It’s been a busy year for Wessex runners with multiple races and events around the country.
We had a healthy turnout in the RR10 league this year, with Andrew S achieving best male performance and Imy the best female one. Will was close on Andrew’s heels although constrained by exam commitments in a way that the older runner isn’t.
Parkrun is a favourite with Wessex runners. Tim G-P has posted results in multiple locations and even ventured to foreign lands including Germany and Wales. David H has now passed his 400th parkrun in around 92 locations, so it doesn’t seem likely that anyone else will catch him.
David H has also topped the table for the sheer number of events he has completed this year; 14 in total including eight 10ks, the Great South Run, the Salisbury 10 miler, the Gosport Half and both the London and Edinburgh Marathons. Not bad for a VM70-74! And he always seems to look happy in the photos.
Not so for Chris who looks a bit stressed in his photos despite great times for the Winchester Triathlon, the Goodwood Marathon and the Winchester 10k.
We had 6 runners in total at the Winchester 10k this year, and Peter just pipped Will by a few seconds to claim the trophy for the fastest Wessex Runner in 45 mins 18 seconds. This obviously spurred Will on to a blistering pace in the Eastleigh 10k a month later, finishing in 37 mins 19 seconds!
We also had runners in 10ks at Stubbington, Southampton, Lymington, Compton, Exbury, Worthing and London. Well done to David, Imy, Chris, Andrew S, Andrew C, Peter, Kevin and Will. A special mention for Nigel and Katie who ran Compton as an (almost) husband and wife team, and still seemed to be smiling at the finish!
Peter carried his good 10k form into half marathons in Manchester, Bath and Winchester, finishing the notoriously hilly Winchester half in 1 hour 40. Imy also ran very fast times in the Cambridge and the Bath & Bristol Railway halves, although can’t quite remember how the Ciderton half turned out as the drinks stations were stocked with cider rather than Lucozade. Anthony showed that all those Monday night runs were paying off by finishing his first half in the autumn in Leicester, beating at least one of his brothers and of course achieving a PB; by contrast, Kevin’s time in the Reading half in March was definitely not a PB, possibly as a result of too much après ski the week before. Jim looked fresh as a daisy after completing a half along the Thames in April on the Potion Run, so this maybe one to look out for next year.
June turned our attention to more serious matters for both Chris and Nigel. For the second year in a row, Chris seems to have breezed through all 3 disciplines of the Winchester Triathlon, of which he said the run was the most straightforward. Nigel meanwhile took on the mega challenge of the Scilly 60, a 60km multi-stage trail race in the Scilly Isles, where the logistics of getting from island to island seemed as complex as the course. He prepared for this with multiple events including the Deal Half, the Combe Gibbet 16 mile race and the Southampton Marathon. Thankfully it was a bit cooler on the day on the islands than it was in Hampshire and he was delighted to have finished smiling, and to have made all the ferry connections.
WRR runners were also in action in the Autumn with Chris overcoming boredom in 11 laps around the racecourse at the Goodwood marathon, several runners doing halves, and David at the Great South in October.
The Clarendon Marathon was in early October this year, but we couldn’t quite get a relay team together to appreciate the autumn sunshine and the countryside. There were three Wessex runners there though; Gary did the full marathon without really breaking sweat, Kevin did the first leg of the relay and Andrew C did the five miler. The T shirt, being bright orange, wasn’t a favourite with everyone, so we’ll have to try again next year for a better colour.
We have a bit of a lull for a few weeks now before we start again in 2026. Even in winter we usually manage to get a few runners out on a Monday night and everyone is welcome to join us, club members or not. We do a gentle social 7-8km, starting outside the Queen Inn at 7pm and finishing inside the pub with some refreshment and chat. If the weather is particularly unpleasant then the refreshment part can last longer than the run!
Wessex Road Runners 