USN Silverstone Duathlon |
On a warm evening 4 TriBRJ'ers went to Silverstone race track for race 1 of the USN Silverstone Duathlon race series. The advertised course was a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run with the bike course being around the famous Grand Prix circuit. 1st home for TriBRJ was Paul Fullalove in 14th place, then Shane Hunt in 45th. Jackie Wren was 3rd home for TriBRJ, 2nd lady overall and 1st in her age group and 4th for TriBRJ was Paul Jenner in 75th place. |
Yaxley Runners Invite Night |
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Yaxley Runners are holding their 10th Annual Frostbite Invite Night on Thursday 2nd June. The route is 6 miles and mainly off-road. Meet at The Farmers, Broadway, Yaxley to start running at 7 p.m. |
East Cambs Half Marathon |
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Well done to Simon Moore, Steve McNicoll and Ulf Maske who won the 1st Mens Team prize at the East Cambs Half Marathon. |
Frostbite Awards |
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At Saturday's Frostbite presentation evening Sarah Hall and John Wright were named BRJ's Senior Frostbite Runners of the Year, and Bob Bristow and Lucille Corby were named BRJ's Junior winners. Congratulations to all! |
Correction |
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Apologies to Ed McNeil, his pb at Halstead on Sunday was a massive 2 hours 12 minutes, rather than the (still impressive) 12 minutes previously stated! |
Results |
A weekend full of races saw 10 new PBs at distances from 5k to Marathon. The largest PB was Sarah Hall's 45 minute in her marathon time, followed by Ed McNeil's 12 minute improvement over the same distance. Tim O'Connor finished in 9th place and Ester Cotton finished 2nd FV60 in the Eye 10k, a race which saw several club/10k debuts. |
Duston Triathlon |
Whilst a number of BRJ runners were pounding the streets of London, Vivienne Parish completed her first tri of the season at Duston. This sprint triathlon features a 400m pool swim, followed by a 20k Bike and 5k Run over a great course. There are a few short sharp hills, but Vivienne says that this is an ideal event for first time triathletes - friendly and well organised - and she is more than willing to help anyone from the club who fancies giving it a go next year. |
Nigel |
Many of you will know that Nigel Maggs was taken to hospital after Sunday's London Marathon and I am sure you will join the rest of the BRJ members in wishing him a speedy recovery. |
Marathon Celebrations |
To celebrate BRJ runner's achievement at the London and Brighton Marathons over the past 2 weeks there will be a celebratory pub run from the 3JB in Wyton. Meet at the pub around 7.15pm to start running at 7.30pm. If you ran the marathons, don't forget your medals and t-shirts for the photos! |
Brighton and Flitwick |
This weekend's Flitwick 10k saw PBs for Tony Goldsmith and Yvonne Homewood, while down on the South coast 8 BRJ runners faced another hot day for the second Brighton Marathon. Sue Yendley scored her 5th PB of the year, taking 27 seconds off her time from London in 2003 as she finished in 3:34:09. Abi Gray took 54 minutes off her PB with a 4:34:04 finish in a race which also saw Claire Ashton (4:24:51) and Karen Charman (5:16:45) make their marathon debuts. |
Hose, Cambourne and Sandy |
Results for the Cambourne 10k, the Hose Half Marathon and Sandy 10M are now up. Karl Taylor and Sarah Hall scored 3 minute PB's at Hose. At Cambourne Ed McNeil, James Lunn and Sam Mayo all achieved PB's and Jane Perry made her club debut, whilst at Sandy Lee Brooks edged closer to a 60 minute 10M finishing in 61:10. |
Big Cow Duathlon |
Tri BRJ's first triathlete Paul Jenner completed his first race of the season at the Big Cow Duathlon at Emberton Country Park near Milton Keynes over the weekend. Paul completed the 5k Run - 20k Bike - 5k Run course in 1:34:59 in 64th place. |
Results - Oakley 20M and Thorney 10k |
Last weekend's Oakley 20M race saw 3 20M debuts and 8 individual PBs,
