HEADLINES

• Wendy Nicholls, running for England , wins Masters International in Belfast .
• Jane Wassell 8th on international debut and part of winning England FV40 team.
• Nicola Denning & Bill Leggate run for Gloucestershire on the roads.
• Nicholls 3rd in Barbados ½ Marathon .
• Men still lead Oxford League despite poor turnout & result at Culham Park .
• Fine 3rd place for Marc Fallows at Culham Park in horrendous conditions.
• Christmas party on 14 December.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Not long now until the club’s annual Christmas party and prize presentation evening on Friday 14 December at AV8, Kemble airport. Organiser Jenny Hill says:

“Dear all, the closing date for entries into this year’s Christmas Party is approaching fast! Please could anyone who has not returned their menu do so as soon as possible as I need to let AV8 know numbers and menu choices by the 4th December (tomorrow!). Please aim to be at AV8 for 7:00 to hopefully start at 7:30 . The dress code this year will be Smart/Party Wear, so no running kit!! The bar closes at 1:00am although the coach back to Cirencester will be leaving about 12:30 . I will send out maps, menu choices and bus collection points & times in the next week or so but any problems I can be contacted on (01285) 653733, 52 Purley Rd. Cirencester GL7 1EP or Hillmrshl@aol.com as well, of course, as on Tuesday nights. Here’s to a good night!! Jenny Hill”

CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

10 November, Ladies Chocolate Biscuit Race, Plock Court , Gloucester .

1 Lucie Woodyatt ( Severn ) 24.12

4 Alice Thomas (Cirencester) 27.47

17 November, Home Countries Masters International, Stormont, Belfast . With some superb pace judgement and racing nouse, Cirencester’s finest seamlessly transferred their form onto the international stage and had starring roles for England in this annual fixture between the four home countries and Ireland. Despite hardly running a step in the week leading up to the race because of a heavy cold, Wendy Nicholls won the race ahead of a good quality Irish runner, Pauline Curley. Nicholls’ win shouldn’t mask what was a superb run on her international debut by Jane Wassell. Husband Michael Wassell reveals in great style more about the weekend:

“ Friday: Justin and Wendy arrived promptly at our house 6am (it was still dark) the Wassell household only do daylight hours just like that other elite running family, the Radcliffe’s.  At Bristol airport we met up with Wendy’s family, there were enough of them to fill a plane on their own. After an uneventful flight and taxi journey we arrived at the Europa hotel in Belfast .  Dropped off our luggage as rooms weren’t ready, so did a tour of war-torn Belfast . Not the most attractive of cities but the hospitality of the Irish more than compensated and there was a lovely pub (the Crown) opposite the hotel which served up piping hot Irish stew and a darn good Guinness all served by a buxom wench, what more could a person want.  I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.  I was quite happy to forget the international and stay in there for the weekend, especially as I’d just heard the weather forecast for the following day, a monsoon (well heavy rain) was heading its way to Stormont just in time for our arrival at the races at 10am . After spending most of the afternoon in the pub imbibing on the black nectar we went back to the hotel to book into our room, only to find the previous occupier still in camp, with his golf clubs refusing to leave his room.  To our utter disappointment we were upgraded to the largest hotel room we’d ever seen, the bed was as large as a football pitch, two settees, dining table etc.

Friday evening Jane and I went back to the pub, while all the other athletes stayed in the hotel for their pre-booked pasta stuff while we had our meaty stuff and more black fluids (we don’t believe in this carbo loading magic voodoo thing).  We eventually got back just in time for the team briefing and to collect England vest and sweatshirt and then it was early to bed where I took lots of pictures of Jane in her England running regalia (photos can be provided for a small fee).

