Well then what a couple of weekends of outstanding marathon running we’ve had and there’s more to come in the shape of the Huddersfield Hilly Marathon. Before I get on to how terrific all our distance runners were I’m going to use this as a handy time to get you interested in PAIN! In order to get your body in the sort of shape it needs to be in to run 26.2 miles you need to do a lot of hard miles, as the adage goes ‘no pain, no gain’. Saul read this phrase the other day and after looking up the word pain in the dictionary he decided to add an extra session to Monday evenings and so was born NPNG. 

Over the course of the summer Saul and the equally immune to pain Simon Courtney will be offering the opportunity for any of you to try something a little out of your comfort zone but which will make you a better runner. These sessions will be hard but they are designed so that they are open to all runners so gold, silver and bronze can take part so don’t be too scared. NPNG will help to improve your core strength, speed, stamina and posture. You don’t have to sign up to any or all of them just have a look through the list below and see what takes your fancy. Normal groups will still be running on these days. 

All NPNG groups are on a Monday.
April 14th, Hill Reps with Saul
April 28th, Hoedown Run with Simon (no I’ve no idea either)
May 12th, Track Session with Simon
May 19th, 10k Time Trial with Saul
June 2nd, Hill Reps with Simon
June 9th, Stadium Steps with Saul,
June 23rd, Hoedown Run with Saul
June 30th, Speed Session with Simon
 

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Marvellous Marathoneers

Sunday April 6th Manchester Marathon

There is always a merry band of Stadium Runners that choose this as their marathon and with it being near-ish, and not impossible to get in to it’s not a bad choice for any of you considering popping your marathon challenge cherry next year. We had four Stadium Runners and a whole host of supporters there this year and here is a list of them and their really remarkable running.

Andrew Ferguson 3hrs 1min PB
Rob Buchanan 3hrs 30mins PB
Steven Taylor 3hrs 41mins PB
Richard Hamer 4hrs 3mins PB

Now not only did they all put in top notch performances but they all ran personal bests too. For some of them it may have been their first attempt at this distance but they’ve still never run it quicker. For Steven Taylor it was one more on his way towards 100 marathons by the time he’s 40, Manchester was his 22nd marathon!

Sunday April 13th London Marathon

There’s no two ways about it, this is the big one. Apologies to any other marathon, and any other marathon runner, but the atmosphere, the kudos, the sheer fact that by some miraculous feat you actually managed to get in to the race, it’s the one. It’s the marathon that makes for essential TV viewing, even if you don’t run. Stadium Runners sent down an elite, highly trained and superbly motivated squad to show to the world just what an amazing club we have and in the words of Brucie ‘didn’t they do well?’

The weather was a little warmer than might be ideal for running but that didn’t stop our gang of amazing runners. Here’s the scores on the doors.

Simon Courtney 2h 45m 17s 
I’m guessing this is a PB as it’s also a club record and it meant that Simon finished with just 376 out of 36,000 runners ahead of him!!!!!!!!!

Jamie Westwood 2h 54m 12s
Another outstanding run from Jamie I think that is a sub 3hr marathon for each of the last 5 years but knowing Jamie it’s probably many more than that. 

Jonny Cartwright 3h 20m 58s
A superb time for Jonny but I am guessing something didn’t go to plan as he went through halfway in 1h 30m so I hope he’s in one piece. I have a vision of him spending the last 13 miles hopping along shouting at himself in his classic drill sergeant way 'it's only a scratch'.

Bridget Hughes 3h 32m 59s
Yes I know it’s ridiculous isn’t it? The pocket rocket is subsonic, what a time and a time that meant Bridget was 9th in her age category in the most famous marathon in the world!! The other week Bridget said she would assist with the silver group but didn’t want to lead as she wasn’t speedy enough!

Laurel Gilbert 3h 51m 32s
An absolutely superb debut time and just reward for all the hours and miles she’s put in to training. Laurel has done that many miles that she now has a phobia of canal tow paths.
Donate to Laurel's charity here

Nicki Cartwright 4h 19m 10s
The second half of our Cartwright couple has run yet another great marathon. Love is…. hobbling around the house together.

