V
S Update - 30 July 2018
- Results from Eccup, Danefield,
Methley, West Yorks T&F, Golden Acre, Washburn, Bramham, Leeds 10k, Castle Howard
- Race report from Mount Eiger
NB for training sessions see Facebook or the
website
If you have problems reading this, you can
find it at www.valleystriders.org.uk/up180730.htm
RESULTS
Eccup Junior Races
1
mile
2 |
Luke Mackreth |
06:09 |
M |
4 |
9 |
Ben Shenderey |
06:29 |
M |
4 |
10 |
Toby Walker |
06:30 |
M |
5 |
13 |
Joseph Whitehouse |
06:43 |
M |
4 |
14 |
Michael Fotherby |
06:43 |
M |
3 |
16 |
Abigail Kingston |
06:47 |
F |
4 |
20 |
Daniel Fotherby |
06:59 |
M |
5 |
22 |
Oliver Lubiecki |
07:04 |
M |
4 |
24 |
Ripley Barclay |
07:05 |
M |
5 |
25 |
Joshua Holt |
07:06 |
M |
3 |
26 |
George Nancolas |
07:09 |
M |
-4 |
32 |
Lyba Malik |
07:15 |
F |
6 |
37 |
Rebecca Kingston |
07:35 |
F |
2 |
41 |
Darcey Mollitt |
08:03 |
F |
3 |
44 |
Lily Sadler |
08:09 |
F |
3 |
45 |
Alice Bonner |
08:11 |
F |
3 |
58 |
Lily-Mae Pratt |
09:16 |
F |
3 |
2 miles
3 |
Jamie Walker |
12:01 |
M |
7 |
5 |
Tom Mackreth |
12:54 |
M |
8 |
6 |
Tally Diamond |
13:13 |
F |
8 |
10 |
Josephine Pawley |
13:41 |
F |
7 |
16 |
Sam Mackreth |
17:19 |
M |
7 |
Eccup
10
Pos |
Name |
Chip
time |
GP pts |
Gun
time |
Cat |
Cat pos |
Yorkshire vets |
1 |
John Hobbs |
00:55:16 |
100 |
0:55:17 |
M40 |
1/78 |
|
5 |
Daryl Hibberd |
00:58:52 |
99 |
0:58:54 |
MSEN |
2/131 |
|
27 |
Paul Fotherby |
01:04:20 |
98 |
1:04:23 |
M40 |
7/78 |
|
35 |
James Tarran |
01:05:46 |
97 |
1:05:49 |
M50 |
2/59 |
Silver |
43 |
Joel Giddings |
01:06:23 |
96 |
1:06:30 |
M45 |
5/64 |
|
49 |
Alex Nancolas |
01:07:44 |
94 |
1:07:49 |
MSEN |
26/131 |
|
51 |
Ian Sanderson |
01:07:37 |
95 |
1:07:50 |
M45 |
6/64 |
|
120 |
Matt Carter |
01:14:15 |
93 |
1:14:44 |
MSEN |
53/131 |
|
127 |
Iain Currie |
01:14:51 |
92 |
1:15:06 |
M50 |
14/59 |
|
145 |
Ken Fox |
01:15:57 |
91 |
1:16:09 |
M55 |
7/34 |
|
148 |
Joe Hanney |
01:16:05 |
90 |
1:16:19 |
M45 |
16/64 |
|
176 |
Leroy Sutton |
01:18:19 |
88 |
1:18:23 |
M60 |
4/15 |
|
177 |
Steph Gledhill |
01:18:04 |
89 |
1:18:24 |
F40 |
8/79 |
|
204 |
Alex Watson-Usher |
01:19:35 |
87 |
1:20:03 |
FSEN |
11/82 |
|
214 |
Mike Robins |
01:20:16 |
86 |
1:20:34 |
M55 |
14/34 |
|
265 |
Chloe Hudson |
01:23:32 |
85 |
1:23:35 |
F35 |
9/56 |
|
297 |
Liz Wood |
01:24:53 |
84 |
1:25:15 |
F40 |
18/79 |
|
298 |
Suzie Shenderey |
01:24:53 |
84 |
1:25:20 |
F40 |
19/79 |
|
310 |
Bob Jackson |
01:25:15 |
82 |
1:26:00 |
M65 |
4/14 |
Bronze * |
321 |
Ruth Warren |
01:26:17 |
81 |
1:26:37 |
F60 |
