Firstly, we announced the results of our time trial with Scott C and Alex D taking crowns for the fastest  male and female fastest 1km TT times. Mark White and Rebecca Pearce both won most improved over three time trials and seven RIOTers received T-shirts for full attendance over the four time trials.

The TT announcements were followed with some Special Mentions and Main RIOT Awards.

Segment Hunter winner is Delia – Whether it is flat, hilly, trail or road, with over 50 crowns to her name no-one finds, and conquers, a Strava segment quite like Delia

Running Club Chat Queen is Rosie – Not only is Rosie a regular runner and cyclist she also finds the time to talk about it!  This award not to be undervalued in a such a social club, Rosie THE top contributor to our active Facebook group and also keeps that conversation flowing post-RIOT run at the bar.

RIOT Support Crew Winner is Sharon –Sunshine or rain, whenever you need some friendly support at a race, it is often likely you’ll spot Sharon in the crowd, her race attendance surpasses that of many of our members and we think she deserves to be recognised!

RIOT Tourist of the Year winner is Mark A – Though there are a number of contenders for this award, including Lyn, Gary and Gunnleyg we feel that Mark Allwood donning his RIOT T-shirt in Mozambique should take the top spot

BEST NEWCOMER: The member who in the opinion of the committee has in their first twelve months from joining the Club shown the most improvement in either running development or race performances

Special Mentions go to Kim Mockeridge who in her year of running determinedly tackled the Colmers Hill Challenge and completed the full festive 24 and  Nick Guppy, a RIOT c25k graduate progressing through 5-10km and who is now training for his first half marathon.

The winner,  since graduating from our first RIOT c25k course back in early 2018, has gone from strength to strength. From a parkrun regular they’ve progressed to 10km and are now training for their first half marathon. This person is also a valuable member of the run leader team, organising his own sessions and offering support to new c25k and Steady group runners.

The best newcomer 2018 award winner is Martyn Oliver.

MOST IMPROVED FEMALE: Member who in the opinion of the Committee has shown significant improvement in performance has been the most notable, based upon running development and, or race performances whilst representing the club

Special Mentions go to Wendy Britton, who has come on leaps and bounds, like a Mountain Goat, Wendy smashed Purbeck 16 and completed a solo marathon. Melanie Orchard who has progressed her distance from 10km to half marathon and now, in training for Brighton Marathon, Mel determinedly increases her distances gritting through the long training runs. We also mentioned Sarah Dunford a RIOT regular and a c25k graduate in 2017 who after completing many 10km runs is now training for the London Marathon

The winner, completed c25k in early 2018 and has shown significant improvements and consistency with her running, first completing the hilly Lions 10k followed by her then beating her PB at the Egdon Easy, she then continued her training which culminated in her smashing her first half marathon, Bournemouth, in under 2hours 15 minutes.

The most improved female award winner is Sue Thurston.

MOST IMPROVED MALE: Member who in the opinion of the Committee has shown significant improvement in performance has been the most notable, based upon running development and, or race performances whilst representing the club

Special Mentions go to Steve Stone, who is not only known for his support to the RIOT Speed group but the improvements over the year to his running cannot be under-estimated, 10km, half marathons and 10 mile PBs smashed… we look forward to seeing what he does for his second marathon in April. We also wanted to mention David Howell, David completed c25k by himself earlier in the year and his running has progressed in both speed and distance and resulted in him recently completing his longest distance run. Paul Pomeroy was also mentioned we have been pleased to see him be rewarded for his efforts, seeing him complete triathlons and his first marathon, the Hangers Hero a tough trail run!

The winner, has gone from the back of Stamina to leading the group and in that time improved in his running development, smashing both 10k and half marathon PBs.  He represents RIOT at tough trail events, such as The Beast but also represented RIOT the Dark Valley Half (where he got a PB) the day after flying back from Oman, where he ran 67.7 miles in 35 days of sweltering temperatures. 

