Weekly News. Sunday 28th March.

Virtual Racing

This week saw the last of the GLCL winter 5x5 series, and possibly the last virtual race of the covid-lockdowns. Maybe. Hopefully.

Virtual racing is clearly not the same as real racing. Many race for the social aspect - meeting friends, time to catch up, pre & post race gatherings in coffee shops/pubs/restaurants. Some just enjoy being amongst others in the party atmosphere of a big event with hundreds (or thousands) of others. Apart from some social media catchup, virtual racing can never offer this element of running.   

Of course, some runners just enjoy racing - that feeling of your body working hard, your mind in the zone and clear of anything other than the moment, everything working in perfect harmony (😝) and then the afterglow and endorphins of having pushed and tested yourself. 

Virtual racing does have it's advantages and it's arguably better than nothing. You can do it when you like. You can do it where you like. You can do it without the spotlight of others watching (if that's important to you). You can do it when you feel good not just when you have to... and you can do it when the weather is best and wind direction more helpful.

We've all had to become more familiar with the 'tech' of smart watches and phones though, and it's given some an opportunity to learn about, explore and exploit the loop-holes in race rules and/or the vagaries of gps tracking: using descent to boost your speed, running laps to accumulate errors, judiciously cropping gpx tracks to find the fastest part, submitting results on the more flattering evidence source (Garmin/Strava/watch photo) etc.  

Summary of virtual events participation

In-house.
There were 8 separate virtual events organised by club members, comprising 26 individual races. A massive well done to the 4 Harriers who took part in every single race: Barbara Maddison, Cherry Fowler, Douglas Briggs and  Simon Maddison

An additional 9 Harriers took part in at least one race in each of the series: Mike Evans, Esther Caldwell, Jonathan Carter, Denise Evans, Dave Andrews, Vanessa Lawson, Lindsey Coode, Pam Suter and Paul Dodd. 

132 members did at least one race out of the 26 races.

GLCL
There were 3 GLCL virtual race series. Summer 5x5, Winter 5x5 and the Spring Marathon Race Prep. A total of 15 individual races.

We've had an incredible turn out for these events. For a relatively small club we've been punching well above our weight in the team side of things.The ladies team winning 1st A, 1st B and 1st C in the Summer 5x5. The men were 2nd A, 1st B, 1st C.

The Winter 5x5 series overall results are not out yet but here is the leaderboard for the final March 5x5 race.
GLCL March 5x5 Virtual Race

It is looking very much like the ladies will once again be 1st A, 1st B and 1st C team. The men: 2nd A team, 2nd B team, 2nd C team. 

Official and full results for the whole Winter 5x5 series will no doubt be uploaded by Martyn in the next day or so. They will be found on the GLCL website here: GLCL Virtual Results.

GLCL Summary

10 Harriers did all of the Marathon Prep races (8m, Half, 20m): Julia BAJJADA, Sarah Bell, Rob Beves, Bridget Davies, Douglas Briggs, Mike Evans, Dickie Hudd, Wendy Sharpe-Nash, Syd Wheeler, Paul Wright

These 5 members did every single virtual GLCL race: Juilia Bajjada, Sarah Bell, Rob Beves, Bridget Davies, Douglas Briggs

And finally. One person in the club has taken part in every single virtual race - all of the club organized events and all of the GLCL events. Douglas Briggs.  💣 Amazing! 👏

(I hope I've got all these stats right - ploughing through pages and pages of results has made me dizzy. I could well have missed something. Let me know if you see an errors).

Roadmap out of Lockdown

The club once again finds itself in a slightly strange situation with members in different countries having to abide by a different set of rules. The Welsh are free to travel anywhere within their country but the English have to limit travel and 'stay local' until April 12th. Unless it's essential travel (work for example) the Welsh can't travel to England and the English can't travel to Wales. Things are expected to change soon. See Dickie's 'covid' post for all the details.

Runner of the week

This week it's the turn of local legend Syd Wheeler to face the music. Syd is life president of the club. It is rare for him not be present at any club race/event/social. He's always willing to spend time to chat with anyone and has a huge wealth of running knowledge/anecdotes/advice to share. 

In terms of what you are able to achieve as an older runner he is truly inspirational. It's an over-used word, but let me explain - you'd better sit down first:

 

 

Syd completed 48 marathons in 18 months in order to tag his 100th at Boston at the age of 58 (between 2 and 3 every month). All of these sub 3:30hrs when not leading his blind runner friend.
At age 74 he did 16 marathons in one year. 😲 And completed his 200th at London aged 75 (his 25th London Marathon).  

 

Why did you start running Syd? Went up to watch first London Marathon and was inspired by the Sportsmanship of the 2 leaders who crossed the line arm in arm as neither would let the other be in second place.
First ever Race? 400 yds at School and won a real Silver Spoon for 2nd place.
How long been running? Restarted in 1982 after a 25 year break.
Why join Chepstow? Was originally a member of Stragglers when living in Surrey.  Had planned to join another club when we moved here in 1989 was in the garden when 2 Chepstow members ran by and persuaded me to join. Best running decision I ever made!
What events like best? Road Races.
Favourite distance? Marathons and Ultras - With a total of 236 completed my most prolific race distances
Typical training week: Mostly 4 mile runs to village shop for a paper.  Also participate in Harriers weekly Gym sessions.
Running impact on my life? Immeasurable! At age 83 it's just to keep going for as long as I can. Category of Runner? Long Distance.
Best running achievement? There have been so many but beating the great Australian Herb Elliott was perhaps the best.  He won the 1960 Olympic 1500m Gold breaking the world record time and  retired undefeated after 38 races over the distance. He is the same age as me and I ran against him in a V50 4k race.   He was on my shoulder all the way but never passed me and finished 1 place behind me, so I can claim to have broken his undefeated record!
Inspired my running? Ran the Isle of Man Marathon in 1994 and met a Blind Runner, Paul Watts. He was struggling to get guides so I took on the roll and ran 50 or so Marathons and Ultras with him, including his 100th Marathon. He was so enthusiastic and cheerful he was an inspiration for me too.
Funny story: I was doing my National Service in the RAF in 1956.  Servicemen will know the motto "Never Volunteer" but during my initial training (Square Bashing!) I foolishly raised my hand when the Sergeant asked if anyone ran. As a result I was ordered to run to the Armoury nearly a mile away and collect a heavy Bren Gun for weapon training. A second time volunteers were asked for I kept my hand down.  However the Sergeant remembered me as a runner and "volunteered" me again. This time I found myself representing our station in an RAF Cross Country Race - a whole day off from Square Bashing, running whilst the others were cleaning and polishing !  Many years later I ran a Park Run there, introduced myself to the Race Director and said I'd last run there in 1956. He mentioned it in the briefing to find that no runner present was even born before 1956.
Goals in Running: At my age just to keep running (shuffling nowadays!) as long as I can. I would like to run my 30th London Marathon if I can get in next year when I will be one month off my 85th birthday.