Runners get their skates on

A TOTAL of 379 people took part in the Woodcote 10km on Sunday.

It was the largest number of runners seen at the event since the coronavirus pandemic and an increase of 40 per cent on last year.

The event is organised by Pangbourne Rotary Club and is one of its major fundraising events for the year. Proceeds supported Parkinson’s UK and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The runners were warned of ice on the course and the temperature sat at 0C as they made their way from Woodcote village hall to the start line.

Richard Anderson, a rotary club volunteer, advised those taking part to avoid any puddles on the course before counting down from five and sounding the starter’s horn.

The event, which has been running for more than 40 years, takes runners on a circuit through the countryside and ends with a 358ft ascent, earning it the name of “the tough one”.

The race was won by Chris Lucas, 33, who finished in a time of 35 minutes and eight seconds. The first woman to finish was Dani Bailey, 33, from Bath, in a time of 41 minutes and nine seconds. Mr Lucas, who lives in Caversham, and works for Spire Healthcare, was running the event for the eighth time, and said he felt confident ahead of the race.

He said: “It was the fastest time I’ve done the course. I felt pretty good this time, so I was hoping to try and beat my time from 2020, which was my last personal best. I won it seven years ago in 2018, so I thought I’d be in with a chance again this time.

“There were a few slippery bits but, overall, it was pretty runnable, I didn’t have to worry too much about the ice, there were enough dry points to run on.

“The second half is nearly all uphill, so you just try not to go too fast in the first half and save something for the end.”

The runner-up was Matthew Ploszynski, who finished eight seconds later in a time of 35 minutes and 16 seconds.

In third was Harry Gee, in a time of 36 minutes and 32 seconds. He was the first man to finish in the veteran 40-plus division.

Mr Ploszynski, 31, who is from Woodcote and went to Langtree School, works in sales and marketing for Clarify.

He said: “I ran the race in 2019, I was quite a bit heavier then, so I’ve lost a bit of weight and I did it in 50 minutes. So, with 35 minutes today I’m pleased with the improvement.

“I’ve done a lot of running since then, picking it back up through the covid lockdown and then I did the Amsterdam marathon in October, which got me back into it again and then I signed up to this.

“It was a bit of a cold morning for it but it was all right, it thawed out quite a lot. There was a bit of ice but we all seemed to manage.”

The second female to finish was Hannah Calderwood, 44, who finished in 42 minutes and five seconds.

Ms Calderwood, who lives in Wheatley and works in market research, said she was a bit surprised to achieve a personal best time on the hilly course.

She said: “It was my first time doing this course and I just went around hoping for the best and it worked out well for me.”

Carolyn Parfitt, 39, who is a physiotherapist in Wallingford, was the third female to finish in a time of 44 minutes and nine seconds.

Ms Parfitt, who grew up in Henley and went to Gillotts School, said that she improved her time by two and a half minutes from when she competed last year.

She said: “I started running about 18 months ago now and then I decided last night to sign up to do it again. It was freezing but last year it was 2C so I knew it would be all right.

“They warned us about ice at the 4km point, telling us to be careful. I didn’t slip and there was some salt that had been poured on the road so the organisers were quite conscious of it.

“I started running after I had my second child to try and get a bit of headspace, so last year I had only really been running for about four or five months so I expected some sort of improvement but you never know with mixed sleep and energy levels, you never quite know what you’re going to do so I was quite pleased with it.

“In my early 20s I used to do quite a lot of triathlons and then because of work and stuff like that I didn’t do much apart from a run once a week.

“After I had my children, I wanted to get back into shape as people always put it. I started running with Run Wallingford on a Wednesday.

“I have done a few half marathons since then and a few 10kms so I think it’s all headed in the right direction.”

The race winners were presented with a trophy by Bob Warmingham, director of the event sponsor, Warmingham estate agents, and James Richardson, president of the rotary club, in a short ceremony outside the village hall in Reading Road.

For John Alper, a dentist from Goring, it was just the second race back since he broke his knee last year. He finished in one hour and one minute and said that he approached the race “with a lot of caution”.

He said: “It was quite tough as my knee was sore, so I had to be a little bit careful. I tend not to run in these icy conditions but it wasn’t too bad.”

Kate Ashley ran with ladies from her “unofficial Goring running club”, which included Sarah Sweeten, Mandy Nathan, Sharon Flower, Jules Woodall and Leanne James.

She said that she thought it was unlikely anyone would get a personal best in the icy conditions. She said: “We run it every year, it’s how we start our year. It’s a tough course this one, all down hill and then it’s really bad, steep uphill.

“I think everyone is a little bit nervous because normally it’s a nice fast run downhill but today we’ll have to be a bit careful going down that hill.”

The event raised £5,000 for Parkinson’s UK and the Motor Neurone Disease Association, with some also going to the Rotary’s charity fund, which is used for donations to charity.

The day featured an information stand run by Sarah Jones, from Parkinson’s UK, explaining the charity’s work funding research into the neurological condition and supporting those who live with it.

Brian Davies, the rotary club’s publicity manager, said: “We are grateful for the runners who truly enjoy participating in this tough event and to all the volunteers who make this happen.

“Rotarians from several local clubs, friends and partners from our members as well as volunteers from our charities.

“We are also indebted to our sponsors Warmingham’s estate agents and Peppard Building Supplies. We thank you all.”