The Prestwold Hall 10k, organised by Barrow Runners, was the latest race in the Leicestershire Road Race league series. Ivanhoe Runners went into the race with both the men's' and men's vets team leading their division, and the women's teams both steadily improving their positions. The race was a high quality affair with GB international Chris Davies from Telford Ac winning in 30.40.

First home for Ivanhoe Runners was Brian Stout, 38th in 35.07, followed by Alistair Chambers 49th in 35.54, both good times after racing on the previous Tuesday evening. Andrew Hough ran a great race off very limited training, clocking 36.19 in 57th spot. Next home was Will Oldham, 40.42 (185th), leading in Martin Yeomans 41.16 and Dave Morse 41.18 who had a battle to finish 204th and 208th respectively. David Allford ran a good race to clock 42.03 in 236th position, and Chris Osbourne was 294th in a time of 43.52.

Paul Harris clocked 46.20, before the Ivanhoe Runners women's team finished strongly in numbers - Ruth Shaw leading them home in 48.14 (411th), followed by Amanda Bradbury 50.44 (488th), Paula Hough 51.45 (511th) and Judy Ramsell 53.50 (562nd). Debbie Reed finished in 54.32 (571st) ahead of Alison Allford 54.38 (573rd) and Nancy Bennion 55.28 (583rd). Catherine Wood ran 56.00 (640th), followed by Maxine Dandy in 1.01.14 (640th). Finally, Mike Roberts finished in 1.01.36 (547th).

Ivanhoe Runners fielded a 21 strong team in the Burton AC Midsummer 10k, run from Shobnall Fields. This race forms part of the Burton Summer League and is run over canal towpath and tracks but is a flat and fast course. First home was youngster and Club captain Brian Stout, in an excellent 5th place, clocking 35.12, followed by Alistair Chambers in 6th in 35.40. Chris Ramsell made a re-appearance in club colours and ran well for 38.23 in 24th place, while Dave Morse had a great run to clock 38.47 in 27th.

Allan Birch ran 41.22 in 45th position, ahead of Ivanhoe's first lady Dawn Pearson, clocking 42.29 in 58th. Dawn was 6th lady overall and the first vet45. David Allford was 67th in 43.09, just ahead of Chris Osbourne 69th in 43.21. Dave Mann was 81st (45.17), while Keith Baron left his golf clubs at home and ran a very good 48.12 in 101st place.

The women's engine room performed well again, with Julia Blewitt-Jenkins, just back from World Triathlon Championship duties, clocking a strong 49.18 in 112th, Amanda Bradbury running 50.42 in 119th and Trish McPherson, also a World's triathlete, clocking 53.01 in 134th. Just behind Trish was Karen Dewis, timed at 53.20 in 138th, who in turn led home Janet Gibson 143rd in 53.38 and Debbie Reed 148th in 54.38.

Bernadette and Rob Dooley ran together and finished 178th and 179th in 59.57, just beating the hour, while Frin Baron ran 1.01.56 in 184th, Elaine Moulton ran 1.02.09 in 186th and Sue Kendrick ran 1.03.39 in 190th.

Three Ivanhoe Runners represented Great Britain in the 2008 ITU World Championships, in Vancouver, Canada. Carolyn Osborne, Julia Blewitt-Jenkins and Trish McPherson had competed in a number of qualifying events, and trained through the Spring in all weathers ahead of the event. Competing in the Age group sprint event, the athletes started with a 750 metre swim in English Bay, Vancouver, followed by a 20k three lap bike leg around Stanley Park and a 5k run.

All three athletes had good performances despite the poor conditions, with cold and wet weather on the day. Fastest of the three was Julia Blewitt-Jenkins, who clocked an overall time of 1.35.11 to finish a fantastic 7th in her category and 4th Britain. Julia's strong event has always been the swimming, and after the swim leg taking 19.48 she exited the water in 3rd place. After the bike leg, with a cumulative time of 1.10.02 Julia was still going well in 7th place and held on to that position to the end. Trish McPherson was 6th Britain and an excellent 13th overall in her age group, finishing in 1.46.38. After the swim Trish was 19th, taking 28.22 for the 750m leg, and came off the bike after a strong ride to clock a cumulative 1.19.07 in 13th place, which she held on to for the final 5k running leg.

