Ivan Filchev and Nathan Roulson did the 38th Box Hill Fell Race in Surrey on Saturday. Box Hill is notorious for being a challenging incline whether you’re scaling it on 2 wheels or 2 feet! The race was 12km long with 640metres of elevation and was challenging not only because of its profile but also its diverse underfoot conditions ranging from rocks, loose gravel, mud, grass and slippery steps. Both runners were carrying injuries but were pleased to move their way through the pack to finish the course in 83 minutes.
Also racing on Saturday was Axel Voigt who did Great Notley parkrun in 29:46.
On Sunday Andy Wilmot and John Warne did the 5th Braintree BOG-GLE trail marathon. Conditions were hard and frosty for the first half of the course turning a lot muddier as the miles progressed. They crossed the line in 5:22:53.
Adrian Gasser, Anthony Denton, Phil Jeffries and Caroliena Cameron did the Last Minute Trail from Broxted. They completed the 7.2 mile route in 1:21.
The main race of the weekend was the Benfleet 15, a tough off road run taking in parts of the 2012 Olympic Mountain Bike Course. Despite the freezing temperatures there was glorious sunshine and a record number of participants. Runners were rewarded with Gold, Silver or Bronze medals depending on their finishing position. First back for the Road Runners in 16th position was James Smith in 1:40:48 earning a Gold medal. Steve May 2:02:54 and Ian Chandler 2:13:23, who was 15 minutes quicker than 2 years ago, followed earning themselves Silver medals. For the ladies Sandi Robinson-Miller 2:29:08 and Sarah Frost 2:44:06 also went home with Silver after scaling one last painful hill to cross the line.
Photo attached of our Benfleet 15 finishers with their medals unfortunately without Ian Chandler (Sarah Frost, Steve May, Sandi Robinson-Miller and James Smith).
