Category: News

London Marathon 2016 – club place

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Congratulations Damian – you are running the London Marathon 2016 for the Clapham Runners! Damian.PNG

There were five names in the hat for this year’s club place, which was drawn after our Thursday session on 12th November – much better odds than the public ballot (some 350,000…!). The Clapham Runners has one guaranteed club place each year – it is names out of a hat. To be eligible for the draw you must have a ballot rejection letter and be a fully paid up, regular member for six months.

Damian joins fellow Clapham Runners next April – Rob, who won his place through the public ballot, Rachel and Ellie who achieved a Good For Age entry, and Emma who won a twitter competition. We’ll be there to cheer you all on!

 

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…

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

Rob ran an amazing marathon up the Inca trail earlier in July. Should we let him off the t-shirt pic for the Inca Trail itself, as the organisers had to keep the finish line in the 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! 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 to 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 Boston 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!). 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

Thames River Relay 2015

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Well done to our two teams who ran in the Thames River Relay this morning – team names Clapham Clappers and Clapham Shufflers. Official results to be posted by The Stragglers and a Clapham Runners blog to follow – watch this space!

It was a bobby dazzler morning for it, and a logistical triumph from Steve and Frank – thank you both for organising. Great fun as a club, and compliments aplenty for our club kit!

The River Relay is a baton relay run over five stages from Windsor to Kingston-upon-Thames, finishing at the Hawker Centre. Teams must be mixed and include at least one lady, plus a second lady or a vet man, each runner takes a stage between 4.4 and 6.5 miles. All proceeds go to the nominated charity of the winning teams – prizes both for the first team back, and the team closest to their predicted finish times. This is a regular fixture for the Clapham Runners – see our pictures from last year here.

Thames River Relay Sept 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 →

10th birthday picnic

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Beautiful afternoon on the common with the Clapham Runners on Saturday 4th July – plenty of food to go around, the Calling festival for background music, and great to enjoy a relaxing afternoon in the sun with runners, friends and family. Happy birthday to us! More pictures over on our gallery.

Clapham Runners 10th birthday picnic, 4th July 15
Clapham Runners 10th birthday picnic, 4th July 15
Clapham Runners 10th birthday picnic, 4th July 15
Clapham Runners 10th birthday picnic, 4th July 15
It’s our 10th birthday!

It’s our 10th birthday!

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The Clapham Runners is 10 – and to celebrate all Clapham Runners past, present and future are invited to a celebratory afternoon picnic on Saturday 4th July. Partners and children also invited. Bring your Clapham Runners t-shirt for a group photo! RSVP to claphamrunners@gmail.com

10th birthday balloonMarker: Clapham Runners – Teardrop banner + Gazebo from about 1.15pm

Food: Bring something  three others will want to share – or more if you are happy to take excess away
Drink: Soft – BYO. Harder stuff available at the Windmill of course

Parking: In demand but possible on Windmill Drive – try Narbonne Avenue (across Clapham Common Southside).

Entertainment: Silly games/races encouraged – bring any accessories/equipment required – children (of all ages) might enjoy the playground but it gets crowded.
Weather outlook : Current forecast 25ºC sunny periods but 14mph SW wind.

(Member blog post) Boston’s Run to Remember, May 2015

siocfitz

The IMG_0527Clapham Runners have gone international recently with Steve setting his half PB in New Zealand, and Emma running the Stockholm Marathon (PB again!). I’d already booked my holiday to Boston for the last week of May when I found out the 11th Run to Remember was on… so it was my turn to take the new Clapham Runners vest for a run! I’d arrived in Boston the night before the race, and thought I was crazy to set the alarm for 4.30am on the first day of my holiday. Not the ideal race preparation, so I knew I was running this one for fun and photos, not for a time – and I LOVED it! Read more →

(Member blog post) Our first marathon in Paris!

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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, I’ll never know, but it did. Fast forward a year in which I’d done a 10K and a half marathon, and I’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 →