HEADLINES
- Men win Oxford XC League title for the first time.
- Marc Fallows & Jenny Manners win club cross country championships.
- Wendy Nicholls tops national 5 mile rankings following win at Gloucester .
- 34 members run Bourton 10k, is this a record turnout?
- Chris Illman 4th at Bourton 10k, breaking club record by a minute, then cracks 70 mins at Reading ½ Marathon.
- Ladies take Bourton team prize.
- Jenny Manners breaks 19 year old ladies club age group record at Bourton.
- Leisure centre has reopened after last year’s flooding!
CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
2 March, Oxford League at Horspath, Oxford . Cirencester AC has been in the Oxford League since 1992 and after a long apprenticeship, the league title has crossed into Gloucestershire for the first time. In the early years it was always a struggle to stay in Division One and we did drop down for a few short years. There were times when getting 7 scorers onto the start line was hard work, with most of the fixtures involving a good 80 miles round trip. A few stalwarts kept the team going during these times, with the most regular participants being Bob Ferris, Tony Curry and Colin O’Hare who between them hardly missed a fixture for years. There was also always great support from the Tetbury branch of the club with Chris Riches, Tim Willson, Bob May, Jon Meredith and Roger Hill all making the long journey each month. So, after all that history, it is great that Adrian Williams was able yesterday to collect the team trophy on behalf of the club. Here is his take on a stressful few months as club captain:
“The start of the Cross Country could not have gone more to plan with the men's team surging into a 100 point lead not over Headington but a surprise second team of Abingdon. We all went away from there thinking that this year just might be the year that Ciren AC men could win the league for the first time and take the title out of the county.
Along came the December race, last year Culham park was a difficult course and this year we woke to rain and wind and if the same course was going to be used I knew this would be a tough day for all. Bill and I got there and decided to give up any hope of getting the tent up due to the wind and the team numbers were looking a little weak. We ended up with just nine runners and unfortunately lost our second men's team from the rest of the league. I just want to say a huge thanks to the nine men and five ladies (three second claims) that turned up that day to keep the other teams in the league and a very big thanks to Chris, even with an injury he ran round and came in for the team, what club spirit. Even with only 9 men turning up and a second team kicked out due to not enough counters, the A Team only dropped 40 points, but Headington were closing.
Race three: by now Marc Fallows was showing his force in the league and also within our club championship, but said to me that he was unlikely to make this race as the family were away for Christmas. There was twenty minutes to go and there was again a poor turnout for the men and who knew what was going to happen. Then it was as if three buses had turned up, Mark Norris (a second claim who had run very well at Ascott) turned up, then Andy B and with 5 minutes to spare in the distance I saw Marc. What commitment (thanks again Marc I think I owe you a beer for that). The race went off and we managed to beat Headington and Newbury and increase our lead once again.
Race four: the home fixture, this was the day that we needed to pull out the stops and make the league Ciren's for the first time. A strong team started with Chris, Marc, Jon Norris (Mark’s brother), Bill, Me, Paul, Charles, Andy B and this should be enough to build the lead needed as I knew that Chris wasdoing Reading that clashed with the final fixture and that we did even with Headington coming in second they were over 150 points behind.
Race five: Again a good team and another good day for Ciren AC. This time I knew that we needed some good runs to win the final race and that we did. Marc had a great race and was only one point off being joint 2nd for the overall title and Paul, Bill and I all were very closely packed in the top 23 which meant we again managed to win the fixture and as a consequence win the league for the first time.
I just want to say a massive thanks to Bill, Marc, Paul and Dorian who all managed to turn up to all of the fixtures and not that I have been that involved with the women we must mention both Jenny and Alice who also managed all five and a fantastic 2nd place for Jenny overall in the league for her age group. Finally even though Marc has been mentioned twice I think that his commitment to the cause this year has been outstanding and it is so good to see him back to his best.
This has been a very exciting yet nerve-racking season for me in my first year as Captain. At first I thought it would be a walk in the park but Culham showed that we would need to work at this to win something that had not been done at the Club. And what a result. Well done all who scored in the A team; Chris Illman (3), David Roper (1), Marc Fallows (5), Charles Woodd (3), Mark Norris (2), Paul Barlow (5), Bill Leggate (5), Adrian Williams (4), David Wright (2), David Fong (1), Andy Bickerstaff (2), Jon Norris (1), Joe Barrowclough (1) (no of scores).”
