Elvet Striders — Race Reports Archive

Jolly Holly Jog, 31st December

Dave Robson

This is a lovely run through attractive countryside. Weather was almost perfect, little wind and very mild. The organisers warned us before the start that parts of the route were muddy. This is a multi terrain course which starts on road and climbs slowly. It goes through the attractive village of Studley Roger and then into the deer park — the deer could be seen in the distance. The route then turns off tarmac and onto a path which crosses a series of small bridges. At this point it started to get muddy. The route then climbs out of the valley and then across a very muddy field. Its then back onto tarmac, followed by a path which was muddy in places before road again and finally playing field. There were ten Striders running and congratulations to Wendy who won her age category. Bright yellow gloves to all finishers. A very enjoyable day!

528 finishers

Saltwell 10K, 17th December

Dave Robson

My slowest time ever for this race which has a new route. No more Team Valley, Chowdene Bank and running along the old A1, this route was traffic free and in and around Saltwell Park, Gateshead. Three and a bit laps with lots of moderate climbs which you did three times, so I may have climbed more than Chowdene over the course of this race. It is a more attractive route running through the park than along Team Valley. Some sharp turns and descents where it didn't feel safe enough to let yourself go. Usual whisky glass and miniature to all finishers.

215 finishers

Christmas Fancy Dress Handicap, 16th December

NE XC Championships, Herrington Park, 9th December

Alan Purvis

These Championships were held at Herrington Country Park on Saturday 9 December. The venue was chosen as a dress rehearsal for the National Championships which will take place here in March 2007.

The NE XC Championships

The whole area was reclaimed from pit workings and has been landscaped to form hills and lakes. The course consisted of a run-out to a large lap over initially flat land and then a stiffish climb to a summit before descending and returning to the run-in to the finish.

As a result of the recent wet weather, but probably also through the poor drainage of reclaimed land, the course cut up very easily and after hundreds of feet had passed over the surface it became a quagmire over much of the distance.

The senior men did three laps over the twelve kilometre event while the women covered eight kilometres in their two laps. Despite the mud the times of the leading athletes were very impressive and weren't very much slower than for similar distances on the roads.

While the catchment area for the event was larger than the Harrier League, including as it did Cleveland and North Yorkshire, the fields were substantially smaller. Perhaps, with reason, many of the slower runners felt that the "Championships" were more daunting than lesser events and therefore didn't enter. However those who did run had a preview of the Nationals in March.

Striders had five men and one woman competing which meant we didn't make a team in either event.

Hexhamshire Hobble, 3rd December

Susan Davies

CONGRATULATIONS AND AN EXCEPTIONAL WELL DONE TO STRIDERS WHO RAN THE HEXAMSHIRE HOBBLE TODAY

• Wendy Rowell ( In her first fell race collected 1st in her age group )
• Louise Billcliffe ( In her second running of this event improved her time by at least 2mins, I think this was because she wanted to get out of the rain! )
• Alan Rowell ( Who ran as DCH 1st in age group. As second claim Strider should seriously consider running future off road runs in the purple vest which blends in better with the open moorland than the orange of DCH.)
• Graham Daglish ( Enjoyed the road section keeping pace with Geoff, who had been lulling him into a false sense of security and pulled away from Graham on the open fell)
• Shaun Roberts ( An excellent performance in his first runing of the Hobble. He did even better in locating the hot shower in the fire station )
• Geoff Davis ( Ran as NFR most grateful to Graham and myself as he arrived at the race to realise his bum bag with the required full body cover map and compass was still in Durham ! )

I have to take my hat off to all competitors who took part in this event today. Geoff and I have attended this race for aprox 10 years but we have never experienced such wet and windy conditiuons. It was a great effort by all and I am sure they all know they have really been in a race today and also battled it out against the elements.

At the end of the race Shaun escorted Louise to the hot shower which was located in the mens changing area and withdrew discreetly . Louise showered fully clothed in order to get some feeling in her hands in order to be able to remove the already soaked running gear. On her exit from the shower she came face to face with a male competitor and was not sure who was most shocked by this nude scene but declared both were probably past caring with priority at this time to get warm and dry. Further team work continued in the changing room when Louise assisted Wendy in getting out of her wet gear.

The scene in the Fire Station looked like someting you would see in a drying out clinic with people drinking tea and coffee some with hand tremors and others shaking form head to toe. Gladly by the end of the prize giving most of them had stopped shaking. All Striders had recovered well enough to go to the pub and with steady hands not a drop of beer was spilt.

Well Done! I hope to see you all on the fells again soon promise the weather is not always like it was today.

94 finishers, 5 retirements, 1 competitor disqualified for not carrying required kit

Team results

FIRST GENTS TEAM - DFR, FIRST LADIES TEAM - NFR.