Author: admin

On Sunday 28th February 2016 a varied group of Bats took on the first Cancer Research Snowflake Run in Hanley. Bringing together a range of our club members for what was an early start, the 10k race set off on a brisk but sunny morning. 
 
Several faces dropped as we left the park and circled uphill towards Lichfield Street, not least those still reliving the 'highlights' of last year's Potters 'Arf! Thankfully the pain of Potters was short lived as we turned right along Leek Road towards Staffordshire University and progressed on a flat cross country route around the sports fields and campus. 
 
The cross country element was made more enjoyable by Emma Dutton's challenge to high five all the dressed up polar bears on route! Heading back up into the park area, Bat groups started to form and encouragement and light hearted moments made the middle section tolerable, though David Griffiths may not have felt this way with Emma and Michelle Miles's consistent chanting each time their paths crossed!
 
Clare Irving and Lisa Ashton put in strong, quick performances and were giving great support for the sidelines as the Bats neared the finishing line. It was superb to see how the girls had grouped together and we're working to encourage one another even on the challenging last few hills. Special mention must go to all new racers who tackled the course with gusto as well as those seasoned veterans putting in their best efforts on such a beautiful day.
 
Lisa seems to be developing a new post-race tradition/habit of cracking open the bubbles once the race is complete and this was even more apt in the case of Jenny White who completed her first 10k without walking or stopping at any point, a fantastic achievement!
 
Overall the day was a great success for SMM with a lot of  laughs and personal achievements. Cancer Research put on a great event and the Stone Master Marathoners were proud to support such a worthy cause.
 
By Michelle Miles

Edwinstowe is in the county of Nottinghamshire and was the home of the legendary Robin Hood. It is an ideal location to explore Sherwood Forest with the famous Major Oak.

This year was the 8th running of the race through Sherwood Forest Country Park and the race was sold out by September with 600 runners having entered. The race HQ was at the Robin Hood Craft Centre in Edwinstowe on the edge of the forest and around the corner from St Mary’s Church where according to legend Robin Hood and Maid Marion were married.
The race crisscrosses the forest which took in the Robin Hood Way. It was run over an accurately measured traffic free undulating footpaths and bridleways starting and finishing on a grassed area adjacent to Edwinstowe Cricket Pitch.
The weather was warm 13C and still quite breezy following the aftermath of storm “Desmond” the previous day and the sun shone throughout the race.

As already mentioned, at the start, we ran approx 800 yards on a field then started to climb into the forest for about 1 mile. The track was not very wide, so with hindsight a fast start on the field would have been beneficial as it took some time to overtake the slower runners. The route crisscrossed numerous paths, some wide, some narrow with the occasional muddy areas, but overall the tracks were well maintained and off road shoes were the order of the day. The race was chip timed and good to get an accurate time especially on a trail race, as from experience very few trail races have chip timing. Also, met former club runner Gemma Butterfield who had entered and I managed to keep her behind me throughout the race.
Overall, I was pleased with my chip time of 52:14 (4 mins slower than my last 10k road race) and finished 172/501. Unfortunately, there was no M65 age group prizes so was put in M60-70 group and finished 5/23.
Margie finished in 66:50 but did not race as she just wanted to run a trail race.
The winners time was 37:07 but was 25 years younger than me!!!
All finishers received a technical tee shirt, lucozade sport and water. Chocolate biscuits were also available on the finish line but no jammy dodgers!! Good value for money as entry fee £12.00.
Mick Hall was also at the race as the official photographer.

This was my final race in a different county each month this year and have travelled over 2300 miles to the following counties :
Jan. – Llandudno 10k, Gwynedd Wales
Feb. – Alsager 5m, Cheshire
March. – Stafford Half, Staffordshire
April. – Bungay Half, Suffolk
May. – Market Drayton 10k, Shropshire
June – Kingham 12k, Oxfordshire
July – Bewl Water 15m, East Sussex
Aug. – Kimbolton Half, Cambridgeshire
Sept. – New Forest Half, Hampshire
Oct – Tissington Trail Half, Derbyshire
Nov – Chorley 10k, Lancashire
Dec – Edwinstowe 10k, Nottinghamshire
I have thoroughly enjoyed all these races and would recommend them all.
Richard Shaw.

I and other Stone Master Marathoners headed up to Cheddleton on Saturday lunchtime for the annual 10k pudding run. Some including myself were lucky enough to be chauffeur driven courtesy of Nick who was behind the wheel. The temperature plummeted as we headed north to the Staffordshire Moorlands with wind and rain adding to the chill factor- this was going to be a race to remember !!

On arrival Nick ,Julie ,Anne-Marie and I met up with fellow members & partners; Linda, Paula, Tom, Hazel, Kevin, Kevin’s wife, Joyce, John and not forgetting Smm’s Cheddleton resident Roger. With such a great team of runners and supporters what could possibly go wrong!

Following the fun run completed by Hazel we assembled in a orderly fashion for a last minute team photo shoot organised by Tom with Mick Hall a great opportunity to again capture the new kit.

At 2pm sharp we set off and were soon greeted by the sound of the lone piper after our first climb out of the village which in the wind and rain became quite motivating. It was just after this point I was overtaken by Nick so it was clearly working for some.

Lap two soon came round and I was joined by Tom who caught me up on bag pipe hill. I understand this was Toms first race following long term injury and he was going well !

Throughout the race I kept Nick in my sight but clearly his new Hoka running shoes were doing their job and I was unable to gain ground.

It wasn’t long before the final lap came round and we found ourselves racing down to the finish in the old village centre to collect our Christmas Puddings 🙂

The early finisher’s went to cheer their colleagues on with great commentary provided by the race organisers adding to the occasion. Julie had a mention for one of the last runners in under the hour with Joyce seconds behind.

The school hall afterwards provided a warm sanctuary from the inclement weather with tea and cakes most welcome. Knowing that monies raised from the event was going towards Cancer Research added to the most enjoyable day and the second brilliant Smm event in less than 24 hours !! Highly recommended 🙂

Scores on the doors

Kevin Uzzell 47 minutes
Nick Boulton 51 minutes 28 secs
Chris Ellerton 52minutes 28 secs
Tom Johnson 53 minutes 7 secs
Anne-Marie Mountford 53 minutes 33 secs
Julie Boulton 59 minutes 47 secs
Joyce Edwards 59 minutes 53 secs
Linda Cartwright 1 hour 1minute 3 secs
Paula Furnival 1 hour 1 minute 33 secs

Cheers

Chris Ellerton