Almost at the end of a very turbulent 2020, just a week to go to see the year out. Yay!!!!
Whilst there has been a huge amount of upset this year there is one person among us who is rising to every challenge put in front of her. Rowena clears another spot on the mantlepiece for another outdoor PB, knocking over a minute off last weeks time. She says she is yet to enjoy running but her times suggest otherwise. I think there have only been 2 events that she hasn't PB'ed!

Thanks Lynn for donning the virtual black and white vest this week and keeping the runners and walkers in check. Toby Dickens took part in his first virtual parkrun event and submitted a time of 17.06, the fastest this week. Close behind was Gavin Jones and Mark Williamson ( still recovering from injury)

Soph Will finished top of the ladies league with a training run, with Tara Beard 2nd and Helen Kirk 3rd. Well done ladies, all submitting effortless runs.

A super selfie from Adrian on his chilly run this week. He beat Nigel this week so in true Lane style, I am sure you will be witnessing some true sibling rivalry very soon.

Cat, Tara, Nigel, Tony and Rose all submitted longer distances this week with Tara finding her winning formula - GIN! Hayley finally got in some training for final event for the year after being locked down in quarantine. Well done Rose for not only getting out for a walk, but also encouraging her mini's to get out too.

Some frosty mornings, ice and snow have made runs a little more interesting this week so take extra care where needed.

We would much rather you take your runs and walks with a little more caution than push for a PB so you can join us every week.

We hope you all had the best Christmas you could have and here is to the new year. One thing I am glad to be returning, is these pesky elves back to the North Pole. Parents of young children will totally understand that these guys are exhausting!

Well, as much as I would like to say it is the Most Runderful Time of the Year (borrowed), it has certainly been a wet week. Thanks everyone for getting out there and not being fair weather runners! Nigel Lane totally confused me earlier in the week by suggesting we would be at Broome Farm this weekend - well, we can run wherever we like in this virtual world, I guess. I then confused him by trying to claim my PB this week was quicker than his time. It wasn't! It was just wishful thinking!! Sorry Nigel, you are the PB King!

I've done a couple of runs this week with others where we have tried to find the best Christmas lights in Ross. Personally, I think The Gresleys shines again this year and I was also impressed with Beech Close, but the Dawleys displays are superb.

Well done and thanks for the Christmas cheer! Both those "Christmassy" runs have been in the rain, with the second one having to be shortened with the rain being so persistent. I was therefore very glad to get my actual parkrun effort done in the sunshine, whilst dodging the river on the Rope Walk!

Anyway, thank you all for submitting your times for the week. Barb Morris has once again shown that "Puppy Power" reigns supreme, with a blistering time! Well done, I'm not sure my legs would manage to keep me upright at that speed. Digby really must be the Pawfect running buddy.

Next lady home was Soph Will, as part of a 5 miler. Well done and apologies for getting your name muddled last time I wrote the report! Third Lady back was Catherine Finlay, keeping those times consistently quick! Well done ladies.
First chap back was Mark Williamson testing the go-faster strip at Rogiet - it clearly works well! Loving the Christmas socks...

Next chap back was Briar Morris with Dennis and third back was Gavin Jones. Well done chaps! Tony May is still putting in some impressive times whilst the calf muscle recovers, Leo Lockwood took the highest climber chapeau on Howle Hill and Chris Allen joined me with a PB (although Chris was obviously faster, just like Nigel!).

 

Runners this week visited the Peregrine Path (Robin Drewett), tried out some new running and dance combination moves moon walking (Helen Kirk) and we had a buggy runner who sounds like she is successfully kicking Covid in the butt (Hayley Lovatt).

Great to hear some good news on that Hayley. Thank you everyone for taking part and keeping us smiling with your photos and comments.

 

As the river levels rise once more, at least we have no worries about whether pr will be able to take place, I suppose! But to be honest, I would welcome those worries at the moment... if only...

Thanks once again to the 16 people who submitted their times this week.
First overall was Mark Williamson in 23:15, running at the newly refurbished Rogiet pr location, looks like a good spot for a bit of pr tourism. Sometime in the future...

First woman, and second overall, was Catherine Finlay in 23.49 with a brand new pb. Great stuff Catherine.

Next pair home were Barb and Digby dog, hotly pursued by Briar and Dennis. A bit slow today Barb??

 

Rachel Marshall did a Ross Christmas Lights run so slightly slower due to photo stops.

A few of the Ross folk are doing that tomorrow.
Tony May was going great guns then had to slow down because of injury, Nicholas Tyler was slowed down by slippy muddy conditions so is hitting the tarmac next week for a faster finish. Why not take the lights in at the same time Nicholas? Well, maybe not, if you want a faster time, I suppose.

Our Nigel is back post injury and now busy building up to his next pb. Go Nigel... Cat’s chasing right behind you!

Rowena Williams has returned to the great outdoors clocking up an outdoor pb - good on you Rowena.

Robin Drewett did 5k in laps of the village high street to keep partner Francesca company as she recovers from a knee injury.

Peter Smith, Wye Valley Runner MV70, submitted his time, thank you and well done. We also had results in from Chris Allen, Helen Kirk and Nadedge Rutter with Charlie - Charlie recorded a 5k pb.

The tail runner preferred not to be named but we are very grateful to them for taking up the rear.

