HEADLINES
A slight break with tradition here, if tradition can be seen to evolve sufficiently in only 18 months. As a consequence of so much happening to this vibrant club at present, lucky members are going to receive two newsletters in quick succession this month rather than just the one publication. Don't worry this won't become a habit!
Excitement is mounting ahead of this Sunday's final Oxford League fixture. Both the ladies and men's teams have lots to play for at Banbury so a repeat of the turnout at Cirencester last month would be fantastic.
Results in the Bourton 10k confirm the developing strength in depth of the club. With five in the top 31 (two in 2005) and 10 under 40 mins (five in 2005), the improvement over 12 months is clear to see. Times are always fast in this popular race over a flat course but high positions still have to be worked for; excellent results are now beginning to percolate through and other clubs are taking notice of Cirencester AC.
OXFORD LEAGUE
5 March at Drayton School , Banbury. The ladies go into the last fixture with a small five point lead in the championship ahead of White Horse Harriers (who run, perversely, in green). In addition the 'B' team is a mere two points behind Headington in the race to be top second team. T he tremendous result in the last fixture means that the men have a chance of an unprecedented second place overall but it will be tight.
Directions: from the centre of Banbury take the A422 Banbury to Stratford Road . Drayton school is about 1½ miles to the northwest from Banbury- turn left at the traffic lights after the Banbury Cross roundabout. Alternatively, meet at 09:00 (note earlier time than usual and slightly earlier than flagged up in the last newsletter) at the leisure centre for club convoy. Remember that to facilitate the prize giving the timings are different for the senior races. The men start at 11:10 and the women at 12:00 . Check current standings on www.geocities.com/oxmailxc
CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
5 February, British Universities , Stirling , Scotland . Running for Loughborough University , Pete Holmes finished 41st in 25:54 in the 'B' team race. His report of the weekend's antics are best not repeated in a family newsletter!
CROSS COUNTRY FIXTURES
5 March, National Veterans Championships, Kings Park , Bournemouth . Good luck to Wendy Jones in this major national event over 6km.
11 March, Inter-Counties Championships , Wollaton Park , Nottingham . Wendy Jones & Jane Wassell are both running for Gloucestershire in the ladies 8km event, which is also the final selection race for the UK team for the World XC Champs in Japan . Paul Barlow has been called up as reserve for the men's team and is currently awaiting news of his selection to run. The races will be screened live on satellite television.
ROAD & MULTI-TERRAIN RESULTS
5 February, Longleat 10k.
1 Paul Freary (Belgrave) 32.39, 106 Dave Cook (Ciren) 45.04, 116 Terry Ranger 45.37. 1,069 finished.
19 February, Salisbury 10k.
1 Gareth Jones (Neath) 33.58, 18 Keith Firkin (Ciren) 38.31. 405 finished.
19 February, Dursley Dozen m/t. A ten minute improvement in 12 months for Niel Dunnage.
1 V Graffagnino (unatt) 1.17.13, 117 Niel Dunnage (Ciren) 1.40.58. 412 finished.
26 February, Bourton-on-the-Water 10k. Warnings in the club newsletter that entries needed to be submitted very early for this popular and always over subscribed race, ensured an excellent turnout from Cirencester. The good news continued for those running, as a window in the weather, albeit preceded by a short sharp flurry of snow as participants gathered on the start line, resulted in the bitter northerly wind easing for the duration of the race. The club's Special Correspondent watched the field pass through the 3k point: Pancho was flying along just behind the leading bunch in 9.43, Chris Illman (9.55) was in the following group and Wendy Jones headed the next pack in 10.00 with her nemesis, teenage phenomenon Emily Pidgeon, tracking her every move, and with Paul Barlow hanging on to the group. Jane Wassell followed in 11.04, running a good steady pace as ever, then Ciren athletes appeared in little batches: Dave Cook, Jon Young & new member Adrian Williams coming through in 11.38; Sue McKeeman, Elaine Wilson and Ian Pople (on the comeback trail after three raceless years) together in 13.20. Senior pro David Edelsten proudly took the anchor role with a 15.27 clocking.
