Despite some individual success, the euphoria from the first Oxford League fixture of the winter was drowned in the soaking reeds of Enslow Quarry in the second fixture yesterday. Winter ailments accounted for a number of absences, as did work and holiday commitments, but it was disappointing that there was such a relatively poor turnout after the record numbers of the first race. The next fixture on 2 nd January now becomes vital so run off the festive season excesses by turning up on a much more sensible course at Banbury.
This Friday (10 th December) sees the annual Christmas party and Jenny Hill promises a great night - see more details below.
RESULTS
14.11.2004 Sodbury Slog, Chipping Sodbury. 8 miles of tough multi-terrain.
1 R Williams (Bristol Univ) 57.52, 209 Anne Fallows (Les Croupiers, formerly Ciren AC) 1.18.32, 291 Chris Sherrington 1.22.54, 306 Chris Riches 1.23.55, 486 Neil Dunnage (u/a, but now a Tuesday nighter) 1.32.01, 673 David Edelsten 1.43.45. 900 finished
14.11.2004 St Neots Riverside ½ marathon, Cambridgeshire. Although running for their local clubs rather than Cirencester, it is worth reporting that Dan & Ellen Leggate are back racing again. Dan, after a long lay off with achilles tendon problems, finished 3 rd in 1.14.35 and reported no adverse reaction afterwards. Ellen, now settled into a teaching career, won the ladies race in the excellent time of 1.18.10. It is hoped that we will see them both turning out in the Oxford League later in the winter.
20.11.2004 Gloucestershire XC League, Forest of Dean. Jane Wassell continued to plough a lone furrow on behalf of the club in this Saturday afternoon league with another excellent performance, aided and abetted by her dog pacing her apparently!
Women: 1. A Simmonds (Westbury) 19.55, 4 Jane Wassell (1 st FV35) 20.17.
28.11.2004 1 st Chilly Duathlon, Castle Combe. Wendy Jones won the ladies section of this run-bike-run duathlon and was 10 th overall. Her run times (2 miles) were 10.53 (7 th ) and 11.35 (6 th ) with a 10 mile bike time of 32.37 (30 th ).
05.12.2004 Oxford Mail XC League, Enslow Quarry, Bletchingdon: This was a disappointing day for the team aspirations of the club. On a quagmire of a course, which included 'The Trench', a thigh deep trough of water, those that ran performed well led by an impressive 1-2 in the ladies race courtesy of Wendy Jones & Jane Wassell. For the second race in succession Jane improved her best ever result in the league. She may struggle to improve it further whilst Wendy continues her rich vein of form that sees her virtually unbeatable at present. The ladies team was severely depleted, the absences all being for good reasons, and Diane Moore ran really well under pressure and with vociferous support from the watching male members of the club, to close in the team. She improved by 16 places on her position in the first race to give the club a fighting chance of retaining the team trophy in the remaining three fixtures. Sadly the men undid all their good work from the first fixture and dropped from 6 th (nearly 4 th ) to 9 th in Division One. In a weaker field than at Ascott, most ran reasonably but with a drop in club numbers the gaps between finishers were too large for the team to be competitive. Pancho Diaz led the team home despite badly twisting his ankle on the very hazardous course. 17 year old Ian Sanders performed really well, particularly given conditions that he'd never previously encountered, his storming finish indicating that there is more to come. Ian Fletcher was another to run well, improving 40 places on his previous outing. Once again the youngsters, coached by Paula Vass and Tim Collings, turned out in good numbers, particularly the U11 girls.
U11 Boys: 24 Mark Whistler 3.49.
U11 Girls: 7 Lucy Vass 3.32, 17 Laura Eales 3.55, 23 Olivia Williams 4.07, 24 Jenny Eales 4.11, 27 Verity Greenhaugh 4.27, 31 Zoe Frazer 4.50.
U13 Boys: 23 Liam Frazer 9.57.
U13/U15 Girls: 33 Charlotte Somers (U13) 10.38.
