Chris I-W - New Forest Mara - link to photos!

New Forest Marathon 4:01:38 - Cris Iles-Wright - Feeling great!

Photos on 'Sponsored Marathon' thread of 'Vegan Fitness'
HERE

"Max" Newton writes: of Robin Hood Mara

There was another Vegan Runner wearing the vest who finished ahead of me. I can't remember his name – he was from Luton and did 2.54 ish. When I was nearing the finish line the bloke on the tannoy said: "Here's Matthew Newton… another Vegan Runner… well… that's interesting…" as if to say: "ooh, maybe veganism is the way ahead for marathon runners"!

Manches Moor Park 10k

Laurence "riffraff" Klein reports:
Another result to report: on 21st September I ran in the Manches Moor
Park 10k on a gloriously warm, sunny afternoon. The race started and
finished with circuits of Merchant Taylor's School's rather nice
playing fields, and then over the very exclusive Moor Park golf club
where they wouldn't normally let riffraff like me cross the threshold.
I said over the golf course as the second quarter of the race was a
long hard climb up a hill. I'm sure there would've been nice views at
the top but by then I was in no condition to see beyond the end of my
trainers. Then it was down the other side and along some very pleasant
traffic-free roads and back to the school. Despite the hill, it was
another PB for me of 53:31.

Sid medals against the men in uniform in lovely Lübeck

Yesterday Saturday 20th September saw the running of the 7th Lübeck
Firebrigade 10k right on my doorstep where I am staying in Travemunde.
As the start line was just a couple of hundred meters from my
accomodation I had to take part.
Primarily for fireman , police and other such professions it is also
an open event. The start line was the extended ladder of the fire
engine. There were firemen from all over north Germany there including
Berlin. The first kilometer along the seafront promenade , the next 4
through woodland but maintaining a view over the bay of Lübeck.
Turning at 5k and back again. Trying my usual tactic of 4 minutes per
kilometer was slowed by undulations and finished in 41mins 18secs.The
goody bag was 2 running magazines , a roundthe neck key holder, a t
shirt, three boxes of x8 museili bars and a cigarette lighter? I was
awarded a medal for 2nd in age group 12seconds behind 1st in age
group. Overall 18th.

Headington 10K - 31 Aug 08

Less than half the distance cycling and running as compared to Burnham Beeches two weekes earlier it should not be difficult I thought. Firstly I had to reach Bicester about 25 miles away by coach so had to take the fold-up bike. It was a surprisingly foggy morning. There followed an 11 mile ride according to the sign-posts. Most of the ride was on the back roads which were surprisingly smooth. The venue was a disused airfield at Worminghall, several miles from Oxford or Headington. The organising club made every effort to provide the facilities. Obviously with the airfield, there was almost limitless parking. There were various marquees and even small tents for changing. The vegan company TREK were there giving out samples of their energy bars but I resisted until after the race. I soon met member Sharon Davidson who was parked nearby and had encouraged her parents and colleagues from work to run. The fog had cleared before the start but heavy rain was forecast.

The 10K race was partly inside the airfield and on the public road around the outside. There did not appear to be much competition to get a good place close to the start line so I found myself rubbing shoulders with whom I presumed were fast runners. With a flat course and fairly wide start, I got a good start. After about 1.5K we did a U-turn and could see everyone behind as well as ahead. We turned right onto the public road after 2+K and left. A few spots of rain started falling which gradually became more persistent. I was going well on the flat course not appearing to be affected by the earlier cycle ride. Entering the airfield again at 7K, it was rather bumpy under foot with the airfield breaking up.

The long straight & flat runway helped to maintain a steady pace which I increased towards the end. The rain had unfortunately become heavy and had difficult keeping my glasses in place. I crossed the line in 41.33, one of my better times. Quickly took shelter in the small changing tent which did not have a base. Two older runners joined me and they turned out to be two elite V60s who ran times of 37 minutes! Sharon could not see the clock due to the rain but thought it was 47+ mins but it turned out to be 46.58, a PB of 1-2 minutes if correct!

The rain had mostly cleared by the time I left.

Regards
Peter Simpson

Burnham Beeches Half Marathon - 17 Aug 08

With the venue at the southern end of Buckinghamshire and me located at the northern end or Milton Keynes to be precise, there was no direct public transport available. Rather than having to start my journey on a coach at 550am for the short journey to Leighton Buzzard, it was more convenient to cycle from home at 6.30am to Aylesbury, a distance of about 20 miles where I would take the train to Beaconsfield followed by a further 6 miles to the venue. Would I hit the wall during the latter part of the half marathon? I arrived with about 30 mins to go.

Immediately starting the event I was feeling tired and was fearing the worst but the 2-lap course was fairly flat for the first 4-5 miles. With a large field I was soon able to put my aches to the back of my mind and was even overtaking runners. The last two miles of each lap are tough with a number of climbs. I was expecting to hit the wall in the last few miles especially with the hills towards the end but surprisingly it never happened. The training over the past month had obviously come to my aid. Entering the school again where we started, there was a long run around the perimeter. When the clock came into view I was again surprised to see it approaching 1.37. My chip time turned out to be 1.36.42!

Laurence Klein was also running and finished in 2.05, a good time for Laurence.

After a long break and seeing the last runner finish in an almost deserted school I decided to cycle around the Burnham Beeches again as a reminder before heading back to Beaconsfield and the tiring journey home.

