The main event for PWRs for the weekend of February 15/16th, the Kent Fitness League meeting at Meopham, unfortunately had to be cancelled due to our country’s ongoing heavy precipitation. PWR individuals and teams have been going great guns in this our first official year in the competition and it is hoped that this the final round can be rearranged (potentially March 16th).

Alan Niblock and Steve Jeffrey both recorded great times at the Brighton Half Marathon while James Gibson also did as he completed 4 laps around a flat but windy course at Dorney Lake in the Garmin RaceYourPace Half Marathon.

The ongoing absence of the Bromley Park Run saw PWRs take on nine different venues.

Brighton Half Marathon
300 Alan Niblock 1.27.59
648 Steve Jeffrey 1.34.06

Garmin RaceYourPace Half Marathon, Dorney Lake
226 James Gibson 1.48.45

Brockwell Parkrun
42 Stephen FAULKNER 00:21:37

Cambridge Parkrun
4 Brian O'CONNOR 00:18:28

Crystal Palace Parkrun
116 Natalie COMPTON 00:27:46

Dulwich Parkrun
36 Paul LENG 00:20:42
48 Jenny LENG 00:21:54
69 Viral TANNA 00:23:07
114 Jeremy BENSON 00:26:41
142 Helena BROADWAY 00:29:46

Greenwich Parkrun
13 Jonathan BOTTOMER 00:23:44
45 Matt JONES 00:26:51
61 Chris SUMMERS 00:28:51
65 David ALLISON 00:29:12
70 Elizabeth ROMANO 00:29:57

Hilly Fields Parkrun
4 Stephen ROBSON 00:20:51

Mud, glorious mud…
February appears to be following in January’s footsteps in what is turning out to be the wettest winter on record.  Never has so much mud had to be rinsed from our kit, and that’s not including the cross-country mud-fests.  

Marathon training is now well under way for many PWRs, and where the cold, snow and ice added interest and many layers of kit to training runs last year, this year the challenge has been to dodge the storms/falling
trees/hail/anything else that has become airborne.  Still, PWRs come out in all conditions, as shown by attendances at the Tuesday club runs, Thursday track sessions and Sunday long runs.


Parkrun:
Bromley parkrun remains cancelled while Norman Park largely remains under water.  This means that most PWRs have had to set their alarm for a little earlier in order to continue their parkrun tourism, with a few new favourites emerging. However, venturing as far as South Africa is taking this tourism a little
to the extreme.  There again, given the choice at the moment…  No oubt, once Bromley parkrun is underway again, many PWRs will look forward toreturning to their parkrun home.


Jonathan Bottomer and John O’Toole set new PBs in their second runs at Orpington, shaving 22 seconds and 4 mins 15 seconds respectively off their times from 2nd November, when there was probably much less mud around.  Other noteable results include Stephen Robson and Rob Laing finishing 3rd at Hilly Fields and Shorne Woods parkruns respectively.  Their times were also eerily close – only 7 seconds apart. David Allison used Albert parkrun at Middlesbrough as a warm-up for the Tees Barrage Half Marathon on Sunday (more
about that below).  
 
Bexley parkrun:
93 Jo Gambell 00:33:35
 
Brockwell parkrun:
59 Stephen Faulkner 00:21:51
 
Crystal Palace parkrun:
173 Jenny Leng 00:27:52
 
Dulwich parkrun:
22 Martin Andrew Cunningham 00:20:00
76 Viral Tanna 00:23:24
108 Natalie Compton 00:25:10
134 Chris Summers 00:26:59
156 Helena Broadway 00:29:14
 
Greenpoint parkrun (Cape Town, South Africa):
57 Lizzie Howells 00:26:35
 
Hilly Fields parkrun:
3 Stephen Robson 00:21:14
27 Sigrid Robson 00:24:59
 
Lloyd parkrun:
9 Paul Leng 00:24:22
38 Ray Sievey 00:30:03
 
Middlesbrough Albert parkrun:
136 David Allison 00:26:09
 
Orpington parkrun:
14 Jonathan Bottomer 00:23:17 – New PB!
16 Matt Jones 00:23:39
54 John O’Toole 00:29:57 – New PB!
 
