The Leeds Half Marathon has become somewhat of an annual affair in the LUUCCC calendar, with those less engaged with the track season stretching their endurance capacities to the 13.1 mile distance.

The 2012 edition of this race, now run as part of the Jane Tomlinson Run For All series, took place on Sunday 13^th May. Mercifully, the rain that had plagued the beginning of May held off, and runners were treated to bright, fresh conditions, ideal for the distance if a little breezy at the beginning.

Many Leeds University runners tackled the course this year, with its notorious hills on Stonegate Road and the ring road ‘sorting the men from the boys’. However, after a winter training on Bodington hills, LUUCCC runners were not fazed by the formidable inclines – these ones didn’t have knee-deep mud to wade through!

There were mixed outcomes for LUUCCC runners. The course can be a cruel mistress, and many felt the effects of the over-crowded start and over-keen early pacing later in the race. Equally, there was much success for the club, with brave and loyal 2011/12 captain Freddie Slemeck placing 3^rd overall with a stellar time of 1.15.15 despite this being his fourth race in 8 days! Chris Smith continued this great LUUCCC showing with a well-executed fifth-place finish.

It was also a good day for Doss AC. Emily Birchall won the women’s race in 1.22.57, while James Gardner clocked a PB of 1.21.19 and Nikki  Sweeney another of 1.32.16. James and Nikki completed the race as part of their ‘12 Half-Marathons in 12 Months’ challenge to raise money for Cancer Research.

Many LUUCCC did the race as their first half marathon, and special mention must go to Becky Hilton and Kerry Granger, who are members of LUUCCC’s beginner section Run Leeds Students, for completing the course in less than 2 hours.

NB apologies if I missed anyone out of the results, the site isn’t organised in a way that’s useful to find people!

It’s the introduction to my latest race report.

Written as a short interview with yourself?

Yes.

That’s brave and unusual. Why?

Well, questions and answers are my bread and butter; my meat and drink; my sausage, beans and chips. I’m an accomplished journalist. Interviewing is what I do.12

What do you want this report to say?

I want to provide an entertaining3 and accurate4 race report that gives a fair representation of how saturday’s race went.

So what can people expect from the article?

They can expect quality throughout and excellence in places. This article is a serious, thoughtful and grammatically sound body of work, a welcome antidote to the kind of crank ‘em out, pile ‘em high shit-lit that passes for most modern race reports.5

Is there anything in the report that breaks the mould?

Yes, a soundtrack. I spent 3 consecutive days with my ‘iPod’ creating a list of songs that would provide the perfect mood music the accompany this race report.

My publishers at Leeds University Union said this wasn’t necessary. In fact they told me specifically not to bother, as they weren’t willing to pay for the production or dispatch of a CD and certainly weren’t going to seek clearance, or pay royalties to the artists I’d chosen.

But they can’t stop me providing you, the reader, with a list of songs plus directions as to where in the report they should be played. (Tracklist can be seen in footnotes). My instructions can be found within the text. Please note: the soundtrack is mandatory.

And have you been honest?

Searingly honest. Brutally honest. Painfully honest. Needlessly honest. Distressingly honest. Leeds University Union asked for full disclosure and that’s what I delivered. I’ve opened myself up (not literally), put my balls on the line (not literally) and written it all down (literally).

Having read previous reports, I see you’ve had your fair share of run-ins. Indeed Freddie Slemeck’s slating of your third article seem particularly sickening. Do you agree with those people who say that he’s proven himself to be a particularly scummy human being?

Fred (Chuckles) In all honesty? I don’t give the incident a second thought. I just let bygones be bygones.

And what about Luke Buswell’s driving which almost killed you and three other passengers?

Look. Buswell did what he did. I’m fairly Zen about the whole episode.

Given the success of previous articles 6, there will be pretty loud clamour for a follow up. Are you ready for that? 

I take whatever comes my way. I roll with the punches and ride the tsunami of life.

What do you have to say to people who claim there is some false information in you reports?

They’re incredibly sick, vindictive human beings

Does the report have an ISBN number?

