Handicap    Date: Thu 21 April 2022 Time: 18:45 This is a handicap race with a staggered start, with handicaps chosen so that if everyone came in PB shape on the day everyone would finish simultaneously.   Robin Smale, our first ever handicap winner, has kindly decided to donate a prize to our club handicap next week. The winner will get two tickets to Six. Thank you Robin!   The race is 3.5 miles around Highgate Woods. I did a recce last on Sunday 10 April and the route was almost entirely dry, with one 20 yard patch of mud you can tiptoe round but should just charge through if racing. It's a mostly flat course, but there are a few short dips up and down. The route is light trail but with plenty of tree roots. I think you could get away with practically any shoe except the most delicate racer - I find that the speediest road shoes aren't so great on rough ground.i   We are meeting at the sports ground in Highgate Wood.   Please bring your own water, we won't provide any. I didn't check if the water fountains were working as I thought it was better to ask you all to bring water as a small COVID precaution.   Registration opens at 18:45. There will be a racebriefing at 19:00. The first runner will set of at approximately 19:05.   Individual Start Times Individual start times after the starting gun are shown below.   No          Name    Wait before starting 1              Elliot Callard       0:00 2              Dawn Curtis        0:20 3              Jasmin Youell     3:23 4              Lizzy Muggeridge             3:55 5              Rory O'Callaghan              5:09 6              Janet Kidd           5:00 7              Evelyn Howe      6:30 8              alon caspi            7:00 9              Phil West             7:05 10           Sophie Fenner   7:14 11           Elizabeth Aryeetey          7:44 12           Eleanor Childs    7:49 13           Dominique Russell           8:01 14           michele griffiths                8:39 15           Rosalind Jones  8:53 16           Tina Sharkey      9:16 17           Carmen Harrington          9:54 18           Chloe Bazlen      10:15 19           Alina Williamson               10:16 20           Alice Sullivan      10:25 21           Collette Farnol   10:29 22           Liv Theunissen  10:33 23           Ciara McManus 10:58 24           Stephanie Mercier           11:08 25           Paul Allen            11:27 26           Krush Patel         11:30 27           Gaby Anderson 12:33 28           Rosie Dougherty               12:38 29           Juliette Westbrook          12:46 30           Alexandra Hearne            12:58 31           Tony Him             13:00 32           Cloudy Carnegie               13:03 33           Rosie Young        13:08 34           Emily Morgan    13:14 35           Hattie Lowe        13:23 36           Hamir Patel        13:27 37           Jodie Pearlman 13:30 38           Ellie Holloway    13:31 39           Nick Johnson     13:52 40           David Nelson     14:10 41           Carl Heron          14:16 42           Jerry Bryan          14:22 43           David Renton     14:25 44           Alex Renton       14:29 45           Philip Barnes      14:46 46           Rachel Rosenthal             14:46 47           Katrina Kelly       14:51 48           Rebecca Taylor  14:52 49           Pete Calvert-Barr             14:53 50           Daniel Berry       15:01 51           Lydia Thomson  15:05 52           Thomas Goodey               15:17 53           Marcos Cuevas-Nunez   15:25 54           David Gouldstone            16:04 55           Sarah Hamilton 16:07 56           Jonathan Thomson          16:10 57           Liam Moroney  15:16 58           Christopher Leslie            17:32 59           Andy Davies       17:33 60           Rendy Prakoso  17:41 61           Russ Hall               18:32 62           Charlie Fraser    18:42 63           Henry Woodward            19:02 Where's my handicap? A few runners didn't have any times on our website and so I wasn't able to compute a handicap for them. They are Hina Zaman, Hendrik Wolff and Conor Reidy. If they still want to come and run that's absolutely fine - just set off unofficially whenever you see fit!   Improvers groups BY Phil West   Our legendary Beginners courses continue to be highly popular and fantastically successful, with three or four groups of 20 progressing each year from couch to 5K in eight weeks. The program is currently led by the charismatic Romany O’Dell and Giada Ferrari, with the wonderful Laurie Boult masterminding everything in the background.   Having arrived at 5K, however, the newly graduated beginners are still some way off most of the runs offered on Tuesday evenings, and few feel confident to lead runs straight away. So, enter the Improvers program.   