Welcome...

BRJ Road Running Club are Huntingdon's original England Athletics affiliated running club. We are a small, friendly club of around 80 catering for runners and joggers of all ages and standards. Regular club runs take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A Fun Running Group meet on Mondays.

Frostbite Race 4 - Bourne

With a number of runners still recovering from last weeks Tough Guy event coupled with seasonal colds and injuries, BRJ fielded a somewhat smaller team than usual for the traditionally hilly, muddy Bourne Race. Nevertheless, there were some fine performances with Darren Preston and Michael Wenn returning home one and two for the club.

Tough Guy ladies Rachel Real, Kristine Cornelius, Lucy Moore and Sue Yendley all managed good performances despite the fatigue resulting of last weekends events.

In the junior race Peter Bottley and Adam Drylie were the first two home.

The senior team came 13th on the day with juniors 11th. This leaves us 8th (seniors) and 12th (juniors) overall. Full results coming soon.

AGM

Charity Presentation Evening

All members are warmly invited and encouraged to attend the club AGM at St Judith's Village Hall, Godmanchester, PE29 2HZ. The meeting takes place on 8th March and will start at 7.30pm.

This is you chance to meet fellow runners, discuss and influence club activities and vote for your preferred candidates in the election on the new committee. Contact Nigel Maggs for more details.

A special charity presentation to representatives of Pidley Mountain Rescue Team will take place at our next pub run on 18th February at the Axe and Compass, Hemmingford. Please come along and help celebrate all our fundraising achievements.

Tough Guy - THEY DID IT!

Sixteen runners of the BRJ RRC, together with their families and supporters traveled to Perton near Wolverhampton on 31 January to compete in the 2010 Tough Guy event.

Bren's story...

They call it Toughguy and they mean it. To finish this course you have to be physically tough to navigate the various obstacles which work every muscle in your body, but the physical effort is dwarfed my the mental resilience required to do all this at incredibly cold temperatures. Huge inch thick shards of rock hard ice smash into your shins as you career deeper into the water on feet that you ceased to have any feeling in half an hour ago and slowly your lungs begin to contract in terror as the water rises up to your chest. Only your mind can force you to do the unthinkable and submerge yourself fully in the stinking murk to go under a bridge, secure in the knowledge that you'll have to do it three more times and then use hands which are as numb as your feet to climb out shivering uncontrollably and then ascend a 40 foot high wooden frame to rope walk across another icy lake and a potential plunging return to the depths. Face challenges like this for three hours and you will understand that anyone who gets a Toughguy finishers medal will have well and truly earned it.

Tough Guy, which claims to be the world's most demanding one day survival ordeals, is organised by Billy Wilson (Mr Mouse), who claims nobody has ever finished the entire course according to his extremely demanding rules. The race consists of a cross country run followed by an assault course. Running the course involves risking barbed wire, cuts, scrapes, burns, dehydration, hypothermia, claustrophobia, electric shocks, sprains, twists, joint dislocation and broken bones and before running the course one must sign a "death warrant" which states that one acknowledge the risks and dangers the course brings along, and that one can not claim in the case of injury.

The event itself is not really a race but a test of personal endurance and was made more difficult by the weather on the day which freezing cold with outbreaks of sleet. This meant that the ice that had formed on the water obstacles never thawed.

After eight mile of mud, barbed wire, broken ice, freezing water and fire the first BRJ solo entrant to finish was Michael Wenn and the first team to finish consisted of John Wright, Lucy Moore and Keith and all the BRJ runners finished the course without any mishaps or injuries.
View Alison's photos   View Phill's photos

With all the talk of death warrants and hypothermia and broken limbs, we began to think that the pre-event literature was a bit over the top and it couldn't really be that hard and serious, could it? Well actually yes, it was every bit as hard and serious as they make out. Within half a mile of the start we were in freezing cold water up to our thighs, with blocks of ice providing an additional hazard, and there was still 3 hours to go. Each obstacle on its own, on a warm, dry day, would be challenging. But they came at us relentlessly, one after the other, while we were getting colder and colder and it became a question of survival, endurance and a determination to just keep going to the end. The spirit was fantastic at all levels - within our own little team of three, within the BRJ runners as a whole, with the BRJ supporters and also amongst all the competitors. A great day out, and a great experience!

Folksworth 15

The Folksworth 15 is traditionally the first long race for many runners in training for a spring marathon. Coming so early in the season the hilly course always provides a serious work out for those taking part. Twenty three runners from BRJ completed this years infamously tough race, including a number of debutants at the distance.

The team was lead home by Ironman Dan Avondoglia, closely followed by Tough Guy Steve Burton and the in form Alex Tindall. Great running from Kristine Cornelius and Anita Girvan saw them home one and two for the ladies. It was great for all those taking part to see many others from the club out on the course to cheer them on.

Full Results   View Keith's photos

The Fortnight Ahead

Club Run Details available on the Training Page

08/02/10

09/02/10

10/02/10

11/02/10

12/02/10

13/02/10

14/02/10

Fun Running Group Leave Huntingdon Rec 7pm
Beginners meet Huntingdon Rec at agreed time

Club Run Huntingdon Rec 7.30pm

Nothing Planned

Club Run Leave Huntingdon Rec 7.30pm

Nothing Planned

Nothing Planned

Stamford 30K

15/02/10

16/02/10

17/02/10

18/02/10

19/02/10

20/02/10

21/02/10

Fun Running Group Leave Huntingdon Rec 7pm
Beginners meet Huntingdon Rec at agreed time

Club Run Huntingdon Rec 7.30pm

Nothing Planned

Charity Presentation and pub run. Meet Axe and Compass 7.20pm

Nothing Planned

Nothing Planned

Nothing Planned