Women: 1 Wendy Jones 21.57, 2 Jane Wassell 22.57, 28 Diane Moore 27.48, 47 Sue Brown 30.04. 85 finished. Teams: 1 Witney 16pts, 2 Cirencester 31. 30 teams closed in. After 2 races: 1 Witney 39pts, 2 Cirencester 53. 28 teams closed in.
Men: 1 Chris Sykes ( Woodstock ) 33.01, 23 Pancho Diaz 36.18, 39 David Wright 37.47, 80 Ian Sanders 41.42, 87 Martin Pitts 42.07, 101 Ian Fletcher 43.39, 109 Chris Riches 44.30, 118 Colin O'Hare 45.03, 123 Chris Sherrington 45.24, 147 Tony Curry 47.47, 152 Dick Waldron 48.28, 178 David Edelsten 55.29. 188 finished. Teams: Div. 1 - 1 Woodstock 89pts, 9 Cirencester 557, of 10 teams. Div. 2 - 17 Cirencester 'B' 1167. 20 teams closed in. After 2 races: Div 1 - 1 Woodstock 173pts, 9 Cirencester 900. Div 2 - 10 Cirencester 'B' 2054, 18 teams closed in.
Forthcoming races and contact details:
2 January 2005 Oxford Mail XC League, Drayton School , Banbury - Directions: Take the A422 Banbury to Stratford Road . Drayton is about 1½ miles to the Northwest from Banbury Cross. Meet at 9.15 at the leisure centre or visit www.geocities.com/oxmailxc for more details. Because of the Christmas / New Year break it is often difficult to coordinate matters for this fixture. A further e-mail reminder will be sent out nearer the time but make sure the race is in the diary - it will be a good way to start the New Year and to run off all the holiday excesses. A really good turnout is needed to remedy yesterday's backtracking.
20 February 2005 Bourton-on-the-Water 10km. This may seem a long way off but it is a very popular race and the strict entry limit is always reached some weeks before the race. Note also that this race will form the first in the club's road race championship for 2005. More details of how this works in the new year. Entry forms have not yet been spotted but will be left by the club noticeboard as soon as they are issued. In the meantime keep an eye out on the Bourton website for details of the race, which has once again had a course change following police intervention, www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk
CHRISTMAS PARTY
This Friday, 10 th December, at the Corinium Court Hotel at 7 for 7.30pm . Jenny Hill (01285 653733) advises that there has been an excellent take up of places but there are still a few available. All those who have booked will receive confirmation details from Jenny. Put on your glad rags and be ready to party!
MISCELLANY
. David Edelsten has produced some fascinating statistics having researched the history of the Cirencester 10km race promoted by the club. From 1987 to 1992 the race took place in and around Siddington, it then moved to Chedworth until 1998, taking in an extra race in 1997 on the Cirencester by-pass just prior to the road being opened, before finding a home in Cirencester Park in 1999 where it still resides.
In many ways the 10km has come full circle. There were 206 & 314 runners in 1988 and 1989 compared to 218 & 373 in 2003 and 2004. In the interim, numbers averaged 150 with a range of 62-200. We are currently well and truly back to the running boom first encountered in the late 1980's. There are, however, major differences in the make up of the fields. During the Siddington years the breakdown of finishers was broadly 35-40% under 40 minutes and 2% over 60 minutes. Even as late as 1999, 38% broke 40 minutes and only 2% took longer than an hour. In the last two years the make-up has been 12-15% under 40 minutes and 7-16% over 60 minutes. A detailed analysis of the results can be found on the club noticeboard.
. As usual the leisure centre will be closed over the Christmas period. With Christmas falling on a weekend, only one Tuesday will be missed, on 28 December. The last Tuesday session before the break will take place on 21 December and the centre will be open again in time for Tuesday 4 January 2005 . There will be no organised club training runs on Sunday 26 December or Sunday 2 January. The latter date is, of course, the third Oxford League fixture.
Season's greetings to all at the club. 2004 has been a very successful year with a large influx of new members - hopefully 2005 will see us all fitter and faster (as well as older!).
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 |
