HEADLINES
- double team victories for men & women at Beacon 10k
- ladies almost pull off shock victory in prestigious Midland Relays
- another successful club race promotion with the Cirencester Park 10k
- eight individual wins split between Chris Illman, Wendy Jones, Bill Leggate & Jane Wassell
- three in first five at Cricklade 10k
- Christmas party allocation filling up fast
INTERNATIONAL SELECTION
The whole club wish Wendy Jones good luck this coming Sunday, 8 October, when she makes her Great Britain international debut in the World Road Running Championships in Debrecen, Hungary over 20km. She is part of a four woman team alongside Mara Yamauchi, Susan Partridge & Natalie Harvey, all seasoned internationals and all of whom ran in this year’s Commonwealth Games. The race will hopefully be shown by the BBC, presumably on Grandstand on BBC2. Check listings for details.
ROAD / TRACK / MULTI-TERRAIN RESULTS
10 September, Beacon 10k. Club championship event. The year just gets better for the club. As the prize presenter stated “Cirencester have swept the board today”. Both men and women won first team prize, the men being particularly happy to beat a strong Bourton outfit by one point, and there were individual prizes for Illman, Jones, Wright, Wassell & Bolam (as stated in brackets below). Add personal bests for Adrian Williams and Chris Brough and a fine run from Pancho splitting Bourton’s top two runners, and the club went home happy from the Beacon Inn pub on a hot Sunday morning.
1 Josh Lilly ( Severn ) 32.03
6 Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz (Cirencester) 34.10
11 Chris Illman (1st U20) 35.37
12 Wendy Jones (1st lady) 35.55
16 David Wright (2nd V45) 36.23
18 Bill Leggate 36.31
27 Adrian Williams 38.25
33 Jane Wassell (2nd lady) 39.16
60 Colin Tapley 42.43
61 Chris Brough 42.49
62 Dorian Matts 42.52
76 Caroline Bolam (1st FV40 excl top 3 finishers) 45.13
80 Trudie Compton 45.56
84 Darren Dent 47.00
131 David Edelsten 56.48. 145 finished. www.angelsrunningclub.co.uk
Teams: Men (4 to score), 1 Cirencester 51pts. Women (3 to score), 1 Cirencester 11pts.
10 September, Robin Hood Nottingham ½ Marathon
1 Simon Kasimili ( Kenya ) 1.03.42
284 Andy Bradley (Cirencester) 1.31.42
1,694 Tony Kingston 1.51.13. 6,843 finished. www.robinhoodmarathon.co.uk
14 September, Malmesbury 5k m/t . There was a very popular winner of this final event of the Malmesbury summer series. Contrary to the official results stating that ‘Rick’ Leggate was first it was actually Bill Leggate who has improved massively in 2006 and duly won a race for the first time in his career. Bill, or Rick, would say that it was a small field and the standard wasn’t great but a win is a win and it was thoroughly deserved. Of the four races in the series, three were won by different Cirencester athletes, Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz, Chris Illman & Leggate. Tim Willson, who is a member of Tetbury Royals as well as Cirencester, penned this amusing report ostensibly to impress his fellow Royals, but has agreed to it being reproduced here:
“To start with I thought that I should let you know that I have improved this year’s race average from 33% of race finishes in the top ten places to 50% of 2006 races completed in the top ten places. It’s amazing, my best statistics ever! Actually, if I don’t count that dreadful [Oxford Lge] cross country race on 1st January 2006 my performance increases to 66% of race finishes in a top ten position, and 100% in the top 20. Perhaps this little exercise just proves that there are lies, goddamn lies, and statistics.