The most improved male award winner is Mark White.

MALE VET The male 40+ Member who in the opinion of the Committee has over the past year, has shown the most consistent performance, whilst representing the club & wearing club colours

No Honourable mentions for this subject such was the vote by the committee. He’s a man with the plan, consistently represents RIOT at races, supports the marathon training group, designs route and is also generous with his advice. We feel that his Amsterdam marathon, which he ran in just over four hours, deserves a special mention, firstly as an example of perfect pacing (a subject of which we know he is keen), but also he completed it in such a great time despite the training plan going out the window after a nasty injury. 

The winner for the award for male vet is Malcolm Curtis.

FEMALE VET The female 40+ Member who in the opinion of the Committee has over the past year, has shown the most consistent performance, whilst representing the club & wearing club colours

Special Mentions go to  Sue Thompson who consistently represents RIOT from Dorchester half, to smashing Exeter half and parkrun, and if that wasn’t enough a number of 10km runs (and swims!) in between.  Debbie Wiltshire, who has impressed us with her long training runs and smashing her sub 30 parkrun target.

The winner,  has shown consistent performance over the last year, she attends a number of trail events and completed half a half marathon at the East Farm Frolic deluge, an event when many couldn’t. She also steps to volunteer and Marshall, engages in the the challenges we throw at her and offers her running expertise and leading skills to our steady and steadfast groups.

The winner for the award for female vet is Samantha Mercer.

PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR The member who in the opinion of the committee through a events has shown the most outstanding achievements whilst representing the club and wearing club colours

Special Mentions go to Clare Bushnell, after a biking accident we were inspired by Clare’s determination to get back on the bike and complete the 46 mile RideLondon event. Delia Carr who has had many amazing events in the last year but we remain impressed by her great performance at Dorchester marathon, her first marathon event. Malcolm Curtis for his outstanding performance at Amsterdam Marathon.

The winners achievements are too long to list, but here are our standout ones, she conquered the mountains of Dorset by completing her first marathon at Giant Head to taking on the mountains of Wales at Man vs Mountain, a grueling race up Mt Snowdon. They have not only managed to excel in running events but also cycling, smashing the 100 mile Ride London, and even in combining her running and cycling with swimming at the Osprey tri. We look forward to seeing what 2019 brings for her.

The winner of performance of the year is Paula Fry.

UNSUNG HERO A member who in the opinion of the committee made contributions for which the most part may be largely unseen but benefits the club to a high degree

Special Mentions go to Rosie Pomeroy who is a supportive member of the club and steady group, the lady that coined “SteadFAST” and came up with the idea to run to Munich (we’ll thank her later), her contributions have been largely unsung. We also wanted to mention The Hall’s, Karen and Steve, if there is a tail runner needed, you can guarantee they’ll do what they can to fill the gap. They have supported our running groups for months and we’d be lost (some of us literally) without them.

The winner is a Steadfast stalwart, if there is a road that needs a crossing man, a parkrunner that needs a buddy, a newcomer that needs welcoming, a runner that needs some encouragement on strava or a tutu that needs wearing then he’s your man. A RIOT unsung hero, as his contributions are largely unrecognised but we appreciate what he contributes to the club.

The unsung hero winner is Keith Horn.

CHAIRS AWARD

Rosie Pomeroy

Rosie, won this special award as decided in secret by Amy and is a worthy winner, coming to RIOT initially to support her husband but fully embracing running along with the events and partaking in and supporting challenges along with being our running chat queen. We always remain inspired by this ladies determination and value the contribution she makes to the club.

CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR:

We outlined some of Mark’s running achievements earlier on but not only has he progressed in RIOT we also want to recognise his support to the club. He steps up to all challenges, volunteers himself to lead or tail stamina group and he also voluntarily tails Paul’s night runs… which is no mean feat in itself and deserves its own award.  

The winner of club member of the year is Mark White.

