HEADLINES

• Women restore dominance in Oxford League, men sustain momentum.
• Wendy Jones wins County Cross Country Championship.
• Jane Wassell & Bill Leggate also make County teams.
• Chris Illman wins local young sportsperson award.

CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

31 December, Oxford League at Radley College . There were record turnouts in both men’s & women’s senior races as the Oxford League goes from strength to strength. In the ladies event held amid the opulent surroundings of Radley College , the record numbers were matched by high quality as Headington turned out their best team for a number of years. Much to their surprise, however, they were trumped by Cirencester with regular winner Wendy Jones being backed up by Ellen Leggate, down from Cambridge for the Christmas break, and Jane Wassell, back from injury & illness. As a consequence all three first team scorers from both clubs finished in the top six, with Cirencester just edging to victory by three points. This must have come as quite a shock to Newbury, a club new to the league this season and therefore in Division Two, who had actually produced the lowest scores over the first two fixtures. There was a good healthy battle to make Ciren’s second team. Less than a minute covered five runners as Diane Moore came out on top with a faster finish than Caroline Bolam. Run of the day probably came from Carol Clarke who scythed through the field on the second lap and now leads her age group after three races. Cirencester now hold a relatively comfortable lead of 39pts in the quest for a fourth consecutive league title.

The men produced another solid performance to cement second place in the league. There was a touch of disappointment with the first team score but such is the measure of progress made by the club, that a score of under 200pts would have produced major headlines a couple of years ago. Great runs by Bill Leggate & Robbie Brown in a particularly strong field, helped to offset some other below par performances. Further down the field, Chris Brough picked off a few club scalps and was part of the second team which maintained its lead in division two. It was wonderful also to see Tony Curry back racing again. Dan Leggate took some excellent photos, despite one year old Jennifer sitting on his shoulders, and his 67 pictures can be viewed on snapfish, Note that it is very simple and incredibly cheap to purchase any photos shown on this website. Just follow the instructions on the screen.

U11 Boys: 9 Lewis Wassell 4.07, 11 Alex Vass 4.12.

U11 Girls: 8 Jenny Eales 4.30, 10 Hannah Tapley 4.31, 14 Zoe Wassell 4.35.

U13 Boys: 25 Zands Rausch 10.14.

U13/U15 Girls (U15 unless stated): 9 Charlotte Somers 14.56, 30 Laura Eales (U13) 16.19, 34 Alice Thomas 16.42. Team 8th.

Ladies:

1 Wendy Jones (Cirencester) 19.12

2 Ellen Leggate 19.56

6 Jane Wassell 20.39

39 Diane Moore 24.10

42 Caroline Bolam 24.20

44 Sue McKeeman 24.35

45 Carol Clarke (1st FV55) 24.37

54 Jenny Manners 25.04

67 Sue Brown 25.42

93 Jane Thomas 27.50

118 Barbara Thomas 30.05

127 Lynn Ferris 31.25. 137 finished (record).

Teams (3 to score): Div One (of 8): 1 Cirencester 9pts, 2 Headington 12pts, 3 Banbury 41pts. Div Two (of 37): 1 Headington ‘B’ 43pts, 5 Cirencester ‘B’ 125pts, 11 Cirencester ‘C’ 166pts, 29 Cirencester ‘D’ 338pts.

Positions after three races: Div 1: 1 Cirencester 90pts, 2 Headington 129pts, 3 Oxford City 165pts. Div 2: 1 Newbury 146pts, 6 Cirencester ‘B’ 423pts, 14 Cirencester ‘C’ 574pts, 26 Cirencester ‘D’ 1,034pts.

