Summary of 2010 Activities
Date: 2011-01-04
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.
Highlights of Cross Country Season
In January & February there were the various cross country championships restricted to registered club runners and our main representatives were Clare Coombes and Peter Simpson. In the Nottinghamshire women's championship over a distance of 8K Clare finished 22nd in a time of 38.50. In the Midlands Region Championships Clare finished 100th in 43.56 whilst in the Southern of England event in London, over a distance of 15K, Peter finished 672nd in 1.20.28 and in the women's 8K Vanessa Hudson finished 342nd in 53.50. Both Clare & Peter competed at the English National Championship at Roundhay Park, Leeds with Clare in the 8K women's event finishing 363rd in 39.53 and over the men's 12K, Peter finished 1144th in 59.01. Our best performance in fell running during the winter was by Neil Ford who competed and won the Berwick 4 miles event in 27.42.
Results of VRUK Meet-ups
In open races VRUK was well represented in the following events:
- 21/02/2010, Sussex Beacon half Marathon (Brighton): Dave Arnold 1.28.16, 197th; Nick Balding 1.32.41, 431st; Jane Gant 1.54.23, 2474th; Karina O'Neill 2.13.24, 4615th.
- 07/03/2010, Berkhamstead Half Marathon: Steve Davies 1.30.02, 71st; Peter Simpson 1.37.55, 200th; Frances Humphries 2.09.41, 1004st.
- 14/03/2010, Kilomathon (Nottingham to Derby): Clare Coombes 2.19.15, 1197th; Phil Griffiths 2.24.24, 1528th; Debra Confrey 2.38.51, 2535th.
- 18/04/2010, Brighton Marathon: Paul Loader 3.20.50, 275th; Anna Finn 3.40.54, 1049th; Jane Gant 4.15.00; Ben Duncan 4.36.52 4092nd.
- 25/04/2010, London Marathon: 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.
- 18/07/2010, High Wycombe Half Marathon & 10K: Peter Simpson 1.35.06, 77th; Cedric David 1.42.59, 201st; Maria Hamilton 2.06.41, 696th; Helen Watkinson (10K) 0.57.35, 152nd.
- 05/09/2010, Rainforest 10K (Finsbury Park, London): Peter Simpson 41.39, 12th; Marcus McTurk 47.51, 73rd; Chris Dhondee 52.51, 136th; Vanessa Hudson 54.58, 167th; Jon Homan 56.26, 201st; Cherryl Sinclair 56.43, 213th.
- 19/09/2010, Great North Run (Newcastle): Fiona Oakes 1.20.51, 14f; Max Newton 1.30.57, 671st; Andrew Knight 1.37.42, 1784; Cedric David 1.39.10, 2153; Alison Davie 1.42.41, 265f; Marcus McTurk 1.53.50, 7897; Liz Begg 1.56.19, 1479f; Chris Dhondee 2.02.30, 13142; Helen Watkinson 2.03.42, 2826f; Frances Humphries 2.04.57, 3102f; Vanessa Hudson 2.09.36, 4139f; Matt Chase 2.11.11, 18292; Jon Homan 2.13.20, 19457; Angela Frost 2.14.47, 5390f; Debra Confrey 2.16.02, 5732f; Katie Fitzgibbon 2.36.35, 10908f. (Record turnout of Vegan Runners (22) including Team Vegan organised by The Vegan Society)
- 24/10/2010, Birmingham Half Marathon: Peter Simpson 1.35.50; Cedric David 1.38.28, 1164; Kevin White 1.46.21, 2841st; Andrew Knight 1.51.48, 3003rd; Chris Dhondee 2.10.55, 8138th.
- 07/11/2010, Rutland Marathon: Diane Wynn 4.05.29, 187th; Paul Snell 4.43.27, 334th; Karina O'Neill 5.31.42, 427th.
Individual Performances
Anna Finn Sails Past 100 Marathons
Anna started 2010 running her 86th marathon and ended the year completing number 144 - more than a marathon a week and about 21 of the events were of ultra-marathon distance, the longest being the Grand Union Canal 145 miles. In May, Anna also completed the 10 marathons in 10 days at Brathay, Windermere in a record time of under 40 hours or less than 4 hours per (hilly) marathon. The achievement of 100 marathons early in April and membership of the the 100MarathonClub was soon overtaken. A week later lowered her PB at Paris to 3.50 and the following week to 3.40.54 later at Brighton.
