From addicted runner to dedicated marshal, Joe’s passion burns strong
YOU will be hard pressed to find many as enthusiastic about running and the All Terrain Challenge as Joe Truelove.
It is infectious. Ask him one question about the sport and you will still be there 15 minutes later engrossed in what he is saying and he will barely have taken a breath.
Joe is another example of how running is for all ages, and something you can take on at any stage in your life.
Yesterday he was marshaling on the steps that lead down from the bunker along Havelet near the start of the individual time trial.
It meant saying ‘mind the steps’ more than 100 times, which was a nice reminder from the organisers because he is currently on crutches having fallen badly going downhill on the first day.
Joe is also a director at Trident Trust, a company which stepped in to keep the event alive two years ago when it was struggling to find support – one of the motivating factors was that he had entered and was so keen to run it.
It all began in 2018 when he had not run for 15 years and the company’s Sports and Social Committee decided to do more sport and a bit less social.
The Guernsey Marathon was on and looking for relay teams.
Iain Bailey was working there at the time and asked Joe to join a team. Initially he refused, but eventually caved in and agreed to do the shortest leg downhill from the Rondin to the Imperial.
‘I signed up, and I quite enjoyed it, I got a buzz out of it because I was running against people that had already done five miles uphill from the Val Des Terres and I was fresh legged running past them, catching quite a few up, and then stopping at the Imperial, much to their disgust.’
He enjoyed it, but was not addicted just yet.
He then did the Inca Trail with his three sons in the summer. They were 15, 17, 22 at the time and he was concerned he would be left behind. So he did a little training, some long cliff walks, some running including Park Run.
‘When we got on the Inca Trail I was at the front with my 15-year-old son and my two elder sons were being left behind up the steps in the thin air of the Andes. I was so excited that when I got back I signed up to do a 10-mile cliff run with the Guernsey Athletics Club.’
That was his first club event, having never run that distance off-road before.
‘What encouraged me was there was a very wide range of ability. There is a guy called Ray Scholes. I checked the results, because I’d done Park Run I could see how good the people were that did the event. I realised that Ray was about an hour slower than me so I thought I won’t come last so there would be no embarrassment. I signed up and on the start line I couldn’t see Ray Scholes. I did the race, came third or fourth from last.’
He also got some good advice.
‘There was another girl who is doing the ATC called Nicola Sharp, who I overheard giving another newbie some advice which was to just walk up the steps, run on the flat and you can make up a bit of time going down. It hadn’t occurred to me that most people walked up the steps. I’d seen people running the cliffs and thought it was all out running, these were super heroes.’
He did not see Ray Scholes at the finish line, indeed did not at subsequent races, but when he met his inspiration a few months later he found out why.
His wife is a timekeeper and he starts earlier than everyone else so that the timekeepers do not have to wait until he has finished.
‘That explained the mystery of how I had beaten Ray Scholes but never seen him.’
In 2019 he took part in the cross country series, the club champs, the Boxing and New Years Day races.
In 2020 he did the equal most number of organised Guernsey Athletics events – 27 – alongside Paul Domaille.
Last year he completed his first marathon, but his proudest achievement was over half that distance.
When he was 18 he ran a half in around 1hr 48.
‘Last year, when I was 48, so 30 years later, I did it in 1hr 42, so six minutes off my time 30 years later. I believed I was in my prime when I was 18, but statistically I’m more capable over that distance now than I was then, which I was quite pleased about.
‘It’s quite exciting. I’m 49, coming up to 50. It’s probably a bit of a mid-life crisis, as you get older, it’s quite encouraging to come to running events because there are old guys that are really very fast.’
Graham Merfield is one who is an inspiration. Graham was third in the Guernsey Marathon last year and runner-up GU36 this.
‘The feats that people can achieve as they get older in running are really motivational and encouraging and I’ve become really addicted to it.’
It was in Christmas 2019 when he decided to enter his first ATC.
‘I’d always read about the All Terrain Challenge and thought it seemed like quite a hardcore event, something I would aspire to do. I always read things about the Icart loop, but had never been there. I read articles about the Jerbourg steps and football players that had entered to see how well they could do against athletes.’
He saw a post saying the event did not have a sponsor.
‘I thought it’s taken me 30 years to pluck up the courage to do this, it would be a shame if I was to miss out.’
The company coincidentally was looking for a community event to back and stepped in for three years.
He loved every minute of last year, fighting it out at the bottom of division three to avoid coming last in that group.
‘You read about the rivalry. It’s such a friendly, competitive rivalry where you encourage each other along, even when someone is overtaking you. People move out of the way, saying “you can beat me on this one, I’m tiring now”. As soon as you finish the event, the first person to congratulate you is usually the person you previously overtook.
‘Everyone is so collegiate and supportive of one another. It’s not like you are supporting one runner, but every single runner that goes past. You just want to encourage everyone to keep going.’
Four staff members are taking part this year, or at least they started it.
‘I had a challenging start last year on Sunday night, it’s the same route so I should have learnt. Last year I kind of collapsed a little bit going up the steps from Saints Bay Harbour to Icart. I was helped by another runner who said “come on, there’s only 10 more steps to go” . ‘He was lying of course, there were about 50.
