Newent Runners

Get fit, have fun, make friends!

Author: Chris Barber

Categories
Events Reports

Magnificent Seven Marauding Around the May Hill Massacre

Seven members of team tango took on this years event. Nine miles of mud and hills.

The start saw sunshine tempered by a high wind hill factor, and most of the 250+ entrants were keen to get going. It wasn’t long before the path headed upwards, and over half of the field were reduced to walking.

Before the top of the hill was reached there was a fair bit of trudging through ankle deep mud,and audible curses from those who wished they had pulled their laces a little tighter.  Once the trees at the top were reached it was a fast, and, in places, tricky, descent down towards Newent. There then followed a stumble through what can only be described as a primordial swamp, before a bridleway was reached.

Another bit of mud plugging ensued, before the runners emerged onto the road near the Glasshouse pub. Then it was back onto muddy footpaths upwards again. The route then passed May Hill village hall, before more woodland trails brought the runners back to the finish at Huntley, where a protein shake and can of isotonic lager ( not as bad as it sounds) was waiting.

John Featherstone was the first Newent Runner home, just missing out on a top twenty place, with a time of 1:18:44.  Next in was Adrian Fishpool, representing his first claim club, Gloucester AC, who finished in 1:39:19. Followed by Duncan Cresswell, who recorded a 1:44:00.

Howard Lowe was next home, with a 1:50:30, followed by the only NR female entrant Yvonne Featherstone, who put in a highly creditable performance to come in with a 1:53:29. Steve Howe was the sixth Newent Runner over the line, achieving a time of 1:55:17.

Dragging up at the rear was Chris Barber, struggling with stomach cramps, which necessitated some alfresco bathroom gymnastics, determined to finish he came home in 2 hours exactly.

Everyone enjoyed the event, and will probably be back for more of the same come February 2019.

Outside of the mucky adventures described above, Clive Jones led a Sunday Social road run. As is usually the case, it was well supported.  Distances varied according to what people were preparing for, or the time they had available, but a fair few got into double figures.  A special mention to James Griffiths who invited everyone into his home for a mid run coffee break, and to his wife for coping with the friendly invasion.

Newent Runners Sunday Social Feb 2018

Categories
Events Reports Social Events

Cresswell takes on the Wyre Forest

Duncan Cresswell was the only Newent Runner in race action this weekend. He made the trip to The Wyre Forest National Nature Reserve, for the Dirt Run Wyre Wizzard trail half marathon.
Over thirteen miles of farm tracks and Muddy trails, and over 1500 feet of climbing awaited. Duncan struggled through the early miles, not helped by debris from weather damaged trees littering the trail. Despite all of this, he managed to settle into a rhythm and enjoy the scenic surroundings. Picking himself up from a mid-distance fall, he wisely decided to walk up some of the steeper trails, where it was difficult to find a grip. With nothing else to give at the end of the event, he got across the finish line to a handful of Haribo and an attractive marble trophy.

Duncan achieved a time of 2:33:40.

The Sunday social trail run involved a short drive to Dymock, where five members of Team Tango, Claire Swift, Jenny Stinchcombe, Vikki Hughes and run leader Chris Barber, ran poets path one. Shielding eyes from unexpected sunshine, they headed off from St Marys Church and picked up the path from the minor road into Ledbury. It had been a while since Chris had run this route, about ten months, so it was a pleasant surprise to find new signposts and kissing gates and steps, replacing rickety stiles, on much of the path. There was mud, a Barber trail run would not be complete without it ! But it was all manageable.

The first four miles involved a lot of climbing, up to Redmarley, before then heading west toward Ketford. The views were astounding, from May Hill, to The Malverns. The Leadon Valley is indeed a bit of a hidden treasure.  The group had the path pretty much all too themselves, and before everyone knew it, Dymock Cricket Club had been reached, and the end of that particular poets path, eight moderately taxing miles in the bag.

The “roadies” headed for Gloucester, and one of the regular Costa runs. The Costa coffee shop in the retail park at St Oswalds Rd, serves as both a meeting place and somewhere for post run refreshments.  The route heads through the city and into the docks, and then picks up the towpath along the Gloucester to Sharpness canal, braving stony faced anglers, and then according to what distance people have chosen, a turnaround point is reached and the route retraces its steps.

There were a number of distance options, from 10k  to 14 miles. Some members wanting to get miles in the legs in readiness for early season half marathons, especially The Forest Of Dean event. Emma Blewitt, Helen Knowles, Jonathan Miles, Russ Dyer, run leader Clive Jones, Karen Apted, Liza Barber, Lisa and Mike Mansfield, John and Yvonne Featherstone, Mark Cryer, Adrian Fishpool, Lynn Latham, Carol Loade, Sally Taylor, Teddy Barnes , Andrew Callard and Stephen McAteer contributed to a bumper NR turnout, along with some guest runners.

Categories
Events Parkrun Reports

Beechenhurst Night Race

Ten, devoted, muddy shoe fans from Newent Runners faced the starter at the latest Rogue Run night race, held at Beechenhurst in the Forest of Dean.

Newent Runners at Beechenhurst

Head torches charged and ready, pre- race preparations mainly consisted of a face painting session, led by make – up artist in-chief, Katie Cook. As has become the tradition, the majority of team tango participants were female, although the male runner population was increased from two to three this time around. It could have been four, but Chris Barber didn’t think he could make the start time, so played kettlebells instead. Come on guys, give it a go. It’s fun !

