Stubbington Green Runners

It was one of those Sunday mornings, that when you look out of the window, you actually wonder if the race will go ahead! It did of course, though in persistent rain, and deep, deep puddles, but it didn’t deter almost 400 runners from splashing around the lanes of Lordshill.

The course itself is fairly quick, no hills worth mentioning, and fairly well sheltered from the gusty wind. Any race given Sundays conditions, will be a trial for the organisers, so I was very impressed by the friendliness of the rain-soaked marshalls.

The fact that we managed so many p.b’s was also very impressive. Best performance from the ladies came from Lucy, who smashed her Great South p.b by around 4 mins! More p.b’s from Annie, Gill and Georgie, who all seem to improve with every race. Our Ladies Captain again led us home, a little down on her high standards, but with her yellow, black and blue leg and ankle from a very nasty fall two weeks ago, most wouldn’t have managed to run at all.

The ‘A’ team of Susie, Annie and Gill, finished as 4th team on the day and now lie 3rd in Div 1. A third of the way through the league and it’s very tight for top spot, with Eastleigh, Winchester, Stubbington and Fareham looking like the serious contenders.

Our ‘B’ team of Lucy, Georgie and Jas finished 5th here and hold 2nd place in Div 1. Again, fairly early days, but it looks like Fareham, Stubbington and Winchester have most quality in depth for this season. It was good to see Jas on the start line after needing treatment on her hamstring this week, and not far behind was Kathryn, making her first HRRL run this season.

The Men are still top of Div 1 in both the A and B leagues, however with Mark having a hamstring problem, and Lewis preferring to run a Sub 3 hr Marathon in New York, (only slightly jealous!) we were a little light right at the sharp end.

Except of course for our very own Rochdale Cowboy! It would have been quite a battle had Lewis been here. Now tipping the scales as a mere Welter Weight, Andy ran superbly to finish 3rd and nudge his p.b a little lower. Next home, and Winner of the Vet 50 Category was Mike, who as a triathlete obviously felt more at home than most in the Swim/run! The ‘A’ team was completed by Wayne and Tony. Tony , racing two weeks after his sub 3 hr marathon at Abingdon, and Wayne, who has very recently joined us, is another just over 6 min/miler, but given his youth and our Tuesday/Thursday training nights will soon be under the hour.

Less than a minute behind these youngsters, were our ‘B’ team, all vets. With formation team packing, Graham, Alastair, Ray and me all finished within 16 seconds of each other, to give us 8 runners in the top 40. This comfortably won the HRRL ‘B’ team and puts us in a very strong position with two 1st’s and two 2nd‘s from 4 races. The ‘A’ team had finished 4th which keeps them top of the league, ahead of Winchester, just!

HRRL regulars Tim and Kev were just behind us, and a rare but very welcome road appearance from Nick, saw him getting sub 7 min miles. Due to the weather, we shot off a bit smart after the race, so not sure if Robert, Del, John, Alan, or Keith ran p.b’s, but pretty sure that Richard and Paul did.
Well done to everyone who made the effort and ran in those atrocious conditions, p.b or not!

Next race is our local Half Marathon at Gosport. You can still enter online, but be quick, just days left. No entries on the day. It’s very popular, over 1500 entries and the course is fast and flat and runs through Stubbington. ENTER NOW!

MEN						WOMEN
3rd	Andy	Simpson	57.03			13th	Susie	MacGregor	01:10:29	4th F35
20th	Mike	White	01:01:39	1St M50		30th	Annie	Tomlinson	01:15:28	11th F35
32nd	Wayne	Ewers	01:02:41			34th	Gill	Rose	01:16:19	14th F35
33rd	Tony	Smith	01:02:46			43rd	Lucy	May	01:18:37
36th	Graham	Bell	01:03:30			45th	Georgie	Wallis	01:18:48	9th F45
38th	Alastair	Ewing	01:03:36	4th M50		87th	Jas	Smith	01:31:21	30th F35
39th	Ray	Gunner	01:03:39	13th M40		102nd	Kathryn	Davies	01:36:34	34th F35
40th	Mike	Harper	01:03:46	14th M40
57th	Tim	Sullivan	01:04:54	19th M40
64th	Kev	Wheeler	01:05:54
95th	Nick	Crane	01:09:46	11th M50
158th	Richard	Snell	01:15:07	58th M40
159th	Keith	Carter	01:15:16	59th M40
207th	Alan	White	01:23:08	44th M50
211th	Paul	Southon	01:24:05	73rd M40
216th	John	Simister	01:24:51	48th M50
231st	Del	Granger	01:29:36	76th M40
245th	Robert	Spencer	01:45:00	58th M50