Now getting back to last night’s 5k riverside run at Malmesbury. As usual a very relaxed affair, the run being the reverse route of the last river run (plus a little bit extra road to complete the loop). The weather was perfect for running, although the riverside paths were a bit muddy. Bill Leggate was off in the lead with some chap from Calne (the winner from the last riverside race), and we had warned Bill that the course was ‘a bit vague in places’ (a political manifesto run?). Anyway, back to the more interesting section of the race, the slow-coaches. Chris Riches went crazy at the start tearing down the hill like a madman. I did keep up, and by the time we got to the first field section by the river he had slowed down and was puffing like a steam engine. This was a very pleasant section through the meadows with views of Malmesbury, swans, and little waterfalls. The flow of the race was broken up by a series of kissing gates (I had to wait for Chris to squeeze his bulk through these a couple of times). Glad Roger [Hill] wasn’t there or he would have been waiting to kiss all the ladies. The route crossed a couple of bridges and roads, and seemed a lot more picturesque than the ‘other way round’. Eventually we passed the fire station, and had a steady uphill section through the housing estates backto the leisure centre. This is where Chris pulled ahead, finishing in eighth place, followed by myself in ninth. I didn’t have a watch so have no idea what time I finished in. Dave Edelsten also ran, commenting on how although this way round seemed easier he was still about 20 seconds slower.
Now for the glory. Bill Leggate and this chap from Calne ran together around the field / river / mud / kissing gate section, but Bill pulled ahead once on the roads past the fire station. Bill finished first, with a comfortable lead of about 20 seconds. This was Bill’s first first, and I expect the first of many. And just think, Bill was thinking of doing a boring old hill session with Pancho instead. After congratulating Bill, Chris and myself went on to the Hairy Hands pub for a well deserved drink (or two), and a chat with those Tetbury Royals that had run at the arboretum. All in all a good evening drinking, with the bonus of a run thrown in for good measure.”
1 Bill Leggate (Cirencester) 17.10
8 Chris Riches 20.18
9 Tim Willson 20.56
22 David Edelsten 25.25
23 Paula Vass 25.39
27 Lucy Hobson 27.14. 29 finished. www.nwll.co.uk
16 September, Gloucester Autumn ‘5’. This was a crucial race for Wendy Jones as it was her trial to prove to the GB selectors that she had regained sufficient fitness following an Achilles injury to confirm her selection for the World Road Running Championships. Thankfully, although not feeling 100% on the day, she dug deep to smash the course record by 45 seconds despite running totally isolated for the whole duration of the race. Two days later she received the news she’d been waiting for when the selectors confirmed her selection for Hungary .
1 Josh Lilley ( Severn ) 24.41
5 Wendy Jones (Cirencester, 1st lady/FV35) 27.47 (course record). 52 finished. www.severnac.co.uk
17 September, Longworth Village 10k m/t, Oxon.
1 M Kaminskas (LTU) 36.49
5 Keith Firkin (Cirencester) 41.51
11 Colin Tapley 43.11
17 September, Bristol ½ Marathon Stephen Elverd not only beat nearly 9,000 runners he also got his picture, resplendent in Ciren AC vest, in the Bristol newspapers.
1 Tewodos Shiferaw ( Ethiopia ) 1.03.48
763 Stephen Elverd (Cirencester) 1.36.39
1,349 Leon Horton 1.42.23
1,786 Trudy Compton 1.45.38. 9,682 finished. www.bristolhalfmarathon.com
17 September, Woodchester Park m/t ‘8’ . Like the proverbial 93 bus, nothing has been seen of Chris Brough’s racing skills for many months, then he appears with a number on for three consecutive weeks, the latest being a lone Cirencester vest at this lovely off roader.
1 Tim Hughes (White Horse) 50.08
36 Chris Brough (Cirencester) 1.04.14. 89 finished. www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk
23 September, Midland Road Relay Championships, Sutton Park , Birmingham . David Edelsten reports on a ground breaking day for Cirencester AC which probably represents the club’s greatest ever performance to date:
“Months of eager anticipation reached their climax when the club at last managed to get its 'dream team' ladies relay team together for a high class event. The team of Wendy Jones, Jane Wassell, Ellen Leggate and Cathy Cook were to line up against many of the best athletics clubs in the country at the Midland Road Relay Championships.
A sunny Saturday morning greeted the team and their supporters, which included a men's team that El Capitain Pancho had put together - but more of them later - as they headed north up the M5. On arrival at the extensive park the tension began to mount as the noon start approached.
The race was run over four legs of an undulating - and by all accounts quite tough - 4.3 km course. The commentator's introduction forecast a close battle between title holders Charnwood, Birchfield, Coventry and Bristol and many other big clubs - but no mention of little Cirencester, although it was acknowledged that Wendy Jones was one of the race's star runners.
