D88's produce the goods at Mayesbrook Park Wednesday, September 01, 2010 On the Holiday Monday the Barking 5km was held in Mayesbrook Park for the first time. The race, which featured the 4th leg of the ELVIS summer league, was won by Tom Gardner of Ilford in 15m 45s. The 18 strong 88s team ran well recording 6 personal bests and 5 runners making their 5km debut. Nigel Swinburne led home the Dagenham challenge in 23rd spot with a personal best (pb) of 18m 27s while young Chris Donnellan recorded 19m 50s in 46th in his first run at the distance. Russ Abrey in his first race for two years after a period of illness finished in an excellent 54th place with 20m 23s. Gary Cardnell was the first of the club’s scoring veterans in 61st with 20m 56s, while David Goodson in his distance debut recorded 25m 22s in 122nd. Mike Linstead closed the team in place 130th in 26n 23s. For the ladies dependable Caroline Tuck delivered her 2nd pb of the weekend in 69th place, 6th women, in a time of 21m 34s, with Amanda Heslegrave also scoring a pb of 22m 47s in 87th. Inga Hayden-Cooper finished 91st with 22m 57s. The team was closed by Jenny Akroyd, who also recorded a pb of 24m 30s in 112th spot. There were new best times for Jason Baker of 21m 56s for 71st and Julie Cardnell of 34m 37s in place 164. Graduates from the club’s First Steps programme running the distance for the first time were Timi Veerasamy (155th 31m 05s) her husband Sam (161th 33m 10s) and Karen Creighton (165th 34m 57s). Other team members running were Lee Davis (140th 28m 30s) Paul Lief (151st 30m 38s)and Rosemary Abrey (153rd 30m 45s) Caroline mixes business with pleasure Wednesday, September 01, 2010 This was a race predominantly for business teams based in London though numbers were swelled on the night by members of the host team Victoria Park and Thames Harriers. Caroline Tuck, taking part as a member of the mixed civil service team, completed the 2 lap figure 8 course in 36:59 (5th woman overall; 3rd place in LBH Championship). Comedian Lee Hurst also took part, finishing in a time of 46:36.   D88's Caroline Roars to New PB in Mersea Lions 10 Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Bank Holiday Sunday saw 6 Dagenham 88 Runners make a trip down to Mersea Island for the annual running of the Mersea Lions 10 mile race. This race formed part of the Dagenham 88 runners Club Championships and although the sun was peeking through the clouds at the start the gusty wind kept the runners on their toes. The 2 lap 10 mile course started on the esplanade but headed uphill and inland. With the inclines and the wind it was a tough test but Caroline Tuck, who has been in great form lately, was the first D88 runner home in a new personal best time of 1 hour 13 minutes which secured 37th spot. The rest of the D88's completed the course in a pack. Robert Rant, training for the forthcoming Beachy Head marathon, was our first male home in 1.34.25 in 109th. Amy Johnstone completing the distance for the first time and despite a bad stitch halfway finished in an identical time as Rob but was given 110th. Doug Adams despite a quick dash back to his car to put his race number on and racing in the wrong trainers finished in an excellent 1.35.41 (114th). Mike Linstead faded over the last 2 miles due to lack of distance training and a dodgy ankle but completed the course in 1.35.59 (116th). Lee Davis completed the D88 finishers with a respectable time of 1.47.26 in 142th place. Rose and Bob prove to be an overnight sensation Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Rosemary and Bob Abrey made their way over to Hertfordshire to take part in the 54 Mile overnight walking challenge. Starting and finishing in Hitchin the route took in spectacular hilly scenery around Hertfordshire. Most of the daylight hours were marred by the constant rain which later cleared to leave damp misty conditions for the night session. Rose and Bob completed the course together and finished the walk in an excellent time of 19 hours and 7 minutes.   Daggers make a splash Thursday, August 19, 2010 Jackie Frewin & Jenny Akroyd flew the flag for Dagenham at the 2nd Havering 90 Aquathon held at Coopers & Coburn School in Upminster. The race was a small field of 61 athletes which will surely grow in future years as the reputation of this well organised and friendly event grows. The race is a 400m swim in the school’s 25m pool which is directly followed (after a quick stop to put trainers on and do your hair!) by a 5km off road run. The winning time for the men was 23.33 and for the ladies 30.16. Jackie & Jenny both thoroughly enjoyed their morning with times of 43.29 and 35.38 respectively. Ironman proves no problem for Mandy Thursday, August 19, 2010 Amanda Heslegrave took part in the Outlaw Triathlon at Nottingham over the Ironman distance. This gruelling event consists of a 3800m swim, 112 mile bike ride with a marathon run to finish off with. Amanda tackled the challenge admirably recording 1h 26m 59s for the swim, 7h 22m for the bike ride and ran the marathon in 4h 30m 29s for a total time of 13h 27m 37s. This placed her 538th overall and 8th in her age category.   