Of course not, it’s not a book7

Thanks Thomas. It’s been a pleasure

Goodbye and God Bless

Brownlee brothers dispatch everyone at Varsity (but to be honest they’re both world champions so it’s socially acceptable for this to occur)

So this time of the year was reached again, the time of the all important varsity match in which the BUCS trials were handily co-ordinated. A saturday morining marked the time and date of the match in conditions that made you go “Brrrrrr” 8(the sort of Brrrrr you do when it’s cold). The course was set up the same as the Leeds Relays event that had occurred just one month previously, but instead of 1 lap of the 2 mile course to be completed the Men had to complete 3 laps and the women 2.

In the pre-race hype9 there was some seriously heavy mental tactics going on between the met and uni. So much so in that captain Freddie Slemeck refused to wear his characteristic England shorts as he claimed “there are people far better internationals than me here”. He soon saw his error though, as although he was easily good enough Tom Powell was not competing this weekend after being caught up in a competition with Alex Bellew for who could be the most injured.

Lap 1

The race commenced at 2.30, with some high expectations for the spectators to watch both Brownlee brothers battle it out for Varsity glory. The race set off at a brisk pace with both Brownlee brothers breaking off from the pack within a few minutes along with Dan Garbutt from Durham harriers, but it was not long before it was a two horse race. Further back in the field Freddie Slemeck led the chase for the university, with Ben Marriot and Jacob Clarke working together for much of the first lap. Next was Josh Stone and Elliot Jackson with a bit of a gap to Luke Buswell.

In the women’s race, Non Stanford (well thats what the results say, but I’m not really sure if that is her actual name, but who knows in this day and age you get some weird names floating about) just dominated with an exellent first lap, followed by Emma Clayton. Heading up the charge for the uni were Jocelyn Payne and Lucy Crookes battling it out not far behind.

Lap 2

Johnathan Brownlee decided to take the lead over his older brother in the next lap in a desperaste bid to take the finish out of him. Obviously they’re both outstanding athletes but if I was to make a few minor criticisms it would have been that Alistair’s style isn’t aesthetically pleasing  with a very upright action. Also I would have like to have seen the two brothers running side by side more rather than Alistair sticking in Johnny’s slipstream into the wind. Slemeck maintained his position this lap in about 10^th place with Ben Marriot moving through the field. Also at the start of the lap Luke Buswell made significant inroads, floating10 through the field like a piece of iron in the blood, which is ironic as that’s exactly what he doesn’t have. Rowan Temple maintained his long loping stride running a good race and the girls who were spectating were worshipping a certain Shan Prashan who looked super-cool in his shades and cap.

In the girls a fight was definitely going on between Crooks and Payne, who were fighting for top dog in the uni girl’s with the ever present Mary Ferrier looking ominous in the background. Payne ended up winning this fight to finish in a credible 8^th spot after someone shouted “A boards flying towards you”, 1with Crookes in 9^th and Mary in 12^th. Anne Buckley was next to finish in 16^th just behind Sarah Grham .Anne-Marie Moore had another good run coming in in 17^thposition and Charlotte Whorton in 18^th. Amicia Lee was 19^th but didn’t pull out her best performance but showed great character to finish after a ankle injury. But ultimately it was the uni’s strength and depth that won the match with Holly Blair in 20^th, Hannah Kraus 21^st, Bethan Hammond 22nd, Keeley Fairbrass 23^rd. Rachel Friend (Fwend! Lol) 24^th and Lucy Latham 25^th. Great runs girl,s and a show in depth that has not been seen for a many a year! It is this sort of effort that makes LUUCCC such a fantastic club.

Lap 3

En el lapo ultimate Johnny was still taking it out putting a lot of pressure on the yorkshire champion11 (he’s also world champion, but thats not as impressive)12 Freddie Slemeck was moving through the field, but not as much as Ben Marriot who ran a heroic last lap to place himself firmly in the BUCS A team. Josh Stone also ran a strong last lap to close down Jacob Clarke only to finish just behind him.

