News Archive
A Presidential Parkrun PB!
Many congratulations to our Club President Geoff Jackson on smashing his parkrun PB on Saturday.
On Friday, Geoff declared that he wanted to run the race in under 30 minutes by the end of the year. Well, after having had a late night at the curry house on Friday, Geoff managed to achieve his goal with the official time of 29:59!! This is an age graded time of 73.87%, an incredible result.
There were 18 other Didcot Runners there to cheer him through the finish funnel, a fantastic turn out, Geoff obviously likes an audience!
If you've never taken part in the Abingdon parkrun before please give it a go, more information can be found here http://www.parkrun.org.uk/abingdon/ where Geoff has made the News page.
Added May 20th, 2013
Congratulations to Kirsty on an incredible 2nd place in the Basel 24hr race this weekend!
Congratulations to Kirsty Reade on being the 2nd lady to finish the Basel 24hr race making it a GB 1st and 2nd result!
Kirsty ran an incredible 190km (118 miles) in the time allowed. Imagine that if you can! As the route was around a 1k loop, that shows not only the unbelievable physical condition Kirsty is in but also her amazing mental strength too. The winning lady just sneaked in at 213km.
A lot of the club supported Kirsty via live streaming and Facebook went a little crazy with messages of support throughout the whole weekend. A few screen shots were also added, including Kirsty on the podium!
Well done from the whole club Kirsty, we are all very proud of you and wish you a speedy recovery.
Added May 5th, 2013
Thames Path 100 - What a weekend!
Congratulations Paul Griffiths on an incredible achievement! A massive well done from the whole of Didcot Runners!
Over the weekend of the 23rd/24th March, Paul took part in the Thames Path 100. With the original route of London to Oxford being changed due to flooding to London to Windsor Paul was faced with lots of 'out and backs', cold, wet & very muddy conditions.
Paul set off at 10am on Saturday in a field of 160 runners (250 had entered but 90 didn't make it to the start). In his usual style he quickly made friends with another runner and they stuck together until mile 48. At this stage Tim (or was it Tom?) dropped out. Luckily for Paul, Kirsty was on hand to take over and ran from 7pm on Saturday night through to 2am on Sunday, a total of 34 miles.
Kirsty had done a great job keeping Paul going and he arrived at mile 82 in good spirits and more concerned about the wellbeing of his crew than himself. It was then all change and Tom took over the pacing, leaving Windsor at 2.15am Sunday.
10 miles later, at mile 92, Paul and Tom arrived at the checkpoint, Paul was incredibly still in very good spirits. After a little bit of a sit down he was then ready to go again, this time with Julie for company.
At 5am he set off on the final 10 miles. With 'just' 10 to go, the end was in sight. Paul's aim was to complete the race in under 24 hours so he had five hours to go to achieve his goal.
On Sunday at 7.54am Paul and Julie arrived back at Windsor to the cheers of some of Paul's fantastic support crew of Dee, Sam, Lewis, Sue, Tom & Bill. Paul had done it, he'd completed the race well within the 24 hour target and received his belt buckle which we all know he was so determined to get.
Paul was 17th in a final field of 87 runners with the actual mileage run of 104!!
He even then had the strength and energy to walk back into Windsor for a full English breakfast!
The crew were an incredible lift for Paul whether that was running with him, giving him invaluable advice, cheering him on, giving him a warm hug at the checkpoints or driving from checkpoint to checkpoint throughout the night (Dee). Paul very much appreciated the support from friends and family on Facebook too.
Added March 29th, 2013
Grizzly Survivors
Congratulations to the Grizzly runners at the weekend. Fantastic times from Dave Knopp, Paul Griffiths & Kirsty Reade and awesome performances from Julie Shand, Bill Larnach, Tom Reddy and Emmy Akin to complete their first ever Grizzly in very tough conditions.
Added March 12th, 2013
London Marathon - 11 members taking part!!
Eleven members of the club are taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday the 21st April 2013 in this, our 10th anniversary year!
The members running this year and their chosen charities, where applicable, are:
Kirsty Reade - Cure Rett www.justgiving.com/kirstyLondon2013
Paul Griffiths - Sense www.virginmoneygiving.com/paulgriffiths
Rob Sharp -Epilepsy Society www.justgiving.com/robertsharp
Eileen Naughton - Children with Cancer http://www.justgiving.com/2013cancermarathon
Ceri Davies - Cystic Fibrosis
Julie Shand - Brookfields School, Tilehurst
http://www.findmeagrant.org/wberks/payment/paymentform.aspx?appid=a76b2d9a-4fe7-42a8-95d8-c3101ebfcc22
Stuart Howes
Chris Birch - Fire Service Benevolent Fund
Jane Manclark - MIND
Mathew Browne
John Scarborough
We're sure you'll all agree that to have eleven members taking part in the London Marathon is a fantastic achievement for such a small club. Some are seasoned marathoners, Ceri is a first-timer, but they would all benefit from your support so why don't you come down, support the club and experience the London Marathon first hand? We have organised a coach to take runners and supporters to London and back on the day, so if you are interested in coming along to support us please have a chat to Sam Cousins or contact us via this website.
Many of those who weren't able to get a place in the London Marathon will be running Milton Keynes in May so start getting ready for the next Didcot supporters' day trip there.
Added March 6th, 2013
Geoff's Parkrun World Tour
Everybody's favourite octogenarian, Geoff Jackson, is currently flying the flag for Didcot Runners in New Zealand. He finished Parkrun in Cornwall Park in Aukland in a very respectable 33 minutes, with an impressive age grading of 67%. Geoff is an inspiration to all, showing that age is only a limiting factor in your own mind.
Read about his exploits here: http://www.parkrun.co.nz/cornwall/news/
Added February 27th, 2013