Happy New Year! There is a lot to look forward to in 2005. The Oxford League is bubbling up to be really exciting in both team and individual categories. The club road race championship starts up again with the Bourton 10k in February and Elaine Wilson will be letting London Marathon aspirants know imminently whether they have been successful in gaining a place in the 25th edition of the race. Also, Chris Sherrington is hoping to arrange a club trip during the year - watch this space.
RESULTS
10.12.2004 Christmas Party, Corinium Court Hotel , 3 courses plus exhausting disco. The winners were, XC: Wendy Jones & Keith Firkin; Road: Jane Wassell & David Wright; Athlete of the year: Rupert Chesmore; Triathlete of the year: Carol Clarke. Plus a thong for Justin Nicholls for reasons given by Bob Ferris in his excellent speech! Jenny Hill once again did an excellent job in organising this annual bash, which resulted in a record turnout. She was also embarrassed by young Natalie when spotted purchasing the aforementioned thong in Tesco! Some of the late evening antics will not be recorded in the newsletter, suffice to say all had a great time and Justin put in an early entry for another award in 2005! John Burgess, the club president, kindly agreed, after a glass or two of house red, to write a report of the evening entitled . "It Was 20 Years Ago Today...
..that I sat at a table at the Riverside Inn in Lechlade and enjoyed the first annual dinner held by Cirencester and District Athletics and Jogging Club. The event was brilliant but the club name had to go because it wouldn't fit on the T-shirts.
20 years on and here I am at Corinium Court for the latest extravaganza. No longer the slim athletic track and field record breaker of yesteryear but a tubby old reprobate more interested in the quality of the wine than PBs.
The food was a big improvement this year, the company was as superb as ever, Wendy won something so I got my annual kiss and long may it continue.
I won the Club Member of the Year trophy in 1985, the first time it was presented, and it gave me great pleasure to see it go to Dave Wright this year. Dave has been a stalwart of the Club for a number of years and his e-mail newsletter has been a bonus.
It's so easy to get out of touch but, having handed over coaching duties at the Junior Club last year, I continue to keep up with the exploits of Pancho and Bob via the newsletters and the web site.
It was also good to see some of the trophies being presented for the twentieth time. When I got together with John Dorling, Stuart Pitt and Lynn Watts to set this thing up, I never dreamed it would go so well or for so long. Nor did I imagine that, along the way, I would find myself making so many good friends and coaching some national standard athletes - all from the local area. It just goes to show what can be done with a bit of enthusiasm.
Judging by the good attendance, the range of trophies and the new names taking many of the honours, plus the enthusiastic leaping and prancing that was taking place as I left for home, I have nothing to fear for the future of the Club. Another 20 years..or more..who knows."
11.12.2004 Gloucestershire XC League, Pittville Park , Cheltenham . Yes, the day after the Christmas party Jane Wassell continued her appearances in the local Saturday afternoon league. Unsurprisingly she didn't have her best run of the season, too much Xmas pudding she said, but still managed to be the first veteran home. Jane has specifically requested that the 2005 party be held on a Saturday night!
Women: 1. H Purdy (Bideford) 23.34, 5 Jane Wassell (1st FV35) 24.33.
02.01.2005 Oxford Mail XC League, Drayton School , Banbury:
Despite the difficulties created by the holiday season, as well as the venue being some distance from Cirencester, the club turnout for the third edition of the league was pretty good although more ladies would always be welcome. The junior ranks showed consistency in their results with a particularly good run from Lucy Vass. The ladies had a poor result yet paradoxically have left themselves with a really good chance of defending the championship. Only 11 points separate the first three teams, so the efforts of Elaine, Carol and Sue to support the leading two are to be much applauded. The men consolidated really well after the poor showing at Enslow Quarry but despite fifth place - just one point off fourth - the team remains ninth overall so there is still work to do. The most encouraging aspect was the total lack of veterans in the first five scorers, three of whom are U20. Chris Illman remains first U20 overall, albeit only one point ahead of his rival, and Peter Holmes (Loughborough) and Joe Baraclough (Nottingham) were both down from university. It was good also to see Justin Nicholls return to racing after injury and Tony Curry flew in from South Africa on the morning of the race to consolidate his second position in the O60 category. There is clearly all to play for in the next fixture, which of course is at Cirencester.
U11 Boys: 17 Mark Whistler 6.06.
U11 Girls: 4 Lucy Vass 5.41, 12 Laura Hobson 6.18, 19 Laura Eales 6.36, 22 Olivia Williams 6.41, 23 Jenny Eales 6.47, 33 Zoe Frazer 8.15, 34 Verity Greenhaugh 8.23.