With a few hundred metres to go Alistair kicked ahead of his younger brother to win the race13. In third place was Dan Gurbett. First from uni was still Slemeck in 7^th who managed to catch up John Wills and keep ahead of him on a finish (good race mate) and Ben Marriot was only ten seconds behind in 29.41 – Ben, the newly crowned Northern U-20 3000m champion, was definitely the surprise package of the day. Jacob Clarke and Josh Stone were 15^th and 16^th respectively, before a gap to the next lot of uni athletes. Elliot Jackson still ran despite catching anemia from Luke Buswell and finished a credible 20^th after a 10k run over christmas which apparently was meant to be atrocious (this was on the grapevine so may not be true), just ahead of Adam “Gricey” Grice in 21^st. Luke Buswell unfortunately faded, but still did well to finish 23^rd, especially considering he has now also developed asthma to go along with his anemia. Super-cool Shan was next in 30^th with Tom Heaword running the 2^nd worst race in history (the first occurred in the Dominican republic in 1842)14. Will Webster ran well in 25^th as did Dan Frost in 38^th, just ahead of David Gaynor in 36.39. Also Rowan Temple was 40^th and Ashley Bailey 41^st.

In a post race interview with both the Brownlees both of them commented on how much they enjoyed the race and said that this was the biggest race of the year for them so much so that they “trained there on saturdays in preparation for it”. Alistair said “I knew i’ve got a better finish than Johnny so I stuck on him until the last bend”. Alistair’s next aim is to finish in the top 3 in the Northern championships next week.

So Thomas another impressive race report?

Cheers

Are you going to write an outro in the style you wrote the intro?

No, it’s taken me 50 mins to write (inluding tea break) and is already too long. The reader is probably bored rigid.

CREATE instant designer stubble by sucking a magnet and dipping your chin into a bowl of iron filings.

Footnotes

1 See previous race reports for some prior interviews if you are interested.

2 This is a footnote, by the way. I’ll be using these to pepper and garnish the article, so keep an eye out for them. Or as I say: If you see a number look down under! Which either rhymes or nearly rhymes

3  To a greater extent

4  To a lesser extent

5 See last years race reports for examples. LOL

6  And undoubted success of this one

7 On the subject of a book, I am currently in intensive talks with the publishers HarperCollins in an effort to write an autobiography and use my race reports to bulk out the book.

8  Press play on track 1 “Baby it’s cold outside” by Tom Jones

9 Press play on trsack 2 “The final countdown” by Europe

10 Press play on track 3 “Walking in the air” by Aled Jones

11  Press play on track 4 “Football in a Yorkshire Rose” from the Album ‘Leeds Uniteds greatest hits’ or alternatively play “Ilkley Moore Bahtat”

12  After writing that I realise there was another champion in the race, so I really need to add winning the Yorkshire Fell championships junior race is in no way the same as winning the world championships.

13 Press play on track 5 “We are the champions” by Queen

14  Press play on track 6 “The laughing policeman”

Race report to follow!

The event will also count as the trial race for Men’s A team, so men if you are harbouring aspirations of being in the A team you must run.

Unlike BUCS, there are no extortionate fees involved, the event is being held at Bod, so unless you are feeling very extravagant no need to book accommodation, and entry is free (a donation the Donkey Sanctuary would be very appreciated).

The course lap will be a slightly shortened Leeds Relay lap as used in West Yorkshire League races and 2 previous BUCS champs. There will be a (2 lap) 5.4km women’s race and a (3 lap) 8.1km men’s race starting together at 10.30am

Guest runners from other unis and clubs or anywhere are very welcome.

Entry is on the day and free but a small donation at the registration desk to a nominated local charity would be appreciated.

Registration, home made cakes stall, changing and parking facilities will be available at Bodington Pavilion LS16 5PT

For any further details please contact me: g.d.hull@leeds.ac.uk

It would be helpful if you wish to run if you could email Greg so race numbers can be set aside in advance or confirm your attendence on the event Facebook page

In advance I’d like to apologise to people I haven’t mentioned this article but with so many people running I would be typing for a long time to mention everyone.

