Bunny Run Relays

3 leg relay 1.5 miles/leg

Howling gales and driving rain met the Jones family team as we got to Haworth for the final Bunny race of 2009. The team consisted of Chris, Matthew and Sarah, who was coming up for her first Bunny experience.

Near to the start of the race we were told that the longer first leg was to be cut short because the extra loop was too muddy. This meant that we were all doing the same distance. So, we picked up the egg and a very cold Chris went to line up for the first leg. 12 minutes later Sarah set off and then it was my turn.

After waiting quite a long time in the quarry where you start I thought the wind had died down a bit. As soon as I got out of the quarry I was nearly blown back down again. I knew I was going to have fun. I seemed to be having a good run and I felt alright. Then, at about half way round, the rain turned to hail and the run became painful in more than one way. When I was finally near the the end and I turned to face the wind again, my cheeks were inflating with air.

Overall I had a good run and my Dad also had a great run. Sarah didn't enjoy the race much but did well for her first Bunny.

Spen Results
35 JONESEY'S JOGGERS 43.06

Leg 1: 21 CHRIS JONES   12.49
Leg 2: 41 SARAH JONES   16.59
Leg 3: 23 MATTHEW JONES 13.18

61 Teams

Full Results Here

Bunny Run #4 - To run, or not to run...

I wasn't at all sure about this one, since on Monday my legs were still in a state of shock from the 3 Peaks on Saturday, but I'd had a few short sessions on the turbo-trainer to try to keep them from seizing up, and figured I'd do another on Tuesday morning and then just see how I felt as the day went on. By Tuesday afternoon, I was starting to get that kind of tingle deep in the muscles that I've come to know as a sign of recovery, and since Matthew was keen to complete the series, I decided to go for it.

The conditions were a mild drizzle, and little wind, but the course was no longer dry following a couple of days of rain, but it was by no means saturated. The numbers seemed to be down on the previous three weeks, but it could have been my imagination. Milling around before the start I saw at least 2 other runners who'd done the 3 Peaks at the weekend, so I wasn't alone.

I had little in the way of expectations time-wise, so I was quite relaxed, and got off to what for me was a slow start, and got very boxed in. I found it harder than ever to get around some of the slower youngsters, but on reflection, a slow start was probably a good thing, as by the long climb on the 2nd lap I was feeling much better that I had in the previous week. I felt to be pushing fairly hard, but not struggling, and assumed it was because I was running much slower than I had been doing.

At the end, I felt quite strong going into the finish, and stopped my watch at 20:04, just 5 seconds outside my PB from BR#2. Not bad!

Matthew had his second fastest BR too, although he was suffering from an upset stomach, and was still some way of his best. There was another Spen runner, David Wilson shown in the results (see below), but I confess I don't know who he is, and I didn't see any more club vests. So if you are reading David, please introduce yourself next time you see someone in a club vest.

Next week it's the relays, where we hope to recruit Sarah and put in a family team. With some persuasion, we might see 'Team Dransfield' put in an appearance too.

Spen results
67  CHRIS JONES   V40 20.04
108 MATTHEW JONES U14 21.48
163 DAVID WILSON  U16 24.39

223 finishers, 0 retired

Full results here

Summary of the 2009 BR series

For me it's been a good set of races. I ran 4 of my best 5 times this year, breaking my previous PB for the course twice. However, I have done more running this year than I have for the previous two. Matthew has also improved, although he's very inconsistent. Clearly he can run extremely well, but can't seem to find the formula yet.

Bunny Run #3 Video

... and another. Keep 'em coming Bruce!


Bunny Run Three 2009 from Bruce Duncan on Vimeo.

Bunny Run #2 Video

Another excellent video courtesy of Bruce Duncan!


Bunny Run Two 2009 part one from Bruce Duncan on Vimeo.

Bunny Run #3 - back down to earth

It was back down to earth for me, both literally and figuratively. I'd been in Lausanne, Switzerland for 2 days with work, and had gone straight to the race from landing at the airport, and my hopes of improving at each race in the series took a bit of a setback, not that my time was that bad, but it was not one of my best experiences.












Where's Wally? - can you spot Matthew and me?

I should have read the warning signs. I remember I once ran the Roberttown 7 a few years back after flying back from Sweden earlier in the day, and I had a howler of a race. I just couldn't put my finger on why, I'd done the training, and was running great times on my training runs, but...

Same here, I arrived feeling OK, I'd made sure I was well hydrated, but we set off and I had nothing in my legs. I got caught up badly in the congested start, and struggled to get a rhythm. By lap 2, I was all over the place mentally, thinking how the hell I was going to run the 3 Peaks in a few days time when I was struggling so bad in this short race.

I have to try to rationalise it to myself, and here is what I'm thinking:-

• Travel, especially flying is tiring, both mentally and physically. I'm convinced this is true, as I've often come back from a trip somewhere and felt unable to train. Also, the whole experience of the airport etc. causes some mild stress (at least to me)
• I'd walked at least 4 miles that day with my small suitcase and heavy computer bag, and Lausanne is one hilly city!
• I'd not eaten my normal type of diet for 2 days including a big mac for lunch that day (I was in a rush)
  
• The room in the hotel was a "smoking-room" despite the fact I'd asked for non-smoking and I'd been unable to get it changed, consequently I'd been breathing in that stale sh*t for the previous 2 nights
• No Steve Moss motivating me to run faster
  

Having said that, it was my 3rd fastest BR ever (of 10 competed), and better than BR #1 this year so I don't think it's a major setback.

Matthew on the other hand should never have run, he picked up a calf injury on the track last Thursday, and consequently ran terrible. But try telling a teenager what they should and should not be doing!