including a new club record. Sue Yendley beat her previous PB by 9 minutes and
secured second place in the F45-49 age category. This is Sue's 3rd club record
of the year following great times at Folksworth 15M and Stamford 30k. |
Results - Hurden 9M 1st Mens Team |
Congratulations to Lee Brooks, Phil Rudd and James Lunn who finished as the first mens team at the new Hurden 9M race on Sunday. Lee finished 5th, Phil 7th and James 8th. Simon Moore finished in 25th place. Results are also up for the latest Cambridge Park Run and the Orion 15M Cross Country. |
Long Run Sunday 20th March - CHANGE OF VENUE |
Please note the venue for Sunday's long run has changed from Paxton Pits to Godmanchester. Please meet in the car park next to the Cinta Restaurant at 0900. |
Training Pages |
The Training page has been updated to make information a bit more visible. Also added is details of the Open Water Swim Sessions due to start on the 29th April. Please note that the open water sessions will be for club members only. For more information please see the training page or contact Andy. |
BRJ AGM |
The BRJ AGM will be held on Thursday 10th March at 1930 in the Village Hall, Great Stukeley. All welcome. Please note there will be no club run that night. |
Long Run Sunday 20th February |
We will be doing another longer run for those of you looking for marathon training,
or just some more distance. Starting at 9am, please meet at the car park by Grafham
Village Hall on the road out to Brampton. There are two options: a 9 miler on the cycle
track around Grafham Water, or a 20 miler on tracks and minor roads further away from the Water,
but with options to cut it down to about 11, 14 or 18 miles using return routes along the cycle
path. |
Stamford 30k |
Stamford 30k results ar now up (minus the WAVA scores). 5 PB's on the day including Sue Yendley, who continues her recent good form with a new club record to follow up the new record she set at Folksworth. |
Tri Page |
The new Triathlon section of the website has it's first page! Please see the link on the left. It is a work in progress, so there will be more changes soon. If you have any questions please contact Andy. |
Tri Training |
The new triathlon training schedule is now on the training page. If you have any questions please contact Andy. |
Bourne Frostbite |
Another great run for Sarah Hall at the Bourne Frostbite saw her imrpove her course PB by 12 minutes. Sarah has now moved up to 3rd position in the record books for the Bourne course. |
Folksworth 15 - 6 PBs and a New Club Record |
Sue Yendley finished second Lady V45 and took the club record for 15 miles. Beating the previous record by 23 seconds finishing in 1:56:59 for 164th place. There were also PB's for Lee Brooks, Steve Burton, Stuart Hill, Keith Douglas and Ulf Maske. |
BRJ Win Ramsey Frostbite! |
For the first time in 22 years of Frostbite history, BRJ won a league meeting at Ramsey last weekend. On his debut at the course Tim O'Connor led the men home in 7th place overall and all the scoring men finished in the top 62. Lorna Higgins was first home for the ladies in 83 place - 3rd lady finisher and the new BRJ record holder for the course. |
Lorna's Doone it again! |
Lorna Higgins was 2nd Lady at yesterday's Park Run in Cambridge and bettered her PB by 17 seconds, beating her own club record set at the Ey 5k in July 2007. |
Get Fit in 2011 - BRJ Beginners Course |
Always fancied running and don't know where to start? Don't worry, help is at hand!
Huntingdon's running club is organising an eight week running course. The course
is for complete beginners or those returning to running after a spell away.
Dependent on current fitness levels, you will be taken through a progressive
training plan, beginning with a combination of walking and jogging, building up
to 30 minutes non-stop jogging. In addition to the Monday evening runs you will
be expected to run outside of the group in order to improve. This is a supportive
and friendly group of runners, many of whom started with the group as beginners.
