Saturday was the 3^rd cross-country race of the season, which saw Viceroys Anna, Carla and Debbie  running for their affiliated running clubs that are part of the Surrey Ladies Cross-Country League Division 2. 

The hosts for the 3^rd race were the running club Thames Hares and Hounds, and the race was in Putney Vale/Wimbledon Common.  It was a 2-lap 8k run, and the course was cracking with two steep hills, large wooded sections and lots of trees and branches to jump over.  The biggest natural obstacle was the MUD after all the heavy rain and it was tough-going – even with spikes.  Anna nearly lost a shoe and runners had to jump a brook about 3 quarters of the way through each lap and Carla proclaimed: ‘ Anna has put it mildly, it was a BOG, GRIM conditions – excellent fun though the calf muscles were feeling it the morning after.’ Continue reading →

Viceroys cyclist Kevin Argent, sprint cyclist, has been racing the Imperial Winter Championships in Hayes – the Hillingdon Circuit in West London. He tells of his road to victory this weekend:

‘I’ve put the work in over the summer and took a week of easy riding going into the first round where there was no less than 6 crashes in the first 2.5 laps! Taking out half the field in the second one (and me!), I had to  limp home 17th (60 starters) . 

Round 2 : This time I was off to a better start and pulling at the front of the group in the 3rds before my seat came loose and I had to take a lap out and change a wheel too! The sprint came round and I was forced a little wide and hit the grass, this time I had to yield and roll over the line in 12th  

Round 3 : DNF due to illness 

Round 4 : 12th just had a tough time and couldn’t sling shot out properly!  

Round 5 : Race ABANDONED due a crash and they had to stop the race 

Round 6 : Ready……. 2nd! (In the 3rd CATS!) For once most things went my way! I managed to keep it tight at the front and chased down a few breaks before sitting up and resting in the middle of the peloton before moving up with 6 laps to go…. 3 laps to go I made a move towards the front and sat on 7th / 9th wheel (there was already a break away of 2 riders so 3rd was up for grabs! (And top 3rd CAT) with 3 corners to go I got on the drops and with out Bernie there (Mark Yeoman) telling me to wait I had to use my brains for once and waited and waited and waited then BANG! Off I went and hit the front! Holding onto 5th at the line and 2nd 3rd CAT by a tyres width! Happy Days! ‘

Awesome work Kevin, but maybe a bit of translation is needed for us non cyclist… what exactly are 2^nd and 3^rd CATS?

Kate, Jon and Rory all continued their into the more extreme end of cross country races with both the Grim Challenge (8 miles) and the Hell Runner (10 miles) during  December and January.

Both races presented different challenges for each competitor – Kate preferring Grim it was the one race of the 2 where despite the mud, water, tyres, cargo nets and undulating terrain, you could at least run without thinking for a couple of miles, whereas the much less forgiving Hell Runner course was unrelenting in its hills, sand,mud and water. After December’s rain, some water obstacles even had to be swum as opposed to waded! Hell Runner was also a real challenge even for competitors like Rory, as the narrow course had 3 waves – Rory at the front of wave 3 had to dodge not only the natural obstacles, but competitors from the previous 2 waves.

Rory did his Viceroys kit and self proud, coming 10th out of a field of 1065 at Grim and 22nd (but first in his wave) out of 1774 at Hell Runner: Kate and Jon wach had a personal victory, as she was ahead by the end of Grim, but he was victor at Hell Runner.

Alan tells us : ‘ I came second overall, my time chip gave me a time of 3:12 and an average off 19.1 mph , although the views are amazing the elevation of climbs was so up and down the whole 62miles. Me and Andrew Tugwell worked together and put it as hard as we could and showed Isle of Wight What us viceroys are all about .NEVER SHOW WEAKNESS  . Not much wind and dry and just the right temperature =
Perfect day’

‘I moved down from Scotland to Weybridge in January 2012 for work.I have always been active and since I was young had a keen interest in the mountains and climbing.
Sadly with no mountains in Surrey I had to keep active to stop the waist line increasing.
Earlier this year I bought a road bike, followed by a wet suit and have really enjoyed all aspects of running, cycling and swimming around the area.

