Arena 80 honoured Adrian Smith on Sunday 16 September when a cheque was presented to St Barnabas Hospice prior to the Hove Prom 5 Mile race. Money raised by the club will also go to Hurstwood Park neurological unit and the Chestnut Tree House charity.
 
 

Not content with dominating races this side of the Channel, a group of Arena 80 runners and spectators headed through the Chunnel for the Paris Marathon.

Upon arriving in Paris Chris took charge of 13 lost souls leading us through the Paris Metro system, but not before Colin was talked into pressing a prominent red button just crying out to be pushed, resulting in a rather confused French voice being heard, unfortunately we all failed to see the words ALARM in 5 inch letters above!

After checking into the Hotel Delos Vaugirard we headed to the Paris Marathon Exhibition for registration and in true British tradition were greeted by a long queue. With mobile phones at hand contact was established with Jacqueline Richardson who we met up with inside the exhibition hall. For those of us whose French extends to only “Bonjour” we spent our time within the exhibition avoiding contact with exhibitor representatives. Whilst the rest of us were taste testing the isotonic drink that would be available during the Marathon, Phil had found a stand serving small cups of alcohol!

In true marathon fashion, the organisers had laid on a Pasta Party and this was to form our extremely cheap Saturday meal. It has to be said, the pasta went down extremely well and the organisers were giving away bananas by the bunch that would keep the group going for the duration of our visit to Paris.

Unfortunately, the weather was very rarely on our side and true enough the heavens opened as we left the Exhibition. Plastic bags became the new must have fashion accessory for the walk back to the hotel.

So Marathon day arrived and the group had two non-starters. Both Tracy and Fergie sensibly decided to resist running 26.2 miles following illness. The conditions for the Marathon were hard going involving the ever present rain, wind and cold conditions. Despite the weather Arena 80 can be extremely proud in the performance of all our runners who competed this gruelling distance. Both Bob Reeves and Colin Hannant achieved sub three hour runs (2:57 and 2:59 respectively), Phil completed the run in 3:04, whilst Chris had a very respectable run in 3:13. Completing the group were Ragnivi and Sarah who achieved times of 3:34 and 3:47 respectively.  Congratulations to all!

The run took its toll on Nigel who had to pull out the Marathon at 24KM and Ragnivi who retired to bed with a box of Nurofen following the Marathon due to sickness.

With the help of Ragnivi’s son, we celebrated Arena 80’s triumphs at a superb restaurant that John Robson had booked. Superb food, atmosphere and company! As for the waiter, well he’d certainly taken a shine to Lesley (or was it Nigel!). It’s not often alcohol is turned down, but Colin was struggling to finish his bottle of white wine – the beers after running the Marathon probably didn’t help, and as for walking, well Colin still hasn’t found his horse!

You’re in Paris, you’ve just finished your meal, it’s late (11:15pm to be precise!), you’re tired and suddenly John drags us up Tour Montparnasse, having negotiated special rates due to the building closing in ten minutes! Tour Montparnasse is the tallest structure in Europe and the view from the top was amazing. Thanks John for a wonderful evening.

Whilst the rest of the group drunk on to 2:00am, Tracy and I headed back to the hotel by Metro. Unfortunately, the Metro had closed by the time the remaining group members decided to return, luckily the hotel was fairly close to the Tour Montparnasse if you’re heading in the right direction! Obviously not easily done when you’ve had a few drinks and struggling to stay upright!

If you’re ever in Paris and you need a large cup of excellent coffee we have to recommend McDonalds! For a mere 5 Francs they’ll serve you probably the best cup of coffee we had in Paris and best of all they open at 8:00am for that morning cuppa. Sad but true! 

So Monday was spent visiting the sites of Paris and getting wet! In true Crowded House fashion, where ever we went we took the weather with us. But despite the poor weather Paris really shone. Without a doubt Paris is a beautiful capital with an amazing atmosphere, unfortunately you just need to be careful where you walk due to the large amount of dog sh*t to be found on the pavements!

Phil held a party in his hotel room Monday evening and the group headed to a fish restaurant whilst Tracy and I got in the mood for the Eurovision Song Contest, the only French TV programme worth watching.

With just Tuesday morning left, we headed off for a bit more sight seeing. Tracy and I headed to Notre Dame whilst the other Arenas took a leisurely trip down the Seine. Having agreed to meet back at the Hotel at 1:30pm, the group just made it, the trip down the Seine took slightly longer than anticipated!

A tired and hungry group then headed to Gare du Nord to board the EuroStar train home with memories of a wonderful four days in Paris. A big thank you again to Chris Naylor for organising the trip and leading a confused group of runners abroad.

Click here to view the official Paris Marathon Web site.

Steve Nichols

The Hove Park was a  great success, 309 finishers in 5K and 93 for 1 mile race. £900 of the money raised from the 5K will be given to  3 charities (£300 each) for Adrian. St. Barnabas Hospice, Children's charity linked with St Barnabas and Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre, Haywards Heath. These 3 chosen by Adrian's family.

The results of the 5K Race are now available here... and the results of the Fun Run by clicking here!

Vicki Boyle and Liz Lumber competed in the Uckfield Triathlon on 9th September.  Having focussed on running for the past 5 years, they had decided to cross train to
minimise injury and entered an end of season Triathlon.

Local Seaford athletes Vicki Boyle and Liz Lumber came first and second in the competition.  This was a very good performance from Liz as this was her first Triathlon Competition and she gained her 2nd position by running a fast 5km run which moved her up the overall positions coming off the bike from 4th to 2nd.

Well it’s the day after THE running event and a time for reflection on the highs and lows of the London Marathon. The highs of completing the gruelling 26.2 miles are tainted with the disappointment of not achieving the goals that you set yourself and it’s not many events that can bring you close to tears as you tuck into a chocolate Wagon Wheel, to be found in the goody bag. Despite telling myself that this was the last time I would enter this torturous event, I now find myself almost 24 hours later talking of my next London and the achievement of my personal goal of beating the clock at under 3:30 – role on the 2002 London Marathon!!

For the record, my time this year was 3:43 (my second best time). Congratulations to all the other Arenas who completed the Marathon, including Liz Lumber (3:10), Vicki Boyle (3:19), David Hoy (3:17) and Martin Booty (3:40).

Steve Nichols

During  2000 Arena 80 sponsored Charlotte Richardson, a 14 year old girl suffering from Rett Syndrome (a relatively rare brain disorder which strikes only girls and results in profound mental and physical handicap).

Last year she underwent major surgery to straighten her curved spine which was a success. Charlotte can get very stiff joints and dislikes doing her physiotherapy which is an essential daily activity to maintain good movement and prevent deterioration in her general mobility.

Sensory equipment will play an important role in this process and  enable Charlotte to relax enough to facilitate her physiotherapy programme. Arena 80 are donating £312 from this years race profits, for Charlotte.