Worthing Rowing Club -Splashpoint 5k
Wednesday Evening is usually a Tuff training night on track and once again it was decided to put all the track work to good use with the Rowing Club Splashpoint run along Worthing Prom a distance of 5k.
Spots of rain welcomed the Tuff squad and it was a chilly evening on the Prom, but that didn’t stop more Tuffs entering on the day and it was pleasing to report we had Thirty Tuffs on the start line.
As the start was announced, there was a surge of club colours heading towards Worthing Pier. They were motivated by a great band of Tuff supporters who must have been proud to see so many right at the sharp end of the race action. Tuff supporters were positioned at the start, middle and finish and together with cameras clicking away, there was much motivation for the runners to keep pushing on. So it is a big thank you to so many who came along to support, many cycling over. Hopefully no one is missed from the list as we give kudos to Barry, Dom A, Elaine, Henry, Jon B, Jon R, Les, Olly, Shelley, Sue N, Tom, Verity & Wendy. It was a shame Wendy & Tom, having entered were unable to run, but Tom Goddard redeemed himself with a special Tuff flag and pole waving at the turn point.
The lead pack
The return leg didn’t bring much respite from the gusty conditions but no one would have guessed from some particularly strong times. Alex Webb crossed the line second overall in a time of just 18:07 a new PB for him earning himself a silver medal in the process. Mark Walford was 5th overall in 18:35. Jon Cassell followed to clock 18:51 for 6th position and Simon Thistlethwaite achieved 8th position overall in 19:24
Tuff Fitty men’s Champions 2024 celebrating – Jon, Mark, Simon, & Alex
The combined four times of the above meant a total Tuff time of 1 hour 14 minutes, which was 2:13 minutes ahead of Worthing Gazelles and 7.5 minutes ahead of Lancing Eagles in third. This meant Tuff Fitty retained the men’s team award.
Further strong results followed with Phil Scales finishing in 19:40 in 11th and Dave March in 13th – six Tuff in the top fifteen. Then a surge of Tuffs finished, Jay McCardle (23rd) Ben Abbott (24th – who shaved 1:15 off his time last year), Danny Cunnett (25th) & Andy Gomm (26th). It is pleasing to see the strength of our club as our second four men were under a minute off 3rd place team.
Motherhood seems to serve Juliette Reader well as she was our first lady home in 22:34 and just 7 seconds later Katie Young finished. Then with just 22 seconds between them Adrian Oliver, Mark Sole and Malcolm Brown finished one after the other. The gusty conditions would only see four times improved from last year but another recipient of a PB was Clare Worgan improving by 42 seconds. Hazel Tuppen finished one place behind Clare to comprise our Ladies scoring team.
Hazel, Juliette, Catharine & Clare.
Tuff Fitty’s ladies were the reigning champions and whilst Juliette, Katie, Clare and Hazel saw the team’s time just 13 seconds slower than 2023, they could not hold off Worthing Gazelles and Lancing Eagles who finished 1st & 2nd respectively. However in a departure from last year there was a medal awarded for podiums and our ladies who stayed for the presentation are shown above with their bronze medal for third..
Tiff Orton was just outside our first four ladies home, and then Carey Woods who was another to achieve a PB over last year’s time. Catharine Grey and Will King finished close together followed by Kate Cooper; so pleasing see her strong run coming back from injury (and a run the previous night). Clive Harvey, team manager on the evening was next home, Alistair Evans, Susan Douglas, James Brock and Kelly Stafford all finished one after the other. Janet Shepherd, Vicki Hedger doing well on her comeback run and Claire Moyle completed our Terrific Tuff Thirty.
It was very unfortunate that we had three who had entered but had to withdraw on the evening, but Tuff Fitty still represented 42% of the total field and many stayed behind for a celebratory drink with team Manager Clive thanking all 43 runners and supporters for coming together to create great Tuff camaraderie and set of results. The photo album below is the accumulation from several Tuffs present on the evening.
The full results can be viewed here
