Would I do it again?    Ah go on…………………………….

By Derren Sarginson

Well our first Summer parkrun GP was certainly a success!
Suspecting the festivities of the previous evening for Erin’s special Birthday may have dwindled the numbers of competing Bounders somewhat, we were very pleased to see a total of 13 turn out in the black and yellow today.

Meeting briefly at Belle Vue then departing for Maiden Castle we were greeted with warm sunshine and the super friendly atmosphere one comes to expect at parkrun.

As we toed the start line ready for the off, Event Director Alister Robson gave us a special mention once again letting the entire field know what we were up to. Huge thanks to Alister and his dedicated team of volunteers who give up their own time each week to make sure this great event takes place.

Despite a week of rain the going wasn’t too bad at all with only a little standing water to watch out for and as usual lots of support from the bandstand area.

Once all Bounders were across the finish line we decamped to the excellent café in the sports complex for breakfast.

Results wise we’re pleased to see the age rating system has already managed to level the playing field somewhat which I’m sure will surprise and delight!

Mentions to Ian Young and Colin Hodgson as parkrun first timers and setting PB times to day were Bianca McElrue, Alison Hodges, Dave Best, Dave Mitchell, Derren Sarginson and Brian Richardson.

So there we go, the first of six, the next GP date is June 16th. Plenty of time to set a new PB before joining in with the Olympic Torch Run in support of Nigel Cook and then sinking a few well deserved beers.

Todays Results as follows, note Age Grading (which is what the GP is based on) then time ran follows.

Graham Burns – 76.55% (19.07)
David Best – 73.76% (17.47)
Brian Richardson – 67.43% (21.42)
Dave Mitchell – 66.54% (22.31)
Ian Young – 65.4% (20.34)
Derren Sarginson – 64.95% (21.01)
Shelagh Richmond – 62.85% (31.46)
Colin Hodgson – 62.52% (23.02)
Bruce Smith – 62.22% (21.37)
Alison Hodges – 60.43% (26.17)
Kevin Lee – 60.37% (24.26)
Bianca McElrue – 58.11% (25.35)
Sara Sarginson – 51.41% (29.34)

Excellent work all, lets see a lot more of the club out next time!

Come and support Nigel on his Olympic torch run on the afternoon of Saturday 16^th June 2012. We will all be meeting at the Cricketers pub in Blackhill around 2.30pm for a quick Besty style energy drink, before commencing a short scenic run at 3pm, meeting up at some point with the Olympic Torch relay.

The run will be a nice easy run of around 4 miles (with an optional extra loop) in order to cater to all levels and abilities.

This will finish back at the Cricketers Pub at around 4.30 where a Buffet has been arranged by the club, along with a live band!

Report by Mike Gill

Keswick Half Marathon is billed as one of the most scenic ones in the country so that was one good reason for a squad of runners and supporters making the drive over to the west.  After parking in the rugby club grounds it was only a short walk across the rugby field to the club house bar to be met by Dave Best with a pint in his hand (obviously knows what proper training is)  Anna had been holidaying in some luxury pad in the Lake District and had driven over to join us for the race.

By now it had started to rain.  Number pick up was unsophisticated and easy.  The numbers were laid on the ground in number blocks, tell a guy with a clipboard your name, he told you your race number, then go and get your number off the pile, simple really.  High tech they didn’t do.

The temperature wasn’t too bad, neither too hot or cold and dry by now.  It’s a 10/15 minute walk from the rugby ground to the start which was a good way of loosing up the legs before the off.  We got there and attempted to get together for a team photograph and as we were getting into pose mode the klaxon went off to start the race.  Most of us were not quite at the start so the finish times recorded later would need some time taking off for our actual run times (but we’ll just go with what the results say for this report)

The start is downhill for a while and gives you a false sense, easy you begin to think but not so, the climbing starts very soon.  Brian and Gordon were just in front of me stuck in running traffic but Brian was having none of it and started pushing off weaving in and out of the runners, obviously after a fast time!!

Dave B, Dickie & Stephen 1&2 had already vanished into the distance. Nice day to run, temps spot on, just the ups and downs to contend with as we hauled our way around the route.

The course tracks the lake for a while then you go off into a loop of the Newlands valley before returning to track the lake for the rest of the run.  Fantastic scenic views as we ran around.  There was plenty of water stations if you felt in need of a liquid top up, I contented myself with a swig at a couple of them but as the temps were ideal liquid wasn’t a necessity for most.

(Special mention of Mr Best’s beer assisted finish time)

David Best 1.25.01

Stephen McDonald 1.31.03

Stephen Collins 1.37.55

Robert Dickinson 1.42.56

Brian Richardson 1.46.55

Dave Mitchell 1.50.41

Mike Gill 1.55.42

Gordon Hindson 1.59.33

Kevin Lee 1.59.34

Peter Carson (aka Garry) 2.05.03

Caroline Panting 2.05.55

Anna Vasey 2.06.15

Dave Clark 2.06.16

Mike Swainson 2.10.32

Winner on the day was James Buis of Heaton Harriers in 1.12.53. First lady was Sharon Bulman of New Marske Harriers in 1.30.33

There were 501 finishers.

None running Bounders supporter crew who were with us in Keswick, Stephen D, Lesley + daughter, Christine, Erin, Craig and Steve M

Interestingly during the presentation of the prizes the MV70 prize category was won by a guy with a time of 1.30 (no one came up to collect it)…….a very fast pensioner or a bandit!!!

