With health and safety out of the window, eleven Hastings Runners donned their flammable Green & Black Vest on a mild October evening to complete the annual ritual of commencing the Bonfire Parade.

The brave souls that put their lives on the line to promote the club were Simon Weatherly, Louise Weatherly Cavill, Jon Smalldon, Neil Jeffries, Matt Edmonds, Nick Webb, Jacqueline Scott, Alison Tanner, Keith Goodsell, Julia James and Charles Bowley.

Their torches were lit from the beacon, high up on the East Hill. The runners  carefully light-footed their way down the steps and lit up the Old Town, cheered en route by spectators keen to get a front row seat for the upcoming procession.

The run was timed to perfection, reaching their destination at exactly 7:15 to hand over the torches, rest their weary arms and join the crowds to enjoy the main show. Fun was had by all, a great experience and one I can recommend myself if you ever get the chance to take part.

There were several races taking part at the weekend too. Sarah Marzaioli  was in Marathon mode (when is she not?) and travelled up North to tackle 26.2 miles in Yorkshire. Her time of 4:37:24 saw her finish first place in her age category and win a Gold Medal from the British Masters Athletics Federation.

Sarah pictured with Roger from Havant Runners.

10 Hastings Runners headed along the coast to compete in the Great South Run. Darren Barzee produced a superb performance to finish the 10 miles around the streets of Portsmouth in 1:05:15, a new PB (finish times not chip times). That was good enough for 264th place out of a field of over 8,000 runners.

It’s fantastic to see Graeme Grass back running and in fine form, crossing the line in 1:14:38 (finish time). There were PBs for Michael Norris (1:15:13), Susan Rae (1:15:20),  Krista Barzee (1:38:17) and Michelle Krombholz (1:43:21). Susan finished 2nd in her age category, but suspicions have been raised after some private detective work, that the winner may not actually exist.

Kirsta Barzee, Darren Barzee, Susan Rae, Michael Norris

Also in action on Sunday morning in the Great South Run were Dave King (1:16:37), Paul Wadham (1:32:59), Krista Barzee (1:38:17), Sharon Wadham (1:38:18), Sarah Holmes (1:41:56) and Hayley Ranson (1:49:09).

Paul Wadham, Sharon Wadham, Graeme Grass

Neil Jeffries and Chris Weeks chose to race the Rhinos, Baboons, Lions, Tapirs, Bisons, Gorillas and all creatures great and small in the Port Lympne Run Wild 10k. The course was very hilly with some twists and turns, adding over 5 minutes on normal 10k race times. Neil swung round the course in 51:37 to claim 1st place in the Mv60 category. Chris finished in 1:04:56 and he continues to work his way back from injury.

Monday saw the first ever Track Races. To ensure a fair chance for all, a handicap system was adopted and there were 3 different events. Simon Weatherly claimed the men’s race over 3,000km, maintaining his lead throughout. New member Andy Lancaster took the 2nd Race over 2,000 meters. Finally, after waiting patiently in the pouring rain, the ladies took their turn to compete in an exhilarating 3km race which was won by Gilda D Silva, pulling away from Marie Appleton with just 200 meters to go.

Gilda D Silva, Simon Weatherly, Andy Lancaster

This weekend is the Woodchurch 5 mile and 10 mile on Sunday. A Club Championship race which I know nothing about apart from it’s somewhere near Ashford and has a hill or two.

How can you not be inspired? Nearly two dozen Hastings Runners took part in the London Marathon this weekend. 7 made the trip to the Capital to join in the masses, soak up the atmosphere and run past some of London’s most iconic landmarks.

Over £14,000 was raised for some incredible charities, including £5,000 for St.Michael’s Hospice. Well done to Jessica Cull and Eleanor Wood for their fundraising activities for such a great cause.

Alison Anderson may have been slightly underwhelmed by her performance, but that pales into insignificance with the £3700 she raised for the Place2Be charity, helping Children with Mental Health issues in Schools.

Sarah Marzaioli completed “another” (her words, not mine) London Marathon and was part of the Abbott World Marathon Masters group. They were sent off early, treated much like the Elite Runners and rightly so. Sarah clocked the 4th quickest time among Hastings Runners at the weekend.

I can only assume Luke Evans is related to the BBC Producer, or he paid him off. Luke was spotted several times on the gogglebox, often with his arm raised high in the air, almost as if he knew the precise moment the cameras were going to be on him. Coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

Hayley Ranson is raising money for the British Heart Foundation and taking part in a trilogy of races. She has now completed the Great North Run, the London Marathon and will be running the Great South Run in a few weeks time. So far she has raised nearly £650 towards her £1000 target.

