Having lost his year old parkrun record to Ian Leitch by just one second last week, Josh Guilmant (Phoenix) made a spirited attempt to regain it on Saturday. Out on his own, he fell 22secs short with his winning time of 15.29. Unfortunately Josh will be unable to be at the park next week when Ian proposes to have another go at the record. Hopefully a few of the other leading parkrunners will rise to the challenge. At the top end of the field PBs do not usually come in big chunks, so Martyn Bean’s 19sec improvement to 16.06 in 2nd place represents a significant improvement. Brighton and Hove clubmate Howard Bristow will agree, having improved by 3secs and 2secs in his last two runs. Two weeks ago he eased past Dave Carter’s SM35-39 record of 16.26 by just one second (which I missed in my report along with David Benton’s super VM40-44 record of 16.26 on the same day!!) On Saturday in third place another two seconds took him to a new PB and record of 16.23. A frantic battle for 4th saw two seconds covering 4 runners as Michael Rix (Farnham) just got home in 17.28, ahead of Max Lippert (Phoenix) and juniors Jago Leckie (Hailsham) and Max Pickard (Phoenix) with times that would have won 6 of the last 20 parkruns.

Next to finish was the leader in the women’s competition Helena Tobin (Brighton and Hove), with a new PB and her 17th victory. Helena’s 18.01 removed 9secs from her previous PB set nearly a year ago, and is 4th on the women’s fastest time list and a SW30-34 record. Second, on her first parkrun was star triathlete Sophie Coleman (Phoenix). Sophie’s 18.12 was the 5th fastest woman’s time and was also a record in her age group SW20-24, but she will surely go faster. Third in 19.59 was consistent Caroline Wood (Arena 80) with her 20th consecutive 80% age-grading. In fact her only run this year below 80% was the snow bound run in early January when she arrived at the park on skis! In fourth place Gail Nerurkar (Thames Hare and Hounds) returned for her second run, improving 34 seconds to 20.01. Former winners Rachael Woolston and Joan Lennon were 5th and 6th.

Two weeks ago I reported that Nick Kirby was due to run his 100th run last Saturday. What I didn’t know, was that he was moving to Bristol last weekend. He did however choose to return to Hove Park for No.100 this week, where he has run all but one of the previous 99, instead of possible closer options such as Swindon. Unfortunately he made a bad choice of hotel and lined up at 9am after just two hours sleep, which at least will add to the memories of his 100th run, if nothing else.

Saturday was a good PB day with 57 of the 265 runners improving their times. Josie Turner improved 1 minute this week but has made an overall jump from 27.20 to 24.33 in 4 runs since early July. Nathan Oldfield has made a massive improvement from 32.27 to 25.51 since May and Gareth Simpson and Richard McGregor have both had 7 PBs in the last 7 weeks. Gareth has come down from 22.22 to a very useful 19.11, while Richard has improved from 26.19 to 23.26 over the same period. Finally, and my feet ache just thinking about it, Julia Claxton improved 50secs to 30.09 in bare feet!

Among the welcome visitors this week were three Flynns, Hannah-Mai and Mary- Kate (both South London Harriers) and Phyllis (Stragglers) with 170 parkruns between them, mostly at Banstead Woods. Another visitor from the North-West was David Hatch with several runs at Bramhall and Woodbank. David Williams, 26 runs at Finsbury Park and Mick Staines, 2 runs at Gorleston Cliffs, were others making their first appearances at our run.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Helen Todd’s initiative in self-imposing a fine of a fiver for charity for forgetting her bar code, and asked if it could catch on. Well on Saturday we had our second fiver. Who was the culprit? It was Helen again – not much more that I can say!

Statistics

1. Josh Guilmant SM25-29 (Phoenix Athletics and Triathlon Club) 15.29. 2. Martyn Bean SM25-29 (Brighton and Hove City AC) 16.06. 3. Howard Bristow SM35-39 (Brighton and Hove City AC) 16.23 Age group record.

1. Helena Tobin SW30-34 (Brighton and Hove City AC) 18.01 Age group record. 2. Sophie Coleman SW20-24, 18.12 Age Group record. 3. Caroline Wood VW45-49 (Arena 80 AC) 19.59.

Top age grades: Josh Guilmant, 83.32% Joan Lennon 82.81% Helena Tobin 82.15%

In the points competitions Simon Ho leads Peter Golton by 958 points and Clare Milsom leads Caroline Wood by 661 points. There were 42 first timers and 57 PBs this week.

