Category: marathon

November & December

November & December

claphamrunners

Winter well and truly hit our Tuesday sessions, we did prevail… possibly one week our smallest ever captured on camera Katy, Jarred & Rob showing full commitment!

Over in Athens temperatures were kind to Anneka getting her sub-4 at Athens Marathon, ft. Super fan helping the motivation at the finish line šŸ™ŒšŸ„‡

Emma was also back on it with a 10km race in November with friends

Ken travelled further afield to join the Tribe Run for Love team in the Azores, a half marathon up and around a volcano… that’s a new one! Well done.

December brought us the run up to Christmas and still finding time to fit in our training… we even got fed on our final session Jon’s suet soup!

 

Rob hit all the right notes not trading in training for festivities and completed Advent Running, being active everyday through to Christmas šŸ™Œ

Rob was also selected in the club London Marathon Ballot so another name to cheer come April!

Towards the end of the month Ken hit 2019 in 2019 to break his 2018 mileage record, what can be achieved in 2020?!

And best of all 2 of our Clapham Runners Abroad team met up for New Year in Sydney. Our Clapham Runners Abroad team continues to grow. Cheers to Rachel & Steph, stay safe downunder!

A very happy new year to everyone.

October round up

October round up

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Ken hitting the 1,500km for 2019 so far keeping him on course for hitting 2,000km for the year šŸ˜€. Great work Ken!

…also showing up best dressed to our Thursday track sessions… is a suit shirt going to help your speed…???

A very well done to Kim who is keeping up the running since moving out to Bristol, Pb @ Cardiff half, still representing in the Clapham Runners kit!

October brings us the London Marathon ballot results… the Clapham Runners 2020 team is looking strong with Phoebe, Tom W, Frank, Marikje, Jessica, Damian, Ellie all securing places.  A couple of rejections received, however there is still the opportunity for members to claim a place through the club ballot… watch this space!

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Kieran hit a great milestone of 200 parkruns, the team joined him at Tooting to cheer him round and cover the line to double that 100 and now he can claim his next milestone t-shirt!

We had a huge weekend in the middle of the month of Marathon running, Emma – headed up to York for the Yorkshire Marathon,

George nipped across to Amsterdam

…..and Rob over to sunny Lisbon

Building up the distances for Azores in November Ken completed the Royal Parks Half on a damp and drizzly Sunday in London, a twisty, turny, muddy affair taking in some great landmarks and what an excellent medal!

As a club we love to support our local parkrun events, with members being involved in our local Tooting & Clapham Common parkruns since their conception.  In October we took up our positions and organised a volunteering take-over at Tooting offering our bit back to what this excellent event provides us week in week out, as we are a small club we brought in some friends of Clapham Runners to bulk our numbers for a great morning of cheering and giving our bit back.

October was a month where we’ve had to say a reluctant farewell to one of our longest standing members and most reliable Thursday track attendee… Hannah has now moved on up t’north, we hope you find a lovely club to keep up the running once you are settled in. As her final Thursday act she managed to get the illusive John out to the pub for a drink after the track session šŸ‘

We have also said goodbye for now to Steph, as she heads away on her travelling adventures, keep us posted on your running, another member of the Clapham Runners Abroad club!

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We are always happy to welcome new members to our friendly group, and in October we say hello to Katy & Jessica who have joined our team.

If you were lucky in the London Marathon ballot and want to improve your running, or are just looking for some company and motivation on these darker nights, drop us an e-mail or just turn up and say hello at either of our sessions to see what you think.

Well done everyone on a busy October, now for recovery and jumping head first into November!

September Round up

September Round up

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A very busy September for a number of our Runners, starting on the first Sunday of the month for Rob, running for Kebabs and rolling all the way through to the final Sunday of the month with half marathons for our runners, well it is known as sunday runday! Read more →

London Marathon 2017 club place

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Congratulations Frank, you are running for Clapham Runners at the London Marathon on 23 April 2017 – we will be there to cheer you on! Drawn by coach, Jon Munroe, and Santa’s little helper Hannah, at the track session on Thursday 8th December. Let the marathon training begin!

Frank is joining a couple of other club members at the start line – Niamh has a charity place for the Teenage Cancer Trust, Rob has carried forward his ballot place from 2016…who else will be running?

Clapham Runners, as a registered Athletics Club with England Athletics, can apply for a guaranteed entry for one of its members. As a member benefit, your name can go in the hat. This year only two members applied for the club place – so the odds are much, much higher than the main ballot!

Congratulations Frank! Winner of the CR club place for the London Marathon 2016, pictured with coach Jon and Santa’s helped Hannah
Gathered round in anticipation of the London Marathon draw December 2016

Damian storms the Comrades Marathon in 10h22m

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Congratulations to Damian who completed the gruelling 56 mile Comrades Ultra Marathon on Sunday 29th May in 10h22m26s, to raise money for Mind:Ā http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DamianIngs

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A huge achievement and a hard-earned finisher’s medal. Fantastic! Well done from all of us!!

Described as the greatest ultra marathon in the world, the South African race runs betweenĀ the capital of the Kwazulu-Natal province, Pietermaritzburg, and the coastal city of Durban, the race alternates annually between the “up run” from Durban and the “down run” from Pietermaritzburg. Luckily 2016 was a ‘down’ year!

Some 22,000 runners started the race, with a strict 12 hour cut-off. A new course record was set this year by David Gateba in 5h18m19s.

Read more:

 

 

 

Spring Marathon round up 2016

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Congratulations to all runners in the Paris, Manchester and London Marathons.Ā Send us your pictures – and tell us your race day experiences on the blog. Well done all!