As the gun fired the lead runners of the 60 teams tore down the short slope from the start - and what a sight! For heading the field was the red and black of Cirencester and after a short loop Wendy was already opening a slight lead. Urged on by her supporters around the course she came back into view around the final sharp turn with Telford's Claire Martin on her shoulder, but a strong kick up the final rise saw Wendy home first in a magnificent 14m40s, which proved to be the fastest of the whole race. It had the commentator scrabbling through his notes to see who this 'unknown' team was.
Taking over on the second leg was Jane who could not have expected to hold off such strong opposition for long. However she ran very strongly with a time of 16m09s to hand over to Ellen in third place. She soon showed that she was back to her best form by carving into the lead of Charnwood and Coventry . A tremendous effort saw her not only overhaul them both but pull out a 40 second advantage to hand over to Cathy for the final leg. Her time of 15m05s was seventh fastest of the day.
Unfortunately for Cathy the leading teams put their strongest runner on the final leg and together with the pressure of trying to maintain the lead and despite her best efforts she was pushed back to fourth place at the finish with a split time of 16m30s.
To finish fourth among such exalted company was a magnificent effort for a relatively small club and certainly put us firmly on the Midlands athletics map. The race was won by Charnwood from Birchfield and Coventry . But trailing behind Cirencester were well known clubs such as Telford , Bristol and Tipton. Wendy did her growing reputation a power of good by stepping forward to be awarded her medal for fastest time overall.
Then it was the men's turn! In all honesty the team was put together at the eleventh hour to give the ladies some extra support, so not too much was expected. Pancho was hoping for an optimistic top 25 of the 100 teams entered which would qualify them for the National Road Relay Championships.
Leading off was Chris Illman who started steadily but sensibly worked his way forward during the first of six 5.8km legs to hand over to Pancho in a very creditable 29th position with an opening time of 19m51s. Pancho [printed in the results purely as ‘G’] had the bit between his teeth to virtually match Chris' time - 19m54s - but gained ground to hand over to Bill leggate in 25th place - right on target! We knew this would be our peak as we had deliberately opened with our two fastest runners to establish a competitive position. However Bill hung on well only conceding three places with a time of 20m56s. Next to go was Adrian Williams (21m24s), followed by Keith Firkin (22m13s) and finally Simon Glover (23m30s) who all ran to the best of their form to lose very little ground bringing the team home in 35th place. Again this was a performance well ahead of predictions of which all the team could be proud.
It was a superb afternoon of road running both for the participants and the supporters - Team Manager Dave Wright, Justin Nicholls and Poppy, Mike Wassell and Cameron, Dave Cook and Olly, Tony Curry - under orders to take it easy (some hope!) - and me who all went home happy if a little hoarse!”
This week’s Athletics Weekly is full of praise for Cirencester’s ladies (full article is on club noticeboard):
“Cirencester’s Wendy Jones [ran fastest stage] at the age of 37 in her belated debut in the race”
“The Cirencester Cinderella fairy tale continued when another debutante, 28 year-old Ellen Leggate, watched by her nine month old daughter Jennifer, transformed a 25 second deficit into a 31 second advantage at the head of the field”
“Cirencester eventually finished fourth but gained many admirers for their valiant effort”
Ladies (4 x 4.3km):
1 Charnwood AC 1.01.28
2 Birchfield Harriers 1.01.46
3 Coventry Godiva Harriers 1.01.52
4 Cirencester AC 1.02.24
Wendy Jones (1) 14.40, Jane Wassell (3) 16.09, Ellen Leggate (3) 15.05, 4 Cathy Cook 16.30
61 teams. Fastest time: 1 Wendy Jones (Cirencester) 14.40.
Men (6 x 6km):
1 Tipton Harriers 1.49.13
35 Cirencester AC 2.07.48
Chris Illman (29) 19.51, Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz (25) 19.54, Bill Leggate (28) 20.56,
Adrian Williams (30) 21.24, Keith Firkin (31) 22.13, Simon Glover 23.30
101 teams. Fastest time: Tom Humphries ( Cannock ) 17.24.
