Races Well done to Cloudy who did amazingly well at the Maverick Exmoor Trail race. Shout out to Lydia who smashed her Thames Path 100 race, more on that later. Good luck to the only Queen Elizabeth that I recognise as she takes on her second marathon of the season at Leeds on Sunday. Club Handicap – John Armstrong Entries for Thursday's club handicap race close this Sunday. You must have entered the race and have at least one race result recorded in order to be given an official handicap and so be eligible for a prize. Registration opens at 18:45 in the Highgate Woods sports ground. Full details are here and below: 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. The race is 3.5 miles around Highgate Woods. 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 and it was quite muddy last time we looked (it's been a wet spring). 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. Handicapping To compete in the race you will need a handicap, and to get a handicap you must run at least one race - just a Parkrun will do. If you don't have an official handicap, you can still run the route on the day for fun, but will not be eligible for a prize. You can view your personal handicap at the bottom of your results page. I have written a web page explaining how handicaps are calculated. Prize This year's winner will receive a basket of unisex Burt's Bees beauty products, irrespective of how beautiful they are already. Thank you to last year's winner, Ellie Childs, for donating the prize! So Near and Yet So Far – Lydia Thomson Thames Path 100 (aka Thames Path 70.8) Richmond to Oxford (aka Richmond to Goring) I’ve been banging on about the emotions of this race for long enough already, so to save my pals yet more of my wailing, and to provide a more useful account, here’s a pragmatic “race report”. Most of this is things I already knew, which makes getting them wrong even dumber. What went wrong I could and should have scheduled walking breaks for earlier on in the race. The Thames Path is incredibly flat. On a hilly trail run, you’re likely to walk the climbs and adjust pace for technical sections. Instead I think I ran most of the first 50k here. Idiot.  All of the aid stations had Tailwind on tap, but it was more diluted than what I needed. I had sticks in my pack and could easily have topped it up to make it stronger. I thought this would be too much fuss. What a lazy bum. I couldn’t manage to get my flat-slow pace dialled in training. This meant I really struggled to hit it in the race. I picked up the keys to my new house in Corsham the day before the race. This was a lot for my brain to process and resulted in a fit of sobbing at mile 45. I got home a bit too late that evening and had a stressful time finalising my drop bags while also trying to get an early night. Helpful, Lydia. Really smart. I should have had crew. I really needed some rational thinkers who could remind me of my plans at Henley aid station (mile 51). Instead I largely stared at my drop bag for 20 minutes. I really, really should have changed my shoes and socks here. I learned a good tip from Andrew this week - never go into an aid station intending to drop. Have some food, change your clothes, do whatever, then decide. The fact I didn’t stop my watch for the whole hour I was in Goring aid station tells me that part of me actually did want to continue. I thought about it, I touched it, but I never pressed the stop button. Maybe, maybe… What went well Despite Tailwind-gate, my fuelling went really well. I set a nutrition alert on my watch to go off every hour, and it never passed without me having taking on fuel at least twice in the interim. I’d become aware during Country to Capital that my hands can swell due to lack of salt, so I was hot on my salt intake, too. No puffy hands. Gold star. I had a spare waterproof in my pack. This fresh layer was very welcome when the rain got even heavier after the first 4.5 hours. I kept my sense of humour. High-fiving children, joking with people in the aid stations and singing to myself all passed the time nicely. I had put my old iPod in my Henley drop bag. Yes birdsong is beautiful, but sometimes you just need some banging tunes to get through another hour. I let go of a man who wanted to run the night section with me. I wasn’t up for chat and really wanted to go at my own pace/die alone. I only wish I’d let him go sooner. I popped my blisters at Pangbourne (soz, gross). It’s good to drain them because otherwise you can end up with blisters on blisters, and worse, they can pop on their own and then get infected. You can’t just put a plaster over them either, because if they pop, the fluid will cause the plaster to come off. (Jason Koop has a brilliant section on this in his book Training Essentials for Ultrarunning.) Prepping my feet in the week before the race (details available on request). The blisters I had were only due to a fit issue with my shoes, which I was willing to risk for their road-to-trail capabilities. My feet were