Team Blizard Race Reports
Storm Desmond failed to blow our athletes into touch as more PBs and race wins came their way!
Our own Dave Tune and Owen James were in glittering form at Percy Pud, with Dave clinching the top V45 prize with a strong 34:32 with Owen not far behind in 34:53.
Representing our elite Team Blizard crew were Tom Morris and Fiona Davies, who both recorded impressive times despite the almost constant headwind.
Tom just headed Dave off with a 34:20 to just dip into the top ten overall, while Fiona narrowly missed the top spot with a still valiant 36:45 to take the second ladies’ prize, a mere seconds shy of her season’s best!
Beating all of them was Clowne’s Gareth Lowe, who proved unequivocally that lactate training pays off when he finished third overall in a superb 32:34.
Sheffield’s Sarah Lowery’s 38:11 was a lifetime best performance, which is really quite incredible considering the conditions facing runners near her home city yesterday, while fellow heart rate training devotee, Jo Goodier, edged ever closer to her PB with 38:45 - well done ladies!
One of the most impressive runs of the day, however, was that from Chris Ireland, who ran an astonishing 36:09 to win his V55 age category by a country mile! His Percy Pud clocking ranks him 12th in the whole of the UK for 2015, so far!
Another local lad, Brian Rose, ran his tied second fastest ever time with 36:36, while club mate and pal Trevor Neville was just ten seconds behind, finishing in 36:46.
PB results went to Rotherham’s Ian Whyman and Totley’s Phillip Kelly, whose times of 37:01 and 39:39 represented heroic efforts in the gales - well done boys!
Over at the Edwinstowe 10k, a challenging race covering undulating forest and nature reserves, Paula Davies had another solid run, proving her consistency on all terrains.
However, it was Gerald Connor and Tammy Haywood who put in the most impressive performances of the day, with both athletes recording PBs on the off road course against many odds!
Gerald had completed a tough session in the Peak District the day before, and, prior to the 10k race, he ran again with a friend, before proceeding to run his fastest ever time over the distance with a superb 49:35 to come third in his age group!
Meanwhile, Tammy also dipped under 50 minutes to knock nine minutes off her trail 10k PB, amazing results from this gutsy pair!
The day before, our own Ruth Jones had braved one of the muddiest cross country courses imaginable at Heanor when she embarked on her first league race for 12 months.
Needless to say, she was rusty over the boggy marshlands, crossing the line in 18th place, but helped her Nene Valley Harrier team mates take second place on the day.
Ruth’s NVH team mate and another of Coach Tune’s heart rate trained athletes, Yvonne Scarrott, ran her fastest 10m in years at the Nene 10m, recording an impressive 68:57, only a minute shy of her PB recorded 11 years ago!
Finally, two of Dave’s speediest athletes, Jamie Jones and Matt Bidwell both ran hard to achieve a race win and two very fast times respectively.
Winchester’s Jamie Jones, a V40, ran 28:35 at the Victory 5 in Portsmouth, his fastest time for six years ‘and a massive step forward’, while the City of Norwich’s Matt Bidwell won a competitive 5k in Ireland in a lightning quick 15:38!
It was also great to see so many of you at the clinic on Saturday morning for our regular cross country session followed by our new Blizard shop Open Day, we hope you enjoyed the mud and then the shopping!
This weekend sees athletes flocking to the Bolsolver 10k and the South Yorks cross country championships to flog themselves over the mud and up the hills on the roads - keep doing what you’re doing Team Blizard, it’s obvious that lactate training pays off!
