The Stragglers Running Club News Articles

Club Places in the 2023 London Marathon

Simon Webb — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 19:03:30 +0000

Stragglers have three places in the 2023 London Marathon, taking place on Sunday 23rd April. We are, as we’ve done before, holding a draw for these places and this year it will be made at Bushy Park Sports Club on the evening of Thursday 15th December.

To enter you need to have been rejected from October’s public ballot, be an England Athletics registered first claim member of the Stragglers, and have run in selected races and or volunteered at club events throughout 2022. See the full list of qualifying activity here, which includes cross-country, relays and marshalling at club organised races.

If you meet the criteria please email club secretary Dave Griffiths on secretary@stragglers.org, with your proof of rejection and telling us how you qualify for the draw. Deadline is 6pm on Thursday 15th December. Please note, either you or someone on your behalf must attend the draw.

40th Anniversary and Awards Evening

Alan Mawdsley — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 20:34:09 +0000

Please join us to celebrate the achievements of our club and runners at our annual awards bash on Saturday 19th November, 7:00pm-11:30pm at Bushy Park Sports Club.

We will have special guests in attendance to celebrate and mark the 40th anniversary of The Stragglers Running Club and awards will cover the Winter and Summer Grands Prix from the past year as well as the Club Handicap and Little Feet.

Tickets are priced at £15 which includes a welcome drink and two-course dinner. There will be a cash bar, socialising as well as music & dancing for those who wish to party! Click the link below to order tickets and see how to pay.

Please RSVP here.

An Evening with Richard Nerurkar

Alan Mawdsley — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 17:38:36 +0100

A Q&A with Richard Nerurkar and launch of the Cabbage Patch 10 Race 2022
7pm-8pm, Wednesday 5 October at the Cabbage Patch Pub, Twickenham

Please join us at The Cabbage Patch Pub at 7pm on 5th October for a special event with Richard Nerurkar and launch of this year’s Cabbage Patch 10 race.

We are honoured to have Richard in attendance who will be interviewed before a Q&A session. Richard currently holds the men’s UK 10-mile road race record of 46 minutes 2 seconds which he ran in 1993 at the Cabbage Patch 10.

There is no event charge but please complete this sign-up sheet if you plan to attend. The Q&A session will be held in the marquee, on the right hand side of the pub.

This year’s race is now sold out, but it’s not too late to sign up to volunteer on Sunday 16th October. All volunteers will be offered lunch and a drink at the Patch pub after, as well as a race t-shirt. Register here and Keith Haworth will be in touch with further details.

Richard winning the IAAF Marathon World Cup run in San Sebastián 2 weeks after his record-breaking Cabbage Patch 10 run.

Round Norfolk Relay Race Report

Simon Webb — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 17:18:18 +0100

197 miles. 17 stages. 22nd place out of 53 teams. 26 hours 36 seconds. 1 memorable weekend. Stragglers Round Norfolk Relay in numbers, but numbers only tell a fraction of the story.

Round Norfolk is unlike other weekend relays we enter, in that it is a baton carrying race. Instead of having everyone start together and the field split within the first few miles fastest runners never to be seen again, teams are set off over a number of hours, with the aim of bunching up around the course and, in theory, finishing within an hour of each other on Sunday morning. First runners left Kings Lynn at 5:30 am, with the predicted fastest team at 1pm. Half the field were running by 7:30, meaning Stragglers set off midway through the pack.

The calm, bright sunny morning at race HQ gave little indication of the tough conditions the Saturday runners would have to contend with. We experienced first-hand why wind farms form a line out to sea, for Kevin Price was the first of several to battle the elements as he powered through 16.32 miles, passing the many floral tributes to the Queen at the gates of Sandringham, out along the beautiful Norfolk coastline, and mingling with a local parkrun in the final mile. His supportive teammates sheltered from the chilly wind in a great café at the Hunstanton changeover point. Nick Little was next off, his supportive teammates making hard work of helping him negotiate course diversions. In truth we’d have been better leaving him too it as his was another excellent run over 13.75 miles.

Nicole Hambling overcame hamstring concerns and getting lost in some woods to hand the baton over to Helen Davies. Leg 4 is another challenging off-road stage of 11 miles, still on the coast it’s not easy for team support, but Helen’s pre-race research proved valuable as the baton was handed to 20-appearance man Phil Davies with our team close to expected arrival time. Phil’s vast RNR experience shone through as he too rose to the challenge of off-road and fierce winds, mostly resisting the temptation to admire local birdlife. Other members of the team could not resist the pasties while waiting for Phil in Cromer.

