Stubbington Green Runners

HRRL league season is now one quarter through, and after three races Stubbington teams are all performing well.Thirty eight Stubbies have run at least one of the first three races, with six making it to all three. Remember its 7 races to count if you want to be in with a chance to earn a mug for being in the top sixty (ladies and men) then you need to get your running shoes on.

As usual both Overton and Victory were very competitive early season races, with many using both races to sharpen up their race speed after the summer, and before the longer races on the series begin. The Overton course was reversed this year, on Police advice, and reaction from the runners seemed to be mixed. Some achieved PB's some didn't, and our Mens Captain, not liking the look of the longer hill to start with, saved his legs for the White Horse Relay! The ladies A team performed well, finishing 3rd on the day in HRRL. The men's A team did not quite as well, in very competitive mens team competition, finishing seventh. Whilst we all ran well individually, the lack of a top end finisher told in the team scores.


At the second race, the ever popular pancake flat Victory 5, the same Ladies A team had even more success, where they finished second to Winchester. This result enabled the strong Ladies B team to finish first in the B league. With an equally impressive effort from Lucy, Verity and Sarah who combined to form the C team and finish sixth in the B league. The mens A team, boosted by the returning Mark, finished fifth in their league. Kev mixed it in with the V50 boys (warming up for there relay effort the following week) to help the B team to finish sixth in their league. Note the connection between the pancake flat 5 miles, and Mike Harper turning out.


A smaller band of Stubbies made there way across to the New Forest for the popular (well it it is for the HRRL clubs) Solent Half Marathon. Having given the shorter races a miss is was good to see Rachael making her first appearance of the season, and looking strong at the end of her first half marathon. Donna had a good race too, knocking 12 minutes off her PB. I think she must have been running on her own with no one to talk to. Susie put in her "normal" consistent run to lead the ladies home to  third place behind, Winchester and Eastleigh. Well done too to Verity and Jane who combined to complete the Stubette contingent. In the mens race it was a question of a hare and three tortoises for the Stubby Mens A team. Andy lead off as usual, at the pace he had in mind. Unfortunately he forgot to tell his legs that it was 13 miles not 6 miles, and was passed by Dave, myself, and eventually Tony just after half way. Tony was, as usual, using the race as final preparation for the Abingdon marathon the following week. Andy was using the race as a final wake up call to loose some weight, having slipped from 8th to 22nd over the last 6 miles. Mike White lead home the B team, which saw Daragh making his Stubby debut, and joining the V50 boys. You don't want to hang around with those boys too long Daragh;-) The mens C team was made up of Phil, Marcus, Phil May (having run XC at Farley Mount the day before) and the ever popular Alan White, who improved by 4 minutes over last year to finish in under two hours.

Photos of Victory and Solent can be found here: Victory 5 | Solent Half

There are two races between now and Christmas, Lordshill 10 (now only entry on the day)  and the Gosport Half (entries close 14th November), and before our own 10k in January.

06/11/2011	10:00am	Lordshill 10 mile	Entries Closed EOD if Race limt (500) not reached	Lordshil Road Runners	Lordshill 10 Race Details	Oaklands Education Leisure & Recreation Oaklands Community School Fairisle Road Lordshill Southampton SO16 8BY
20/11/2011	10:00am	Gosport Half Marathon	Entries Now Open 14th November  or race limit of 2000	Gosport Road Runners	Gosport Half Race Details	Bay House School Alverstoke Gosport Hampshire PO12 2QP

Details of all the HRRL races can be found at here

Full HRRL details including individual perfomances can be found at http://www.hrrl.org.uk/default.htm

Graham Bell