Men:

1 Matthew Ashton (Witney) 28.40

9 Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz (Cirencester) 31.15

17 Bill Leggate 32.09

20 Robbie Brown 32.18

26 Mark Middleton 32.51

31 Adrian Williams 33.19

38 Andy Bickerstaff 33.42

43 Paul Barlow 33.57

49 David Wright 34.10

52 Chris Illman 34.19

87 James Rumsey 36.34

108 Dorian Matts 37.21

137 Chris Brough 39.16

146 Stephen Elverd 39.35

147 Niel Dunnage 39.41

148 Colin Tapley 39.45

150 Andy Bradley 39.54

157 Bob Ferris 40.09

175 Chris Sherrington 41.09

186 Tim Willson 41.37

203 Chris Riches 42.52

230 Tony Curry 45.20

252 Darren Sheppard 47.55

265 Brian Barrowclough 50.47

269 Mike Thomas 53.09. 271 finished (record), Jon Norris & David Edelsten didn’t.

Teams (7 to score): Div One (of 8); 1 Headington 119pts, 2 Cirencester 184pts, 3 Witney 225pts. Div Two (of 8); 1 Banbury 574pts, 3 Cirencester ‘B’ 726pts. Div Three (of 24); 1 Oxford City 408pts, 11 Cirencester ‘C’ 1,249pts.

Positions after three races: Div One: 1 Headington 374pts, 2 Cirencester 468pts, 3 Witney 738pts. Div Two: 1 Cirencester ‘B’ 1,805pts, 2 Team Kennet 1,988pts. Div Three: 1 Newbury 1,514pts, 9 Cirencester ‘C’ 3,676pts.

Selected overall individual positions after three races (best two count):

1st overall women: Wendy Jones

1st senior women: Ellen Leggate

1st FV35 women: Wendy Jones

1st FV55 women: Carol Clarke

1st U20 men: Chris Illman

3rd senior men: Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz

4th V40 men: Andy Bickerstaff

Full results can be found on the league’s website www.oxonxc.org

6 January, Glos County Championships, Blackbridge, Gloucester . Although the standard was high in the senior events, the turnout was pitifully small on a vile day of heavy rain & winds which turned conditions into a quagmire. This should take nothing away from a magnificent major breakthrough performance by Bill Leggate. For so long in the shadow of his brother’s fine performances over the years, by finishing in the top ten Leggate will have done enough to gain selection for Gloucestershire in the Inter-Counties race at Wollaton Park , Nottingham on 24 February. In the process he took some major scalps, including Bourton’s best. Not to be usurped, the club’s two lady representatives also made the County team. Wendy Jones won comfortably despite some good quality opposition, and Jane Wassell had a particularly lonely run, finishing well behind the top four but a long way ahead of the rest of the field.

U11 Girls: 3 Hannah Tapley 12.09

U11 Boys: 4 Cameron Wassell 9.25, 5 Lewis Wassell 9.32

U13 Girls: 11 Lucy Vass 13.46

U13 Boys: 12 Daniel Cation 15.16

U15 Girls: 2 Alice Thomas 20.38

Ladies

1 Wendy Jones (Cirencester) 28.23

5 Jane Wassell 31.06. 20 finished.

Men

1 Josh Lilly ( Severn ) 36.49

10 Bill Leggate (Cirencester) 40.42

17 Adrian Williams 42.18

20 Paul Barlow 43.06. 44 finished. Full results on www.glosaaa.org.uk

CROSS COUNTRY FIXTURES (Sunday unless stated)

20 January (Sat), Glos League, Droitwich. www.glosaaa.org.uk

27 January (Sat), Midlands Cross Country Champs, Stafford Common. A ladies team has been entered.

4 February, Oxford League at Cirencester Park . Bob Ferris & David Edelsten are organising this fixture for the league on behalf of the club and will no doubt be looking for help with marshalling. At the same time it is important that the club maintains its momentum in both men’s and women’s leagues, not just for the first teams but for the other teams as well in their quest to finish the season strongly. As usual, the women’s race commences at the polo grounds at 11:10 and the men’s at 11:40 . Vehicular entrance is off the A419 Stroud road and parking at the polo fields will cost £2 per car.

4 March, Oxford League at Drayton School , Banbury

CLUB CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP 2006/2007

Scores after three of the five Oxford League fixtures (scoring 30 down to one point for men and 15 down to one for women):

Men: P Gonzalez-Diaz 88pts, C Illman 82, A Bickerstaff 80, B Leggate 78, A Williams 75, P Barlow 69, D Matts 58, J Norris 55, R Brown 54, S Elverd 50, M Fallows 48, M Middleton 47, B Ferris 44, J Rumsey 43, D Wright 42, C Sherrington 40, B Reid & N Dunnage 35, C Brough 34, C Riches 33, T Willson 32, C Tapley 28, B Barrowclough 23, M Norris 22, K Firkin 21, D Sheppard 20, M Thomas 19, B Cox 17, A Bradley 15, D Cook 11, D Long, M Humphreys & T Curry 10, C Hook, D Waldron 7, D Edelsten 5.

