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Leg 1 10.1 miles 1:19:24 Rob Sharratt A managerial decision had to be made here after “Young” Steve Chamberlain turned up nearly an hour late for the trip down to Stratford on the Saturday. Bless him; he’s not great with directions and times, so I felt it prudent to give him a later start, particularly as he was in a B & B in Stratford with the team doctor. Up at 4.15am for me then, a bowl of cereals consumed, myself and the support team – Carol – left my Uncle Jack’s in Knowle for the short journey to the start at the American Fountain in Stratford-upon-Avon. Six of us started the “B” race at 6am and soon after about 4 miles my Achilles started to play up and I lost touch of the remainder of the athletes. I struggled home in just under 80 mins, but was pleased I got round and also pleased to run in reasonable conditions. Carol was support car and kept popping up with a variety of drinks to help in my quest. |
| Leg 2 10.2 miles 1:11:34 Steve Chamberlain No problems with the start time for this boy and after his nightmares of last year, young Steve was soon charging up the many nasty hills in and around the beautiful Cotswold village of Chipping Campden on this leg and exorcising any number of demons. Just to be sure though the support team consisted of a doctor ( Rowan) and a Pharmacist (Carol), so nothing was being left to chance. Steve improved his time by 21:31, albeit a different leg and such an awesome performance, you would think would have made him the biggest improver. Sadly for Steve, better was to come on leg 8 in the form of Steve “The Camel” Blackshaw. Fair play to Steve, he cycled half of the next leg and all of the damnation leg – leg 4 – and displayed all his cycling expertise in dragging himself up the hill from hell at the end of Darren’s ten miles. Renamed “Blonde” by me, Steve certainly gives value for money and being around him for any length of time gives you some idea of what it was like on the set of the Keystone Cops. |
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Leg 3 10.0 miles 1:06:41 Simon Davis I ran this leg in the heat of last year and did ok in a time slightly over 84 minutes and remembered it as not being too bad a leg, but boy it was a tough leg to cycle and was in fact quite a tough leg, but that could be said of all the legs, with the event not being called the Hilly 100 for nothing. This year we had a proper runner on the case with Dai Davis knocking out the miles in a manner more befitting a robot. I tell you, with a head start it was a real tough job to catch Simon and every time I got to him another hill would present itself and I would fall back again. Guess I will never make a real cyclist. It really was an impressive performance from the boy Davis and with Steve and Simon’s excellent legs; we really were getting the team back in medal contention. There had been a rumour being spread around Ilkeston that Superman Davis was to cycle back to Ilkeston after his leg, but it didn’t amount to a hill of beans!! |
| Leg 4 (10.1 miles) 1.07.06 – Darren Holloway Reckoned to be the toughest leg of the event – for good reason – Darren ran an absolute stormer and improved by 8 minutes and 29 seconds on his performance in the heat of 2005. That said, we do have to keep things in perspective here and whilst all at Ilkeston see Darren as arguably one of the two best runners currently on the books, there were “A” team runners running much faster – I remember the comment in the bar after seeing this leg run in just over 57 minutes “What was Darren playing at?” Seriously though, it really is a tough leg, with the wickedest of hills right at the end. I tell you the Skoda was having a job getting up it in second gear. You guessed it, there was no way Lance Sharratt was cycling this leg! Good on Darren for supplying team tee shirts for the day, as well as his beast of a motor car for transporting seemingly half the team. Didn’t get too much chat from Darren on route, although when I reminded him of just one more little hill to complete his leg, I was greeted with that word that starts with B, ends in S and has a number of C’s and K’s in it. Charming!!! |
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Leg 5 10.5 miles 1:18:56 John Henshaw One of the longer legs in terms of mileage and despite a reasonably flat start to this leg, the hills soon then kicked in, particularly the one coming out of Northleach, about 2.5 miles from home. Big John from Ilson was up for it though. Renamed “You can’t get quicker than an Ilson fitter” after changing a tyre on our car at the end of leg three, John churned out the miles through the picturesque countryside. As support cyclist on this leg , as I had been for Stevie C last year, I was keen to show Big John where all the action had occurred in 2005. This was the house where we got extra water supplies from and this was the spot where the Stratford AC runner had collapsed. Sure all this made John feel so much better! Again a big improvement against last year’s time and a really solid leg. |
| Leg 6 10.3 miles 1:06:30 Richard Simms As with leg five, a friendly start, but again as with the previous leg, some tough hills, albeit Simmo’s hip problem seemed to be worse on the down hill stretches. I would suggest that it is probably the most picturesque leg on the course, taking in both Bourton on the Water and the Slaughters. Despite his injury scares, Simmo stuck to his task manfully and recorded our second fastest time of the day and that with a slightly longer leg also. |
