Race Report       105^th Run             4 Feb 2012

This week I wanted to do something a bit different for the report. I hope you don’t mind. I was thinking about motivation. We’ve had lots of new runners in January and I wanted to try and write something to motivate you to keep coming. We also have lots of parkrunners training for races/events such as the VLM and the Fleet Half, and finding the motivation to get out of bed at silly o’clock on a cold, wet morning to do a tempo run or hill work might be a bit tough.

I don’t have the experience or expertise to offer any insights on motivation but I know a woman who does and so decided to ask Paula Fudge, who knows a thing or two about running I think you’ll agree. Paula was happy to provide me with some wonderfully inspiring words about how she has kept motivated throughout her life and during her competitive career, which spanned over a decade. Amongst Paula’s many achievements are winning Commonwealth gold in the 3000m, bronze in the European indoor 3000m and taking the 5000m world record (beating Ingrid Kristensen in the same race). When Paula ventured into competing at longer distances, she promptly won her first ever marathon (Columbus, Ohio) and then came 3^rd in the Chicago marathon with a PB of 2:29:47.

“My love of athletics started in junior school. We got an extra bottle of free milk (which was given to children in those days) if we ran a lap of the school field. But wanting to beat the boys was always the main target!

At senior school, older girls in the sports team encouraged me to join the local club and I have never regretted it.  I did a variety of events: shot, discus, long jump, 75yds, 100yds, 150yds relay and cross country.  I liked travelling on the coach to meetings with club members and competing.  Watching my friends compete and seeing them do well was a great incentive to compete well myself.

When I took up middle distance running, I was very lucky to have a regular training partner as I am a twin, so this helped to keep me interested and we would push each other in training.  She motivated me with her successes as I was in her shadow at school and early 20’s.  We had a good training group with other girls so that kept me on my toes to keep up with them and get better. It was amazing to win the National cross country championships. This was one of the biggest races before Inter-counties.  My sister had won it quite a few years before me and I was desperate to get my name of the cup along with hers.

I had always wanted to represent my country and that kept me working hard but then I got sciatica and had to rest for six weeks which was awful.  However I worked hard to get back and my dream of running for my country happened.  It was a great experience and that drove me on to want more GB/England vests. When my times started to come down I really wanted to run as fast as my body could and trained harder and achieved times I never thought I would be able to do.

Injuries are always a pain for athletes but rest ensured that my body recovered and that made me more determined to get back better than I was before the injury.  Having a good coach was a great help when injuries occurred or training was hard, the weather bad, feeling down as he could always talk me round and make me be more positive and put me back on the right track.

I ran until 4 weeks before having my first child so definitely needed a rest but about 4 weeks after the birth I saw a woman jogging down the road and that made me want to get back, which I did very steadily.  I really enjoyed getting back into it and came back stronger and eventually decided to try a marathon.  Again it was good to have my twin as long runs were boring and it was a great help to get through the rough parts of the run.  Wanting to see how good I could be at the marathon was what kept my enthusiasm going.  After the first one the addiction was there to try another so it was easy to say motivated.  Running in snow, wind, rain and heat was never hard as I focused on what I was aiming for, whatever event was coming up, and the need to do this session so that I can achieve my goal.

Coaching young girls kept my interest in running as I would run with them and seeing them progress was exciting.  I could also pass on my experiences from my younger days of training and help them with motivation.  Seeing them improve and progress was very satisfying.

My husband and daughters enjoy athletics and have always encouraged me in what I do - it was good to hear “come on, mummy” at races and this really spurred me on.  Now my youngest daughter trains with me, which pushes me to keep trying to improve myself and to help her.

I was suffering with a bad knee problem two and half years ago and the pain was awful but I plodded on until I had keyhole surgery.  I slowly regained my fitness, which took 3 months, and once I realised I could run without pain I was keen to get back to fitness and that kept my interest up.  I had been hoping for a long while that there would be a parkrun locally and when it started up I was really pleased.  It took me a while to get down there as I was unsure of the surface after surgery.  After my first run I was hooked and this really got me fired up to get fit and see how I could improve on the course. parkrun got my motivation back and even now I love the atmosphere and enjoy seeing everyone taking part, whatever their level. They are a great inspiration.”

I love the fact that Paula talks not so much about complex training techniques but, quite simply, tells us the story of someone wanting to do the best she can, sometimes facing tough challenges, and helped by her family and friends. I think there’s something in here for us all to think about.

