News

Spring Marathon Season 2013

The London and Brighton Marathons were once again popular venues for vegan runners in April 2013. Brief details are given in this report otherwise check the results spreadsheet and the blog for more details.

21 April - London Marathon

Congratulations to Simon Dally for lowering his personal best time by 12 minutes to record the fastest marathon time of 2.44.55 by a member wearing the VRUK club vest. Furthermore and more importantly, the time is 5 seconds inside the qualifying time for the Championship start in London 2014 & 2015. Cedric David continues his improvements by lowering his PB by 10 minutes to 3.13 and similarly Helen Watkinson lowers her PB by 7 mins to 3.36.

List of times of vegan runners: Simon Dally 2.44, Cedric David 3.13, Chris Simms 3.27, Sara Mauland (VR Norge) 3.34, Brynjar Agnarsson 3.35, Helen Watkinson 3.36, Alex Portwine 3.45, Cherryl Sinclair 4.04, Paul Snell 5.18 and Claire Fullbrook-Scanlon 5.51.

14 April - Brighton Marathon

Three of our runners completed their first marathon at the 2013 event, led home by Georgie Simmons who finished in a tremendous time of 3.23 for 21st female across the line. It was third time lucky for Kevin Harris, completing the course without injury and in a PB of 3.53.

List of times of vegan runners: Georgie Simmons 3.23, Nick Balding 3.27, Kevin Harris 3.53, Sarah Whitson 4.20, Jonathan Wilkes 4.27, Chris Taylor-reed 4.33, Paul Stimpson 5.20, Sam Wilson 5.36.

 

 

Other Marathon and Ultra Events

12 May - Halstead Marathon - Verna Burgess 3.42.38 (11th F), Nick Blackwell 4.29.58 (1st marathon)

6 May - Milton Keynes Marathon - Darren Spindler 3.13, Ion Holban 3.47, Siobhan Carleton-Green 4.28

6 May - Belfast Marathon - Eugene Nyant 3.47

5 May - 3 Forts Marathon (+ Half) (Sussex) - Jonathan Wilkes, Kevin Harris (Half)

4 May - CTS North Yorks Marathon (+ 10K) - Joe Harling 5.33, Jane Harling (10K) 1.24

29 April - IAU 6 hours on track (Crawley) - Erik Seibold 44.1 miles (officially 42.7 miles)

21 April - Great Welsh Marathon, Llanelli - Ian Fiddes 3.40

14 April - Worcester Marathon - Mike Tomkins 3.18 (1st marathon)

14 April - Rotterdam Marathon - Barry Orr 3.34

14 April - Vienna Marathon - Eugene Nyant 4.03

13 April - South Downs Way 50 miles - John Bateson, in 8th position when he went off course in last few miles.

13 April - CTS Exmoor Marathon (severity - EXTREME) - Joe Harling 6.12

9 April - North Pole Marathon - in deep snow for the first circuit, Fiona Oakes lowers the course record for a female by 45 minutes to a time of 4.53.

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Vegan Runner Breaks North Pole Marathon Course Record!!!

Fiona Oakes wins the North Pole Marathon in new course record !!!

What an Achievement !

New Course Record Too

Few women have ever been to the North Pole, in fact the first was as recent as 1986!

This year was the 11th North Pole marathon & the course was described as the worst in the races history. The competitors had to run 10 laps of a 2.6 mile circuit of which half was "run-nable" & the other half meant wading through snow fields, up to waist height - all in MINUS 28 degrees with wind chill taking it to minus 33 approx.

Fiona fell over a number of times in the deep snow & damaged her thumb on the 2nd lap - her face mask literally froze to her face & she had to keep rubbing her eyes to stop the water in them from freezing.

This is tough - this is unbelievably tough.

But of course there is tough, there is extremely tough & there is Fiona Oakes - the Queen of the Extreme !

Fiona finished the marathon in 4 hours 53 minutes, smashing the previous course record by 45 minutes !! - the next lady was nearly an hour behind her.

Fiona was only beaten by 2 men in the field which is incredible & means she took 3rd place overall (unprecidented).

Percy Bear finished 1st in the race for small bears, but apparently complained that he was cold all the way round.