Saturday, Race Day: guess what?  Where was this monsoon, the weather forecasters appeared to have got it wrong, it was a bright start to the day!  We went down for breakfast, I had a full Irish; eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, black and white pudding and porridge with whisky on (I was making sure I was fully nourished for the eventful day ahead).  Jane sniffed some toast, for somereason she didn’t have much of an appetite.  I wonder why? But I ate her toast. The buses were waiting outside the hotel at 9.30am to take us to the impressive venue of Stormont Castle and still no sign of rain.  10.45am it was photo call for the England team (once again for a small fee, photos can be purchased.) It was a superb undulating parkland course with some wooded sections, ideal for Jane, unlike the flat parkland course that was described in the team briefing the day before.  The ladies course consisted of 3 laps, 6k in total and great for spectators. The funny thing with these elite athletes is that when you ask them how they are going, they’re either injured, ill or not running well, what a load of hypochondriacs. 11.55am and the women were called for the start of their race and still no sign of rain but force ten winds had arrived.  

Jane standing next to Kate Ramsey was in deep conversation, I think they were talking about their shoes; Wendy at the other end of the line looked like she was praying (photos can be provided for a small fee) one assumes for victory or was it for rain!  Proceedings commenced at 12.00 for the first international race of the day.  Wendy’s family was positioned every 5 yards around the course, I swear they were breeding.  I, just me, a single person, alone, had to run around the course shouting my head off; by the end of the race I was knackered!  Not like the good old days when I could run all day and not break into a sweat and men were men and women were women blah blah blah!! 

Wendy’s plan was to start aggressively, quickly pulling 30 metres on a bunch of four runners, which included Pauline Curley, Dublin marathon winner, Niamh O’Sullivan, looking for a hat trick of wins, Kate Ramsey and Margaret Deasy, at this stage the leading W40.  The second group of runners were a further 20 metres down which consisted of Jane and the rest of the W40 England team who were vying for 2nd to 4th individually.  The second lap became interesting, Wendy maintained her position, the second group started to break up and Deasy started to drop back and to my horror Jane was dropping off the second group and was now in 4th W40 position.  I was screaming my head off with encouraging comments like “if you don’t finish in the first three you can walk home”, which as you can imagine you would find hard bearing in mind the water between Stormont & Tetbury.  My words of encouragement seemed to have done the trick, as halfway round the third lap, Jane caught up the third W40 runner, Clare Elms and with more words of wisdom from myself “its now or never” Jane pulled a gap and maintained it until the finish, thus earning a bronze individual and a team gold for England.  Oh, I better mention Wendy, she was still in the lead, although I don’t know if the expression on her face was a grimace or a smile but she ran an extremely brave race to finish first ahead of a fast finishing Curley and Ramsey. The V35 team also won gold. 

I finally managed to drag myself to the finish, being totally, physically (there is a lot of me to carry around, but I am losing the pounds now that I am back into jogging) and emotionally exhausted.   I collapsed into the arms of Wendy (she’s a strong girl) and congratulated her on her well deserved victory.  After ripping myself away from Wendy I went to Jane, wailing like a mad banshee and fell into her loving arms.  I was too emotional to say anything (pictures can be obtained for a small fee).  Once I recovered my composure, I managed to blurt out well done, 8th overall, an individual V40 bronze and a gold V40 team medal.  All the previous months of hard work had borne fruit.

At last the promised rain arrived just in time for the start of the men’s race. But who cared: both me and Justin and all of Wendy’s family, including a hoarse young Poppy who’d screamed at mum all race, were celebrating in the bar of the pavilion. Saturday evening the presentation dinner was attended by nearly 500 people and as you can imagine there was much merriment and smiles at our table.  The loudest cheers came when Wendy and Jane collected their individual and team medals from Mary Peters.  For those of you old farts like me who can remember her there is no introduction required but for any youngsters reading this she was of course the 1972 Olympic pentathlon gold medal winner. Wendy and Jane posed for a picture with Mary, and of course a photo can be obtained for a small fee.

Sunday: for some reason we got up late!  Sorry Dave, Jane and Wendy didn’t do their long run [ed: not happy]! Unlike the previous morning, Jane dived into a hearty Irish breakfast and I sniffed the toast, for some reason I wasn’t feeling particularly well, must be something to do with the water. We packed our bags, left them in the hotel and went in search of some leprechauns to take back to our children in sunny England .  Guess what, we couldn’t find any, so guess where we ended up?  Back in that lovely pub serving Irish stew and the black nectar until the taxi arrived to take us to the airport.  Just a little note by the author: Jane has got a lot of creeping to do as this was an expensive weekend. Or you the readers can assist her by purchasing the above mentioned photographs for extortionate fees or by donations to the Wassell benevolent running fund. Sorry for such a long report, but as you can imagine, I am a very proud man.  I could have gone on for a lot longer but Jane cut me short as usual.” Some of the incriminating photographs referred to can be viewed on the club’s photo website.

