RNR - Race Reports    2004 to 2007

 

THE BIRKETTS ROUND NORFOLK RELAY 17th/18th SEPTEMBER 2011

RNR 2011 PHOTOGRAPHS

On the weekend of 17th & 18th September Ely Runners took 2 teams to the 25th anniversary of the Round Norfolk Relay. This event is a 195 mile, 17 stage relay, starting and finishing at Lynnsport Kings Lynn. The object of the relay is for each team to finish at 9.30 am on the Sunday morning, and depending how quick your team can complete the course determines what time you start. Ely Runners A Team led by Alan Rutterford became favourites on estimated time starting last at midday on Saturday, with Ely Runners B Team led by Simon Jackson starting 6 hours earlier at 6am.

There were 57 teams with the first teams starting at 5.30am. The event starts at Kings Lynn and travels to Hunstanton, Burnham Overy,Wells, Cley, Cromer, Mundesley, Lessingham, Horsey and Great Yarmouth before heading inland to Bungay, Scole, Thetford, Feltwell, Wissington, Downham Market, Stowbridge and back to Kings Lynn. The stages are mainly multi terrain during the day and road at night. During the day the runners are escorted by cycle where possible and at night by a minibus with flashing lights. Alan Rutterford had led the A team to 3rd 3 times and 2nd the last 3 years and was hoping this would be the year for victory, but they were piped to the post by less than 4 minutes into second again, with the B team finishing 46th/57 teams also the same as last year. The A team were an impressive 30 minutes ahead of last year’s time in 20.45.18 and the B team were also 8 minutes ahead of last year’s time in 27.06.08. The A team came home with an incredible haul of silverware including 2nd overall, the Open Category winners, ARC Relay Championships winners, 1st out of Norfolk Club and stage wins for Gary Wilberforce (stage 2), Craig Holgate (stage 10), Alex Tate (stage 11) and Clare Durrant (stage 17). There were also stage records for Ian Day, Craig Holgate, Alex Tate and Clare Durrant. Clare also got the best age graded score for a Senior Lady.

There was also a tremendous effort by all involved in the B team leading to them finishing in the fastest ever time for the second string. Norwich Road Runners A were the winners in 20.41.29 but were 2 hours and 18 minutes outside their predicted time which angered most teams as they should have started last with Ely A. Alan said "it was a right battle as we led from stage 1-6, then were 2nd from stages 7-10, then regained the lead from 11-12, then 2nd from 12-13, regained the lead from stages 13-16 and finally lost out on the last stage". Alan and Simon had to work out how long it would take each runner in their team to run the distance in their stage, which is quite tough. However Alan was pleased with some of his predictions, especially stage 12 being 19.67 miles where he was only 1 second out. He also had predictions of 7 seconds over 5, 7 and 11 miles which was amazing. Alan would like to thank Simon Jackson, Hannah Shiell, Julie Foreman and Mary Gates for being the Support Crew for the B team, and Emily Knight and Ellie Foster for helping with the A team. Special thanks also go to Ely members who marshalled at the Wissington changeover from 5am on a cold Sunday morning including John Glover, Darren Murfitt, Peter Harris and several others who had also run stages the day before.

Open Class Team Achievements:

2nd overall of 57 teams (4th year running)
1st in the open category
1st in the visitors cup (first club from outside Norfolk)
1st in the ARC Road Relay Championships (5th year running)

Gary Wilberforce 1st Male stage 2 winner (1.26.12 for 14.06 miles, 74.98% age grade and 6.07 m/m)
Craig Holgate 1st Male stage 10 winner; stage secord (1.57.31 for 20.06 miles, 80.52% age grade and 5.51 m/m)
Alex Tate 1st Male stage 11 winner; stage record (1.24.34 for 14.60 miles, 79.22% age grade and 5.47 m/m)
Claire Durrant 1st Female stage 17 winner; senior lady stage record (1:15.56 for 11.73 miles, 77.04% age grade and 6.28 m/m)
Claire Durrant 1st senior lady age graded 77.04%
Ian Day 1st MM (stage 3 & MM Stage Record); Peter Gipp 1st MM (stage 6) & Stephen Pettit 1st MM (stage 9)

Ely A team 2nd/54 in 20.45.18 (34:48 out on the predicted time)

