Results from Event #31, 26th December 2020
I have a strange feeling of deja vu, as if for some crazy reason a bunch of runners from all around the world decided to run the Fly 5k two days in a row! With all the extra festive food and drink on board, running a Boxing Day Fly 5k was always going to be a challenge, but one that 170 of you were brave enough to accept! It was looking very quiet at Race HQ this morning, like only a handful of you would get out there, but once again the Fly 5k tribe did not disappoint.
Firstly, a huge Fly 5k welcome to all 14 first timers this morning. You picked a great one to start with and hope to see you at a future Fly very soon.
After many much needed lie-ins the times began to flood in! Well done to everyone who took part today and kudos to anyone who did both Christmas and Boxing Day runs! Your medals will be in the (virtual) post!
Today we had a birthday run, family runs and a few socially distanced duos – most notably Spidey and Wonder Woman! We also had numerous proofs that new shoes do make you run faster! Santa certainly came up trumps yesterday.
For any of you worried about the pig. He managed to avoid ending up between the wrong kind of blankets and celebrated this lucky escape with some ginger wine! The lucky pig!
We really love seeing all your race selfies and we had some brilliant ones this weekend. Keep them coming. They make the job of hosting Fly 5k so much more fun!
An amazing 19 people ran Fly 5k PBs this morning, and a couple of lifetime PBs. Huge respect for this, achieved after much eating, drinking and celebrations the day before.
We had 31 different running clubs taking part today. The inter-club competition always gets the clubs out and running. The results for the 9th Fly 5k Inter-Club Competition can be found here: https://www.runfly5k.com/post/fly-5k-9th-inter-club-competition-26th-december-2020
Eight special runners haven’t yet missed a Fly! You know who you are.
We have some truly dedicated runners. High fives to the following people who have all run 30 Fly 5ks - Emmanuelle BENTLEY-SANDERS, Kate DIXON, Rebecca HEMMANT-LOW, Paul HOLGATE, Joanna PARKER, Mark SANDERS, David SAUNDERS, Graham SMITH and Geoffrey WHITE.
Well done to these three runners who have now completed 20 x Fly 5ks – Jillian RUSSELL, Hannah TURNER and Clare WATKINS.
And also congratulations to five runners who reached the 10 Fly 5k milestone today - Daniel ASHCROFT, James GIFFEN, Tracy PITCAIRN, Pablo PLAZA LASTRAS and Amber STUBBINGS.
We had one Age Category Record this morning! Chiltern Harriers coach Trevor BRAWN set a new record for VM70-74 of 24:29, knocking off 26 seconds from the previous record made by Ian SAGE of 24:55. Well done Trevor!
And finally, here are the podium results you’ve all been waiting for:
Men
Chris WRIGHTON, St Albans Striders (16:47)
Peter COLE, Edmonton Running Club (16:52)
Paul WHEAR, Cornwall AC (17:31)
Women
Hannah TURNER, Harpenden Arrows (18:51)
Jenny MAGINLEY, St Albans Striders (20:08)
Claudine BENSTEAD, Okehampton RC (20:18)
Age Graded
Claudine BENSTEAD, Okehampton RC (92.45%)
Paul WHEAR, Cornwall AC (86.20%)
Hannah TURNER, Harpenden Arrows (81.43%)
The full results are on the website at https://www.runfly5k.com/latest-results Best viewed on a laptop / desktop for searching, sorting and filtering).
I won’t lie, this morning’s run was a struggle, after far too much red wine, not enough water and definitely not enough sleep. But it’s been another fun day sharing in all your glories, PBs and runs. Thanks for joining us. It always makes hosting so much more fun.
I will leave you with a quote shared by Elaine Tuit today, giving us the true spirit of Fly 5k – in the words of Spencer Davis I will ‘keep on running’.
See you all for another double and more Fly 5k excitement on New Year's Day!
Report by Ruth Holroyd.