PRESS Reports

Chris Poole travelled 250 miles north to take part in a 100-mile non-stop running event.
The event called Robin Hood 100 takes place in and around the beautiful Sherwood Forest.
Seventy -seven runners towed the line in the village of South Wheatley Saturday for an 8am start.
Chris ran the first twenty miles that followed the Chesterfield Canal sticking to his pre-planned pace of five miles every hour on a beautiful mild morning.
However a long term hip cartilage tear injury that has pain that comes and goes flared up and reduced Chris to walking for a couple of miles to reach the forest loop aid station at twenty two miles.
The next thirty miles were a loop in and around the forest until reaching the fifty two mile half way point and darkness fail. Time for some refuelling back at the forest loop aid station with ultra-runners’ favourite, pot noddle and soup. Also, time for foot maintenance checking for any blisters and in Chris’s case an ankle that was starting to balloon due to the limping run he was having to do.
Back out onto the trail to do the thirty-mile loop again. At this point Chris had dropped back down the field of runners and the next twenty miles were incredibly painful and very sensory deprived. Total darkness in the forest with just a head-touch lighting the way. Pretty much reduced to running short sections and then limp walking again. Chris lowest point then occurred at seventy miles, having been on the move for seventeen hours and in pain for much of it he feels asleep whist walking and hit the trail face down. Chris had not seen anyone for over four hours and was as he put it, a point of despair and utter pain in his hip, ankle and also a head injury sustained a few days before the race. He just sat there for a while trying to find a way to get moving again. After a while, a light of another runner slowly made its way to Chris. This runner was also feeling exhausted and was glad to see another human. A brief chat and he was off but that short, shared comradery helped Chris get back onto his feet. The next ten miles were endless and at one point he just laid on the trail to get five minutes shut eye. Dawn slowly pierced through the thick canopy of trees and ended eleven hours of darkness.
Back into forest loop aid station for the last time and an evaluation of the situation. The comfortable thirty hour cut off to finish was now looking like Chris would be timed out. Lots of chats with marshals and timekeepers plus examine the points of pain followed. Deciding although in a lot of pain he did not feel like anything of lasting damage was taking place, so the decision was to carry on and try to beat the cut of time. Now ultra-runners go through what some call the pain cave on most races, your rarely run past twenty miles without something hurting, just the body trying to tell the mind to stop running. Chris described it like this, I put all the pain into a box and closed the lid, I will carry it but its not me right now.
So, a slow departure from the aid station which then turned into a jog and finally a run a chris still does not know how ran the next fifteen miles nearly as good as his first fifteen the day before to make it to ninety-seven miles. Finally, the body started winning the war and it was back to walk/run until mile one hundred. Knowing he could make the cut of walked the last four miles to the finish pretty much dragging his leg.
Arriving back at South Wheatley village hall and applause from other runners and family Chris crossed and was held up, pretty incoherent at this point all he kept saying was can I stop now.
After receiving some checks, taking on some food and drink Chris said he slowly entered civey life again. After a shower and few hours’ sleep back at the hotel Chris even managed to get a celebration pint!
Final finish time was twenty-eight hours and forty minutes so safely with in the thirty hours.
Seventy-seven runners began, fifty-seven completed the race. Although the ankle remained swollen for some days after no long-term damage was done and Chris has added yet another 100-mile race to his long list of ultra-marathons completed.

Nine of the club headed down to Exeter to take part in a mixed terrain eight hour race, The celebration Caper consisted of a 3.5 mile loop which you could choose to run as many times as you like. These events are great and getting people to achieve personal best distance.
Stage at the Double Locks pub on a blistering hot day over 200 runners set off.
As usual Jolly Running, the event organises did not disappoint. Fantastically well organised event enjoyed by all... well most!

Our team results
Louse Lowey and Daniel Roger 3 loops. Louise was also in action at parkrun for a 5km before this race and again on sunday at Bridgwater for a 10k. Daniels first race and a personal best distance.
Denise Poole, Laura Bright-Simmons, Claire Rodger and Jan Olive 4 loops. Denise helped Laura complete her first event and also personal best distance. Claire used this as a great training run to keep her milage up and Jan achieved a personal best distance.
Erin, Chris and Sara 5 loops. Erin, no stranger to long distance running had a great 5 loops. Chris and Sara used the run as part of marathon training and work the 5 loops perfectly into their plan.
All were rewarded with a race medal, bottle of prosecco and a head gear buffs.
Special mention to Helen and John for manning the pit stop and great support as always, thank you.