Club Class Team Achievements:

Ely B team 46th/57 in 27.06.08 (31:57 out on the predicted time)

For Results by stage and overall team results see www.roundnorfolkrelay.com

2011 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS FOR TEAMS 25 (ELYB - CLUB) & TEAM 52 (ELYA - OPEN)
											IN STAGE
Team	Name	Stg	Age	Cat	Time	Team T	AG %	AG Rank	Pace	Sex	Stage Pos	Cat Pos	AG Pos	Sex Pos	Notes
ELY2	Simon Jackson	1	40	MM	2:04:20	2:04:20	64.19	481	07:23.8	M	24	15	29	23
ELY2	Charlie Barker	2	60	MM	1:56:59	4:01:19	66.18	389	08:19.2	M	41	25	22	39
ELY2	Martin Courtney	3	43	MM	0:54:23	4:55:42	48.39	949	09:26.5	M	41	15	53	26
ELY2	Chris Bower	4	41	MM	1:23:46	6:19:28	61.96	594	07:31.2	M	18	6	35	16
ELY2	Nick Dowdy	5	52	MM	1:40:29	7:59:57	54.41	870	09:17.7	M	44	21	45	37
ELY2	Hannah Shiell	6	27	LS	1:14:56	9:14:53	51.55	912	09:29.1	F	55	8	54	17
ELY2	Samantha Collins-Shirley	7	38	LM	1:17:06	10:31:59	60.27	662	08:20.6	F	42	10	43	13
ELY2	Peter Harris	8	61	MM	0:56:15	11:28:14	71.78	174	07:28.8	M	30	14	16	26
ELY2	David Mould	9	45	MM	1:21:56	12:50:10	66.20	386	07:15.0	M	23	13	26	22
ELY2	Claire Van Leersum	10	50	LM	3:30:50	16:21:00	55.29	849	10:30.6	F	57	7	53	9
ELY2	Daniel Regan	11	37	MS	1:46:27	18:07:27	63.14	550	07:17.5	M	28	15	41	28
ELY2	Emma Greaves	12	39	LM	2:58:14	21:05:41	58.32	746	09:03.7	F	54	5	50	6
ELY2	Miranda Paul	13	38	LM	1:47:17	22:52:58	63.21	545	08:05.8	F	40	3	36	5
ELY2	Lionel Smith	14	58	MM	1:04:10	23:57:08	72.21	156	07:17.5	M	30	17	16	24
ELY2	Kevin Fox	15	43	MM	0:53:52	24:51:00	61.69	607	07:28.9	M	26	11	33	23
ELY2	Heidi Uff	16	33	LS	0:39:38	25:30:38	66.28	383	07:13.2	F	17	4	20	6
ELY2	John Turner	17	66	MM	1:35:30	27:06:08	71.11	193	08:08.5	M	38	18	18	30
ELY1	John Manlow	1	43	MM	1:44:29	1:44:29	78.05	37	06:12.9	M	4	2	3	4
ELY1	Gary Wilberforce	2	25	MS	1:26:12	3:10:41	74.98	85	06:07.9	M	1	1	2	1
ELY1	Ian Day	3	42	MM	0:36:37	3:47:18	71.35	190	06:21.4	M	3	1	4	3	Stage Record
ELY1	Stephen Howard	4	47	MM	1:17:42	5:05:00	69.82	231	06:58.5	M	11	3	9	10
ELY1	John Crisp	5	40	MM	1:13:44	6:18:44	67.70	312	06:49.3	M	7	2	8	7
ELY1	Peter Gipp	6	49	MM	0:50:18	7:09:02	76.21	59	06:22.0	M	2	1	2	2
ELY1	Adam Etches	7	37	MS	1:04:53	8:13:55	63.79	511	07:01.3	M	16	6	35	14
ELY1	Ashley Pettit	8	16	MJ	0:45:42	8:59:37	74.53	95	06:04.6	M	5	2	8	5
ELY1	Stephen Pettit	9	46	MM	1:08:39	10:08:16	79.61	26	06:04.5	M	3	1	5	3
ELY1	Craig Holgate	10	34	MS	1:57:31	12:05:47	80.52	20	05:51.5	M	1	1	4	1	Stage Record
ELY1	Alex Tate	11	35	MS	1:24:34	13:30:21	79.22	29	05:47.5	M	1	1	1	1	Stage Record
ELY1	Kieren Drane	12	29	MS	2:11:09	15:41:30	70.67	202	06:40.1	M	7	3	18	6
ELY1	Graham Chapman	13	55	MM	1:30:06	17:11:36	77.10	50	06:48.0	M	10	6	2	9
ELY1	Maurice Reed	14	48	MM	0:54:41	18:06:17	77.93	39	06:12.8	M	5	4	3	5
ELY1	Steve Tovey	15	38	MS	0:47:31	18:53:48	67.48	322	06:36.0	M	6	4	13	6
ELY1	Ciaran Murray	16	39	MS	0:35:34	19:29:22	68.38	282	06:28.7	M	5	2	14	5
ELY1	Clare Durrant	17	34	LS	1:15:56	20:45:18	77.04	51	06:28.4	F	10	1	5	1	Stage Record