Regards
Peter Simpson

Bristol Half

Jenny Dunleavy got a personal best of 1:58:15 in the Bristol half marathon, knocking 13 minutes off her last effort.
She says,
It's also the first time I've acheived a sub 2 hrs so I'm very pleased. It was very hot on the day despite the weeks leading up to it being mostly torrential rain! I got lots of encouragement from the crowd, and a few confused comments too!
Isabel Hoskin made Bristol her first half marathon, and Barny Wreyford zipped round in 1h40.

Kiel laufen

Sid ran the 1/4 marathon in Kiel last Sunday...
A 2 hour train journey to get to starting line of Kiel Germany 1/4 marathon (10.5 k), with over 2000 runners there were  no sectioned time zones at start , only for main event the 1/2 marathon which saw a further 2000+ runners take part, so bit chaotic for first few hundred meters. Managed to better my time from last year by 21 seconds. First 4k along the harbour/riverside, then some hills between 4.5 and 6. Bands playing on route. This event takes over the city for the day. Big adverts on the side of buses for it and around the town. Many local companies having teams running in company/shop t shirts, everyone running gets a real wick running Tshirt, you also get a a certificate on shiny paper with your name on giving your time ,age group position and overall position. Starting and finishing in the Townhall square, where there is a tent city set up for the day, Bioland providing vegan food. When running in Germany town centre events be prepared to be running over cobblestone sections for some of the route.[OUCH! Ed] First 9 runners home in 1/2 marathon were Kenyans (they must be vegan).

Mablethorpe Photos

Before...

and after

- photos courtesy Mick Morgan (who appears in both)

Marathon season starts with a bang

This Sunday (14th September) saw several VRUK members make a tremendous start to the autumn marathon season. At Nottingham, Ed Banks came in 25th and Matthew Newton 30th, both sub-3hours, while in Mablethorpe, Stewie Boulton knocked forty (40) minutes off this spring's London time to gain a comfortably sub-4 finish, a few minutes behind Mick Morgan who came in 18th MVET

Well done guys: how do you do it?

Running 155 miles for VRUK in Greece - 26/27 Sep08

Hi Everyone,

Demetrios has been a VRUK member for a few years and has been associated with an ultra-distance event, the Spartathlon for several years. We have been sent a message from partner & member Helen Easton.

Dear Peter,
Hope you are well. I wanted to contact you to inform you that on the 26th and 27th September Demetrios (Mitso) Kehayioglou will be runnning the gruelling ultra-distance race, Spartathlon, 155 miles (not a typo but ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY-FIVE MILES) from Athens to Sparta (he will be wearing his Vegan Runners vest). He thought it would be a fantastic way to raise money for Sea Shepherd who actively campaign to stop the marine hunters. For more information visit
www.seashepherd.org.





Kind regards,
Helen Easton

Max Newton in the Robin Hood Marathon - 14 Sep08

Hi Everyone,

You may like to consider sponsoring our member after reading the message below:

Dear Uncaged Supporter

Sick of admiring marathon runners, yet hating seeing them raise funds for animal testing charities? Wish someone would run for animal rights?

Well, Uncaged Campaigns Coordinator, Max Newton (35), will be attempting to run all 26 1/4 miles of the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham for the 1st time ever on Sunday 14th September 2008 - and he's raising funds for our exciting new Boycott Herbal Essences campaign!

Please sponsor Max - the more funds he can raise through this feat of endurance, the more resources we can use to prevent yet more animals being forced to endure pain, suffering and death in cruel & unnecessary tests for Herbal Essences shampoos. We have lots more of our highly successful city centre events planned across the UK, and exciting new campaign tactics in the pipeline - but they all need funding! See: www.hurtfulessences.org for more about the campaign.

You can sponsor Max, securely, online at: Uncaged/

In addition, we now have Boycott Herbal Essences leaflets for door-to-door delivery drops - drop us a line if you can distribute some in your area.

Become a fan of our Facebook page: Hurtful-Essences

Please feel free to cross-post.

Many thanks in advance for your support!

Yours for animals' rights
Dr. Dan Lyons
Uncaged
5th Floor, Alliance House
9 Leopold Street
Sheffield S1 2GY
England
(44) (0)114 2722220
www.uncaged.co.uk

A tale of Two 10ks

It has been pretty quite of late - but then the summer is never thick with races. People are on holiday, and in the olden days (e.g. 2006) the weather used to be too hot to run very fast (Messrs Wanjiru & Gharib excepted).
However last Sunday Peter Simpson and Sharon Davidson ran the Headington 10k (which is, in fact, not in Headington, or even in Oxfordshire, but over the border in Worminghall, Bucks). Sharon is continuing her run of ever decreasing times and came in at under 47 minutes.
In contrast to the flat, uncluttered and rural delights of Worminghall, Laurence Klein braved the crowds in Wembley for the Nike+ 10k, though it sounds as though he'd rather have been out in the country too! "...unfortunately not in the VRUK vest as we were compelled to wear Nike's own shirt, provided for the race. Only went in for this as I got free entry (rather than £30) as I live locally - really not my cup of tea with an horrendously loud 'concert' in the stadium first and lots of hanging around, though did get to see Seb Coe and Paula Radcliffe in the flesh."
But he still did a PB, "despite the crowds, bunching and crazy sharp turns."