Shorne Woods parkrun:
3 Rob Laing 00:21:07
19 Sonja Laing 00:25:31
64 Richard Laing 00:32:30
 
Other PWR Activity:
It’s been quiet on the racing front this week, probably due to a mixture of conditions and PWRs training for various marathons and half marathons.  However, David Allison bucked the trend and travelled north to Middlesbrough to compete in the completely unofficial Tees Barrage Half Marathon, organised and marshalled through social media!  David completed the race in 2:02:21, finishing 59th out of a field of 75 runners.
 
So, that’s all folks for this week!  If I have left anyone or anything out, please let me know!  

and can be found here

January's not the busiest month for racing, and February takes a little time to get started as well, so there's not a lot to report this week. 
With Norman Park receiving a fresh deluge of the wet stuff overnight, it was always going to be a doubtful starter, but give the organisers their dues, they did their very best to try to stage the event, but were beaten in the end by the sheer mass of surface water even with a last minute revision to the usual course, in an attempt to avoid a further cancellation.
 
Those who were Norman Park bound switched at the last moment to Orpington parkrun's benefit where 9 PWR's appeared and Jenny finished first lady. A good performance was noted also at Shorne parkrun with Rob Laing second finisher and Sonja Laing close to winning the ladies' event:- 
 
Results for Bexley parkrun, event number 103, 01/02/2014. 
31 Jane BRANCH 00:24:22 
 
Results for Cambridge parkrun, event number 205, 01/02/2014.
3 Brian O'CONNOR 00:17:48 
 
Results for Crystal Palace parkrun, event number 176,  01/02/2014.
100 David ALLISON 00:27:29
152 Jo GAMBELL 00:32:45

Results for Dulwich parkrun, event number 96, 01/02/2014. 
28 Matthew William SELLWOOD 00:19:40
56 Jonathan BOTTOMER 00:21:37
176 John O'TOOLE 00:28:32
182 Helena BROADWAY 00:28:52 
 
Results for Orpington parkrun, event number 73, 01/02/2014.
5 Johnny GILL 00:20:36
9 Andrew BREESE 00:22:54
16 Matt JONES 00:23:22
24 Jenny LENG 00:24:09
46 Ray SIEVEY 00:27:04
47 Ka Sing TUNG 00:27:06
57 Chris SUMMERS 00:28:32
65 Fiona ABIOLA-MUSA 00:30:24
78 Wendy TUNG 00:32:39
 
Results for Shorne Woods parkrun, event number 46, 01/02/2014. 
2 Rob LAING 00:21:07
21 Sonja LAING 00:25:13
37 Richard LAING 00:29:53

At this time of year, the marathoners and half marathoners in training are  out with the Sunday Willet Rec runners building up the mileage steadily  for the T. Wells, Paddock Wood and Hastings HM's, and of course the big ones  at Brighton and London. It's tough but someone has got to do it, and with all  this endeavour, we can expect to see some fab times come March and April.

Finally, the other organised event over the weekend involving PWR's was the  Kent Fitness League down at Canterbury. Evidently, many PWR's elected to keep  their feet on firmer ground on Sunday morning, but those who did attend found  conditions similar to those of Norman Park with a further 3k's thrown in for  good measure. Finishing positions were:-

Seven parkruns this weekend were graced with the presence of PWRs.

In total, 22 PWRs set off at 9am on Saturday morning.
Brian O'Connor running in what is now his local parkrun in Cambridge, knocked 20 seconds off his time from the week before and improved his finishing position from 6th to 4th.  Hannah Roberts was the first lady home at Orpington finishing 18th overall in a time of 22.59.  Martin Cunningham & Johnny Gill coming 2nd & 3rd there as well. 