2/15 |
Silver |
364 |
Liz Reddington |
01:29:03 |
80 |
1:29:33 |
F55 |
4/21 |
Bronze * |
443 |
Mick Tinker |
01:33:44 |
79 |
1:34:16 |
M60 |
11/15 |
|
459 |
Brian Tyrrell |
01:34:29 |
78 |
1:35:07 |
M55 |
27/34 |
|
493 |
Louise Jennings |
01:36:07 |
77 |
1:36:43 |
F45 |
27/61 |
|
500 |
Lisa Jones |
01:36:34 |
76 |
1:37:29 |
F45 |
29/61 |
|
598 |
Rachel Waters |
01:44:49 |
74 |
1:45:12 |
FSEN |
58/82 |
|
604 |
Paul Mackreth |
01:44:34 |
75 |
1:45:35 |
M40 |
73/78 |
|
629 |
Nicola Hartley |
01:47:05 |
73 |
1:47:38 |
FSEN |
62/82 |
|
713 |
Christine Huckerby |
01:57:07 |
72 |
1:58:17 |
F60 |
13/15 |
|
* In each of M65 and F55 categories one of
the top three was not in a club or not in a club affiliated to YVAA, so Bob and
Liz were "promoted" to 3rd in category for YVAA awards
Danefield Relay
Pos |
Team |
Cat |
Cat Pos |
Time |
GP Pts |
1 |
Pudsey & Bramley AC |
O |
1 |
0:51:38 |
|
5 |
Wharfedale Mens |
O |
4 |
1:01:56 |
|
|
Ali Burns (VS 2nd) |
|
|
0:18:37 |
|
|
Rob Furness |
|
|
0:21:12 |
|
|
Rob Furness |
|
|
0:22:07 |
|
9 |
V S - The Lost Soles |
O |
7 |
1:02:35 |
|
|
Matt Chadwick |
|
|
0:20:42 |
98 |
|
Paul Smith |
|
|
0:22:14 |
93 |
|
Andrew Bennett |
|
|
0:19:39 |
100 |
13 |
V50 Shade of Grey |
OV40 |
4 |
1:04:24 |
|
|
Simon Vallance |
|
|
0:20:44 |
96 |
|
Graham Jones |
|
|
0:22:05 |
94 |
|
Vernon Long |
|
|
0:21:35 |
95 |
21 |
Valley Striders Mix-Up |
O |
14 |
1:09:01 |
|
|
Dave Middlemass |
|
|
0:20:37 |
99 |
|
Amanda Seims |
|
|
0:24:18 |
89 |
|
Rachel Mackie |
|
|
0:24:06 |
92 |
27 |
Fife Valley Striders |
J |
1 |
1:11:53 |
|
|
Struan Bennet |
|
|
0:21:00 |
|
|
Alisa Bennet |
|
|
0:26:18 |
|
|
Tally Diamond (VS sub!) |
|
|
0:24:35 |
|
35 |
Valley Girls |
J |
2 |
1:16:09 |
|
|
Tally Diamond |
|
|
0:24:15 |
91 |
|
Sophia Lubiecki |
|
|
0:25:59 |
85 |
|
Sofia Robottom |
|
|
0:25:55 |
86 |
46 |
Yorkshire Puddings (VS) |
F |
6 |
1:19:32 |
|
|
Chloe Hudson |
|
|
0:25:02 |
88 |
|
Claire Capper |
|
|
0:26:44 |
82 |
|
Liz Wood |
|
|
0:27:46 |
81 |
47 |
V S - Pub O'Clock |
O |
25 |
1:20:02 |
|
|
Jake Towler |
|
|
0:25:48 |
87 |
|
Steph Gledhill |
|
|
0:26:01 |
84 |
|
Tim Towler |
|
|
0:28:13 |
80 |
68 |
Horsforth Harriers LVA |
FV40 |
3 |
1:44:15 |
|
Methley Canal Run Junior
Race
2 |
Jamie Walker |
08:22 |
M |
7 |
11 |
Toby Walker |
09:23 |
M |
5 |
58 |
Darcey Mollitt |
11:55 |
F |
3 |
Canal
Run 5k
4 |
Simon Midwood |
16:56 |
175 |
Philip Lim |
28:01 |
West
Yorks
Track and Field Meeting 5
Cat |
Event |
Pos |
Name |
Time/Dist |
Pts |
U11 B |
75
Metres |
11 |
Sam Preston |
11.82 |
|