Still in one piece after Comrades three weeks earlier, Dean Morley secured our highest place across the weekend of 7th on leg 6. Marathon preparation for Kelly Page rewarded us with a strong performance on leg 7, by now we had made up ground on several clubs who’d started earlier which gave exciting competition on stages which can be quite lonely with the handicap start meaning participants are still widespread.

During daylight hours cyclists support many runners. Stuart Hambling covered the first few stages by bike and put his running shoes on for leg 8. Supported by Helen on the bike he worked through the field picking off five other teams, creating great morale amongst Stragglers as nightfall approached. By now we’ve been joined by Andy Howarth to provide non-running support overnight. For the next few stages, all runners must be accompanied by a vehicle and without people such as Andy, this trip simply could not happen.

Norfolk Relay by night is a special experience. It’s why those of us who love this event keep coming back for more. It sees the longest stages as the course leaves the coast, following the Norfolk/Suffolk border for mile after mile of excellent quality road running. The buzz at each changeover is electric, with teams passing through at increasing regularity. Malcolm Davies was the first to head off into the dark, with added excitement of roadworks and bridge construction in Great Yarmouth to negotiate. At 7pm, so part way through Malcolm’s stage, the bike is withdrawn, and Andy and Pedro begin the first of several shifts tracking runners, alternating through the night with the team minibus.

Next up is Dave Sayers on leg 10, one of many heroes of the weekend for he drove up from Kingston on Saturday afternoon to complete 18 miles, returning in the early hours to join a Sunday morning paintballing trip with a kids’ rugby team. There was a fair degree of pessimism among the night crew about what pace they would run. Both Malcolm and Dave outperformed pre-race expectation, as did Ian Hawkes on leg 11. Ian crossed the midnight threshold stepping up to a distance further than his current comfort zone and by now, we’re ahead of expected arrival time.

Each of the weekend relays we enter has it’s ‘name up in lights’ stage. Lullingstone to Tattsfield in Green Belt, Drovers in Welsh Castles. Add to this the 12th stage of Norfolk Relay, 19.6 miles setting off around 1am. Neil Carrington joined this particular hall of fame with a fantastic run.

Leg 13, a wonderful half marathon that wiggles through Thetford Forest in the early hours of Sunday morning, is my favourite part of the relay. There was extra excitement for me this year as I had needed to reach out to members of the Norfolk Relay Facebook group to recruit a guide runner. A superstar called Rosie from a Cambridge club volunteered. For various reasons our attempt at a practise run never happened, meaning the first time we met was less than 10 minutes before Neil put the now very sticky baton in my hand. An experienced guide, it turned out Rosie was faster than I’d realised which made for an exhilarating, if painful, run. By the time the baton reached Ramona at the gates of the Feltwell Airbase we were further ahead of schedule.

While Ramona was having an ever-reliable run, there was drama within the team bus. The realisation that Stuart may not make the 6:45 am time for a bike to take over from Andy’s car, meant that moments after saying she couldn’t imagine running at this time, Helen was preparing to get back on her bike. Meanwhile some miscommunication with Pedro (I think some of us dozed off) and Ramona was on him with baton in hand sooner than he expected. The fun didn’t stop there with concern Rachel Simpson’s transport from the hotel may not arrive in time, we were preparing to use our emergency substitute. The look on Andy Howarth’s face when we told him he might need to put his running kit on, confirmed this was not the news he’d been hoping to hear.

Pedro ran well being the last runner out not to have had any sleep. Having arrived with plenty of time to spare and accusing us (mostly me) of trying to pull some sort of new runner initiation prank on her, Rachel too ran a great leg. It remained for Richard Baggot to carry the baton home and, despite running an extra mile somewhere, he finished high up the field. With the welcoming prospect of another full English in Kings Lynn and we were done. A top half finish a very creditable performance.

Round Norfolk Relay is an adventure as much as a race. It challenges us in ways other events do not. It relies on teamwork and great spirit, both of which we had in spades this year. There is already enthusiasm to return in 2023.

The team: Kevin Price, Nick Little, Nicole Hambling, Helen Davies, Phil Davies, Dean Morley, Kelly Page, Stuart Hambling, Malcolm Davies, Dave Sayers, Ian Hawkes, Neil Carrington, Simon Webb (with Rosie Lindsay), Ramona Thevenet, Pedro Das Gupta, Rachel Simpson and Richard Baggot.

Cyclists: Stuart Hambling and Helen Davies.

First class driving support: Andy Howarth.

Explore more, here are the full results from the Round Norfolk Relay and this Youtube video follows one team (not us) around the full course.

Endurance Event Documentary

Alan Mawdsley — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 12:31:06 +0100

Aidan Watts, who sent the email below, is looking for people who are relative novices at endurance events and would like to be the subject of a film documentary about their preparation and the actual event. If you are interested in participating, please contact Aidan directly.

