Stubbington Green Runners & AC

The first handicap run of the year thankfully coincided with a warm spring day for the runners at Solent Breezes and Warsash Common.

23 stubbies ran the 6 mile course (mainly ladies – come on fellas where were you?!) and it  was great to see 13 beginners join in by running a lap of Solent Breezes field cheerily encouraged on the way by Christine Haskell. 

The previous day’s sunny weather had dried out the route to some extent but there was still plenty of mud and ankle deep water to be relished! For those who’ve not enjoyed the pleasures of a handicap run, it’s not about the fastest or fittest, anyone can win, it’s just about being a very good judge of your own pace and getting as close to the target finish time as possible.

As usual, no watches, sat navs or ‘what time is it?’ to passers-by were allowed but remarkably 21 runners finished within 2 minutes of the 12:00 deadline. All enjoyed the varied route which took in tracks, woods, boardwalks and sea views in the local area. Bottles of bubbly and yet another helping of Easter chocolate were awarded to the winning male and female plus the best fancy dress winner.

Thanks to Julie and Kevin Ashman who kindly donated new heart rate monitors for the winning male and female. Andy Lee took first prize for his well judged finishing  time of 11:59:51 and Rowena Dodds just pipped Sarah and Sandy to win the female prize in 11:59:34. Sarah Martin, with a very attractive set of ears and bunny tail (borrowed from Jaz I should add!), won the prize for best fancy dress.

We all retired for an enjoyable debrief in the Breezes beer garden afterwards, watching the world go by on the Solent whilst scraping all the mud off our legs – the perfect day out! Thanks to all who took part, all the times are given below, note the one disqualification. Next handicap – the ‘fish-n-chip special’ at the end of May! Tim Sullivan and Sue Robinson.

Male		Beginners
Andy Lee	11:59:51	Vicky Cripps
Dave Jeffrey	12:00:38	Hayley Preston
Graham Bell	12:00:42*	Paul Preston
Keith Whittaker	12:01:30	Thomas Preston
Peter Hutchinson	11:58:24	Emily Preston
John Vose	11:58:08	Claire Jones
Mike Bell	11:57:56	Richard Jones
Ian Smith	11:57:27	Sandra Hammonds
Female		Sarah Devries
Rowena Dodds	11:59.34	Andrea Charlson
Sarah Boddy	11:59:33	Imogen Blyth
Sandy MacKintosh	11:59:33	Jo Blyth
Jenny Lee	11:59:28
Chris Ryder	11:59:15
Kathy McKain	11:59:14
Verity Wright	11:59:07
Tracie Jarvis	11:59:07
Jules Haskell	11:58:35
Kerry Nelson	11:58:24
Jaz Smith	11:58:21
Sarah Martin	11:58:20
Sally McGrath	11:57:57
Liz Hall	11:56:08

*Note:  Regrettably Graham Bell was stripped of his bronze medal because of cheating by starting in the wrong place! Shame on you Graham! The Chairman arranged keel-hauling under HMS Victory as a punishment but I’m afraid Graham enjoyed this far too much so we have to think of something else!

Photos here.