Photo: left to right, Louse Lowey, Jan Olive, Claire Roger, Erin Black, Denise Poole, Daniel Roger, Sarah Hart Hiby, Laura Bright-Simmons, Chris Higby.

Sunday, Vince Reed took to the streets of Plymouth for a half marathon. Runners were encouraged to wear green as a tribute to the recent victims of tragic stabbings. Vince join thousands that enjoyed the surprisingly hilly road closed event. Large crowds turned out to cheers everyone along. A great finish time of 2:18 was a real achievement as Vince has only recently re-started running after a lengthy break. Well done and great to have you back!

Over at Bridgwater half marathon Luke Merchant had a personal best time in his sights over this flat and fast course. His ankle had other ideas though as a recent tendon damage had not settled down as much as he had hope so a few walking breaks were required. However Luke still managed a fantastic finish time of 2hrs and 50 seconds. We know Luke is disappointed with this finish time but two hours is not and easy time for a half by most people standards. Let the ankle settle down Luke and your soon be on fire again.

Denise Poole and Claire Rodger finally took part in last Sundays London Landmarks Half Marathon. Due to the pandemic the event had been postponed and moved dates many times but last Sunday sore eleven thousand runners take park on a beautiful sunny day.
Following the global Covid-19 pandemic, the event was re-themed to celebrate, commemorate and reflect upon the landmark moments of 2020 and 2021. With many groups and displays reflecting lockdown life, key workers, unseen acts of kindness plus many more their was plenty to take you mind of the running.
The route starting in Trafalgar squire and finishing by Downing street in central London, taking in sites such as the Nelson Column, the tower of London, the London eye and many many more.
Their were bands and singing groups at what seemed like every corner meant Denise and Claire ran, skipped, laughed and danced their way around the route watch by many thousands of cheering crowds.
It was less about finishing times and more about enjoying a wonderful day supported by many volunteers and perhaps a sign we are getting back to a more normal life.
The whole event was also themed around the charity Tommy's who are the UK's leading pregnancy charity and exists to support every baby. Claire and Denise raised nearly one thousand pounds between them to help this amazing charity. If you would like to find out more information or make a donation please visit. https://www.tommys.org/
Well done Ladies, you were amazing!.

Luke Merchant of Wellington Running Club joined 275 other runners to take part in the Exeter Half Marathon. The event took place on Sunday 27th June, starting at 9am. The route started and finished at Exeter’s Historic Quayside. Following the picturesque footpaths and cycle ways along the River Exe and Exeter Canal within the heart of Exeter. As is now common in race starts, the runners were started in small group waves. Luke, a very seasoned and fast runner was soon into his stride and ran at an overall pace of 8:34 per mile and a finish time of 1:52 over the 13.1 miles. Not Luke fastest but a great finish time and one to build on as we all get used to entering running events again. Well done “Merch” as we know him.

Last Saturday morning at 7:10 Wellington running club member lined up with many others at Goodwood Racecourse for the beginning of the Race to the King ultra-marathon. A non-stop double marathon of 54 miles traveling along parts of the south downs way and finishing at Winchester. The race was going way into the unknown distance wise for Louise and she really didn’t know how her body would respond. Turns out that a double marathon is a lot more than double the effort and pain of a single marathon. Getting through the first 26.2 miles in a respectable 6 hrs 15 minutes, Louise was really pleased with how things were going. After that thing got more painful and more difficult. Back spasms ended any hopes of a similar time for the second 26.2 miles. And the run/walk turned into a brisk walk/walk. Once she reached 40 miles there was no doubting that Louise could suck up the pain and finish. And finish she did. 15 hours and 30 minutes after the start line, an epic finish funnel set up right in front of Winchester Cathedral. At just over 54 miles it was her longest distance to date by almost 20 miles. Apart from the back issues all other aspects were judged well - the aid stations were very well stocked, so nutrition was spot on, no major blisters or chafing to deal with, and no injuries aside from the very understandable achy legs and feet on Sunday. Which is very pleasing. Louise took a huge amount of inspiration from Chris Poole and his mammoth effort the weekend before on his 100-mile race. When I was broken and almost finished at mile 50, I thought of Chris, and how he would have only been halfway!!! It helped me enormously. Well done, Loise, an amazing race day and congratulations.