Course records are 15.07 and 16.43 by Ian Leitch and Caroline Hoyte.

3026 runners have now completed a Hove parkrun. The 3000th runner, during this weeks run, was Sarah Elliott.

Roy Taylor
 

In almost a carbon copy of the last time the course record was broken, British Cross Triathlon champion Ian Leitch, produced a stunning solo run to shave just one second from Josh Guilmant’s record set almost one year ago. Leading from the gun and negotiating a path through lapped runners for all of the two large laps he came home with over two minutes to spare from Tom Coates (Phoenix) to set a new record of 15.07. Just three days earlier he had run an impressive track 3k in 8.38 at the Brighton club’s meeting at Withdean. His future plans include a further attack on the record in a couple of weeks. If any other leading Sussex runner fancies a fast competitive run, then make a note of this date – September 4th. Tom Coates time in second place was 17.23, just 4 secs from a PB, with former winner Michael Rix (Farnham Runners) third in 17.41.

Aimee Billington from 26.2 RRC at Surbiton, but now a ‘local’ following a recent move to Brighton, withstood a late challenge from Caroline Wood (Arena 80) moving away in the latter stages to win by 13 seconds with 19.41 to 19.54. This was a PB at Hove Park, but with 19 runs at 8 venues she has an overall PB of 19.25, set at Newcastle. Joan Lennon (Steyning) took third place in 20.29 with another high age-graded run.

On the subject of negotiating lapped runners, I have always felt that all parkrunners are equal and that nobody should have to move out of the way for anyone. I would think that most of the faster runners probably share this view. Looking ahead and planning a way through is just as much a part of the challenge as the undulating nature of the course (hills to most of us!). There could however be room for compromise. After coming round the bottom of the park and alongside the railway on their first large lap, those likely to be lapped could move to the right hand side without too much inconvenience or extra distance.

The gathering at the café after the run is almost as much a part of parkrun as the run itself. Chaos was averted on Saturday when the keyholder had to return home for his key, resulting in a late opening. In the true spirit of parkrun, the runners pitched in and shifted all of the tables and chairs from inside the café and set them up on the balcony and the outside area.

The continual light rain throughout Saturdays run, whilst considerably unpleasant for the volunteers, was not too much of a hardship for the 264 runners who managed 41 PBs between them.
Pride of place this week goes to Zoe Dale with 4 PBs in a row and a whopping three and a half minutes improvement this time to 27.44. Lou Beckerman improved another minute to 31.27 with her seventh successive PB. Other notable advances were Ford Watson, one and a half minutes improvement since May to 21.06 and Karl South, 40secs in 2 weeks to 20.42. Simon and Josie Hodges set ‘his and hers’ PBs for the second week running, Simon with a 30secs improvement to 22.30, and Josie with a big two and a half minute jump over the two weeks to 28.00. With another 30 first timers this week, let’s hope that we are heading for a bumper new attendance record when the third anniversary run comes round in a few weeks time.

Welcome visitors his week were Andy Instone (Swindon Harriers), Tim Lunn (26.2RRC – 72 runs at Banstead Woods) and possibly Stuart Adams, whose only other parkrun was at Bushy Park. Michael Rix (Farnham Runners) almost qualifies as a local now, having made 7 appearances at our run.

Statistics

1. Ian Leitch SM30-34, 15.07 (course record). 2. Tom Coates SM25-29 (Phoenix Athletics and Triathlon Club) 17.23. 3. Michael Rix SM35-39 (Farnham Runners) 17.41

1. Aimee Billington SW30-34 (26.2 RRC) 19.41. 2. Caroline Wood VW45-49 (Arena 80) 19.54 3. Joan Lennon VW50-54 (Steyning AC) 20.29.

Top age graded performances: Ian Leitch 86.77% Joan Lennon 85.84% Caroline Wood 81.99%

Male points:      3441 Simon Ho           2515 Peter Golton           2455 Michael Bannister
Female points: 3229 Clare Milsom     2470 Caroline Wood      2417 Sarah Russell

Next in line for the black tee shirt: Nick Kirby (99) Keith Thake (98) Ann Eke and Dave Harvey (both 96)

Course records: 15.07 Ian Leitch 21.8.10 16.43 Caroline Hoyte 30.5.09

Roy Taylor
 

Last week the presence of the two fastest ever Hove parkrunners sparked off a good quality men’s event. This week it was the turn of the women, when the 2nd, 4th and 6th fastest lined up at the start, not to mention 5 runners with 67 previous victories between them. Without too much chance for pre-run chat this week, I was unaware of this prior to the event. I only realised what a quality event was unfolding when they all lapped me at speed at various stages of the final lap!

