IRONMAN FRANCE 22 June 2008: Congratulations to Tim Wilks who completed the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a marathon in lovely Nice in 14:06:46. What a guy!

COMRADES MARATHON: Malc Smith finished Comrades - he says it was a fantastic event. Unfortunately he finished 6 minutes over the 12 hour cut-off time, so received no medal, no official time and no mention in results. Cruel or what? He says he will have to try again next year.

VANCOUVER TRIATHLON: Report from Dave Murchie: After a week of unremitting bad weather Saturday arrived dry! So on with the wetsuit plus covered my face with factor 30 sun block to counter cold water as advised by the channel swimmer on the team. But before they sent the old men off they tried some young ladies. The temp was rumoured to be
11 degrees in the water and it was getting choppier by the minute.
Well it seems the rescue boats got overwhelmed by pulling skinny girls out of the water so they announced (or rather a rumour spread) that there was a delay of an hour. It was not the best organised tri I have
done. So repaired to a nearby coffee house to be summoned by a
harrassed official an hour later with news. The swim is cancelled, it is now a duathlon. Hiked a mile to start, where we learned amidst some confusion that we had a 3k run 40k bike and 10k run. First 3k ok, then onto bike, long ride out to course, very technical. Got round in about 1.20. 10k run was a bit laboured (need to do remedial intervals with Kevin on return) Ended up at 2.25 and was 9th out of 29 . Must go party now. Greeting from sunshine coast as they call it. (Submitted by Kevin Royle)
 

Stephanie Dibden was 2nd in her age category at the Bishops Waltham
5 miles on Sunday.

Dave Murchie is out in Vancouver to compete for Great Britain in the 70-75 age group category in the World triathlon championships this weekend. This entails swimming 1500m in open water, then cycling for 40km, then running 10km, without stopping. To put it into perspective how many 70 year olds do you know who can run 10km - let alone swim and bike before that !! Superman or what.

ATTACK IN CASTLE LANE: A lone lady runner was recently attacked on the Castle Lane cycle path between Templars Way and Misslebrook Lane by a man who had been drinking. She was hit over the head with a bottle and dragged towards the woods, at which time a dog-walker interfered and stopped the attack.

RR10: A very wet evening on Wednesday saw 27 Eastleigh runners brave the conditions at the Deer Leap Inclosure, Ashurst for the 4th RR10 in the series. First in for the Mens team with another excellent run was young `Rooky` Tom Johnson in a superb 14th place followed in closely by the wise owl Godfrey Rhimes in 22nd and Jon Osman in 37th. Next in was proud Welshman Martin Davies in 53rd and on his shoulder in 54th was Ian Rogers to complete the first team home.
We now have a month off of running in the RR10 series, our next race being on the 25th June at Blackfield Recreation ground.
RR10 Ladies results: Well Done to everyone who ran. 1st Sonia Rushby 11th, 2nd Sara Rhimes V 18, 3rd Kathy Johnson 35th, 4th Fiona Churcher 50th, 5th Dawn Rumary V 96.
 

 EDINBURGH MARATHON: Jim Whitmarsh 3.28, Garry Gross 4.14, others to follow.
 

20 ERC runners braved the hot conditions to complete the hilly Alton 10. An excellent performance from Joseph Rye in 6th place and from Sonia Rushby, who had a scorcher, finishing in 19th place! All the ERC runners appreciated the whistle blowing support from Jacqui Bruce`s family.
 

The Brisbane Times published this photo of Malc Smith at the London Marathon. Worldwide coverage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jurassic Challenge - 3 marathons in 3 days along the Jurassic Coast from Lyme Regis to Studland last weekend. Andy Moore did it in17 hrs 34 mins, 22nd position. Good one Andy!
 

Graeme Rasmussen achieved two PBs: Reading 1/2 Marathon 2008 - 1.13.
Maidenhead Easter 10 mile - 21st March - 56.03. Excellent times!
Malc Smith completed the Rome Marathon, he says it was brilliant, very well organised and a great route past amazing sights - highly recommended for next year. Then he finished the Compton 40 Mile last Saturday (6 days after Rome) and was not last, well almost last, 9h20m and 4 behind him. Mark Jennings finished in 8:47.
 

EASTLEIGH 10k - 16/03: Well done to all those who took part - 59 ERC finishers! The girls are 2nd and the boys 3rd in Division 2 - promotion possible! PBs that we know about were achieved by: Steve Mant (3 mins off), Carla Marsh, Mark Pocock (first time under 40 mins) and Andrea Williamson (first time under 1 hour). (Martin Davies)
* Thanks to all those who turned out in the wind and rain last Sunday to cheer on the ERC runners at the Eastleigh 10k race. Much appreciated. (Colin the Chairman)