Results for Bexley parkrun, event number 102, 25/01/2014.
22 Jane BRANCH 00:24:00

Results for Cambridge parkrun, event number 204, 25/01/2014.
4 Brian O'CONNOR 00:17:53

Results for Dulwich parkrun, event number 95, 25/01/2014.
22 Oliver PORRITT 00:19:02
27 Alan NIBLOCK 00:19:21
151 David ALLISON 00:26:49
155 Jeremy BENSON 00:27:06
171 Helena BROADWAY 00:29:04
196 Jo GAMBELL 00:31:32

Results for Hilly Fields parkrun, event number 76, 25/01/2014.
6 Stephen ROBSON 00:21:05
30 Sigrid ROBSON 00:24:34

Results for Lloyd parkrun, event number 175, 25/01/2014.
42 Natalie COMPTON 00:28:10

Results for Orpington parkrun, event number 72, 25/01/2014. Results for Orpington parkrun, event number 72, 25/01/2014.
2 Martin Andrew CUNNINGHAM 00:20:39
3 Johnny GILL 00:20:48
10 Kieran Richard TURNER 00:22:04
12 Christian TURNER 00:22:29
13 Stuart J SCOTT 00:22:36
14 Andrew BREESE 00:22:38
18 Hannah ROBERTS 00:22:59
29 Jenny LENG 00:24:11
41 Ka Sing TUNG 00:26:39
77 Fiona ABIOLA-MUSA 00:31:13

Results for Riddlesdown parkrun, event number 142, 25/01/2014.
51 Vera SIMMS 00:29:08


On Sunday morning, the usual marathon training groups were out and about around Petts Wood, but 2 Davids had ventured down to Canterbury to take part in the Canterbury 10.

David Fordyce finished in 1:28:27 and David Allison wasn't far behind finishing in 1:30:59. 

Apparently the conditions were wet and windy which I think will now be referred to as 'normal conditions!  No doubt everybody will do the majority of their Marathon training in these 'normal' conditions only to be presented with a mini heatwave come Marathon day!

Bromley parkrun remains underwater; therefore parkrun participation by PWR’s remains much lower than usual. The main alternative event remains at Orpington where a number of members can’t seem to
keep away from the mud. The Turners travelled to Hilly Fields where the clue is in the name, to enjoy a lot more mud on a slightly revised course. Kieran Turner managed an impressive 7th finish, following on from his impressive finish at Orpington last week.  Jeremy Benson and Helena Broadway went to Dulwich in search of a fast, flat and mud free run. Robert Fisher braved the hills and the mud of Lloyd Park in Croydon. The Laings went to Greenwich to enjoy the 3 lap course there, made much tougher by a very slippy muddy patch leading up to the new path.  Apparently there was a fantastic marshall on that corner who had to help a number of runners retrieve their shoes from the mud. She didn’t laugh at all…. Finally Brian O’Connor still remains faithful to PWR
coming in 6th at Cambridge parkrun, now his home run having moved up there with Susie and the
boys. Apparently Brian did parkrun in the middle of a long run, so this was just a ‘comfortable’ parkrun for him…. 

Results for Bexley parkrun, event number 101, 18/01/2014.
30 Jane BRANCH 00:24:31

Results for Cambridge parkrun, event number 203, 18/01/2014.
6 Brian O'CONNOR 00:18:13

Results for Dulwich parkrun, event number 94, 18/01/2014.
172 Jeremy BENSON 00:26:46
212 Helena BROADWAY 00:29:46

Results for Greenwich parkrun, event number 205, 18/01/2014.
93 Richard LAING 00:29:37
95 Sonja LAING 00:29:45
96 Rob LAING 00:29:45

Results for Hilly Fields parkrun, event number 75, 18/01/2014.
7 Kieran Richard TURNER 00:21:34
16 Christian TURNER 00:22:56
54 Sigrid ROBSON 00:25:57
59 Helen NEOCLEOUS 00:26:23