 

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THE BIRKETTS ROUND NORFOLK RELAY 18th/19th SEPTEMBER 2010

RNR 2010 PHOTOGRAPHS

Once again Ely Runners fielded two teams in this year’s RNR. Alan Rutterford was team leader of the Open Team and Simon Jackson was team leader of the Club Class Team. Here are their reports:

This weekend the Ely Runners Open Team once again achieved an incredible medal haul as they have done in the last couple of years. Team Leader Alan Rutterford was so pleased to be involved and proud of what the team achieved. However, the one win that he wanted the most proved elusive again, just missing the overall first place – that makes 2nd overall for the 3rd year in a row. Alan also expressed his thanks to his team for his team’s efforts in getting to the start of their leg in good time (no one was late!) On behalf of the team Alan also thanked the support crew for their considerable contribution - Emily Knight as timekeeper and Ellie Foster who did a lot of the driving. For Alan the time was also special as his original estimate was 21:16:00 and the team finished in 21:14:07. Alan also observed that the team can be proud of the fact that they started 30 min behind all the other teams and no one overtook them!

Open Class Team Achievements:

2nd overall of 54 teams (3rd year running)
1st in the open category
1st in the visitors cup (first club from outside Norfolk)
1st in the ARC Road Relay Championships (4th year running)
Alex Tate 1st Male stage 4 winner; stage record (1.04.44 for 11.06 miles, 77.47% age grade and 5.48 m/m)
Daisy Glover 1st Female stage 15 winner (47.07 for 7.20 miles, 74.79% age grade and 6.32 m/m)
Daisy Glover 1st Junior age graded 74.79%
John Manlow 1st MM (stage 1); Peter Gipp 1st MM (stage 3 & MM stage record); Graham Chapman 1st MM (stage 8) & Maurice Reed 1st MM (Stage 16)

Ely A team 2nd/54 in 21.14.57 (22.59 out on the predicted time)

Club Team Captain Simon Jackson was also full of praise for both teams. Speaking on the Open Team result he said: “For a club our size to constantly come back from the RNR laden with so many trophies when faced with such stiff opposition from many bigger clubs speak volumes for the commitment, dedication and talent that we have at the club”. Simon battled with last minute changes to ensure a full complement of runners for the Club Class team. He was grateful to his two late replacements, David Mould for stepping in at the eleventh hour on stage 11, and Sarah Edwards for agreeing to run stage 2 (saving Simon from having to run it himself). Sarah was then so fascinated by the event that she followed the team all the way to Horsey!

Club Class Team Achievements:

Heidi Uff 1st senior lady on stage 3; senior lady stage record

Ely B team 46th/54 in 27.14.07 (29.53 out on the predicted time)