Sarah Bendle knocked 14 minutes off her previous best Marathon time to complete the course in the capital in 4:14. In the process she raised over £2000 for the charity Shelter.

Sarah Holmes continued her excellent year of endurance running, adding the official London Marathon to her Race to the Stones 100k earlier this summer.

Tim Jury completed his 60th Marathon, raising over £3000 for Farm Africa, a charity close to his heart and one he has supported for many years through his running adventures. Alongside good friends Mickey Johnson and Cassandra Colvin, they tackled two off road loops, starting from Tim’s farm in Pett and embracing the wonderful countryside around Fairlight, Icklesham, Winchelsea and Rye.

Tim announced his retirement from running after the weekend and the club would like to thank him for all the hard work and time he has dedicated to Hastings Runners in recent years. We hope to still see you around Tim.

Patience Cooper also choose an entirely off road route and was 181st overall in her age category from both the main & virtual event.

Closer to home Sally Grainger, Stuart Woolford, Sue Wilkinson and Rob Thomas ran from Hellingly to Hastings to complete the Virtual Race. Nina Lambrou, Jacqueline Mannering, Annette Fry and Nigel Thornley did a loop around Hastings, Crowhurst and Bexhill to cover the 26.2 miles.

Emily Allchurch completed the 26.2 miles in just over 4 hours and has raised close to £2000 for the charity Grief Encounter. They help children and young people support following the death of a loved one. See the link to the fundraising pages at the bottom of this article.

Deanne Smith, Victoria Sims, Emma Stubbs and Eleanor Swaine all took in the local delights to complete the challenge, with big smiles on their faces and no doubt inspiring those en route to take up this fabulous hobby of ours.

This isn’t an event to get caught up in times, instead click one of the links below and add to the amazing tally that our members have already contributed, to such worthwhile causes.

Links to the Fundraising Pages

Tim Jury – Farm Africa 

Jessica Cull – St.Michaels Hospice

Eleanor Wood – St.Michaels Hospice

Alison Anderson – Place2Be 

Hayley Ranson – British Heart Foundation

Emily Allchurch – Grief Encounter

Congratulations to all who ran the Hastings Seafront 10k on Sunday 3 October – a grey and cool day, but dry and with a southerly breeze rather than a typical headwind on the west-bound outward 5k from the Hastings & Saint Leonards Angling Association to the turn just beyond the blue footbridge over the railway line at Bulverhythe.

Many thanks to weather gods, then – and more importantly to the Hastings Runners who helped staff the event and/or turned up to cheer on the runners. Race organisers Running And Riding did the timings manually, so we had to wait for them to formally publish the results, but they made excellent reading when they did appear online.

We already knew, of course, that Will Withecombe had won. No mean feat on any day, but even more impressive for those among us who, having noted him disappearing into the distance at the start, didn’t catch another glimpse of him until after he had turned and was heading for home. When I saw him, he was at the front of a pack of mostly red, or blue-and-red tops, all eager to catch and pass him. They never did.

Afterwards, the second-placed South London Harrier admitted that no matter what he thought he might have had “in his tank”, he could tell the man in green and black had more. Superb running, then, from a hirsute man who may look like he’d be more at home at a Black Sabbath Convention, but in reality runs as if he were escaping one.

For the three HR stalwarts a little further behind Will, the glories were just as notable. Congratulations to the next three over the line – Darren Barzee, Kevin Blowers and our fastest woman on the day, Claire Thomas. In this race, commendably, the team prize is awarded to the fastest three men and one woman. That went to Hastings AC, but our first four were just pipped by good placings for AC’s second and third men.

Yet what makes Hastings Runners a truly great club is its wide range of abilities and aspirations. It’s never just about positions and times. It’s about the support every one of us gives to others. While her partner James Graham was lining up the post-race Jaffa Cakes and drinks, Catherine Southgate was heading towards him empowered by the cheery waves and supportive shouts of fellow Hastings Runners who had passed her after their turn.

Well done, too, to Henry Worthington who – having just passed the Parkrun start on his way west – I saw take a few seconds to stop and watch the fitness class in action by The Bathing Hut Cafe. At the finish line his thoughts turned instantly to his next race as he asked about the Tonbridge Half in seven days time. Dedication everywhere you look…

Hastings Seafront 10k Results_HR only

If they’d told us in advance that there were free jelly babies at the end, I might have run faster. The first male and female Hastings Runners home at the inaugural Great Northiam Run 10k, though, needed no such motivation… Many congratulations to HR stars Kieran Price (third overall in a time of 41 minutes 36 seconds) and Susan Rae (second female, first in age category and 15th overall in 49 minutes and 25 seconds).

