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[Misc] What's your greatest personal sporting achievement or memory as a participant?







Peacehaven Wild Kids

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2022
3,599
The Avenue then Maloncho
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marlowe

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2015
4,343
I ran my fastest marathon yesterday at 44.5 years old. Still annoyed with my time, I had a dodgy tummy at mile 13, p!ssing rain for most of run, cramp and hamstring tightness from mile 20. I trained hard but didn't bother with the strength and stretching... next time i need to do that gubbins! So, mine is yet to come i feel, but i guess, for now it was yesterdays effort. I know i could have done better, my time was 4h 27 mins

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I'm quite impressed by the way you're running in mid air. I see you eschew the conventional foot on the ground running technique used by the other competitors. Was that because you didn't want to get your feet wet?
 


hans kraay fan club

The voice of reason.
Helpful Moderator
Mar 16, 2005
62,842
Chandlers Ford
I've played a ludicrous amount of sport, over a lot of years, so inevitably have managed a few good days.

Cricket
- best bowling figures of 17.4 / 5 / 29 / 9, in a Merseyside Comp match in 1991. Liverpool Daily Echo spelled my name wrong in the write up.

Football
- scoring a hat-trick of penalties in a 4-1 win in a cup semi final (as a 38 year old left-back).
- captaining the Albion side, and scoring the winning penalty in a REMF game at the Dripping Pan
- keeping a 45 minute clean sheet, in a later REMF game at the Amex, against a Palace side including a recently retired Andy Johnson (who went on to score 3 in the second half!)

Other (track cycling)
- finishing second, by 0.02 seconds, in a flying lap competition, on the UCI velodrome in Switzerland.
 


Bob!

Coffee Buyer
Jul 5, 2003
11,724
Angmering Athletic U14s , Worthing & District League 6 a side Champions, 1973.
A few Sub 4hr Marathons, 3.53 at London 2008.
 






Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
63,061
The Fatherland
This is probably mine too. Although I had to qualify and train for the Boston Marathon TWICE, thanks to Covid. Running two sub 3-hour marathons to qualify, I'm not sure I'll better that.
I am older than you, so I "only" had to run sub 3:10. I managed this with 10 seconds to spare in London.
 


stewart12

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2019
1,950
Was always pretty mediocre at football but I once nutmegged future Albion left back Sam Rents in a PE lesson
 






Seagull58

In the Algarve
Jan 31, 2012
8,638
Vilamoura, Portugal
The one "achievement" that I have mentioned many times to many people over many years was competing in the Sussex Schools junior cross-country championship in 1970 as a first year representing BH&S Grammar against, among many others, a Varndean third year lad called Steve Ovett. Needless to say, Ovett won at a canter and I came in a fairly creditable 141st out of 250 odd. I was also the youngest runner in the race.
The football achievement that sticks in my mind was a house match for Chichester house against Smith where we were 3-0 down with about 20 minutes left and I scored a hattrick to salvage a point.
I wonder if there's anyone on here who participated in either of those events?
 






Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
I qualfied for. and ran. the Boston marathon. For those you do not know, you can only enter Boston with an age/sex related qualifying time. Other than this, f*** all.
My son in law is gutted this year as he'd achieved the qualifying time for his group, only to be turned down as they'd lowered it by 3 secs.
 


Badger

NOT the Honey Badger
NSC Patron
May 8, 2007
13,196
Toronto
I am older than you, so I "only" had to run sub 3:10. I managed this with 10 seconds to spare in London.
Technically, my BQ time was also 3:10, for the time I actually ran it. The cut-off time was 5:29 below that though. I knew I would need a buffer.

My son in law is gutted this year as he'd achieved the qualifying time for his group, only to be turned down as they'd lowered it by 3 secs.
It was more than 3 seconds. The cutoff was almost 7 minutes below the time you needed to apply (from 5:29 below, the previous year). Maybe he'd missed that by 3 seconds?
 


Right Brain Ronnie

Well-known member
Feb 20, 2023
744
North of North
I have a few for different reasons, none are like elite, but all are special for different reasons.

Snooker
I only played the odd match with my mates and I was asked to play a club match as they were short on players. Of course I was drawn against their best player, I was expected to lose, I knew I had to stay in the frame so I snookered the f"CK out of my opponent untill he opened the door I was quite a few points off him and ended up beating them on the black, and because of it we also one the match...this was my only league snooker match ever!

High jump
At school I was above average on most athletics but not in the top 3 and I was practicing one lunchtime on high jump for sports day and I beat the all time school high jump record, it just all came together that lunchtime the record didn't count because the teacher didn't see it!
It never happened again.

Football
I do have quite a few moments in football, but my personal best was probably coaching and managing a very poor youth team in 2 seasons into champions in their first competitive season, and we had conceded single digits goals the whole season. The kids faces were the most rewarding. I also put together a six a side youth team last minute once and I only had the keen players who were not match winners but they were all team players, we stayed in every match and even held 3 times Sussex champs best 6 a side team to a draw, but unfortunately we came runners up to the Sussex Champs, but their manager was very complimentary of our achievement. Again the players were so delighted.

I love the underdogs to winners story.

I believe football management is very suited to my dyslexia and ADHD, for all of my strengths can be used together, the neurotypicals can't see the same pictures and end game in my opinion.

RDZ has as similar mind I reckon, but he was a better footballer than me!
 




Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
Technically, my BQ time was also 3:10, for the time I actually ran it. The cut-off time was 5:29 below that though. I knew I would need a buffer.


It was more than 3 seconds. The cutoff was almost 7 minutes below the time you needed to apply (from 5:29 below, the previous year). Maybe he'd missed that by 3 seconds?
I know he was really gutted. He was 6 mins 30secs inside the old time but apparently it was a record year for people applying. He’s going to try again next year as I believe his time stands for two years?
 


Badger

NOT the Honey Badger
NSC Patron
May 8, 2007
13,196
Toronto
I know he was really gutted. He was 6 mins 30secs inside the old time but apparently it was a record year for people applying. He’s going to try again next year as I believe his time stands for two years?

Yes, the cutoff was 6:51 this year. I know a few people in a similar position who missed the cut. They have taken 5 minutes off the qualifying times for next year.

I went through the same pain. The first time I got under the qualifying time, in 2018, I missed the cut by 50 seconds. Then I qualified and got in the 2020 race which of course got cancelled a month before it was due to happen. I finally ran it this year. Third time lucky!
 




studio150

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 30, 2011
30,328
On the Border
Cricket

I really love playing and watching cricket, but other than being able to block and not hit the ball off the square I was always 11th or 12th out of 11 picked for the school team.

However in away match at Hove Grammar School, I hit a six off the last ball of our innings.

I say 6, but I basically hit the ball back to the bowler, but got called for a run anyway, I should have been run out by a country mile, but the bowler throw the ball, which missed the stumps. We completed a second run, before the ball went over the boundary, to gain 4 over throws and in the score book it went down as a 6.
 




carlzeiss

Well-known member
May 19, 2009
6,274
Amazonia
Probably making my Rugby club debut for Heathfield 2nd's at the age of 24 having only starting training a couple of months earlier (y)
 




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