U13 Boys: 18 Liam Frazer 13.15.
Women: 1 Frances Briscoe (White Horse) 19.10, 2 Wendy Jones 19.16, 6 Jane Wassell 21.08, 44 Elaine Wilson 25.51, 45 Carol Clarke 25.52, 55 Sue Brown 26.54. 91 finished. Teams: 1 Headington 12pts, 4 Cirencester 52, 5 Witney 56, 21 Cirencester 'B' 192. 33 teams closed in. After 3 races: 1 Headington 94pts, 2 Witney 95, 3 Cirencester 105. 28 teams closed in.
Men: 1 Tom Penfold (White Horse) 30.59, 21 Chris Illman 35.30, 30 Pancho Diaz 36.11, 43 Peter Holmes 37.16, 55 Joe Baraclough 38.06, 60 Bill Leggate 38.25, 67 Martin Pitts 38.57, 83 Duncan Atkinson 40.13, 91 Justin Nicholls 41.09, 137 Chris Riches 44.51, 139 Colin O'Hare 45.09, 157 Tony Curry 46.27, 202 David Edelsten 55.43. 206 finished. Teams: Div. 1 - 1 Headington 88pts, 5 Cirencester 359, of 10 teams. Div. 2 - 13 Cirencester 'B' 1140. 23 teams closed in. After 3 races: Div 1 - 1 Headington 278pts, 2 Woodstock 284, 9 Cirencester 1259. Div 2 - 11 Cirencester 'B' 3194, 17 teams closed in.
Selected overall individual positions (best two from three races): 5th U11 girl L Vass, 1st FV35 (and overall) W Jones, 3rd FV35 J Wassell, 10th FV45 C Clarke, 1st U20 C Illman, 18th SM P Diaz, 9th V40 D Wright, 13th V50 C Riches, 2nd O60 T Curry, 4th O60 D Waldron.
RANKINGS
After three races the club XC championship positions are as follows (scored at one point for the last club finisher at each Oxford League race, two points for the penultimate finisher etc):
Women: 1. W Jones 16, 2. J Wassell 13, 3. D Moore 6, 4=. H Langsam, C Clarke 5, 6=. S Brown, E Wilson 3, 8. S McKeeman 2.
Men: 1. P Diaz 39, 2. C Illman 30, 3. D Wright 26, 4. B Leggate 22, 5=. C Riches, D Atkinson 18, 7=, M Pitts, R Sinclair 15, 9=. C O'Hare, I Fletcher, N Morris 13, 12. M Gluning 11, 13=. T Willson, P Holmes 10, 15=. P Langsam, I Sanders, J Baraclough 9, 18=. T Curry, C Sherrington 8, 20. P Barlow 7, 21 J Nicholls 5, 22 D Waldron 4, 23 D Edelsten 3.
With the 10k being by far the most popular road racing distance, it seems worthwhile to rank times recorded during 2004 by club members. It is immediately apparent from perusing the list that the strength of the club lies with the ladies as three of the top seven, including the leader, are that gender. It is also pleasing to see young Chris Illman at number two; he and other youngsters have subsequently shown their ability during the winter which augurs well for the future. List includes venue:
1. Wendy Jones (1st lady) 35.27, Bourton. 2. Chris Illman (1st U20) 36.28, Cricklade. 3. Ellen Leggate (F) 37.10, Cirencester. 4. Keith Firkin (1st V40) 37.45, Bourton. 5. Martin Pitts (V40) 37.49, Frampton. 6. David Wright (V40) 37.53, Frampton. 7. Jane Wassell (1st FV40) 38.57, Frampton. 8. Bill Leggate 40.29, Frampton. 9. Nigel Morris 40.36, Berkeley Castle . 10. Paul Barlow 41.18, Frampton. 11. Chris Riches (1st V50) 41.20, Bourton. 12. Bob Ferris (V50) 41.22, Bourton. 13. Duncan Atkinson (V40) 41.39, Berkeley Castle . 14. Chris Sherrington (V40) 41.43, Bourton. 15. Tony Curry (V50) 42.38, Bourton. 16. Ian Fletcher (V40) 43.22, Fairford. 17. Ian Sanders (U20) 43.25, Cricklade. 18. Dick Waldron (1st V60) 43.42, Bourton. 19. Sue McKeeman (FV40) 44.44, Frampton. 20. Kim Ingleby (F) 45.07, Frampton. 21. Kveta Kroulikova (F) 45.36, Fairford. 22. Elaine Wilson (FV45) 46.20, Bourton. 23. Carol Clarke (FV45) 47.15, Bourton. 24. Kim Withycombe (F) 48.32, Bourton. 25. David Edelsten (V50) 49.33, Sarasota , USA . 26. Lynn Ferris (FV45) 52.14, Frampton. 27. Jon Young 52.28, Fairford. 28. Graham Clarke (V50) 52.46, Bourton. 29. Sue Brown (FV35) 54.26, Fairford. 30. John Prout 56.13, Frampton. 31. Ruth Fulford (FV55) 59.01, Berkeley Castle . 32. Maggie Taylor (F) 65.24, Cirencester. 33. Anna Sherrington (FV35) 69.14, Fairford.