Women: W Jones 45, E Leggate 28, S Brown, C Bolam & D Moore 24, S McKeeman 23, Carol Clarke 20, J Manners 19, C Cox, C Conway & J Thomas 14, L Ferris & J Wassell 13, K Withycombe 12, Corinne Clark, S Evans & B Thomas 10, T Compton 9, P Vass & C Blampied 6.

ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN RESULTS

7 January, Gloucester ‘10’ . A welcome return to form on the roads for the long time injured Paul Barlow on a wild windy day. All three club representatives scored points in the 2007 County road race series of which this was the first scoring race (see below).

1 Dominic Croft ( Woodstock ) 55.42

11 Paul Barlow (Cirencester) 1.00.26

54 Andy Bradley 1.09.24

235 David Edelsten 1.36.33. 266 finished. www.gloucester-athletic-club.fsnet.co.uk

ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN FIXTURES (Sunday unless stated)

Space precludes the ability to flag up anything other than local races but for a good list of events around the country log on to www.runningdiary.co.uk

21 January, Highworth Team ½ Marathon at 11:00 . This is a gloriously old fashioned race with only some 60-70 runners. There is no entry fee as it is an invitational race. Highworth invite local clubs to enter up to 10 runners; there are no individual prizes but there is a trophy for the first team made up of four men and one woman. The course runs from Highworth through Hannington, Kempsford and Castle Eaton before looping back via Hannington on an undulating last three miles. It makes for a lovely alternative to the usual Sunday run in Cirencester Park . Although pre-entry not necessary, it would be good to have an indication of who wants to run so please let David Wright know if planning to go. The race HQ is a little hall opposite the leisure centre in Highworth.

28 January, Slaughterford 9m m/t. Entries are now closed. www.chippenhamharriers.co.uk

10 February (Sat), White Horse Inn, Gloucester Winter 5m at 15:00 . One of Severn AC’s numerous races held throughout the year. Full details of this & other races, including directions to the venue, on www.severnac.co.uk

11 February, Dursley Dozen m/t at 10:30 . www.g4cio.demon.co.uk/ddozen/ddozen.htm

18 February, Cirencester Park off road duathlon at 10:00 . This twice a year event organised by Lorraine & Kevin Ferris always seems to attract muddy conditions. Format is 2mile run, 10mile bike, 2mile run or novice/youngsters event of 1-5-1 . See www.triferris.com

25 February, Bourton 10k at 10:30 . Club championship event. Entries have already closed for this popular event. www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk

25 March, Forest of Dean Trails ½ Marathon at 10:00 . Club championship event. Another race that fills up weeks ahead of the day. www.rotary-rfod.org.uk/rfod-half-marathon.htm

17 March (Sat), 32nd Grocery 4m, White Horse Inn, Gloucester at 14:45 . www.severnac.co.uk

1 April, Chedworth Roman Trail ‘10’ m/t, at 10:30 . Cirencester’s spring race promotion organised by David Edelsten. As ever helpers will be needed for marshalling, recording, car parking & teas.

CLUB ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP 2007

David Edelsten has published the fixtures for this year’s championship as follows:

