VRUK team in Rugby 6 miles event

Report by Peter Simpson with photo by Yasmin’s partner
Left: Yasmin, Heather, Peter and Hazel at finish
We managed a team of four for this event thanks to everyone who made it to the Rugby 6 miles event, the 2nd round of the East Midlands Grand Prix Series of Eight events http://mcs.open.ac.uk/mkac/The_EMGP.html . Our three women is sufficient for a team position otherwise a mixed team of four qualifies for a position (see the team results for the Silverstone 10K). Forming a team in a club competition is progress for VRUK. The provisional results for the Rugby 6 excluding the team positions are currently posted on the website. There maybe an update later this evening (Thursday 16th May).
 
I arrived on the day not sure if there would be four members running but it was looking promising from the e-mails earlier in the day. The weather turned out to be ideal despite the return of winter in other areas of the country. It warmed up later in the afternoon and there was no wind to slow us down. It was only when we were lining up with seconds to go when I spotted Yasmin, Hazel and Heather joining the back of the field. Rather than them not seeing me, I quickly and briefly attracted their attention before moving forward. We were soon on our way. 
 
The first mile is fairly fast, starting from a high point with a long descent at about half a mile followed by a number of small climbs up to mile 3 followed by a faster stretch to about  4.75 miles. It is very challenging up to mile 5 with two climbs thereafter flat for the last mile with the finish on the rugby field.
 
Not sure if I had done enough faster sessions recently otherwise with only park runs since the Milton Keynes half marathon early March, the Rugby  6 miles was my longest race for 2 months. Given the easy first mile it was still tempting to push on as I was challenged by a guy I’ve known for many years and he is a V65! I started to slowly move up the field as we began to climb to 3 miles and basically for the remainder of the race. The double hill up to 5 miles was tough as expected but managed to breath deep and push on knowing that the last mile is flat. At the end I did not know my time until later and there was no chip timing.
 
Managed to see our three women finish in the gathering gloom, all were running their first Grand Prix event and the Rugby 6 miles. They were pleased to have run this event, Yasmin & Heather had run the Lichfield half marathon on 5 May so this event was an ideal follow up.
 
Results:
 
Peter Simpson 42.04, 136th, 12th MV50
Hazel Beasley 53.49, 295th , 4th FV55
Yasmin Inglis 55.19, 306th , 16th FS
Heather Brunskell-Evans 59.36, 323rd , 1st FV60 (although the results incorrectly state 9th without anyone ahead in the F60-64 age group).
 
Hopefully VRUK can form teams in the forthcoming events including: Corby 5 miles, Market Harborough 5 miles and other venues further south with the last one in Milton Keynes from the Open University. All events are held midweek in the evening.
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