U11 Girls: 8 Rhian Gardner 4.40, 21 Hannah Tapley 5.06, 36 Jodie Hatton 5.55, 39 Emma Hatton 7.14, 40 Megane Hatton 7.37.
U15/17 Boys: 2 Rhys Park 17.19.
More details on the exploits of the club juniors can be found via the junior section on the club website or direct on www.cirenhares.co.uk
Women:
1 Wendy Nicholls (Cirencester) 17.40
8 Claire Conway 19.49
19 Jenny Manners 20.59
33 Jane Thomas 22.01
43 Alice Thomas 23.12
95 Barbara Thomas 27.42. 107 finished.
Teams (3 to score): Div 1; 1= Cirencester & Headington 28pts.
Final positions after five races: Div 1; 1 Headington 163pts, 5 Cirencester 299.
Men:
1 Matthew Almond (Alchester) 33.44
7 Marc Fallows 35.55
17 Adrian Williams 36.59
20 Bill Leggate 37.17
21 Paul Barlow 37.22
24 Charles Woodd 37.45
43 Joe Barrowclough 39.27
57 Andy Bickerstaff 40.39
98 Keith Firkin 43.48
112 Dorian Matts 44.42
141 Mark Langman 47.22
146 Bryan Reid 47.44
190 Michael Thomas 56.58. 194 finished. Full results on www.oxonxc.org
Teams (7 to score): Div 1; 1 Cirencester 189pts, 2 Headington 193. Div 2; 7 Cirencester ‘B’ 1128.
Final positions after five races: Div 1; 1 Cirencester 852pts, 2 Headington 1,324, 3 Abingdon 1,586.
Overall individual positions to date (best four of five races):
FU20: 2 Jenny Manners
Senior Men: 4 Marc Fallows
CROSS COUNTRY FIXTURES
15 March (Sat), Inter-Counties, Wollaton Park , Nottingham . Wendy Nicholls & Jane Wassell lead very strong Gloucestershire team looking for top three placing. This is also the trial race for the World XC Champs to be held in Edinburgh on 30 March. Races will be shown live on Sky TV.
29 March (Sat), National Masters XC Championships, Banbury. www.bvaf.org.ok
CLUB CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP
This championship is simply calculated from club finishing positions in the five Oxford League fixtures. There are two new names on the trophies this year, congratulations to the very consistent high level performer Marc Fallows and the emerging talent of teenager Jenny Manners. Final scores:
Men:
1 M Fallows 147pts,
2 B Leggate 136pts,
3= P Barlow & A Williams 132pts,
D Matts 103, A Bickerstaff 94, C Illman 86, C Woodd 77, S Elverd 59, B Reid 57, M Norris 54, C Riches & M Thomas 51, D Wright 49, D Fong 44, M Langman 41, A Bradley 37, D Roper 29, J Norris 28, J Barrowclough 25, K Firkin 23, M Gluning 22, J Nicholls & D Thompson 21, C Brough 19, C Tapley 16, J Davies 15, B Ferris 14.
Women:
1 J Manners 68pts,
2 A Thomas 60pts,
3 C Conway 43pts,
B Thomas41, J Thomas 35, S Brown 31, W Nicholls 30, V Brann 27, S McKeeman 18, J Wassell 15, Corinne Clark 10, L Ferris 7.
ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN RESULTS
10 February, Dursley Dozen 12m m/t . Sarah Cooper gives a graphic account of this toughie:
“A friend of mine who does lots of those Mountain Marathons when you run for two days with a compass and carry your food and tent, persuaded me to enter. Why did the alarm bells not ring at full volume? I mentioned it to a few club members who weren’t too negative. Trudy said that it was “hard but fun” and Bob made some encouraging noises (with hindsight, they might have been sniggers).
The day was beautiful, cold but really sunny and still. My race preparation was really poor because I can never resist offers of evenings out when they coincide with available babysitters. I didn’t spot any other Cirencester runners at the start, I was preoccupied by looking for celebrities. This is because another friend of mine swears blind he saw David Walliams jogging to the start at the Slaughterford Nine a couple of weeks previously [ed: note also that snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan has become a decent runner and turned out in the Southern XC Champs in January].
