HRRL Lordshill 10k and Endure 24

Lordshill 10k

Farnham Runners men put out strong A and B teams for the final Hampshire Road League race of the season, the Lordshill 10km, in the hope of promotion back to the top flight. Men’s captain John Phillips was resigned to the fact that the A team had too much to do:

“This year two opponent teams in the second division have been exceptionally strong, Salisbury R.C. and Isle of Wight RR. If you look at our score based on the total of our runner’s positions we would have placed eighth in the top division.”

The club finished third in A Division 2, but there are three A divisions, so in effect, 13th of 31 clubs.

The B squad was successful in their bid, their final points tally putting them second in the B division 2, a promotional spot. The C team stayed mid table in B division 2.

The ladies fared better, keeping top division status for both their A and B teams but their C team came below half way. “We could do with more runners next year, whatever their standard” said ladies captain, Jane Georghiou.

“This could be helped by the race schedule for 2018-19, with the local Fleet half marathon as well as the Alresford 10km being among the twelve chosen events.”

After a long journey to the Lordshill race the Farnham travellers were rewarded with a pleasant traffic free course including an out and back section where they could cheer each other on. By the 9:30 start, however, it was very warm for running. The first half was partly in some welcome shade but a long ascent after the 7km mark was in the sun and must have slowed times.

Delighted to lead in the Farnham pack again was James Clarke in a fine 36 minutes 33 seconds, 28th finisher. Newcomers Matt Saker (37:11) and Matthew Morgan (38:18) proved a great asset to the team, while Harvey Wickham (39:53) came in under 40 minutes despite the heat. This team was third in Div 2 on the day.

Ali Hardaway (41:13), Neil Ambrose, who helped pace others, (43:58), John Phillips (44:02) and Keith Marshall (44:09, 5th M60) gave a fourth place for the Bs on the day but kept them second on aggregate.

An incomplete C team of Chris Cramp (44:42), Tim Farrant (49:10) and Robert Drummond (64:09, 7th M70) came ninth, hanging on to ninth (mid-table) on aggregate.

Emma Pearson in good form but slowed by the high temperatures ran 44:14. Next came Eloise Stradling in 47:37, followed by third F65 Jane Georghiou in 51:00. This trio was eighth, keeping eighth at the end of the season, safe from relegation by 13 points. Anne Snelson (54:12) and Nicola O’Connor (63:36), in her first league race, were an incomplete B group but the team stayed safe in B division 1.

Endure 24

Spearheaded by Georgi Welch, this year for the first time FR entered the Endure 24 near Reading, putting in four teams and twenty-nine runners:

FR Blue Relax	Run, Eat, Poop, Repeat	Calder’shots	FREndure24
Clair Bailey Anne Snelson Lina Haines Nicola O’Connor Jackie Wilkinson Jacquie Browne Shereen Atkinson Carolyn Wickham	Rob Gilchrist Jason East Mark Maxwell Neil Rushton John Phillips Stuart Williamson	John Walker Hallam Foster Gemma Mitchell Steve Bailey Pauline Hamilton Ian Calder Sarah Marjoram Matthew Mitchell	Georgi Welch James Bracey Helen Bracey Spencer Barfield Emma Dawson Harvey Wickham Rebecca Martin

Each team has to run as many 8km laps as they can in 24 hours non-stop.

The course was an interesting combination of tarmac, compacted stony paths and twisty, turny wooded trail (lit-up beautifully with fairy lights for the dark hours). There were also a few hills, one aptly named ‘Heartbreak Hill’. Although challenging, all agreed that the course was excellent fun and very picturesque, especially at dawn when fields were still shrouded in early morning mist and the birds were tweeting while some found the night time running to be one of the highlights of the event.

The support out on the course was also first rate. There were a number of stations where organisers were clapping and shouting encouragement, along with a music van at the furthest point of the course.

Endure 24 was also very much a camping experience too with each club being given their own area. There was some great team camaraderie across the Farnham Runners teams and they all delivered a creditable performance:

Farnham Runners team	Laps	Distance (km)	Average per runner (km)	Position in category
Run, East, Poop, Repeat	38	304	50.6	9th (out of 219 teams)
Calder’shots	34	272	34	22nd (out of 219 teams)
FREndure24	32	256	36.6	51st (out of 219 teams)
FR Blue Relax	28	224	28	9th (out of 26 teams)