By the time the runners returned to Bourton for the final two 1k laps of the village there was a sizeable crowd cheering them on including the welcome sight of founder member Tom Stevens and his wife, Jane. Both looked fit & well so will we see them back running again? [answer to the editor please, Tom & Jane]. The conditions on the day and the fast course resulted in some excellent times, no more so than the fabulous breakthrough run of Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz who took 3½ minutes off his 2005 times. Just behind him second claimer Pete Holmes, running for his university, made a similar improvement and at long last broke the Tetbury Royals club record (held by Mike Hoskins for Cirencester members with long memories). More good news followed soon thereafter: Wendy Jones had to cede defeat to Pidgeon (and also right at the end, to Chris Illman) but achieved a lifetime best time and raced up the national rankings in the process. Her time was only 17 seconds slower than the fastest vet time in the country this year and would have ranked 14th in the national senior list in 2005. Both Pidgeon and Jones beat the old course record. Other big improvements came from Messrs Illman, Barlow, Harborow & Young and young Jenny Manners.
1 Andy Prophett (Cheltenham) 32.00, 9 Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz (Ciren) 33.02, 11 Pete Holmes (Loughborough Uni) 33.14, 22 Emily Pidgeon (Gloucester, 1st lady) 33.56, 25 Chris Illman 34.14, 27 Wendy Jones (2nd lady, 1st FV35) 34.16, 31 Paul Barlow 34.38, 86 Jane Wassell (10th lady) 37.48, 88 Adam Harborow 37.57, 114 Dave Cook 39.21, 117 Jon Young 39.26, 119 Adrian Williams 39.28, 174 Steve Elverd 42.31, 209 Trudi Compton 44.21, 221 Sue McKeeman 44.45, 224 Elaine Wilson 45.02, 225 Ian Pople 45.03, 258 Corinne Clark 46.32, 260 Jenny Manners 46.35, 389 David Edelsten 54.19. 448 finished. Full results and a short report, plus pictures promised, on www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk
26 February, Cirencester Park Off Road Duathlon (run, bike, run). Whilst most club members were enjoying their first outing of the year on the tarmac at Bourton, some hardy types braved the tough terrain of the park for this twice a year event. Only Diane Moore competed for the club, her two run times being very consistent, but others helped out organisers Lorraine & Kevin Ferris on a bitter morning.
1 Mark Leyland (Horwich) (14.41, 39.27, 15.07) 1.09.15, 84 Diane Moore (Cirencester, 5th lady)) (18.05, 58.39, 18.11) 1.34.55. 152 finished. Full results on www.triferris.com
FORTHCOMING ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN RACES & CONTACT DETAILS:
18 March, Grocery '4', White Horse, Sandhurst at 14:45 . Enter on the day, see www.severnac.co.uk
19 March, Forest of Dean Trails ½ Marathon at 10:00 . Entries now closed for the second in this year's club championship races. A look on the website www.rotary-royalforestofdean.org.uk/trails.html reveals a healthy 14 Cirencester entries.
26 March, Cleevewold '14' m/t at 10:30 www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk
RANKINGS
With just Sunday's Oxford League race to go, there is still time for some decisive changes in the final placings. Current scores (based on club finishing positions: men 25pts down to one, women 15 points down to one):
Men: J Nicholls 90pts, B Leggate 77, P Gonzalez-Diaz 75, C Illman 73, P Barlow 66, B Ferris 59, M Pitts 55, A Harborow 53, M Gluning 46, D Wright & J Barrowclough 45, A Bickerstaff 43, K Ferris 40, K Firkin 39, D Matts 36, D Atkinson & C Brough 35, P Langsam 32, T Curry 28, W Moffatt 26, C O'Hare 25, C Tapley 24, S Elverd 20, T Willson 19, N Barrowclough & S Glover 15, T Collings 14, J Young 13, D Waldron 12, M Thomas, C Sherrington & N Dunnage 11, I Fletcher 5, A Bradley 3, C Riches 2.
Women: W Jones 60pts, J Wassell 56, K Withycombe 44, Carol Clarke 42, Corrine Clark 27, H Langsam 26, J Manners 25, D Moore 24, P Vass 23, S Brown 18, Lorraine Ferris 15, C Bolam 13, K Kroulikova 9, Lynn Ferris 6.
Wendy Jones not only broke her FV35 club record for 10k at Bourton but also beat her own absolute ladies club record in the process. Full 10k club age group records to follow prior to the next club race at that distance.
