HomePage

Disclaimer - Whilst every effort is made to keep the information contained on this web-site accurate neither Team East Haddon nor any of its Officers, Members or Agents are responsible or liable for any claim, loss or damage which might arise from the use of the information on this site. Whilst Team East Haddon makes every effort to ensure that the hypertext links from this web-site to other web-sites are relevant and provide useful information it cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of the external sites linked. Team East Haddon makes no representation or warranty that use of this web site, or materials downloaded from it, will not cause computer virus infection or any other damage and you are advised to ensure that you take adequate measures to prevent any such problem.

Copyright - All material on these pages, unless provided by another URL, including text, logos, icons, photographs and all other artwork, is copyright of Team East Haddon, unless otherwise stated and use of this material may only be made with the express, written permission of the owner.

Wootton Cross Country – 24th January 2010
AKA Running up that Hill!!

11 intrepid Team East Haddon members ran the latest cross country race at Delapre Park in Northampton. At least the weather was a lot better than the last one – it turned out to be a lovely, sunny winter morning.

The course was two laps, total distance of 5.5 miles. Starting out with a short flat section, the course quickly became up hill, with a long drag almost the length of London Road. Lots of tree stumps and roots to negotiate and a few boggy areas in the trees made this a tough route to overtake on and one where you had to keep concentrating on where you were putting your feet. The downhill section didn’t seem nearly as long – they never do do they? – and then out onto the golf course before starting the second lap – yes that hill again!

However, Team East Haddon put in a strong performance with first man home, Peter Chandley in 38th place, followed by Andy Green (54th), Stuart Wheeldon (103rd), Peter Taylor (113th), John Griggs (118th), Pat Barlow (154th) and Sam Cortese (156th). Particular mention to Stuart who was competing in the cross country for the first time – and it doesn’t seem to have put him off – he was still smiling at the end!!

Another debutante for TEH was Sharron Evans, who brought the ladies team home in a fantastic 46th place, followed by Amanda Weller (50th) and Angela Freer (55th) completing the scoring for us. I propped them all up, finishing in 68th place.
Well done to everyone who ran and also to our newly named Team Manager – Andy ‘Jose (The Special One)’ Pate – who provided the on course support, held the coats, collated the results and drove the ladies team to and from the venue! The post race sing-a-long to the appropriate Kate Bush song completed the experience!
The next race is at Ampthill on 14th Feb – hope to see you there!

Kate

HADDON MEN ARE FLYERS AT AMPTHILL

It was very hilly, muddy and slippery in places and energy sapping but a seasons best performance by the mens team finishing 11th of the 13th teams. This was achieved in the absence of several of our hardened veteran XC runners and the added handicap of me running my first cross country of the season.
The overall turnout was down on the earlier races of this series but there were several seasons best performances from our runners. Unfortunately due to other committments and half term holidays we couldn't muster a single female TEH runner. This was not for the want of trying on Kate's part - I bet you have a full squad out for the last race in two weeks time.
Ladies you missed an authentic XC course over fields and woodland tracks ( dirt and in places mud ) and lots of hills. Yes lots, I know because each one knackered me .....
Results for the day were as follows:-
Andy Green 43rd ( seasons best performance )
Peter Chandley 46th ( another high finish , bet you sprinted at the end )
Ross Kearney 59 ( second run out of the XC season and another high placing )
Stuart Wheeldon 89 ( second race of this season and 13 places higher than last time )
John Griggs 101 ( another great run, our ever present this season )
Sam Cortese 138 ( 22 places higher than the last race and he ran 16 miles yesterday !! )
Andy Pate ( me ) ( seasons best - well this is my first XC this season - ha, ha )

Please volunteer for Bedford on the 28th Feb, TEH needs you for a big finish in the last race of the 2009/2010 XC season
Andy Pate

