Two more ‘Not’ races and some real races

‘Not’ Alton 10 and ‘Not’ Netley 10k

2021 - Not Netley 10k - Clair Bailey and Kate Townsend with latters Strava timesAs before, some chose flat road courses and others chose more scenic off-road routes, so the times are difficult to compare. Julia Tagg and Penny Schnabel ran along the North Downs way and enjoyed the bluebells and sunshine, but not the hailstorm! Sue Taylor ran along the canal to Frimley in near perfect conditions, spotting geese and baby coots. Some, like Andy Clegg, ran the hilly actual Alton ten mile route in tough conditions.

Top of the men’s GP, Nik Darlington ran a 10 mile virtual race, twice in two weeks. The first was on the Alton Ten course which he ran for ISORACE III, the third in a big series of global virtual running races that’s been going since last summer. He was delighted to record a time of 58 minutes 3seconds that put him in 11th place out of 572 runners worldwide! The next week, on a flatter course, he recorded a personal best 56:46 for the club’s event.

After Nik, the next 4 men were James Clarke in 1:01:57, Neil Ambrose in 1:12:40, Jack Ferguson in 1:12:51 and Nick Hitchcock in 1:13:14. Gabriella Hitchcock increased her lead at the top of the ladies’ table with 1:11:28 while Sue Taylor clocked a PB of 1:24:10. Nest were Jane Georghiou in 1:30:29, Lindsay Bamford in 1:31:49 and Vicky Goodluck in 1:37:15.

2021 Not Alton 10 - Carolyn Wickham and Nociloa OConner selfie 2021 Not Alton 10 - Julia Tagg and Penny Schnabel selfie

Woodland Woggle

The last day of the NOT Netley 10km coincided with the Woodland Woggle, an actual race organised by Blackwater Valley Runners starting and finishing in the Hampton Estate.

Forty-nine Farnham Runners completed the race and they were overjoyed to be racing again in almost back to normal conditions, despite the staggered start. Vicky Goodluck commented:

“What a joy it was to be back together as a team of Farnham Runners, taking part in a brilliantly organised event over a beautiful course. The smiles say it all, thank you Woodland Woggle 2021.”

Meanwhile Nik Darlington said:

“As someone who joined the club in the midst of the pandemic, the Woggle was my first chance to meet properly so many people who have already been so friendly and welcoming. It’s testament to the club that it felt like racing had barely been away.”

There were some impressive results from the local club with Nik 2nd overall and 1st in his age group and Kayleigh Copeland 3rd lady and 2nd in her category. Neil Ambrose was 7th finisher of the 120 men. Several others gained high age category positions. Jean-Jacques Ferguson was 1st, Kay Copeland and Emma Dawson 2nd and Bob Brimicombe, Terry Copeland, Sue Taylor and Linda Tyler 3rd in their respective groups.

Though the course was hilly, some used their result for this race for the club’s virtual Netley 10km. Over a variety of different chosen routes for this the top 5 men were Nik Darlington in 38:22, Nick Hitchcock in 42:33, Charles Ashby in 44:25, Neil Ambrose in 44:26 and Ivan Chunnett in 45:09 while the top 5 ladies were Gabriella Hitchcock in 43:47, Louise Granell in 49:08, Rachel Harris in 52:41, Jane Georghiou in 52:43, Sue Taylor in 56:10.

2021 - Woodland Woggle - Vicky Goodluck and Helen Farrell 2021 - Woodland Woggle - Anna Samuel 2021 - Woodland Woggle - Shirley Perrett and Kate Townsend with their medals 2021 - Woodland Woggle - A group of Farnham Runners show off their Woodland Woggle medals 2021 - Woodland Woggle - A group of Fanham Runners celebrate after the finish  2021 - Woodland Woggle - Jane Probett, Vicky Goodluck and Helen Farrell with their medals 2021 - Woodland Woggle - Richard Denby, Marissa Lutrell, Gill Iffland, Niclola Hames and Catherine Timson with their medals

Other races

Venturing further afield, Douglas Blyth ran the Dorney Lake 10km in 1:04:12 to place second in the M70 category.

Joseph Lee took on the challenge of the North Downs Ridge Trial Ultra with its 900m of ascent as his first 50km. He was going very well indeed for the first half – in the top ten, but suffered a problem with his knee so had to settle for a time of 4:59:36, still impressive and taking 51st place of 267 finishers.

Gill Iffland has also completed a 50km run, the Chiltern Ridge Ultra Trail.