Just over a minute slower than Trish was Carolyn Osborne, who, despite being plagued by injury leading up to the event, excelled to finish 19th in her age group and 9th Britain. Carolyn made steady progress through the race, coming out of the water after 27.53 in 23rd place, finishing the bike after 1.20.18 in 21st place and picking up a couple more places after a strong run to finish 19th. The Ivanhoe Runners clearly enjoyed the experience of a world championship event and proved great representatives of both Club and Country.

Ivanhoe Runners maintained their presence in the two summer leagues they are competing in, the Leicestershire Road Race League and the Burton and District Summer League.

The latest fixture in the Leicestershire Road Race League was the West End 8, run from Queniborough. Run in good conditions, a steep hill at four miles sorted out the competitors, but nevertheless several Ivanhoe Runners posted personal best times. Brian Stout played a fine club captains role as he led the team home in a fine 10th place (and 6th senior ) with a time of 46.40, just under a minute ahead of team-mates Andy Hough 17th in 47.37 and Alistair Chambers 18th in 47.41. These were strong performances particularly from Brian and Alistair after their recent White Peak marathon triumphs.

Next home was Chris Ramsell in 43rd in 49.57, not far ahead of Dave Morse who is showing great form of late and ran well here to clock 50.20 in 46th place. Martin Yeomans made the scoring team as usual, clocking 53.18 in 88th place just ahead of David Allford, 91st in 53.34. Will Oldham was next home, Bart Reid was 113th in 55.09 - a personal best - and the men's team was completed by Chris Osborne 180th in 59.01 and Stuart Andrews 224th in 1.02.19.

The Ivanhoe Runners women's team were led home by Dawn Pearson storming round the course in 55.10 to finish 8th lady overall and sixth in her category. She was backed up by Ruth Shaw proving to be as consistent as ever, finishing 42nd in 1.02.59, Paula Hough 78th in 1.07.17, Amanda Bradbury 81st in 1.07.45 and Judi Ramsell 113th in 1.13.49. Remarkably, all the women's team gained new personal best times on the day!

This puts the teams in a strong position in the league - after the previous event the men and men's vets were leading both senior league two's, while the women were joint 9th in League One, and needing the points, while the women's vets were 6th.

In the Burton and District Summer League, the Burton 10 miler always proves to be a popular fixture and a successful one for Ivanhoe Runners, with the men's team finishing second on the day to move them into third place in the league after three races, and the women's team winning on the day to move them into joint first place in the league after three races.

Leading the men home was Brian Stout in 7th place, clocking 59.49 and claiming second spot among the runners contesting the league. Alistair Chambers was 11th in 1.00.31, and Dave Morse was a fine 30th in 1.04.54. Club Chairman Sean Wileman ran well for a time of 1.07.57 in 49th, just ahead of a new member running his first race for the club, Will Oldham, who was 53rd in 1.08.53. Will just held off Martin Yeomans, 54th in 1.08.57, who in turn was just ahead of Allan Birch 56th in 1.09.05 - Allan being the only member of the Ivanhoe men's team in the senior category!

Dawn Pearson had a great run to finish in 1.09.57, 61st overall, 6th lady and first vet. Stuart Andrews was next home in 88th place in 1.13.02, after a close battle with Ivan Arkinstall 89th in 1.13.04. Chris Osborne ran 1.14.41 in 101st place, and Nigel Holmes ran 1.16.02 in 109th position. Ruth Shaw was second Ivanhoe lady, 150th overall in 1.23.05, and just pipping Paula Hough who ran a personal best to clock a great 1.23.10 in 151st place overall. Amanda Bradbury turned in her usual strong performance to finish in 1.25.06, Karen Dewis ran 1.30 dead and Judy Ramsell ran a personal best time of 1.30.11, knocking a massive four and a half minutes off her previous best. This strong team performance from the ladies placed them first on the day ahead of arch-rivals in the Burton League, Washland Ladies.

Having missed the London Marathon through injury, Ivanhoe Runners club captain Brian Stout took part in the White Peak marathon along with fellow club member Alistair Chambers. And a very successful foray it was, with both of them having great runs. Alistair was first home in a fantastic 4th place in 2.53.52, while Brian came home an excellent 5th in 2.54.55.

While the UK basked in very hot weather recently the same was true in the Czech Republic, as Dave Mann ran the Prague marathon, adding another to his already long list of overseas and British marathons that he has completed. In the heat, and struggling with a sore hip and a cold, Dave nevertheless finished sunburnt in a time of 4 hours 34 minutes 8 seconds.

In sweltering hot conditions Ivanhoe Runners took part in the Hinckley Dog and Hedgehog half marathon, a race which also formed part of the Leicestershire Road Race League summer series. With temperatures so high several runners were suffering in the heat and posting times significantly outside their normal expectations, and all did well to finish in once piece given the conditions.