Julie Briggs (Arena 80) came home in 18.03 for her 5th victory in 6 runs, but her margin was cut to just 12 seconds by an excellent PB of 18.15 from Fiona Powell (Brighton & Hove), her first since just before Christmas. On most weeks this would have been certain to add another victory to the 26 already to her credit. Helena Tobin (Brighton and Hove), in third place in 18.45 is rapidly coming back to form, possibly inspired by brother Rob’s close 2nd place in the 400 metres at Crystal Palace the previous evening. Helena however has form of her own, placing 3rd behind Kelly Holmes and Becky Lyne in the National indoor 800 metres a few years ago.
Only one of Caroline Wood’s 19 victories has been faster than the 19.45 that she recorded in 4th place, her best since last September. To complete a notable women’s event Gail Nerurkar (Thames Hare & Hounds), in her first parkrun experience, just held off Joan Lennon (Steyning), another recent winner, by one second with 20.35.

The men’s event was not without its moments. Brighton runners Howard Bristow and David Benton battled to the line, with Howard prevailing by just one second in 16.25 for his 4th victory. Both were rewarded with PBs, for Howard his second in as many weeks. Gary Thayre(Phoenix) and Matthew Wilson were 3rd and 4th, both having been caught up in the battle between the leading women.

Last week I had difficulty in finding any visiting runners. This week they were everywhere. Joseph and Jacqueline Chang and Dave Wilson (26.2RRC) all had their first taste of Hove Park to add to their combined total of 288 runs at 12 different venues. We are particularly honoured that Dave chose our event for his 150th run.
From further north, Steve and Julie Fairclough and Maureen Wilkins from Stockport Harriers, whose home runs are normally Bramall or Woodbank, were very complimentary about our run. Russell Gardham from Hyde Park Harriers (no not that one-the one in Leeds) has done 48 runs at Leeds. Other visitors this week included Bushy Park regulars Chris Wright and Matthew Wright, Steve and Megan Bird (City of Norwich) and Gail Nerurkar (Thames Hare and Hounds). Timmy Westcott (Swindon Harriers) I am not sure about! With 6 runs at Hove and 9 at Swindon, is he a visitor or a local popping home for an occasional weekend? If I have missed you, stick a note on the comments section at the foot of the page.
On the PB front, a few caught the eye. Stephen Ferroni, 6th man and 8th overall, improved nearly one and a half minutes to 18.34, a good time for a JM14. James Adams, VM40-44, may not have improved quite so much, 20.45 to 20.28, but it was his first PB for nearly a year and 30 runs. Debbie Corcoran started a year ago with 45.25 and on Saturday knocked off a further one and a half minutes with 33.01.

Now how is this for a good idea? From time to time place number barcodes end up going home after the event. We are not alone in this respect. One of last week’s culprits, Helen Todd, came up with a £5 self imposed fine in the form of a donation to Cancer Research. Well done Helen. Could it catch on?

Finally, look out for Nick Kirby this Saturday, who, all being well, will be doing his 100th run to become our third centurion.

Stats bit

1. Howard Bristow SM35-39 (Brighton & Hove City) 16.25, 2. David Benton VM40-44 (Brighton & Hove City) 16.26, 3. Gary Thayre VM45-49 (Phoenix) 18.06

1. Julie Briggs VW40-44 (Arena 80) 18.03, 2. Fiona Powell SW25-29 (Brighton & Hove City) 18.15, 3. Helena Tobin SW30-34 (Brighton & Hove City) 18.45

In the age graded competition, it is likely that we had more performances scoring over 80% than any other of the 40 odd parkruns. (No, I haven’t checked them all, but I have had a look at several of the larger ones!) Anything over 80% has to be worth a mention, so here they all are: 85.6% David Benton, 85.5% Julie Briggs, 85.36% Joan Lennon, 85.11% Andrew Haig, 82.62% Caroline Wood, 81.28% Judith Carder, 81.1% Fiona Powell, 80.85% Gary Thayre, 80.3% Howard Bristow, 80.07% Stephen Ferroni.