Run by Phil West and Liz Aryeetey, the Improvers takes the newly graduated Beginners and turns them into finely tuned athletes. OK, maybe not. But it does take them quite a bit further along their running journey.   First, Phil picks up the ex-Beginners with a 3-mile run, and then increases this distance half a mile each week until they can do 5 miles. He then hands them on to Liz, who trains and inspires them to enter their first 10K race.   The first group through the program, a group of ten, graduated some time ago and have since become valued club members. Four of them – Jan Kidd, Chung Chung Stockman, Dawn Curtis and Shane Cruse – triumphed in magnificent style in the March Regents Park 10K. They and Tracy Quirke now run the slower Tuesday runs offered by the club, while Charlotte Whitehead regularly volunteers with the new Beginners.    Meanwhile the second group – SJ Baskin, Tasha Pettman, Lydia Hair and Jess Clark – are about to graduate, so watch this space closely for their further exploits.   Welcome to the club, all of you!   In conclusion, the club now offers a fully-fledged three step program, leading all the way from couch to 10K race. Another triumph for the magnificent Mornington Chasers – the friendliest running club in London!   Cabbage Patch Reminder   Entries are now open for the Cabbage Patch 10 which takes place on 16th October. Get involved     Surrey Half Takes place on 7th May. Enter here   Boston Marathon – Sarah Funderburk   The Boston marathon is a special race, so to give it justice, this recap needs to start from the beginning...cue time machine, smoke and funky music. Apologies in advance for the self indulgence.       It was 2002, and I was a 20 year-old sophomore at MIT. I had just started to catch the running bug the summer before. Living in my sorority house in Boston, I’d run a 3 mile bridge loop along the esplanade and the Charles River every morning before heading into my summer research lab job. I’m pretty sure it took me about 45 min to do this, so I was very much a novice. I loved it though, and any day I didn’t run, I could feel my feet wanting to move faster as I walked across the Harvard Bridge to campus. That spring, I witnessed my first Boston Marathon. My sorority house where I lived was right on Commonwealth Avenue, and marathon day was largely an excuse to drink all day while cheering on the runners. The atmosphere was amazing, and while I thought it would one day be a cool thing to do, the prospect seemed literally thousands of miles away.       Skip forward 14 years, and I’m living in NYC. Having finally done an actual 5k race for the first time in 2013, I had truly become infected with the running bug. I had decided in 2015 to tackle my first marathon after cheering on a friend in New York. Through the New York Road Runners, it’s pretty easy to get into the marathon. You run 9 races throughout the year, volunteer for one, pay the exorbitant fee, and you’re in! My first marathon went better than I ever could have imagined, and I ended up getting a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon with a 3:37:32 (the qualifying time at that point was 3:40 for 35-39 year old women, and I would be turning 35 just before the race). However, if you’re familiar with the Boston system, that time ended up not being good enough to get me in. I was squeaked out by ~30 sec! I applied again after I ran the Berlin Marathon in 2019 in 3:30:16...and was again rejected by the cruel system (the qualifying time had changed to 3:35, and my buffer still wasn’t good enough). By the time I ran my 3:01:51 in London 2021 and would be going up an age category again, I had a 39 minute buffer, and I knew Boston glory was finally going to be mine.       So, here we are in 2022, and I was excited to begin my marathon training cycle in January. But, a few weeks in, I strained my QL muscle in my back, which took out a week or so of training right in my initial build-up. Then, I had an amazing 40th birthday bash (thanks so much to those who celebrated with me!), that turned out to be a super spreader event for pneumonia?! So in the month before Boston, I was plagued with non-functioning lungs, increasingly worse plantar fasciitis and a QL muscle that kept flaring up. The idea of racing Boston had long gone out the window, but now I was questioning if I should even attempt it at all. Around 10 days before the marathon, however, I was starting to feel just good enough to give me some confidence that I might be able to make it around the course afterall, however slowly that might be.       