MAN OF STEEL (As voted for by members)

If there is one person who quietly just gets on and smashes race after race and supports the club it this man. From completing C25k way back in 2017, he’s shown real determination in his running and cycling, smashing half marathons, 10k races and even embracing hill reps. In addition to this, we don’t think there is anyone else who has supported us, our runners, our c25k or volunteered at as many races to support RIOT as this man of steel has, truly your Man of Steel for RIOT 2018 is none other than:

Martin Ings

WOMAN OF STEEL (As voted for by members)

This lady has shown grit and determination throughout the year and we can’t go through these awards without acknowledging what she has achieved. Firstly, smashing 12 marathons in 12 months, including some of the hilliest Dorset has to offer. In the year she has also conquered 100 miles of RideLondon, and by no means least smashed Ironman 70.3. In addition to this she she also turns up and supports our runners at many events and is a regular sight at many a RIOT finishing line. There is no greater recognition than being voted for by your friends and members of the club and therefore deservedly the 2018 Woman of Steel award goes to: 

Dee Brookes

That wraps up the winners of our first ever awards ceremony. On behalf of the committee we would like to thank you all for giving us so much material for our first awards do, you all continue to make us laugh, surprise us, shock us and inspire us and make all the effort we put in worthwhile. We look forward to seeing what our next year brings!

THANK YOU!

RIOT

x

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Author – Steve Stone

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Thank you for your interest in running RIOT with us, please keep a look out for future Couch to 5K programmes that we will be running by keeping an eye on our Facebook Page or the website.

We experienced some crazy numbers when we last ran this event back in January of this year so we have had to cap it this time around to give our runners the best experience and full attention of our fully qualified trainers, so unfortunately we are unable to accommodate any more on this intake.

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We were pleased so many RIOT members got involved but here are some of the reasons we felt it was such a great challenge:

RIOT went International:  You didn’t have to be in Dorchester to take part, one of our first runners, Martin, got up early and ran in Turkey at 4:54am then Martyn and Julie both made the effort to get out and run in the Egyptian heat. However, by contrast, Gary and Lyn completed their miles in the rain in Iceland.

Running accessories:  Toddlers, crutches, dogs… one runner even had ducks en route! Who said all you needed was a pair of trainers to run? RIOTers got creative with their time slots to do what they needed to do to add those crucial miles to the total.

Adaptability: It was great to see RIOTers go out of their way to fit their run around their day, runs were squeezed in before work, after the school run, on a break from fire-fighting and on holiday before a day by the pool. Runs were also on a variety of terrain, a peaceful morning run along Weymouth seafront, a road run in Poundbury, along the pebbles at West Bexington and up the ramparts of Maiden Castle during the RIOT club run.

Live Feed: It got a little addictive checking the live feed to follow the mileage total and photos, videos and Strava shots from the runs. There were some sweaty mid-run selfies, photos of post run pints, shadow shots, sun shots, dog shots and scenic shots of the sea.

The Magic of the Summer Solstice: Who can’t pretend they didn’t get a little emotional at 21:26, when the sun set and we saw that Jo and Mark had raced the sun right back to where Malcolm decided to kick off the challenge at 4:54am? A fitting end to what had been a fun challenge!

THANK YOU to the sixty-one runners who got involved and run/walked their time slot, took photos, videos and made the challenge lots of fun. Most importantly we reached a brilliant total of 168.33 miles setting us a quite a challenge for 2019!!

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The Portland 10 road race is described by the host the Royal Manor of Portland Athletics Club (RMPAC) as follows:

In 1980 three bored sailors stationed at the Royal Naval Air Station came up with the idea of a 10 mile race on Portland, the cost was 40 pence to enter! Today the race has developed into a testing 10 mile route that will see you run a lap and a half around the top of the island, from one end of the island, Portland Heights Hotel (385 ft), to the other, Portland Bill (30 ft). The route is undulating, on tarmac roads and pavements and goes through built up areas as well as following long stretches of coastal roads.