This Saturday marked the Leeds University relays in which the Uni and Doss alike provided a great end to the year for the cross-country team. The weekend was made more eventful when Steve Cram graced the relays with his presence. For those of you who missed him he spent most of the morning talking to George Ghandi (the coach of Sebastian Coe), their was clear friction between the two as Ghandi is one of the main reasons why Cram never won an Olympic gold. As if to rub salt into the wound of not winning the Olympics, one man went over to Cram to taunt him about it, but unfortunately went below the belt by even shouting at him “You never won park run, you never won park run” – disgraceful behaviour Greg Hull.

The women’s race commenced at 2.00 with some great expectations for the uni on their home soil. The uni A team was made up by three quality athletes with all three running within 14 seconds of each other. First off was Lucy Crookes who came in in 13^th position (12.34), passing on to Rebecca Middleton who gained a phenomenal 8 positions with a time of 12.33. The team was brought home by Jocelyn Payne in 12.20 to make the team finish in 6^th place. The team put down their success down to some advice given to them by Greg Hull (what a day he had) “Shoes last twice as long if only worn every other day”

The women’s B team consisted of Amicia Lee who built on her PECO league success to finish 23^rd in 13.14. She passed on to veteran Anne-Marie who gained three positions to finish in 14.08. The final leg was Beth Chasty who gained a further three positions to get the team to finish 17^th in a time of 13.22.

The mens race started at 2.30 with some high expectations before the race to see how the university team could compete against not only other uni’s but the highly coveted team Powell. The A team got off to a flying start thanks to Elliot Jackson who came home in a frighteningly good 10.24. Jackson put his performance down to some stunning advice from his father as a lad “EMPLOYEES: Only use the loo at work. Not only will you save money on toilet paper, but you’ll also be getting paid” But the real battle was between B team, C team and Team Powell. Matt Crehan from the B team set off with a characteristic aggressive start but was gradually hunted down by C team member Chris Smith and Team Powell member Tom Powell. With 500m to go Smith powered ahead of both athletes to finish in 10.56, with Crehan holding off Powell with a strong last few hundred metres in 11.03 and Tom Powell in 11.07.

In the second legs Elliot Jackson passed on to ex-England international Freddie Slemeck (I say ex as he does not deserve to be picked for England on current form) to finish in a mediocre 10.42. Chris Smith successfully relayed on to Alex Jeffries who built on his victory from the curly wurly relays midweek to finish in 11.39. In the B team Matt Crehan passed on to Alex Bellew who provided a 10.57 leg. Th B team held their lead over Team Powell with Richard Powell running exactly the same time as Bellew, with both runners being trapped in a cat and mouse game against each other.

The third leg for the A team was provided by Jacob Clarke in 10.35 gaining three position to bring the uni up to a incredible 4^th place. With the B team comfortably higher placed than the C team it was up to Ben Marriot to pull out the goods – and my goodness he did it with a great leg of 10.46. Luke Buswell ran a slightly disappointing 11.12. However the guys had problems with his blood so I won’t dig into him so much, due to this problem Luke should probably stay away from driving for the next 100 years.

The fourth final leg for the A team came in yet another sub 11 minute rung with Josh Stone providing the time in 10.57 to bring the team home in 6^th. With only a few seconds between the B and C team it was set for a stunning race between Callum Greenwood and Tom Heaword. Tom provided a great run in 11.16 of which he was very pleased, I was also very pleased as he was just behind my time and he was my aim to beat this weekend. Callum was disappointed to only run 11.32, however he’s a fresher and has spent a lot of time visiting various psychologists after being involved in Buswell’s driving. Due to both these performances the C team controversially beat the B team, which made Chris Smith happier than a tornado in a theme park. The C team was 15^th and the B 16^th.

Overall a fantastic day out for the cross country team. Committee member Philip Chambers said “An amazing race today and cheers to Mick Hill for helping with the mad rush of organising closer to the race than ideally wanted. Unfortunately we missed regular competitor John Cocker who seldom misses a training session, never mind a race”

It is also worth noting some of the beer racing, in teams of 4 some teams managed epic 35 seconds downing times. However the real beer downing mention is still Rob Johnson who maintained his ability to be the only man who times his beer downing speed with a calendar. It is worth noting that if a team of Rob Johnsons attempted to down 4 pints they would finish next Thursday between 3.15pm and 3.45pm.

