With his little stick of Blackpool Rock

Congratulations to Mike Mackay who made the long journey to God's Own Country to take part in the Blackpool Marathon. Mike finished well, just making the top 100 and recorded a time of 3.38.42. Hopefully Mike's race report will appear here shortly.

We've also got the results in from the Seaford Half Marathon - and see the photo of the four Waddies (Peter, Sara, Shane and Albert) - below:

Albert Kemp 1.56.44
Peter Burfoot 2.02.34
Shane Last 2.03.07
Sara Wrenn 3.02.16



Other Waddies in action over the weekend:

Friday June 1st - Ashford 5K (a great event, if you can make it - well organised and lovely course, but with a very small field - so, pot hunters what are you waiting for?)

Martin Burke 26.06



Saturday June 2nd - Harvel 5

Martin Burke 48.28

Also in action on Saturday, competing in the Southern Women's League was Cathy Burke - nothing unusual there except for the fact that her depleted team meant she had to take part in the Women's Hammer. So, we now have a new Club Record for this discipline. If you want to try your hand at beating the record, simply pick up a bag of spuds and drop kick them out of the kitchen. Measure where they land and you're almost certain to have created a new record.

No supper tonight then.

Waddies on the march!!

The latest version of the Sussex GP tables have been released - and the Waddies have climbed to third place overall in the table - with the Mens Vets right up there in Number 1 position.

We think that this is the highest position ever attained by the club - and things are looking good for the future. With a sizeable number of members now attending the GP events we are now really beginning to make our mark. Both Men's and Ladies teams feature in the leading positions - see the updated tables on the right.

There are several individual performances worthy of note - not least Albert who currently lies in 2nd place in the overall Men's section with Tony Gates also appearing in the top 10. Albert also tops the Vets table, with Tony 6th and Shane 10th. Not to be outdone the ladies are also making their mark with Helen in the top 10 Vets and Kathie Gates 5th in the Ladies Senior table.

It's now important that we maintain the pressure on those teams ahead of us - and to do so, we need as many members as possible to turn out for the club in those GP events. next up is the Worthing 10K on Wednesday, with the Heathfield 10K on the 24th.

If you'd like to see the updated Sussex GP tables click here.

A bracing run .....

A clutch (is that the right collective term for a number of Waddies in one place?) braved a bracing sea wind on Wednesday night in the first of the Bexhill Seafront races. These popular races normally attract a good entry and Wednesday saw around 150 runners set out along the out and back course with a nice following wind - which, of course, was full in the face for the return legs!

Congratulations to Sally Toll who took part in her first ever event - so that'll be your first pb then Sally! Results from the event:

48. Peter Burfoot 21.32
58. Linda Hayes 22.24
69. Albert Kemp 23.35
98. Roger Smith 26.08
144. Sally Toll 37.46
145. Martin Burke 37.47

Tonight Friday, there's the second in the 5K series at Ashford and tomorrow the Harvel Hash is always worth a look - with its beer stop at half way!

Wherever you're running - have a good weekend.

More news than you can shake a stick at!

Busy times in the WebEd's shed means the news has been piling up over the last two weeks - so here goes with a big catch up!

First of all, a reminder that the new Wadhurst Runners website is now up and running - have a look here - don't forget that the old www.wadhurstrunners.com site has now sadly departed - to be replaced by the much more vibrant www.wadhurstrunners.co.uk. We have advised as many people as we can about the new address - our friends at Google will, eventually, catch up with the change but you can do your bit by changing any references you see to .com over to .co.uk.

You'll also see that we've updated the list of forthcoming races, list of social dates and added the latest GP League Tables to the Blog.

On the subject of forthcoming events - don't forget that we have some important dates coming soon. This Thursday the girls are getting together for a Milk Stout and Cherry B at the Chequers in Lamberhurst. In three weeks time, we've got a Midsummer's Club Run followed by a prize giving, barbecue and some entertainment - all taking place at the Royal Oak in Peasmarsh. The event gets under way at 7.00 pm and non-runners are welcome - as are non club members. We need to have an idea of numbers for catering purposes - so please let Cathy Burke know if you can make it.

