VNRR Race Report

Reports (restricted)
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:

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