U11B |
Shot
2Kg |
7 |
Sam Preston |
5.04 |
|
U13B |
150
Metres |
10 |
Leon Jones |
22.89 |
|
U13B |
150
Metres |
13 |
Alfie Jones |
23.27 |
|
U13B |
800
Metres |
3 |
Leon Jones |
02:34.4 |
4 |
U13B |
800
Metres |
10 |
Alfie Jones |
02:49.1 |
|
U13B |
Shot
3Kg |
8 |
Leon Jones |
5.66 |
|
U15B |
100
Metres |
4 |
Isaac Rose |
13.97 |
3 |
U15B |
100
Metres |
7 |
James Preston |
14.57 |
|
U15B |
1500
Metres |
7 |
James Preston |
05:18.3 |
|
U15B |
Discus
1.25Kg |
3 |
James Preston |
15.89 |
4 |
U15B |
Discus
1.25Kg |
5 |
Isaac Rose |
12.29 |
2 |
U11G |
600
Metres |
7 |
Evie Rose |
02:03.2 |
|
U11G |
600
Metres |
21 |
Abigail Kingston |
02:16.2 |
|
U11G |
Long
Jump |
16 |
Evie Rose |
2.77 |
|
U15G |
1500
Metres |
12 |
Sofia Robottom |
05:55.9 |
|
U15G |
High
Jump |
8 |
Keira Jones |
1.25 |
|
Golden
Acre Junior Relay
48 Valley Striders juniors (under 13 years
old) competed as 16 teams in the first Golden Acre Junior Relays. 26 teams took part and VS came away with 5 of
the 6 team awards
The VS teams included a number of "triallists", some of whom we have now invited to
training sessions,
Pos |
Team |
Cat |
Cat Pos |
Time |
1 |
VS 9 |
U13 Boys |
1 |
17:22 |
|
Alfie Jones (B12) |
|
|
06:07 |
|
Jamie Walker (B12) |
|
|
05:53 |
|
Leon Jones (B11) |
|
|
05:22 |
2 |
VS 15 |
U13 Mix |
1 |
18:18 |
|
Evie Rose (G10) |
|
|
06:36 |
|
Theodore Rosenberg (B11) |
|
|
05:52 |
|
Sam Preston (B10) |
|
|
05:50 |
6 |
VS 11 |
U13 Boys |
4 |
19:42 |
|
Marcus Johnstone (B10) |
|
|
07:05 |
|
Toby Walker (B10) |
|
|
06:33 |
|
Rafferty Mirfin (B10) |
|
|
06:04 |
7 |
VS 10 |
U13 Boys |
5 |
20:03 |
|
Josh Lowe (B10) |
|
|
06:58 |
|
Felix Linley (B10) |
|
|
05:58 |
|
Gus Cawcutt (B10) |
|
|
07:07 |
8 |
VS 1 |
U10 Boys |
1 |
20:24 |
|
Dexter Rosenberg (B9) |
|
|
07:12 |
|
Ben Shenderey (B9) |
|
|
06:12 |
|
Luke Mackreth (B9) |
|
|
07:00 |
11 |
VS 2 |
U10 Boys |
2 |
21:27 |
|
Reuben Barnett (B9) |
|
|
06:50 |
|
Frankie Riley (B8) |
|
|
07:30 |
|
Billy Broadhurst (B9) |
|
|
07:07 |
12 |
VS 7 |
U10 Mix |
1 |
21:48 |
|
Joseph Whitehouse (B9) |
|
|
07:19 |
|
Oliver Lubiecki (B9) |
|
|
07:15 |
|
Abigail Kingston (G9) |
|
|
07:14 |
14 |
VS 13 |
U13 Girls |
3 |
22:30 |
|
Gemima
Beckley (G9) |
|
|
08:10 |
|
Christa Shackleton (G10) |
|
|
07:20 |
|
Freya Hunter (G10) |
|
|
07:00 |
17 |
VS 14 |
U13 Girls |
4 |
23:33 |
|
Lyba Malik
(G11) |
|
|
07:26 |
|
Katy Irvine (G10) |
|
|
08:18 |
|
Annabel Lim (G11) |
|
|
07:49 |
19 |
VS 5 |
U10 Girls |
1 |
24:15 |
|
Lily Sadler (G8) |
|
|
08:31 |
|
Rebecca Kingston (G7) |
|
|
07:41 |
|