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Last Results of the Year! |
The last results of the year are now up. Despite more than a few colds,
the Ely New Years Eve 10k saw new PBs for Andy Barber, Jon Batchelor and Sarah Hall. |
Club Championships |
Congratulations to Darren Preston, Club Champion for 2009/10! Darren won the championship with 466.85 points from Nigel Maggs in second place and Steve McNicoll in third. Lucy Moore was the leading lady, scoring 433.85 points with Sue Yendley in second and Gillian Peck in third. Darren was presented with the Cotton Shield by last year's winner, Tony Cotton. |
Frostbite Update |
Results are now up for the Frostbite at Hinchingbrooke. In the junior race, James Barkshire
and Lucille Corby became the fastest BRJ Junior Boy and Girl and in the seniors
Tim O'Connor became the fastest Senior Man over the Hinchingbrooke Course. Tim beat the record
by Pete Galpin's record by 3 seconds in his debut Frostbite race.
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Results |
BRJ finished in 4th place in the latest round of the Frostbite league at Hinchingbrooke
park, meaning that the club is now in 9th place in the league overall. Full results and pictures to follow. |
Hereward Relay |
Congratulations to Steve, Lucy, Keith and Bren who completed all of the 38.5 mile
Hereward Relay on Sunday. Steve was first home in 10th place in a time of 6 hrs 23:50, followed by Bren,
Lucy and Keith, in 14th, 15th and 16th places respectively, all in 6 hrs 38:30. Lucy was the first and
only lady to complete the course.
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St Neots |
Results for St Neots are now up. Some great runs with 15 PB's and 5 Half Marathon debuts. 3k Fun Run to follow soon. |
Newsletter |
The latest issue of the BRJ newsletter has been published and is available here |
Bushfield Results |
Bushfield Senior race results are now available on the results page. The Junior results have also been amended after it was found that the winner was over 16. This means that all Juniors have been moved up one place - so the first BRJ Junior, James Barkshire, is now placed in the top 10! |
More Results Added |
More results have been added, apologies for the delay. We are still awaiting a finalisd result from the Senior Frostbite at Bushfield, but as soon as we have them they will be added. |
Great Eastern, Cambridge Park Run and Amsterdam Marathon Results |
Results are now up for the Great Eastern Half Marathon, apologies for the delay. Also up are the results from our
two Channel hoppers - Darren Preston and Mike Wenn, in the Amsterdam Marathon. A PB for Darren of 2:50:16 and a debut result
of 3:21:41 for Mike.
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Great Eastern Report |
On a rather warm day BRJ runners hit the streets of Peterborough for the Great Eastern Half Marathon and 4k Fun
Run - some going for time and some as Bumblebees collecting money for this year's charity - Kick4Life. Full senior results
to follow, but the Bees collected an impressive £570 pounds - money that could provide health education an HIV testing for
50 orphans and vulnerable children.
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Help The Bumblebees! |
On Sunday 10th October the Great Eastern Run takes place in Peterborough. Several BRJ members are running as Bumblebees to collect money for Kick4Life our Club Charity this year. All support gratefully received! |
New Results |
On the 3rd October the first Frostbite race of the new season took place in St Neots. BRJ had seven runners in the
junior section with the first finisher being James Barkshire in 17th place - only 8 seconds off the BRJ record for the St
Neots race. Lucille Corby, Adam Brown, Katie Lunn, Adam Drylie and debut runs from Holly Girvan and Bob Bristow helped the
Juniors to 10th place.
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Training for October and Frostbite |
Tuesday and Thursday Night Group training has been now updated for October. Frostbite results and pictures will follow shortly. |
Round Norfolk Relay |
Just over 25 and half hours of running saw Team BRJ complete the 195 mile race in 27th place overall and 12th in our
class. The baton started off with Lee Brooks at 8 am on Saturday and passed through the hands of Keith Douglas, Alison
Winterton, Andy Barber, Nigel Maggs, Sarah Hall, Phil Pearsons, Maureen Wickson, Anita Girvan, Bren Vaughan, Steve
Dockerill, Michael Wenn, Alex Tindall, John Wright, Dan Avondoglio, and Laura Green, before being brought home by Lucy
Moore. Some sections of the course proved particularly challenging being run over shingle and sand dunes, but a good
time was had by all, despite some late night partying disturbing what precious few hours of sleep we were hoping to get!