‘This year, I started off too fast going up Saints Bay hill. I then started to get overtaken by people when I of necessity started to slow down a bit. I thought I could make up time by going faster down the hills by taking risks other people weren’t prepared to take and I came unstuck.’
He was catching people up when he tumbled to the ground.
He lay there insisting people did not stop because he was worried he would slow them down.
Eventually Jason Powers insisted on stopping. He gave Joe some water, then alongside a couple of passers-by helped him get to the nearest road before another runner fetched his car and drove him home.
At the time he did not realise how bad his ankle was.
‘When I took my shoe off I could see it was quite bloated, so I went to Accident & Emergency and unfortunately I’m out of action for the rest of the week, so I’ve been marshaling and supporting the other runners since and been getting quite a lot of sympathy. It’s been quite embarrassing.’
Whoever gave him his marshaling spot yesterday must have done so with a wry smile on their face.
‘They have given me the job of telling people to be careful going down some steps, which is poetic justice.’
He is going to take things carefully and then come back stronger in six weeks.
‘I’ve got the bug now for marshaling and watching other people running and I can just understand why people do it.
‘When you are an injured runner and denied the adrenaline rush of taking part yourself it’s actually quite nice to see other people enjoy that experience and supporting and encouraging them on the route. I’ve gone from addicted runner to injured and addicted marshal in about three days.’
He is signed up for the Beachy Head marathon at the end of October. A tough, hilly route with a lot of food on the way.
He will run that for enjoyment, not racing down the hills.
Or that’s the plan at the moment.
‘The problem is that competitiveness kicks in and you can’t help yourself sometimes.’
Today’s (Thursday 22 July) stage is the Icart Loop, starting at 6.30pm from the car park.
Day Four results
Stage 4 Town TT
1 Will Bodkin 13:22
2 Luke Richards 14:08
3 Fabio Teles 14:27
4 Chris Norman 14:27
5 Ben Foote 15:03
6 Toby Mann 15:07
7 Paul Moriarty 15:31
8 David Mosley 15:40
9 James De Garis 15:48
10 Samuel Goddard 15:53
11 Andy Hatton 16:04
12 Adam Grogan 16:07
13 Ross Allen 16:13
14 Aaron Walden 16:16
15 Matthew Atkinson 16:18
16 Mikey Ingrouille 16:20
17 Michael Le Page 16:24
18 Daniel Legg 16:34
19 William Fish 16:38
20 Adam Dorey 16:39
21 Sam Walden 16:45
22 Marc Isabelle 16:48
23 Simon March 16:48
24 Paul Hewitt 16:51
25 Elise Bott 16:56
26 Iain Bailey 17:04
27 Gearoid Lee 17:06
28 Rosie Williams 17:07
29 Nick Hynes 17:21
30 Dan Hunter 17:30
31 Jon Sexton 17:32
32 Tom O’Neil 17:40
33 Dave Hockey 17:45
34 Steve Wilson 17:49
35 Steven McCracken 17:53
36 Robert Gregson 18:06
37 Melanie Nicolle 18:10
38 Derek Beatty 18:12
39 Tim Wilson 18:15
40 Hannah Fitchet 18:15
41 Michael Way 18:24
42 Jordan Smith 18:27
43 Jenna Jackson 18:40
44 Darren Rouse 18:42
45 Penny Freeman 18:46
46 James Starkey 18:53
47 Lorna Castle 18:57
48 Tania Shires 19:01
49 Caroline Barby 19:05
50 Jocelyn McLellan 19:06
51 Agris Dulbinskis 19:07
52 Daniella Le Flem 19:13
53 Vicki Joyce 19:14
54 Peter Beausire 19:17
55 Matt De Carteret 19:18
56 Nick Boughay 19:22
57 Chris ONeil 19:26
58 Craig Collins 19:28
59 Steve Sarre 19:32
60 Natalie Finlayson 19:32
61 Nathan Galliene 19:37
62 Brett Bewey 19:46
63 Ruairi Harnden 19:46
64 Paul Domaille 19:52
65 Andrew Sexton 19:53
66 Paul James 20:08
67 Emma Beardsell 20:10