Helen Fines heads the field in Fell Running
A specialist on the fells, Helen won a prize in every race recorded (if not 1st female) since joining in March and often wearing the VRUK vest. In the Llyn y Fan fell race over 5.5 miles, Helen won the race outright. In an international relay race in August, Helen won her leg and helped the GB team to victory. Occasionally Helen ventures into road running where she continues to win prizes e.g. Tenbury 10K, Tewkesbury half marathon and Nos Galan 5K.
Fiona Oakes Keeps Low Profile until Record Breaking Win!
After not making the start line in earlier high profile events, we did not know that Fiona had entered the Santa Claus Marathon in Lapland, north Finland until she announced her record breaking win, lowering the women's record by about 11.5 mins to 3hrs 3mins despite mid-20s heat in June. Closer to home Fiona was the obvious captain of Team Vegan in the Great North Run and starting from the mass start she was first woman to finish in 1.20.51 and 14th if including the earlier starting elite women's race.
Standard Distances
First marathons were achieved by Jane Gant at Brighton, Teressa Longhurst at London, Craig Wallace at Loch Ness, Paul Snell & Diane Wynne at Rutland, Phil Griffiths at Wolverhampton. New PBs were also set at London by Cedric David 3.46.51, Helen Watkinson 4.10.36 and at Brighton by Anna Finn 3.40.54 and in Belfast by Stuart Voaden 3.18.57
In the half marathon first events were run by Linda Faulkner at Leicester and Cherryl Sinclair at Hackney. New PBs were set by Kevin White 1.46.22 at Birmingham, Cris Iles-Wright 1.30.22 at Plymouth and Wolfgang Kunst 1.29.23 at Rhein-Ruhr.
Over 10 miles Sid Delara lowers his PB twice to 1.07.14 at Salisbury whilst in the Denbies 10 miles off-road event John Bateson finishes in 1.03.29 for 6th position.
Over 10K Sid Delara lowers his PB three times to 39.38 at Purbeck, Dorset, Cris iles-Wright 42.19 at the First Chance 10K and Theresa Webb 54.05 at Brighton. Sam Wilson & Amy Jennings run their first events for VRUK at the Worthing 10K, Sam finishing in 41.02 and Amy 1.02.09 and Cath Clements her first at the Stratford 10K in the Midlands.
Over the 5K several members ran several of the free weekly Park Run events: Sid Delara at Basingstoke (best 19.15) & Eastleigh (19.50), Phil Griffiths at Cannon Hill Park (best 23.24), at Cardiff Cedric David 21.32 & Helen Watkinson 23.58, Edinburgh Alison Davie 21.32, Newcastle Matt Chase 27.17 and Whitstable Keith Gilbert 24.45. In other 5K events John Morgan left it to New Year's Eve to set a PB at Nos Galan of 18.00 and Helen Fines ran 17.28 (1st V35).
Other Distances & Off-Road Events
Some other remarkable achievements by Anna Finn: Lakeland 100 miles in 36hrs 57mins, Ridgeway 85 miles in 18hrs 49mins, Grantham Canal 58.6 miles over two days in 9hrs 42mins and Northampton/Tring 90 miles canal race over 2 days in 18 hrs 28 mins. Other members completing ultra distances include: Chris & Alison Taylor-Reed in the Comrades 56 miles, Chris 10hrs 55mins & Alison 11.48; Salisbury 50K Joe Harling 5.02.17 & Anna Finn 5.17.07, Dorset Doddle 32 miles Joe Harling 6.38.07, Frances Humphries completes three Long Distance Walkers Assoc events of 30 miles and similarly Ian Hodge two events of 31 miles. We were also represented at the Snowdon International Mountain Race by John Morgan & Cath Elsworth.
Multi-Sport
In the Euroman Double Ironman (281.2 miles) Hallam Smallpeice finished the triathlon event in 30hrs 45mins 21secs and overall 11th. In the Devon Coast to Coast Endurance Life Classic over 2 days Joe Harling completed the 140 miles in 19hrs 51mins 5 secs and included in day1: 9 miles multi-terrain run, 55 miles road cycle, 4 miles fell run, 23 miles cycle and on day 2: 23 miles multi-terrain cycle, 8 miles kayak and 19 miles on coastal path run. In the Half Ironman distance (70.3 miles) Nichola Rorke finished in 7.18.41 and 895th and in the Plymouth Triathlon (1500m swim / 40K bike / 10K run) she finished in 3.19.36 and 7th in V40+ category. At the Hill Head Aquathlon (400m sea swim / 2K run / 400m swim / 2K run) Dave Arnold finished 3rd and 1st vet in 29.35. John Bateson competed in the Guildford Aquathlon (500m swim / 5K run) finishing in 25.36 for 2nd.
% 
Comments
Add your comment
Also see
Read more stories about General
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.