August 2019 Handicap

This is a very special write up for me. Yesterday marked the last handicap that I will probably ever run with the OS Runners. Although, never say never! The OS Runners have been a huge part of my life here in Southampton. Whilst I always ran a little bit, it wasn’t until I joined this club that I really fell in love with this sport. Not only have you all contributed to that, but you were also a big part of my social life here and always encouraged me to try harder and go bigger. So before I go into all things Handicap, I just wanted to extend a big thank you to everyone for this! Organising the handicaps has been one of my responsibilities as part of the committee for some 18 months, so this really was a double whammy emotional run for me. So I wish the next person taking this over the best of luck! 🙂

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Mile of Miles

Thank you to OS new joiner, Priya Ramiah for this write up

So, I ran my first Mile of Miles on 26th June this year and it definitely got me thinking! What an amazing turnout it was, seeing so many running clubs and teams from across Hampshire and even Wiltshire, all consisting of various ages and abilities. The Sports Centre was buzzing with energy and team spirit was high in both OS teams! Having not participated in any track running for a good 20 years, I can honestly say that this was the perfect opportunity to feel like Dame Kelly Holmes for 7 minutes and 49 minutes – albeit a much slower version! As someone with a limited lung capacity, I try to push myself through exercise every day, but I was slightly dubious about attempting to run my fastest mile in what I misconstrued as being a very competitive environment. Although of course competition is the catalyst, it certainly didn’t feel that way. Everyone was so friendly, warm and encouraging. My fellow runners were there cheering and spurring me on as I passed them at every lap and the time flew by. It’s inspired me to attempt more track running and think more carefully about my pace – it’s very easy to just consider this to be just one mile consisting of 4 laps, but it actually helps you to stop, think and plan your strategy. Hopefully I can beat my time next year, but even if I don’t, I had so much fun just participating! Channelling Phil from Location, Location, Location, I’ll be reminding myself of Pace, Pace, Pace!

Lordshill 10k

Taking part in his first ever 10k race, thanks to Sam Newman (Baz’s oldest) for the write up

I signed up to Lordshill 10k on the premise of raising funds for my rugby tour to South Africa in 2020. I believed at first that it would be difficult as it would be my first 10k; I was extremely wrong. I had my breakfast, one bowl of cheerios. I got dressed into my OS runners top and waited for my dad to get ready. I thought that I wouldn’t be nervous as I was excited to go but I was.

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Wayfarers 100k Ultra

By Karen Connell

The Wayfarers 100k Ultra was my 2nd ultramarathon and my 2nd ultramarathon win (dammit, why can’t I be good at something that isn’t sooo hard)! Having completed 90k at Lemur Loop, a 12 hour ultra distance challenge, back in November, the concept of running 100km wasn’t too insane for me, and it seemed to follow on nicely from the recent London Marathon. But actually, looking back, double marathon plus 10 miles is in fact pretty insane!!

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