otherwise fine. I had done a course recce as far as Windsor which meant that I didn’t even have to think about navigation until beyond that point. It also meant I could save battery on my watch and phone, because I didn’t need to use the maps. Dropping when I did. Relentless mud is just not my kind of party, and I have since heard/read/seen that it got even worse after Goring where I dropped. Daring to try. Another gold star. Making this list. I realise now that more things went right than wrong. That’s quite nice. 12 Hour Crawley Track Race – Sarah Funderburk Part 4: Shock and awe 7am rolled around, the sun had risen, Sean had just arrived at the track, and my name was still at the top of the leaderboard...for a few more minutes anyway. Andy had continued to power on, and I was now 1?, 2?, who's counting? laps behind. I was still running, though, and that is all that mattered. My math brain was beginning to fail me, but I knew that I could walk for the next 2 hours and still meet the B goal of 75 miles. I wasn't sure anymore if I could complete the final marathon, but if I just kept moving, I would get pretty close. When Sean first saw me, he asked if I was ok. I gave him my most pitiful "no...", but then also shook my head up and down as I ran. I'm not ok, but I'm ok. I'm still doing this. It was becoming harder and harder to keep running. I was faltering with my fueling. "Should I be eating whole foods now? Wow, that hot chocolate the officials are drinking smells amazing, but is also making my stomach churn a bit." With Sean back on the scene, he was doing his best to get me to take on real food. Every time I passed he would offer something, and I would shake my head like a petulant child. I just wanted more gels, more Tailwind.  He finally got me to eat some crisps, "yuck!" and then a too green banana I had brought, "double yuck!". Finally we scored with a better banana from the common fueling table. I had slowed down considerably and was almost walking 1 complete lap every mile, sometimes more. Every time I began to run again, I was amazed at how heavy my arms were and how much they hurt. They felt like lead beside me. For the first time, some of the 24 hour runners were beginning to pass me. I was in awe of them. One guy in particular, the encouraging blister advice guy, kept nudging me to push on whenever he saw me walking. It was both inspiring and discouraging at the same time. But, when I would start to pick up the pace from a walk into a slow trot again, I knew he was right. I still had some to give. With 1 hour to go, we switched directions for the last time. This would also be the last time the 24 hour runners would switch directions; they had 4 more hours. Before that last hour had begun, I had surpassed my prior 12 hour distance of 72 miles. I had entered PB territory. 75 miles was guaranteed, and I thought I just might be able to make 78 afterall. Run, walk, run, walk, the pattern continued. With about 10 minutes to go, the officials handed us bean bags that we would use to mark our stopping point. I was a bit incredulous. "Why are they giving us this now? I still have 10 minutes!" I tossed the bag at Sean. I didn't want to lug that thing around the track for 10 whole minutes. My arms had enough to deal with. The next lap and a half or so I was running with Andy. He had slowed just a tad, and I had gained back a lap or so. It was nice to chat about the experience, but I was still secretly mad at him for not ending at 50 miles. We passed Sean again, and I took the bean bag back. It was time for this to end. As I was rounding the track slowly for the last time, some of the supporters started encouraging me. "Go for it! If you sprint you can make another whole lap!" The idea hadn't even crossed my mind, but off I went as hard as I could. My "sprint" was probably a whopping 8 min/mile pace, but I was amazed that my legs could even do that. I was about 1 meter from the timing mat when the horn sounded; so close! I dropped the bean bag, stumbled off the track, and fell into a heap on the soft grass. In the end, I had just squeaked out that third marathon afterall for a total of 79.03 miles, just shy of 318 laps of the track. I went from a sprint finish to barely being able to move at all. Once I stopped, all energy and adrenaline dissipated. As my brain was comprehending and in awe of what I had just done, my body was definitely going into shock. One of the officials removed the timing chip from my ankle to reveal blood and where it had dug into my skin over the past 12 hours. I slowly took off my Alphaflys (never again) and put on my comforting Mizunos and more warmer clothes. As we were packing up, the 24 hour runners were still going...3 more hours for them. I had the same feeling after my very first half marathon 9 years ago. "How on earth would I ever be able to do what I just did twice?!" The last thing to do was to gather with the other 12 hour runners for the awards. Andy collected his First Male prize, and I took my First