Speical priase for Mike Gullis who drove the support bus around the route without sleep and for Keith, who coordinated
the whole effort.
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Round Norfolk Relay and Great North Run |
Over the weekend of 18th/19th September one team of BRJ runners headed North for the Great North Run and one headed East for the Round Norfolk Relay. Both enjoyed successful trips, the RNR team finishing 20th out of 54, whilst up North Simon Moore finished first for the club in 1:32:45. Full results and photos to follow. |
Swineshead 5M, Swineshead 10M and Robin Hood Half Marathon |
Results have now been added for three more races from the 12th September, the largest of which was the Swineshead 10M. In addition to 5 club debuts over 10 miles, and 1 debut club run, Lorna Higgins secured a 10M PB (approx 1 min 30 secs quicker than her previous PB at Swineshead 2007). Lorna's run has earned her the 1st FV35-39 award as well as the title of "Club Lady 10M Champion" by bettering
the 10M time set by Tracy Bryden @ Nene Valley in Dec 05 by a mere 6 seconds! |
Results Updated |
Results for 2 Cambridge Park Runs, Wotton Basset 5K, Malmesbury 10K, Headington 10K, Paul Maguire Memorial 5M and Bedford Harriers 10K have now been added including 5 PB's, several age group placings and one First Lady! |
Bedford 10k |
The 5th September saw Bedford Harriers celebrate their 25th Anniversary 10k in near perfect conditions, the mostly flat course suited the 6 BRJ runners who put in some good performances. Shaun Bennet was first home for the club in a time of 38:42 to secure 15th place overall. He was followed home by Andy Barber in 42:41. First Lady home was Lucy Moore in 47:05 (PB) securing gold standard and 3rd place LV45. Full Results to follow. |
Hadrians Wall |
On the weekend of August 20th - 22nd members of the BRJ Road Runners in Huntingdon travelled to the north of
the country to face the daunting challenge of running the entire length of Hadrian's Wall in two and a half days.
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Outlaw Triathlon |
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CoastersGB |
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London to Cambridge Bike Ride |
A start time of 08.30 for the annual London to Cambridge Bike ride meant an early morning for 15 members of
the BRJ Road Running Club together with families and friends. The bike ride, which is in aid of the Breakthrough
Breast Cancer charity, followed an undulating 58 mile plus route from Pickett's Lock in Lee Valley north London to
Midsummer Common in the heart of Cambridge. |
St Ives Dairy Crest 10k and Mayor's Fun Run |
Seventeen senior and three junior runners from BRJ took part in St Ives Dairy Crest 10k road race and
the Mayor's fun run on Sunday 18 Jul. The 10k race, which follows an undulating "out & back" course from
the outskirts of St Ives town, along a quiet rural lane, to the taxiways of RAF Wyton Airfield and returns to
the finish at St Ives Outdoor Leisure Centre, was run in fine conditions. However, the wind across the exposed
airfield found the runners digging deep, particularly in the second half of the race.
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Bushy 10k |
Club Hoodies |
Seven runners from the Huntingdon base BRJ Road Running Club took part in the Bushy 10k road race. For the
first time the 10k race, which was organised by Bushfield Joggers, was part of the Advanced Performance A1 series
of road races. The weather on the day was very warm but ideal for the event and some fast times were set by many
of the runners. |
Black hoodies with the club logo front and back are now available. |
2010 Guesstimate |
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BRJ Triathlon |
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Race for Life |
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Cambridge Parkrun |
Milton Country Park is home of the Cambridge Parkrun, a free 5km race that takes place every Saturday
morning at 9am. On Saturday 3 July Tony Goldsmith, Yvonne Homewood and Sarah Hall gained PB's. Magda Chudney
made a debut at the Parkrun, and Suzie Hall marshalled having run in the event 3 times and making her debut 5k at
the race previously. Alison Stewart is also a regular runner at the event and Paul Salmon takes part in the
Swindon Parkrun. The Parkrun is funded by sponsors, is very well organised and is suitable for all types of
runners. Children are also welcome.