Holly Mackie (G9) |
|
|
08:03 |
20 |
VS 16 |
U13 Mix |
4 |
24:36 |
|
Lars Hunter (B7) |
|
|
08:24 |
|
Darcey Mollitt (G8) |
|
|
08:16 |
|
Matthew Sedgley (B11) |
|
|
07:56 |
22 |
VS 12 |
U13 Boys |
7 |
25:18 |
|
Sam Mackreth (B11) |
|
|
07:41 |
|
Ben Williams-Dustan (B12) |
|
|
09:27 |
|
James Khan (B10) |
|
|
08:10 |
23 |
VS 8 |
U10 Mix |
3 |
25:39 |
|
Jamie Smith (B8) |
|
|
08:38 |
|
Natalie Ward (G8) |
|
|
08:16 |
|
Max Burrows (B8) |
|
|
08:45 |
24 |
VS 3 |
U10 Boys |
3 |
26:00 |
|
Simeon Shackleton (B7) |
|
|
08:46 |
|
Cody Stockton (B7) |
|
|
09:18 |
|
Joshua Holt (B8) |
|
|
07:56 |
25 |
VS 4 |
U10 Girls |
3 |
26:21 |
|
Ella Lim (G9) |
|
|
08:53 |
|
Caitlyn Hartley (G7) |
|
|
08:43 |
|
Jorgie
Hartley (G8) |
|
|
08:45 |
26 |
VS 6 |
U10 Girls |
4 |
26:42 |
|
Lily-Mae Pratt (G7) |
|
|
09:00 |
|
Vida Richmond-Coggan (G8) |
|
|
08:50 |
|
Annabel Khan (G7) |
|
|
08:52 |
Golden
Acre Relay
Pos |
Team |
Cat |
Cat Pos |
Time |
1 |
Leeds AC Blues |
Jun
Boys |
1 |
47:04 |
26 |
Striders From Mars |
M Vets |
4 |
54:43 |
|
Mike Cheseldine (not VS) |
|
|
19:20 |
|
Graham Needham |
|
|
18:31 |
|
Kev Ritchie (not VS) |
|
|
16:52 |
29 |
Absolutely No Idea |
M Open |
15 |
54:57 |
|
Graham Jones |
|
|
17:01 |
|
Paul Jones |
|
|
21:27 |
|
Matt Chadwick |
|
|
16:29 |
52 |
V S Juniors Mixed |
Mixed |
11 |
59:42 |
|
Tally Diamond |
|
|
20:35 |
|
Tom Mackreth |
|
|
19:17 |
|
James Williams-Dustan |
|
|
19:50 |
53 |
V S - North By North East |
M Vets |
10 |
59:57 |
|
Paul Smith |
|
|
17:55 |
|
Keith Taylor (not VS) |
|
|
20:53 |
|
Tim Towler |
|
|
21:09 |
55 |
Wu's Wonders |
F Open |
7 |
1:00:17 |
|
Holly Button |
|
|
19:25 |
|
Alex Watson Usher |
|
|
19:37 |
|
Gemma Merritt |
|
|
21:15 |
70 |
Valley Striders Boys |
Jun
Boys |
4 |
1:03:11 |
|
Sam Warden |
|
|
22:09 |
|
Isaac Rose |
|
|
22:58 |
|
James Preston |
|
|
18:04 |
71 |
Valley Striders Girls |
Jun Girls |
2 |
1:03:22 |
|
Sofia Robottom |
|
|
21:29 |
|
Keira Jones |
|
|
20:16 |
|
Tally Diamond |
|
|
21:37 |
74 |
Fillies Of The Valley |
F Open |
10 |
1:04:26 |
|
Liz Reddington |
|
|
21:36 |
|
Nicola Hartley |
|
|
22:51 |
|
Sarah Mann |
|
|
19:59 |
97 |
V S Vets Mixed |
Mixed |
36 |
1:10:13 |
|
Andy Settle |
|
|
24:01 |
|
Leila Kara |
|
|
23:54 |
|
Bob Jackson |
|
|
22:18 |
123 |
STAC Ladies Vets |
F Vets |
8 |
1:24:46 |
Washburn
Valley Junior Relay
3 |
Valley
Striders A |
0:33:00 |
|
Leon Jones |
0:07:17 |
|
Alfie Jones |
0:07:37 |
|
Darcy Mollitt |
0:10:39 |
|
Jamie Walker |
0:07:27 |
10 |
Valley
Striders B |
0:35:30 |
|
Joseph Whitehouse |