The event was a logistically simpler replacement for the Northiam to Bodiam Castle point-to-point. Think of it as a Northiam hill-to-hill via Ewhurst Green (171m ascent). The Race Director was Eric Hardwick MBE – Mr Hastings Half Marathon, so no stranger to making people run up hills – who was overheard admitting to Kieran in advance of the start that the course was “er, a bit harder” than its predecessor.

Nick Brown – who took pictures at the 2k/8k point – put it more matter-of-factly: “A tough course with some severe climbs.” But hey, we’re from Hastings so we know all about that, right?

Kieran and Susan were followed to the finish line by the alphabetically arranged Determined Dozen of Krista Barzee, Patrick Bermingham, Louise Cavill, Richard Cross, Bill Edmondson, new recruit Robert Gagyi, James Graham, Ian Lee, Catherine Southgate, Simon Weatherly, David Witcombe, Jan Young… and yours truly.

With 14 tops to be seen, Hastings Runners was easily the best represented club in the field of 87 – a fact which helped us pick up both the male and female team awards.

10K is never enough for our 100 Marathon Club representative Sarah Marzaioli who completed the Hampton Court Palace Half Marathon in 2:10:47.  Sarah described it as a “great race” which started and finished in the Palace grounds.

The Great Northiam Run was the 11th of 19 races in the 2021 Hasting Runners Club Championship race calendar. The 12th is next Sunday: the 11-and-a-bit-mile Rye to Hastings.

Neil Jeffries

Northiam 10K Race Results

As the summer draws to a close and the nights draw in, the Green & Black army were out in force at the weekend. From the 5K Rye Summer Series on Friday, to the Brighton Marathon on Sunday. The challenges may have been hugely different, but the one constant was the Hastings Runners vest, worn with pride and style.

Rye Harbour was the destination on Friday evening for the final event of the Summer Series. A 5k dash out towards the Nature Reserve and back to the finish in front of the Sailing Club. Battling an on-going calf injury, Will Withecombe put up a brave fight to finish in 4th place in a time of 18:27.

Hastings Runners at Rye 5K Summer Series.

Kieran Price continued his fine summer with yet another PB, crossing the line in an excellent time of 19:08 and 7th place overall. Claire Thomas was the 1st female Hastings Runner to finish, clocking another impressive 5K time of 21:09. There were personal bests for the racing machine Nicola Steed (21:56), the PB queen herself, Susan Rae (22:06), karaoke king Michael Norris (21:06) and newly promoted top group track star, Simon Weatherly (23:27).

A different breed of runner headed to Rye just over 36 hours later to tackle the Rye Ancient Trails. I was fortunate enough to participate in this event myself and it was a superb route, linking the Norman churches of Rye, Iden, Beckley, Northiam and Peasmarsh. We ran through vineyards, woodland, footpaths, trails and quiet country lanes. Some of our very own club members were on hand to help out the flawless organisation by Nice Work and Running Forever, offering encouragement and refreshments to those of us taking part.

Simon Linklater at Rye Ancient Trails 30K.

In the 15K race Simon Newstead came home in 7th place in an impressive time of 1:12:29. Despite a less than ideal preparation the previous night, Kevin Blowers smashed it with a time of 1:20:33 to claim 1st place in his Age Category. In the 30K event I was delighted to cross the line in 2:50:23 and a finishing position of 32nd. Hot on my heels and 2nd in her age category was Sally Grainger, comfortably under the 3 hour mark, by a whole 2 seconds, nicely timed Sally.

50 miles along the coast a select group of Hastings Runners completed an additional 10k to finish the Brighton Marathon. It was great to see Jamie Kennedy back in his Green & Black vest, sneaking under the 4 hour mark. Matt Smith, Rob Thomas, James Graham, Lewis Wadham and Lily Share also took on the course, which due to a misplaced cone at a turnaround point, was 600 meters too long. Oops.

Lily Share at Brighton Marathon. Photo by Sharon Wadham.

In slightly cooler temperatures Marie Appleton and Danny Firth both completed the Great North Run. Results from those two events are hard to filter by club, so if I have missed anyone out, please let me know.

Race Results from the Rye 5K and 15/30K Rye Ancient Trails