68 Angus Kirby 20:11
69 Divon Crouse 20:12
70 Cecil Carter 20:14
71 Katy Hodgetts 20:28
72 Martin Boyde 20:55
73 Lucy Le Cocq 21:42
74 Gemma Le Sauvage 21:42
75 Luc Blanchard 21:42
76 John Duggan 21:48
77 Jeanne Svejstrup 21:50
78 Tomas Wilkins 21:53
79 Paula Dodd 21:54
80 Darren Smith 22:03
81 Nicola Sharp 22:05
82 Joe Armstrong 22:23
83 Harley Gavey 22:32
84 Suzi Druce 22:32
85 Ali Mason 22:45
86 Alison Lihou 22:53
87 Matt Mason 22:58
88 Tony Veillard 23:02
89 Susan Atkinson 23:15
90 Laura Havard 23:20
91 Gregory Josey 23:31
92 Juliette Yeaman 23:44
93 Maree Wilms 23:57
94 Brendan Wilms 24:27
95 Alun Williams 24:56
96 Jemma Crouse 25:14
97 Louise Critchlow 26:12
98 Cath Birnie 26:25
99 Sam Ingrouille 27:05
100 James Soden 27:14
101 Isabelle Mariess 27:16
102 Terry Harnden 27:17
103 Mark Finlayson 27:18
104 Berni Gilman 27:58
105 Emma Alford 28:01
General classification
Division One
1 Will Bodkin 0:58:07
2 Luke Richards 1:01:45
3 Fabio Teles 1:03:17
4 Chris Norman 1:04:46
5 Ben Foote 1:05:46
6 Toby Mann 1:06:11
7 James De Garis 1:08:37
8 Mikey Ingrouille 1:09:24
9 Andy Hatton 1:10:01
10 David Mosley 1:10:05
11 Matthew Atkinson 1:10:07
12 Adam Grogan 1:10:36
13 Samuel Goddard 1:11:08
14 Aaron Walden 1:11:21
15 Ross Allen 1:11:22
16 Marc Isabelle 1:11:40
17 Paul Moriarty 1:11:46
18 Paul Hewitt 1:12:45
Division 2
1 William Fish 1:12:50
2 Simon March 1:13:14
3 Michael Le Page 1:13:19
4 Adam Dorey 1:13:43
5 Daniel Legg 1:13:46
6 Rosie Williams 1:13:58
7 Sam Walden 1:14:22
8 Elise Bott 1:14:34
9 Gearoid Lee 1:15:15
10 Iain Bailey 1:15:32
11 Nick Hynes 1:15:38
12 Dave Hockey 1:16:40
13 Steve Wilson 1:17:14
14 Melanie Nicolle 1:17:29
15 Jon Sexton 1:17:47
16 Mickey Haimes 1:18:00
17 Dan Hunter 1:18:07
18 Tim Wilson 1:18:20
19 Derek Beatty 1:18:46
20 Hannah Fitchet 1:19:00
21 Robert Gregson 1:19:00
Division 3
1 Tom O’Neil 1:18:34
2 Steven McCracken 1:18:44
3 Agris Dulbinskis 1:19:32
4 Michael Way 1:19:45
5 Jenna Jackson 1:20:35
6 Jordan Smith 1:20:36
7 Darren Rouse 1:20:45
8 Penny Freeman 1:20:54
9 Daniella Le Flem 1:21:29
10 Jocelyn McLellan 1:22:49
11 Matt Wadley 1:22:50
12 Caroline Barby 1:24:03
13 Nick Boughay 1:24:05
14 Chris ONeil 1:24:07
15 Vicki Joyce 1:24:09
16 Angus Kirby 1:24:28
17 Jason Powers 1:24:42
Division Four
1 James Starkey 1:24:02
2 Tania Shires 1:24:22
3 Peter Beausire 1:24:53
4 Paul Domaille 1:25:14
5 Natalie Finlayson 1:25:38
6 Ruairi Harnden 1:25:39
7 Emma Beardsell 1:25:49
8 Brett Bewey 1:25:54
9 Lorna Castle 1:25:59
10 Cecil Carter 1:27:19
11 Steve Sarre 1:27:29
12 Andrew Sexton 1:27:37
13 Divon Crouse 1:28:00
14 Craig Collins 1:28:06
15 Katy Hodgetts 1:28:12
16 Luc Blanchard 1:30:32
Division Five
1 Matt De Carteret 1:29:06
2 Paul James 1:30:21
3 Nathan Galliene 1:31:05
4 Gemma Le Sauvage 1:32:50
5 Martin Boyde 1:34:02
6 Lucy Le Cocq 1:34:04
7 Nicola Sharp 1:35:37
8 Paula Dodd 1:35:50
9 John Duggan 1:35:57
10 Suzi Druce 1:36:10
11 Darren Smith 1:36:32
12 Tomas Wilkins 1:37:26
13 Jeanne Svejstrup 1:37:56
14 Matt Mason 1:38:49
15 Harley Gavey 1:39:06
16 Alison Lihou 1:40:31
17 Laura Havard 1:40:42
18 Juliette Yeaman 1:41:33
19 Isabelle Mariess 1:43:51
Division Six
1 Joe Armstrong 1:40:48
2 Ali Mason 1:41:00
3 Gregory Josey 1:42:12
4 Jemma Crouse 1:43:49
5 Susan Atkinson 1:45:09
6 Louise Critchlow 1:45:21
7 James Soden 1:46:35
8 Tony Veillard 1:47:40
9 Sam Sexton 1:48:05
10 Emma Alford 1:48:24
11 Maree Wilms 1:49:16
12 Brendan Wilms 1:51:18
13 Terry Harnden 1:51:31
14 Cath Birnie 1:54:31
15 Alun Williams 1:55:33
16 Sam Ingrouille 1:57:07
17 Mark Finlayson 2:00:30
18 Berni Gilman 2:05:57
