Another Equinox 24 is over! What a wonderful weekend it was!

Our two all -female LRC teams each completed 16 10k laps over 24 hours (from midday Saturday to midday Sunday) covering 200 miles/320km, and finishing in positions 131/735 and 135/735.

They didn’t quite match the distance covered by the male solo and female winners (21 and 19 laps respectively), but ladies’ captain, Lorraine, completed 4 laps (40k), whilst the other team members achieved their own personal goals by running at least one day and night lap around the beautiful Belvoir Castle Estate.

Look how happy they all are – that’s what running with friends is all about! Great work, Team Lichfield!

Well, what a day it was! The long awaited 25th Lichfield 10k finally took place on September 11th!

Runners may have noticed photographers at the start and finish of the race. These are available for free download here: https://mickhallphotos.thesearchfactory.com/…/lichfield…

We also had club member Richard out on the course with his camera. Richard sent the following message:

Well done to everyone who took part in the Lichfield 10K on September 11th; please find a link to the photos I was taking just over halfway round the course. You guys and gals were awesome – jumping, smiling and waving at the camera!

The link takes you to a group of folders where the photos have been split by predicted finish time, which will hopefully help you find yourself. I won’t have got everyone but tried my best to.

https://drive.google.com/…/1ZzVCrjY93IK…

Massive thanks to Richard for his efforts; also, on behalf of LRC, thanks to John, Louise, the 10k and Fun Run teams and everyone who helped on the day to put on such a great event!

There was a great turnout on August 3^rd at Beacon Park to celebrate the kick off of a home and local Commonwealth Games! Thanks to Ladies’ Captain, Lorraine (and Phil) for organising our fun games night, and the George and Dragon pub for accommodating 30 thirsty runners!

After a two year hiatus, Burton 10k returned; the weather could not have been any different from the 2019 race, which ended in a torrential downpour! This was another BDSL event and although we did not have enough runners to field a full team, those who did pull on their LRC vests did the club proud.

Joe Goodwin finished in in 17th place, in 39.02, taking home the prize for his age group. Owen Davies followed in 44.42 (47th) and Marian Lowther, sole female club representative, came home in 1.05.41.

There were good performances from LRC members Dan Floyd (6th, 36.01) and Matt Orford (19th, 39.15), both running for their first claim clubs on this occasion. Matt had been intending to run the race at marathon pace, but like many others, was affected by the heat.

Well done to all our runners; hopefully we will enjoy some cooler conditions this week

On June 26^th, LRC runners were once again in action, this time at the Gate Gallop 10k, an event (brilliantly) organised by Peel Road Runners in support of St Giles Hospice.

The 10k off road course, starting and finishing at the Anker Valley Sports Ground, provided various challenges to the 200+ participants, including very narrow woodland paths, open fields, undulations and several stiles. It’s not called the Gate Gallop for nothing! (And it’s definitely not a PB course!) Despite the warm and windy conditions, our members put in some excellent performances.

In a highly competitive field, the first club member home was Konrad Wainaina, in 23rd position (42:22); after battling all the way to the line, he finished one second ahead of the first female runner. Following just behind and in quick succession were Gareth Stubbs (43: 03 – 27th) and Owen Davis (44:01 – 33rd); then came Tim Nicholls (46:58 – 51st), Nick Parkes (48:15 – 65th) and Stephen Howard (49:28 – 71st).

First club female was Beckie Head-Stubbs, on her return to racing (58:57 – 123rd). Helen King was next across the line (59:55 – 127th); then Marian Lowther (1:06:26 – 166th) Maria Andritsou (1:12:41 – 187th), Claire Wheat (1:13:12 – 189th) and Ann Schwarzenbach (1:15:11 – 198th) brought the team home.

Sadly the team didn’t take any silverware home this time, but it was great to have so many members out competing and supporting St Giles in the process. We’ll be back next year

On Sunday 19^th June, seven LRC runners took their places among the 1046 entrants in the Derby Ramathon half marathon. The weather conditions were fantastic considering the heat of Friday and the rain on Saturday, so everything was set for a great race. The route was expected to be a fast one as it is relatively flat, however a large stretch of gravel paths put paid to more than a couple of PB attempts.

Leading the team home was Dan Turner with a new PB (beating his Dad’s Half Marathon PB in the process!) Next was Matt Orford who paced Ryan Simms round the course; Ryan managed another amazing time, just short of his sub 80 minute PB. Next was Joe Goodwin, who managed to knock another 10 seconds off his PB! These four runners all finished within 70 seconds of each other.

