21st April 2009 - Chairman's Scribbles

Wadhurst Runners had a record attendance of 28 members at any running race in their young history when they competed in the 25th Hastings Half Marathon.

In addition, 4 Waddie juniors ran in the 1 mile mini race with Liam Burke being the first Wadhurst Runner in 64th place with a time of 8:38. The 1st Waddie girl was Hayley Mackay 81st 8:54, Ben Gilbert finished 90th in 9.05 and Amy Mackay was just behind in 93rd 9.08.

The club had some notable successes in the strongly contested field of 3827 finishers who ran on a beautiful sunny early Spring day with a light, cooling breeze. Some runners found it a tad warm but most were grateful for the an absence of the strong westerly wind which has been a feature previously. As ever it was especially pleasing for the runners to see so many supporters lining the course.



The Waddies managed to have 6 official teams placed with the ladies gaining their highest ever rank of 11th and the best men’s team managed to improve on this with a 10th place, to create another club record for this event.

The notable individual successes were Russell Carr who finished 37th overall and was 23rd senior (18 to 39) and Nell Neary who was the 3rd lady vet 5 (55 to 59). The team results were:

Ladies Team Results

11th Team:
67th 1:39:38 Cathy HALL Ladies (18-39), 80th 1:41:48 Lyn HAYES, Women (45-49) , 145th 1:49:29 Helen NEARY, Women (55-59) and 220th 1:53:58 Melinda MACKAY, Women (45-49).

48th Team
543th 2:10:34 Rebecca GASK, Ladies (18-39), 602th 2:12:59 Charlotte PETKOVIC, Ladies (18-39), 658th 2:16:04 Kathie GATES, Ladies (18-39), 993th 2:41:19 and Sara WRENN, Women (45-49).

Men’s Team Results

10th team:
37th 1:19:34 Russell CARR, Men (18-39, 96th 1:25:57 Mark WARING, Men (18-39),114th 1:27:20 Michael MACKAY, Men (45-49) and 141st 1:28:29 Michael PAIN, Men (40-44) 3908 150

28th Team
172nd 1:29:57 Ciaran OSBORN, Men (18-39), 265th 1:33:23 Ed McKINNEY, Men (18-39), 303rd 1:34:44 Simon BOWYER, Men (18-39) and 327th 1:35:26 Eddie WATTENBACH, Men (45-49).

45th Team

493rd 1:39:27 Peter BURFOOT, Men (55-59), 564th 1:41:29 Shane LAST, Men (40-44), 609th 1:42:37 Nick BROOKER, Nick Men (45-49) and 682nd 1:43:59 David JONES, Men (55-59).

91st Team

686th 1:44:07 Albert KEMP, Men (60-64), 1335th 1:56:40 Fergus RANDOLPH, Men (45-49), 1578th 2:01:08 Alistair HOWITT, Men (50-54) and 1768th 2:05:20 John BILLINGHAM, Men (40-44).

The other individual results were:-
610th 1:40:51 Neil Walbridge, Men (18-39), 2494th 2:10:19 Anthony GATES, Men (50-54), 3312nd 2:29:55 Wansze NG, Ladies (18-34) and 3588th 2:49:43 Martin BURKE, Men (50-54).

Elsewhere, in the Bury Nearly 10 mile race (9 miles 703 yards) Janet DRAKE, ladies (50-54) was 203rd 1:40:23 “

23rd March 2009 More race results

Congratulations to Tony Gates and Peter Burfoot who took on a new race, the A20 Pathway 17.3 mile. This started at the old Great Danes Hotel, now the Ramada Maidstone, near Leeds Castle. It was a rolling Chip start with runners being despatched in waves on account of the narrowness of the pathway beside the A20 used for this race. The rolling start worked well and it was fun overtaking the some of the slower runners who started earlier. The race weaved its undulating way to Harrietsham and beside the A20 for nearly 6 miles before turning left near Lenham and climbing up the North Downs along a minor road. Once at the top it was quite flat and fast, though at the 8 mile point Tony was afflicted by cramp. Just before 9 miles the race descended the North Downs steeply close to Charing and hit the A20 again, this time westbound and against the noticeable breeze. The return back to the Great Danes was a bit of a slog, but the general view on Runners World was that the runners enjoyed the race for marathon training purposes. It was a lovely sunny morning, neither too hot nor too cold. There were 344 finishers.