The next race on the calendar is this Wednesday with the first of the Bexhill 5K Series - underway at 7.00 pm on Bexhill Seafront. This Sunday is the Seaford Half Marathon and then next Wednesday it's the next in the Grand Prix Series, with the Worthing 10K under way at 7.30 pm. This is a popular race, usually followed by a healthy portion of fish and chips - click here for entry details

Finally, we've got the results from another great turnout for Waddies at the Horsham 10K below - plus a selection of photos from waddies that have been running in European events.

Don't forget to keep the news and piccies coming in!

Fumbling in the dark!

A few Waddies made the journey to Luxembourg last weekend to take part in the Night Run. This spectacular event takes place in and around the city of Luxembourg and particpants have a choice of a full, half or mini (4.4K) marathon.

The race begins in the country's National Indoor Arena and the finish is inside the stadium with competitors greeted by a cacophony of noice, lights, music, lasers - more disco than road race! Check here for a taste of the finish atmosphere (be patient, you'll eventually see a Waddie finishing!}

Nyree, Sam and Cathy all finished in a shade over 2 hours on what was a very hot and humid night.

Results:

Nyree Thomson 2.02.58
Sam Craven 2.02.58
Cathy Burke 2.04.07

Some photos of the event.

Waddies take on Europe

Some of the Waddies have been missing from local races over the last couple of weeks - but they've still been wearing the club vest with pride. The Waddies have been flying the flag in races in France and Luxembourg and doing rather well too!

Two weeks ago, Waddies were trophy hunting at the Ramparts 10K in Montreuil-sur-Mer, in Northern France. This is a popular run in and around this lovely walled city and encouraged by mentor/coach and general non-running man-in-charge, Martin, the Waddies were inspired with Liam Burke winning the Junior race. His performance - an improvement on last year's 2nd place - was only tempered by his having to kiss the Mayor on both cheeks when he collected his trophy! Cathy Burke was 2nd Lady Vet 3 and new member Barry Gilbert also did extremely well.

(Below) Cathy finishing strongly in Montreuil-sur-Mer



Liam with trophy - smiling now.



But he had a different look on his face when faced with having to kiss a French man!



New member Barry Gilbert can be spotted in this picture of the start of the race. Bizarrely, Barry is located some 20 ft higher than the rest of the field and apparently moving in the opposite direction! Was that pre-race beer a mistake? Or was it just a cunning plan to launch himself at the field with a flying start?



The three Waddies in France.

Horsham 10K - results and a trek for Ed and Bonita

Ed and Bonita managed to make the Horsham 10K - but only just! Bonita writes:

The Bon and Ed commitment to the Grand Prix races this year got off to a less than stunning start at the Horsham 10K. Unfortunately, due to nightmare traffic issues on the A21, a detour via East Grinstead, a very slow German car (we shot him down twice!) and the need to ask directions etc etc we were late!

This meant that I did a lonesome lap of the field before heading out of the gate to trip over someone's dog! I then untangled myself whilst desperately asking the marshal whether I should go left or right and running to catch up with the rest of the field. Even though I started 8 minutes or so late I still managed to catch someone just after the 1K mark, but only because they were already walking!! The impromptu toilet stop in the fields also didn't help in the catching up stakes! However, I did manage to give Janet a shock as I panted up behind her!!

Ed was even later starting as he had to put James in his running buggy and do the catch up lap at the end (that's why he was wandering around the field looking lost!). Despite this, Ed still managed to overtake me pushing James at 6 km and made a storming finish announced over the tannoy and in which James just beat him over the line!!

Albert, we promise to try and leave earlier next time!"

Here are the Waddies that managed to make it to the race by the published time!



Results from the event:

Peter Burfoot 43.40
Linda Hayes 45.57
Albert Kemp 46.25
Shane Last 48.22
Helen Neary 50.50
David Jones 51.09
Tony Gates 53.48
Kathie Gates 54.12
Bonita Backhouse 57.40
Ed McKinney 59.03
Janet Drake 1.09.13