Magnum Opus

Good evening,

Okay so here is the June newsletter and as I’m injured I’ve had time to write even more than usual so around 2500 words should do it.

Right before I start with what’s happened I’ll quickly go through what’s coming up because otherwise you won’t get there for having too much to read.

11am June 30th Penistone 10k
A new run to the calendar and being local I would expect a huge Stadium turnout. Entry form link here

10.30am Sunday July 14th Northumbria Coastal Run
It’s full so if you’re not running it then go up and cheer them on and maybe camp over and enjoy cake and beer.

Thursday 18th July Away Run
It will be somewhere else that’s all I know right now so make sure you listen closely to Saul on a Monday and Thursday.

Monday 22nd July Banana Relay
Grab a partner and grab a banana, stop giggling at the back, this is good clean fun on the cycle paths and tow paths. Watch out for ferals on mopeds. Banana related prizes to the winners. Saul will soon let you know how to register but on the night of the run do try and get to the club a little earlier to make life a little easier for Saul.
 

Marsden 10 Mile

A perfect day for running and as has become the norm for a race which features on our race calendar there was a heck of a lot of Stadium Runners around. 40 Stadium Runners raced around this very scenic but challenging course and they were cheered on by an ever growing number of Stadium Runners supporters. If you ever get the chance to come along and support at a race then please do because I’m sure that every runner out there will tell you that a cheer from a friendly face always makes a big difference.

Well Stadium Runners did amazing running with 20% of all the finishers and 8 of the top 20. Simon Courtney showed that his form this year is nothing fleeting with an incredibly impressive 2nd place overall. Michael Hyde was not very far behind in an equally impressive 3rd place overall. With Jamie Westwood romping home in 4th place overall there must have been folk at the finish who thought that all but one of the runners out there was from Stadium Runners. In equally good form at the moment is Liz Taylor who was once again first Stadium lady home, the equally consistent Bridget Hughes was 2nd back and 3rd place Laurel Gilbert tried to make her run seem much faster by putting her Garmin in the washing machine before downloading the race info.

 

Joe Percy 10k

Always my favourite race in our calendar and I enjoy it more for not running it. That’s because it is absolutely wonderful to watch all of our runners come flying toward the finish line in the most competitive and utterly shattered manner. With an amazing 51 runners all giving it everything it was great fun to watch. Now this is an inter-club race and so pride and bragging rights are at stake. We’ve done superbly in the few years since we were first invited with top three finishes in each of the last few years (vague I know but Joe Percy results are notoriously hard to find and that goes for archived results). This year looked tough with usual rivals Halifax Harriers and Stainland Lions out in force but there was also a very large number of Holmfirth Harriers for the first time in a while. Anyway conditions were perfect for fast running and that is exactly what we got. Course PB’s fell by the wayside as Stadium Runner after Stadium Runner tore around the course and managed to secure a truly terrific 3rd place team behind Holmfirth and Halifax and only by a handful of points too.

I’ve said it before but if you like me are a normal runner and one for who the top 10 of a race is a little over optimistic then it’s very easy to see the fastest runners at the club standing around looking very fresh faced and happy as you stagger over the line and you think how easy this running malarkey must be for them. I must assure you though it isn’t easy as Simon Courtney and Saul Muldoon proved because I can only describe their facial expressions as they crossed the line as ‘distressed’.
The first three Stadium ladies home were Liz Taylor, Bridget Hughes (age category winner) and Adele Souster (hello Adele, always nice to see a new name in the top 3). First three Stadium chaps were Simon Courtney (4th overall), Saul Muldoon and Jamie Westwood. Full results are available here.

A big thank you to Olive Breary, Michael Hyde and Martin Huddleston for helping in the mayhem at the finish and apologies if I didn’t know your name but I have a poor memory and to be honest most of you looked like you didn’t know your own name. Also well done to all of those runners who were running there first race in Stadium colours.

That amazing 3rd place finish was achieved without a trio of our fastest runners which goes to show just how much strength in depth the club has. Steve Croft was missing after damaging some ligaments running around Scammonden on an evening (it was the points race before you start getting any ideas). Martin Huddleston and Michael Hyde brought a note from home asking to be excused because they’d done a little running on the Saturday.
 