Alistair Chambers was first home for the club, finishing in 23rd place in 1.24.47, just ahead of Brian Stout in 25th in 1.25.02. Chris Ramsell was 45th in 1.28.04, and Dave Morse had a good run for 59th in 1.29.26. With no other team members under 1 hour 40, Allan Birch was next home in 1.40.07 for 153rd place, ahead of Andy Jeyes who had a great run and was probably the performance of the day as he ran 1.41.53 to finish 180th and third vet60. Stuart Andrews ran 1.44.40 (213th), Peter Gold ran 1.45.55 (233rd), David Allford ran 1.48.32 (273rd), Martin Yeomans 1.49.00 (279th) and Bart Reid ran 1.49.09 (281st) as the Ivanhoe midfield sweltered in the heat.

Well outside their usual times were Sean Wileman 1.50.50 (302nd), Chris Osborne 1.55.18 (364th), Nigel Holmes 1.55.31 (369th) and Paul Harris 2.05.55- all affected by the hot conditions.

Carolyn Osborne ran 1.55.44 (377th) to lead the ladies home and was joined by Paula Hough 2.04.40, Clare Fowell 2.06.04, Brenda Wileman 2.20.21, Amanda Bradbury 2.21.57 and Debbie Reed 2.31.17

The second race in the series was the Uttoxeter half marathon. Alistair Chambers was first home, in a fine 9th place in 1.22.05, while having a great run was Dave Morse, 17th in 1.24.19. Allan Birch came home 77th 1.33.00, not far ahead of Sean Wileman 83rd in 1.33.34. Martin Yeomans finished 137th in 1.39.18, while Ivanhoe's only two female representatives in the race were Janet Gibson, 302nd in 2.03.16 and Debbie Reed, 342nd in 2.13.52.

Ivanhoe Runners made an impressive debut in the 2008 Burton and District Summer league in the first race at Rosliston. Run over tracks and paths around the forestry centre, the course was extremely muddy and proved to be a hard slog for the 86 finishers.

Alistair Chambers led Ivanhoe home with an excellent third place in 34.04, while Brian Stout was 8th in 35.23. Third home for the team was Martin Yeomans, 21st in 37.51, followed closely by Dave Morse 23rd in 38.16 and David Allford 24th in 38.35. Having a fantastic run was Dawn Pearson, coming home 26th overall in 39.01 and easily winning the women's race by nearly two minutes!

Allan Birch was 29th in 39.32, and the men's team was completed by Bart Reid 36th (41.31), Frank Taylor 42nd (43.38), Paul Harris 47th (44.47), and Ian Watson 50th (46.17) This placed the men's team third in the series after the first race.

The women fared much better helped by the impressive win of Dawn Pearson. Next lady home was Carolyn Osborne 44th overall and 6th lady, timed at 43.48, followed by Julia Blewitt-Jenkins 9th lady (46.48). Amanda Bradbury was 12th lady in 49.14. This strong team showing sets them up well for the rest of the series.

The London Marathon saw nine Ivanhoe Runners make the start line, and they enjoyed varying degrees of success. With a number of the Club's elite withdrawing through injury or illness, it was left to eight-times London Marathoner Chris Ramsell to lead the club home. Despite a best time of 2.41.01 Chris was entering this years race off limited training and was hoping to simply survive and clock sub 3.15, however he did more than that as he stormed home looking comfortable in 2.56.41. Looking very good at halfway, clocked in 1.26.19, Chris only dropped a couple of minutes in the second half finish to finish extremely pleased with a superb 805th overall

The weather conditions in the latter stages of the race, with a westerly headwind and rain and sleet showers, made running miserable and probably resulted in than usual times. Dave Mann was also suffering heavily in the second half with a hip strain, and after going through halfway in 1.42.31 struggled home just outside four hours in 4.00.17. He finished 11,695th overall and 725th in his age category.

Stuart Andrews also suffered, finishing just behind Dave in 4.02.11 after fading in the second half - halfway being timed at 1.39.31. Stuart was 12,185th overall. Having a superb run though was Trish McPherson, clocking 4.15.06 to finish 2,907th lady and an excellent 171st in her new age category. This was only 2 minutes outside her personal best and she was consequently very pleased with her run.

Lindsey Dewis was competing in her first London Marathon and should have been delighted with her time of 4.22.55. This placed Lindsey 3,554th lady and 613th in her category.