Athletics Weekly featured this International with four pages of narrative and photos, including ones of both Cirencester’s participants. Two quotes from the race report caught the eye: “the 2007 edition … was thought to be the best ever in terms of quality” and “there is no doubt that the sport (veterans racing) is thriving, but also growing in legitimacy as a top-class, serious event and not just for athletes past their prime. This was perfectly illustrated in the women’s race.”

1 Wendy Nicholls ( England ) 22.54

8 Jane Wassell (England, 3rd FV40) 24.16. 121 finished.

2 December, Oxford League at Culham Park . A highly disappointing day for the club with the lowest turnout for an Oxford League for a long time. A number of first teamers were out because of injury, illness or holidays but that didn’t explain why so few others turned up. Perhaps the weather forecast deterred people but as Chris Riches stated after battling pretty horrendous conditions – gales, icy rain, thick ploughed mud and numerous switchback hills – surely that is the point of cross country; giving some sort of masochistic pleasure after the monotony of tarmac. The wind was so strong that the club tent was blown down, somewhat symbolic of the club turnout at Culham Park .

All was not doom and gloom however as the men managed to hold on to their overall lead thanks to some heroic running. Marc Fallows, who finished in the top five in this league when a teenager in the early 1990’s, beat that with a fantastic third place as he almost skated across the mud. He was supported by some fine runs, in particular from Bill Leggate and Adrian Williams, as well as battling efforts from Paul Barlow, just back from Japan and who lost his shoe three times in the mud, and Chris Illman who defied leg problems to gallantly carry on to the finish, an effort that ultimately retained the club’s overall lead. New member David Fong, a South African with no experience of running in mud – what an introduction! – was told beforehand that there was no pressure on him other than he had to run well as he was going to be the crucial seventh scorer! He came up trumps, despite cycling to the race, and closed the scoring in with a magnificent effort, then cycled home. Third on the day but still first overall, albeit with a reduced lead, and all to play for at Banbury on 30 December. Unfortunately the ‘B’ team will now be relegated from division two because a team wasn’t closed in, this is terribly disappointing.

Turnout from the ladies was equally poor with all bar one of the Cirencester team under 20. The teenagers performed well but any chance of the club defending the league title has now disappeared.

U11 Boys: 35 Jake Ashton 6.15

U11 Girls: 18 Hannah Tapley 5.18, 40 Jodie Hatton 7.45, 41 Emma Hatton 7.47, 44 Megane Hatton 8.41

U13 Boys: 16 Daniel Cation 10.40

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 Yasmin Smith ( Swindon Harriers) 22.29

9 Claire Conway (Cirencester) 24.11

26 Jenny Manners 26.00

28 Vanessa Brann 26.09

33 Alice Thomas 26.27

103 Barbara Thomas 33.10. 124 finished.

Teams (3 to score): Div 1; 1 Headington 22pts, 6 Cirencester 63. Div 2; 1 Swindon H 11, 21 Cirencester ‘B’ 262.

Positions after two races: Div 1; 1 Team Kennet 52pts, 4 Cirencester 115. Div 2; 1 Swindon 94, 10 Cirencester 386.

Men:

1 Steve Kimber (Headington) 31.52

3 Marc Fallows (Cirencester) 32.53

17 Bill Leggate 34.19

20 Adrian Williams 34.31

37 Paul Barlow 36.13

49 Chris Illman 37.03

54 David Wright (1st V50) 37.33

82 David Fong 39.17

97 Dorian Matts 40.30

172 Chris Riches 46.00. 225 finished. Full results on www.oxonxc.org

Teams (7 to score): Div 1; 1 Abingdon 217pts, 2 Headington 237, 3 Cirencester 262.

Positions after two races: Div 1; 1 Cirencester 368pts, 2 Abingdon 436, 3 Headington 576.

