Introduction by Sean Blyth

Set in the suburbs of Manchester is Gorton, and it is unknown what Gorton otherwise is famous for , except the Gorton Grueller. This is an annual physical fitness gym challenge which has been created for the individual in the gym that needs that something extra to train for. It is a test of speed, strength, endurance and physical mental toughness. And for the toughest this is completed in just over 17 minutes. Just 17 minutes of sheer hard work, set at levels that can bring the fittest athlete to his knees and cry with pain. Or this is a celebration of fitness, where the most junior of gym members can engage and rub shoulders with the best in the UK and try and beat their previous results to a challenge that has motivation and focus balanced with determination and achievemnet stamped all over it. Quite simply The Gorton Grueller and X Training is what is good about the fitness industry today - it is interested only in gym members results in fitness and that is more important then any other reason because lets remember the other name of the gym it's held at ... Fitness First and then lets remember just what has been achieved today.

The Gorton Grueller and Gym Challenges are totally funded by those who share passion for fitness on entry fee's alone. There is no support from anyone who does not share our interest, passion and motivation in achieving fitness levels way beyond anybody else.

Race report – Gorton Grueller 2010 – 22 May 2010 Varouk Vawda

Introduction 

On a scorching hot day in Manchester gym athletes from as far afield as Kent, Southampton & Edinburgh gathered for the seventh GG. Illness, injury & work-commitments forced some late withdrawals & whilst numbers in each category were limited the quality of the racing did not disappoint.

Female Intermediate

The day started off with a solo effort in the Female Intermediate category by local Vicki Callaghan, who managed to block out the white noise emanating from the PA system to put in a very commendable time of 11:30. This was followed by another local, Caroline Durberry, taking on newcomer Cat Trentham from Derbyshire. The lead changed hands several times here, with Caroline hitting the treadmill less than 20 seconds ahead of Cat. However, any hope Cat had of catching Caroline at the last was blown away by a storming run by Caroline, maintaining over 15km/h throughout to post a superb winning time of 10:46. This was followed by another tremendous battle between two more locals, Chris Copsen & Ruth Todd in which Chris just piped Ruth at the last by five seconds to take second place, with Ruth tying for third with forerunner Vicki.

Male Intermediate

Simon Friel blew away the other Male Intermediates by over two minutes for a comfortable win in 9:05. Time to move up now Simon I think. However, to be fair, the Grueller probably isn’t the easiest in which to move up from the Intermediates (having said that, Ultimate Gym Athlete in Lecister is next, so is there ever a good time?). Enough of that rambling & back to the races. Tony Howes clearly demonstrated the benefit of having a top coach in Gary Nicholas in your corner to put in an excellently paced runner-up performance (11:06). Only three seconds behind was local James Albanese. Brother Mike also put in a commendable 11:50, having piped Paul Boland by only two seconds in another very close race. Some credit for the Albaneses’ performances ought to go to Uncle Danny, who is often seen around the FF Gorgon putting the young pups through their paces. Or is an ice cream diet the secret Danny? (Danny is an ice cream vendor). Another commendable intermediate performance was that of Rick Williams only popped his head into the studio to have a look &, before he knew it, was pushed onto the starting line.

Female Open

There were only five starters in the Female Open but it was nevertheless a strong line up. Our own Penny put in a storming effort on the treadmill to edge Sarah Connolly out of the medals. In the race for the top two places Kelly Friel matched Trudi Hawkesworth’s legendary strength to then pull away in the row-bike-run finish.

Mens Open

Races remained close in the Mens Open, with the shoulder press in particularly sorting out the men from the boys. Yours truly had a real ding dong of a battle with Rochdale’s Shabbir Darr, with dancing Shabbir putting in a tremendous effort on the treadmill to make up a 21-second deficit going onto the treadmill to fall short by only four seconds. Gary Nicholls again gave a masterclass in technique with the weights to build give him a sufficient cushion ahead of fellow veteran Mike Jones going into the cardio elements to win the battle of the old codgers. Alex Woods had a battle royale with Steve Dowse but pulled away on the treadmill to ultimately take second place & push Steve into third. The final race was between star of the year so far, Richard Vint, & a returning Daniel Wright. There was much anticipation amongst the crowd as Danny had suggested that he was gunning for Ben Stroud’s course record of 17:07. Danny certainly went off like a house on fire & led all the way to the treadmill. However, Richard kept his nerve & cranked up the pressure by setting the speed to 16km/h. As he slowly clawed back the deficit the pressure told & Danny burned out (it’s a pity that he wasn’t racing Steve, as then I could have said that his fire was Dowsed). Anyway, Richard maintained a minimum of 16km/h, a feat only previously seen in the days of Micky White, to win in a finishing time just two seconds shy of Ben Stroud’s course record with 17:09. Much credit should nevertheless go to Danny. Sometimes you just have to go for it.

Thank you's

I / we would like to thank a number of people. Firstly everyone who came along & took part & also everyone who came along to support. In particular I would like to thank:

• Gary Nicholas who came all the way from Calso & provided some vital last minute assistance during the final race.
• Calso & the WGC for helping to promote the event.
• The TA lads were a wonderful help with the judging.
• Compère Terri Downs heroically heroically raised her Lancashire tones over the screeching sound system
• Sarah Green & Gyles manned the desk with saintly calm.
• Craig Horsfield who put aside his genuine disappointment at not being able to compete to do all manner of running around to keep things running. Thanks are also due to the provider of the T-shirts (for free, so if you’re ever in Oldham pop around his shop).
• To everyone who pitched in for the buffet

I’m sure that I’ve missed loads of people out & for that I apologise. However, last but not least, a word for ‘Sergeant Major’ Mike Jones. Every day for the last three weeks I’ve had a call from Mike, day, night, at home, at work wherever, & his first words have been, “Mr Varouk, we have a massive problem” (note: after all these years he still can’t say my name right). The man’s been having more kittens than a cat in Kings Cross that doesn’t believe in birth control. Nevertheless, Mike managed to hold it all together &, in my opinion, due more to him than any other individual, it was all right on the night.

The team that Makes The Gorton Grueller one of the best physicsl gym challenges in the world today . From top Mike Jones Personal Trainer, Craig Horsfield and Varouk Vawda (Gym members Fitness First Gorton)