Results for Lloyd parkrun, event number 174, 18/01/2014.
27 Robert FISHER 00:25:49

Results for Orpington parkrun, event number 71, 18/01/2014.
10 Martin Andrew CUNNINGHAM 00:21:27
14 Johnny GILL 00:22:17
46 Ka Sing TUNG 00:26:44
55 Ray SIEVEY 00:27:31
64 Karen BARRITT 00:28:30
65 Jenny LENG 00:28:31
88 Wendy TUNG 00:31:28
 
The main event for this weekend should have been the Les Witton Dartford 10, however it seems this race is doomed to never happen on the planned date, and it was cancelled early on Sunday morning due to the River Darenth flooding major parts of the course. However, rather than staying in bed and enjoying a lie in, many PWR’s took to the streets of Petts Wood with Ian, James and Sue leading various groups for a Sunday long run. That’s dedication! With the cancellation of the Dartford 10 the only race that went ahead with PWR representation was the Benfleet 15. This is a tough, hilly, muddy course not for the faint hearted. Chris Turner, Alan Niblock, Steve Jeffery and Bill Middleton took on the challenge and made it to the end. Massive respect guys!
 
102 532 02:00:24 NIBLOCK, Alan M40 Petts Wood Runners
135 241 02:05:09 JEFFREY, Steve M40 Petts Wood Runners
157 323 02:07:33 TURNER, Christian M40 Petts Wood Runners
219 267 02:14:13 MIDDLETON, Bill M50 Petts Wood Runners

Following on from the fact that the PWR 10k made the top 10 list, this letter was received by our Club Secretary this week.

The success of our event and the opportunity to raise the money for this worthy cause relies on 3 key components.

1) The Race Committee who perform all the behind the scenes work to make sure the event goes ahead.

2) PWR members who do an absolute sterling job of coming together on the day peforming a mutitude of roles.

3)  The runners who pay to take part in and run whatever the weather!



Take one of these components away and we do not have an event to raise the money!

So, a huge 'Thank You' to everybody involved in whatever capacity!

If you missed this in the Runner's World magazine at the end of last year, the Petts Wood 10k was voted the 6th best 10k in 2013.

Incidentally, it was also voted the BEST 10k in October for the 5th year running.

This is testament to the Race Committee and the members of Petts Wood Runners volunteers who spend a lot of time and effort striving to put on the best event possible.

Last year was a real test as we all spent hours in monsoon conditions, in fact it hasn't really stopped raining since!

PWR would like to thank all those who voted for our event.

This year, we are aiming for a PB and will try to improve on 6th place.

See you on the 12th October!

The main event last weekend for PWRs was non-competitive, the train runs from Sevenoaks and Knockholt, as everyone tries to get rid of those unwanted Xmas tummies and/or starts to increase their mileage ready for the Springtime marathons. There was a great turnout and apparently fun was had by all.

Parkrun Round-Up

Bexley
This was the 100th parkrun at Bexley with three lady PWRs present and Hannah Roberts the first lady home overall.
17 Hannah ROBERTS 00:21:43
28 Jane BRANCH 00:23:28
71 Sophie POWELL 00:27:58

Bushy Park
While Bexley were celebrating their century, Bushy Park, home of the first ever parkrun was on number 500! Ray Sievey and Jo Gambell got up early to make the trip and represent PWR amongst 1184 runners!
682 Ray SIEVEY 00:28:06
978 Jo GAMBELL 00:32:16

Greenwich
While it was all girls at Bexley, the boys went to Greenwich with Martin Cunningham a fine 6th overall.
6 Martin Andrew CUNNINGHAM 00:20:04
23 Alan MUNDY 00:22:39
71 Chris SUMMERS 00:26:58

Hilly Fields
Stephen Robson stayed at home and was the only PWR at Hilly Fields
7 Stephen ROBSON 00:21:44