Bedford Cross Country Report
Splish, splash, splosh…………it was a classic cross country……even the mud was the right sort. I mean marmite mud as opposed to that horrible clay that sticks to your shoes in clods.
I’ve waited 3 years for this mix: cold temp, rain, mud, water, track, grass, ditches and streams. For every step forward, a slip to the side or back - in parts like running on oil. Some scary moments where the course ran by the river bank - one wrong step and you’d have been swimming. The course had to be shortened (3 ľ miles) to avoid a planned river crossing.
The number of supporters doubled for this last race: 2 - our cross country stalwarts Andy & Kate.
Peter Chandley introduced a new recruit to the team – welcome to Scott. A baptism of fire. You’re a hero for turning out on such a morning.
Post race refreshments were very well organised and issued in take-away style brown paper bags. As for the showers, they were hot, hot, hot.
Great results again from Peter and John. Angela was our sole lady representative and for that we salute you. She even managed to complete the course without a fleck of mud on her face.
Men’s Team (overall position)
Peter Chandley 37th, John Griggs 115th, Sam Cortese 197th, Scott Dukes 199th

Ladie’s Team (overall position)
Angela Freer 231st

And the best bit…………………the Men’s Team 12th out of 13.
Lady team 13th’
To celebrate the end of season, runners, supporters and members met back at the Red Lion for refreshments. Initially outside under the parasol, which prompted Bill to set up a market stall selling team kit. Later we managed to squeeze into the bar.

Thanks to all who had an input into the day.
Sam

Another Northamptonshire based racing team makes its debut at Silverstone Circuit……….

TEAM EAST HADDON

Men's Team Position: 23rd Team East Haddon 2:43:44

Team results: http://mcs.open.ac.uk/mkac/10emgpsilverteam.htm

This is the first and most popular (896 finished) race in the East Midlands Grand Prix Series. The route consisted of two laps of the main circuit and finished in the pit lane. Timing was by gun start and chip timing at the finish. Despite the expanse of grey skies and grey track, it was actually a colourful experience.

Memorable moments………..
being passed at 7k by a lady pushing a child in a buggy – and she ignored my offer to be her baby sitter for the remaining races in the series…………….seeing the ‘8K’ marker and in my mind’s eye the text changed to “If this was a 5 mile race, you’d be home now”.
Individual results:
Andy Green MS 38:26
Peter Chandley M45 39:16
Stuart Wheeldon MS 42:25
John Griggs 50 43:37
Sam Cortese M50 50:30

Well done to all the above and hope to see you all again at Rugby .
Next race in series will be at Rugby on Wed 12th May: http://mcs.open.ac.uk/mkac/the_emgp.html
Sam

Team East Haddon 2010 London Marathon

You'd think by your 4th marathon that you wouldn't get nervous. You know what to expect - maybe that's why I did get nervous! Gary and Sam were waiting for me in the hotel lobby and the three of us caught the DLR to Greenwich. The weather seemed OK - no sign of the heatwave predicted earlier in the week - I had still put on some Factor 30 just in case! We made our way to the Blue Start - incredibly bumping into someone I knew walking through the park. The Blue Start seemed a lot less chaotic than the Red. The rain started around 45 minutes before the start - it was incredible how cold it suddenly became - just after we had handed in our kit bags, naturally! We ended up huddling together underneath the lid of a dustbin to try and keep dry and warm. As soon as the rain stopped, it felt warm again and then we were lining up, moving forward and approaching the start. In the crowds I somehow managed to lose both Sam and Gary - although they ran together for over half the race. I decided to start at a steady pace, keep going and see what happened. It seems to have been a good strategy as I kept an even, steady pace for the whole race. There are so many moments to remember but the volume of cheering approaching Cutty Sark, where most of the charities had supporters, was incredible - I don' remember it ever being louder; turning the corner and seeing Tower Bridge in front of me always brings a lump to my throat; running behind a man wearing a pair of white Skins - not a great sight at the best of times but 20 miles into a marathon, not good! Having run 25 miles on my own, I suddenly spotted Sam stretching on the Embankment and amazingly he started running again as I caught up with him. We kept each other going in the last mile and crossed the finish line together. Later we found out that because of different start times, I actually beat him by 22 seconds - one of the anomolies of chip timing - I think it amused me more than him for some reason...!!

Kate

Team East Haddon results are as follows:
Peter Taylor - 03.35.42 - 704th in category
Adam Taylor - 04.01.22 - 5052nd in category
Kate Leach - 04.24.04 - PB - 670th in category
Sam Cortese - 04.24.26 - London PB - 1003rd in category
Gary Zoboky - 04.27.02 - 1922nd in category (not TEH anymore but deserves a mention!)
Matt Stevens - 04.43.49 - 9227th in category
Jon Lambert - 04.53.52 - 2462nd in category