Sunday 6th February 2022 saw Ryde Harriers as our hosts for race 6 of the HRRL and yet another sell out for one of the islands most popular races of the calendar.
The forecast in the days preceding had warned of low temperatures, gale force winds and far less than desirable running conditions, but did this deter our hardy team???…………of course it didn’t!
A fantastic turn out of 27 roadrunners braved the elements and turned up on the start-line wearing their club colours with pride in a 500 strong crowd of fellow Hampshire League runners joining them to brave the incredibly blustery conditions and bitter temperatures.
And let’s not forget that no Isle of Wight race would be the same if it wasn’t for our ‘god sent’ selection of superstar supporters! Those members of the team who wouldn’t dream of letting our runners battle their way around what is already a tough course without seeing a friendly face to cheer and clap them on their way while the wind was trying it’s hardest to slow them down. So out they came from the comfort of their cosy warm homes, hats, gloves and coats done up tight to shout every last one of or team home. Support crew, we salute you.
Always a bit of a love/hate race for some, the Ryde 10 course is a challenging one being notoriously undulating. Starting with the usual chilly loop of the boating lake there’s not many runners who aren’t warm after heading straight up Westhill Road. The ups and downs continue along the route going along past Appley Manor, down to the Wishing Well and on to Nettlestone. There was certainly no respite from the wind as our team were then exposed to the elements along the coastal path through the Duver before everyone’s favourite climb up through Nodes Point Holiday park.
With knowing there was only one hill left at mile 9, team IOWRR continued on through Seaview using all their grit and determination for that last big push up Puckpool “mountain” before some very welcome downhill respite and on to the finish line.
And one by one they started to come in.
Ross Wilkes was first for the men, rocketing across the finish line in a super speedy 1:04:43, followed by a great performance from Nick Kenney who finished in 1:07:12 taking 4th place in his age category. Third in was Guy Mattinson with yet another PB to add to his increasing collection. Guy crossed the line with a finish time of 1:09:10 taking the 6th M50 spot and knocking a whopping 4:10 off his last Ryde 10 result. Hot on his heels was Andy Macarthur who, despite reports that he did not entirely enjoy his race, ran a superb time of 1:09:59 taking the 9th spot in the M50 category. Simon Paul was the next Roadrunner to be wind swept across the finish line, running the same time as last year (when the weather was much kinder) and finishing in 1:14:58 followed by David Blake in his first race since Needles XC last year who finished in 1:14:58………..it’s great to see you back David. 🙂 Club Chairman Steve Bennett was next in with a cracking finish time of 1:15:12 securing him a fantastic third place in his M60 age category.
Steve described the race as being a “Top notch local race, with an awesome bunch of RR’s” he also went on to say that “The support of familiar faces was amazing and means so much when you’re out there mentally ticking off the miles.” I think we can all agree that that is so true!
The boys continued to storm across the line with so many great performances but our first lady home was Hannah East who continues to show great potential in her running, and as well as finishing in a brilliant time of 1:25:37 she also secured the 10th position in her SF age category. Second place for our IOWRR ladies and with the only other PB for the day (and yet another one for her!) was our awesome Carolyn Littleton, she came in 46 seconds quicker than last year finishing in 1:27:43 and taking 9th in the F55 age category. Carolyn told me that she was “Really pleased considering how windy it was!”.
Completing our first trio of ladies was Julie Rasmussen who also took one of the top 10 spots in her age category finishing in 9th for the F50’s with a great time of 1:32:08. Karen Phillips took 4th place for our ladies in 1:36:01 with Louise Morris 1:39:10 and Alicia Burr 1:39:33 almost crossing the line together.
Everyone was absolutely brilliant and the ladies came home all looking incredibly strong despite the challenges of the race, but other particular mentions for our stellar ladies team include Sue Hunter who finished in 1:40:07 taking an awesome second place in her F65 age category and Gillian Shaw who took the 5th F65 and bagged herself a great sub 2 hour time of 1:55:45.
Gillian was incredibly thankful to everyone that came out on a cold and wet morning to support the runners and was quoted as saying that “to hear my name called out at so many places along the route was absolutely awesome and kept me positive and focussed on getting under two hours for the run”…………despite having “nightmares about those hills”.
Well done to everyone that ran, you were all superb and should be extremely proud of yourselves.
Your club is unbelievably proud of you. xx
Ross Wilkes 1:04:43
Nick Kenney 1:07:12
Guy Mattinson 1:09:10 PB
Andy Macarthur 1:09:59
Simon Paul 1:14:52
David Blake 1:14:58
Steve Bennett 1:15:12
Stephen Johnson 1:15:46
Steve Apsey 1:16:02
Richard Bezer 1:16:58
Dave Cass 1:21:10
Hannah East 1:25:37
Keith Ruth 1:26:17
Carolyn Littleton 1:27:43 PB
Julie Rasmussen 1:32:08
Karen Phillips 1:36:01
Louise Morris 1:39:10
Alicia Burr 1:39:33
Sue Hunter 1:40:07
Carolyn Ruth 1:43:59
Caroline Curliss 1:45:18
Margaret Niland-Murphy 1:48:31
Alison Butcher 1:54:43
Gillian Shaw 1:55:45
Tracey Houdoire 2:08:08
Tanya Clifford 2:08:08
Lyn Snow 2:16:38