CROSS COUNTRY FIXTURES

Note that Oxford League races are on Sundays and Gloucestershire League on Saturdays. Respective websites are www.oxonxc.org and www.glosaaa.org.uk

Following the first Oxford League fixture of the season, all clubs received a note from the league manager concerning some unseemly behaviour. The note, which is reproduced below, relates to the reaction of certain individuals to the request for parking fees at races. The newsletter always flags up the likelihood of such fees so they should come as no surprise to Cirencester athletes. In past years Tony Curry, who has collected such fees at the Cirencester fixture, has himself been the subject of some pretty torrid comments when asking for money. Ours is a very cheap sport in which to participate, particularly so in this league as there is no individual entry fee; this sort of behaviour beggars belief:

“To all XC competitors, it has been reported to us that car park officials at the Ascott meeting were subjected to verbal abuse from a minority of competitors. The money that clubs collect is used to pay for car parking facilities, and is part of the reason that there is no individual entry fee charged by the league. There will be a parking fee at many of the venues this season. If you wish to discuss this, please approach the league management, not the club putting on the race. Cassa or I are present at the meetings. Please be aware that any kind of abuse will not be tolerated by the league. If you feel the need to abuse volunteers that are using their own time to put on a race for you then please do not turn up. Your presence and attitude are not appreciated. Luke McNeill, League Manager.”

15 December, Glos League at Blackbridge, Gloucester . Note this fixture was originally meant to take place at Pittville Park , Cheltenham but the venue has had to be changed late on. Ladies start at 13:55 and men at 14:40 .

30 December, Oxford League at Drayton School , Banbury. After this weekend’s near debacle it’s important that both men and women get back on track in the league so a good turnout is imperative. Start times: women 11:10, men 11:40. Directions: from the centre of Banbury take the A422 Banbury to Stratford Road . Drayton school is about 1½ miles to the northwest of Banbury – turn left at the traffic lights after the Banbury Cross roundabout if coming into Banbury from Chipping Norton direction. Alternatively, meet at 09:00 at the leisure centre for club convoy. There is a map of the race location on www.oxonxc.org

5 January 2008 (Sat), Glos County Cross Country Championships (venue to be advised). Keep eye out on www.glosaaa.org.uk

2 February, Glos League at Gloucester (exact venue to be advised)

3 February, Oxford League at Cirencester Park

2 March, Oxford League at Horspath, Oxford

CLUB CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

This championship is simply calculated from club finishing positions in the five Oxford League fixtures counting down from 30 points for the first club finisher (15 points for women). There are no bonus points available. Scores after the first two fixtures:

Men: M Fallows 58pts, C Illman 46, P Barlow & B Leggate 43, A Williams 41, D Fong 34, D Matts 30, D Roper 29, C Woodd 27, C Riches 26, M Norris 25, A Bickerstaff 22, J Nicholls 21, C Brough 19, S Elverd 18, C Tapley 16, J Davies & D Wright 15, M Thomas 13.

Women: V Brann & J Manners 27pts, A Thomas 24, W Nicholls & C Conway 15, J Thomas & B Thomas 11, Corinne Clark 10, S McKeeman 9, S Brown 8, L Ferris 7.

ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN RESULTS

18 November, Wimborne ‘10’, Dorset . This race incorporated the South West Region Inter-Counties and Cirencester’s two representatives got late call ups for the Gloucestershire team. Both performed admirably on a tough course and on a wild, wet and windy day, with Bill Leggate taking two minutes off his Witney time and Nicola Denning a whopping three minutes. Denning’s run helped Gloucestershire to victory in the ladies race whilst the men managed third in the inter-counties.

1 Willard Chinhanhu ( Poole Runners / Zimbabwe ) 51.37

21 Bill Leggate (Cirencester / Gloucestershire) 58.23

111 Nicola Denning (Cirencester / Gloucestershire, 3rd FV35) 1.07.33. 487 finished. www.wimborne10.co.uk

18 November, Brighton 10km. The same gales as experienced at Wimborne made this seafront race almost farcical. In a classy race, Chris Illman finished very strongly to record a fine position in an enormous field.