Inga reaches new heights Monday, August 16, 2010 Dagenham 88 racing machine Inga Hayden-Cooper was again in action at the monthly midweek Crown to Crown 5km at Westley Heights Country Park at Basildon. Inga placed 69th in a field of 152 for a time of 25m 05s, her best on this course. Team battle hard in Elvis despite decimated squad Monday, August 16, 2010 The 3rd Leg of the East London fiVe Interclub Series (ELVIS) was held over a demanding 5 mile course of Epping Forest , hosted by Orion Harriers. The Dagenham 88 Runners were down on strength for the 3rd five mile race of the series due to holidays and injuries but still battled hard to keep up their improved performance in this summer’s series. Leading home the 88s was Nigel Swinburne in 20th spot, in a starting field of over 200, with a time of 31 mins 30 secs. This was his best time in this year’s ELVIS. Sam Rahman also had his best run of the summer in 30th with 32m 24s. Next up was Gary Cardnell in 54th with 35m 36s and Jason Baker, just back from injury, recorded 38m 38s. Completing the scoring 6 for the men’s team were David Goodson in his first 5 mile race in 45m 16s for 147th and Doug Adams in 159th with 46m 55s. Jenny Akroyd was the best of the ladies finishing 19th (93rd overall) with 40 mins exactly with Inga Hayden-Cooper close behind in 102nd in 40m 37s. Amy Johnstone recorded 43m 28s for 132nd while Jackie Frewin completed the team in 51m 22s for 186th. Graduates of the First Steps programme Timi Veersamy and Karen Crighton ran their best times for 5 miles recording 53m 24s and 62m 16s respectively. Karen’s time is an improvement of over 4½ minutes while Sam Veerasmy finished in 61m 44s.   Vacation - not for Caroline Monday, August 16, 2010 While on holiday in the US recently Caroline Tuck was pleased to stumble across a race in the area she was travelling through. The bad news was that it was at altitude, the good news was that it was only a mile long. Boulder has been voted the ‘top running city in the US’ & the local runners were out in force competing in several categories from tiny children covering half a mile, to the elite men’s and women’s 1 mile races. Running in the Masters & Veterans race Caroline came 11th out of 14 women in a time of 6.34 in her first attempt at the distance. The winning athletes in the elite races recorded 4.13 (men) and 4.55 (women). D88's stay in touch despite small turnout at ELVIS Monday, August 16, 2010 Despite the holiday season taking it's toll on the numbers we were able to field a strong ladies' and men's team in the third leg of the Elvis Series. Thirteen lucky runners completed the tough 5 mile course and lots of good performances meant that both teams were able to consolidate their league positions at the halfway point in the series. Sam Rahman improved his PB by 27 seconds, Timi Veerasamy took 34 seconds off her previous best and Karen Crighton took 4 minutes 43 seconds off her PB - that's nearly a minute a mile faster and is particularly impressive given the challenging course. David Goodson also recorded an impressive début time of 45:16. At the time of going to press the Elvis scores aren't yet on the doors but my calculations have both the ladies' and the men's team finishing 4th which overall at the halfway point leaves the ladies in 3rd and the men in 4th.   Inga takes Vet title despite missing out on a pb Thursday, August 12, 2010 Inga took the West Ham 5K Series Vet title last Sunday despite just missing out on a PB. Inga was delighted with her efforts over the past 2 months. Inga commented after the race "I'm the Series Winner.. Weyhey!! No PB, but got close to it. I managed to sprint finish, started it just before the corner... mistake!.... took corner too wide, my opponent (ex-Dag 88 member Sharon Springfield) had the racing line and beat me by ONE second! So, was 2nd FV35 today. But at least I won the overall FV35 series." Well done Inga (check out Inga's profile to see her trophy presentation) Dag 88's shine as West Ham Series draws to a close Thursday, August 12, 2010 Despite running in the Orion 5 the day before, Jason Baker, Gary Cardnell, Inga Hayden-Cooper and Jacqueline Frewin decided to run in the West Ham Park 5k. Even though they could feel the effects of the previous days race, they all posted decent times. Gary was 3rd vet and 7th overall in 20:46. Jason was 10th in 21:10. Inga ran 22:30 which made her 2nd vet and 16th overall. Jacqueline who was running with slight ankle injury, still managed to finish in 28:42 and was 7th vet and 34th overall. Julie Cardnell also competed and although she did not feel 100% still set a personal best of 34:42.   D88's going to the Dogs Thursday, August 12, 2010 Linda is organising one of her ever popular dog nights at Romford Stadium. Date is Wednesday the 13th of October and approx cost will be £15. To secure your place please contact Linda or any member of the committee to secure your place. Full payment will be required prior to the night and please make sure you book early as this is always well supported.