A few regulars missing this week, you know who you are... hope to see you back next week. Sore feet and bad back have meant a further week off for me, Pepper is chomping at the bit.

Thank you to you all for your continued support over the last few months. I have tried to give everyone a mention by name this week, huge apologies if I missed anyone.

Next week we hit the big 3-0 in terms of virtual events. Can you believe it has been over 30 weeks since we gathered outside a small wooden shed to run voluntarily with complete strangers? I miss that !! I also miss shouting about all the milestone celebrations and most of all , I miss the cake!!!

Rowena has achieved a trophy cabinet full of PBs since she joined us in Lockdown 1.0. I asked Rowena what her secret was and she mentioned cake. I cant remember if my brain stopped working at this point as I was picturing all my favourites, chocolate fudge cake, lemon drizzle, lardy cake and banoffee pie. I needed to believe there was a direct correlation between cake eating and PBs. This brings me to a birthday shout out to Victoria who celebrated the only way a runner celebrates, with a run! Many happy returns.

Top of the charts today was Digby followed shortly by human Barb.

Mark Williamson came in second checking out the new path being installed at Rogiet parkrun. (pronounced ROG-IT for those not in the know, don't go all in with a French accent like we did). A parkrun which a good PB potential.

Third place goes to Catherine Finlay who is picking up the pace again in these cooler climes.

 

Well done to Briar for finishing 2nd male with Dennis, Dennis clearly ready to go again.

Welcome back to Sian and Nigel who are recovering from injury. Slow and steady wins the race as they say. Speedy recovery both.

Nadege decided to walk a giant heart this week in search of her mojo. She took canine legs with her as she searched for her mojo after fled following completion of the virtual London Marathon. To be honest, lockdown has had this effect on so many people you are not alone. I have lost count of the number of people who have found themselves not knowing how to run as they have nothing to train for. I have always been a lone wolf when I go out and its easy to back out last minute staying wrapped up in the warm. I have tried running with a friend to force me to get out, tonight I am planning to run through town and see the Xmas lights.

Welcome to Peter Smith from Wye Valley Runners, MV70! Also welcome to Chris Allen for joining us for the first time also.

A few people submitted longer runs this week, Tony May ( also highest climber again, he is no stranger to hills), Tara Beard ( we hope your friends shin splints have disappeared) and me, Cake Lane! I am sure its fair to say I gave the cake eating my all this week, which definitely assisted during my 9 mile run.

 

Robin completed 8km on the Peregrine Path in a chilly 1.5 degrees.....brrrrrrr!!!

Rowena struggled with a broken treadmill this week and took to pounding the pavements in the quest of a new outdoor PB, of course she did it!! We never doubt you!!

Thanks everyone for joining us, please continue to submit your efforts and pictures as we love seeing them

PS 16 SLEEPS UNTIL SANTA!!

 

Different week, different Catharine writing the report! This week I am going to also take the opportunity to submit my results, as although I have done some running every week, I have been a bit lax on submitting times. Maybe there are more people out there who are the same – if you know anyone, give them a nudge to submit their times as we love following how you are all getting on and seeing your pictures of where you have been. We are all very happy to be able to carry on parkrun on a virtual basis and we really do appreciate all of your support.

This week we have had all kinds of weather. From doing the virtual Howling Bull in bright sunshine on Sunday and I was then de-icing the car for the first time on Monday morning and the latter part of the week lots of us were lost in the fog! Looks like Winter has finally arrived and the mud is here to stay. Cue the trail shoes sitting by the fire for prolonged periods again... well, it is a good excuse to light the fire! The house will also be littered with hi vis gear and headtorches in various stages of being charged (something Helen Kirk fell foul of on her run when her light gave up!).

I managed to do my actual 5k effort on Wednesday and I was certainly glad that I chose to don thermals under my Ross Runners t-shirt! I was less glad of the thermals when I got to the top of Lincoln Hill though! Sadly, I wasn’t out late enough to be Christmas light spotting, but that will become a sport in itself over the next few weeks! Tips on good streets to run along for Christmas lights will be most welcome.

Anyway, thank you to all of you who submitted results this week. Barb Morris was first back with Digby dog and Soph Morris wasn’t far behind on her time within a 5-mile run.

Gavin Jones was first chap back with a more sedate effort than last week and Robin Drewett was second chap back whilst interval training and goose spotting.

 

Tony May took the highest climber gong with a 308ft climb as part of a 4.55 mile run and Rowena was yet again on fire with another treadmill PB this week – we have loved seeing your progress over the months so a super big well done to you!

Our very own parkrun Ambassador Mark Williamson was confined to the garden to earn his virtual badge and don’t worry – Briar Morris and Dexter put in a good show this week too!

Lynn and Pepper are still recovering gently and Nigel Lane has also been on the injury bench – hope they both continue to improve and we hope to see them up on the leaderboard again soon.

Well done every one of the 15 who submitted times to us this week. I know we probably say it every week, but we do love to see where you have been and we especially love seeing your pictures.

Catherine Finlay was cow spotting on her run this week 

Please remember to share your hints and tips on good routes for the Christmas lights and give those that you know run on a regular basis a nudge to submit their times as well and stoke up some gentle competition. All times are gratefully received and we look forward to welcoming you all again next week.

Thank you and stay safe.