Back into the rugby club house after for a pint and then we all trooped off to the ‘Orange Box’ tapas bar where more rehydration carried out (with tapas of course)

For those with endurance it was a meet up again in the evening at ‘Spoons  for more rehydration (sad to say I showed my face briefly but wasn’t feeling well so supped 1 pint and went off to bed)  Here we were joined by more Bounders who were in party mode.

So ended another good Bounders day of sport and social interaction (boozing to you and I)

Well done Isaac on a very impressive 10K, infact so impressive he only just finished behind Aly Dixon, currently coached by former world champion and Olympic silver medalist Liz McColgan, who just missed out with Olympic selection for the Marathon at this summer’s Olympics!!

1^st Male Yarod Hagos 00:30:46

1^st Female Aly Dixon 00:37:05

43^rd Isaac Dunn 00:38:38

Report by Derren Sarginson

Well the day was finally here, May 6th 2012. The big one. My very first Marathon. GULP!!

Rewind 3 weeks and I was actually thinking I may not even toe the start line after all the training I’d put in I was getting really worried. Once again Mr. Injury had shown up in the form of pain in my upper left foot. I suspected a stress fracture so took myself off to Shotley Urgent Care unit for an x ray which revealed….NOTHING! The Doctor suggested it was probably tendonitis and that I shouldn’t run until it cleared up. Not what I wanted to hear really but at least it wasn’t broken.

I made do over the next couple of weeks with some long cycling and long sessions on our elliptical trainer, bloody boring as sin but at least I was doing something. With one week to go I tried out a few shorter runs and then an 8 miler and everything seemed to be working as it should once more.

Following all the usual advice I’d spent the last week carb loading and the reduced training load had me feeling quite fat and lethargic, which apparently, is perfectly normal at the end of a marathon taper. My final run before the BIG one was a gentle jog around Durham parkrun with some of the other Bounders which I really enjoyed and reminded me that I do actually enjoy running as the extended training program I’d been following was definitely losing its attraction!

Sunday arrived and nice and early I, Sara, Dan and Murphy all met up with Chris Boyd and set away to the Stadium of Light. Arriving in good time the cars were parked easily and we made our way over to the stadium to suss the lay of the land and see what was what.

We mingled with other runners in the start area in dare I say it, rather warm sunshine!

A great turnout from many of the North East clubs and loads of unaffiliated runners the event was clearly well attended. Bumping into Caroline B and Terri we were all starting to go a little quiet, obviously starting to focus on the task ahead.

A nice touch was a minute’s applause for the memory of Claire Squires, the runner who had tragically died in the London Marathon.

The lone wheelchair athlete was set away and then it was out turn.

Now I had really gone to town making myself a pacing band to wear on my wrist and to keep me to plan throughout the race. I found this very useful as all 3 other Bounders left me behind at the start. Every bone in my body screaming “Chase them” but my head saying “No!, stick to the plan” I could see Chis getting further away and still I had to focus on sticking to my pre-planned splits.

As the miles built I settled into my running and enjoyed the support of the crowds. The first feed station came into view and a packet of water was collected. Yes, that’s right a packet! It took me a little while to figure out how to dispense the water from within without choking but once I had the hang of it I found them much preferable to bottles. Shotz gel packs were available at some stations too but I was running with a supply of SIS gels as these are what I’d used in training. Other stations along the way featured ASDA own brand isotonic sports drinks so there was plenty to choose from.

Along the route I found the marshalling to be excellent and the Sunderland crowd although a bit thin in some sections were very supportive with many residents coming out to provide bananas and jelly babies and other refreshments.

I see some comments online of people saying it was a hilly course, which made me chuckle as a Consett runner, this course seemed positively flat for the most part. In particular I enjoyed the run past Hendon beach as the sun was beaming down and a cool breeze came in off the sea. Also the loop through Barnes Park and Roker Park were most enjoyable seeing the crowds enjoying the sunshine. One area I would like to see altered was a loop through the University Campus which was completely devoid of any character or spectators.

The final leg stretching the runners out up to Whitburn for a switchback to head for home, again with great views over the sea and a most welcome breeze. Approaching the Stadium of Light once more for the finish.

As I mentioned earlier my pacing plan worked for the most part, allowing me to catch and pass both Caroline and Chris but not Terri. I saw her heading back to the stadium as I was still on my way out to Whitburn, shouting encouragement across the road but she was head down with determination and focus all over her face powering on!

Mid race I had let my confidence let me go a little quicker than planned and I think this may have caught up with me around the 20 mile or so mark with cramp trying its very best in my left hamstring to scupper me but it never fully took hold thankfully. Also at around 18 miles I think I came very close to the wall but again never actually hit it as a handful of jelly babies from a spectator rescued me!

Approaching the finish line by the stadium I saw Sara and Dan cheering me and had to choke back an emotional gasp as I crossed the line in an official time of 3:44:42. Never before in a race have I felt so spent and so happy at the same time!

We were guided past the pitch to collect our medals, t-shirts and goody bags before re-emerging to our supporters. I quickly steered my crew into the massage tent so I could get a quick leg rub before getting the recovery compression gear on and heading for home.

All in all I thought it was a fantastic event, very well organized and very well supported. The weather too couldn’t have been much better without being too hot for running and it definitely helped with the crowds.

I look forward to running it again and I sincerely hope it grows to be as big a success as the Great North Run.

Highly recommended!

Results

1^st Male Paul Wilson 02:43:31

1^st Female Catherine Young 03:25:08

Terri Cartmell 03:42:00

Derren Sarginson 03:44:42

Chris Boyd 03:53:19

Caroline Burdon 03:59:20