Competing in her first ever marathon was Judy Ramsell, and she finished in a fine 4.58.15 after passing halfway in 2.15.12, and was 1,112nd in her age category. This was after her less than ideal preparation as husband Pete Mann pulled out the day before the race with illness.

Ali Sturla was in her first marathon, just seven months to the day after giving birth, and so should have been very pleased with her finishing time of 5.48.21, while husband Tim was running in a gorilla suit and looked comfortable (for a gorilla) at halfway, and pressed on to finish well in 4.45. This was 14 minutes faster than his previous gorilla time, and it is believed he was the first gorilla home !

The Leicester Road Race Winter League culminated in the Desford 10k last Sunday, and Ivanhoe Runners finished in great style with the men's team keeping a winning 100% record in league two, the men's veteran's winning league two by an eight point margin, the women finishing 9th in league one and the women's vets finishing 6th in their league. This was a great performance from the club and sets up an exciting summer season with the men in particular full of confidence.

Leading them home in the Desford 10k was the sprightly Pete Mann, who despite heavy London marathon training continues to show great form over the shorter distances. Pete was an excellent 10th overall in 35.12. He was ably backed up by club captain Brian Stout, 15th in 35.38, and Alistair Chambers 18th in 35.56. Chris Ramsell ran well for 50th place in 37.52, before youngest team member Chris Keenan clocked a great 38.37 in 62nd place. Dave Morse ran 39.37 in 78th, while Martin Yeomans and Andy Jeyes completed the top eight in 101st (40.51) and 131st (41.49) respectively. Andy only just held off Dawn Pearson who had a storming run to finish 7th lady in 41.50.

The men's engine room performed well with Ivan Arkinstall next home in 153rd (42.23), Nigel Holmes 197th (43.48), Dave Mann 205th (44.14), Chris Osborne 218th (44.44), Stuart Andrews 272nd (47.00), Paul Harris 301st (48.55) and Ian Watson 304th (49.00). Overall, the men won the league two race by a massive score to keep their 100% record, while the vet men came second in this race but easily won the overall league two title.

The women had a strong race led home by Dawn Pearson, with Ruth Shaw continuing her great form to clock 46.06 and finish 38th woman. Carolyn Osborne returned to finish 43rd in 46.39, and Paula Hough continued to impress with 66th in 49.41. Trish McPherson was 77th in 51.16, an impressive time, while Frin Baron and Louise Douglas both ran 72.05 to finish 140th and 141st respectively. This gave the women's team a great fifth place on the day - their best performance of the season - and left them ninth overall in league one. The women's vets did even better, finishing third in this race and a great 6th overall.

The Reading half marathon is a prestigious event attracting a huge field of 17,000, and this year Ivanhoe Runners were represented by Andrew and Paula Hough. Andrew had a great run to clock 1.18.28 (123rd), and Paula clocked 1.54.10, both good runs with a tough wind in the last three miles. Robert and Sarah Hough did the 2.8k fun run which itself attracted 3,000 runners, and both ran very strongly, Rob clocking 11.25 to finish 41st and Sarah running 12.07 to finish 26th.

Pete Mann was competing at Kingshurst in the Centurion five miler. Pete was an excellent 6th overall, and clocked 29.42, just outside his time for January's race but pleasing as this came off a heavy training week.

The Leicestershire Road Race league series moved on to its fourth and penultimate race with the Wolvey 5 miler. The Ivanhoe men's team put in another impressive performance with great packing at the front, filling places 12 to 14 with three vets and storming the vets league two by a huge margin - their score would also have easily beaten all the tams in league one. First home was Pete Mann in 12th place in a time of 28.21, and two seconds in arrears was Andrew Hough 13th 28.23 and just one second behind him was Alistair Chambers 14th (28.24).

Next man home for Ivanhoe was Chris Ramsell, 57th in 30.24, followed by Dave Morse 88th in 31.44, Alan Ginn 104th in 32.06, and Martin Yeomans 109th in 32.15. Andrew Gillies 127th in 32.55 completed the scoring eight, and, along with the rest of the men's squad, brought them home for another easy win in league two, way ahead of their nearest rivals and leaving the club in an unassailable lead in league two in the open competition. Also, assuming a good turnout at the next race and performances as strong as at Wolvey, Ivanhoe Runners should capture the men's vets title in league 2 as well.

Completing the Ivanhoe Runners men's squad were Chris Osborne 195th (34.56), Stuart Andrews 273rd (37.36), Ian Watson 274th (37.36) and Paul Harris 297th (38.28).