This week there were 242 runners, 62 PBs and 28 first timers. The leaders of the points competitions and the course record holders remain unchanged.

Roy Taylor
 

When the owners of the two fastest ever times at Hove Park turn up on the same day, there is a fair chance that something significant will be achieved at the ‘sharp end’. Josh Guilmant (Phoenix), course record holder at 15.08, and Ben Warren (Hailsham), PB of 15.12, staged an intriguing battle with Josh eventually pulling away to win in 15.32, with Ben second in 15.47. For much of the run Finn McNally (Phoenix) was in close contact, finishing with 16.02 , in third place, a time beaten only twice previously in the JM15-19 age group. A few age groups further on, the fast pace at the front drew Howard Bristow (Brighton and Hove) in 4^th place, to a PB of 16.28, only 2 seconds away from Dave Carter’s SM35-39 record. Kev Mason (Brighton and Hove) also benefitted. His 16.37 in 5^th place was 20 seconds faster than his winning time 3 weeks earlier. Andrew Donno’s 17.13 in 6^th place, although well below his best, would have won six of the last 10 events.

A scan through the impressive parkrun record of Caroline Wood (Arena 80) reveals a variation of just one and a half minutes in the times of her 71 parkruns spread over two years. On Saturday she notched her 19^th victory in 19.55, with a lead of 42 seconds over Joan Lennon (Steyning). Since she ‘discovered’ parkrun a mere two months ago Joan has set an equally impressive average age grade percentage of 87.15 over 5 events. In third place Jane Lawrence (Worthing Striders) improved 40 secs on last week’s first run to take third place in 20.52.

Prior to the run, the biggest talking point was ‘who nicked all the cones’. Every week the cones for the finish area are brought out from behind the café and carefully returned afterwards.

This week they were conspicuous by their absence and only some quick thinking by the boss, who borrowed a set from the road works on the other side of the park, averted a crisis. Were the borrowed set and the nicked set the same cones I am tempted to ask?

On my reports, I like to mention visiting runners from other areas but this is only usually possible by spotting non-local club names. With nearly three quarters of the field unattached, it was a bit more difficult this week. The only visitor that I was able to identify was a gent from Welwyn Garden City who was talked into his first parkrun as part of a visit to his daughter. Although I didn’t ask his name, by some careful scrutiny of the results I have identified him as Martyn Levitt. He was very impressed with the whole concept. So now two questions for the large number of unattached. Were any of you visitors and, particularly for those that have a long parkrun history, have you considered becoming ‘attached’? There are several options at all grades locally. Let’s hear from you on the very under used comments section.

This week the PB focus will be on the 30mins+ region. 29.59 sounds a heck of a lot better than 30.01. Laura Barry will confirm this, having just arrived at that figure from a previous best of 31.41.Sarah Owen has improved on each of 10 consecutive runs from 34.09 to 27.00 and Lou Beckerman from 38.08 to 33.06 in 2 months. Jacob Whittaker with 31.13 improved 5 minutes this week and over 8 minutes overall. Stuart Dale has improved 5 minutes since May to 31.46 and Sarah Lessacher, a 2mins 40secs improvement to 31.01 this week alone.

Finally Roger Foord reached 75 parkruns this week. Although not usually considered a milestone, Roger’s achievement is worth a mention as they have all been in consecutive events. Another 25 of the same should warrant a bit in the national newsletter.

And now the statistical stuff

Result: 1. Josh Guilmant SM25-29 (Phoenix) 15.32,  2. Ben Warren SM25-29 (Hailsham) 15.47,  3. Finn McNally JM15-19 (Phoenix) 16.02

1. Caroline Wood VW45-49 (Arena 80) 19.55,  2. Joan Lennon VW50-55 (Steyning) 20.37,  3. Jane Lawrence VW40-44 (Worthing Striders)  20.52

On a good week for age graded results, Joan Lennon led with 85.27% from Finn McNally, 83.16%, Josh Guilmant, 83.05%, Ben Warren, 81.73%, Paul Gasson, 80.38% and Howard Bristow, 80.06%.

This week there were 22 first timers and 47 PBs. among the 229 runners. In the points competition Simon Ho and Clare Milsom have large leads over Michael Bannister and Jennifer Horton. The course records by Josh Guilmant (15.08) and Caroline Hoyte (16.43) survive for another week.

Roy Taylor