==============================================================================

From: Aidan Watts

Sent: 21 Sep 2022 18:47

Topic: General enquiry

Contact email address: aidan.watts15@gmail.com Contact phone number: 07784493891

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you to offer your members an opportunity to be a part of a documentary that I am producing. I am a third year student at University Centre of Football Businesses (UCFB) in Wembley, studying Sports Business and Sports Broadcasting. Instead of a traditional dissertation, I have to produce a documentary.

I am looking for a main subject who is aiming to complete an endurance event, such as an ultra-marathon in the first quarter of 2023. I will be following them as they train for the event and be there on event day as their journey comes to an end. For the participant, the finished documentary will be a unique memory they can look back upon each year, who can say they've had a documentary made after them? Ideally this person will be completing this event as a novice to endurance sport, however people who have done 1 or 2 endurance events before will be considered. The candidate can identify as any gender, be any age (as long as they are over the age of 18) and be willing to be recorded/interviewed as part of the documentary. The candidate may still be looking for an endurance event or have already signed up for one, either is okay for me.

If you could kindly share this email with you members, I would be grateful. If candidates that are interested could contact me by replying to this email with their full name, age, gender, experience level with endurance sports and a contact number I would be highly appreciative.

I look forward to hearing back from you,

Kind regards,

Aidan

Simon Shanks RIP

Simon Webb — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 19:47:10 +0100

**Update 10.10.2022**

Thank you to everyone who joined the tribute run for Simon Shanks. We're now also able to share the funeral details:

Celebrating the Life of

Simon Joseph Shanks

1962-2022

October 18th, 2022 at 2:45pm

Kingston Crematorium

Bonner Hill Road, KT1 3EZ

The Stragglers were extremely sad to hear of the untimely death of one of our members, Simon Shanks.

Simon was a committed and determined runner and was due to run the London Marathon – his sixth marathon and first in London, so this news has come as a real shock.

We send our deepest condolences to Simon’s family, friends and loved ones.

Please do reach out to other members of the club if you feel you need to at this time.

Simon was running the London Marathon for The Purple Elephant Project. They ‘provide support for children and their families affected by attachment, developmental trauma or life experiences. Through specialist therapeutic services such as Play Therapy, we work to transform lives; enabling children to reach their full potential and a brighter future.’

Do take a look at his JustGiving page if you feel able to support this cause.

If you are unable to attend the funeral service, details for a Webcast of the service are given below: -

Watching webcast live and watch-again:-

Website: https://watch.obitus.com

Username: wije0488

Password: 115672

You will be able to view the live webcast approximately 5 minutes before the service starts, which is at 3pm. Please be aware the service is in a public building and earlier services may overrun. Please use your discretion should you see activities unrelated to the service celebrating Simon's life.

In advance of the service, we strongly recommend you log in to the site and test your internet connection.

Volunteers Needed for the Cabbage Patch 10

Simon Webb — Sun, 11 Sep 2022 19:53:13 +0100

The Cabbage Patch 10 returns on Sunday October 16th and we need your help to ensure the day runs smoothly. The event is an important part of the Stragglers year, bringing a much-loved and exciting race to the streets of Twickenham and surrounding areas. It’s a hugely enjoyable day to be a part of, with volunteers receiving lunch and a drink in the Cabbage Patch pub afterwards, plus this year the tshirts are back and every volunteer will be given one of these too.

Roles are mostly course marshalling, with help at the start/finish and at water stations also required. You’ll be required from around 8 am and be stood down from between 11 am and 12 pm depending on job.

Please sign up here and help us continue to make the on-the-street support one of the reasons runners keep coming back.

Surrey League Seeks Treasurer

Simon Webb — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 08:54:25 +0100

One of the most popular parts of the running calendar is the Surrey League cross-country season, and the organising committee (made up of members of several clubs) behind these races is looking to fill a key position - Treasurer!.

The initial period is to the AGM in April/May 2023. The principal tasks are as follows:

1. To email all 40+ clubs in the League an invoice in Aug/Sept. Ensuring all monies are received by 30 Sept. Most clubs pay by BACS, only 2 clubs paid by cheque in 2021.

2. Make payments by BACS - around 15 in 2021/22.

3. Attend committee meetings, normally only one per year on Zoom.

4. Prepare annual accounts for the League and present to the AGM at Belgrave Hall.

Points 1. and 2. are the most time consuming although neither are particularly onerous.