As its got to the end of the year I thought I’d reward my loyal readers with an official top 10 performance list from the Doss this year. I’d also like to thank Alex Bellew for his invaluable input to this article and should be credited as a co-writer. As a seasoned journalist I feel he has a exiting future of sports journalism ahead of him.

Top 10 races

10) Matthew Lockyer – Edinburgh – A scintillating run from the Pudsey man saw him place 13^th in a strong field. Although only the 3^rd counter for the Doss that race he deserves a mention due to the hideous facial hair he was sporting that day which must have delivered so much wind resistance/ extra weight its a surprise he finished at all. Narrowly beat Hannah Gornall on this list who equally surprised people at Edinburgh by finishing, however it was not facial hair that slowed her down – it was the presence of her passport!

9) Luke Buswell – Wednesday run – In a gentle Wednesday run, Luke Buswell allegedly opened a gap to the rest of the group on a downhill section by 400m. An unexpected move clearly caught his co-runners off guard as he ended up winning Wednesday run by an unprecedented margin of victory. Buswell clearly brought his A game to the run and has inspired a new generation of athletes with his cunning tactics.

8)Richard/ Robert Powell – Leeds relays – A controversial choice considering neither of these two runners are affiliated with thee university, however two outstanding runs non-the-less. Richard provided a stunning second leg for “Team Powell” – a run which Alex Bellew ended up calling him a “little bastard” for causing a closely run contest between the two. Robert Powell also impressed by finishing around a minute behind both brothers when during the summer would have probably finished a minute behind over 400m (true story).

7) Alex Jeffries – Curly wurly relays – Although in a team with Tom Powell to convincingly win the prime relay event of the year it was Jeffries who ran the longer leg and despite looking absolutely knackered towards the end he managed to hold off Freddie Slemeck in a professional manner.

6)Chris Smith/Mr. Alzheimers – Manchester relays – Smith finished the race in a great time, which cemented his place as one of the universities top runners. Though it is not for his athletic skillage that he is included in this list, it is the fact he managed to pull out this superb run despite being subjected to the horrors of Buswell’s driving/ crashing – an incident that has left him scarred for life. Alzheimers said “When I die I want to go like my grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep – not screaming, like the passengers in his car”

5)Alex Bellew – Edinburgh – A great run from the co-editor of this article, it was immediately decided that this run was worth a mention in the top ten list in a performance that left Bellew so happy he decided to pull out his ‘joy stick’ – then again he does that regardless of how he runs. What is he like!

4) Frederick Slemeck – Slovenia – in his international début in Slovenia captain Slemeck (propelled by new shorts) finished an outstanding position in his first international meet. Slemeck put his performance down to advice given to him from a certain Gregory hull prior to the race “GAMBLERS: For a new gambling opportunity, try sending £50 to yourself by Royal Mail”

3)Jocelyn Payne – Marathon – A stunning performance that deservedly sneaks ahead of Slemecks England Call and also caused her to become the highest ranked U-23 in the UK marathon ratings. Coach Greg Hull quoted “She’s a gal who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is”

2)James Walsh – European cross – An decent run caused the Leeds city man to finish 15^th in the Europeans. Its a slightly tainted victory however, imagine how good he could have been if he took up my offer of coaching him. He obviously didn’t see the massive improvement of Jonathan Brownlee after I took over as lead coach.

1)Tom Powell – Parkrun – In the biggest race of the year an outstanding athlete won an outstanding race. Undoubtedly the best performance by any athlete in the club. Tom’s performance can be summed up in two words “Absolutely flipping brilliant”

Men

Ladies

As Martin Luther King once said “I have a dream”, Tom Powell’s dream was to complete a race without running akin to Buswell’s driving (shambolically for those that haven’t heard), a feat which he has not accomplished since BUCS last February.