1 Stephen Sharp (Belgrave) 31.10

13 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 33.23. 2,477 finished. www.brooksbrighton10k.co.uk

24 November, Wolverton ‘5’, nr Milton Keynes . Chris Illman just missed the outright club five mile record on a bitter day around a lakeside course.

1 Matt Almond ( Rugby ) 25.08

7 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 26.13. 329 finished. www.mcs.open.ac.uk

25 November, Eynsham 10km . Bill Leggate dipped under the Athletics Data UK rankings threshold time of 35 minutes for a big personal best.

1 Andy Prophett ( Cheltenham ) 32.46

3 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 33.19

13 Bill Leggate 34.52

233 Trudy Compton 46.00. 544 finished. www.eynshamroadrunners.org.uk

25 November, Avebury ‘8’ trail race. A fine run to make the top three by relatively new member Andrew Mosley (he ran in two Oxford League fixtures last winter). His workmate Dorian Matts had less success having fallen over after two miles and stepped into a three foot deep ‘puddle’ shortly thereafter!

1 Will Ferguson 52.54

3 Andrew Mosley (Cirencester) 53.52

16 Dorian Matts 1.01.08. 100 finished. www.marlboroughrunningclub.co.uk plus photos on www.seemeinaction.com

25 November, Castle Combe 10km. Good double age group wins for daughter & mother Thomas.

1 Rob Whalley (Bristol & West) 31.03

84 Alice Thomas (Cirencester, 1st FU20) 44.39

160 Barbara Thomas (1st FV50) 51.53. 244 finished. www.dbmax.co.uk

27 November, Bridge Inn 5km, Shortwood nr Bristol . Chris Riches not only won an individual prize but also lowered his own club V55 record for the third time this year in this increasingly popular monthly out and back race on the outskirts of Bristol . David Wright overdid his finishing straight focus by completely ignoring two hapless cyclists who did all they could to avoid a collision but to no avail! Next race is on 29 January.

1 Dave Bishop (Bristol & West) 15.02

7 Bill Leggate (Cirencester) 16.38

11 Adrian Williams 16.57

19 David Wright (1st V50) 17.38

73 Chris Riches (2nd V55) 20.32 – club V55 record. 126 finished. www.bristolandwestac.org.uk

1 December, Run Barbados 10km. Taking advantage of his wife’s invitation to the next day’s ½ Marathon and indulging in a week’s free accommodation in a beach front hotel, Justin Nicholls rashly took up the challenge of this tropical 10km run around the streets of Bridgetown in the mid-afternoon heat. Their preparations had been hit two days earlier when an earthquake hit Barbados , measuring 7.4 on the Richter scale. Pretty scary by all accounts. Given that this was, effectively, an extended honeymoon for the Nicholls’, comments about the earth moving quickly come to mind! “That was the most [expletive deleted] painful thing I’ve ever done” uttered Mr Nicholls after the race. He had the considerable consolation of leaving eight time New York & Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers (60 later this month) and former European 5000 meter winner (1962) Bruce Tulloh (72) trailing in his wake. For an insight into the dedication needed to produce this result, Justin has kindly passed on his training diary for the week in Barbados leading up to the big race:

“Mon: 8 bottles Banks

Tue: 12 bottles Banks

Wed: endurance session, 3½ miles with 29min Kenyan runner plus Tulloh finishing with 1.5 litres rum punch

Thu: bad head

Fri: rest day (only 6 bottles Banks)

Sat: no beer (got shakes), on bus to start sat next to Bill Rodgers, gave him advice … result, see above.”

[ed: for the uninitiated, it will come as no surprise to learn that Banks is the national beer of Barbados ].

1 Philip Lagat ( Kenya ) 29.46

28 Justin Nicholls (Cirencester) 42.08. 222 finished

2 December, Run Barbados ½ Marathon . The next morning it was Wendy Nicholls’ turn as she lined up as an invited international athlete alongside sundry Kenyans, Russians, Americans and fellow British international, Ethiopian born Birhan Dagne, all of whom had been flown in by the organisers celebrating 25 years of the Run Barbados weekend. Nicholls stayed in the leading three, with Cheberon and Tatyana Chaluk ( Russia ) until reaching the outskirts of Bridgetown with about 5km to go on this out and back course which hugged the famous west coast of Barbados . The result was a narrow defeat but a fine time given the conditions and three minutes ahead of Dagne.