Lords of the Rings

That little bit of running that Huddleston and Hyde were doing was the 100km Three Rings of Shap. This is one of those regular silly long runs that they get up to and they’re so used to them that they only went and won it too in 12h 45m 30 minutes clear of second place. The only shame is that it is a long distance walk that runners are allowed to do and so their feats were somewhat undervalued at the event, they didn’t even get a certificate! Fifth Stadium Runner at the Joe Percy Kevin Hoult also ran Shap on the Saturday but after running two rings (a pathetic 42miles!) he felt a little dehydrated and so wimped out and went for a drink of water (this makes him a quitter but he did record the fastest time for the Two Rings of Shap ever by around an hour, still a quitter though)
 

Edinburgh Running Mayhem

You may note that at times I can be a little wordy and so to make your lives a little easier here is a bit about the recent Edinburgh Half and Full Marathons written by Bridget Hughes and un-edited by me.

I was lucky enough to spend a fantastic weekend in Edinburgh with some fab Stadium runners and Huddersfield park runners doing the Edinburgh  Marathon and half marathon. Here are some random observations from that weekend.

When Jonny Cartwright says: "the day before the marathon, stay off your feet and spend the afternoon in a spa" - it might be a case of do as I say, not as I do. Unless... Did he say spend the afternoon in a bar? Well it certainly didn't do him any harm, finishing the marathon in an awesome time of 3 hours 12 minutes

My top tip - spend the afternoon on the Royal Mile with Olive, Sue Robertson, Myra Owen, Jackie Brewerton, Liz Mather and the famous Tattooed lady of Edinburgh. Pre race nerves won't get a look in.

Top tip for the morning of the marathon - wave off the half marathoners and bump into the Huddersfield park runners. Darren Earnshaw must be the most cheerful person you could possible hope to meet in the last hour before the race. Honestly, has anybody ever seen that guy not smiling?

Top tip for that all important last wee. There is some extremely long and thick grass by the London Road start. This is important if like me you are 5 ft and not much (although not entirely relevant to most of you, I grant you). It is important because you can defy the scary notices saying you will be disqualified for not using the toilets. I should rephrase that because I don't think they can actually disqualify for not wanting to go to toilet but enough of that subject.

Superheroes of the weekend - Sue Green is a hero and Brigid Walsh is a saint. Sue completed the marathon despite having been injured since about February and consequently had been unable to run more than a few miles. Brigid stuck with her every inch of the way and they encouraged a few others who were struggling along the way, with their unique motivational style. "what do you mean, you feel like giving up, we're old enough to be your grandmothers and if we can finish it you can!"

And finally, a big thank you to Sharron Broadley, great support and encouragement and a very welcome sight a mile from the finish!

Well that’s your next Newsletter editor right there. What Bridget didn’t mention in that is that she ran her marathon in a time of 3hrs and 34mins which was superb enough to make sure that she won her age category, which in an event this size is very impressive indeed, and I think it is the second fastest marathon by a Stadium lady ever!

Well if you enjoyed that interlude from Bridget here is a little more:

Motivation Corner

Overheard on a Bronze run
"You must do Marsden - there are so many reasons to do that race. The lovely scenery, great course, flowers, wildlife, cake. And of course the dolphins"
"dolphins?" (came the bemused reply)

"I said endorphins!"

Overheard on the Marsden 10 mile Challenge

"Daddy, some of those runners are old!"
No prizes for guessing which Stadium Runner that delightful child was pointing at!

Quiz - What kind of runner are you?

You are in mile 9 of the Marsden 10 Mile Challenge. There are no Stadium Runners in catching distance either ahead or behind you and you estimate you have will have knocked several minutes off your previous PB

Do you?
A. Keep going as fast as you can and put a final last spurt of effort into it.  You know you won’t be satisfied unless you have done your absolute best.

 B. Take your foot off the gas a bit, after all, you've already got a PB and you're only going to having to beat it next year.

C. As above, but then suddenly you realise that you seem to be gaining slightly on Andy Pigg (insert the name of the your own personal Stadium nemesis here.)You can't catch him/her but you are going to do you utmost to reduce their lead.