Stephen Howard, Andy Nixon, Lionel Smith, Nick Dowdy, David Mould, Stuart Baumber, Emma Greaves and John Foster all beat their predicted times (some by quite considerable margins). Hannah Shiell managed to run the difficult stage 5 from Cley to Cromer and still stayed awake all weekend for timekeeping duties. The club class team beat the open team home by 50 seconds (even though they did have a six hour head start)! The club class team supporters and helpers were great – offering drinks, encouragement and applause to all club team runners as they passed by. Simon’s support team consisted of Hannah Shiell and Julie Foreman – with a special guest appearance by Mary Gates who, according to Simon ‘kept us all "entertained” with her family history, until we got bored with her and sent her home!’ Simon’s resilience was perhaps tested most by Claire Law who arrived in the nick of time, only to be in the loo when Lionel arrived to hand over. Despite that rare logistic hiccup the commitment of the team was clear to see. Every single runner gave their all when running their stages and they all deserve a mention: In addition to those above, Charlie Barker, Nicola Bramley, Martin Courtney, Claire Irons and Ashley Blackmore ran stages. (Ashley was only four seconds outside his predicted time). Also worthy of mention were the family members who came out to support their loved ones, and last but not least - those members who gave up their comfortable beds so early on a Sunday morning to perform marshalling duties at Wissington. Simon’s final words “It really was another great year and I'm already looking forward to next year’s event.”. Thanks Simon and Alan – as always your efforts are much appreciated!

For Results by stage and overall team results see www.roundnorfolkrelay.com

 

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ROUND NORFOLK RELAY 19th/20th SEPTEMBER 2009

Ely Runners were out in force over the weekend at the Round Norfolk Relay.

This prestigious and competitive annual event consists of 17 unequal legs totalling 193 miles around the county of Norfolk. With individual legs from 5 to just under 20 miles in length, runners carry a baton around the roads and paths of Norfolk, starting on Saturday and running throughout the night to finish on Sunday morning.

For the first time Ely Runners entered two teams, one in the tough Open Category and one in the stricter Club Category. With Ely Runner Rachel Roberts also organizing a ladies C&C Team with helpers also drawn from Ely Runners it really was all hands on deck!

The Ely Open Team suffered this year with late pullouts due to injury, and lacked the element of surprise. Norwich Road Runners were no doubt keen to turn the tables on the team who had inflicted a narrow defeat on them one year ago. And so it turned out. Norwich Road Runners simply established a huge lead early on and were never caught. They finished over 30 minutes clear of the field.

But at least Ely Open managed to beat everyone else – including the other huge Norwich Club and last year’s winners, City of Norwich. So second place overall, but this time to a team in the same category, and hence Ely were runners up in the Open Category.

Furthermore Ely Open retained the Visitor’s Cup prize for the fastest team from outside Norfolk. They also won the prize for the first Association of Running Clubs (ARC) team for the third year in a row.

For the first time Ely entered a Team in the Club class. For many this was their first experience of the RNR, and a chance to run without being weighed down by the expectation of having to compete with the very fastest.

Team Results & Category:

2nd Open Ely Runners 21:01:33 (2nd Overall, 1st Non-Norfolk Team, 1st ARC Team)
12th Club Ely Runners 27:07:03 (44th Overall)


55 Teams finished.

Full individual results for both teams can be found under Races / RNR.

There were a number of great individual performances across the two Ely Teams. Particular highlights were:

Brennan Morgan’s stage 5 win following on from Ian Day’s win on the same leg last year.

Hannah Shiell who finished as first SF on leg 10. She had earlier offered support and encouragement as accompanying cyclist to John Turner as he struggled with the ‘hardest half marathon’ he can remember.

Craig Holgate second fastest on the long overnight leg of nearly 20 miles.

Stephen Pettit second fastest on the other long overnight leg of nearly 20 miles.

Thanks to all the RNR organisation for another flawless event. Especially Ely Runners Ian Vaughan-Arbuckle (Race Director), Adam Etches (Safety Officer), Natalle Etches (Treasurer & Registration Desk), Richard Handoll (Course Marking) and Rod Baron (results). Rod even managed to find the time to run leg six for us!

Congratulations to Team Captains Alan Rutterford (Ely Open) and first time team captain Simon Jackson (Ely Club) and heartfelt thanks to them for their organisation and planning beforehand and their superb support for the runners throughout the whole event day and night.

Finally special thanks to Ellie and Emily Knight for the Ely Open Team plus Julie Foreman and Hannah Shiell for the Ely Club Team. Runners from both teams are simply thankful and grateful for the chance to run in such a wonderful and inspiring event.

For Results by stage and overall team results see www.roundnorfolkrelay.com

                                                   INDIVIDUAL RESULTS FOR TEAMS 27(B) and TEAM 28 (A)