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Huntingdon 10k |
Eye 5k |
A huge team from BRJ took part in the Huntingdon 10k -the first time the race has been staged for many
years. A succesful day too for as well as several debuts and PBs Phill Rudd, Paula Elliot, Rachel Real and Viv
Parish all scored first places in their respective age categories. |
Just three BRJ runners were in race #2 of 'The Peterborough Grand Prix 5k/3k series' hosted by Eye
community runners. On a warm sunny evening, Andy Barber was 1st home for the club with a time of 20:40 (PB)
followed by Lucy Moore 23:28 (Debut - a time just outside Lorna Higgins' club record) and Martin Doig 27:17.
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Edinburgh Marathon |
Again a very hot day with temperatures up to 25ºC for this years Edinburgh marathon and again a number of
issues surrounding the organisation of this race. With the continued injury of Gilles Corby, Andy Barber and
Hugh Williams were the only BRJ runners to venture Up North. Despite the heat and other issues, Andy recorded an
huge improvement of 1:11:58 over the marathon PB he acheived as an "Unattached" runner in the May 2008 edition
of the Halstead & Essex Marathon. |
East Cambs Half |
Limerick Marathon |
Congratulations to Steve McNicol who won first prize in his age category at this years East Cambs Half
Marathon. |
On Sunday May 2nd, Paula Elliott completed her debut marathon in her home city of Limerick, Ireland. In
ideal conditions and in a small field of around 800 runners she cruised around the course comfortably in 3:56
aided in no small part by a huge team of dedicated family supporters. Paula enjoyed the experience and is already
thinking about her next marathon! |
London Marathon |
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Brighton Marathon |
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Flitwick 10K |
Bungay Black Dog Marathon |
BRJ runner Chris Hemming took part in the Flitwick 10k and finished in 506th place out of 793 competitors in a time of 55:54. |
BRJ Runner Sue Yendley competed in the Bungay Black Dog Marathon and finished in 491st position in a field of 3000 runners. Sue clocked a time of 4:07:01. |
11th April 2010 |
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Oakley 20 |
For many of the 28 BRJ runners taking part in this years Oakley 20 it would their final pre-marathon
race as they round off their preparations over the next few weeks ahead of the big day. And, on what turned out
to be an almost perfect day for distance running, there were some stunning debuts over the distance as well as
personal bests from Darren Preston, Keith Douglas, Rachel real, Bren Vaughan, Ulf Maske and Nykki Webber. Also
Andy Barber and Pieter Severein posted new best times as BRJ runners. |
Tough Guy - The Movie |
Frostbite - Runner of the Series |
Check out the drama as BRJ take on Tough Guy. Copies on DVD including lots of extra photos and uncut
video from the day are on sale for £4 with profits going to Kick4Life. To purchase your copy email
info@brjroadrunners.org.uk |
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Dambuster Tri/Ashby 20 |
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Silverstone Half Marathon |
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Frostbite Race 6 - BRJ |
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Sussex Beacon Half Marathon |
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PMRT Presentation |
BRJ Road Runners has presented local charity Pidley Mountain Rescue Team with a £2,400 fund-raising cheque. The club handed over the cheque to Pidley Mountain Rescue's Trevor Peacock and Paul Treadwell at a presentation evening generously hosted by the Axe and Compass pub in Hemingford Abbots. "BRJ's generous donation will have a fantastic impact on our work in providing local disabled children and adults with much-needed specialised equipment to encourage their independence and mobility. Thank you to all those club runners for their incredible efforts throughout the year" says Pidley Mountain Rescue's chairman Trevor Peacock. |
Stamford 30k |
It doesn't matter how many times you do the Stamford 30k, as many of the runners from BRJ who took part again in this years race will no doubt tell you, it never gets any easier. Nevertheless there were some great PB's and debut performances recorded over the notoriously hilly Lincolnshire course. Alex Tindall led the charge in his first runnng of the race whilst there were PB's from Andy Matson, Steve Dockerill and Nigel Maggs. Other BRJers making their debuts were Pieter Severein, Claire Ashton, Dan Avondoglio, Paula Elliot, Rachel Real and Hugh Williams. Post race refreshments in a local hostlery proved a perfect way to begin the recovery process. Full Results View photos |
Frostbite Race 5 - Bourne |
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Tough Guy - THEY DID IT! |
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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.
