“It’s the heaviest box” said the Hampshire Road Race League (HRRL) volunteer at the Totton 10K, the box in question containing the WRC trophies, awards and mugs for the 2024/25 season. With 36 clubs and 12 races, ranging from 5 miles to half marathon, the league is both hotly contested and a lot of fun; we have A, B and C teams for both men and women and as a new club started at the bottom of the lowest divisions midway through the 2023/24 season.
The results since then have been amazing, and in the season which ended with Lordshill 10K in July, WRC finished top of men A2, B1 and C, and women A2 and B2, winning promotion to the first A1 division for both our A teams and to B1 for the women’s B team. We also congratulate Erin Wilmers for winning the female individual title with the maximum possible score average of 100%, and Caroline Carr for winning the V50 age category.
The season that counts though is the current one, not the previous one. Totton 10K, a new league race this year, included 25 WRC runners on the last day of August. We gathered in a field somewhere on the edge of the New Forest, collecting our bibs and dazzled by the luminous orange t-shirts given to all runners. Two laps around quiet roads which Brian (who got a PB) described on Strava as “hilly” perhaps because he has yet to run the Ryde 10 or Winchester Half. An amazing run from WRC chair Tamsin saw her come in first overall female with a time of 38:28, closely followed by Anna who was second female (39:12) in her first ever race for the club; a fantastic debut. Among the men we had top 10 places for David G (35:10) and a first in age category for Paul (39:41). Our teams also scored well, with first place for women A and third for the men.
Next just 7 days later was Overton 5, an exciting race with a storming downhill start and finish but excruciating uphill stretches in between. The bacon rolls were delicious, the coffee not so much, but 36 WRC members put in a superlative performance: wins (we think) for both our A teams; Helen Hall 2nd female and top F35 (sub 30 minutes with 29:24); David G top M40, Paul top M60 and setting a new club record for 5 miles; Sarah W top F50; and myself top M65 on gun time, a first for me in an HRRL race, though 5 seconds behind on chip!
A lovely aspect of the HRRL is that you do not have to run fast to enjoy it; the league even rewards loyal attendance with mugs showing your name for 7 or more races and t shirts for running all 12.
We could not have asked for a better start. Next up: New Forest 10 in mid-October.