FORTHCOMING RACES & CONTACT DETAILS:
15 January 2005 Gloucestershire XC Championships, Pittville Park , Cheltenham .
16 January at 10.30 Highworth Invitation ½ Marathon . This is a small race for invited clubs only and is very much a team event with the unusual make up of the first four men and one woman scoring in the team. As a consequence Cirencester has often done very well, having won it on a number of occasions. Tough but scenic course around Hannington, Kempsford and Castle Eaton. No entry fee, just turn up on the day at the Highworth leisure centre.
23 January Slaughterford 9 mile M/T. For off-road aficionados this is apparently an excellent event. For details see www.chippenhamharriers.co.uk
6 February Oxford Mail XC League, Cirencester Park . This fixture is a big drain on club resources. Not only are as many as possible needed to run but the club will also have organisational responsibilities with car parking and course marshalling. Whilst Banbury yesterday was an opportunity missed, after all the championship could have been virtually wrapped up by now, the advantage of a home fixture and the theoretical capabilities of the club ladies team mean that victory can still be claimed. Race HQ is at the main polo field with vehicular access from the A419 Stroud road. Race results are usually posted on the league website by late Sunday evening www.geocities.com/oxmailxc
13 February Tomac Off Road Duathlon, Cirencester Park - organised by Lorraine Ferris (Bob's sister-in-law). It comprises 2 mile XC run - 10 mile MT bike - 2 mile XC Run (inc Relay) or 1 mile - 5 miles - 1 mile. For entry email: triferris@btinternet.com or tel Lorraine : 01793 853933 or talk to Bob Ferris
20 February at 10.30 Bourton-on-the-Water 10km. As highlighted in December this race fills up very quickly so get entries in without delay. There are entry forms on the club noticeboard or they can be downloaded from www.bourtonroad r unners.co.uk . The course has been changed due to police requests but will still be fast. This is the first in the club's road race championship for 2005.
20 February at 10.30 Dursley Dozen M/T. If too late for Bourton or you just prefer off-road races then this 12 miler is perfect. Full details on www.g4cio.demon.co.uk/ddoz e n/ddozack.htm
13 March Forest of Dean ½ Marathon . Some way off but another race that fills up to capacity very quickly and may form the second race of the club championship. A lovely race on the bicycle trails through the forest. Highly recommended but enter early! See www.rotary-royalforestofdean.org.uk/trails.html
JUNIORS
Paula Vass reports on an interesting morning for the youngsters: "On 18th Dec. we were invited to compete in a sportshall athletics competition. This relatively new branch of athletics is designed to attract young people (under 11's) into the sport and to lay some foundations both in technique and strength. There is a whole new range of equipment and I actually heard one boy say it was far more exciting than football! We were competing against Stroud and the Forest of Dean .
The morning was what we would call field events and we had successes in the vertical jump, target throw, speed bumps (jumping from side to side over a small soft hurdle), standing long jump and soft javelin. However, we were not as well prepared as the other clubs that took part and hope to build up our range of equipment for the future.
