This was the 4th year New Life Training have had runners in the Great South Run and with 13 Personal Training Clients or Running Club Members this was the biggest representation yet!
At the start it seemed the weather would be kind to the 25,000 runners, no rain, fairly clear skies and a little wind. Little did we know we were sheltered at that point. The commentator kept re-iterating that the race should be run with 3 clear stages, the first 4 miles, the 2nd 4 miles then the last 2! The later being the greatest challenge as you turn for home the wind, up to 40mph, would hit you….hard. He wasn’t kidding!!!
For many of the runners it was their first Great South Run and they all thoroughly enjoyed the whole day event. For those who had run it before it was definitely the hardest conditions we’ve run the race in! This made Juliette’s and Paul N times even more impressive as they beat their previous Personal Bests for the run. Juliette took a huge four and a half minutes off last years times and Paul, even though he had to walk a little against the strong wind at the end beat last years time by nearly a minute. Of the other runners who competed last year, Alistair was just 15 seconds outside his PB and Mark was on-track for his record until the he hit the wind at the last mile, finishing less than a minute behind last years time, but nearly 100 places ahead at 1930th of the 25000 runners!
Of the GSR Virgins, Greg showed some real guts and determination as he has been unable to run for two weeks due to injury. He rattled his way around the course full of pain killers to complete the course, receive his finishing bag and raise a lot of money for Solent Mind. Well done Greg!! Kate has detested running ever since she started but was determined to complete the challenge she started and was magnificent has she completed the course in just 1h 57m!! For someone who said she would never run again afterwards, she loved it, and I reckon it will be a half marathon next for Kate.
Lindsey had run the GSR 4 years ago and smashed her time this year. She didn’t have the best of preparation with birthday celebrations the night before and packing to go on holiday tomorrow. She did fantastic though and completed the run in just under 1h47. Her celebration burger was well deserved!!! Louise finished just behind Lindsey, having returned to running just 9 weeks ago she was awesome in finishing in 1h 48s!! She clearly has the running bug now and is already talking about her next run!! Finishing just 2 seconds behind Louise was Henry! Following in his fathers footsteps in running the GSR, Henry completed his first GSR in a very good time. Well done Henry!! I am sure Nick would be proud!
Martin had never really run previously when he was hoodwinked in to signing up to the GSR, but he thoroughly enjoyed it and the training paid off as he finished in just 96 minutes, amazing Martin!!! Well done!! Also running his first GSR was Jamie. Having trained really hard in the last 8 weeks Jamie was determined to complete the race in a good time and he did just that with an awesome 1h 43mins! Well done Jamie! Paul P has been training for the Spartan in 2 weeks time and used the race as preparation. His time of just 84minutes would suggest he is very ready for the Spartan challenge, good luck Paul!!
Finally, I was hoping to see a little minion running around the GSR course. Elaine has raised a lot of money for Mind charity as she completed her 2nd GSR! Her time 1h44s was very impressive, taking a massive 2 minutes off her previous time, to set a new Personal Best!! Well done!!
Well done to all the runners for completing the run in such positive manner in such tough conditions. Already looking forward to next year. You can find out more about New Life Training Running Club and how it can inspire and motivate you to a better GSR time at Enjoy Fitness Running Club
It was unfortunate that the wind meant the congregation area was a little less organised than in previous years so we were all unable to meet up for photos but well done to you all and I hope you will continue your training with New Life Training ready for next years GSR!!
| Name | Time | Distance | Speed | Pos | Last year |
| Mark | 01:18:41 | 10 | 00:07:52 | 1930 | 01:17:49 |
| Paul N | 01:34:19 | 10 | 00:09:26 | 8529 | 01:35:08 |
| Paul P | 01:24:24 | 10 | 00:08:26 | 3557 | |
| Alistair | 01:46:26 | 10 | 00:10:39 | 11558 | 01:46:21 |
| Lindsey | 01:46:57 | 10 | 00:10:42 | 11677 | |
| Louise | 01:48:35 | 10 | 00:10:52 | 12185 | |
| Martin | 01:36:11 | 10 | 00:09:37 | 7886 | |
| Jamie | 01:43:01 | 10 | 00:10:18 | 10469 | |
| Juliette | 01:43:43 | 10 | 00:10:22 | 10692 | 01:48:15 |
| Kate | 01:56:56 | 10 | 00:11:42 | 14058 | |
| Greg | 02:19:53 | 10 | 00:13:59 | 16035 | |
| Henry | 01:48:37 | 10 | 00:10:52 | 12198 | |
| Elaine | 01:44:41 | 10 | 00:10:28 | 11034 | 01:46:56 |
