I think it might be time to say we are back, consistently back!
We’ve loved seeing those familiar faces back after our lockdown hiatus and welcoming new smiling faces to our team.
Thursdays on Clapham Common 7pm
We’ve been hardy through the rain and been making the most of the sunshine, running together again and ultimately enjoying each other’s company.
Tuesdays at Battersea track 8pm
If you are looking for some friendly faces to keep your motivation ticking over, be with a group as the evenings draw in, build some speed or strength, or just enjoy some friendly company then pop along to one of our sessions and see if you like it.
The 40th London Marathon was certainly different, an unsupported solo event thanks to Covid and my slowest, soggiest, most socially isolated so far. I had 24 hours to complete it so what’s an hour or two? The official app shows 14:47:40 and an active time of 5:31. I can’t argue with either even if my tracker doesn’t agree.
Orage Alex forced a rethink on my ‘Here to Shere’ route which would have ended with a pub lunch with friends. Instead I opted, starting at midnight, for London streets under ‘lockdown’ with foxes, the homeless and the occasional addled group up to something nefarious. One ghostly trainer footprint on a dry stretch of pavement but not a single other runner – after all who else would be crazy enough to run a marathon distance in the dark and rain?
Ready….…and go!
Out into the night True to the forecast it rained throughout the 24 hours. Dodging standing water added hazard, time and distance, especially facing the torrents and pooled water on stairs in the dark to cross the bridges between Battersea and Tower and back (17 times in all). Ankle deep puddles almost had me sending for the Lifeboats.
Prune-like at 4:30am and 33km later I needed a hot shower. With my clothes set to drain I was ready for bed but my legs didn’t let me sleep. To leave something on the plate was the plan as it hadn’t been my intention to complete the distance in one go – I lacked the strength of will anyway That might have been a better plan for my legs though. Still raining at 2:00pm Geoffrey came out to support me for stage 2 and we ran the remaining distance ‘doodling’ or dawdling round Clapham Common. There were plenty more virtual marathon runners around in daylight.
Setting out for stage 2 & the last 800m
*Fund raising for charities is an essential part of the London Marathon as it is the largest single money raising event/day worldwide. This year’s cancellation meant that charities rely on this virtual event. Please think about giving generously to the RNLI or to your preferred charity to boost their activities. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Frank-Elston1
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 →
When September arrives it brings a lease of life and motivation to get back to routine after a long (not so much in 2019) summer of fun.
We are currently on the look out for new members due to a couple of people heading away on their travels to explore and take Clapham Runners abroad.
If you are looking for a relaxed team to join, who will support your winter training and then on into summer, come and give our sessions a little trial, first few sessions are commitment/money free, see full details have a look at the try our sessions or membership pages.
A busy July for Clapham Runners near and far, our July round up takes us from local parkrun milestones to international ultras and everything in between.
Marie-Anne completed her 200th parkrun, celebrating this milestone at our local Tooting parkrun complete with Kieran’s famous Guinness cake and Tooting Common parkrun friends.
The Clapham Runners does have one guaranteed club place – it is names out of a hat in December. To be eligible for the draw you MUST have a ballot rejection letter and be a fully paid up, regular member for six months.
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) – 4:16 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
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 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.
Clapham Runners entered two teams for the Thames River Relay, an annual baton relay 26.2 mile race around Kingston and Surrey. It was a great team effort from both the reds and the greens, finishing 19th and 30th from the 51 teams taking part – and a brilliant day out! Huge thanks to Frank and Steve for organising so that we were at the finish line to see our teams finish!
Clapham Runners 