Simon Brass 4h 24m 26s
Many of you will recognise Simon from Park Run fame and this was a fantastic run from him. Reports he ran the race in a sport relief onesie wearing bunny ears and shouting through a megaphone are as yet unconfirmed.
Donate to Simon's charity here

Sue Green & Steph Sayles 5h 0m 59s
These two wonderful ladies are listed together as they have trained together, raced together and embraced the challenge that is the London Marathon together. A truly fantastic piece of running ladies. Next year they should try it as a three legged race.
Donate to Steph's charity here

If you want to get in on the act then the on line ballot for the VLM 2015 will open soon so keep your eyes peeled as it isn’t open for long. Also remember that the club has a number of free places which are available to full club members by way of a second chance mini ballot. If you want to be in with a chance of this then you will need to retain your rejection notice (generally the plastic bag your ‘sorry’ magazine comes in). It might seem like a long way off but it’s one heck of a race.
 

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Canalside Dash

Well as inaugural events go that has got to be classed as a complete and utter success. Superbly organised, enthusiastically marshalled and wonderfully attended, all that and Stadium Runners won. This was the first of a new annual inter club challenge with the only other club that can come close to being regarded as the friendliest in the world, Stainland Lions. The idea was simple, from the centre of Sla’wit one team would run 4k and back in one direction and the other team would do likewise in the opposite direction, all along the lovely canal towpaths. In the spirit of these things the race is open to all abilities so it was the total running time divided by the number of runners and best average wins. With race captain, Michael Hyde, winning the toss and choosing to run towards Marsden he pulled out a captains performance to be first runner home and was followed by another 3 Stadium Runners before Stainland landed their first finisher. As I mentioned before though it was all about the average and so every effort was expended by every runner and Haley Jane Lecomber ran a terrific race to bring the team home in what turned out to be winning style. Huge congratulations must also go to every Stainland Lion for their competitive nature and support for every runner. 

Now I’ve mentioned it before but if you haven’t then you must visit the Stadium Runners Flickr site as Becky Page has uploaded a whole stack of pics from the Canalside Dash and they are terrific. The Flickr site has pics going back years and years so make a brew and have a little browse through. There is an amazing pic of a very, very youthful Simon Courtney at an awards bash, he must have had a note from his mum to let him stay up that late. Also have a look through the Spen 20 pics for possibly the greatest photo-bomb ever and how Nicki kept a relatively straight face I don not know, click here to see.

You can access the club's Flickr feed by going through the club website.
 

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Well done to all our runners who have blazed a trail around:

Blackpool Half Marathon
Martin Wright, Wayne Garside, Jason Podger

Wakefield Hospice 10k
Rob Brooke, David Nichols, John Tayler, Nikki Hill

Baildon Boundary Way
Lisa Mitchell

Calderdale Hike 26 mile
Kevin Hoult (won it again!)

and the Paris Marathon
Ian Sutcliffe, ooh la la!

 

If I missed you then sorry but let me know what lovely running stuff you get up to. robhoult@stadiumrunners.co.uk 
 

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The next race in the calendar is the Huddersfield full and half marathons. Huge good luck to all of those running and if you're not running then why not get your name down to help out with some marshalling it would be hugely appreciated by team OA  and you get to cheer on some pretty amazing runners. Get in touch with team OA here

If you are thinking of running the Freckleton half marathon and haven't yet entered then you've missed out because I've just read that it is now full. 
 

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There are a number of bank holidays on the horizon so you will have to make alternative running plans as there won't be a club run on these nights. 
Monday 21st April
Monday 5th May
Monday 26th May

Keep running back

 

 

Rob Hoult

P.S. If you run with a Garmin or GPS on your phone then download the completely free STRAVA APP and join the Stadium Runners Strava group, it's ace.