Frimley Lodge parkrun
Event number 105
4th February 2012

Men's placings:
Mark SYMES (VM40-44) (Unattached) was first in 17:23 - 28^th win in 75^th appearance.
Martin RUTTER (SM25-29) of Stockport Harriers & AC, was second in 17:48.
Callum HUGHES (SM25-29) of Tri20, was third in 18:04.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Mark SYMES (Unattached) 4774 pts.
Darren WOOD (Hart Road Runners) 3770 pts.
Timothy CUMMINS (Farnham Runners) 3762 pts.

Women's placings:
Clare LAIT (SW30-34) of Tri20, was first (33^rd overall) in 20:39 - first appearance.
Paula FUDGE (VW55-59) of Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC, was second (43^rd overall) in 21:35 - 41 previous wins.
Edwina MCDOWALL (VW40-44) of Tri20, was third (45^th overall) in 21:46.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Paula FUDGE (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC) 4561 pts.
Alison LENAGHAN (Cove Joggers) 4074 pts.
Jo LONGMUIR (Unattached) 3153 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Paula FUDGE (VW55-59) was graded 87.41 % for the time 21:35 (43^rd overall).
Mark SYMES (VM40-44) was graded 80.35 % for the time 17:23 (first overall).
Martin POWELL (VM45-49) was graded 78.00 % for the time 18:11 (4^th overall).

This week there were 211 runners, of whom 25 were first timers and 68 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 29 different athletics clubs took part.

Frimley Lodge parkrun started on 13th February 2010, and since then 2,516 different runners, including participants from 123 athletics clubs, have completed 15,235 runs covering a total distance of 76,175 km, and there have been 3,724 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Julia BLOMQUIST who ran in a time of 18:47 on 25th June 2011 (event number 71).
The Men's course record is held by Mark GREENWOOD who ran in a time of 16:23 on 17th December 2011 (event number 96).
The Age Grade course record is held by Paula FUDGE who recorded a 92.70 % run (20:33) on 2nd July 2011 (event number 72).

Race Report 104th Run 28th Jan 2012

Report by Simon Harvey

A cold morning, my car said 3° when I left home, but to me it didn’t feel that cold and especially so whilst Cliff was giving the pre-race briefing as the sun shone on my back. With rain on and off over the preceding week the course was especially muddy making fast times difficult (well that’s my excuse anyway!)

First home today was Mark Symes in a time of 17:34 followed by Richard Barrett and James Wallace with a new PB. The top of the leader board is getting ever more populated by members of the 50 club. That club welcomed a new member today in Rob Harkness who celebrated with a new PB and getting under 18 minutes for the first time. Another new member of the 50 club is Peter Mannion who wasn’t able to get a PB today. Well done to both of you on reaching your 50 milestone.

First woman today was Charlie Arnell in a time of 20:53 followed by Paula Fudge and Nikki Fowler.

With one week left in the point’s competition Mark Symes and Paula Fudge have unassailable leads. Mark leads by 972 points and Paula by 388 points. With the second anniversary of Parkrun on 11^th February a new point’s competition will begin so hopefully we will see new challengers for the top spot.

Whilst not a record field this week numbers were still very good with 260 runners completing the course. Of these 24 were first timers and two were running Frimley Lodge parkrun for the first time having completed other events previously.

Despite the muddy conditions there were 50 PB’s today. Two of these have already been mentioned and of the rest Bob Fisher is on a roll at the moment with his second PB in three weeks having not had one since March before that. Another new club member, this time to the Junior 10 run club, celebrating a new PB is Callum Jackson.

As always a massive thank you to all the volunteers without whom parkrun would not be able to function week in and week out. If you would like to volunteer please e-mail the team at FrimleyLodgeHelpers@parkrun.com

As always you can see James’ excellent photo’s at:  https://picasaweb.google.com/frimleylodgeparkrun

For chat and other information you can go to our Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frimley-Lodge-parkrun/109086622476139

Despite the return of the grey January weather this week, 269 runners joined us to enjoy the delights of the Frimley Lodge mud, which is impressive as our 2nd highest attendance yet. 31 of the finishers were completing their first ever parkrun, with a further 4 making their first visit to Frimley. Welcome to you all, and we look forward to seeing you again soon. Included in those making their second visit to us was Paul Killick, another member (along with Darren Wood and a further 6 people) of the 250 club. Welcome back Paul - its always good to see another 250 shirt running round!

We had 38 PBs this week - several of our newer runners are getting the measure of the course and their pacing efforts to set new PBs again, while Chris McWilliam last set his in September last year, Elif Gabb at the beginning of November and Amanda Bailey at the beginning of June. Hopefully it won't take as long again to break it Amanda!