The start is 200 metres up a genuinely steep hill. 100 metres in my heart rate was close to its maximum, my lungs were bursting and my legs were leaden. Fabulous. Chris Brough strode past me with a cheery greeting and I could only grimace in reply. There was a brief interlude of relatively flat, muddy track before more climbing. It was narrow and one where the muddy bits change sides all the time. Everyone was jostling for position and I witnessed some hilarious collisions when runners were leaping from side to side. That cheered me up and I settled into a sort of slippy slidey scramble. I had been debating whether to wear my off road shoes for grip (which I hate) or my comfy normal ones with no grip. The off roaders got their outing and I was glad of them.
The course has loads more up than down, I really don’t know how they managed that, but they did. I was cheered by the friendly face of David Edelsten when we got to the golf course and as this is quite a flat bit, I managed to say hello. A few miles in, there is a lovely stretch of ‘fast, flat road’. I had been looking forward to it, but the reality was a real anti-climax. I was exceedingly tired, only five miles in and I hated my shoes. They may have grip but they were like planks of wood on the road. I gritted my teeth and tried not to scowl as group after group sailed past me looking really cheerful. Trudy bounded by with an encouraging greeting and I did wave back.
You go up some more and come out on this amazing sort of post nuclear landscape. I thought my oxygen deprived brain might have been hallucinating, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The trees looked burnt out and the terrain is rock. It was a welcome diversion from my fatigue. After that there were some downhills, so steep that I thought the people coming past me might flatten me as I tottered about with inexperience and got in the way. The course marshalls were lovely and encouraging, but after the third one had said ‘well done lady runner’, my thoughts returned to celebrities. I was convinced that the real ‘laydee’ was just behind me. This kept me going for another couple of miles…
At about mile nine a jovial Bitton Road Runner lady came past me. She ran along with me for a bit, saw the expression on my face and, like others, kindly asked if it was my ‘first time’. I admitted it was and casually (gasping for breath) asked about ‘the hill with a rope’. She said it was ‘tricky’ and just around the corner. I was so tired I thought I might need to lie down there and then. When I came to it though, I was so glad to take the spotlight off my legs and use my arms to pull myself up that I didn’t care how steep it was. Anyway, I had heard about jelly babies at the top. It was just a shame that I was so puffed that I couldn’t swallow one. I still got a sugar rush though, but it lasted about seven seconds.
The last couple of miles are downhill and were okay. It’s a bit sneaky I think, because until that point you are promising yourself that you will never do that race again, probably never do any race again in fact. Then you finish on a sweeping downhill, with endorphins racing round your blood stream and spectators giving a friendly cheer. A weird part of you starts to think ‘that was great, when can I do it again?’ Chris and Trudy were waiting at the finish with kind smiles and some sympathetic pats on the shoulder as I almost wept with relief. Chris showed me the shoes he had run in. He called them his ‘slicks’. Dead comfy road shoes with no grip at all. I think he skied the downhill...”
1 Julian Hatcher (Westbury) 1.18.13
128 Chris Brough (Cirencester) 1.43.48
147 Trudy Compton (3rd FV40) 1.45.39
170 Sarah Cooper 1.48.17
228 Caroline Bolam 1.53.33
267 Kim Withycombe 1.56.36
309 Rupert Chesmore 2.02.04. 403 finished. www.dadac.org.uk
16 February, White Horse ‘5’, Sandhurst , nr Gloucester . A small but classy gathering for one of Severn AC’s regular races. As stated in the blog of Phil Parry (he was second) from Bristol “this was either a quiet afternoon with [race organiser] Terry (Haines) & friends or a small group of elite athletes running serious times on a Saturday afternoon …” The latter appears to have been the case, led by Britain’s current top marathoner Dan Robinson and our very own Wendy Nicholls, both of whom beat the course records. Chased all the way by Bill Leggate and Paul Barlow, both of whom reaping the rewards of a hard winter’s training with big personal bests, Nicholls dipped under 27 minutes for the first time and in doing so went straight to the top of the UK rankings for the year. Her time would have ranked third for the whole of 2007 as well. See www.athleticsdata.com for all rankings lists. All three Cirencester athletes proudly walked off with chocolate biscuits for their efforts, as did Mr Robinson!