The Ivanhoe women's team were a little below strength but did include the consistent performers - Ruth Shaw leading them home again after leading the team home at Ashby. Ruth clocked an excellent 36.40 to finish 38th, while Paula Hough also had a great run to finish 58th in 39.09. Amanda Bradbury is probably the women's team most consistent runner, and she had another strong run to clock 40.22 in 73rd place. Mandy Watson was 124th in 48.08 and Frin Baron was 131st in 49.53. This brought the women's team home tenth in the vets league and also 10th in league one.

The final league race is at Desford on 16th March, and it is hoped that a big team turn-out will guarantee a winning high profile for the club against the cream of Leicestershire's running clubs.

Ivanhoe Runners took part in the latest round of the Derby Runner league at Foremark Reservoir on Sunday. Fresh from hosting the Ivanhoe Challenge, the venue provided a very scenic two lap course that managed to incorporate some tough climbs and fell-race descents, and the frosty but bright conditions were near ideal.

The Ivanhoe men's team was missing some of it's lead men and so it was left to Romain Gayraud to lead the men's team home for the first time, finishing 45th in 35.21. Behind him, Martin Yeomans recorded probably his highest ever team placing, finishing second Ivanhoe and 58th overall in 36.27, a good run. Club Chairman Sean Wileman continued his Derby Runner league debut season with 71st place in 37.33, before league organiser Dave Mann had a better run than recently as he clocked 38.13 in 88th place.

Nigel Holmes was 118th in 40.06, and with Bart Reid 126th (40.45), Chris Osborne 131st (41.01) and Tim Sturla 142nd (41.59) that completed the scoring eight men's team members.

In amongst the men, placing fourth Ivanhoe overall, was Dawn Pearson having a great run for sixth woman overall as she clocked 38.10.

Paul Harris was 152nd and Roger Beavan 153rd, both being given a time of 42.48, while hot on their tail was Julia Blewitt-Jenkins having a good run for second Ivanhoe women's team counter, finishing 30th woman in 42.56, backed up well by Ruth Shaw 31st in 43.11. Ian Watson 43.54 (163rd) just got the better of final women's team counter Rosie Dear 35th in 43.55.

Keith Baron was 174th in 45.29, holding a gap over fast finishing Kevin Sanders 178th in 45.56. He just pipped Amanda Bradbury to the line, Amanda clocking 45.58 to finish 46th woman. Dave Allery 46.09 (179th) led home wife Zoe 46.16 (49th woman). Trish McPherson was 59th (48.14) ahead of Lindsay Dewis 61st (49.02) having a good run after her Stamford 30k the previous week. Debbie Reed carried on her fine series with 79th in 55.15, ahead of Frin Baron 83rd (58.25), Ali Sturla 84th (58.44) and Cheryl Dennis 85th (58.45).

The Leicestershire Road Race league caravan moved to Ashby for the 5 mile road race hosted by South Derbyshire Road Runners. With it being on "home turf", Ivanhoe Runners were expected to do well and acquitted themselves very well despite missing some key runners through fixture clashes, injury and illness.

Brian Stout again performed his captain's role admirably as he stormed home to his best league finish, 12th overall n a time of 28.03, and he was brilliantly backed up by Andrew Hough, 18th in 28.37. With a couple of key runners taking in the 30k race at Stamford, next home was youngster Chris Keenan, running well for 60th place in 30.19, an impressive time for the 18 year old. Dave Morse gained his highest team placing, being 5th counter home, as he finished 93rd in 31.35, and Martin Yeomans did his bit for the team in finishing 105th in 32.03. The scoring eight were completed by Alan Ginn making rare appearance, finishing 120th in 32.19, David Allford 144th in 33.03 and Brian Kendrick 155th in 33.30.

This gave the men's team a total score of 670 which, whilst way off their best, still gave them victory in League 2 and ensures a maximum 60 points after three races in the league series, well clear of their nearest rivals, Birstall. In the men's veteran's competition, the team were third on the day after two successive victories, and so will need a full turn-out for the next league race to maintain their early momentum - after three races they now tie on 54 points with OWLS.

Next home for the men's squad was Stuart Andrews, 205th (34.49) just ahead of Dave Mann 208th (34.55). Nigel Holmes ran 35.22 in 223rd place, half a minute ahead of Chris Osborne 35.50 in 258th. Some new faces followed, with Colin Cook 258th (36.39), Paul Harris 297th (38.00) and Mark Drummond 434th (46.59).