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Leg 7 10.0 miles 1:06:54 Kev Johnson Didn’t see too much of this leg as I was driving and left the support team of Carol and Simon to jolly Kev along. The time says it all though and this was achieved with it absolutely hosing it down, as bad as the weather had been all day. Great thing about this leg is that you are always assured of a pint, as the leg finishes right across the road from the Swan Inn at Moreton in the Marsh. Just timed my entrance to the Public Bar to perfection as, for the second year running, managed to catch Big John half way through ordering his round. Wadsworth 6X last year, Sharps Doom Bar bitter this year – marvellous! Cheers Big John – Runner, Tyre Fitter………….. This was a debut for Johnno in the event and of all of us, I reckon Kev was the most enthusiastic about our performance and winning a trophy – maybe apart from John “The Coaster” Queenan of course! |
| Leg 8 9.8 miles 1:10:43 Steve Blackshaw There were cries of “fraud” and “run the full course” as the Man in Black sprinted across the line to complete his 9.8 mile leg. Funny leg this, not easy and despite being slightly less than the regulation ten miles, took some running. Last year Razor Sharratt ran this leg without taking on any water – reckless one might say, but he just wouldn’t have it – and Steve “The Camel” Blackshaw emulated him this year. This caused much consternation with the support cyclists – John Q and myself – and we considered the possibility that this leg took us through a parallel universe. Interesting theory? Steve ran very well and was far happier in this years conditions, being one of many to struggle in last years heat. Steve’s reward was the most improved time compared to last years performance and yes it was a different leg, but it still deserves plenty of accolades. Funny part of this leg was Steve catching a Leamington runner on a hill, only for the opposition to put in a burst for all of five feet, very much flattering to deceive, as Steve then pulled away and put light years between the two of them. |
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Leg 9 10.0 miles 1:02:10 Mick Andrew Truly a President’s run by Mick and easily the fastest Ilkeston time on the day. Unlike last year, El Presidente was forced to run a full ten miles and in all fairness in drier and brighter conditions – yes the rain had stopped by now, certainly on number one anyway. It must be true that the sun shines on the righteous! It was a great run though as Mick carved up the opposition to leave our last leg runner John Q in second place and in all fairness with no chance of catching the lead athlete from Kenilworth. Mick’s reward for his efforts was the honour of collecting our trophies from the Lord Mayor of Stratford, who was on hand to also present a Children’s Charity with a cheque, being the proceeds from the days work. |
| Leg 10 10.1 miles 1:11:28 John Queenan There was a rumour being spread last year that this leg was a bit longer than the distance quoted and that may be the case, but I will quote the organisers distance by way of consistency. Say what you like about Mr Queenan’s hairstyles – and he had a special cut for this event!! - but there is no doubting his enthusiasm for this event and as with Darren, had no hesitation in volunteering himself for the same tough leg as 2005. It involves a couple of very steep climbs to Loxley and this year John had the added handicap of running into a very strong wind at about mile seven. The support team of Sharratt and Blackshaw was on hand as John ran strongly from gun to tape and brought home the bacon in impressive style, shaving 7 minutes 59 seconds from what was an excellent time last year. After Mick’s last leg, John didn’t have any catching to do and his brief was to hold his position, which he was never in any danger of relinquishing. One “A” team runner from Bromsgrove and Redditch did pass John though, but it had no bearing on our race, although it did give me in particular an amusing moment. Being warned by Stevie B - you remember the man in Black – that a runner was approaching fast, I cycled hard to warn John of the situation. I mentioned that the runner was ten yards behind John and as I checked behind to confirm this fact, the whippet was about ten yards in front! A really impressive run from John and with Mick, Carol and Kev cheering the boy Queenan on and with Steve B and me in hot pursuit on the bikes, John crossed the line for a total Ilkeston Running Club time of 11 hours 41 minutes and 26 seconds, comfortably inside the 12 hours we had set ourselves as a target. Well done to all runners in bringing great credit to Ilkeston RC and also to Carol and Rowan for their very welcome support. |
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SUMMARY 2nd place in the 6am Race 11 hours 41 minutes 26 seconds After running this event in 2005 on the hottest day of the year, the organisers brought the event forward two weeks and the tropical temperatures were replaced by monsoon conditions. Too hot, too wet, runners will always find something to moan about!! A great team performance in bringing home the baton in 11 hours 41 minutes 26 seconds resulting in Team Ilkeston claiming the runners up prize in the 6am Race, just behind Kenilworth Runners. |
Click here for Full 2006 Results
Link to Stratford AC - Click here
Last Revised: 01.06.2006.
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