1 Philip Lagat ( Kenya ) 1.05.24

5 Janet Cheberon ( Kenya , 1st lady) 1.17.22

8 Wendy Nicholls (Cirencester, 3rd lady / 1st FV35) 1.17.44. 162 finished. www.runbarbados.org

ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN FIXTURES (Sunday unless stated)

16 December, Christmas Forest ‘5’ m/t, Forest of Dean at 10:30 . www.fodac.org.uk

27 December (Thu), Pilot Inn Boxing Day ‘4’, Gloucester at 11:30 . Note that in typical Severn AC manner, this may be run on 26 December, which at least ties into the name of the race! www.severnac.co.uk

1 January, 2008 (Mon), Pilot Inn New Year ‘5’, Gloucester at 11:30 . Be sure that the Boxing Day / New Year races are definitely on before travelling. www.severnac.co.uk

6 January, Gloucester ‘10’, Epney, Gloucester . This race usually forms the first race of the County Road Race Series. www.gloucesterac.co.uk

20 January, Highworth Team ½ Marathon . Once again the club has been invited to participate in this event. More details to follow.

27 January, Slaughterford m/t ‘9’. This off roader is limited to 350 entrants, is very popular and always fills up quickly. www.chippenhamharriers.co.uk

10 February, Dursley Dozen 12m m/t. Long standing off roader with some big hills! www.dadac.org.uk

24 February, Bourton 10km. As ever this will form the first race in the club’s road race championship and as ever it is the course on which to run a personal best. As a consequence the 570 available places will be snapped up very quickly and entries could be full by Christmas, so download a form from the website today and enter without delay! www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk

16 March, Forest of Dean ½ Marathon . Again entries close early for this popular run on forest paths, which will also be in the club championship, full details to follow in January newsletter.

www.forestofdean-halfmarathon.co.uk

LONDON MARATHON

The club has been allocated three guaranteed places for the 2008 event to be held on 13 April. As ever priority will be given to Cirencester AC members who entered but were unlucky in the initial ballot. Please contact club secretary Dick Waldron on Tuesday evenings or on Richard.waldron5@btopenworld.com if interested in gaining a place. If more than three apply then a ballot will take place to determine final recipients.

DUATHLON RESULT

18 November, Cirencester Park off road duathlon (2mile run, 10mile bike, 2mile run). The last newsletter got it almost right by stating: “this twice a year event organised by Lorraine & Kevin Ferris always seems to attract muddy conditions, so it will probably rain all this week!” Well, it didn’t rain all week, but more than made up for it by absolutely bucketing down all day, making conditions intolerable for competitors and organisers alike.

1 David Roper (Tri Team Glos) (12.53, 43.46, 16.02) 1.12.41

37 Tim Collings (Cirencester) (16.58, 53.02, 18.44) 1.28.44

87 Corinne Clark (17.17, 1.02.10, 19.31) 1.38.58

128 Diane Moore (18.48, 1.06.19, 22.08) 1.47.15. 166 finished.

Novice / youth event (1mile run, 5mile bike, 1mile run).

1 Charlie White (Southampton) (7.35, 25.09, 8.08) 40.52

4 Ben Cox (Cirencester) (7.27, 28.13, 7.56) 43.36

23 Chloe Cox (9.53, 31.17, 10.41) 51.51

33 Jane Thomas (9.45, 34.55, 11.24) 56.04. 70 finished.

The next duathlon in the park is on 17 February 2008 . Don’t plan a picnic! See www.triferris.com

NEW MEMBERS

Welcome this month to Amanda Pizzey and Mark Langman.

CLUB ADMINISTRATION

Sandra Elphick is stepping down as club membership secretary as soon as a replacement can be found. If anybody is interested in taking over this role please see either Sandra or club secretary Dick Waldron on Tuesday nights or contact Dick on Richard.waldron5@btopenworld.com

As well as being membership secretary, Sandra also computes results from the three club race promotions put on during the year. She is, it appears, the only club member who knows how to use the results software. This is clearly an unsatisfactory situation so could anybody interested and willing to help out please contact either Sandra or Dick.