100-mile run Chris Poole completed a non-stop 100-mile foot race along the entire length of the South down’s way on Saturday and Sunday. The event starts in Winchester and winds its way east to finish in Eastbourne. The chalk ridgeway trails boast over 13,000 foot of huge rolling hills to be traversed within a 30-hour cut-off time. The lead up to this race and had been 18 months of major injury for Chris who even now is nursing a tear to his hip cartilage and associated pelvis inflammation. Training was compacted into about 12 weeks of sometimes intense running aided by gym, pool and cycle workouts. With a rolling start Chris set of at 5am into what was already a warm morning. Having only been running a short time a stone distance marker on the side of the road read. Eastbourne 96miles, that a hard thing to deal with, an unfathomable to distance to cover on foot let along if you were driving that far. Twenty miles passed by in four hours at an easy pace. Chris at this point meet up with a fellow ultrarunner he had known from other events. Ultrarunning is quite a small affair with many runners meeting time and again. Lucy was feeling very nervous about the night section and navigation plus was already starting to feel nauseous. They travelled the next ten miles in easy flow and completely reworking their pre-planned finish times and schedule. Chris had by now felt he needed to help Lucy on as far as possible. It was agreed to slow things down and grab some rest in the sparce shade when possible. At 35 miles what they described as heaven came into view, a café in the middle of nowhere selling ice creams and cold drinks. Callepo and ice-cold apple juice was so welcome. Much to the amusement of patrons a steady trail of exhausted runners queued up like excited children to get their lolly’s. As predicted the completely exposed ridgeway had turned into what Chris described as a furnace. From 9am temperature steadily increase to a staggering 40 degrees as recorded on a runner’s gage. The heat was compounded by the chalk trail reflection. From 4pm to 6pm the heat really took its toll on runners with many having to pull out of the race, some requiring medical treatment including at least two rushes to hospital. Find toll of runners not finishing was a huge 33%. Onto into the night they continued, aided by food stations approximately every 10 miles where much needed resupply of water and snacks were available. Lucy had been feeling nauseous most of the day with Chris trying to get her to keep drinking and eating and at times simply sit down and rest to lower her heart rate. Darkness fell at about 11.30 and the heat simply changed from intense to what felt like a pressure cooker. At some point this finally got to Chris and intense vomiting followed for a while. The next 4-5 hours was simply getting your head down and grinding out the miles to an awesome sunrise at about 4.30. Moods lifted and thankfully a strange low cloud a period of cooler temperatures. Pushing on to 86 miles and again blasting sunshine Lucy and Chris parted ways. At some point runners need to run their own race and much as it had been fantastic to share 65 miles Chris was confident Lucy was able to make the last 14 miles on her own pace. With an emotional see you at the finish line Chris cranked up the pace, two aid stations were ignored apart from chucking water over his head. 97 miles done and at the apex of the last hill the town of Eastbourne came into sight. An un-runnable gully down of the ridge way finally joined tarmac where Chris ran his fastest miles of the race. Entering the sports complex and traveling around the 400m running track was hugely emotional with woops and cheers from the crowd. Chris crossed to line in a finish time of 28 hours and 44 minutes. Not the time planed but fast enough to win the converted 100 milers finishers buckle. Lucy finished a little while later and cheered in by Chris. Chris and Lucy enjoyed cold drinks, food and finally taking their shoes off as they watched the other finishers arrive. Trying to take in the journey they had been on.
It’s hard to put into words how anyone can find enjoyment in so much suffering but if was easy everyone would do it.

Twenty-three incredibly happy runners joined us on Monday evening for the much-anticipated relaxing of covid restrictions and finally a “club night”. Once again, we could meet up in bubbles of six runners. What a mad 14 months stop start stop start. What a fantastic sunny evening for some of our club members to meet up again. We have had so many months of virtual events, but nothing beats the enjoyment of running with other people. As usual plenty of banter and laughs along the way with all groups running for about an hour and 4 -7 miles. We look forward to further group ruins on bubble until the day we are all praying for when full restrictions are lifted. If any body wish to join us check out our web site where most questions can be answered. www.wellingtonrunningclub.com Until bubbles are relaxed, we cannot offer all our normal groups but will try to accommodate people into the makeshift groups we are operating.