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 |
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Keith's story... |
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Folksworth 15 |
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Frostbite Race 4 - Ramsey |
A bright winter's day greeted the 39 senior and 4 junior runners of BRJ RRC at Ramsey on Sunday 14th
January for the fourth race in the season's Frostbite series. The weather conditions on the day were ideal for
running a fast time; however, the runners were slowed down by the muddy and water logged ground.
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Cambs Cross Country 2010 |
Sunday 10 January saw the BRJ make it's return, after 6 years absence, to taking part in the
Cambridgeshire Cross Country Championships.
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BRJ Club Championship 2009 |
Congratulations to Tony and Esther Cotton who kept it the family, taking the top honors in BRJ's first
ever Club Championship event. |
SANTA RUN |
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Frostbite Race 3 - Hinchingbrooke |
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Tough Guy |
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Hereward Relay |
BRJ road running club fielded 5 teams in this year's Hereward Relay. The teams, each consisting of 4
runners, cover the distance of 36.5 mile in the four stages of the relay from Peterborough Cathedral to Ely City
football ground where they finished in front of the football stand.
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St Neots 3K |
Hell Runner 09 |
Four BRJ runners took part in the St Neots 3K. Joanne Wenn made her debut for the club alongside Amy Hughes
who was running for the first time over the distance.
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As you can imagine it was an early start on Sunday to travel to Longmoor for Hellrunner - down South! Once we got there was shocked to find out that over 5000 people would be racing! We managed to get near the front where the 8ft Devil sent us off! Horn went and through the red mist came the masses! All going good till 2 mile point when I went through a puddle but realised it was deeper than that and crashed head first into mud twisting my ankle. Fought through the next 8 miles of mud, hills lakes, bogs and sinking sand to complete my first Hellrunner! Time was 1.28 and came in first 400, so chuffed. Saw Gordon Ramsey come over line and grabbed him for photo shoot, he had no choice as he was hanging ha ha! What an experience and definitely recommend it to BRJ. Would like to thank all who sponsered me for Help the Heroes, talking to the other lads who ran we might have raised over £1000, so well done. Steve B |
St Neots Half Marathon |
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Frostbite Race 2 - Bushfield |
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Ballbuster Duathlon |
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Stevenage Half |
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Fenland 10 & Great South Run |
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RNR - Revisited |
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Great Eastern Run |
Almost half the club turned out for this years Great Eastern Run, one of the most popular
local races run round the streets of Peterborough. |
Jez Bottley completes The Isle of Wight Marathon |
It took me about a week to come down from the high of running the London Marathon this year, the buzz was
fantastic and I decided at that point I wanted to do another one before the year was out but the question was,
which one? Having found a calendar of possible events one stuck out because I grew up there, the Isle of Wight.
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Frostbite Race 1 - St Neots |
A strong squad at the first race of this seasons Frostbite campaign saw BRJ come in 7th place in the
senior race and 10th in the junior.