0:08:58 |
|
Oliver Lubiecki |
0:08:44 |
|
Toby Walker |
0:08:15 |
|
Annabel Lim |
0:09:33 |
21 |
Valley
Striders C |
0:40:35 |
|
Marcus Johnstone |
0:09:27 |
|
Katie Irvine |
0:11:04 |
|
Ella Lim |
0:12:08 |
|
Leon Jones |
0:07:56 |
Washburn
Valley Relay
No senior teams!
Bramham 10k
Including 4 category 1st places
(see Facebook for photo with trophies)
4 |
Daryl Hibberd |
M30 |
(004/027) |
0:37:40 |
|
5 |
Jeremy Ladyman |
M40 |
(001/018) |
0:38:00 |
|
10 |
James Tarran |
M50 |
(001/008) |
0:41:08 |
|
13 |
Ian Sanderson |
M40 |
(003/018) |
0:42:49 |
|
22 |
Adam Parton |
M40 |
(005/018) |
0:45:18 |
|
27 |
Rachel Mackie |
F40 |
(001/019) |
0:46:07 |
2nd F |
32 |
Leroy Sutton |
M60 |
(002/007) |
0:47:05 |
|
33 |
Sarah Mann |
F30 |
(001/015) |
0:47:08 |
3rd F |
36 |
Chloe Hudson |
F30 |
(002/015) |
0:47:40 |
4th F |
50 |
Liz Wood |
F40 |
(004/019) |
0:50:46 |
|
77 |
Dawn Parton |
F40 |
(008/019) |
0:57:25 |
|
104 |
Anne Jones |
F50 |
(007/008) |
1:09:07 |
Leeds
10k
Pos |
Name |
Cat |
Gun
time |
Chip
time |
M/F pos |
Cat pos |
Chip pos |
1 |
John
Hobbs |
M40 |
0:32:32 |
0:32:32 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
David
Herdsman |
M40 |
0:34:06 |
0:34:06 |
5 |
2 |
5 |
9 |
Jonathan
Ball |
M40 |
0:35:32 |
0:35:31 |
9 |
4 |
10 |
10 |
Simon
Midwood |
M |
0:35:32 |
0:35:31 |
10 |
6 |
11 |
26 |
Huw
Lippiatt |
M40 |
0:37:31 |
0:37:30 |
26 |
7 |
26 |
37 |
Paul
Fotherby |
M40 |
0:38:03 |
0:37:58 |
37 |
10 |
35 |
106 |
Vernon
Long |
M50 |
0:40:47 |
0:40:26 |
102 |
5 |
104 |
123 |
Terry
Midgley |
M40 |
0:41:12 |
0:41:04 |
116 |
27 |
127 |
272 |
Ken
Fox |
M50 |
0:44:54 |
0:44:31 |
253 |
18 |
283 |
302 |
David
Merritt |
M |
0:45:14 |
0:44:44 |
281 |
202 |
309 |
482 |
Paul
White |
M70+ |
0:47:56 |
0:47:47 |
437 |
1 |
553 |
859 |
Suzanne
Shenderey |
F40 |
0:51:55 |
0:50:19 |
104 |
22 |
885 |
1008 |
Brian
Tyrrell |
M50 |
0:53:29 |
0:52:29 |
877 |
88 |
1169 |
1063 |
Paul
Jones |
M40 |
0:54:03 |
0:53:29 |
919 |
211 |
1331 |
2207 |
Paul
Mackreth |
M40 |
1:03:39 |
0:59:03 |
1688 |
390 |
2307 |
3029 |
Rachel Waters |
F40 |
1:13:14 |
0:59:45 |
887 |
223 |
2448 |
5182 |
Amanda
Lea-Langton |
F40 |
1:40:42 |
1:24:39 |
2225 |
556 |
5161 |
Castle
Howard half marathon
3 Simon Midwood 1:23:11
30 Amanda Spencer 1:47:34
RACE
REPORT
Eiger Ultra Trail. Grindelwald
Switzerland, July 2018 (from Clive Bandy)
At a time when the fell running community got
a little excited about an epic feat of mountain running, an intrepid group of
Valley Striders (and honorary guests) tackled various distances in this year's