See www.midlandathletics.org.uk for full results and photographs
24 September, Cirencester Park 10k . Record entries of nearly 600 were received for the club’s autumn race promotion. On a warm morning it was quite a sight to see the masses running up the park drive from Cecily Hill. As ever the race was a great success. The highlight amongst the relatively few Cirencester runners (most members were officiating) was a surprise county medal for Andy Bradley. So surprised was he that he didn’t know why he’d been called up to collect a gong! David Edelsten’s organisation was again meticulous but he has asked for input from anyone who feels there could be improvements made. One innovation made this year was for a water station, unusual for a 10k race. Although there was enough water the peak demand was far greater than anticipated making life hard for those handing out the cups.
1 Charles Sykes ( Swindon ) 32.53
14 David Wright (Cirencester) 36.46
18 Adrian Williams 37.38
29 Robbie Brown 39.15
39 Tim Collings 40.27
56 Mark Gluning 41.38
74 Colin Tapley 42.45
80 Andy Bradley 43.06 (3rd Glos county championship V50)
95 Niel Dunnage 44.06
110 Chris Riches 45.06
128 Fiona Collings 46.00
130 Corinne Clark 46.02
141 Mark Evans 46.32. 467 finished . www.cirencester-ac.org.uk
Teams: 1 Stroud & District 35pts, 4 Cirencester 61pts.
24 September, Bexhill 10k . A day after running Cirencester’s fastest leg in the Midlands relay, Chris Illman not only won this undulating race near his university at Brighton but also broke the course record by 50 seconds to pocket a cash bonus that will help to supplement his student loan.
1 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 35.17 (course record)
26 September, Bridge Inn 5k, nr Bristol .
1 Russell Forsbrook ( Cheltenham ) 16.16
5 Wendy Jones (Cirencester, 1st lady/FV35) 16.54. 98 finished. www.bristolandwestac.org.uk
1 October, Cricklade 10k at 10:30 . Club championship event. Another day of domination by Cirencester athletes. On a day of sunshine, very heavy showers and gusty winds, Chris Illman and Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz were soon at the head of the field. They ran together until the long climb at 8km when Illman pulled away for not only his best ever time but also a notable club U20 record. The previous record of 33.50 had been held by Marc Fallows since 1993. Illman now has a complete set of U20 records and will be setting his sights on the senior records. Such is the healthy competition between these two fine athletes that either could start to make an impact on the records over the next year or so. With consistent Bill Leggate and rapidly improving Adrian Williams also in the top 10 it was a shame that there was no team race. Jane Wassell completed a Cirencester double by comfortably winning the ladies race outright despite being blown about on the course having run it in splendid isolation. Best of the rest was a big personal best for Dorian Matts.
1 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 33.46 – club U20 record
2 Pancho Gonzalez-Diaz 34.15
5 Bill Leggate 36.28
7 Adrian Williams 36.49
11 Jane Wassell (1st lady / FV35) 38.52
20 Dorian Matts 41.07
23 Mark Gluning 41.30
26 Jon Young 42.01
32 Steven Elverd 42.34
55 Trudie Compton 45.49
57 Darren Dent 45.58
?? Kveta Kroulikova (time unknown)
117 Ken McAnespie 51.33
157 David Edelsten 55.03
??? AN Other 57.16 www.crickladefunrun.co.uk
1 October, Great North Run ½ Marathon , Newcastle . Having received an elite entry because of her good for age time at the Leeds ½ Marathon earlier in the year, Carol Clarke just missed her pb in this massive race yesterday. However, given the congestion in such a race this looks as though it was probably a better performance than Leeds . We await Carol’s return from the North for a report on her experience.
1 Hendrick Ramaala ( South Africa ) 1.01.01
2,245 Carol Clarke (Cirencester) 1.40.09. 36,234 finished. www.greatrun.org
FORTHCOMING ROAD & MULTI-TERRAIN RACES AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Races are on Sundays unless stated.