D. After the first mile, you decided "******* this for a game of soldiers ", you have drunk your Powerade, eaten your jelly babies, checked out some good picnic spots for the time you will come back and do this course as a nice walk with a flask and sandwiches like any civilised person. So by mile 9, quite frankly, the Grand Prix, the Wava and a PB are not really high on your agenda. You look at the time and realise - they might run out of CAKE!  -and surprise yourself with a sprint finish.

Answers
A. Congratulations, you are motivation personified, you clearly have "Stadium Runner" running through your (suitably strengthened) core. Prepare yourself for a papal blessing from St Saul and the Most Reverent Simon.

B. You are clearly an accomplished runner (PB and all) but there's a hint of the lazy sod runner in there too. Wake up and smell the Deep Heat!

C. As above, but there's a sneaky competitive edge fighting it out with lazy sod. I'm going to keep my eye on you.

D. Don't know if anyone has mentioned it but you are the original lazy sod runner, have a word with yourself or I'll set Jonny Cartwright on you.
 

Park Run.

The whole Park Run thing has become something of a phenomenon and not just in Blighty so you should all be suitably impressed that the Huddersfield Park Run was the second largest in the world the other week which means that we’re probably going to need a bigger park. If you haven’t tried the Park Run then get your clobber on, register on line for free and then take yourself and your barcode to the Park Run at Greenhead Park for 9am on a Saturday. Once you’ve run superbly then send your time to Martin Huddleston and you will be able to score points in the club Park Run challenge, updated results are available on the club website here. On a Park Run note, Simon Courtney was first home on Saturday 22nd June and Jonny Cartwright tested out his metronomic running skills at the Dewsbury Park Run by running exactly 21 minutes when asked to pace someone to, well, 21 minutes.

Visit the Huddersfield Park Run website here for all the details you'll need.

Recipe’s

I think that we are running out of space so instead of a recipe why don’t you join in the brand new Stadium Runners Bake Off. Simply bake something tasty and then tweet your pic to @stadiumrunners on Twitter. If you don’t do twitter then just send an actual cake to me and I’ll make sure it’s good enough.
 

Twitter

Speaking of Twitter you should all follow @stadiumrunners as it’s a superb way to find out what your fellow club runners are up to and you can access Twitter from a computer, tablet, or a phone.

This weekend @piggit (Andrew Pigg) ran 16 miles through cloud, rain and gales in the Kinder Trog. @djshaw79 (Dan Shaw) and Ian Sutcliffe ran up some very steep hills in the Lakes and then washed in a trough and had a cinnamon bagel. @themarzipanpig & @fergymac (Laurel & Ferg) went for a camping bike ride with Saul where the wheels came of Ferg’s bike trailer and it rained that much over night that they came home early and ate cake. @MartinBown (obvious really) ran 20 miles in pouring rain at midnight for the longest day run and then ran a further 6 miles in the morning to make it a marathon of sorts. @Alanboothroyd1 decided that 5.20am was the perfect time to run up Somerset Road. All this and much, much more goes on on Twitter.



 

Ice Cream Run

Unlike last years deluge this year runners were blessed with lovely sunshine in which to enjoy their Dixon's ice cream so we had an amazing turnout. Also nice to hear that a few Silver runners stepped up to run with Gold and were looked after very well. If any of the faster Bronze runners are thinking about a run with Silver then stop thinking and just do it, The step up from the front of Bronze to Silver is not as scary as it might seem and Silver runners will make sure that you are looked after.























Right I am absolutely positive that I have missed something and someone but if you’ve read this far then well done you.

Keep running back.

Rob Hoult

P.S. Just a quick but huge thank you to everyone who has asked how my injured foot is your sympathy is greatly appreciated. If you don’t know then I injured my foot in a carefully planned but very painfully organised test to see if the Run Leader system worked. It work’s perfectly and without them I’d still be stuck in a wood, if you think that you would like to become a run leader have a chat with Saul, the more the merrier. This picture is just a lame attempt to garner a little extra sympathy, cakes and pies will be gladly accepted.