European adventure. Oh yeah, and some Catalan bloke went for a jog round the
Lake District.
The Eiger Ultra
Trail race starts and finishes in Grindelwald,
Switzerland, a beautiful alpine town situated under the watchful gaze of the
North Face of the Eiger Mountain. There are various
distances on offer from 16km, to 101km with most of our team opting for the
(relatively) sensible option of 51km.
The trip got off to a difficult start with a
flight cancelled by French Air traffic Control strikes, which unfortunately
meant Steve Dixon didn't even leave Blighty. I
suspect his weekend was spent cheering on Croatia. Nick & Liga Keen (Chapel A runners) let the Barclaycard do the
talking and Kim & Ian Spence had had their own travel dramas. Nevertheless,
by Friday morning the team was assembled and all was forgiven as we sat on the
expansive patio of our chalet, sipping coffee and staring at the Eiger in peaceful silence. A situation made possible by the
fact that Amanda was staying 10 minutes down the road.
Friday: Registration and kit check complete
we took the cable car up the mountain that would form the first part of our
race route. Murmurs of 'it's quite a long way up this, isn’t it', as we
contemplated the following days run. Part of the race route is a steel 'Cliff
Walk'. At roughly 75 meters long it is draped off the side of the peak.
Stunning views but not one for the vertigo sufferers. Most came back via the
cable car, with a handful of us taking the Mountain Carts and Scooterbikes down. A great opportunity to
pick up a last minute injury the day before the race. I can highly
recommend.
Saturday: Race day. Game
face on. The race route as you might reasonably expect from a mountain
run, is mostly up for the first half, and you guessed it, mostly down for the
second. 51km with 3,100 meters of ascent and descent in
between. Sounds a lot doesn't it. For context, the Yorkshire 3 peaks
race has 1,600 meters. Another 'hilly one' the Otley 10 mile road race has just
200m of up and down.
The 101km runners (Nick Keen, Mike Roberts
(Horsforth runners)) were up and out very early for their 4am start. Simon
Vallance, hotly tipped to be the quickest of our group on the 51km race, did
his best to give everyone a head start by leaving his watch set to UK time, and
casually ambled down to the kitchen for a coffee less than 15minutes before the
race start. The ensuing adrenalin rush served him well in the early stages of
the race as he had surged to a 3 minute lead by the first feed station.
