We are into the fifth month of the year, and I have just completed my first races of 2019, the Mid-Sussex Marathon Weekend. Made up of three races at the May Day Bank Holiday weekend, the East Grinstead Ten Mile, the Haywards Heath Ten Mile and the Burgess Hill 10k on Saturday, Sunday and Monday respectively.
I and two fellow Seaford Striders, the speedy Josh and Amanda, entered, and finished these. I’d run Haywards Heath in 2015, but the other races were new to me. So, in order:
East Grinstead Ten Mile: beginning and finishing at the East Grinstead Rugby Club, it was perishing cold in a northerly wind when I arrived, and a strenuous warm-up led by a man in a dog suit attracted more runners than usual, desperate to keep warm. After a tour of the perimeter of the rugby pitch, we headed off past Standen House, once the home of the Beale family, now owned by the National Trust, filled with treasures from the Arts and Crafts movement. We had no opportunity to admire the Morris wallpaper, though, for we were directed down a steep slope towards Weir Wood reservoir. Old hands warned me of mud, and I wondered if I should have worn trail shoes, but it has been such a dry spring there was only one tiny patch of stickiness on the whole course. After tracking the reservoir for a while, we turned away from the water, and there was a sharp uphill, and some welcome water in a farmyard. We then ran a rather tedious section through East Grinstead’s suburbs, before a long stretch along the Forest Way, once the Three Bridges to Tunbridge Wells railway line, but closed by Beeching, a local resident. This took us down to a water station and turning point, and then an uphill, but turning off the Forest Way, down a lane and across a field to rejoin the route out. At nine miles came a steep climb, and then the paths past Standen House and a circuit of the rugby pitch to finish. I achieved a time of 2:07:40, which I considered respectable, and was grateful to my fellow Striders who stayed to cheer me in. The race was won by Patrick Brown, of East London Runners, in a blistering 59:36. Remember that name, I may mention it again. The first lady was Susan McDonald of South London Harriers, in 1:11:59
Haywards Heath Ten Mile: this being an event in our Seaford Striders club Grand Prix, it attracted more of our runners. It was, alas, no warmer, but we had more protection from the wind. The route had been changed since I last ran it, very much for the better, so although there were some tedious sections though housing estates, the long downhill along the A272 where runners had to play chicken with the traffic had been removed. So there were many pleasant sections through parks and along woodland paths. It’s a two lap course, and as I completed my first lap, I was passed by none other than Patrick Brown, on his way to his second victory of the weekend. As I plodded round Victoria Park I heard him interviewed over the tannoy; he said he was camping, and hoped for a better night’s sleep before Monday’s event. My second circuit was hard, as my splits showed, and the last mile, which emerges from a wood, and takes the runner along some tedious back streets before debouching into the park and to the finish. My time was 2:04:39, Patrick Brown’s winning time was 1:00:00 dead, and the first lady was Emma Navesey of the home side, Haywards Heath Harriers, in 01:07:56.
By the time bank holiday Monday came, I had covered twenty miles, and the last 10k, I thought, would present no problems. The wind had died down, so it was a little warmer as we assembled in the grounds of Burgess Hill Academy. There were more Striders, as well as Amanda and Josh, as well as a fellow-toiler of mine, there with her children to cheer on her husband. This was the biggest event of the three, with 490 finishers, The start was delayed to allow those in the long queues for the loos to join us - in my view this merely encouraged more to join the queues. Off we went, out of the school grounds, through roads and onto open fields, the Batchelors Farm nature reserve, and Nightingale Meadows. The two lap course follows the perimeters of these, including a tough climb to a water tower. My splits show some slackening of effort in the middle third of the race, but I managed a strong finish in 01:12:47, well over an hour, but not the slowest 10k I’ve ever run. Patrick Brown, running in bare feet, finished third in 37:42, but I believe the two who beat him were not competing in the whole weekend. First man was Timmy Geddin of Arena 80 in 35:55, and first lady Linda Schofield, unaffiliated, in 42:51.
Moreover, we have aggregated results for the weekend, and I’m delighted to say that my fellow Strider Josh Nisbett was 9th overall with an aggregated chip time of 03:04:54. The male winner was of course Patrick Brown, and the female Susan McDonald. Amanda Feast, the other Strider to compete in all three events was 114th in 04:15:02, while I was 211th (out of 233 who finished all three) in 05:25:06.
Next,, the Seaford half marathon.