1 Dan Robinson (Stroud) 23.40 – course record
5 Wendy Nicholls (Cirencester, 1st lady) 26.56 – course record, absolute club ladies record
6 Bill Leggate 27.02
7 Paul Barlow 27.08. 33 finished. www.severnac.co.uk
17 February, Cirencester Park off road duathlon .
Main race (2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run):
1 Peter Banham (Wyre Forest) (13.53, 36.33, 15.00) 1.05.26
54 Mark Evans (Cirencester) (17.24, 49.09, 17.45) 1.24.18
91 Kim Withycombe (18.17, 55.42, 18.26) 1.32.25
116 Chris Goldie (19.55, 1.00.38, 21.09) 1.41.42. 139 finished.
Novice/youth race (1 mile run, 5 mile bike, 1 mile run):
1 Stephen Deadman (7.18, 22.06, 7.43) 37.07
2 Ben Cox (Cirencester) (7.07, 22.48, 7.17) 37.12
17 Ray Murphy (9.06, 29.13, 8.42) 47.01. 52 finished. www.triferris.com
24 February, Bourton 10km . Club Championship race. What a wonderful turnout by the club for the opening of another road racing season, with 34 members toeing the line and some cracking results on this super fast course. With two short laps of the village at the start and again at the finish, there is always a smashing atmosphere at this race and it was augmented this year by the best performances en masse by Cirencester athletes for many years. Watching Olympian Dan Robinson eat up the miles on his way to winning the men’s race by an enormous margin, in a new record time and the fastest in the UK this year, was a privilege for all to see – the out and back nature of the main part of the course meaning that all runners got that pleasure. After a relatively quiet winter, Chris Illman blazed back in style with the second fastest U23 time in the UK this year, taking over a minute from the club outright 10k record in the process. In a high class ladies race, lottery funded young superstar Emily Pidgeon broke her own course record but only finished third. Michelle Ross-Cope, a Great Britain team mate of Wendy Nicholls at last year’s World ½ Marathon Championships in Italy, took over a minute off the record with Nicholls finishing second, having burst past Pidgeon in the last mile, in a new personal best and club record time. With the support of Jane Wassell, returning tentatively from injury, and the ever improving Sarah Cooper, Cirencester ladies won the team prize. The men just missed out to Cheltenham but with seven runners beating 35 minutes and big improvements from those following in, the strength in depth seen in the Oxford League is now beginning to show through on the roads. There were big personal best times all the way down the results, as evidenced by the number of bonus points garnered in the club championship. In addition to the outright club records of Illman & Nicholls, three more age group standards were broken including at the Female U20 level where Jenny Manners cracked the oldest ladies record in the books, the time of 42.11 by Becky Stagg which had stood since 1989, a year before she was born! There were also two near misses with Bob Ferris within 18 seconds of Tony Curry’s V55 record (Mr Curry likely to dine out on that for many years to come!) and Carol Clarke missing out at FV55 level by 19 seconds. Yes, this is a very fast course and some think it to be marginally short (GPS watches tend to indicate that it is accurate and it is officially certified), but a great number of the pb’s were in comparison to times on the same course in previous years, indicating genuine improvements. For this, the first fixture in the 2008 club championship, finishing & bonus points gathered are shown against each individual finisher – see Road Race Championship details below for clarification of scoring.
1 Dan Robinson (Stroud) 29.21 – course record
4 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 31.11 (20pts + 6 bonus points = 26pts) – absolute club record
16 Marc Fallows 32.54 (19 + 8 = 27)
19 Adrian Williams 33.07 (18 + 8 = 26)
20 Wendy Nicholls (2nd lady / FV35) 33.15 (20 + 2 = 22) – absolute club ladies record
25 Bill Leggate 33.44 (17 + 5 = 22)
31 Paul Barlow 34.23 (16 + 1 = 17)
34 David Wright (2nd V50) 34.39 (15 + 7 = 22) – club V50 record
60 Adam Harborow 36.35 (14 + 6 = 20)
68 Stephen Elverd 37.09 (13 + 8 = 21)
71 Martin Croucher 37.12 (12 + 8 = 20)
80 Jane Wassell (2nd FV40) 37.48 (19)
95 Jon Young 38.28 (11 + 4 = 15)
153 Dorian Matts 40.45 (10)
156 Mark Langman 40.53 (9)
169 Bryan Reid 41.27 (8)
173 Andy Bradley 41.36 (7)
181 Sarah Cooper 41.49 (18 + 5 = 23)
182 Jenny Manners 41.55 (17 + 8 = 25) – club FU20 record
192 Ian Pople 42.29 (6 + 8 = 14)
199 Trudy Compton 42.45 (16 + 1 = 17)
209 Bob Ferris 42.56 (5)
224 Darren Dent 43.16 (4 + 8 = 12)
276 Carol Clarke (2nd FV55) 45.10 (15 + 3 = 18)
283 Dick Waldron (3rd V65) 45.23 (3 + 1 = 4) – club V65 record
371 Chris Berry 50.00 (2)
383 Jane Stevens 51.09 (14 + 7 = 21)
394 Sue Brown 51.35 (13)
400 Lynn Ferris 51.45 (12 + 1 = 13)
401 Yvonne Binks 51.45 (11)
410 Brian Barrowclough 52.15 (1)
439 Ruth Fulford 54.44 (10)
447 Christina See 55.10 (9)
456 Sophie Edelsten 56.23 (8)
476 Amanda Pizzey 58.31 (7). 515 finished
Teams: Men (4 to score), 1 Cheltenham 34pts, 2 Oxford City 50, 3 Cirencester 64.
