I hope everyone enjoyed taking part part last week in the Virtual National Relays, it looks like all of our results have now been included. I know some of you found the upload process tricky but please bear in mind that it was free and organised by volunteers, the entries were 10x that of what was expected and the system just got overloaded. I’m sure there are many lessons to learn for future events and also apologies to all of you who Carol and I have been pestering into getting your results loaded.
Well to the results and I must say I didn’t quite anticipate the standard which we were up against with over 3748 (1197 women) finishers and 191 teams represented! Amongst these were National level athletes posting ridiculously quick times, the overall winning times were 13:38 by Grant Sheldon (Cambuslang) and 16:19 by Lucy Reid (Tonbridge). The overall winners were Leeds in the mens 12 stage (averaging under 15 mins for each runner!) and Herne Hill in the ladies 12 stage (average 19 mins a leg) and also Herne Hill in the women 6 stage.
Our best result was our W50 team which finished 2nd !!!! Our M50 team also managed a 10th place and ladies 12 stage 20th! So massive well done there, please see summaries below for each team competition.
In the individual competition (complete list at the bottom) we had an amazing 59 runners taking part and almost more miraculously Andy Howey even joined Strava! It looks like there was a good battle between Will (16:18) and Billy (16:15), demonstrating that the latest vapour flys can take almost 20 years off your age. Cathy Gill was our fastest lady in an impressive 19:43. Now obviously these times do have a GPS error and were all run on different courses but I am really surprised at just how fast these times were. Many people have beaten their Park run or 5K pbs so massive well done to everyone, perhaps we need a new trophy and club record for virtual times!
Mens 12 stage 64th out of 119
TUNW | 3:31:23 | 508: Billy Hobbs , 525: William Levett , 687: Alex Jeffreys , 810: Daniel Watt , 897: Patrick Bareham , 1222: Michael King , 1310: Edward Steele , 1429: Andy Howey , 1467: Keith Mitchell , 1543: Mike Staddon , 1604: James Sarre , 1663: Mike Cardall |
Mens 12 Stage B Teams too
A Team 71st out of 137 (team as above)B Team 128th out of 137
TUNW B | 4:02:42 | 1749: Craig Chapman , 1833: Alex Holmes , 2037: James Chandler , 2230: Simon Howden , 2284: Martin Hobbs , 2325: David Barker , 2333: Tobyn Young , 2370: Matt Newman , 2409: Dave Hadaway , 2472: Robert Winter , 2484: Saul Harris , 2586: Stephen Austin |
Ladies 12 – Stage 20th out of 33
TUNW | 4:25:54 | 2067: Cathy Gill , 2642: Pru Clements , 2681: Jillian Holford , 2681: Kate Naylor , 2772: Hayley Larkin , 2883: Lizzie Fox , 2894: Nicola Morris , 2911: Gemma Stilliard , 2999: Lou Hazelton , 2999: Polly Haywood , 3179: Amanda Smith , 3246: Ana-Maria Green |
Ladies 6 Stage
A Team – 61st out of 136
A | 2:08:02 | 2067: Cathy Gill , 2642: Pru Clements , 2681: Jillian Holford , 2681: Kate Naylor , 2772: Hayley Larkin , 2883: Lizzie Fox |
B Team – 91st out of 136
TUNW B | 2:17:52 | 2894: Nicola Morris , 2911: Gemma Stilliard , 2999: Lou Hazelton , 2999: Polly Haywood , 3179: Amanda Smith , 3246: Ana-Maria Green |
Age Grading (12 to score) – 70th out of 147 teams
TUNW | 78.43% | 525: William Levett , 1429: Andy Howey , 508: Billy Hobbs , 687: Alex Jeffreys , 810: Daniel Watt , 897: Patrick Bareham , 1222: Michael King , 1749: Craig Chapman , 2586: Stephen Austin , 2681: Jillian Holford , 1467: Keith Mitchell , 1604: James Sarre |
Vet Men – 22th out of 83
TUNW | 1:48:06 | 525: William Levett , 1222: Michael King , 1429: Andy Howey , 1467: Keith Mitchell , 1604: James Sarre , 1749: Craig Chapman |
Vet Women – 17th out of 53
TUNW | 2:11:35 | 2642: Pru Clements , 2681: Jillian Holford , 2681: Kate Naylor , 2894: Nicola Morris , 2911: Gemma Stilliard , 2999: Lou Hazelton |
M50 – 10th out of 43
TUNW | 1:18:57 | 1429: Andy Howey , 2230: Simon Howden , 2284: Martin Hobbs , 2325: David Barker |
And saving the best to last W50 2nd out of 12
TUNW | 1:37:31 | 2999: Lou Hazelton , 3179: Amanda Smith , 3246: Ana-Maria Green , 3531: Claire Hayhurst-Knowles |
Also notable mention to second claim Harriet Woolley who was part of the Tonbridge 12 stage team (4th in team) who took overall 3rd overall place in the 12 to score.
