CSSC 10k 2019

The Civil Service Sports Council are our biggest financial sponsor, contributing most of the money (£1,500-£2,000) we need each year to keep OS Runners running and do all the various activities we undertake such as Sports Day, Club Champs awards, kit subsidies etc.

The Annual 10k race (which is actually a bit more like 10.2k) round the former Olympic Park in East London is probably their biggest running event and OS always have a great turnout – this year 16 of us took part, making up ~ 9% of the field – not bad for a relatively small organisation in Southampton.

Having come away with quite a few medals last year, we were hopeful of achieving a similar level of success this year, but I don’t think anyone anticipated what transpired …

In the Velodrome before, hopefully Jon and Tony have made up since this picture (you could get a bus through that gap)
Continue reading →

30 minute challenge

It was a small, but fairly elite field for today’s 30 minute challenge, which resulted in the highest ever average distance covered – 6.85km, beating the previous best of 6.73km from 20 September 2018.

It was a new route today, beginners loop with the bottom end of the handicap. Its 2.5 round the loop and back to start, so 5 miles if you complete it, which so very nearly happened

Continue reading →

OSR Club Championships 2019

For the 5th year running, OSR Club Championships have taken place at parkrun (any parkrun) on a Saturday in May.  Most people tend to run at Southampton, but in all we had 17 different events with an OS Runner in their results.

There are several prizes up for grabs – Fastest Male, Fastest Female, WAVA Male, WAVA Female and Most Improved, all of which are keenly fought over and tend to result in a bit more effort being expended than on a usual Saturday, even for those who are unlikely to be winning a trophy – as its a nice benchmark of your improvement (or not!) over the last 12 months.  The Club Champs also mark the culmination of the Participation Award year.

Southampton contingent
Continue reading →

London Marathon 2019 (+ bonus Milton Keynes Marathon) write ups

OS Runners was fortunate to have 3 runners in the London Marathon 2019; and they’d obtain their places via different routes;

  1. James was successful in the club ballot
  2. Karen had run a Good for Age time previously
  3. Kat was successful in the general ballot

On Saturday they all met up at the Expo to collect race numbers

Kat and Karen = massively excited, James = hiding his excitment
Continue reading →

Combe Gibbet

The Combe Gibbet is one of those races that’s been around since we were all but a twinkle in our parents eyes.  It’s a 16 mile cross country which starts from the hangman’s cross at Combe Gibbet on the North Wessex Downs and finishes in Overton.  Most of the run is on mud, trail, unmade farm tracks, with around 2km on tarmac

It was erected in 1676 for the purpose of gibbeting the bodies of George Broomham and Dorothy Newman, left in place as a deterrence to others
Continue reading →