Doing things by halves: 2018 Ron Hopcroft Endurance Cup is under way

It’s that time of year when you start making your plans for road races over the Summer period.  Don’t forget that as there’s a series of nominated races that TVH athletes take part in, why not add a few to your plans?  It’s much more fun at a race when you see some familiar faces before and after.  Better still, just by turning up and completing the race, you earn points for the Ron Hopcroft Endurance Cup.  Fancy winning custody of one of these remarkable pieces of bling? Then get entering the events listed here.

If you hope to join a road relay team, you should contact Lisa da Silva (ladies) or Phil Wetton (men).  For other events, please just enter directly.  The Club also has a limited number of reserved free places in the Vitality London 10,000.

Paul Woodgate reports:

Doing a Spring Half Marathon is the first opportunity to earn points here and we’re excited to report that TVH athletes are off to a brisk start in this regard.  Perhaps inspired by the general buzz about the event in the Club at present with Mo and Tracy due to represent Great Britain over 13.1 miles at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships later on this month.  Eleven members have completed qualifying races at this distance already, recording seven personal bests.

In the women’s competition, Tracy Barlow has set the early pace recording a scorching 73:36 in the inaugural Vitality London Big Half.  This paced her as seventh woman and 90^th overall, clinching her qualification for the Worlds in Valencia.  In hot pursuit is Heather Timmins after getting around the same course in 77:24, sixteenth woman and 189^th overall, a PB!  Two more Valley women competed in the Milton Keynes Festival of Running.  Lisa Da Silva ran a very solid 88:09, earning her fifth woman and 56^th overall.  Leanne Lyons will be delighted to have completed the race in 1:41:31, a new PB for her, 33^rd woman and 236^th overall.

In the men’s competition James Ellis leads the way with an impressive 71:30 PB in the Vitality Big Half event.  This placed him 54^th overall, no mean feat in a strong field headed by Mo Farah.  Three more Valley men competed in the same race: Ryan Keane (77:52 PB, 198^th); Naol Abagibe (81:40, 334^th overall, 43^rd veteran); and David Franks (87:54, 693^rd overall, 92^nd vet).  Back to Milton Keynes and not to be out done by the women, TVH men had a good day there too.  Kirll Mikhaylove (78:04, 7^th), Thibault Audic (1:45:52, 306^th) and Lawrence Tse (1:46:55, 321^st) all recorded PBs in the new town.  Well done lads!

Overall, this is how the Endurance Cup scores are looking at this early stage.  Fancy a share of the points?  Just enter a  Half Marathon and complete it before the end of April, or obtain an official half way split time in a full marathon.

Ladies
Tracy Barlow 20
Heather Timmins 19
Lisa da Silva 18
Leanne Lyons 17

Men
James Ellis 20
Ryan Keane 19
Kirll Mikhaylov 18
Naol Abagibe 17
David Franks 16
Thibault Audic 15
Lawrence Tse 14

If you fancy taking the twenty points for the Spring Half for yourself, James and Tracy have set the standard!  Until the next update, wishing you good training as the weather hopefully improves.