Due to the current covid restrictions Wellington running club could not organize their regular annual charity event.
With that in mind the club asked its members to do a fancy-dress run and donate what ever they could afford.
It was decided however to help families closer to home rather than the national fund raiser. A few member had heard of the amazing work the Green Dragon were doing in discreetly helping to feed local families who were struggling. Feeding families has now been going for over a year and currently assisting over 30 families. If you can donate any money they would be most grateful.
So on Friday some club members donned their fancy dress outfits and hit the pavements. Those they didn't run still donated. Special mention to Kathy Millington for her fundraising.
Overall the club donated just over £280.00

Wellington running club took on another virtual challenge last week. A list of items to find over seven days of running/walking was drawn up. Sixty items in total to find and photo. Items were as varied as a weather vain, flags, speedboat, pink car, post-person etc.
Many club members used the half term to go on the hunt with children which was great to see. Hundreds of photos filled our Facebook feed of all manor of finds.
Out of all the people taking part six managed to locate all items. Clarie Justice, Denise Poole, Donna Butterflies, Erin Black, Louise Mills and Tanya Downes. All received a fun prize. Claire received best photo and Denise best album.

Wellington running club members don't let a simple thing like floods get in the way of their run. The recent downpours created lots of opportunities to get our feet wet especially at Nynhead. Never ones to miss a photo opportunity our runners shared some fantastic photos much to the amusement of the club. Well done to the webbed feet club.
We continue to have solo runs or pairs and running from home. We welcome new members of all abilities and look forward to being able to restart our group bubbles of six runners before eventually our normal groups.

On the 23rd of January Wellington Running Club endeavoured to get as many people active at the same time be it running or walking. 10am was the mass virtual start to run/walk from a mile to any distance. The premise was simple; Lace up some trainers and go out and run A MILE. It maybe the first mile some of you have run but just do it. It could be the start of a life of running to you folks that don't run. Set any challenge you like, maybe you fastest mile. Maybe a backward run as so many loved that before. A walking mile even to any injured folks. Whatever just do it just join us and smile as you go. Please run or walk from your home or workplace if possible to avoid unnecessary travel. 
We had so many people join in and this list is just a sample. 
Well done members of "the all blacks". Charlie Booker . Vince Reed . Karen Reed. Claire Barclay. Richard Edge.Lucy Johnson. Julie Strange. Tanya Downs. Rodney Lockyer. Becky Little. Shelia Colman. Frank Coleman. Sophie Ellen. Graham Bowpitt. Jeremy Walters. Sam Walters. Paul Booker. Ayshea Carpenter. Taboo Jane. Agnies Zka. Jan Olive. Denise Poole. Maggie Mac Kinnon. Lucy Ford. Chris Poole. Jo Supple. Mel Ellis. Penny Hartwell. Claire Justice. Donna Butterflies. Luke Merchant. Louise Lowery. Rosie B. Hanif Rahaman. Sara Higby. Chris Higby. Lucy Ford. Louise Mills. Hazel Sims. Kirsty Harris. Claire Rodger & archie. Lesley Watkins. Anna Jeffery. Simon Denson. Debra Abel. Stephen Lee.

Wellington running club put on a socially distanced timed running event on Wednesday 30^th of December. The weather gods were on our side with a break in the rain allowed for a dry but bitterly cold day  Sixty runners from different running clubs in the area were started in groups of six people at one-minute intervals to insure everyone was kept apart and safe. The runners faced a very hilly route around the country lanes of Wellington. Most heard comment at the finish “how can you have that many hills in just six miles”. The route started in the playing field area of the park and headed out to Langford Budville, then to Holywell lake and retuning back via Westford and the Basons First gent home was Dean Bennett in a incredible time of 41:19. First lady home was Joanne Carritt in an equally impressive time of 47:18. Well done to them both. All runners were rewarded for the efforts by collecting pre-packed goodie bags containing the all-important medal, a mince pie, sweets and water. None of the normal hugs and high fives but plenty of smiles. All said it was tremendous way to finish what we all know to be one of the strangest years of our lives. Event organiser Chris Poole would like to thank all that took part and the all-important marshals for help on the day. It is hope the event will return again next year when we can open the entry to larger numbers plus a ten mile race. Results.