Ladies (3 to score), 1 Cirencester (Nicholls, Wassell, Cooper) 281 pts. www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk with photographs on www.yourraceday.co.uk (need race number to access, see results on race website). Stephen Elverd has also found some more excellent images on this link: http://flickr.com/photos/7818017@N02/sets/72157603979002637/
26 February, Bridge Inn 5km, Shortwood, nr Bristol . Just two days after fine runs at Bourton, our two runners both clipped a few more seconds from their respective personal bests at this regular monthly race. Bill Leggate also snatched a fine third place overall for the five race winter series. The summer series will commence on Tuesday 29 April over the same course.
1 Dave Bishop (Bristol & West) 15.16
7 Adrian Williams (Cirencester) 16.21
9 Bill Leggate 16.23. 119 finished. www.bristolandwestac.org.uk
2 March, Reading ½ Marathon . On a blustery day, Chris Illman continued to develop his considerable running cv by cracking the 70 minute barrier for the first time. Martin Croucher also managed to run a personal best whilst Sarah Cooper’s result was hard to find as she was listed as running for Grenlester AC!
1 Patrick Makau ( Kenya ) 1.01.19
18 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 1.09.22 (chip 1.09.21)
402 Martin Croucher 1.26.39 (1.26.17)
2111 Sarah Cooper 1.43.07 (1.39.03). 11,181 finished. www.asicsreadinghalfmarathon.co.uk
2 March, Gloucester ‘20’ . A few of the leading protagonists would have been a bit concerned on the start line to see an Ethiopian vest lining up alongside them. They had no need to fear however as inside the vest was none other than Rupert Chesmore!
1 Mike Smith (Bourton) 1.52.53 (chip 1.52.52)
265 Darren Dent (Cirencester) 2.46.11 (2.45.27)
400 Rupert Chesmore 3.04.47 (3.03.59)
433 Yvonne Binks (1st FV60) 3.11.35 (3.10.46) – inaugural club FV60 record.
531 finished. www.gloucesterac.co.uk
ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN FIXTURES (Sunday unless stated)
Note that Severn AC promotions can be entered on the day.
8 March (Sat), Grocery ‘4’, White Horse, Sandhurst , nr Gloucester at 14:45 . www.severnac.co.uk
16 March, Forest of Dean ½ Marathon at 10:00 . Club Championship race. Entries now closed. www.forestofdean-halfmarathon.co.uk
22 March (Sat), Easter 10k, White Horse, Sandhurst , nr Gloucester at 15:00 www.severnac.co.uk
30 March, Cleevewold ‘14’ m/t at 10:30 . Challenging course based at Winchcombe. www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk
5 April, Midland 12 stage road relays, Sutton Park , nr Birmingham . Following on from the club’s success at last autumn’s relays, Adrian Williams is hoping to get a team together for the spring version of this major event.
