Congratulations to the KTH road runners and joggers who successfully completed the gruelling 24hr Spitfire Scramble race on the 13th and 14th August at Hornchurch Country Park in East London, to raise money for Lupus UK.
Rebecca Murphy of the KTH jogging group led the creation of two teams – the more formally named “Kettering Town Harriers” and the jovially named “Sweat, Regret and Oxygen Debt”. Both teams included members of the KTH road running and jogging groups.
The Spitfire Scramble takes its name from the former use of Hornchurch Country Park; during the 2nd world war the site was home to many squadrons of Spitfire aircraft which fought in the Battle of Britain. This connection was marked on the Saturday afternoon by a spectacular display from a Spitfire to keep the spirits high and provide some distraction from the hours of running ahead!
The race started at 12:00 Saturday 13th in the glorious summer sunshine to the tune of Spitfire by The Prodigy. 30 solo runners and a member of each of the 84 teams set off into the picturesque country park whilst team mates and supporters cheered and revelled in the festival like atmosphere. As the day progressed the race set into a steadier rhythm of eating, hydrating, sleeping, applying sun cream and insect repellent and warming up as each competitor prepared for their turn on the course. Each team had to have a single runner on the course at any one time and the objective of the race was to complete as many laps of the 5.9 mile course as you could in the 24 hours.
Over the 24 hours the race hurled many challenges at the competitors – head torches were compulsory overnight with cheaper versions proving why they were cheap, a few competitors took un-planned detours off-route, the first aid tent provided support to blistering feet and fatigue was playing a large part by mid-morning on Sunday.
Both teams performed excellently with each member completing multiple laps over the 24 hour period. Team Kettering Town Harriers came 14th out of 47 (mixed teams of 5-8 people) with 27 laps; Sweat, Regret and Oxygen Debt came 42nd with 21 laps.
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Congratulations to all of the following KTH members:
Thomas Murphy – 3 laps
Rebecca Murphy – 3 laps
Rachel Kieran – 3 laps
Dave Pike – 2 laps
Eddie Murphy – 4 laps
Trudi Pike – 4 laps and fastest KTH team lap of 47:14
Steve Sinnott – 4 laps
Paula Sinnott – 3 laps
Anthony Poncia – 3 laps
Ian Hearne – 3 laps
Steve Morris – 3 laps
All team members thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of the event and the team spirit which was pivotal in their success. KTH jog leader Anthony Poncia said “I’m so proud of how Kettering Town Harriers have performed at our first visit to this event. The grit and determination displayed by our road running and jogging team members is a testament to the effort they’ve put into training. The level of development of our jogging groups should not be underestimated; a number of the runners within our teams this weekend joined KTH 18 months ago in our beginners jog/walk groups. Since their first sessions of 1 minute jog efforts in April 2015 they’ve now completed 12 to 23 miles over the 24 hour period. I’m looking forward to building on this success and entering more teams in the 2017 event.”
The event donation site will be open for a few more weeks, if you’d like to donate please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Becs-Spitfire-Scramble
For further information on the KTH jogging and road running groups please email [email protected]