His day got off to a great start when Powell woke up, still feeling slightly jaded from loosing his Fruity virginity, was ready to try and regain some of the form that caused him to win Stockport Park run and Manchester Park run within the space of a month! He was saved from walking the short distance to the race start (approx. 10 miles) by club veteran Jocelyn Payne who very kindly offered to give Powell, together with Alex Jeffreys and Amicia Lee, a lift. The team prepared themselves for the race by listening to the Beatles’ Red Album. Powell and Payne were the John and Paul of the group by dominating the vocals and singing really loudly for a lot of the journey, Amicia did very well by occasionally contributing to form some stunning 3 part tight harmonies to “Ticket to ride”. Alex was clearly the Ringo of the group by not contributing to the music at all. Payne did the expert job of keeping her three passengers with high levels of adrenaline for the race by going through a red light and almost ‘doing a Buswell’.

At the actual race (what these reports are meant to be about) the start got under-way with a very large field of several hundred runners with all four runners from the university executing clinical starts despite the course being designed so that the runners had to cut through a gap in a hedge about 90 seconds into the race which caused some severe waiting for some of the runners in the bulk of the field. However overall it was a pretty decent course with some long stretching hills, the up hills inconveniently made much harder by a viscous wind smashing into your face. After settling into the race Powell was in the top 20 and gradually moved himself into the top 10 throughout the race however his lack of mileage started to show in the last few minutes and lost several places to finish 13^th. Jeffreys ran an aggressive race from the gun, causing Powell to get very nervous and hot under the collar as there was not a lot between the two athletes for the first 10 minutes, to finish a great 26^th.Jocelyn Payne continued her form which made her the highest ranked marathon runner in the country for an U-23 by finishing 2^nd in a race much shorter than her preferred distance. Amicia Lee finished a fantastic 14th place and amusingly remarked “Avoid jet lag by simply taking an earlier flight, thus arriving fully refreshed and on time”

In post-race analysis with ex-race captain with Alex Bellew, Bellew commented on the obvious strength of the field otherwise Powell would have inevitably finished in the top 10. In fact rumour has it that the PECO league will serve as the selection criteria for the UK cross country team this winter, rather than the traditional UK cross challenge. Bellew also commented on Amicia Lee’s comment, claiming it was a rubbish tip saying “Single Men: Convince people you have a girlfriend by standing outside Topshop with bags of shopping, looking at your watch and occasionally glancing inside – now that is a proper tip”

Free race entry for all current Leeds Uni XC member, and of course there will be the usual post race shenanigans.

MAKE SURE YOU DON’T BOOK YOUR TICKET HOME UNTIL SUNDAY AT THE EARLIEST (big hangovers are expected so better make it Monday)

This weekend proved to be a successful one, in what has proved to be a fruitful season so far for LUUCCC. A sunny saturday afternoon marked the Braids Hill fell race in Edinburgh which consisted of a 3 mile loop which involved running up to a summit via testing climbs and then back down the other side of the hill in a series of tricky descents. The women’s race was to complete one of these laps while the men’s was to complete two.

The women’s race started at 2.00 sharp with some great talent from the Doss on show. The race was won by Clare Ward of Edinburgh University in a stunning 18 minutes 34 seconds however Edinburgh weren’t going to have it all there own way with Dosser Emma Raven close behind in 3^rd (18.53). Mary Ferrier also impressed in her first race of the year to finish a great 17^th (20.12). Caroline Ford also demonstrated her form with a great follow up from her heroics in the Manchester relays finishing 29^th (20.55). Next to count was Rebecca Jameson (22.09), followed by Lucy Gemmel 58^th (23.04). Coincidentally Gemmel had many highlights this weekend including taking a pedalo (yes you heard correctly, a pedalo) with men’s race captain Elliot Jackson, and also going slightly mental in Starbucks after sighting someone from ‘Made in Chelsea’. There was also a highly intense battle for 62^nd spot between Frances Carney and Amicia Lee who came in 62^nd and 63^rd respectively. During the race many spectators thought Lee would win the fight as Carney looked tired from the excess weight of carrying her passport. The team was made up by Fiona Wiles who finished in 67^th (24.14), Jessica White 71st (24.34), Hannah Gornall 189^th (24.40), Beth Ferrier 81^st (25.05) just ahead of Laura Severinsen 82^nd (25.06) and Beth Martin 99^th (27.49)