This was an interesting event and I personally enjoyed the posts on facebook about where people had found to run a fast time. It turns out that we were handicapped by nowhere in Tunbridge Wells actually being flat. The most popular routes were variations on Rusthall to the Hare, or along the Pembury road. Special kudos must go to Claire Andrew for running up a massive hill as part of her route and to Alex Blackall for his amusing finish to his run when he realised he had measured it too short and had to keep running down random roads to avoid pedestrians.
I must also say the organiser James McCrae has really been on it and personally took the time to respond to me on all the issues with regards to registration and results upload from various members. In addition they also managed to raise over £8,000 for the NHS. If you would like to donate the link is The JustGiving page can be found here.
Lastly a massive thank you to Carol for drumming up support and helping people with their IT issues, I think we can all give her top marks for persistence!
If you enjoyed the virtual racing remember there is also the Tunbridge Wells Run Challenge. Sonja set this month’s route which celebrates Spring with a trip from Spring to Spring https://www.strava.com/clubs/310990?hl=en-GB
Hopefully I will see you all soon, otherwise it will be the Handicap virtual challenge next!
Regards
Mike
Reports on the events:
- The AW report for the event can be found here
- Southern Running Guide article here.
- Mens 12 stage visualisation of the men’s race here.
- Fast running article https://www.
fastrunning.com/…/why-are- athletes-runni…/29604… - Interview with the organiser https://youtu.be/2sEXSJnQqLU
Individual results
508 | F1UC | Billy | HOBBS | SM | 335 | TUNW | 16:15 |
525 | O51V | William | LEVETT | M40 | 33 | TUNW | 16:18 |
687 | BTA1 | Alex | JEFFREYS | SM | 434 | TUNW | 16:42 |
810 | MKWP | Daniel | WATT | SM | 484 | TUNW | 16:57 |
897 | LIMW | Patrick | BAREHAM | SM | 521 | TUNW | 17:08 |
1222 | NHY6 | Michael | KING | M40 | 132 | TUNW | 17:49 |
1310 | XCTV | Edward | STEELE | M35 | 195 | TUNW | 18:00 |
1429 | WZXJ | Andy | HOWEY | M55 | 10 | TUNW | 18:13 |
1467 | 01CF | Keith | MITCHELL | M40 | 167 | TUNW | 18:17 |
1543 | UUJM | Mike | STADDON | SM | 737 | TUNW | 18:26 |
1604 | FGD2 | James | SARRE | M40 | 192 | TUNW | 18:35 |
1663 | L0V5 | Mike | CARDALL | M35 | 245 | TUNW | 18:43 |
1749 | E6TV | Craig | CHAPMAN | M45 | 123 | TUNW | 18:54 |
1833 | GA89 | Alex | HOLMES | M40 | 227 | TUNW | 19:07 |
2037 | 1SOW | James | CHANDLER | M45 | 148 | TUNW | 19:39 |
