Hilly 100 Relay - 17th May
This Sunday has been a weekend of 2nd places for Bourton Roadrunners and although '1st' is obviously the ultimate goal, the achievements were by no means diminished.
Twenty members of Bourton Roadrunners, were kept busy contesting the Cotswold Hilly 100 Mile Relay from Stratford-upon-Avon, looping around the Cotswolds and back to Stratford, which, as it's name suggests, is incredibly hilly!
The two teams 10 men, 10 women, each doing an approximate 10 miles (some longer, some shorter), kicked off at 7 a.m. and 5 a.m. respectively, with Pete Scarrott and Ladies Team Captain, Julia Rutherford setting the pace for the day in times of 68.37 and 78.07.
After last year's effort for the ladies, when they won in their inaugural attempt and set a new course record, the pressure was on and Spa Striders, who had won the shield every year except 2008, had definitely put out their best team to regain their honour.
From the second leg onwards, the team of Susan Hunt 88:17, Niamh Shoemark 75:10, Pauline Teague 86:57, Steph Lane 69:52, Liz Hulcup 87:07, Rachel Griffin 78:26, Hilary Ponti 72:28, Ali Lane 71:03 and Brittany Teague 75:50, making a total time of 13 hours 3:25 varied between 3rd and 5th, eventually moving into 2nd place behind Spa Striders who set a new course record to win.
The men continued their second leg with Team Captain Alistair Lockey 58:58, Andy Peaston 67:15, Dennis Walmsley 60:09, Mike Smith 63:39, Ewen Smith 66:34, Ian Shoemark 63:56, Dawson Lees 61:15, Lewis Gray 62:26 and Ian MacDougall 60:06 for a best in the last 20 years team result of 2nd in 10 hours 33:15, just over 5 minutes behind the winners Kenilworth, but 12 minutes ahead of 3rd placed Bromsgrove & Redditch.
Brathay 10 in 10 Challenge - 17th May
Steve Edwards had the culmination of his 10 Marathons in 10 days in the Brathay 10 in 10 Challenge, completing the same course on 10 consecutive days. Steve held the world record for this event, which he set in 2008 with a time of 35 hours 20 minutes and was hoping to be able to beat his own record.
This he did, knocking over a staggering 2 hours off that record with a time of 33 hours 16:34. He achieved this by running an average of 7 minutes 37 seconds per mile and 3 hours 19 minutes 39 seconds per marathon. A time many could only dream of for one marathon! However, unfortunately a new contender for 2009 came into the reckoning, Adam Holland, who was less than half Steve's age of 46, and took the title, but Steve still has the Vet Category World Best record and has good reason to be proud of his amazing achievement.
Read the detailed report covering this incredible event.
Report Highlights
Bourton's men and ladies team's achieve an impressive 2nd place at this year's Hilly 100.
Other reports may be found on our recent race reports page.