Spen results
96  CHRIS JONES   V40 20.18
162 MATTHEW JONES U14 22.36

267 finishers, 3 retired

Full results here

More video nasties

Actually a rather nice video of Bunny Run #1

Bunny Run One 7th April 2009 from Bruce Duncan on Vimeo.

Bunny Run #2 (CS, 3 miles, 300ft) & some Spen success!

This time I was feeling more confident, since I'd had a bit more rest, and my legs were not feeling like rubber prior to the race. Matthew was also in a confident mood after his bunny pb at the previous race. The Spen numbers were up too, as Tim had managed to get out of work early, and Steve Moss was making a welcome return to this event after an absence of over 3 years. Steve hadn't even run on the "new" course, and had been concentrating on much longer distances, and as such, I was quietly confident that I would be the first Spen runner back, even though I'd never beaten Steve in any race previously. I did feel that Steve had a good chance in the M60 category though, since I'd beaten the best M60 from 2008 in the previous race (1st time I'd ever done so, I might add).

The conditions were perfect, dry, overcast, and little wind. About as good as it ever gets for this location. The race was off to the usual frantic start, and true to form, Steve was doing his best "grumpy old man" impression, shouting "why don't you lot start at the back!" as he barged through some of the kids and slower runners who were getting under his feet.





The frantic start

I was just behind Steve and Matthew, but passed them both early on the first climb, and from there, I didn't look round again. I felt to be running faster than the previous week, even when I'd tired. Just like last week, I was caught on the final climb by my friend Nigel from Halifax Harriers, and try as I might I couldn't re-catch him before the finish, but this time it was just one second between us.

It was success all round though, I managed a sub-20 minute run for the first time, Steve came in next to win the M60 age category beating 2008 M60 series winner Dave Tait from Dark Peak, and hot on Steve's heels, just one place behind with probably the best Spen run of the night was Matthew who destroyed his previous best for the course by 1 minute 18 secs. Tim was next on his first bunny of 2009, followed by Jackie who also improved on the previous week, and Henry with another good run.

M60 Category Winner and "grumpy old man", the one and only Steve Moss

Spen Results
73  CHRIS JONES   V40  19.59
84  STEVE MOSS    V60  20.31 (age category winner)
85  MATTHEW JONES U14  20.35
135 TIM WRAGG     V40  22.18
188 JACKIE CARTER FV40 25.03
244 HENRY CARTER  U14  31.22

248 finishers, 1 retired

Full results here

All photos (c) 2009 Paul Wood

Bunny Run #1 - A Junior Perspective

A windy race is as good as it gets on top of Penistone Hill, which appears to have it's own weather system. It seemed like there were loads more runners than last year's series, so busy in fact that we couldn't even get our usual parking space!

Due to the numbers, the start was cramped and when we set off one of the smaller runners got trampled which must have hurt because a couple of runners were wearing spikes. The race conditions didn't change as the race went on and due to the extra training I've been doing I felt very good all the way around (except for maybe the last hill!).

Overall I had a very good run, coming in, in a time of 21:53 which was a minute or more quicker than any time last year and was a PB. I hope I do even better next week!

Bunny Run #1 (CS, 3 miles, 300ft)

April is here, and it's time for the Bunny Run series once again! For those of you who are not yet initiated into this race series, it's a short fell/trail race over 3 miles at Penistone Hill country park near Haworth, organised by the Woodentops (aka Dave and Eileen Woodhead)

With the 3 Peaks Fell Race only a couple of weeks away now, and still recovering (suffering?) from a 5.5 hour/22 mile training run with Steve, Gareth et al just 2 days before, I confess that I was neither relishing nor in fact feeling in any fit state to run at all, never mind in a fast-and-furious race such as these tend to be. However, Matthew just loves these races, as he gets an opportunity to race against adults, whilst not feeling he is under scrutiny or pressure, and he was quite insistent that I should compete, so in the end I relented.

There was a huge turnout of around 280 runners (5 from Spen), and some jostling to be on the front row, as there was some real competition up front with the likes of Ian Holmes, Andi Jones and Olympic triathlete Alistair Brownlee all spotted lining up for the start. Usually, many of the younger runners manage to squeeze their way to the front, which is ok for the fast ones, but can cause some overcrowding problems.

Before we'd gone 20 yards, I heard someone shout "child" and saw that one of the youngsters had fallen right in the midst of the stampede. At the end, someone asked me what club he/she was from, and I said "I don't know, but the kit was a white vest with stud marks up the back!". Seriously though, I hope they were ok.

I went off too fast, and mid-way through the 2nd lap was really paying the price, as I started to fade badly. However, I was still ahead of some runners who had beaten me last year at the finish, with a time of 20:24. Matthew came in at 21:53 which was a big improvement for him, beating his PB from 2007, and a minute up on most of his last years times, hopefully a sign of things to come this year.

My time of 20:24 was 8 seconds outside of my previous best time for the course, which I did in BR#4 in 2008. I was trying to rationalise whether or not I should be pleased with that result. There are many factors, and I can't easily determine if it was a decent performance.

How does anyone else go about comparing performances between fell races, or is it simply not possible? My previous best for this race was in #4 of the series last year, when I did little running training, but had done a few races. However, the general conditions last year were worse (muddier) and I improved throughout the series. This year I've done more training, and got off to a better start, even though I was pretty tired from the weekend. Does it bode well? Tune in next week, same time, same channel...

Spen Results
 80 Chris Jones     M40  20:24
114 Matthew Jones   U14B 21:53
202 Jackie Carter   F40  25:21
264 Henry Carter    U14B 31:16 <-- 1st fell race, well done Henry! 
271 Amanda Pearson  F40  33:49 

281 finishers, 5 retired

Full results here