For the 26th time we were led home by Mark Symes (who has now won twice as many as his brother Darren!), with Rob Harkness and Andy Carter completing the top 3. After his first win in 340 attempts (running at Hanley), Darren Wood had to settle for 6th today. In the women's run, Rachel Elliot, Laura Hales and Paula Fudge took the top 3 positions. Rachel was making her final visit to us to see how we do things, before she takes charge of the new parkrun starting next month in Newbury. (Just remember it's Frimley's 2nd anniversary the same day as the inaugural Newbury run!!)

The Frimley 50 club had a new member this week - congratulations to Clare Cave as she reached that particular milestone. Next stop 100! And well done to M Dove who reached the junior 10 club. We look forward to seeing you both wearing your t-shirts with pride when they arrive.

Looking through the results this week, its interesting to note that 31% of our runners have run 5 or less times, with another 31% running between 11 and 40 times. That leaves just under 20% with 6-10 runs, 5% closing in on their 50 shirts (41-50 runs), 7% of us have now joined the 50 club, with a further 2% in the 100 club, and of course Darren and Paul in the exclusive 250 club. (For the maths whizzes, numbers don't add up to 100% because we had unknown runners who can't be slotted into an age group). The fact that half of runners have completed less than 10 runs probably explains our growth in numbers in recent weeks, while its also good to see that we around 20 runners who should join the 50 club in the next 3 months (as long as they continue to run regularly!), although that only takes into consideration the runners that turned out today. The 100 club looks set for a similar invasion towards the end of the year!

Thank you to James who took a mere 222 photos today. Check them out – there must be at least one of you!

http://picasaweb.google.com/frimleylodgeparkrun

 Huge thanks as always to all our volunteers. If you are able to volunteer for future weeks please talk to us on Saturday mornings or contact the team at

FrimleyLodgeHelpers@parkrun.com. Your help will be very much appreciated.

 You may want to visit our facebook pages:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frimley-Lodge-parkrun/109086622476139

 If there are any errors in this report, or you would like to let us know any news or interesting facts, or would like someone to have a special mention, please email

frimleyoffice@parkrun.com

And a plea for our missing tokens - we seem to be losing 2 tokens after each run at the moment. If you've re-homed any by mistake, could you return them next week (no questions asked!) please - the other tokens are missing them!

Men's placings:
Mark SYMES (VM40-44) (Unattached) was first in 17:43 - 26^th win in 73^rd appearance.
Rob HARKNESS (SM30-34) (Unattached) was second in 18:11 - 1 previous win.
Andrew S F CARTER (SM30-34) (Unattached) was third in 18:27.
 

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Mark SYMES (Unattached) 4574 pts.
Timothy CUMMINS (Farnham Runners) 3640 pts.
Darren WOOD (Hart Road Runners) 3599 pts.
 

Women's placings:
Rachael ELLIOTT (SW30-34) of Team Kennet, was first (16^th overall) in 20:16 - third win in third appearance.

Laura HALES (VW40-44) of Woking AC was second (25^thoverall) in 21:08 - 1 previous win.

Paula FUDGE (VW55-59) of Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC, was third (29^th overall) in 21:29 - 41 previous wins.

 

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Paula FUDGE (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC) 4363 pts.
Alison LENAGHAN (Cove Joggers) 3978 pts.
Jo LONGMUIR (Unattached) 3056 pts.
 

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Paula FUDGE (VW55-59) was graded 87.82 % for the time 21:29 (29^th overall).
Penny ELLIOTT (VW65-69) was graded 80.31 % for the time 26:50 (134^th overall).
Keith HULL (VM60-64) was graded 79.61 % for the time 20:41 (22^nd overall).
 

This week there were 269 runners, of whom 35 were first timers and 40 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 22 different athletics clubs took part.

FrimleyLodge parkrun started on 13th February 2010, and since then 2,465 different runners, including participants from 120 athletics clubs, have completed 14,764 runs covering a total distance of 73,820 km, and there have been 3,605 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Julia BLOMQUIST who ran in a time of 18:47 on 25th June 2011 (event number 71).
The Men's course record is held by Mark GREENWOOD who ran in a time of 16:23 on 17th December 2011 (event number 96).
The Age Grade course record is held by Paula FUDGE who recorded a 92.70 % run (20:33) on 2nd July 2011 (event number 72).
 

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the FrimleyLodge parkrun Results Page.