If interested or for further information, contact the acting Treasurer, Roy Reeder at royreeder@hotmail.com

Welsh Castles Relay Race Report

Simon Webb — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 22:25:13 +0100

“What a weekend that was,” the words of Club Captain Phil Davies at the end of another epic journey from North to South Wales.

The Welsh Castles Relay has been a much-loved fixture in the Stragglers calendar since as far back as the 1980s. So as the Covid cancellations kept on rolling past, Wales feeling them more than most, the return trip was something we were keenly looking forward to. The three year gap has seen a number of new faces join the club, and it was brilliant to welcome nine first timers. That they’re among the ones making the most noise about wanting to do this all again is extremely encouraging.

I however am writing this report from a slightly detached position. A brush with non-Covid illness meant that Phil and Kevin Price had to stand in for me as team leaders over the weekend. Luckily I was our final reserve so there were no last-minute dramas in team selection, but did have to follow the race via the excellent WCR online results service. Sadly no ice-cream stops on North Wales beaches for me.

One of the reasons we love this race is that it gives our athletes the opportunity to test themselves against top quality opposition. The Stragglers secured 29th place in an extremely competitive field of 55 teams. The team was in safe hands with Julie Holmes on leg 1 followed by debutant Kelly Page, one of a few who was backing up running in the Green Belt Relay with a visit to Wales. Should there be some sort of prize for anyone who goes for the triple-header and also comes to the Round Norfolk Relay in September?

Welsh Castles has six mountain stages and I felt slightly mean sending Abu-Turab Bharwana up the first, but we’ve a weird way of rewarding those who are running well. On leg 4 Sarah Kinsella achieved one of a number of top 20 finishes. Danny Glebocki on 5 finished an impressive 15th. It was great to welcome Tiago Ramos back who delivered a top half spot on leg 6.

Arguably the run of the weekend came from Filip Egierszdorff on the next mountain leg. 7 sees a brutal climb and is one where clubs with strength in depth for mountaineers pick their strong runners. So for Filip to come 15th (having driven up that morning) deserves particular praise.

Next up was Ollie Bowers, always one of the great characters on any Stragglers trip, and a reliable mid-field finish too. Then Roy Reeder secured a top 10 finish and a Vet stage win and, in doing so, completed his 19th different Welsh Castles stage in 19 appearances.

Day 1 was rounded off by Sarah Winter on another of the mountain legs, only this time spurred on by an army of Straggler marshals as each team takes a turn at supporting the race with this important work.

Saturday night in the Dragon hotel was by all accounts an excellent evening, with much consumption of apple crumble by our team of hungry runners and travellers.

As well as planning the on-the-trip logistical tweaks, Phil Davies drew the short straw of the 7 am on Sunday morning mountain leg and gave us a typically durable run. Simon Brazil ran well on 12 but was eclipsed by a number of fast V50s, for this was the leg chosen for the 2022 Jeff Wood Memorial stage. Awarded to the first over 50 on a different nominated stage each year, in tribute to Les Croupiers (organising club) founder member Jeff Wood who collapsed and died near the finish of leg 1 in 1998.

Day 2 was really rolling now as Ian Riley secured our second top 10 finish with another of a number of fine debut performances. Then it was Kevin Price’s turn to join the Drovers Hall of Fame, the mighty mountain stage not for the faint hearted.

Down the other side and Maddie Garner ran to a female stage win on a near half marathon leg which has it’s own sting in the tail with a hill close to the finish line. This leads on to the final mountain leg taken on by Nick Little, both an injury doubt and one of our valued drivers for the weekend, so a full-dimentional debut here, top work!

While Nick was running one of our two mini buses was struggling through traffic on a single track road to get Lex Prince to her stage. Arriving with one minute to spare, making her top 20 finish worth particular note. The stages come thick and fast into Cardiff from here with our final debutant Tracey Lenthall running well on 18, followed by short notice substitute Tom Howarth on 19. The value of the reserve very much seen here. It was left for Laurence Duffy to carry the non-baton home on one of the most competitive stages of the weekend.

In addition to the runners listed I’d like to thank Dean Morely and Hilary Davies who travelled and supported the team despite not running.

These trips are a mighty effort by all concerned, but also a brilliant experience and it’s clear those who made it to Wales this year had a memorable weekend. Thoughts are already turning to how we can build on this in 2023 and we’re currently keen to hear from people willing to come forward to take on the organisation. If you would like to know more or think this is a role for you, please email simonwebb79@gmail.com.

Junior Handicap PJ's Fundraiser

Alan Mawdsley — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 14:59:34 +0100

Massive congratulations to everybody involved with the Junior Handicap PJ's run in raising £195 for the Princess Alice Hospice....

...and here's one of our Juniors putting the FUN into Fundraising!