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Oxford to Cambridge Bike Ride |
In glorious September weather, three BRJ members completed the 90 mile Oxford to Cambridge bike ride. Conditions were chilly and overcast in Oxford when we set off just before 9, but within an hour the sun came out, the hills started and it was t-shirt conditions. After one stop for a cup of tea at 35 miles, and a lunch stop at 65 miles we were heading back into Cambridgeshire. For two of us this was about the time that we crossed the 'comfortable' threshold into the 'this is getting hard' area, but the hills ceased and we all arrived at Midsummer Common for refreshments at Fort St George. All that was left was to get back to Huntingdon - fortunately we didn't have to bike it, as a contingency plan for transport by car was in place! Keith's Oxford to Cambridge photos |
Five members from
the Huntingdon BRJ Road Running Club took on - and beat - the Outlaw Ironman on Sunday.
On Thursday 29
July, Sarah, Lucy and Keith did their bit to help Barry the Baton on his way around the Coast of Britain, accompanied
by Robin (Stamford Striders) and Steve (RAF). Barry had started his journey at Blackpool Tower on the 9th May, and
after 81 days travelling up the Cumbria coast, all the way round Scotland and back down the East Coast he arrived at
Sutton Bridge for his most prestigious section yet - the BRJ stage! The previous stage runners arrived on time, and
after a few photos of the handover we were off. 
Despite a few light showers
of rain, the second BRJ Guestimate run took place on 6th July with 36 senior runners and 12 juniors, a big increase
on last year.
A team of 11 ladies from BRJ along with their
supporters travelled to the Olympic Rowing Venue at Dorney to take part in the Shock Absorber Womens Triathlon.
The team included Rachel Real, Andrea Sandells, Nykki Webber, Lorna Higgins, Nicky Dean, Viv Parish, Carolina
Casado and Amy Cowens who all put in stunning performamces in their open water debuts.
On Tuesday 29 July a team of BRJ
Ballerinas ran the Race for Life in Peterborough.
A Capital performance by the BRJ Runners!!
7,500 runners crossed the start line of the
first Brighton Marathon in the first 20 mins, amongst them were 17 runners from BRJ. On a spectacular weekend on
the south coast club PB's were smashed left right and centre. All the runners took advantage of excellent
conditions on a predominately flat course and the majority set new personal best times over the marathon
distance at the race.
Additionally, four runners
chose the event to make their marathon debuts.
The first BRJ lady to finish was Lucy Moore
who finished in 1184th place and also setting a new personal best time by over 4 minutes. Anita Girvan, in
2035th pace and the second BRJ lady to finish, also broke her own personal best by over 11 minutes.
Spring was definitely in the air as BRJ
runners took part three different races across the Region.
Congratulations to Rachel Real who was
crowned this seasons Frostbite Runner of the Series. Rachel was presented with her award before the start of the
Oakley 20 where she recorded yet another personal best beating her previous time by 5mins and 47secs. 
On a cold wet Saturday morning me
(Phil), John and Ryan drove to Rutland to do the Dambuster Duathlon which consists of a 10k run 42k bike ride
and finished off with a 5k run. The race started at 9am prompt. When we started the 10k run it was drizzling
with rain, we ran out along the dam and back to tranistion where we collected our bikes and proceeded to do the
42k bike ride. Whilst we were half way around the drizzle turned to heavy rain. I caught Ryan up half way
around, having climbed the Rutland Ripple and I don't mean the chocolate. I got to the 2nd transition and was
surprised to see John just putting on his trainers to start the final run. I rushed to put on my trainers but
was unable to catch him. I managed to finish in a time of 2.34.20 and later to find out whilst shopping in
Sainsburys that I had won 2nd in my age catergory. John 2.30.25 Ryan 2.39.08
With the opening race of the
Formula One season in Bahrain, it was rather appropriate that the BRJ Runners headed for Silverstone, "the home
of British Motor Racing", for the annual pre-London half marathon. Conditions were bright and dry, the only
problem being the gusty wind that is a common feature of this race circuit.
On a perfect Sunday in March, BRJ
hosted the sixth and final race in this years Frostbite Friendly League. BRJ runners were out in force too as
many new members joined their more season collegues in making it a great day for the club. Thanks go too, to the
many friends of the club, who helped prepare for and carry out the many duties required on the day to make our
20th staging of our Frostbite race a huge success.