Now the key words to take from that description are testing and undulating which every runner knows is running speak for hard and hilly ….. they weren’t kidding and for 2018 you can add hot and muggy! You know the kind of heat where you should be in or near water eating ice cream!

So, four rioters of fairly sane mind signed up for slightly more than the 40p, I might add, to run around the isle of Portland on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. Now these affiliated road races can be quite serious affairs with most running’s clubs turning up on mass from all over the county with their game face on looking to pick up points or prizes. Well that is not really what RIOT is all about so with all the professionalism being exerted at the starting line by the big running clubs with them doing little group jogs to warm up and stretch and everything, us rioters felt a little bit like the odd ones out and quietly kept to the back of grid chatting and joking. So much so we nearly missed the start! One minute there was race brief, next minute we were off! No stretching or warming up for us hardened rioters.

Being hilly, the first couple of miles are very much all downhill to Portland Bill and I am pretty sure most runners take this first stage way too fast, but are rewarded with a fantastic view of the light house and the sea beyond. On arriving at the bill feeling like a proper athlete we were greeted by the now familiar lenses of the Dorset bay photographers. Now at this point any illusion that this going to be a “fun” run is quickly dashed when you turn around at the bill to run up hill all the way to Easton and then on uphill to Portland heights. It is in this section where I could almost hear every runner saying to themselves ‘I am not a runner’, and ‘could it be any hotter?’

I can honestly say I have never heard so much heavy breathing out on the course there was no air. It was like mother nature had sucked it all away from the course just to make it a bit more uncomfortable in the heat. After the long slog up to Portland heights, where some runners had resorted to walking, you get the joy of going all the way back down; this time if you are sensible you don’t fly down this section quite so fast as you have now convinced yourself you are not a proper runner and that you have that long drag from Pennsylvania castle to Portland heights to do again on lap two. Strangely the hill is not quite so bad the second time as you realise that the end is near! From the second passing of Portland heights it is once more on the fast roller coaster downhill to the finish surrounded by even heavier and at times scary breathing to be met once again on the last 100 meters by the lenses of Dorset bays whose presence spurs you on one last time to run like the athlete you know you really are.

With a nice medal and watermelon, the finish is pleasant experience and us small gang of Portland 10 first time rioters met up once again to talk all things running, heat and conquering hills until the draw of the ice cream van could not be resisted.

This is the first time RIOT have been represented at the Portland 10 road race and I am sure there will be more of us next year, you never know one or two of us might take it seriously and warm up and stretch a bit. If you like your running hard and hilly which I suspect secretly most of you do, we would recommend you join us next year when hopefully there will not be so much heat and scary breathing and we can run like all the proper runners do!

Finally, big shout out to RMPAC who were great hosts and managed / marshalled what must have been a logistically challenging road race and Dorset Bays who took some great shots on the day which really do make you feel like professional athletes.

Author: Malcolm Curtis

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Matt Beaven, Helen Timms and Amy Mason finished the race second in their age category. Dee Brooks and Kev Cochrane coming in third in their age cats showing that everyones hard work (or biscuit eating in Matts case) is really paying off!! Keep it up guys!!

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The run, which is well supported by marshals and aid stations, begins with a lap round the school field cheered out by spectators, then had a nice downhill start through the woods to warm you up.

Miles 3-11 of the run were largely flat and we were all pleased to escape the heat that many of us experienced at Dorchester marathon just two weeks before. However, the run was not without its challenges and runners needed to save some energy for the final two miles back UP Rhododendron mile. The run ended with a final lap of the playing field with a band to play you through your sprint finish.

Complimentary watercress smoothies and bags of watercress were available and each runner received a chunky medal printed with the run slogan “leave your footprint on the plod” referring to the lasting impact from funds generated by the race.

The RIOT team all had a great run and despite the final undulating five miles RIOTers achieved half marathon PBs, though we do wonder if this was partly due to the delicious homemade cakes waiting at the finish line!

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