Lloyd Park
Natalie Compton went it alone and did Lloyd Park.
45 Natalie COMPTON 00:27:10

Orpington
With Bromley still flooded it was Orpington that had the largest turnout of PWR travellers with the youngest, Kieran Turner, leading home the 8-strong contingent.
7 Kieran Richard TURNER 00:21:23
8 Matthew William SELLWOOD 00:21:26
12 Christian TURNER 00:21:46
52 Helen NEOCLEOUS 00:25:55
56 Ka Sing TUNG 00:26:19
62 Matt JONES 00:26:56
92 Fiona ABIOLA-MUSA 00:29:53
106 Wendy TUNG 00:31:37

Shorne Woods
Finally, a trio of Laings participated at Shorne Woods with Rob Laing’s 7th place matching Kieran Turner and Stephen Robson’s performances elsewhere. Spooky?
7 Rob LAING 00:21:11
40 Sonja LAING 00:25:36
62 Richard LAING 00:30:28

My new year’s resolution is…
2014 has got off to a fab start for PWR with a bumper crop of parkruns and cross-country races.  No slacking off for us lot!  The recent storms with their heavy rain and tree-felling winds have made for challenging conditions for anything that isn’t run on tarmac, and numerous pairs of running or trail shoes have lost their bright sheen and turned a mucky brown colour.  So, without ado, let’s move on to the glut of results:

Parkrun:
With Bromley parkrun cancelled due to much of the route being under water, there was a fair amount of PWR parkrun tourism, including one result from a much warmer, drier and sunnier Australia.  There were 2 parkruns last week: one on New Year’s Day for those who weren’t too hung-over and the usual Saturday parkrun.  No PBs on either of these days but still a few noteable results, with Brian O’Connor finishing 2nd in Cambridge on Saturday and Oliver Porritt and Martin Cunningham finishing in the top 3 at Blickling and Orpington parkruns respectively. It also seems that 1 parkrun a day wasn’t enough for David Allison, Susan Hanney, Jo Gambell and Helena Broadway, who completed both Maidstone and Shorne Woods parkruns on New Year’s Day.  Kudos to you all!  Below is a summary of results from parkruns completed on New Year’s Day and on Saturday, 4th January:

New Year’s Day:

Greenwich parkrun:
5 Martin Cunningham 00:21:06
22 Alan Mundy 00:24:10
45 Chris Summers 00:27:42
49 Ian Brereton 00:28:16

Lloyd parkrun:
21 Alan Niblock 00:22:54

Maidstone parkrun:
43 David Allison 00:26:26
62 Susan Hanney 00:30:30
68 Jo Gambell 00:31:45
71 Helena Broadway 00:31:52

Mitchelton parkrun (Australia):
143 Rachelle Grant 00:31:51

Roundshaw Downs parkrun:
25 Alan Niblock 00:23:15

Shorne Woods parkrun:
9 Rob Laing 00:21:17
46 Sonja Laing 00:26:08
61 David Allison 00:28:00
95 Susan Hanney 00:30:54
97 Richard Laing 00:31:15
113 Helena Broadway 00:34:21
114 Jo Gambell 00:34:33

Saturday, 4th January:

Blickling parkrun:
3 Oliver Porritt 00:19:53

Brockwell parkrun:
90 David Allison 00:26:53
130 Jo Gambell 00:35:43

Cambridge parkrun:
2 Brian O’Connor 00:18:17

Dulwich parkrun:
122 Helena Broadway 00:31:22

Greenwich parkrun:
35 Chris Summers 00:28:39

Hilly Fields parkrun:
9 Stephen Robson 00:22:53

Orpington parkrun:
3 Andrew Cunningham 00:21:22
5 Alan Niblock 00:21:39
6 Stuart Scott 00:22:23
7 Christian Turner 00:22:35
31 Matt Jones 00:28:28
52 Fiona Abiola-Musa 00:31:41

