3rd March 2002

• Race Report - I'm not Worthy by Katy Nash

• Race Report - Rose between two thorns by Lorraine Phillips

• Race results

I’m not worthy!

Seeing the 20 mile race start off and after giving all our Strider marathon runners a cheer, I dashed back to the car to get myself ready.  The 10 mile race started 15 mins after the 20 miler and I had a moment to compose myself.  I did feel a little lonely though with no sighting of Grayhame or Anne Fish who were due to turn up.  On my way to the start I bumped into the Fishes who thought the race started at 11am and not 10.15 – they were certainly shaken but not stirred!

The race started with a slight decline and we all got into our strides.  It wasn’t long until we were in the countryside and you could see the crocuses pushing up through the grass. 

It was Anne, Grayhame and then me, three little yellow ducks running in a row!  I spied a photographer with a zoom lens taking our photo and I was hoping I wasn’t looking too pasty so early on in the race.   Anne was edging away from me and Grayhame.  We just couldn’t quite match her pace so we settled into our running pattern with another man running directly behind us using us both as a wind break – cheek! 

We merged with the 20 mile route around the 5 mile mark and we enjoyed having fresh pacers around us, we certainly got caught in the tide and the next 2-3 miles flew by.  Anne was obviously caught in a rapid as Grayhame and I thought we were nearly catching her up but she was off again – may be she had wings [she drunk some Redbull before the race]? 

Sean and Karen were there being bike supporters for the 20 mile runners and they managed to catch me for about half a mile before turning off to do another lap.  A big thanks to Sean and Karen for doing this as I am certain Rich appreciated the refreshments and it was nice for me to see a familiar face to break up the race. 

The sun managed to break through and burn away the mist during the last 30 mins or so of the race and I was beginning to regret wearing my t-shirt under my vest but the end was near.   Grayhame had to pull back slightly as his chest decided to get a little wheezy.   Hum, let me think about this.  Anne is flying at the moment, Grayhame has a wheezy chest – are they smoking something they’re not supposed to?  The quiet ones are all the same…

Anne finished as second lady with me 20-30 seconds behind as third.  Grayhame was only a couple of places behind me so we all finished pretty much together.  I was chuffed with being 3^rd lady – first time since primary school!  There was no podium but I got a little trophy that is standing proud with my club championship and strider of the year awards.  OK, OK, so all the fast ladies were doing the 20, well at the end of the day it really does depend who turns up.  I know I am not worthy but hey let me enjoy my moment of fame!

Katy

Rose between two thorns

I thought you might like to hear my race report for the Wymondham 20, as I took slightly longer than Richard Nash, and ran slightly longer than Katy Nash! (well done for getting third lady by the way), so had more time to take in the sweaty ambience of the race. 

The race started well as we all enjoyed the first 10 minutes, I started with Les Basham, Mary Tricker, and Jean Lynch-Aird. The chatter died slightly as we hit the 1st mile and realised we still had 19 to go. We were then joined by David West (we felt sorry for him as he was wearing a Pacer vest so let him join in the conversation). 

The course was fairly flat on the first lap, every hill was felt on the second, and I commented at 8 miles that I felt scarily good (words that were definitely not repeated at 18 miles). We were also boosted along by a very cheery marshal at one point, who also failed to notice a rose between two thorns (Les and David), and shouted very loudly "come on lads".  This same phrase was then shouted AGAIN on the second lap!. 

Overall I found the race enjoyable, apart from the last mile and a half when all my legs wanted to do was get in the nearest car. The weather was a definite improvement on last weekend. (Although Les and I did have some extra wind to contend with, no names mentioned!) I would like to say thank you to David and Les for getting me round, and a big BOO to the marshal 800m before the end eating a piece of chocolate cake as I struggled past!

Lorraine Phillips

The Stowmarket Striders results are:-

20 Miles

There were 254 finishers.

10 Miles

There were 108 finishers.