The Ivanhoe women's team was also missing several runners, but Ruth Shaw continued her excellent series with a fine 43rd place in 37.38. She was well supported by Clare Fowell 52nd in 38.31, and inevitably another great run from Paula Hough in 68th. Paula's run was notable though as for the first time this year she did not clock a personal best - her time of 40.02 being 20 seconds outside the PB she set earlier this month. Amanda Bradbury continued her consistent progress in finishing 76th in 40.34, and Trish McPherson ran well for 91st in 41.57. Alison Allford made a rare appearance for Ivanhoe Runners and did well for 100th place (43.20), and Debbie Reed ran well fro 130th (47.29). Frin Baron was 141st (51.54), Sue Kendrick was 143rd (52.29) and Eve Adams making a comeback was 150th (57.46).

This performance gained the women's team 9th place in the race in League 1, and placed them 9th after three races. The women's veteran's fared better, being 7th in the race and now placed 6th after the three races.

The club now look forward to race 4 at Nuneaton on 24th February where hopefully both squad's will be back to full strength.

The fixture clashing with the Ashby 5 was the Stamford 30k, an ideal pre-London marathon race that is always well supported by Ivanhoe Runners. Leading the charge there was Pete Mann who had a superb run for 9th place overall and first vet45 with a time of 1.53.01. Also running well was Alistair Chambers, 26th in 1.59.13. Third home for the Club was Sean Wileman, 236th in 2.25.30, ahead of Tim Sturla 297th in 2.31.51. The Ivanhoe women were represented by Karen Dewis, clocking 3.00.51(524th), Judy Ramsell in her first long distance race clocking an excellent 3.08.31 (555th) and Ali Sturla 3.56.29 (607th).

Ivanhoe Runners had another very successful day at the races in the second round of the Leicestershire Road Race league, the Markfield 10k. The day saw the men's team storm round to a team score that would have placed them second overall, and put them way ahead of their rivals in League 2, their score being less than half the next club (a low score is good) , Birstall. Even better, the men's vets team did collect the lowest score in the whole league, amassing only a score of 50 from their counters, and again easily heading League 2. The ladies also got in on the act as they improved over the first race to be placed 8th in League 1, while the vet ladies finished sixth in League 1. So overall, a very impressive start to this season's campaign.

Club Captain Brian Stout led the men's team home, but it was a close run thing as he, Alistair Chambers and Pete Mann finished in 14th, 15th and 16th respectively in 36.07, 36.12 and 36.18. Just behind in 23rd was Andrew Hough, in 36.47, and it was this packing near the front that gave Ivanhoe their great score. Running well for 43rd was Stuart Douglas, in 38.10 and just behind him was Chris Ramsell, 46th in 38.12. Romain Gayraud was 66th in 38.58, and with Phillip Marriott 78th in 39.50, that meant all the men's team finished in under 40 minutes, very impressive and the reason why they easily head their league.

Dave Morse was next home, in 40.15 for 84th place, ahead of Ivan Arkinstall 42.58 in 142nd. Dave Mann, running without injury for the first time in about four years, came home 172nd in 44.35. Stuart Andrews clocked 46.26 in 213th, while Ian Watson was 244th in 48.18 and Kevin Sanders got under 50 minutes as he clocked 49.45 in 268th.

Dawn Pearson got amongst the Ivanhoe men as she finished an excellent 10th lady (and third vet 45) in a great time of 42.39. Ruth Shaw also had a great run, clocking 48.25 in 45th place. Third club member home was Clare Fowell, finishing 60th in 50.03 and the ever improving Paula Hough gained another personal best as she clocked 51.18 to be final team counter in 77th place. Judith Webster-Sanders ran 51.39 to finish one place behind Paula, and Amanda Bradbury was 83rd in 52.14. The team were completed by Trish McPherson 105th (53.59), Judy Ramsell 113th (54.34) and Debbie reed having a strong run for 140th place in 58.50.

The event, which is a combination of a gruelling cross-country run coupled with an assault course incorporating a lot of water and obstacles, this year claimed Ivanhoe' Rob Dooley as a casualty as he fractured his ankle on the very last obstacle! After triage at the event and a next day trip to hospital he is now in plaster for several weeks. At the other end, and faring much better was Martin Yeomans who buried the ghost of last year's non-finish to blast round and finish in an impressive 265th place in 1.20.47. Tim Sturla had been running with Rob, and after a delay due to Rob's injury finished in 2,617th in 2.50.59.

