Stubbington Green Runners

The Guernsey Easter Running Festival passed this year without Glen and Caroline Street, but John and Sue Simister with ten year old daughter Katie and John Tussler joined John, Tommy and I for the trip this year.

With the London Marathon less than a week beforehand John Blake had relaxation on his mind rather than running, and the weather was perfect for that.

Good Friday saw 164 runners take part in the 10k this year, which was won by Andrew Combs of Aldershot, Farnham and District in a time of 31:34.  Emma Pallant also of AFD won the ladies race in 34:47 as Olympic hopeful Steph Twell cycled round in support as she recovers from a broken ankle.  Stubbington times were John Simister 47:36, John Tussler 50:18 and Ann Blake 56:40.  John S was very happy to get a pb by 8 seconds, I was pleased to have bettered my previous Guernsey time, and John T very happy to have run almost a minute quicker than his Eastleigh chip time.

Tommy took part in the U9s 1k, however after starting strongly was bundled over by a bigger girl at the half way point, and wasn't able to finish.

Katie and Tommy had their photo taken with Steph Twell which really made their day!

100 runners took part in the X-country on Saturday, and this time John B decided to join Ann for a gentle recovery run (for him at least!)  Once again Andrew Combs of AFD came home first in 24:19, but this time Louise Small an AFD U20 won the ladies race in 26:32.  Stubbington times were John S 38:30, John T 40:07, Ann 45:35 and John B 45:35.  Once again John S and I had run Guernsey PBs.

Tommy and Katie took part in the U9s and U11s races respectively.  Tommy took great pride in showing a young AFD runner his bandage covering the damage from the day before!

Saturday night saw the greatest Stubbington success of the weekend - 2nd prize for the Green Arrows in the quiz, and lots of yummy Easter eggs to share.  Katie and Tommy came 3rd in the children's photo quiz which just added to the Easter treats!

Easter Sunday arrived and 34 teams took part in the Relay.  Once again Andrew Combs headed the individual times with 9:53 and Louise Small led the ladies with 10:52.  The Green Arrows finished with a total time of 63:52 - Leg 1 John S 15:04, Leg 2 Ann B 18:00, Leg 3 John B 14:07, Leg 4 John T 16:14.  John S and I were pleased to have set more Guernsey bests, John Blake (who can't possibly have tried hard enough in the London Marathon) was very pleased to be getting back to some faster times, and John T thoroughly happy with completing 3 races in 3 days.

Tommy ran a fine second relay leg taking his team from 7th to 4th, only to see them slip back to 7th again by the end.

At this point the spirit of Glen and Caroline joined us as we headed to the beach for a dip (well at least a paddle) in the cold sea to ease those aching muscles.

The afternoon was spent hiding and hunting for Easter eggs in the grounds of the hotel, then eating them ... mmmm.

Easter Monday arrived and with it 146 runners for the Half Marathon.  Once again Andrew Combs was triumphant in a time of 68:41 - his first race over this distance.  Louise Small led the ladies home again in 77:58, so these two also took the overall honours over the weekend.  For Stubbington John S finished in 1:49:23 over 2 minutes quicker than his previous Guernsey best.  I was really pleased to finish in 2:08:22 a PB by 5:38.

Tommy finished off with the final U9s race tired but happy with his running.

Despite at least 100 individuals taking part in each of the races only 47 completed all four.  John S finished a very creditable 40th, and I brought up the rear in 47th.  Even that was better than last year though, which for me had been the target for the weekend.

A huge thank you to Sue Simister who didn't run this year, but supported us all the way and did a fantastic job in the picture round at the quiz.

When we weren't running there were trips to St Peter Port (where Tommy managed a swim in one of the very cold sea pools - well five strokes I think), St Saviours Reservoir (a lovely walk round to ease those aching legs) and cycling on Sark.

It was a fantastic week, and we'll be back for more next year.

Ann Blake

Photos here