After a few more minutes had passed, Dave Sanders crossed the line in a 2022 best time, a little slower than he had hoped, but still an improvement over the previous two half marathons this year. Next to cross the line was Konrad Wainaina, who despite forgetting to bring his watch, managed to run just 2 seconds slower than his previous half marathon time. Bringing the team home was James Coombes, on his continuing journey back to full fitness.

Below are the times and placing in full.

Dan Turner 1:20:35 (14th and 4th in category) PB, Matt Orford 1:20:45 (16th and 11th in category), Ryan Simms 1:20:46 (17th and 12th in category), Joe Goodwin 1:21:44 (20th and 2nd in category), PB Dave Sanders 1:26:03 (46th and 8th in category),Konrad Wainaina 1:27:46 (62nd and 42nd in category), James Coombes 1:28:21 (72nd and 45th in category).

Well done to all Lichfield runners on an amazing set of team results!

Sunday 12^th June saw the 6th Grand Prix event of the season at Aldridge: an undulating 10k which tempted 6 LRC runners for GP points. The event, as always, was really well organised – with a fun run, a 5k and a 10k all taking place – billed as a ‘Festival of Running’. For those who have run Aldridge before, disappointingly, the hill for the last mile has survived the pandemic!

Phil Sutcliffe celebrated his return to the country with a 1st place finish in the V55 category Other LRC members who enjoyed the event were John Doyle (36:36), Morgan Bradley (38:53 PB), Stephen Howard (46:49), Alexandria Evans (51:02) and Martin Shortall (55:52). Also congratulations to Dan Floyd (2nd claim member) on his excellent 3rd place finish.

The next Grand Prix is the Burton 10k – 14th August- hope to see lots of members there.

On Sunday 1st May the Uttoxeter Half Marathon, the third race in the BDSL, took place. A small team of three represented LRC for the event, which started and finished at the race course. The course itself took in the surrounding countryside to Marchington and back. The route was a mixture of undulating and very hilly; this included a 14% gradient hill at the halfway mark! Thankfully what goes up must come down, which meant that the final mile of the race was downhill.

First home was Joe Goodwin, who claimed 17th place overall and 1st in his age category, with a chip time of 1:24:30. Next home was Dave Sanders in 25th place, with a chip time of 1:27:05 and completing the LRC team, was Gareth Stubbs in 81st place with a chip time of 1:40:32. Fantastic results all round on a very challenging, but enjoyable hilly course. Well done to Joe, Dave and Gareth!

Barely seven months after the postponed 2020 race, which finally took place in September 2021, the Cathedral to Castle 10 Mile Multi Terrain Run (or ‘Cathedral to Castle’ as it is affectionately known) returned on Sunday 3rd April, an unusually cold spring day. Organised by the local Rotary Clubs, and always popular, the race is a major fundraiser for their charities. As it forms part of the Burton and District Summer League competition, there was good representation from local clubs, including our own LRC.

After local charity fundraiser, ‘Blind Dave’ Healey, started the main race at 8.30, runners completed a circuit of the football pitches, before looping round the Cathedral, exiting Lichfield and heading off towards Whittington. After an off-road section through Hopwas Woods, the final part of the race took runners through the streets of Tamworth to the finish line in the castle grounds.

Our runners pushed hard throughout, recording several PBs over the distance. In a fantastic performance, Ryan Simms came in under an hour, 4th overall, in a time of 59:45, followed by a resurgent Dave Sanders (1:06:17 – 23rd) and rising star Konrad Wainaina (1:06:33 – 26th). James Coombes (1:10:59 -52nd) completed the men’s quartet, who picked up third prize in the team competition for their efforts.

In quick succession followed: Keith Lowther (1:16:21 -109th – PB), Gareth Stubbs (1:17:28 – 121st), Ian Buckner (1:18:29 -146th), Stephen Hughes (1:18:46 (149th) and Paul Keighley (1:20:45 -185th).

Next came first club lady, Alexandria Evans (1:26:23 -283rd), Jo Turrell (1:27:10 -300th), Alan Miles (1:28:44 – 326th), Phil Gillingham (1:31:56 – 381st), Louise Gillingham (1:35:15 (451st), Marian Lowther (1:35:23 – 454th – PB) and Kieren Brown (1:51:13 – 725th).