I did my first sprint not long after buying my bike then following a years subscription to Triathlon plus magazine I was hooked. I cycled LEJOG soon after and  the following weekend competed in my first middle distance triathlon in Aberfeldy under the shadow of the Schiehallion and the beautiful idyllic Loch Tay. My reason for joining the Viceroys was to meet like minded people who can keep motivation high ,looking at the website it looked like a fun active club that was very close to home. So there was no excuse not to join. 
Looking forward to meeting some if not all of you at the Christmas Bash.’

‘I moved to Surrey from Somerset a little over 10 years ago –  I have always been active and played numerous sports. I used to swim and run at school so I always had that in me. Once I moved here I played rugby at The Vandals but over time I have slowly been less involved. I have ran with The Elmbridge Road Runners for a few years and have joined The Viceroys for some extra variety. In 2012 I ran 2 marathons, 2 half Iron Man events and the Grand Fondo Dragon Ride (Bonked but finished). I am keen to do something like that again in 2014, already signed up for the Paris and Berlin marathons. I look forward to training, learning and more importantly socialising with The Viceroys – hope to enter a few events with you all too.’

Welcome to Viceroys Calvin.

As 3 Viceroys Kate, Jon and Rory scraped the ice off their cars, it was no doubt going to be a very brutal Brutal 10k that morning. Rory none the less dressed confidently in his Viceroys vest and shorts, aiming as ever for a podium position; Kate and Jon dressed in thermals, gloves and bearing as little skin as possible to protect them from the brambles and bracken had just one thing on their mind – finishing in tact.

The first km eased runners in to the race as the track through wooded area gradually increased in gradient, but by the km mark, trees and roots blocked the track and mud was ankle deep. KM 2 again lulled the runners into a false sense that their movement was going to be pleasant and unheeded – and then the water obstacles started… and rarely stopped. Runners waded and dragged their way though marshes, bogs, lakes, puddles; when not fighting through water there were snaking single track paths, slightly raised either side of gulleys and ditches – fatal if you put a foot wrong; bracken fields; steep descents which were either sheer sliding mud or loose stone which avalanched with you as you moved… and the up hills? Let’s just say most people other than Rory walked them!

A truly brutal, but fun 10k – well done Viceroys.

The Mo Mud Run, an extremely muddy cross country 10k or mile race was taken on with style by Viceroys Joel and Rory as they dominated the 10k race, coming home with a 1 and a 3 for Viceroys: ‘The Mo Mud run is mostly about fun and there’s a lot of charity runners but, nonetheless, the course is challenging, especially for those of us used to road running!

I grew up running an cycling in Swinley Forest and both Rory and I ran last year (1st and 4th place respectively) so I knew what to expect: soft underfoot, sharp hills, bogs, single track – mind the tree stumps! – and thigh deep river crossings. Rory and I were up front as the fun went so I decided to chuck the race plan out the window and put the hammer down to try to stretch the field. Whilst blowing out of both ends after the first mile, Rory cruised past me and never looked back going on to retain his title and knock a minute off last year’s time.

I hung onto second spot until the last 500m when my legs just couldn’t defrost from the second river dunk and I was taken just before the home straight. Still, I claimed 3rd and took 4 mins off last year so very happy. Next year we’ll go for the Viceroys 1,2 so please join us to try and fill the podium with pink!!’

As raced and reported by Joel Stainton.

The Ball Buster Duathlon: 8 mile run, 24 mile bike and 8 mile run – tough, yes? But if those stats aren’t enough, the course takes you up, down and around Box Hill. Andy Tugwell tells us the story of his race:

‘Got there nice and early to witness the sun coming up and was thinking it was a nice day for racing. I started the run and was feeling good , I just behind the second group; I was still there and feeling good for the transition but by then the freezing sideways rain had started so it made the bike loops very tricky. At one point we were bunched and doing 35mph down Lodge Bottom Road(which most of the Viceroys probably know)- a bit scary but lots of fun…came in for the second run and was feeling good, stayed at a good pace and came in 3min over my first run time, so well pleased. 

I must say that this was probably the toughest race I have done, so to beat that 3hour mark was great, bring on next year!’