Our strength as a club is obviously our running as the lead taken by the Forest of Dean in the morning was not secure. The first event was an obstacle race which Tim (Collings) and I had to help demonstrate - as always the two teams of coaches got a bit competitive and I let the side down by not being able to stand up for a while after the first forward roll - much to my daughter's embarrassment! Anyway, our athletes did really well, speed bumping and jumping hurdles and our boys won with the girls coming second. The next few races were straight running relays and our athletes were really good at using the reversaboards,(equipment we have used a lot in training), as well as running fast, and the boys remained unbeaten. George Collings outclassed the other boys in endurance while Lucy Vass and Laura Eales made a great team in the parlauf - an event where the pair must run 6 laps between them in any combination. We tried a 2,2,1,1 which in hindsight may not have been the best as our baton changes were really good and we would have perhaps clinched first place if we had tried 1,1,1,1,1,1. - parlauf is a good, fun, training tool for adults - have a go sometime. The relays were really exciting to watch - parents in the gallery could be heard for miles around which was good as it meant I was drowned out and didn't appear too unprofessional! I've never seen kids enjoy competing so much and their confidence and self-esteem was flooding out. The good thing about sportshall athletics is that they compete in teams and there is less pressure on the individual child. However that said, both the girls and boys won their final 4x1 relays and the boys were unbeaten throughout all the running including the up and over event (hurdles and tunnels!). Cirencester won the overall competition with the boy's performance in the running really marking up the points. We really do have some high calibre young runners George Collings, Dan Warriner, Ben Chadwick and Luke Pilonel made up the boys team. Verity Greenhalgh, Zoe Frazer, Laura and Jenny Eales, Laura Hobson, Olivia Williams and Lucy Vass in the girls. All the girls are also running in the cross country this season and I am looking forward to seeing how they get on in a few years time in the U13 team event - watch this space!
All the boys and Laura H., Verity, Laura E. and Lucy, were selected to make up a team representing Gloucestershire in Torbay in the regional competition - we wish them luck. Well done Cirencester !"
MISCELLANY
. Fred Robson gives an insight into what makes him tick into his 70's with some comments on his marathon training: "I have my ' London Marathon ' running number which is 29121, for the Green Start. My highest place in my age group over the last six years has been 28th, in 2002 with 4.36.18, that I intend bettering in 2005. Training is going well, as competition is intense, with 1st in my age group doing under 3hours, and 2nd and 3rd placings doing under 4 hours. So ....maybe in the top ten, with a bit of luck. Seventeen full weeks to go and the training is going well. In my own build-up, November and December is spent trying to do big weekly mileage touching 40 miles per week, being important to start for me. This allows me to mix things after Christmas doing threes, with two long days, one building to ten at as fast as I can go during the week, the other building to as much over ten as I can do and finish fresh on the Sunday. I will slacken off mid February as a trip is on the cards for skiing, I also allow in the early buildup for nasty dull raw days when I do not feel like going out. I like to slacken off early end of Feb, keep ticking over for about three weeks then go into pre-marathon buildup. One difference I have in training this year is having more rest days. Also, something even after all these years that I am finding little adjustments to my pace, footfall and rhythm are useful. I am also not running in the dark remembering what happened five years ago (I went off the pavement and broke my foot)."
. a week after the club's Christmas party the Tetbury Royals had their own version at the same venue! Chris Riches reports on some of the alternative awards: "The evening went well. Fred's speech (The 'Orrible President) was twice as long as Bob's so more of a marathon! Prize- giving was done by Mike Hoskin. I didn't see it coming but the 'sick box' prize went to me. There were several nominations but it went to me because everyone is sick of hearing about me go on about Malmesbury! The 'Cock-Up' Award went to Margaret (Roger's wife) for putting the latch own on the door, by mistake, and locking him out after a heavy drinking bout at The Club! The award is a longish upright piece of wood decorated with two baubles on each side! Margaret looked pleased! Jane received the ' Twin Peaks ' Award (Venus de Milo) for her running prowess, one of the few serious awards!"
. finally the editor has decided that it is his prerogative at this time of year to make his own awards (nothing tangible sadly): Team: has to be the six ladies that contributed towards the club winning the Oxford League last winter - Wendy, Jane, Ellen, Cathy, Elaine & Kim. Newcomer: lots of candidates but for his enthusiasm, infectious humour, excellent running and his devotion to a club to which he owes nothing, it has to be Uruguayan Pancho aka Fernando Diaz aka Gonzalez (no-one is sure which!!). Newcomer (young): Chris Illman has been the first youngster since Mark Fallows and Ellen O'Hare some years ago to successfully cross the divide from promising junior to leading senior. Newcomer (old): despite being as grumpy as ever new life has been breathed into Tony Curry since he turned 60 and he has regained his enthusiasm for competition. Columnist: without doubt Rupert Chesmore for his canal run trilogy. General: the turnout of ladies on Tuesday nights - they are enthusiastic, competitive and great fun. They now need to make the next step by transferring all that energy to racing for the club in cross country, multi-terrain, road and duathlon/triathlon events. One aim for the future: Stroud won the team race in their competitive ½ marathon with three U20 athletes. In recent months a number of youngsters have performed really well for Cirencester. As a club it should be our aim to help these youngsters progress - they are the future of the club.
More information and news can be found on the club's website www.cirencester - ac.org.uk .
David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224
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