The men’s race commenced at 2.30, with high expectations on the Doss after some stunning individual performances this year so far including Freddie Slemeck’s international debut in Slovenia (Yes that’s correct he did actually run for England, those shorts aren’t just stolen from a regular international), with 4 people to count per team. The race up to the summit for the first time showed some stunning ascending from Elliot Jackson and Matt Lockyer who both leading the race closely followed by Slemeck (in his signature shorts) and Alex Bellew. The overall winner was Niall Sheehan of Lasswade AC with 32 minutes 35 seconds, with the main challenge from the Doss coming from Alex Bellew in 4^th (33.35). Allegedly Bellew only ran faster so he could get in the showers straight away and hence would have to wait less time to strip off, one of Bellews favourite pastimes. Next from Doss was Freddie Slemeck in 5^th a solid 23 seconds behind Bellew with a run in which he said “I couldn’t have done any more” which involoved a superb sprint finish at the end. The team was made up by Matt Lockyer who gave another usefull run in 13^th (34.31) despite massive wind resistance on his newly formed facial hair and Elliot Jackson who’s self confessed lack of endurance caused him to fade to finish 18^th (35.35). This caused the team to finish a brilliant 2^nd place overall just behind Edinburgh University. There was also great runs from James Raven in 22^nd (35.53), man-mountain Jack Wood in 27^th (36.22) who was my individual athlete of the weekend, and Luke Buswell in 42^nd (37.04) who expertly disguised the fact he was on steroids by running a little bit slower than normal. Tom Heawood finished a respectable 58^th (38.06), whilst listening to remixes of Jingle Bells and the Mariah Carey classic “All I want for Christmas is you” in-between getting into fights and losing piercings from his ear. Other runs worth a mention were Dave Burtles 78^th (39.34), , Alex Jeffreys 102^nd (41.05) who closely contested with Shane Adams who came 107^th (41.16), John Derrick 139^th (43.00), Thomas Canaway in 180^th (46.52) and Adam Kirk 203^rd (53.03). Despite their being several bets on Tom Powell to reach the summit first he unfortunately ran like a little girl due to injury and had to drop out. His luck however improved throughout the day as he impressed on the dance floor when Flo Riders “Low” was played. He was also saved from being Dick of the day by Rowan Temple who unbelievably dropped out and actually brought his passport on the same day – what a dick/day!

It is also worth noting that if any athlete would have finished in the same time it takes Rob Johnson to down a pint they would have finished 82nd place in a time of 40 minutes 15 seconds.

When asked to comment about the race Men’s Race Captain Elliott Jackson had to say “people whose surname is Toblerone should always take along an empty ‘Toblerone’ chocolate box when attending interviews for office jobs. This would save your potential employer the expense of having to make a name plaque for your desk, and therefore increase your chances of getting the job.” It is highly advised that freshers take note of this advice if they wish to progress as an athlete.

Tom Powell

Press Sec 2011-12

We are going to Edinburgh on the weekend of 11-13 November for a race on Saturday 12th, then staying up for a big social in the evening.

It’s a cracking race, probably the best on our calendar, a 6-mile for men and 3 mile for women trail race at Braids Hill with some lovely views over the city at the summit!

The social consists of food, a ceilidh-style event with lots of dancing, and of course the usual beer racing.

We’ll be leaving Leeds late afternoon on Friday 11th November, racing and going out Saturday, then setting off for home Sunday morning.

Costs for the trip will be £30 including transport, race entry, social ticket and a meal Saturday night. This is an absolute belter of a deal for a top notch weekend.

If you’re interested in coming along or need anymore details, please get in touch with me through email (elliott.jackson@ntlworld.com) or facebook. I need to know by Friday 4th November so we can start booking things up.

Elliott Jackson

Men’s Race Captain

FTB