The usual “hazards” were encountered by the participants. Tree roots, slippery rocks, mud and deep puddles. This particular event had a sting in the tail christened and signposted as the mud bath. A five metre long primordial swamp of sticky gloop. A few came to grief here, including our very own Carol Loade, who lost both her footing and her shoes. She was rescued by a nearby marshal and a club mate, Emily Trenwith.

Newent Runners at Beechenhurst

Emma “springwatch” Blewitt took time out of the race to go Boar spotting, and Russ “Percy Edwards” Dyer entertained all with his convincing owl impersonations.

Newent Runners at Beechenhurst

Our star of the night was Maggie Pettit, who took home a prize for second place in her age category, in a time of 1:05:46.

First Newent Runner home, in 100th place, was Paul Dowling, who recorded a 50:43. Next in was Duncan Creswell, in a time of 58:14. Ruth Credland was the first lady in, achieving a 59:36.
The rest of the Newent contingent ran and finished in pairs and trios. Lynn Latham and Karen Apted (1:15:03) Russ Dyer and Emma Blewitt (1:26:16) and Katie Cook, Carol Loade and Emily Trenwith who finished with a time of 1:35:18.  For more photos of the night, click here.

In other news, Newent Runners took five of the top ten places in the latest round of Newent Parkrun, held on January the 13th. Take a bow; Paul Dowling, Matthew Cole, Simon Barker, John Featherstone (running with his son Elijah) and James Griffiths.

Categories
Events Reports

Seven Sins and Wye Valley Wander

Six Newent Runners were entered into the Seven Sins off road race, taking place deep within the Forest of Dean. It is a demanding event, seven hills over seven miles, and two stream wades, which, after recent snow and heavy rain, were thigh deep in places.

The event was stretched over three days. Thursday the 28th, Friday the 29th and Saturday the 30th. On the Thursday race, Simon Barker finished with a time of 1:11:09 and new member Duncan Creswell recorded 1:31:00.

Saturday saw both the standard seven mile distance, and the fourteen mile immortal event, which is two laps of the course. John Featherstone was the first Newent Runner to finish the fourteen miler, with a time of 2:23:24. He was followed home by Henry Willis (2:26:09) and Heather Roberts (3:15:03) Taking part in the seven mile race was Yvonne Featherstone, who came in with 1:38:02.

John and Yvonne Featherstone had clearly enjoyed muddy trails and water crossings, as, the very next day, they took part in the Wye Valley Wander, a hilly five mile race, taking place in woods and hills around Chepstow. They clearly suffered no ill effects from the previous day’s exertions as John finished with a time of 41:13 and Yvonne recording a 1:03:12.

Other Newent Runners taking part were Paul Dowling who came in with a 46:43, Julie Willis also came in under the hour with 49:50. Chris Barber (1:00:34) was next home, followed by Maggie Pettit (1:03:23) Helen Kelly (1:10:42) and Liza Barber (1:10:43). For more pictures from the Wye Valley Wander, see here: https://www.facebook.com/rogueruns/posts/1050183328457567

Wye Valley Wander 2017

 

Categories
Events Reports

Mallards Pike Night Race

Fifteen Newent Runners made the short trip to Mallards Pike, in the Forest of Dean, for the second race in the Rogue Run series.

This was to present a very different challenge from last month’s relatively flat course across the older Severn Bridge. This version offered steep climbs, tree roots and rocks, slippery descents and a knee deep stream wade, all in the dark.

Despite the freezing temperatures and threat of snow, over two hundred and fifty runners took the start, head torches at the ready, about to embark on a challenging, but fun, five and a half mile excursion. It was certainly a sight to behold as hundreds of bobbing lights lit up the lake and surrounding woods.  For more photos from the night, please click here and here

Newent Runners at Mallards Pike Newent Runners at Mallards Pike

First Newent Runner home was Emma Poole, with a time of 55 minutes 54 seconds. Then came Ruth Credland, who managed to get below the hour with a time of 59.03. She was closely followed by Steve Howe, who achieved 1 hour 20 seconds.

Maggie Pettit, who  was pleased to not have gone off route this year, came in with 1:05:16, ahead of the person who got lost with her in 2016, Chris Barber, who had a time of 1:09:05.

The other Newent finishers were:
Nikki Hughes (1:11:44)
Tim Ruck  (1:11:44)
Lynn Latham  (1:12:17)
Liza Barber  (1;13:52)
Karen Apted  (1:13:54)
Emily Trenwith  (1:22:14)
Emma Blewitt   (1:22:18)
Helen Knowles  (1:22:20)
Katie Cook  (1:22:23) and Carol Loade, who finished with a time of 1:40:38.

Emily Trenwith achieved a ten minute improvement on her time from last year’s event. Emma, Helen, Katie and Carol are all recent graduates of the clubs couch to 5k programme, and the follow on 5-10k improvers course. They now take part in varied events and distances from 5k to half marathon, both on and off road.

Newent Runners are an affiliated running club, who have social runs on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and a structured training session on Wednesday evenings. There are also two social runs on Sunday mornings. For more information please visit the clubs website or Facebook page.

Stay in Touch

Facebook-f Twitter

© 2020 Newent Runners
Website by GMT Solutions