It was as a native Mancunian that I was requested to report on this race I was running, my latest attempt to break 3:30 over the marathon distance. It was however, as a non-native Mancunian that I ran it, what with being from Blackpool (sort of). Still, it is Lancashire and whilst the locals might not agree, it is the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club and therefore part of God’s own county that is Lancs.
Author: claphamrunners
Paris and Brighton Marathon triumphs – well done runners!
The Brighton Marathon took place along Brighton sea front, with blue skies and 10s of 000s of runners. Congratulations to Ellie and Susan, who loved the 2014 event so much they had signed up again!
Susan took 5 mins off her time to storm to a new PB with 4.39.24, and Ellie repeated her sub 4h with a stunning finish in 3.38.55. Well done both of you!
Read the official race recap here
Lucia and Gillian have joined the 1% club after their debut in the 2015 Paris Marathon – congratulations ladies!! The undulating route, 19 degree sunshine, and the 41,000-strong field, made for tough conditions but nothing could stop these two – they ran together until the sprint finish, both finishing in sub 4h44. Amazing performances!
Gilly and Lucia’s joint blog on their first-time marathon experience in Paris here – it’s an inspiring read (in our view) and full of useful tips for anyone thinking of signing up next year. Read to be inspired!
Read the official news reports here
Parkrun tourism – any takers?
There’s a notion of doing some parkrun tourism as Saturday sessions (in place of the usual every third Saturday at Brockwell Park). There are 20+ Parkruns within striking distance of Clapham. In principle a schedule would be drawn up of, say, two Parkruns every month, subject to viable logistics and member enthusiasm a car or cars would leave Clapham Common in time to get to the target Parkrun. Note, this will mean an 8ish start and will get earlier as the parks get further away. Any takers?
England Athletics registration for 2015-2016 – IMPORTANT
The annual EAA census of club members is upon us. Please make sure we have all the up-to-date information for your registration by sending – d.o.b., address, e-mail to ClaphamRunners@gmail.com
For data protection please confirm that you are happy for this information to be held by the club.
Marathons and London Marathon ballot 2016 (Advance Notice)
As a club we will have one guaranteed entry for a club runner – it’s names out of a hat in December. A reminder that to be eligible you must:
- Be an active, paid-up member for over six months at the time of the ballot
- Have a rejection letter from the VMLM 2016 public ballot (NEW for this year)
The public ballot entry system for the 2016 London marathon opens on Monday 4th May (time tbc) – last year it closed after < 12 hours, so keep an eye out on the VMLM website for further announcements. In the meantime… less than one month to go for our marathon runners!
- Paris (12th April) – Lucia, Gilly
- Brighton (12th April) – Susan, Ellie
- Manchester (19th April) – Damian (D2)
- London (26th April) – Fi (club place), Angela, Emma B, Imogen, Siobhan, Phil
There was talk at training last night of the Edinburgh Marathon (31st May) and the Islay Marathon (Sept 20th)
Hampton Court Half race report (22nd Feb 2015)
Congrats to all runners at the Hampton Court Half this morning – a cold morning but beautiful blue sky- perfect race conditions. A great course along the Thames, looping round to Kingston and back past Hampton Court Palace to be greeted by none other than Henry VIII himself. Plenty of mud around in the final mile too!
Despite nursing various injuries, all our runners did better than expected – chip times are; Rachel & Phil (2.07.32), Frank (2.06.33), Siobhan (2.12.46 PB), Amanda (1.50.59 PB), Ella (2.01.48 – first half in 13 years!).
UPDATE – read Ella’s blog on the mud, ice and royalty, all part of the 2015 race day experience (click here)
NEWS JUST IN – congratulations to Damian (D2) who ran the Great North West Half Marathon on Feb 22nd also – and finished in an impressive 1.34.20 – holding a 7 minute mile despite gruelling wind and rain along the Blackpool coast, well done!
Christmas 2014 break
We are taking a break from organised sessions over the Christmas period – first sessions back in 2015 are:
- Tuesday 6th Jan, 7.30pm on Clapham Common
- Thursday 8th Jan, 7.30pm at Battersea Park Track
Don’t forget parkrun is still going – see here to find whether and when your local parkrun is on… and good luck to Steve, Frank and Damian who will be working up an appetite on Christmas Day at the Dulwich parkrun!
Club Colours have arrived!
Be the envy of other runners wearing the latest Clapham Runners club kit! The latest order has arrived – all vests, t-shirts and long sleeved t shirts will have the Clapham Runners logo on front and back, at very reasonable prices (around £10 per top) – there are a couple of spares, speak to Frank if you missed the main order.
Club member discount at MoreMiles.co.uk
Club members can now get 30% discount on More Mile kit (club code as sent via email). As well as 30% off for you, using this code gets the club 10% of the spend under the code to use on with more miles on club kit etc.
London Marathon 2015 Club Draw and Christmas Social
Congratulations Fiona! You will be running the Virgin London Marathon 2015 on 26th April for the Clapham Runners. Names were drawn out of the hat at training by our very own coach, Jon Munroe, with a helping hand from Santa’s Little Helper aka Hannah.
Fiona will be joining Siobhan at the start line next year, who won a place through a twitter competition thanks to Pro-Direct Running and Adidas UK. Well done!
If you missed on the main ballot and the club place, there are still two more open competitions (click here – enter by Monday 15th Dec for the VLM/Holiday Inn competition, and click here for the Full Potential competition) – and remember that for the club draw next year, only regular and paid-up members with a VLM 2016 rejection slip will be included in the draw.
Celebrations all round for the post-training Christmas Social part 1 – see our photo gallery – and bring your santa hats next week as well, when we will head to the Mason’s Arms after the last session of 2014
Battersea 10km – race report
Seven Clapham Runners met bright and early on Saturday 29th November to run the final Sri Chimnoy/ Run and Become 10km race of 2014. There was a field of around 400 runners, blue sky and a great atmosphere at the start line. The mild weather helped, and an amazing four PBs from our club runners (the seconds count!)
There was fierce competition for the Women’s Vet 60s trophy, and Serena proudly took second place behind distance running legend Eleanor Robinson.
Finish line photos and finish times available here: http://run.runandbecome.com/event/london-race-10k-291114/
Clapham Runners 