The results:-

73 364 PETER BURFOOT M-MSV WADHURST RUNNERS 02:16:45

315 342 ANTHONY GATES M-MSV WADHURST RUNNERS 03:10:51


Some weeks back on 1st March, while the Waddies were grappling with the Eastbourne Half Marathon, Martin Burke was running in Belgium in the Annual Ostend to Bruges race. Martins' result was:-

Martin Burke GBR Wadhurst Runners 1.48.44 1.50.12

...And a little closer to home, on 18th March, Janet Drake was in racing action again in Norfolk in the Broadland Half Marathon. It was a very picturesque undulating route> Unfortunately groin and stomach cramps problem affected Janet's performance. Janet's result was:-
Place Time Name Affiliate Category Number
277 2:21:46 DRAKE, Janet Wadhurst Runners Ladies 45-54 315
Those in Marathon training should not forget to consider the next Sussex Grand Prix race which is the Worthing 20 mile race on 5th April. For those who prefer something a bit shorter, there is the Hastings 5 mile race on 19th April which is also a Sussex Grand Prix event.

On the Sunday 29th March, Tunbridge Wells Harriers are staging their last perfect pre-London Marathon 18 mile training run from Pembury, Camden Arms at 8.00 am . There is an option of an additional 2 miles to add on before, after, or both. Also there is a 13 mile short cut. 3 drinks stations with water and sports drinks will be laid on. All are welcome to this scenic, (tough) hilly course.

Well done Ladies!!

We've just heard that our Vet ladies have collected a gong from the Hastings Half Marathon. They finished 3rd in the team category - a magnificent achievement in such a prestigious event.

Well done to team members Sam Craven, Melinda Mackay, Helen Nearey and Lyn Hayes.

Amd more warnings about using that treadmill ......

Hastings Half Marathon - video links

There are a couple of recordings now available of the Hastings Half Marathon.

Click here to see Meridian's recording for ITV Local.

Click here to see a much longer version of the race on 1066 TV - and most of the Waddies can be seen!

Incidentally, an interesting postscript to the race saw the Hastings AC team stripped of its team title because two of the team were not wearing official team colours. Let that be a lesson to us.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Another beautiful British day at the seaside!

Some seasonal weather greeted the Waddies who made the short journey to take part in the Hastings Half Marathon. A good dollop of rain and strong winds made the start somewhat uncomfortable - but the weather and conditions are always helped by the tremendous crowd support that makes this event such a delight.

Once again, there was an excellent turnout from the club with 25 members taking part and some impressive times being recorded.

55 01:21:52 Ciaran Osborn
173 01:28:39 Mark Waring
215 01:30:10 Fara Mendy
263 01:31:38 Michael MacKay
327 01:33:22 Peter Burfoot
372 01:34:33 Helen Goddard
406 01:35:05 Shane Last
498 01:37:13 Cathy Hall
499 01:37:14 Eddie Wattenbach
634 01:40:04 Lyn Hayes
850 01:43:50 Albert Kemp
1263 01:50:22 Matthew Jolliffe
1388 01:52:11 Samantha Craven
1389 01:52:11 Nyree Thomson
1505 01:53:51 Melinda Mackay
1713 01:57:03 Helen Neary
2059 02:01:40 Barry Gilbert
2074 02:01:52 Anthony Gates
2090 02:02:05 Kathie Gates
2596 02:11:23 David Jones
2709 02:13:35 Clare Roche
2893 02:18:01 Catherine Offord
3029 02:21:52 Martin Burke**
3330 02:34:43 Sara Wrenn
3421 02:42:24 Janet Drake

Well done to all!

** For the second race in succession, WebEd found himself in the position of helping a fellow runner to complete the course - and that accounts for a time some .... ooooh .... 60 minutes slower than the time I knew I could complete the race in! But, you know what? There's no accounting for some people. After having spent the best part of 2 hours 20 minutes cajoling, encouraging and dragging this poor girl round the course, I stumbled upon an aquaintance who had collapsed just yards from the finish line. So I naturally stopped, offered assistance and helped carry the poor chap over the line. My co-runner? Did she stop to offer assistance? Nope! She just sprinted over the line to finish 20 seconds ahead of me. Some people eh?