Female. Along with engraved glass vases, we were given Inov-8 jackets. Awesome! Mine was a lovely red, but also a men's large. Hmm... I asked Andy, "hey, what size is your jacket??". When he said it was a men's medium, I asked if he wanted to swap. He essentially gave me the look of "piss off". Fair enough. We congratulated each other again and said our goodbyes. Dear reader, I'll skip the next bit where my body continues to go into shock and I have a mini meltdown back at the Barrington Lodge where the shower can only seem to be either freezing cold or scalding hot. Just know that my body is recovering well, and I've appreciated the catharsis of getting to relay my 12 hour tale to you. I will leave you with this...when I see Andy again at the Backyard Ultra I'm running on June 3rd, you better believe I'll be wearing my too big Inov-8 jacket as I leave him for dust. 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. 18/05/2023 Club Handicap 🏃 Run - deadline 2023-05-14 22/05/2023 Annual General Meeting 20/05/2023 Athletics SAL Fixture 1 - Hornchurch Sign up - deadline 2023-05-18 13/05/2023 Middlesex AA County Championships - Lee Valley 16/05/2023 Beginners volunteering week 3 volunteer (3 of 5 left) 23/05/2023 Beginners volunteering week 4 volunteer (2 of 5 left) 30/05/2023 Beginners volunteering week 5 volunteer (2 of 5 left) 06/06/2023 Beginners volunteering week 6 volunteer (2 of 5 left) 20/05/2023 Night of the 10k PBs | Parliament Hill Track We are also currently taking names for the following events. 13/06/2023 Beginners volunteering week 7 volunteer (2 of 5 left) 20/06/2023 Beginners volunteering week 8 volunteer (2 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. TCS London Marathon (London), 23/04/2023 Mar Donal Moran 2:36:51, 378 (17) [85.97%] NEW PB   Marc Cohen 2:46:18, 1075 (208) [77.77%]   Daniele Biagi 2:46:30, 1091 [74.72%]   Myles Preston BA (Hons), CIMA (Cert), GDL, LPC, PGCE, MA, MSc, A* A Level in Government and Politics 2:47:03, 1147 [74.48%]   Liam Moroney 2:47:17, 1170 [73.50%] NEW PB   Alice Noe 3:08:27, 4166 (385, -) [71.86%] NEW PB   Keith Jordan 3:15:35, 5413 (432) [72.67%]   Fiona Russell 3:18:24, 5945 (801, 36) [81.69%]   Daisy Wooller 3:21:52, 6608 (975, -) [67.10%] NEW PB   Rosie Young 3:27:43, 7887 (1349, -) [65.19%] NEW PB   John Woodnutt 3:28:56, 8273 (3) [79.47%]   Elspeth West 3:32:39, 9312 (1763, 315) [66.09%] NEW PB   Costanza Stocchi 3:33:19, 9493 (1830, -) [63.48%] NEW PB   Danny Baker 3:39:46, 11322 [56.23%] NEW PB   Krush Patel 3:40:21, 11488 [55.80%] NEW PB   Amit Shah 3:48:29, 13949 (1912) [55.34%] NEW PB   Yuxin Zhang 3:49:56, 14421 (3551, -) [58.89%] NEW PB   Elizabeth Aryeetey 4:11:31, 21671 (6189, 96) [72.02%]   Evie Ley 4:13:11, 22167 (6378, -) [53.49%] NEW PB   Megan Brown 4:13:44, 22320 (6437, -) [53.37%] NEW PB   David Nelson 4:27:16, 26410 [47.02%]   Julia Shreeve 4:33:39, 28264 (8971, 1482) [51.02%] NEW PB   Rebecca Green 4:52:39, 33495 (11394, -) [46.49%] NEW PB   Michelle Merriman 4:58:22, 35130 (12252, 1774) [49.75%] NEW PB Serpentine Last Friday of the Month 5K (London Hyde Park), 28/04/2023 5K John H Grigg 36:04, 170 (2) [70.93%] RunThrough Chase the Sun Olympic Park 5K / 10K (London Olympic Park), 03/05/2023 10K Simon Fitzmaurice 42:13 (42:08), 21 (4) [64.00%] Ealing Mile (Ealing), 05/05/2023 1M Stephen West 8:49, 28 (3) Parkrun 06/05/2023 Canons Park Alex Renton 23:15, 9 (1) [61.15%] Finsbury Park Tom Hill 19:39, 29 [66.07%]   Rafaele Lamour 24:44, 148 [67.52%] Gladstone Rendy Prakoso 20:52, 13 [62.94%]   Hamir Patel 22:05, 23 [60.38%] NEW PB   Abdul Salam 27:19, 102 [52.78%] Hampstead Heath John Mehrzad 21:20, 23 [66.09%]   Brandon Leung 21:23, 25 [66.48%]   Keith Jordan 24:07, 73 [63.10%]   Emily Morgan 24:22, 83 [60.60%]   Gaby Anderson 28:29, 191 [51.84%]   Hattie Lowe 28:31, 192 [51.78%] Highbury Fields Liam Moroney 18:26, 7 (1) [70.43%]   John Armstrong 18:43, 12 [78.81%]   Daniel Berry 20:51, 38 (1) [76.58%]   Fiona Russell 22:57, 80 (-, 1) [75.24%]   Adrian Cathersides 23:40, 100 [60.49%]   Bruno Papadacci 23:59, 113 [55.94%]   Fiona Carr 24:00, 114 [62.08%]   Andy Davies 24:05, 116 [54.05%]   Juliette Westbrook 24:06, 117 [61.27%]   David Nelson 24:22, 124 [55.88%]   Stephanie Mercier 24:44, 138 [60.24%]   Sarah Funderburk 26:06, 175 [58.43%]   Elizabeth Aryeetey 27:43, 223 (-, 1) [68.55%]   Collette Farnol 27:43, 224 [53.64%]   Alice Sullivan 28:32, 255 [57.30%]   Anthony Williams 29:24, 277 [44.50%]   Jennifer Williams 29:25, 278 [50.31%]   Lizzy Muggeridge 36:57, 363 [44.25%] Linford Wood Daisy Wooller 53:25, 309 [27.64%] Mile End Simon Fitzmaurice 21:00, 54 [63.17%] Queen Elizabeth Alina Williamson 29:21, 72 [51.16%] Rothay Park Paul Dickens 27:23, 109 [49.00%] Rother Valley Marcos Cuevas-Nunez 20:13, 21 (1) [72.96%] Trentham Gardens Rebecca Green 29:42, 213 [49.94%] Valentines Paul Matthews 28:58, 121 (1) [71.58%] Wormwood Scrubs John H Grigg 40:39, 85 (1) [62.94%] Links Send your stories to newsletter@chaser.me.uk. 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