I arrived in Boston on the Saturday of the marathon weekend, and went straight to my hotel - the glorious Fairmont at Copley Plaza. The Fairmont is the official hotel of the Boston Marathon and where all the elites and staff stay. It is absolutely gorgeous, decadent and the most expensive hotel I’ve ever booked (happy 40th birthday to me). As I was checking in, I saw a short guy with blonde hair and glasses...yep, pretty sure that’s Jon Green, Molly Seidel’s coach. Let the star gazing begin!       After resting a bit from my flight and knocking out a 5 mile run along the esplanade, I went to scope out the Fan Fest area and Expo. The Fan Fest was right in Copley Square, opposite the hotel. I didn’t check the schedule before heading out so was simply completely lucky to find Des Linden, Molly Seidel, Jared Ward and Jake Riley giving a panel talk. Even luckier, after the talk they went over to the finish line to sign autographs and take pictures with fans - I managed to get Des and Molly to sign my copy of How She Did It! I was so impressed by how generous they were with their time on such a big race weekend. Next up on the agenda was the Expo and getting the all important Boston Marathon jacket (and bib number, of course). You don’t realize how important this overly priced jacket is until you get to Boston and see that pretty much every runner is wearing it ALL weekend long. It’s definitely a status symbol, and I wanted to belong. However, when I got to the expo, I was devastated to find out that all of the small jackets were sold out. I was comforted by the slim possibility that if I came back the next day at 9am, they may have gotten some more stock in.       Sunday came, and I woke up early to do my 30 min shakeout run in Boston Common. Several other groups were out as well, and there was a general excitement in the air as you passed other runners that were clearly also doing their last little shakeout. My lungs and foot felt ok, which were a big relief. After a quick breakfast, I went back to the Expo where lo and behold, a shipment of small jackets had come in. A part of me felt a little nervous about buying this jacket without being 100% sure I would be able to complete the marathon. But, what can I say, as soon as I put it on, I felt infinitely cooler. Yes, one status symbol for me please - here is my credit card. I then spent the rest of the day relaxing with a friend, eating pasta for dinner and then prepping my kit for the next morning. I was happily asleep by 9pm.       And then it was 2am... it’s marathon day, and I am awake and unable to fall back asleep. Crap. I try some deep breathing. I try counting down from 10,000. I give in and start looking at my phone. Now it’s 4am, and I decide to go ahead and shower. Maybe that will help me sleep an hour more. No luck. At 5am, I give up and really start getting ready.       By 6:20, I am ready to head out to drop off my bag at Boston Common and get on a bus that will take me to the marathon start in Hopkinton. It’s a beautiful morning as I head outside, and a sea of fellow Wave 1 runners are starting to line up for the buses. One of the first things that is evident to me is that I’m in the minority. I see 1-2 women for every 30 guys. I feel incredibly proud of the time that got me into Wave 1, and also very disappointed that I won’t be able to do it justice and really represent as a female runner. I see another woman and start chatting, telling her how nice it is to see other women. She had also felt the same way. I wish her good luck as we part ways for the first of many port-a-loo stops. When I finally board the bus, I decide to head to the back. All of the other runners seem to be filling up seats in the front. I figure someone has to go to the back, and it means I’ll get to stay on the bus longer. As we head out on the highway to Hopkinton, I soon discover why the back of the bus was not the desirable place to be. As I am bounced up and down quite violently, me and the guy sitting opposite me look at each other and laugh. He had had the same thought as me about being on the bus longer, and we found it hilarious how wrong we were. On the plus side, our bowels and bladders would be properly stirred for the next port-a-loo visits.       We arrive in Hopkinton, and I head into the Athletes Village. There are a lot of Wave 2 and 3 runners here already, and I can feel the mix of men and women has become more balanced. It’s around 8:45, and I go and find a spot in the sun to sit while I wait for it to be 9:15 (yes that much time has passed). At that time, the Wave 1 runners can leave the Athletes Village and start the .7 mile walk to the start corals. I make one more nervous loo stop, and it’s time to start peeling off my throw-away clothes and head to the start. I’m once more with the sea of Wave 1 guys so am happy to strike up a conversation with fellow UK runner, Becky from Essex. Similar to before, we part ways and wish each other luck as we head to one final port-a-loo visit.       