6 April, Chedworth Roman Trail ‘10’ m/t at 10:30 (see club promotions below).
13 April, London Marathon .
20 April, Highworth 5m at 11:00 . Club Championship race. As with many races, there are no entries on the day and entries will close when the 500 limit is reached. Last year this happened a few weeks before the race, so enter early. www.highworthrunningclub.com
7 May (Wed), Stroud Beer Race 7.2m, Minchinhampton Common at 19:00 . www.stroudac.org.uk
CLUB RANKINGS
As in previous years, club age group rankings for the distance next being raced in the club championship will be published. With the Forest of Dean ½ Marathon coming up on 16 March (a very healthy 26 Cirencester AC entrants) here are the current rankings at that distance:
U20: 1.14.16 Chris Illman, Stroud 2006
Male senior: 1.09.07 Mike Smith, Stroud 2000; Female senior: 1.17.42 Ellen Leggate 2001;
FV35: 1.12.48 Wendy Jones (Nicholls), Reading 2007;
V40: 1.17.26 David Wright, Stroud 1999; FV40: 1.22.56 Jane Wassell, Stroud 2007;
V45: 1.19.59 Brian Wither, Stroud 1992; FV45: 1.38.30 Molly Fisher, 1991
V50: 1.19.37 David Wright, Stroud 2007; FV50: 1.43.20 Carol Clarke, Stroud 2002;
V55: 1.42.06 Chris Riches, Stroud 2007; FV55: 1.39.55 Carol Clarke, Leeds 2006;
V60: 1.41.43 Dick Waldron, Stroud 2002; FV60: 2.08.03 Yvonne Binks, Stroud 2007;
V65: 1.46.49 Dick Waldron, Stroud 2007;
V70: 1.58.19 Fred Robson, Cricklade 2004.
ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP 2008
The Bourton 10k has started the ball rolling for this year’s championship and, as ever, produced lots of bonus points; scores are shown against individual finishers above. Here are the rest of the fixtures for this year (some of the dates are still to be confirmed and note that Frampton date has now been confirmed and is a week later than originally published):
16 March, Forest of Dean Trails ½ Marathon (details above)
20 April, Highworth 5m (details above)
15 May (Thu), Globe Inn 5k, Sandhurst , nr Gloucester www.severnac.co.uk
1 June, Fairford Festival 10k www.fairford.org
14 July (Mon), Frampton-on-Severn 10k www.stroudac.org.uk
19 July (Sat), Bourton 1m www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk
24 July (Thu), Malmesbury 5k
6 August (Wed), Bugatti 10k, nr Winchcombe www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk
14 September, Witney 10m www.witneyroadrunners.org.uk
12 October, Chichester 10k www.chichester10krace.org.uk
26 October, Stroud ½ Marathon www.stroudac.org.uk
In addition, times recorded at any marathon between the dates of February 24 and October 26 will score points in the same format as the races above i.e. as though all competed in one race. The Chichester race, which should be entered early as it’s very popular, has been inserted as a suggested idea for a club trip away for the weekend. Of the 13 races, including marathon, best eight scores to count. 20 points will be awarded to the first Cirencester finisher in each race down to one point for the 20th and any subsequent finishers. Male & female championships will be scored separately. Bonus points will be awarded for any personal bests achieved against times published in the newsletter for 2006 and 2007. One bonus point will be awarded for every 15 seconds improvement up to a maximum of two minutes (8pts) for races of up to & including 10k and three minutes (12pts) for longer races. If no qualifying times have been recorded in the last two years, the first run in a championship race in 2008 will form the benchmark for any subsequent bonus points. To qualify for points, runners must be fully paid-up members, be entered under Cirencester AC and be wearing a club vest.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY ROAD RACE SERIES 2008
This county series follows a similar format to the club championship and also shares some of the same races. There have already been two fixtures and the next one will be the very sociable Stroud Beer Race on Wednesday 7 May (see fixtures above). For a full race listing, rules and up to date positions, look up www.runnerduck.co.uk/running
CLUB RACE PROMOTIONS 2008
Cirencester AC will once again be promoting three races this year. David Edelsten outlines below details of each race:
6 April, Chedworth Roman Trail ‘10’ m/t at 10.30am. Entries received to date 240. No limit on numbers but no entries on the day. Rupert Chesmore will soon be canvassing support from members for marshalling duties.
9 June (Mon), Westonbirt Arboretum Trails 10k at 7.30pm . Entry limit 600, forms are now available. 28 September, Cirencester Park 10k at 10.30am. Entry limit 600.
