All the World is a Stage! 11 of them in Sheffield!
The JJs descended on Sheffield with the fellow runners amazed we had made the journey down from the North East. The only club from the North East out in force, indeed very few other NE club runners made the journey for the unique racing format of 11 stages in a circuit of the Sheffield Round, a 14 mile circuit of the city. With stages of no more than 2.8km and recoveries of up to 15 minutes, the JJs ran round and battled the sun, cramps, some killer hills, gorgeous downhills, single tracks and some fine scenery of the Steel City. The results belie the fact that the JJs went round together in small groups with the recoveries allowing them to regroup and go again, but giving vastly different running times as only the stage times count, and not the recoveries. It’s a massive rep session. Louis, running for the JJs as a first claim member for the first time, raced round with Ali, with the final sprint stage of 400m going to Louis, using his knowledge of his home town well. James, Mark and Toby did their thing racing round, whilst Tom, Laura and Simon regrouped at each recovery with Simon gamely holding on, while Tom took wrong turnings and needed Laura to shout him back on course. Niran held on with cramp taking hold towards the end and strangers and Laura having to administer leg stretches. Angus blasted round to get under 150th in the SM and Sophie, Killan, Rob and Gerry, who was returning from illness, all vowed to be back next year.
The race takes place over two days with another race on the Sunday, so the final positions are now fixed. A great run from JJs in the different categories, with high finishes and 2884 runners finished over the two days. It’s an amazing event and all JJs running will tell you how unique it is. A race with breaks, chatting with fellow competitors during the recoveries, a race village with a beer tent and food and some live music, make it a must do event for 2023! Hope to see you there?
15th Louis Gardener 01:13:04 15th SM
27th Alistair Maxwell 01:14:13 18th SM
48th James Wilkins 01:17:32 26th SM
117th = Tom Dowling 01:23:25 32nd M40
129th = Mark Adamson 01:23:53 56th SM
159th = Toby Routledge 01:25:34 68th SM
164th Laura Chapman 01:25:57 12th SW
376th = Niran Patel 01:34:21 134th SM
386th Simon Wells 01:34:34 44th M50
408th Angus Miller 01:35:10 150th SM
934th Sophie Reynolds 01:49:02 68th SW
943rd = Killian McCartney 01:49:14 259th SM
1114th Rob Dooley 01:52:36 271st M40
2689th Gerry Rowland 02:37:33 289th SW
