Crystal Palace 10K, 4/10/09
Date: 2009-10-27
The first running of the South of England Open 10K and Championship, held at the grand venue with a long and distinguished history which hosts international grand prix events. An honour to run in a race at this venue, we were anticipating a quality field to challenge some of our best runners such as Sid Delara!
The small field of participants gave the feeling of a low-key event as we lined up. Lining up for VRUK were: Sid Delara, Peter Simpson, Teresa Webb, Chloe Vincent and Andrew Knight. One other vegan present and notably the fastest was Matt Woodman. Sid Delara has been lowering his personal bests in 2009 for the 5K & 10K and Peter Simpson has recently been running at his season's peak form. The pace was fast as we completed a lap of the track before heading out of the stadium complex and into Crystal Palace Park for three laps. We were soon confronted by a steep climb followed by a short break before another less steep climb. It took a while to recover but we were helped by a long descent before another short sharp climb not far from the stadium.
Sid Delara soon led the way for VRUK followed surprisingly by Andrew Knight who open a 20 metres gap on Peter Simpson but by the start of the second lap that had closed and Peter was 2nd VRUK just before the climb. Sid was some 50 metres or so ahead and was increasing his lead over Peter. Into the third lap we were lapping the slowest runners which gave us confidence. By the time Peter entered the track, Sid was already halfway down the home straight on the far side. Matt Woodman had long since finished in 36.28 (overall 21st), about 6 minutes ahead of Sid (42.10) and Peter (42.47), Andrew Knight was a further two minutes back in 44.51 followed by Chloe Vincent our first female in 47.44 and Teresa Webb in 59.26.
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VRUK blog - latest news
http://veganrunnersuk.blogspot.com/
Vegan running shoe guide - as featured in "Vegan" Summer 2011
http://www.veganrunners.org.uk/articles/vegan_running_shoes_and_trainers_1398.html
Club Training and Meetups
The monthly London meet up and training run has a base at Regent's Park from The Hub sports facility & cafe in the north of the park. Members, supporters, or indeed anyone who would like to try out our sessions are more than welcome. Attendance at the January & March 2012 sessions were 8 & 7 runners respectively.
The next London meetup & training session is scheduled for Sunday 20 May 2012, meet 1030am at the Highgate Harriers track, Hampstead Heath for an off-road / trail session, more details to follow.
The next Birmingham meetup and training session held in Cannon Hill Park, south of the city centre has been scheduled for Sunday 13 May 2012. Meet 11am inside the park at the entrance to the mac building / cafe.
Other local or regional Vegan Runners groups include:
- South Wales VR - meet-up at open events including the Cardiff Parkrun on Saturdays at 9am
- Brighton VR - open events and the Hove Park 5K Parkrun on some Saturdays.
We are also trying to establish VR groups in
- Bristol
- Bath
- Leicester - meets at the Braunstone Park Run, 9am Saturdays
Check the VRUK diary to see if there are any dates for training sessions or event meet-ups. Alternatively, for a free 5K run, we suggest you visit Parkrun to check for a local venue. They are held weekly on Saturdays starting at 9am, you just need to register for a barcode at least a day before your first Parkrun and take a printout along.
For an idea of how recent London training sessions have turned out click here.
If you would like to arrange sessions in a different area of the UK we can publicise it through VRUK and this website. Please contact Peter Simpson on Protected email address.
Summary of 2010 Activities
Depending on the location of members, the club was represented in most regions of the UK sometime during the year. In the Winter season more members were taking part in off-road events or training for Spring marathons otherwise generally road & park races throughout the year. Here we focus on a sample of events where members met either through popularity or locality. Click title to open report.
London Marathon 2010
Eight members of Vegan Runners UK successfully completed the London Marathon, five wearing the club kit. In the photo from the left: Cedric David, Helen Watkinson, Maria Hamilton, Peter Simpson (support), Chloe Vincent & Keith Hammond (Vegetarian C&AC). In the 2009 event we had one of our strongest teams, the highlight being our 4 sub 3-hour runners, this year the focus was on our core members. Some of our runners set large personal bests, others their first marathon or first London event. Congratulations go to all our runners who achieved the following times:
- Colin Braybrook 3:02:41
- Cedric David 3:46:51
- Verna Burgess 3:49:36
- Chloe Vincent 4:04:56
- Helen Watkinson 4:10:36
- Maria Hamilton 4:11:40
- Laurence Klein 5:12:04
- Teressa Longhurst 5:27:05
Anna Finn Reaches 100 Marathons
33 Year old Anna Finn, a maths teacher and member of Vegan Runners UK, has run 100 Marathons. She seems to be the youngest woman to achieve the feat, and is awaiting news from Guinness about the World Record.
Vegan Runners Cross Country Season: Victors, Veterans and Virgins …
Winter is another busy period for several members who enjoy cross country. Vegan Runners of all abilities and ambitions have taken part in races large and small over the last few weeks. Peter Simpson reports on the South of England XC Champs held on the 30th January 2010. Beside his own well-paced race, Peter reports on Vannessa Hudson’s battle with road shoes and the mud, and a well-placed Colin Braybrook (a vegan runner competing under the St Albans Striders banner). Neil Ford marks his come-back with a victory in the Berwick Cross Country, which was ‘somewhere between four and five miles’. A winter-loving Clare Coombes has been mud-running through the cross country season, sporting her club vest, finally breaking the top 100 places.
Club Training Session Report
The London Club Training Session continues to attract a sizable core of members, at the December 2010 session in Kensington Gardens we missed the severe weather, attracting eight runners and was filmed. At the January 2011 session in Regents' Park another seven turned out. The new Birmingham session in January 2011 attracted four members as did the first London session.
Rainforest Foundation 10K, 1/11/09
The Rainforest 10K was chosen as our main event for World Vegan Day and with Vanessa in her new role as Press Secretary we had high hopes of good coverage for veganism and the club. With the experience behind her, Vanessa contacted the national press and the Vegan Society who were leading the media coverage. After last year's turnout of 8 members, the most members of clubs present, a similar number would have been good publicity.
Robin Hood Half & Full Marathon 13/9/09
The Robin Hood events in Nottingham attracted in the region of 10,000 runners this year with approaching 7,000 in the half marathon and 1,400 in the Marathon. Running for Vegan Runners UK we had Mick Morgan from Doncaster, Anna Finn of North London and James Millington of East London. In the half we were represented by Clare Coombes a local and Peter Simpson of Milton Keynes with Vanessa Hudson our support crew and photographer. To view Vanessa's album clickhere. On the eve of the events some members of VRUK & the Vegetarian Cycling & Athletic Club met up at the Alley Cafe-bar for a meal and social.
More General stories.