Looking back at my December 2020 handicap write up I signed off with this statement;

Lets all hope that 2021 brings a return to pre COVID life, as vaccinations roll out and consequently life is much safer for us all.

After the inevitable postponement and ultimately cancellation of the OSR Club Championships for 2020, it was great to be back, after a 2 1/2 year hiatus.

As usual, the rules are pretty simple, turn up at any parkrun, run as fast as you can and see how you get on. Prizes for fastest man, fastest woman, WAVA man, WAVA woman and most improved from the last club championships.

On Sunday 3rd October, 8 OS Runners ran 26.22 miles around London, all were taken part in the 40th London marathon (41 really, but 2020 was virtual unless you were an ‘elite’ – world class – athlete)

All have been training incredibly hard throughout the summer – running super long distances, eating healthily, drinking less (maybe?) so they have earned the right to brag a little about their achievements.

With several (much) longer races coming up for OS Runners, I was expecting a diminished field for the September handicap, so was pleasantly surprised that we had 16 runners, including first timers Claire Howson, Matt Mundy and first timer to the Explorer House loop, Magdalena Low.

August 2021 Handicap results and write up.

Fewer attendees this month due to lots of the OS Runners team being on their Great British Summer holidays.  Matt was taking a trip around Great Britain on his bicycle starting from Lands End and finishing at John o’ Groats.  What an achievement – congratulations Matt!  Helen did her run post-holiday break and cycling back from the New forest.  This proves she has endurance and stamina, to be able to do any form of exercise after a night of camping.

There are seven OS runners who are doing Marathon training, therefore a few were unable to fit in the handicap due to the love/hate priority of the long distance endurance training at the weekends. Energy and legs have to be saved!  Karen still had the strength to fit in her handicap alongside new entrant Matt King who did his first virtual OS 5k handicap in an impressive time of 18:32.  We also had two new PBs Jon 20:45 an astonishing 1 minute and 13s faster than his previous PB. Jon was very happy with his PB even though he suffered from a stitch around the 1.8 mile mark and tailed off too early!  Just maybe the stitch worked wonders and pushed him past the finishing line faster than expected.   Well done to Peter who’s running plateaued during lockdown despite running regularly three times a week. Additionally Peter had Covid last January who said ‘it has been a struggle to get back to any kind of form, this was the first time I felt back to normal and I was very focused and it was a good run for me!’ Peters focus got him a new PB at 30:29 being 7 seconds faster than his previous.

All the runs were virtual from across the fields of Southampton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth. Viv mixed up her route which included part of old and new OS handicap routes. Loving the hills, there’s a downhill for every uphill! Kevin did a painful solo, which left Naomi and James to run in Bournemouth separately this month. It reminded Kevin why he never runs this distance normally – too short, too fast, too breathless and never warmed up enough!!  Wes did a park run with his little boy in an incredible 30m 11s.  Baz did his virtual handicap at an airfield in a great time of 27m 54s. Neil is doing a fantastic job of keeping up his running and being a committed member of OS Runners even though he is loving retirement alongside gardening, reading and grandparent duties.

Unfortunately Mark Stileman couldn’t attend due to recovering from injury. Get better soon Mark!  Hope to see you in September for another OS Handicap along with Matt (who has now recovered from injury) and as many other OS Runners.

Now for the official results…

Thanks for reading,

Jo.