As I enter the start corrals, I decide to go to the last one, 8, rather than my assigned coral 7. I was worried about being the ass running 9 min miles in Wave 1 so wanted to be as much at the back as possible. I’m not the only one with this thought, though. I find some other guys who are also just hoping to make it through after unlucky training cycles. As we walk, the start line almost appears out of nowhere. This is it, it’s time to start running...and we’re off!       I start out trying to get into a nice, comfortable, easy rhythm. I see that it’s around 8:30 pace, which is probably about where I need to be. I know that I need to be extra conservative for the first half of the course, which is mostly downhill. Right at the start, it certainly feels as if you’re tumbling down. It’s very suburban where the race starts, but pretty much from the beginning there are people lined up along the course and cheering. There are some sparse areas for sure, but the support and love you feel is constant. Those first few miles are fun, but I’m already nervous about conserving energy for what lies ahead. I’m also surprised by how tough some of the uphills are this early in the course. Why does no one talk about these?! Despite my desire to conserve energy, I find that I can’t help but get the crowds a bit riled up. For the first 6-7 miles or so, I’m in this sweet spot where I’m at the back of Wave 1 and Wave 2 hasn’t caught up yet. At many points, I’m relatively alone as I pass by pockets of bored-looking crowds. So, I create some fun and entertain them, gesturing my hands upwards telling them to come on and cheer. They scream wildly, and it’s just for me. A few times, a guy just in front of me keeps looking back, trying to figure out why everyone is suddenly so excited. I’m having so much fun.       By mile 8, I realize that the fun has come at an energy cost. It was still worth it, and I’m still smiling. I then see what will be the highlight of my race...I recognize the white singlets and red shorts. It’s Shalane Flanagan who is supporting Adrianne Haslet, a runner who lost part of her leg in the 2013 bombing. As I pass them, I say how amazing they are doing. Fan-girl that I am, I want to tell Shalane how much I love her, but I know that this moment is Adrianne’s. She is the real hero. I end up running a bit with a guy who was also just as star-struck as me. What an amazing day, an amazing race.       By mile 10, reality is starting to sink in that I’m not even halfway. I can feel a very rude and inconsiderate blister on my left big toe, and my hips are getting tighter. I’m still going at a decent pace, staying in the 8-8:15 min/mile range. I decide I’m going to have to change things up, though, if I’m going to make it to the finish in one piece. At mile 12, I start employing a “1 mile at a time” strategy, walking through the water stations positioned after each mile marker. It helps me recoup a bit, and then I am actually able to recover enough to stay in an 8:10-8:20 min/mile range. I still get the benefit of running through the fun parts too, like the Wellesley scream tunnel (ie a bunch of university girls screaming with offers to kiss runners) at mile 13. The strategy also works pretty well as I finally approach the infamous Newton Hills, the set of hills that covers miles 16-21, ending with Heartbreak Hill. Walking at the water stations helps me tackle those hills. This works until I get to Heartbreak Hill. The water stations aren’t enough anymore. My blisters are killing me, many parts of my body are aching, and I need to walk more to ensure I make it to the finish. I’m doing it though as I walk up a lot of Heartbreak Hill. I know now that I will finish, even if I have to walk 5 miles. This heart is staying intact.       The last 5 miles are mostly downhill, just as I had been told in pre-race videos. The crowds are getting more and more dense as I head properly into Boston. I’m hoping this will spur me on, but I find myself needing to walk more. As I do, friendly faces tell me “You’ve got this!” They yell, “You can do it!” I find this encouraging and also extremely annoying. I know I can do it. I’m, in fact, doing it. I just need to do it while sometimes walking. About a mile away from the finish, I pass my old sorority house. This has been 20 years in the making. I finally make the right and then left turn onto Boylston. The finish line is 400m or so away, and it feels like it’s moving further and further as I run. I try my best to kick it up a notch, lift my legs and feet for the cameras. I’m doing as much of a sprint as I can as I cross the finish in 3:40:53 with a huge grin on my face. It was my slowest and one of the most painful marathons to date, but I couldn’t have been happier. I finished. I found an official and asked what had been weighing on my mind, “Who won? Please tell me about the elites!”