At the club AGM in September there was some discussion about the flow of information through the club. As a consequence it was agreed in principle that committee meeting minutes should be available for all members. Initially this will take the form of a few short bullet points in the newsletter to précis the most salient points arising from a meeting. Then if anybody wants more information they can e-mail club secretary Dick Waldron (address above) and he will send the minutes in full to that individual. The first committee meeting after the AGM was held on 2 October and the following matters were discussed:

* a welcome pack detailing all the club’s activities & relevant personnel to be issued to each new member * England Athletics’ use & retention of personal data held will be made available to any interested club member * a written response will be made to all members making proposals to committee meetings * a new club constitution to be written * club asset schedule to be produced * club has opened an interest bearing deposit account for surplus funds * committee sanctioned payment of £250 for purchase of sports hall equipment for junior section and of £200 for purchase of running vests to be sent out to Aspiration Hope Running Club in Ethiopia.

There then followed another meeting on 6 November:

* the club junior section is looking to recruit more adult helpers for training * committee fully endorsed need for appointment of specific race organisers for the club’s three promotions and instigated initial thoughts towards utilising “chip technology” to aid finish recording * it was agreed to review and update the club website using professional advice * the club captain to be allocated a relatively nominal sum of money to utilise at his discretion in support of club development.

TRAINING

Updated proposed club sessions on Tuesday nights listed below, note these are only plans and there may be some variation:

4 December – abbey grounds, 11 December – school, 18 December – Tetbury Hill, 25 December & 1 January, 2008 – no club training, 8 January – school, 15 January – abbey grounds.

Whatever the session, meet at Deer Park school at 6.30pm .

For newer members, the sessions at the various locations are:

School – efforts on floodlit astroturf circuit

College – efforts on 600m road circuit (only run during college holidays)

Tetbury hill – one mile road circuit starting from leisure centre

Abbey grounds – variable distance road efforts on footpaths lit by street lamps in and around grounds.

MISCELLANY

… welcome news from Paula Vass who recently moved out to New Zealand with her family: “perhaps you could put a few words in the club newsletter for us. My carefully prepared email address book did not copy onto our laptop so I haven't been able to email friends since we got here. News is I have got a teaching job in Taupo (central North Island , NZ).  Have already competed in local duathlon and are settling into life here very easily.  There are loads of mountain bike trails on our doorstep along with sailing, kayaking and skiing.  The round the Lake Taupo cycle race is next weekend (a bit out of our league at 160km - seems to be a build up to the Taupo Iron Man - but if anybody fancies it  next year we'll happily put them up).  All our news and photos are on www.nz.fullgroove.com and if anyone wants to email us we'd love to hear from them: paula.vass@fullgroove.com.  Also congratulations to Linda Greening for doing the Stroud ½. Please keep sending the newsletters, Thanks, Paula, Hector, Lucy and Alex.”

… last month the newsletter recorded an astonishing club V60 10 mile record by Tony Shelbourn, currently spending the winter touring in a motor home in the USA . Here is his report of the race coupled with some very pertinent points on what this running lark is all about: “ What a morning! Crisp and clear, temperature just above freezing, little or no wind and a sun that was promising to warm the day up to perfect running conditions. The course is flat and I know that “flat is good” so this was going to be a race to cherish. The lessons learned during a summer (was that a summer?) with Cirencester AC were forefront in my mind and all those long Sunday runs and Bob’s grueling Tuesday evening speed work sessions were going to pay off, or so I kept telling myself.

Watching the top runners at the club has taught me a lot about training hard and setting goals. Here in Monclova , a small township close to Toledo , I knew that I could beat my previous best over 10 miles. Importantly I have a vision, and that is to set David Wright some real challenges to beat when he reaches the grand old age of sixty. As the Americans say, “I was wired,” huddled at the start with myold friends from the Toledo Road Runners Club. Several hundred runners were lined up for a 5k and the ten mile and there was the usual banter about sandbagging and the age old questions about what to wear and how fast were you going to run. Then we were off and with shouted advice that I shouldn’t go out too fast my first mile was 6:10 and the die was cast.