We were treated to a relatively cool start,
and a light rain shower which stopped moments after I'd conceded and put my
waterproof on. Amazing technology in Gore-tex
these days. As we approached the 'Grindelwald
First' cable car which represented the first chunk of our days climbing done,
Andreas Mayer was on hand to photograph our efforts. He was present again at
the highest peak of the race, the Faulhorn Mountain
top. 'Dramatic' camera setting was engaged, but fully redundant. People often
refer to scenery as 'breathtaking', but stood at
2,700m altitude, and after a fairly brutal climb up, the view was picture
perfect. The sun had been out for a while by this stage and we were being
treated to spectacular vistas over the Eiger and
Jungfrau mountain ranges.
Simon had been through the Faulhorn check point 14 minutes ahead of me and Kim. I
looked at my watch which read 4 hours at this, the half way point. It was going
to be a long day.
But a good one. The descent off the Faulhorn peak was the perfect undulating, technical but
gradual downhill that trail runners dream of. Even better, it went on for about
12km. The latter part along a ridge with the mountain range on runners' left,
and what felt like a sheer 2km drop to the town of Interlaken on our right. By
this stage Kim had let the handbrake off and had eeked
out 12 minutes on me. Simon a further 14 mins ahead.
The penultimate section was c10km of steep descent with technical forest
sections interspersed with even steeper but more open tracks. A section of
which was very open with a rope for a hand rail on the left, and sharp drop to
the right. Carole Towler if you're reading, perhaps give
this race a miss.
At the final feed station in the valley, the
temperature was right up towards 30c. I bumped into Mike on the 101km route who had a sprained wrist and bandaged knee after a lapse in
concentration. I then set off up the valley alongside the river for the 7-8km
back to Grindelwald. The only Mickey Mouse bit of the
route is the final couple of km back into the town, but overall this is a race
with a truly stunning route. I'd recommend it.
Simon was first strider back in 7hrs 23m
58secs, Kim next in 7hrs30m48secs. I staggered over the line in 7hr47m and
immediately declared myself retired from running. Amanda Seims was next in
having toughed it out in 9hr22m. By her own admission she had perhaps over
trained and had a few too many miles in the legs already. Not an accusation
anyone has ever levelled at me. 75th female in a field of over 200 strong and
experienced runners is not however, to be sniffed at.
Ian Spence had taken part in the shorter 35km
race, which despite being shorter in distance still had 2,500m of ascent to
negotiate. Finishing in 220th place (338 starters) in a time
7hr16mins shows that this was by no means the 'easy' option. Either that
or Ian should stick to cycling.
That evening was spent drinking beers and
eating everything in sight. A thunderstorm played havoc with the 101km race
with runners being held at various checkpoints while it blew through the
valley. We watched the headtorches dance in the
darkness of the Eiger mountain trail from the comfort
of our chalet patio, after we had all let Kim win at
her board game (it's best for everyone that way). Final point on this race is
that the finishers medal is the best I've ever seen.
Each one is unique, made from a stone that has fallen from the Eiger itself, and been washed down the river. At least next
year's race should be marginally easier.
There are some great pics and more details on
the (very good) race website here https://www.eigerultratrail.ch/en/ just in case this has whetted your appetite.
Andreas may have put one or two pics on facebook too.
Sunday: The main event. Sunday was
predictably a fairy low key day. A short train ride to the next valley. A half hearted walk to a water fall. A few
beers. And many cheeseburgers. All in steady
build up to the Valley Striders Ultra Runners Crazy Golf Championship. In what
is now becoming a tradition, race results pale into insignificance as a titanic
battle ensues in a blizzard of blasphemy, banter, underhand tactics and abject frustration. Nick Keen took the trophy. Kim calls for
stewards enquiry, legal appeal pending.
Until next year. Unless
I'm still retired.
Race results:
76 Simon Vallance 7:23:58.7
87 Kim Spence 7:30:48.4
115 Clive Bandy 7:47:11.5
323 Amanda Seims 9:22:10.5
Selected others
1st M 5:14:11.9 (528
started)
1st F 5:46:57.5 (218 started)
367 Liga Magdalenoka-Keen 9:32:42.9
Chapel A
631 Meg Galsworthy 11:38:14.3 N Leeds F
R