2067 | 6XD8 | Cathy | GILL | SW | 155 | TUNW | 19:43 |
2230 | G9HK | Simon | HOWDEN | M50 | 88 | TUNW | 20:06 |
2284 | VCUU | Martin | HOBBS | M50 | 94 | TUNW | 20:16 |
2325 | H3TO | David | BARKER | M50 | 99 | TUNW | 20:22 |
2333 | UQQC | Tobyn | YOUNG | M40 | 272 | TUNW | 20:23 |
2370 | AVI7 | Matt | NEWMAN | M40 | 280 | TUNW | 20:30 |
2409 | DZD5 | Dave | HADAWAY | M50 | 105 | TUNW | 20:36 |
2472 | JY1Y | Robert | WINTER | M40 | 285 | TUNW | 20:49 |
2484 | 686Z | Saul | HARRIS | M50 | 112 | TUNW | 20:51 |
2586 | 2E0R | Stephen | AUSTIN | M60 | 19 | TUNW | 21:09 |
2642 | R9TF | Pru | CLEMENTS | W45 | 33 | TUNW | 21:20 |
2650 | 2QDB | Geoff | TURNER | M55 | 50 | TUNW | 21:21 |
2681 | 3LAL | Jillian | HOLFORD | W45 | 37 | TUNW | 21:29 |
2681 | IH4E | Kate | NAYLOR | W45 | 38 | TUNW | 21:29 |
2704 | 9GP8 | Casper | MORRIS | M45 | 210 | TUNW | 21:34 |
2709 | WF7F | Andrew | DEIGHTON | M50 | 127 | TUNW | 21:35 |
2772 | P528 | Hayley | LARKIN | SW | 282 | TUNW | 21:48 |
2808 | 5AVE | George | HARRIS | M45 | 219 | TUNW | 21:55 |
2849 | Z0SZ | Rob | HILL | M50 | 137 | TUNW | 22:04 |
2883 | PL9P | Lizzie | FOX | SW | 305 | TUNW | 22:13 |
2894 | KIUH | Nicola | MORRIS | W45 | 57 | TUNW | 22:16 |
2911 | 1X28 | Gemma | STILLIARD | W40 | 74 | TUNW | 22:20 |
2999 | 60WH | Lou | HAZELTON | W50 | 30 | TUNW | 22:41 |
2999 | WN17 | Polly | HAYWOOD | W40 | 86 | TUNW | 22:41 |
3036 | OI8A | Jonathan | SOUTHWORTH | M40 | 322 | TUNW | 22:53 |
3121 | T0VP | Richard | FRENCH | M60 | 37 | TUNW | 23:18 |
3136 | J6NX | Richard | QUARTERMAINE | M45 | 242 | TUNW | 23:26 |
3179 | JV7M | Hugh | STEPHENSON | M35 | 387 | TUNW | 23:43 |
3179 | B9P7 | Amanda | SMITH | W50 | 42 | TUNW | 23:43 |
3227 | Z5Q7 | Kelvin | DESMOYERS-DAVIS | SM | 918 | TUNW | 24:02 |
3246 | JMSW | Ana-Maria | GREEN | W50 | 48 | TUNW | 24:11 |
3289 | LRWD | Rose | SAWYER | W45 | 94 | TUNW | 24:28 |
3364 | EZU4 | Joan | WOODWARD | W45 | 105 | TUNW | 25:04 |
3383 | WKLB | Sonja | KING | W40 | 131 | TUNW | 25:14 |
3414 | YEPE | Carol | TSANG | W40 | 136 | TUNW | 25:34 |
3445 | GA0B | Suzannah | KINSELLA | W45 | 120 | TUNW | 25:53 |
3450 | TO6L | Amanda | BRUNEAU | W45 | 122 | TUNW | 25:55 |
3531 | XPD4 | Claire | HAYHURST-KNOWLES | W50 | 73 | TUNW | 26:56 |
3611 | ZNKZ | Rosie | HARRIS | W45 | 146 | TUNW | 28:22 |
3623 | EJCY | Lucille | JOANNES | W60 | 10 | TUNW | 28:36 |
3637 | GM6Q | Catherine | KINDER | W45 | 151 | TUNW | 29:01 |
3639 | 9KCB | Deborah | STAMP | W45 | 152 | TUNW | 29:07 |
3686 | FI0X | Jane | RYLAND | W55 | 50 | TUNW | 30:37 |
3752 | S7FE | Smaranda | DRANGA | W50 | 100 | TUNW | 34:59 |