The miles rolled away on this perfect fall morning. The colours on the trees were glorious as they contrasted with the dusty brown corn and soy bean stubble and the deep green pines brought a depth to the overall picture. All of this was just academic and unnoticed. As you all know, once you are out there, and your mind is battling with your body and the clock, you only notice how good or bad you feel and how well you are holding up. The last mile on this day was the slowest at 6:33 and the remainder all fell in the 6:20 ’s or lower. Proves that I need a few more long hard runs and that I should push the pace at the nine and ten mile mark as I train. Coming into the finish I caught sight of the clock and was surprised to see that it said 1:04 and something, so a sprint over the last fifty metres and a time below 1:04:30, which was about three minutes better than my best ever. I had done it and set a good time for Cirencester sixty year olds to aim at in years to come.

After just nine years of running it’s great to be able to beat your own PB’s, but I’ve always realized that the true enjoyment comes from being part of the running community. The training runs and events, the discussions after races, the team spirit when you wear the club shirt and the camaraderie over a pint of beer are all more fun than the result. We have great runners in every age group, from Alice to Fred, in Cirencester AC and with the success that the Club is currently achieving we’ll continue to see club records tumble, setting goals for everyone to aim at. The biggest goal of all is for us to continue to enjoy the running: we are an enlightened and privileged minority who are lucky enough to appreciate this tough and enjoyable sport.”

… regular contributor Rupert Chesmore gives an update on shoes donated by club members for Aspiration Hope in Ethiopia : “An Ethiopian thank you. Since my last visit to Addis Ababa in January and Liza's adoption by Aspiration Hope Running Club, small quantities of second hand running shoes have trickled out as surplus luggage with other visitors. A culmination of a summer's collection, and freight funding by Rickman-Tooze, 45 kg, some 60 odd pairs of shoes were sent out this autumn. An absence of any recognizable club attire was solved by a donation of £200 by Cirencester A.C. towards 30 running vests (purchased from Glos. Sports at a reduced price and printed by JJ's, Cheltenham for free). These I took out with me this October. A ceremonial handing-over took place in Liza Darroch's house with a spread of food and the obligatory coffee ceremony, when 30 club members attended. The pleasure on the faces of the Ethiopians at the possibility of running with shoes and in a club vest was reflected by the width of their smiles. With the translation skills of their coach, the 'Doctor' (an overweight but benign vet), speeches were made welcoming and thanking us for the goodies and I had to respond. Give me a 5k any day! Liza was also able to tell them  that as a result of her work with Richard Neururker (Britain’s top marathon runner in the 80's who now lives in Ethiopia) on a gender awareness scheme, he was able to offer them all free entries in  the Great Ethiopian Millenium 10k, and in the elite start. The entry fee would have some of them a whole week's wages.

Liza and I were then presented with gifts and certifcates which I have copied word for word:

‘Aspiration Hope Sport Club Certificate

This is to citify that Rupept Chesmore has been working in our club he has played grate role for development our club in view of consideration I have pleasure recommending him for any require experience that he has accumulated in history with us and personality traits that he possess.’

Finally I can say that I have never seen such genuine appreciation from grateful members of the running fraternity. Thank you to all who donated.”

… Liza Darroch adds from her base in Addis Ababa: “There was no-one in the Aspiration Hope Club with feet large enough to venture forth in the size 47 and 48 shoes donated but, big footed fellow runners do not worry, your shoes were also much appreciated. They went, via Richard N, to an area in Ethiopia (around Sodo) where anyone not wearing shoes runs the risk of contractng Mossy-foot which
causes hideous, and I imagine very painful, swelling and distortion of the feet (google it if you want to know more). Thanks to you, eight men now have shoes and I am sure they will not mind them being on the large side.”
… humble apologies to Ian Pople for misstating his personal best half marathon time following his fine run at Stroud. For the record, his best time is 1.24.

… after the first Oxford League fixture at Ascott, Dorian Matts was handed some lost property. He has a club vest (34”) and a pair of medium size black & red Saucony shorts. Contact Dorian on familymatts@aol.com or see him on a Tuesday night at training.

David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224