Around 100 riders from around the region turned out for this event to raise funds for the Demelza Hospice. It was incredibly mild for January but with 4 good climbs (Cudham Climb, Ide Hill, Crockham Hill and Titsey Hill) and a robust wind, the 41 mile route was far from easy.

7 club members turned out and despite everyone saying that they just wanted a steady ride as soon as the starter said go the mood seemed to change. Keith and Jimmy battled it out at the front in a small group of 4 and from their post ride comments over a cup of tea it sounded like their was only one rule “take no prisoners!”

Paula, Lawrence, Mark and I came in some way behind them but all did good times on the tough course.

It was a great event which raised £1,393 towards a very worthwhile charity.

GRIM 2011 Dec 4th

Colin Godwin took part in the Grim Challenge at Aldershot on 4th December here is his report:

The event was well organised, certainly competitive – plus great fun to put a race number on out of season - and at only £27 a well run and worthy charity event. As a challenge it not too scary, over rated on the website, and is really just a very muddy, hilly and wet 9 mile run, in comparison to ToughGuy it’s a breeze! I certainty didn’t trouble the scorers although I beat home the friends who I had entered with so job done on the banter front!

Winning Time 00:52:01

Placed 592 Bib 4167 01:17:22 Colin Goodwin M 45 Tonbridge tri

Finishers 1984

Mince Pie 10 – Sunday 11th December - Seaford

Christine, Keith, Jimmy and Richard turned out for this 10 mile multi terrain even which goes up and over the South Downs twice. While clearly this is not a course for a PB it is not as hard as it sounds and is a very enjoyable run. Fortunately the rain stopped before the race start and the course was not too muddy, a strong wind blew off the sea but this actually helped up the hills. This year saw a record race entry with 327 finishers. Despite the cold windy conditions James Baker of Chichester Runners smashed the course record by nearly 2 minutes completing the course in a fantastic 56:34. Keith fresh from the local cross country championships the previous day led us home with Jimmy not far behind. Despite Christine telling us she has not done a running race for ages she also finished in a very respectable time.

Place Time Name

15 1:08:08 BROWN, Keith

17 1:08:53 GEORGE, Jimmy

47 1:14:54 BUSHELL, Richard

177 1:29:00 Dimech, Christine

Hellrunner - Hell Down South

Tim Scanlan took part in this event on Saturday 26th November and finished a fantastic 101st out of 1639 finishers in a time of 1:23:02. This is an incredibly tough event and it was a great result.

Ballbuster, Saturday 12th November

Jimmy Harness entered one of the toughest events of the year on Saturday the Ballbuster Duathlon at Box Hill. The event website describes the course as follows:

Set in the picturesque setting of the Box Hill National Trust site, the course takes you up and down the undulating hills of the North Downs. The first leg of the duathlon takes you on an 8 mile run. Starting at the summit of Box Hill, you will pass breathtaking views of the great British countryside leading you out towards Headley. You will then loop back round with the course taking you up the challenging ‘zig zag’ road, with its steep gradients and sharp bends this is no picnic!

For the second stage of the duathlon you will hop on your bikes and loop round the course three more times, completing 24 miles on the open road. After racking your bike in transition you have one last push to the end, the final 8 mile leg burning lap.

Anyone who knows Box Hill will know how tough this is.

Jimmy had a great race finishing in 3:18:26 in 83rd place and 15th in his age category. I think that it is very worthy to note that Jimmy was only 1 of 18 people to run the second lap quicker than the first (2 mins 42 secs quicker!)

Poppy Half Marathon, Bexhill, Sunday 13th November

Another excellent result for Keith Brown as he finished in 16th place in a field of over 560. Keith’s completed the course in 1:26:06.