25 February, Bourton 10k (details above)

25 March, Forest of Dean Trails ½ Marathon (details above)

15 April, Highworth 5m www.swindonweb.com/hrc

17 May (Thu), Globe Inn 5k, Sandhurst , nr Gloucester www.severnac.co.uk

3 June, Fairford Festival 10k www.fairford.org

9 July (Mon), Frampton-on-Severn 10k www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk

14 July (Sat), Bourton 1m www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk

1 Aug (Wed), Bugatti 10k, nr Winchcombe www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk

9 Sep, Beacon 10k, nr Gloucester www.angelsrunningclub.co.uk

16 September, Witney 10m www.witneyroadrunners.org.uk

7 October, Cricklade 10k www.crickladefunrun.co.uk

21 Oct, Stroud ½ Marathon www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk

In addition, times recorded at any marathon between the dates of February 25 and October 21 will score points in the same format as the races above i.e. as though all competed in one race. Of the 12 races, plus 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 2005 and 2006. One bonus point will be awarded for every 15 seconds improvement up to a maximum of two minutes (8 pts) for races of up to & including 10k and three minutes (12pts) for longer races. To qualify for points, runners must be fully paid-up members, be entered under Cirencester AC and be wearing a club vest. This rule will be strictly enforced in 2007.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE ROAD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP 2007

This championship is run along similar lines, and shares some fixtures with, our own club championship. As well as an overall championship, points are scored for male and female veteran categories (age as at 1 January) in five year age groups and there are also team categories. Of the 12 races, best eight count with a minimum requirement of five races to qualify for prizes. There is no need to specify that you are entering this series when racing, a list of club members has been sent to the organisers. Look up the bizarrely named www.runnerduck.co.uk/running for full details, including results of the 2006 championship. It would be good to see some Cirencester names usurping Bourton’s dominance in 2007.

The first race in the series was the Gloucester ‘10’ held on 7 January as flagged up in the last newsletter (see result above). The rest of the races, with dates where known, are as follows (Sunday unless stated):

4 March, Gloucester ‘20’, Frampton-on-Severn at 10:00 www.gloucester-athletic-club.fsnet.co.uk

7 April (Sat), Easter 10k, Gloucester www.severnac.co.uk

17 May (Thu), Globe Inn 5k, Sandhurst , nr Gloucester www.severnac.co.uk

? June, Bourton Hilly ½ Marathon www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk

5 July (Thu), Aerospace ‘5’, nr Cheltenham www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk

14 July (Sat), Bourton ‘1’ www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk

1 Aug (Wed), Bugatti 10k, nr Winchcombe www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk

9 Sep, Beacon 10k, nr Gloucester www.angelsrunningclub.co.uk

? Sep, Cirencester Park 10k www.cirencester-ac.org.uk

21 Oct, Stroud ½ Marathon www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk

4 Nov, Tewkesbury ‘5’ www.tewkesburyac.blogspot.com

LONDON MARATHON

Surprisingly there were only two requests for the club’s allocation of London Marathon entries for those whose original entry had been initially rejected. As the club had three available entries, both Terry Ranger and Tony Kingston were happily accommodated. Andy Bradley, whose entry had also been rejected, decided to take up the option of the third number so is also now in full training for April 22nd. A number of members were successful in the ballot or were able to get into the race based on good for age previous times. Therefore the club should have a good turnout at London .

MISCELLANY

… 19 year old Chris Illman is the recipient of this month’s £100 sports grant awarded to promising young sports people in the area. The award, which is presented by the Wilts & Glos Standard and is sponsored by estate agents’ Moore Allen & Innocent, is in recognition of Chris’ achievements on road, track and cross country in the last 18 months as charted in the newsletter over that period. Many congratulations to Chris, whose picture should soon adorn the local paper, and let us all hope that he continues his progress once in the senior ranks.

… the February 2007 issue of Runners World (bizarrely published at the end of December!) featured photographs of two Cirencester AC members. Not the usual suspects. Trudi Compton was pictured vainly trying to avoid the water splash in the Sodbury Slog, whilst others, including a fully costumed Darth Vader, splashed merrily through the water. There is no word on whether she managed to finish ahead of the scourge of the Jedi, but looking at the sword he was brandishing, it was probably sensible that she kept her distance! Also pictured in full flight, second claimer Andy Bickerstaff – christened Drunken Hippy by Pancho for some unfathomable reason – is seen in the colours of Ranelagh Harriers during their 125th anniversary race on a sunny afternoon in Richmond Park .

… each year Athletics Weekly in conjunction with Athletics International produces informed and well respected merit ranking lists for the year. For 2006 Wendy Jones was ranked 6th in the UK over 10,000 metres on the track and 8th for all road race distances up to the marathon.

David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224