“In all cases I will be responsible for entries and all pre-event administration and promotion. On the day organisation and marshall recruitment will be the responsibility of me plus Rupert Chesmore (Chedworth), Tony Curry (Westonbirt) and Bob Ferris ( Cirencester Park ). Full details as ever can be found on www.cirencester-ac.org.uk .
Another date for the diary is Tony Curry's cancer charity event in Cirencester Park on September 6/7. More details to follow on this major weekend of racing in a future newsletter.
Members should keep all these dates free as they will be expected to be available to marshall if they do not wish to run.”
TRAINING
The leisure centre has today reopened at long last so Tuesday night club training will now be based back there, commencing at 6.30pm. For new members, note that there is no fee payable to use the leisure centre, it is built into the annual club subscription. There should only be one or two more dark winter night sessions before we are able to run on the grass at Deer Park , somewhat ironic as we will no longer be meeting there!
NEW MEMBERS
Welcome this month to Sophie Edelsten (daughter of) and Chris Berry both of whom ran in the Bourton 10k. Chris Good and Renata Sharp have also joined the ranks of Cirencester AC and will be running in the Forest of Dean ½ Marathon . Finally, welcome to Melissa Weyand.
MISCELLANY
… the club website’s International Gallery has been updated with the inclusion of Jane Wassell following her debut in the Home Countries XC International in Belfast in November.
… herewith another of Tony Shelbourne’s regular contributions from his six month sojourn to the USA this winter, finishing, as ever, with a sage comment: “ Road runner meets roadrunner. It was 7:30 a.m. and a still 36º F (2º C) and the town of Boquillas del Carman was not going to see the rising sun for some time. The 9000ft Maderas del Carman Mountains were going to keep the town on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and me, on the American side, in the shade for a while yet. We were parked in the Big Bend National Park in Texas and our motor home was forty paces from the edge of the Rio Grande , and about sixty paces from the centre of the river and the border itself.
I asked myself the age old running question of “what shall I wear?” I had opted for shorts and a warm top as I was desperate to get in a few miles and knew that the cold start would warm up quickly. As we had been travelling West for nearly three weeks and good runs had been difficult to find, I had planned to do eight or ten miles and the silent and deserted Chihuahuan Desert hill country was going to be perfect. Unfortunately, in my planning I had ignored the word “hill” and this lack of forethought ensured that my run didn’t reach ten miles, but it was a great run, none-the-less.
The first half mile was along the Rio Grande valley and it was flat (flat is good), but after a turn north it was going to be pretty much uphill for ever. The sun began to touch the Chisos Mountains and they were a glorious pink backdrop in this 800,000 acre park. I saw early morning raptors focused on breakfast across the hills and cotton tail rabbits scampered away as I gasped my way past. A roadrunner, startled at my uphill approach, dashed along the road ahead of me and swerved away amongst the cacti, sere grass and creosote bushes. I nervously glanced back just in case Wiley B. Coyote was in pursuit and I was aware that this was not necessarily country that “tasty runners” should take lightly. We had already seen bobcats close by and we had been reminded that we should shout and throw sticks at mountain lions should we encounter them. Texas is also the world capital of rattle snakes but at least I should be safe on the road, so down to the training.
It was three footfalls to a full in and out breath as I slogged and gasped up hill and other than a few dips in the incline that was the way it stayed until my GPS said four miles. By then I had convinced myself that eight miles would be the perfect training distance so I took a moment’s rest as I prepared to turn back. I had not carried water! Back in England you are a wimp if you carry water on a training run but, at the turn in this 10% humidity, I would have been glad of a gulp or two. Now it was mostly downhill and so, like a graceful gazelle I was off, feet just glancing the ground, four or five footfalls to the in and out breath as the desert flew past. I was eating up the miles but why is it that you can never run downhill fast enough to make up the time you lose going up? The sun was now above the mountains, it was warm and pleasant and the return down the hill was much more enjoyable and so, back to the motor home and a welcome shower.
This really was a different and fun run and I have planned a second on a really tough trail that will be a ten mile challenge. I was reminded that it is so important to “ring the changes,” to try something new and different. Even though these eight miles took me sixty-two minutes I finished them with a story to tell and memories that will last. The run seemed to go quickly too, and I feel that I really had a tough, but enjoyable workout. I remember an old business witticism “if you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got”. If you apply this to your training runs and you want to get faster, you’ve got to change your approach. For better or for worse you’ll probably enjoy it more!”
David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224
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