15 October, Swindon ½ Marathon at 11:00 . www.swindonhalfmarathon.co.uk
21 October (Sat), AAA Women’s 4 Stage Road Relay, Sutton Park , Birmingham .
22 October, Stroud ½ Marathon . Club championship event. We are promised a new scenic route this year! This is a big race and entries should be submitted now if not already too late www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk
31 October (Tue) at 19:30, Bridge Inn 5k, nr Bristol. www.bristolandwestac.org.uk
26 November, Eynsham 10k at 10:30. Entries always close some weeks before the race.
2006 CLUB ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP
With just Stroud to go Jane Wassell has already clinched retention of the ladies championship but who will she be standing next to for the official photograph at the club dinner? The men’s title could end up with a finishing sprint at Stroud. Although Pancho appears to have a comfortable lead, he has already run the maximum eight events. The best he can hope for is 130pts by being first man home for the club at Stroud, which will enable him to drop his second place points at Cricklade. As a result of leading the club home at Cricklade, gaining five bonus points for his fast time and still having one race to reach his complement of eight, Chris Illman will reach 131pts if he is first man home at Stroud. Put simply whoever is the first home at Stroud will win the club championship! Although Wassell has the ladies sewn up, the race for second spot is as close as the men’s title with both Kveta Kroulikova and Trudie Compton on 77pts. Whoever wins that head to head will gain the runners-up medal. Unofficial scores to date, after 11 races and marathons run so far:
Men: P Gonzalez-Diaz 129pts (8 events), D Wright 117pts (8), C Illman 116pts (7), B Leggate 115pts (8), P Barlow 109pts (7 events), S Elverd 82pts, A Williams 76pts, A Bradley 60pts, A Harborow 47pts, D Matts 45pts, J Young 38pts, D Edelsten 37pts, K McAnespie 35pts, D Cook 30pts, T Kingston & I Pople 28pts, L Horton 27pts, C Brough 26pts, M Gluning 20pts, C Tapley 17pts, D Waldron 15pts, D Dent 14pts, T Ranger 13pts, N Dunnage, C Sherrington & J Prout 12pts, D Atkinson & R Brown 11pts, C Goldie 10pts, J Fallon & R Chesmore 9pts, F Robson & B Ferris 8pts, C Riches 7pts, A McKeeman & C Hook 4pts, A Fraser 3pts, P Moran & G Clarke 1pt.
Women: J Wassell 102pts, K Kroulikova & T Compton 77pts, Corinne Clark 58pts, W Jones 52pts, Carol Clarke 36pts, S McKeeman 33pts, K Withycombe 29pts, E Wilson 28pts, S Brown 21pts, J Manners 19pts, C Pearson & C Bolam 13pts, F Collings, L Darroch & C Cox 12pts, Y Binks 11pts, J Nielson 9pts, L Ferris 8pts.
CROSS COUNTRY
Road shoes, bikes & wetsuits can be packed away as thoughts turn to the cross country season. As in recent years the main focus will be the Oxford League races which are generally run on the first Sunday of each month from November through to March (details below). For the large number of new members, anybody can run in these races, in fact the more the merrier. There is no pre-entry or entry fee, although this season for the first time race numbers will be worn rather than the utilisation of a disk system. There is a full programme of junior races commencing at 10am with the women’s race starting at 11.10 over approx 6km and the men at 11.40 over approx 10km. The women’s team event is three to score with the number of teams dictated by the number of runners turning out for the club (for example if 10 Cirencester ladies run then three teams are counted). The men’s race is seven to score with similar multiples applying. Cirencester ladies have totally dominated the league in recent times, winning outright for the last three years; the men are catching up fast and had an excellent third place finish last season. Everybody is encouraged to run in this true team event.
Oxford League fixtures (Sundays):
5 November 2006 , Ascott-u-Wychwood
3 December, Culham Park , nr Abingdon
31 December, Radley College
4 February 2007 , Cirencester Park
4 March, Drayton School , Banbury. Full details, including previous years results, can be found on www.geocities.com/oxmailxc .
Momentum built from the first race can sustain the club through the winter – a poor turnout and the season is over. Ascott is just beyond Burford so is no great distance away. If going independently, take the A361 out of Burford towards Chipping Norton, then right onto the B4437, probably signposted to Ascott. The course is on the right of this road and there will probably be signs to the “XC” on a small right hand turn before reaching the village. The car park is in a field for which there is usually a £1 charge levied. The club erects a tent at the race so look out for lingering members in red & black congregating around the temporary HQ. Alternatively meet at the leisure centre at 09:30 for a convoy to the race. The course includes a water jump and a few hills.