There were also 2 cross-country races at the weekend, for those for whom parkrun wasn’t enough of a mud fix.  The first of these was the Kent Cross Country Championships in Hythe on Saturday.  10 PWR ladies and their groupies (Richard Dunstan and Stephen Robson) ignored the weather forecast and arrived at Hythe to face about 5 miles of mud, mud and more mud, with a scattering of hills, adverse cambers (great sliding down the hill potential) and puddles of various depths.  Even the arrival at the event had its own challenge with cars having to drive through a significantly deep ford to get to the venue.  The course was already churned up from a number of previous races but the rain temporarily eased during the race, which was enjoyed by some but not by all.  There were 84 finishers in total, with the first 3 finishers from each club scoring for one prize and the first 6 finishers for a separate team prize.  The PWR ladies didn’t come top in either competition, but they did OK, and, to be honest, everyone who made it to the finish line was a winner.

Just to sum up the PWR ladies’ race in this event, Jenny Leng powered home first with a convincing lead over all other PWR ladies.  Some people are just born for XC-racing… Sigrid Robson and Natalie Compton were neck and neck all the way round and there was also little between Karen Baritt and Jane Branch at the finish line.  Sian Vaughan won the muddiest PWR lady competition but all ladies were pretty much covered in mud, reflecting their commitment to the race.

Below are the PWR results from the Kent XC Champioships Senior Ladies’ race:

Jenny Leng – 36th in 40:53
Rebecca Cawley – 44th in 41:44
Geraldine Shaer – 48th in 42:51
Sigrid Robson – 59th in 44:23
Natalie Compton – 60th in 44:29
Sian Vaughn – 64th in 46:40
Karen Baritt – 71st in 48:16
Jane Branch – 72nd in 48:18
Wendy Everest – 76th in 50:43

There is one PWR ladies’ result missing from the official result but Jackie York definitely finished the race, and her time was close to that of Wendy’s.

In the Senior Ladies’ team competition, the PWR ladies top 3 finishers came 10th out of 12 clubs and the first 6 finishers came 5th out of 6 competing clubs, but they had the best post-race refreshments, provided by Karen.

On Sunday, 21 PWRs competed in the 5th race of the Kent Fitness League at Minnis Bay.  As the name suggests, the 6 mile race started on a sandy beach at Minnis Bay, continuing for some distance along a track filled with deep mud and puddles.  Just before the half-way mark, runners had some reprieve from this with the route following a ridge.  5 water-filled dykes appeared, one after the other, after about 5 miles.  As video footage on Youtube shows, there were various techniques for making it through these, ranging from sticking to the shallower but slippier edge to just plunging in and seeing how far you got.  Afterwards, a number of PWRs briefly ran into the sea to rinse off the mud and have the equivalent of a post-race ice-bath, which is said to help with recovery.  One good thing – the weather held out and it remained dry and relatively mild.

The PWR men’s team had a particularly good race, coming 2nd out of 18 in the male team competition.  The PWR ladies did OK, too, coming 11th out of 18 in the female team competition.  The first 7 finishing men and first 3 finishing ladies scored for the respective team competitions.  The combined team result put PWR 4th overall.

The first 5 finishing PWR men were:

Simon Bryant, 16th in 40:28
Simon Fox, 23rd in 40:54
Steven Garden, 26th in 42:15
Simon Dhadi, 28th in 42:26
Martin Cunningham, 52nd in 43:59

The first 3 finishing PWR ladies were:

Hannah Roberts, 143rd (10th lady) in 49:30
Sigrid Robson, 264th (45th lady) in 57:24
Natalie Compton, 314th (72nd lady) in 1:03:23

There were a total of 356 finishers, including 96 female finishers.

A full set of results can be found on the Canterbury Harriers website

So, that’s all folks for this week!  If I have left anyone or anything out, please let me know!  For those who have spring marathons coming up, the training starts in earnest...