CHEDWORTH ROMAN TRAIL '10'
On 2 April at 10:30 the club is promoting this very popular off road race from its base at Chedworth Village Hall. Entries are once again coming in fast and race organiser David Edelsten and his sidekick Rupert Chesmore will soon be looking for volunteers to marshall both the course and car park, to help with refreshments (a very important source of income for the club) and to assist with all the administration involved in this important race. Whilst some club members will be able to run, the efficient organisation of the event must be the priority.
2006 CLUB ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP
Following a proliferation of bonus points for fast times at Bourton the standings very early on in the season are as follows:
Men: 1 P Gonzalez-Diaz 25pts, 2 C Illman 24pts, 3 P Barlow 23pts, 4 D Cook 21pts, 5 J Young 20pts, 6 I Pople 17pts, 7 A Harborow 12pts, 8 A Williams 9pts, 9 S Elverd 8pts, 10 D Edelsten 6pts.
Women: 1 T Compton 23pts, 2 W Jones 22pts, 3 Corinne Clark 20pts, 4 J Manners 19pts, 5 E Wilson 18pts, 6 J Wassell 14pts, 7 S McKeeman 12pts.
With the Bourton 10k now consigned to the history books and the Forest of Dean race imminent, the 2006 season is underway. The rest of the championship fixtures are as follows:
April 30, Highworth 10k www.swindonweb.com/hrc
May 18, Gloucester 5k * www.severnac.co.uk
June 4, Fairford 10k www.fairford.org/10k/index.html
July 10, Frampton-on-Severn 10k www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk
July 15, Bourton 1 mile (yes, one mile) * www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk
August 2, Bugatti 10k, Gretton, Winchcombe, nr Cheltenham * www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk
September 10, Beacon 10k, Hardwicke, nr Gloucester * www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk
September 17, Oldbury 10 mile www.thornburyrunningclub.co.uk
October 1, Cricklade 10k www.crickladefunrun.co.uk
October 22, Stroud ½ Marathon * www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk
Full details of points scoring in the next newsletter.
JUNIORS
Although the newsletter is primarily aimed for the senior element of the club (the juniors having their own journal), it is important to keep abreast of how the youngsters are progressing. Hence Oxford League results are always published for all age groups and on an occasional basis Paula Vass, who runs the junior section, submits a report:
"Some good news to share about the junior club. Cirencester AC came 3rd overall in the U11/U13 Gloucestershire sportshall athletics league. The club was only one point behind Cheltenham Harriers. The boys actually came 1st, 1st, 2nd in the three meetings. This was a really good result for Cirencester as the majority of the team are under 11 and were competing against some really strong U13 athletes from the big clubs with tracks. Ben Chadwick also won the best overall athlete award for the league. Ben won the speed bounce event and was in the top three for every event he did. George Collings and Jack Landor ran the fastest time in the 2x2 lap relay, and Cirencester also had winners in the triple jump (Chris Cooper), the javelin (Joe Morris), the balance (Elliot Manners) and the vertical jump (Charlotte Somers).
As a result of their individual performances in the league, seven under 11's and three under 13's were selected to represent Gloucestershire in the SW regional event where Gloucestershire U11's actually finished in joint first place.
Also, local schools took part in a big sportshall event recently. There was individual selection from each primary school family in the Cotswold region, culminating in a big county event held at Kingshill School . As well as many of the club's athletes being involved, the best overall athletes awards went to Dan Warriner and Jessica Corbett - both Cirencester A.C. members!
If any adult club members would like to have a go at sportshall athletics, perhaps we could give you a taster session and challenge the adult club to a competition - let me know (if you dare !).
Paula."
NEW MEMBERS
Australian Emma Bowring who is living & working in Cirencester for a while, and Adrian Williams who has already made a mark with an excellent run at Bourton recently.
MISCELLANY
. at long last a date has been announced for the opening of the new leisure centre in Cirencester: the big day is Tuesday 4 April. That is the good news (hopefully!); the bad news is that the current centre will close permanently on Sunday 19 March! Apparently the staff will need the intervening 16 days to get used to the new centre. Thus there will be two Tuesdays and two Sundays (the current centre will be open for swimming on 19 March) when the club will not have any facilities for running and swimming. The Tuesday & Sunday club runs will still take place of course (although remember that Sunday 2 April sees the club's multi-terrain promotion at Chedworth) and will meet at the usual times outside the leisure centres. Tuesday night drinks (all welcome) at Somewhere Else will also, of course, continue both during the transition period and once the new leisure centre is open.
David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224
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