Following her great start to the season on the roads, Paula Hough followed this up with another personal best, this time over five miles at the Kingshurst event at Solihull. Paula clocked 39.42 on a very cold and windy day, nearly a minute quicker than her previous best just a month ago. It already looks like the Ivanhoe Runners most improved female competition for 2008 could be over after just one month !

The Charnwood Hills race is a C category fell race run over some of Leicestershire's biggest hills - including Bradgate Park, Broombriggs and Beacon Hill. This is always a popular race with Ivanhoe Runners and this year was no exception, with several taking part. Stuart Douglas, a veteran over mountain marathons and the like, enjoyed the course as he finished 37th overall in 1.40.48. Martin Yeomans continued his strong from and was 87th in around 1.49.09, while Ivanhoe's sole female representative Dawn Pearson had a great run to finish 110th overall in 1.51.45, 13th lady overall and third vet45. Sean Wileman also had a good run, finishing 115th in 1.52.07. Dave Mann was 204th in 2.03.21, and Ivan Arkinstall was 262nd in 2.11.06.

Ivanhoe Runners turned their attention back to cross-country for the latest round of the Derby Runner League, held at Grace Dieu and hosted by Shepshed Running Club. With 18 men and 13 ladies turning out, Ivanhoe Runners were the best represented club with 31 runners out of the 322 strong field. The course was different to previous year in that it was a 4.7 mile single lap but involving a long out and back climb on rocky paths through woods, and it did include the usual mud and stream crossings.

Brian Stout was again first Ivanhoe Runner home, finishing in 23rd place in 33.28. With some of the Clubs leading runners finding it difficult to accommodate marathon training, Leicestershire Road Race league and cross-country, there were a few absences, and the next runner home was Chris Ramsell running well for 46th place, timed at 35.23. Romain Gayraud finished 56th (36.11) with most of the mud still attached to him, leading home Philip Marriott 60th (36.29) and Martin Yeomans 66th (37.07).

New Club Chairman Sean Wileman remarkably made his Derby Runner league debut, and ran well to finish 91st in 39.05, ahead of Andrew Gillies 104th (40.22), Brian Kendrick 105th (40.23) and Bart Reid 109th (40.38). Getting amongst them though was Dawn Pearson, returning to racing after injury and proving that she has lost none of her speed and stamina. Dawn finished in 40.27 and an excellent 10th lady overall, a superb comeback.

Andy Jeyes out-ran many of the youngsters as he finished 132nd in 42.21, just ahead of league organiser Dave Mann 137th in 42.30. Nigel Holmes was 143rd (42.57), Tim Sturla 158th (44.22), Murray Needham 163rd (45.07) and Paul Harris 169th (45.57) for the Ivanhoe engine room.

Next home was Ivanhoe's second lady, Ruth Shaw having a strong run for 47.28 and 38th place. She headed Ian Watson (179th in 47.38) and Kevin Sanders (181st in 47.41) who had a sprint battle to the line, passing Ivanhoe's third lady in the melee, Caroyln Osborne, who was 39th lady in 47.22. Julia Blewitt-Jenkins was next home, 42nd lady in 48.17, just ahead of Rosie Dear 43rd lady in 48.54. Keith Baron was the final Ivanhoe man home, 208th in 51.07.

Amanda Bradbury was 60th lady in 52.21, ahead of Trish McPherson 69th (54.36) and Debbie Reed who had a great run for 84th in 60.05. Ali Sturla and Cheryl Dennis came in together in 89th and 90th, and were backed up by Elaine Moulton and Susan Kendrick 90th and 91st.

Ivanhoe Runners fielded a huge squad for the first Leicestershire Road Running league race of 2008, the Barrow 6 with a men's team of 22 runners and women's team of 13 runners. The race was run in windy conditions, and with a back-wind on the way out from Barrow and some nice downhill's, most found the latter stages much tougher with a head-wind coupled with tough hills in the last mile. The Club captain again led by example, Brian Stout coming home first for the club and finishing an excellent 19th overall in 35.09. Just behind in 35.30 was Pete Mann, 23rd in 35.24, closely followed by Andy Hough 29th in 35.47 and Alistair Chambers 31st in 35.49 - good packing from the team. Chris Ramsell ran a creditable 36.29 in 45th place despite feeling unwell during the lead-up, and the scoring eight were completed by Stuart Douglas in 65th (37.37) with Romain Gayraud hot on his heels in 66th just a second behind (37.38), and Chris Keenan 76th in 37.52. This meant all scoring runners home inside the top 76, a great team performance.