Gloucestershire League fixtures (Saturdays): 14 October 2006 , Blackbridge, Gloucester ; 18 November, Pittville Park , Cheltenham ; 9 December, Plock Court , Gloucester ; 20 January 2007 , Droitwich. Full details can be found on www.glosaaa.org.uk
TRIATHLON RESULT
10 September Cotswold tri 750m – 20k – 5k. Because of early morning mist rolling in over the lake, the start was delayed with the swim distance shortened. There were good performances all round by Cirencester athletes as each representative of the club finished in the top three of their age group, with Corinne Clark winning hers.
1 Phil Wylie (Team Bath ) (4.27, 30.15, 14.10) 48.54
33 Martin Pitts (Cirencester) (5.33, 33.14, 17.55) 56.43
40 Bob Ferris (5.40, 33.09, 18.46) 57.37
147 Corinne Clark (5.58, 38.14, 20.12) 1.04.24
185 Elaine Wilson (6.59, 37.49, 21.40) 1.06.30
197 Diane Moore (7.21, 39.09, 20.50) 1.07.21. 350 finished. www.triferris.com
AGM
Since the club has started bribing members to attend AGM’s in the last couple of years with the promise of a free drink, attendances have improved dramatically. This particular edition was thankfully quite short, allowing not only the free drink but also time to give Liza Darroch a good send off to Ethiopia . There were no contentious issues raised at the meeting: club chairman Bob Ferris reported that the club have had an unprecedented number of new members joining in the last 12 months and this, allied to some fantastic results in races and successful race promotions put on during the year, have all helped to create a buoyant club. The only change in personnel on the committee was the election of Dick Waldron as new club secretary succeeding Elaine Wilson who stood down. In addition Bill Leggate will take over from Chris Sherrington in handling publicity. It was agreed that the Sunday morning club training runs from the leisure centre will commence half an hour earlier at 9.00am commencing in November. Treasurer Colin O’Hare tabled a statement of the club’s finances which appeared to be in good order. David Edelsten proposed that with a third race being promoted in 2007 (the Westonbirt 10k), an annual donation to a local charity would be in order. This was agreed by the meeting although a suitable recipient was to be decided. Under any other business Rupert Chesmore suggested that any unattached entrants to the Ciren 10k with local addresses (and there were a lot) should be sent a letter introducing them to the club. Then it was off to Somewhere Else where the aforementioned treasurer became the most popular man in the pub!
CHRISTMAS PARTY
The club’s annual party and awards evening will be held on Friday 8 December at the Corinium Court Hotel (same venue as last year) at 7.30pm . Cost will be £25 per head. Social secretary Wendy Jones has been issuing menus on Tuesday evenings. Places, limited to 60, are going fast so please forward cheques as soon as possible (payable to Cirencester AC) to Wendy either at the club or to 2 Totterdown Cottages, Totterdown Lane , Fairford, Glos. GL7 4DG with choice of menu as offered below.
STARTER : Winter vegetable soup with crispy herb croutons (V), Chef’s chicken liver & smoked bacon pate with tangy cumberland chutney or Oaked smoked salmon on a pillow of mixed leaves with chive, cream fraiche.
MAIN COURSE : Roast turkey with bacon & chipolata rolls, chestnut seasoning & fresh cranberry sauce, Grilled fresh salmon fillet with a chilli and lime glaze, Roasted loin of Peashell Farm pork with honey-glazed apples & rich cider sauce or Open cap mushrooms filled with baby vegetable ratatouille topped with melted cheddar cheese (V)
DESSERT : Traditional Christmas pudding with a creamy brandy sauce, Fruits of the forest cheesecake or Fresh fruit salad with clotted cream
~~~
Freshly filtered ‘Arabica’ coffee with mince pies
MISCELLANY
… Liza Darroch was given a rousing farewell at Somewhere Else after the club AGM. She is now in Ethiopia on her VSO mission. In her drunken stupor she asked that members regularly check her progress by logging onto her blog website www.liza2vso.org.uk
… entries for the next London Marathon to be held on 22 April 2007 close very soon on 20 October. For full details on how to enter go to www.london-marathon.co.uk Any club members who are unsuccessful in their application will be able to enter the ballot for however many guaranteed entries are given to the club. Further details to follow in December.
David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224
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