Fiona now holds FIVE marathon course records

Two in the UK, Two in Finland

...& one on the top of the World !

Please support her at North Pole Marathon on Facebook at Fiona Oakes and at Tower Hill Stables

100% of donations go towards the feed costs of the rescues at Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary

Thank You XXX

Copyright © 2013 Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary, All rights reserved.

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Dave Arnold 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. The session is approximately one hour and normally includes a mixture of group running, intervals of faster running, hill repetitions and track circuits. Members, supporters, or indeed anyone who would like to try out our sessions are more than welcome. After the session we meet back at The Hub for a drink and social. Attendance at the January 2013 session there were 8 vegan runners. During the summer 2012 other venues / locations included: Hampstead Heath, Eltham Park(race) and Hackney Marshes.

Following the April 2013 London group training session in Regent's Park and Primrose Hill, no further sessions are planned until the Autumn when members are more likely to be available. Members will be running in events throughout the summer and there are likely to be targeted events as listed below..

Other London meet-ups include: Eltham Park 5 miles trail (9 June 11.15am), Ealing Half Marathon (29 Sept) and meeting up at the Animal Aid Xmas Fair early December and possibly this year the new London Olympia VegfestUK (5/6 Oct).

Other local or regional Vegan Runners groups we are trying to establish include:

• South Wales VR - meet-up at open events including the Cardiff Parkrun on Saturdays starting at 9am. Some popular events include Cardiff Half Marathon (Oct), Llaneli Half Marathon (March), Swansea Bay 10K (Sept).
• Birmingham VR - meet at the Cannon Hill Park Run on Saturdays starting 9am. Some other popular events include: Great Birmingham Run (Half Marathon, 20 Oct), Wolverhampton Half/Full Marathon (Sept) and the West Midlands Vegan Festival (4th Sat in Oct).
• Brighton VR - meet at open events and the Hove Park 5K Parkrun starting at 9am on 2nd Saturday of the month (except 3rd Sat in March for VegfestUK at Hove Centre). Other popular events include: Brighton Half Marathon (Feb), Brighton Marathon (14 April).
• Bristol / Bath - Potential meet-up at the Ashton Court Park Run, 9am Saturdays. Other suggested events include: Bristol 10K (5 May), Bristol Half Marathon (15 Sept), the Bristol VegfestUK (25 and 26 May)
• Cheddar / North Somerset for more rural / hilly runs
• Coventry / Leamington Spa - regular meet-up at the Coventry Park Run on Saturdays 9am start. Other suggested events: Coventry Half Marathon (Oct), Coventry 10K (Nov)
• Leicester / Market Harborough - Potential meet-up at the Braunstone 5K Park Run, on selected Saturdays 9am start. Regular low-key training sessions recently started in Market Harborough early Tuesday evenings. Other suggested events where we could meet include: Leicester Half and Full Marathon (Oct), East Midlands GP series (Rugby 6 miles (15 May), Corby 5 miles (29 May), Market Harborough 5 miles (18 June) and the Leicester Vegan Fair in August or November
• Northants / North Bedfordshire / North Bucks - Occasionally meet at Animals-in-Need sanctuary (vegan cafe available), Little Irchester for training in Irchester Country Park or Wellingborough. Other occasional meet-ups include the 5K Park Runs at Northampton Racecourse Ground, Bedford Park and Milton Keynes at Willen Lake on Saturdays starting 9am. Some popular annual events include: Bedford Half Marathon(Dec), MK Half/10K (March), Northampton Festival of Running (March/April), Wellingborough 5 miles (late July), East Midlands GP series (8 event locations, 5 miles - 10K (May - July))
• Poole / Bournemouth / New Forest - local vegan runners interested in holding training sessions in this area. Other suggested events include: New Forest Festival of Running (March), Bournemouth Half Marathon (April), Bournemouth Running Festival (5/6 Oct)

If you would like to join the mailing list for one or more of these areas please leave a message either with Peter Simpson on Protected email address,on this website or with the Facebook group UK Vegan Runners.

Check the VRUK diary to see if there are any dates for training sessions or other event meet-ups highlighted in green. 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 training sessions in a different area of the UK, please join VRUK and we can publicise it through this website otherwise, contact Peter Simpson on Protected email address.

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