  • ParisĀ 3rd April – Amanda (3h57m48s)
  • Manchester 10th April – Matt (3h32 – huge PB!) and James (3h20m03s – first time marathon runner!)
  • London 24th April – Damian (3h21m46s), Ellie (3h22m56s – another huge PB!), Jonathan (4h05m59s) and Emma (4h59m35s)
Emma B, 4h59 in London Marathon
James B, 3h20 in the Manchester Marathon
Jonathan M-S, 4h05 in the London Marathon
Mandy, 3h57 in the Paris Marathon

 

The ballot for the 2017 London Marathon is open Monday 2nd May – Friday 6th May 5pm. Put your name in the hat here!

https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/how-to-enter/ballot-entry/Ā 

Some of our faster runners may qualify for a ‘Good for Age’ or ‘Championship’ place in the London Marathon. Check here:Ā https://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/en-gb/how-to-enter/good-age-entry/

Remember that to be eligible for the draw for the Clapham Runners’ club place in next year’s marathon, you need to be a paid up member of the club for 6 months, and have proof of rejection from the main ballot.

Clapham Runners go international – updated

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Never a dull moment for the Clapham Runners members for the 2015 ‘how far can the t-shirt travel’ competition. Niamh, who competed in the Singapore triathlon last weekend, just pips Rob to the post with 6,740 miles – but both have worn the shirt more than 6,000 miles away!

BREAKING NEWS (3/8/15) – photographic evidence of a new winner of the t-shirt furthest travelled has emerged… there’s no catching Steve now! 11,700 miles is the distance to beat…

Siobhan at the Boston Half Marathon finish, May 2015
Niamh at the Singapore tri, 25th July 15
French Riviera Relay Marathon, Cannes November 2015
Rob at the Inca Trail finish line, July 2015
Lucia and Gilly at the Paris Marathon start, April 2015

Rob ranĀ an amazing marathonĀ up the Inca trail earlier in July. Should we let him off the t-shirt picĀ for the Inca Trail itself, as the organisers had to keep the finish line in theĀ World Heritage Machu Picchu low key? Although he does lead in the highest ascent the shirt has travelled – 6,438m at the summit of Illimani!Ā Read his blog here. Massive well done from all of us here, he barely acknowledges in the blog, but Rob had a serious injury only 2 months before the race, where he had to get to walking again, before building back up toĀ 60km training runs with a pack – full credit to Jon and John. Talk about determination. If we do prizes at the end of the year, here’s a serious contender.

Back in May, Siobhan sported the Clapham t-shirt at the BostonĀ half-marathon (read her blog here), and Steve set his new half marathon PB in New Zealand in February wearing club colours. A group of four club runners set off for a South of France adventure in November, running the Nice to Cannes French Riviera Relay Marathon. And not forgetting spring marathon season – Lucia and Gilly ran their first marathon in Paris this April, read their blog here, and Emma’s been running in San Fran and Stockholm (blogs encouraged!).Ā T-shirts next time though…

The leaderboard so far (according to www.mapcrow.info):

  • Steve – Wanaka, New Zealand, 11,740 miles, April 2015
  • Niamh – Singapore, 6,740 miles, July 2015
  • Rob – Illimani, Bolivia, 6,210 miles, July 2015 – but at a height of 6,438m!
  • Siobhan – Boston, 3,269 miles, May 2015
  • Joint entry – Amanda, Emma, Niamh and Siobhan – Nice, 638 miles, November 2015

(Member blog post) Machu Picchu Marathon

robertwatsonmrics

RobInca

The traditional Inca Trail runs from km88 to Machu Picchu and is about 18miles long and trekking groups complete the trail in three and a half days. The marathon adds circa 8 miles to the traditional trail in the form of two 6km loops to make up the full distance.

Two key cut-off times are imposed on the race, firstly, to complete the first 6km loop in 1hr and, secondly, to get to the control gate at Machu Picchu national park (approx 36km) by 10hr15 – not getting to the gate by this time would mean camping overnight and completing the race the following day. Read more →

(Member blog post) Our first marathon in Paris!

getmeoutoflondon

luciaandmeBefore

My running addiction began in the last month of 2013, with a Christmas charity run. How enduring the pain of doing laps of Battersea Park in a felt santa claus costume, sweating into a cotton wool beard ever inspired me to get into running, Iā€™ll never know, but it did. Fast forward a year in which I’d done a 10K and a half marathon, and Iā€™d signed up to run a whole marathon in Paris.

I was more petrified than excited to run my first marathon. To reassure myself I decided to seek out a local running club. It was 4 degrees and blowing a gale the night of my first session at Clapham runners club at Battersea Park track. To my surprise I met a group of people whose warmth and friendliness was at complete odds with the freezing cold conditions that evening. Training with Clapham Runners helped me in the lead up to the marathon in two ways. Read more →

London and Manchester Marathons 2015

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LondonĀ Marathon – Sunday 26th April 2015

Congratulations to all our runners on Sunday – the cheering team were down at miles 14 and 21. Perfect running conditions – not for spectators though. Thank goodness the weather forecast of Thursday/Friday proved wrong.

Results are in:

  • Phil – 3:40 – Getting faster toward the end
  • Angela – 4:12 Negative splits – second half 6 minutes faster – that needs real strength! Fundraising for NSPCC
  • Fiona (F1) – 4:16Ā  Oh those last miles took their toll
  • Emma – 4:38 We can’t have been there to cheer you through the tough final miles. Fundraising for Mind
  • Imogen – 4:46 (sub 4:30 next stop ā€¦) you can do it. Fundraising for Contact A Family
  • Siobhan – 5:00:55 So close

The first race report is up on our blog hereĀ and the official reports are coming in. Well done all!

Manchester Marathon – Sunday 19th April 2015

Congratulations Damian (D2) – an amazing 3.24 PB! Read D2’s race report on our blog here.