In preparation for the Brighton Marathon in April,
Keith, Lucy and Steve travelled down to the south coast to take part in the Sussex Beacon half marathon. It was
also an opportunity to see some of the marathon course and the Brighton area. Conditions on the day were pretty
grim, with a strong wind and heavy showers of rain and sleet. At times it brought back memories of ToughGuy!
Keith came in first in 1:34:29, Steve finished in 1:42:03 and Lucy battled through the rain to finish in 1:51:43.
The conditions and the congestion at the start pushed out all our times, so we're all hoping for better things on
our return in 2 months time.......Keith
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.
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. 
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!
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.
Well done to all who
braved the cold to take part in the Santa run round Grafham.
It
was a case of dodging the showers for the 39 seniors and 5 junior runners who took part in race 3 of this seasons
Frostbite series.
On the
Sunday after Boogie Nights, twelve BRJ recruits headed for Bassingbourne Barracks for Tough Guy training with
Steve Burton. Nobody (apart from Steve) knew what we were actually letting ourselves in for. Scaling walls,
jumping ditches, balancing on the top of walls, traversing Burmah bridges and swinging on the overhead bars was
just the start. Pushing tyres, carrying tyres, carrying people, press-ups, situps and then we were off out into
the country. "Incoming!!" and we were flat on our fronts - funny how the enemy always seemed to strike when
were over a big muddy puddle! After a four mile cross country run, and doing press-ups in a pond, we were back at
the assault course ready for our final timed run. The showers were very welcome after all of that, before we
headed off to the Queen Adelaide in Croydon for lunch and refreshments.
The runners set off at 9.00 from
outside Peterborough Cathedral in near ideal conditions, however the weather varied throughout the long day with
the forecasted wind and rain never being far away and the sun making the occasional appearance.
Forty five runners from the Club took
part in this year's St Neots Riverside Half Marathon organised by Riverside Runners.
This included excellent runs by Rachel Real and Alex Tindall who both knocked over 9 minutes off their previous
best times and Nicola Dean who knocked over 7 minutes off her previous best time. Additionally, 5 of the club
runners chose the event to make their half marathon debut runs.
A bright
sunny day greeted us for the second race in Frostbite series of the season. The race was run from the Bushfield
Sports Centre in Peterborough and had a record field of 493 and 136 junior competitors. Thirty four senior
runners together with 3 juniors turned out for the BRJ club. However, despite a very under strength team, the
club runners dug deep to produce a very respectable result.
John and Keith
took part in the Ballbuster duathlon on Saturday 7 November in perfect conditions - cool, dry, still and with
autumn sunshine. This was the 20th time this annual event has taken place, and the organisation could not be
faulted. The format is based on an 8 mile loop round and up and down Box Hill in Surrey - one lap running,
three laps on the bike and a final run lap. John was the first home for the BRJ in a time of 3h 27m 13s, 121 out
of 380 finishers. He was 11 in his age class out of 52 - a superb performance. Keith, in his first ever run
/bike event finished in 3h 45m 20s in 225 place. He overtook over 50 runners on the last run leg - clearly
there's a bit of work to be done on the bike/transitions! We had a great day and it's one of those events
that should be on every runners/bikers 'to do' list. Special thanks are due to Janice and Sandra for
getting up at 4am to come and support us! 
Only Sue Yendley of the 3
members of the club scheduled to run the Stevenage Half Marathon braved the very wet and very very windy
conditions on the day. Sue came in in just under 2 hours despite the atrocious weather.
Sunday 25 October: on a
dry sunny autumnal day eight members of the BRJ Running Club headed out to Wisbech for the Fenland 10 having
gained an extra hour in bed full of energy. It was almost perfect conditions for running there was a head wind
after six and a half miles making the last three and half miles to the finish more difficult.
Been there, got the
T-shirt. Now see the video!