Ivanhoe's midfield was also very strong, with Martin Yeomans next home in 117th place in 40.04, just ahead of Phillip Marriott 119th in 40.10. Andrew Gillies and Brian Kendrick battled for positions, Andrew claiming 136th place to Brian's 137th, both being timed at 40.39. Dave Morse was 149th in 41.09, while Andy Jeyes, just shy of his 60th birthday, ran well for 179th place in 42.14. Dave Mann was 189th (42.32) just ahead of Ivan Arkinstall 192nd (42.43), and about a minute behind was Chris Osborne 218th (43.57) delighted with his run as it was a personal best by the huge margin of three and a half minutes!.

Further packing was provided by Paul Harris 255th (45.53), Nigel Holmes 258th (46.04), Ian Watson 281st (47.29) and Stuart Andrews on a training run 286th (47.43). Kevin Sanders was the final men's team runner, pleased with his 48.08 running through old injuries. With 22 runners turning out this was a great team performance and ideal start to the new season.

The women's team also performed very strongly with their four counters home in the top 66. Carolyn Osborne continues to impress as she set a new personal best by over a minute as she romped home 30th in 45.01, over three minutes ahead of her next team-mate. That was Julia Blewitt-Jenkins, who finished in 55th in 48.26, just holding off Ruth Shaw, one place behind in 56th in 48.35. Paula Hough demonstrated her remarkable improvement by being the team's fourth counter, finishing strongly and clocking another personal best time, 49.28, to finish 66th.

Lesley Jones took a break from the heat of Dubai to turn out for the team, and was 73rd in 49.55, showing that those very early morning runs with the Creek Striders was worth it. Amanda Bradbury is always a consistent performer and ran well for 78th, clocking 50.26. Judith Webster-Sanders made her debut LRRL appearance after a couple of years coming back from injury, and despite fading in the latter stages ran a fine 50.43 for 82nd place. Karen Dewis was 91st (51.25) and Trish McPherson was 104th (52.22) suffering a bit from "holiday-lag" and just days before a "big-birthday". Judy Ramsell did not look pleased, but should have been, with 121st place and a time of 54.07.

Mandy Watson and Helen Moores finished just 5 seconds apart, Mandy in 60.07 (152) and Helen in 60.12 (153). Finally team stalwart Sue Kendrick was 158th in 65.05. Like the men, a strong team performance will have given the women a good start to the season and the Club looks forward to the next race on the 27th January.

Into the new year, and six Ivanhoe Runners took part in the Centurion GP series at Kingshurst, Solihull. Pete Mann was first home for Ivanhoe in 29.36, his fastest time for that course, and finished a fine 6th overall and 2nd vet. Sean Wileman was suffering with a cold but paced both Ruth Shaw and Jonathan Shaw round the course, Ruth setting a new personal best in the process with a time of 38.37 in 51st place. Sean was placed 49th (38.35) and Jonathan 50th (also 38.35). Amanda Bradbury set a new personal best as she finished 61st in 40.22, another great run.

Paula Hough continued her remarkable improvement with a new personal best time of 40.39 in 64th place - particularly impressive as 12 months ago Paula ran the same race in a time of 56.57! Judy Ramsell was another Ivanhoe Runner smashing personal bests, as she raced round in 43.36 to knock a minute and a half off her previous best, and finish in 75th place.

6 Ivanhoe runners set out for Southwell in Nottinghamshire for their annual new year’s 10k race, which has become a regular fixture in the race calendar as it presents a fast and flat course, as well as a welcome relief from the over indulgence of Christmas.

With the exception of a slow first mile due to runner congestion, conditions were perfect for fast times. Bart Reid was first Ivanhoe home in a pb of 42.00. Dawn Pearson followed closely behind, competing in her first race after a long injury, and was pleased with her time of 42.16 and 3rd place lady Vet45, an excellent start to her return to form.

Chris Osborne ran a pb of 44.10, spurred on from the halfway point by Stuart Andrews (44.12), and also by the fear of being beaten by his wife, Carolyn Osborne, who was in hot pursuit, running 45.08, knocking over a minute off her previous pb. Julia Blewitt Jenkins continued her return to form after childbirth (last time this excuse can be used!) to produce a season’s best of 49.50. Rosie Dear “didn’t really try very hard and chatted to some new friends she made on the way round” (her own words, not mine), and crossed the line in around 56 minutes.

With over 800 runners and a top quality field, the race provided an excellent start to the 2008 season.