. “Men or women first?”, the official asked. Women, please, of course!       And then, as I was walking through the crowds like a zombie, I hear my name and see Pip. We are both exhausted and dazed, but here we are, two Chaser women who have conquered one of the most prestigious and toughest courses there is. I have a feeling that we both may have some unfinished business on that course, though.        The END (or to be continued?) Calendar Here's whats happening over the next few weeks other than our usual Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday runs. You can find our full calendar on the website. 16/05/2022 Committee Meeting 21/04/2022 2nd Annual Club Championship Handicap Race - Highgate Wood (provisional date) 07/05/2022 The Maverick Adidas Terrex Original Surrey 2022 Join 21/04/2022 Club Handicap 26/04/2022 Volunteer Spring Beginners Week 4 Volunteer (2 of 5 left) 03/05/2022 Spring Beginners Week 5 VOLUNTEERING volunteer (4 of 5 left) 10/05/2022 Spring Beginners Week 6 VOLUNTEERING volunteer (4 of 5 left) 17/05/2022 Spring Beginners Week 7 VOLUNTEERING volunteer (4 of 5 left) 15/05/2022 Copenhagen Marathon We are also currently taking names for the following events. 24/05/2022 Spring Beginners Week 8 VOLUNTEERING volunteer (3 of 5 left) Results If you want to upload a photo or your results are missing, log in to our website and update your picture and Power of 10 ID. RunThrough Battersea Park 10K (Battersea Park), 09/04/2022 10K Daniele Biagi 35:58 (35:57), 12 (2) [75.29%] RunThrough Battersea Park 5K (Battersea Park), 09/04/2022 5K Nicola Payne 19:37 (19:35), 17 (3, -) [75.40%] Kew the Run 10K (Kew), 09/04/2022 10K Hamir Patel 44:25, 95 (19) [60.71%]   Simon Fitzmaurice 49:57, 294 [53.82%]   Rebecca Howarth 53:03, 440 (118, -) [57.18%] NEW PB Kew The Run 10K (Kew Gardens ), 09/04/2022 10K Rebecca Howarth 00:53:02 (00:53:02), 440 (-, 8) [57.20%] Kew the Run Half Marathon (Kew), 10/04/2022 HM Krush Patel 1:45:42, 476 [55.23%] NEW PB   Jessica Macdonald 1:55:08, 873 (247, -) [56.63%] NEW PB Kew the Run - Half Marathon (Kew Gardens), 10/04/2022 HM Krush Patel 01:45:41 (01:45:41) [55.24%] RunThrough Chase the Sun Olympic Park 10K (London Olympic Park), 13/04/2022 10K Marcos Cuevas-Nunez 43:36 (43:27), 31 (4) [68.55%]   Eleanor Childs 55:28 (55:12), 98 (21, -) [54.95%] St Albans 10K (St Albans), 15/04/2022 10K Jonathan Thomson 39:03 (38:58), 32 (5) [72.24%]   Nicola Payne 41:50 (41:34), 65 (9, -) [72.98%]   Alex Renton 43:06 (42:50), 91 (21) [66.77%] NEW PB Parkrun 16/04/2022 Ally Pally Mike Hurford 20:49, 21 (1) [77.98%] Antrim Kevin Gormley 20:48, 16 [64.50%] Clacton Seafront Paul Matthews 30:08, 89 (1) [67.26%] Clevedon Salthouse Fields Ellie Holloway 23:00, 50 [64.20%] Dishley, Loughborough Elizabeth Aryeetey 27:54, 76 [67.26%] Finsbury park Rory O'Callaghan 00:30:14 (00:30:14), 220 (149) [46.64%] NEW PB Finsbury Park Simon Fitzmaurice 19:41, 9 [67.06%]   Rahul Mohindra 20:24, 17 [63.64%] Gladstone Liam Moroney 21:50, 5 (1) [59.47%] Graves Sophie Fenner 30:29, 116 [48.44%] Great Dunmow David Nelson 24:32, 19 [55.10%] Grovelands Johnny Chapman 23:14, 29 [55.95%] Gunpowder Juliette Westbrook 23:20, 40 [63.29%] Hampstead Heath Alina Williamson 26:41, 84 [55.84%]   Emily Morgan 34:08, 173 [43.26%] Highbury Fields Lauren Longhurst 19:03, 7 (1, 1) [77.87%] NEW PB   Bruno Papadacci 20:32, 20 [64.94%] Jersey Fiona Carr 25:55, 116 [57.36%] Kettering Rosie Dougherty 22:29, 19 (2, 1) [65.68%] NEW PB Killerton Rebecca Howarth 24:55, 87 [59.26%] Leicester Victoria Danielle Smreczak 27:58, 145 [55.72%] Littlehampton Prom Rafaele Lamour 24:00, 48 [68.82%] Mile End Stephen Fabes 16:38, 1 (1) [82.97%] Milton Keynes Daisy Wooller 32:34, 290 [45.34%] Oak Hill Phil West 27:50, 134 (1) [62.75%] Pontefract Carl Heron 21:03, 16 (1) [75.85%] Pymmes Andy Davies 21:47, 17 (1) [59.68%] Riddlesdown Lizzy Muggeridge 34:52, 108 [46.37%] Shipley Country Paul Dickens 26:16, 55 [50.76%] Southwark Rendy Prakoso 17:54, 3 (1) [73.09%] NEW PB Tooting Common Christopher Leslie 18:00, 2 (1) [72.13%] NEW PB Victoria Dock Jennifer Moore 25:01, 59 (-, 1) [59.09%] Whinlatter Forest Fiona Russell 26:47, 21 (1, 1) [63.78%] Wormwood Scrubs John H Grigg 40:36, 63 (1) [60.76%] Links Send your stories to newsletter@chaser.me.uk. 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