The Earl of Bathurst witnessed a truly magnificent day for the club in his back garden on Sunday. Victory for the ladies, giving them the outright lead with one race to go of this season's Oxford Mail league, and third place for the men. Read about it all below. But pride of place this month goes undoubtedly to Jane Wassell who, as a result of finishing fifth in the county championship, has been selected to run for Gloucestershire in the inter-counties in March. This is a very fine achievement and just reward for the mother of three from Tetbury who has run so consistently all winter in both the Oxford and Gloucestershire leagues (see below). Well done, Jane.

RESULTS

08.01.2005 Gloucestershire League, Droitwich. Despite not running in this final fixture, Jane Wassell still won the overall LV35 title after finishing 3rd, 4th & 5th in the first three fixtures. There was only one senior woman ahead of her so this was a pretty impressive performance from Jane.

15.01.2005 Gloucestershire County XC Championship, Pittville Park , Cheltenham .
Breakthrough runs from Jane Wassell and Bill Leggate along with some excellent junior results were the highlight of the championships.

U11 Boys: 3 George Collings 6.29, 12 Jack Landor 7.09, 19 Elliot Manners 7.39, 20 Mark Whistler 7.51. Team 3rd

U11 Girls: 7 Lucy Vass 7.06.

U13 Boys: 13 Liam Frazer 17.27.

U13 Girls: 12 Robyn Maxtone 15.37, 13 Alice Thomas 16.26, 14 Henrietta Ward 16.54. Team 3rd

U15 Girls: 7 Jenny Manners 22.52

Women: 1. S Morris ( Windsor ) 22.37, 5 Jane Wassell (1st FV35) 24.44.

Men: 1. P Kellie ( Gloucester ) 30.42, 22 Bill Leggate 36.07, 30 Martin Pitts 37.08.

15.01.2005 Cambridgeshire County XC Championship, Huntingdon.
Although running for her local club, Cirencester's very own Ellen Leggate won the Cambridgeshire championship by nearly a minute, the fourth time she has prevailed in this race.

Women: 1. Ellen Leggate (C&C) 24.49, 2. C Hibbert (Thorn) 25.29.

23.01.2005 Slaughterford '9' multi terrain race, nr. Chippenham.
Overnight snow made conditions very arduous for this already difficult off road race. The on road bits were particularly dangerous as the snow had frozen into ice. The club's intrepid multi-terrainer David Edelsten was not put off, however, and ploughed on for a good finish. At least one other club member, who shall remain nameless, woke up, opened the curtains and immediately went back to bed instead of putting on his racing shoes!

1. P Murrin (Chepstow) 55.39, 224 David Edelsten (O60) 1.29.52, 323 finished.

06.02.2005 Oxford Mail XC League, Cirencester Park :
The park looked its best with early mist clearing to reveal sunshine over the polo fields to welcome the travelling circus that is the Oxford Mail cross country league. Sufficient rain had fallen over the previous 24 hours to ensure that there was some give in the ground; thus the course was in perfect condition. Thanks to the efforts of a number of the committee, who spent much of a wet Saturday setting out the course, there were no problems on the day and all the comments from visitors were positive. As to the racing it is probably fair to say that the club has never collectively had such a successful day in its 20 year history. There were 13 youngsters wearing red & black in the junior age group races, including no less than seven in the U11 girls. It was good to see that rather than just running around the polo field, a bit of thought had gone into the course design giving even the youngest a run through the woods. In the senior ranks it was the ladies first off and in less than half an hour's running the dream team of Jones, Leggate & Wassell swept the club from third overall into a five point lead in the league with just one fixture left. Ellen Leggate made the long journey down from Cambridge to support ever presents Wendy Jones & Jane Wassell and they absolutely slaughtered the opposition. Wendy's marathon training is clearly paying off as she had another totally dominant victory. Ellen, coming off injury, was always well clear of the third placed runner and Jane just seems to get stronger with every race. As ever there was backup support from the rest of the team with the result that the 'B' team was ninth out of 26 teams. For once the men's race was not a case of 'after the Lord Mayor's show' as Cirencester finished four in 24, the club's best start for many years. Youngsters Chris Illman and Peter Holmes both started fast and held on well to their positions throughout the race over a pretty tough course; this was particularly impressive from Peter who had finished 59th in the British Universities cross country in Leeds the day before! Chris goes from strength to strength and virtually sealed overall victory in the U20 category with just one race to go. A by-product of any appearance by Ellen is always the bonus of husband Dan Leggate turning out for the club. Dan, too, is coming off injury and wearing training shoes he started steadily, causing double takes for spectators on the first lap as he ran alongside brother Bill, gradually moving through the field until surprising Pancho Diaz near the end. With Bill and Martin Pitts both having their best runs of the winter it was down to a titanic battle between Tim Collings and Duncan Atkinson for the seventh and last scoring place which was won in a sprint by Tim. In all 18 Cirencester men started the senior race, including new member Neil Dunnage, who doesn't appear in the official results (did you finish, Neil?) and David Edelsten, who dropped out clearly exhausted from setting out the course the day before. The team finished third, the best result for 10 years, and jumped from ninth to sixth overall only 128 points behind Witney in third. With a big effort in March third is not unattainable. All in all a fantastic day for the club; all those who were involved should be thanked including the numerous marshalls .

U11 Boys: 9 Jack Lander 5.36, 17 Elliot Manners 6.03, 20 Alex Vass 6.13

U11 Girls: 6 Lucy Vass 5.46, 10 Laura Eales 6.10, 15 Laura Hobson 6.23, 21 Olivia Williams 6.55, 27 Jenny Eales 7.18, 35 Verity Greenhaugh 8.20, 36 Lauren Smith 8.45.

U13 Boys: 12 Liam Frazer 11.09.

U13/U15 Girls: 17 Jenny Manners (U15) 10.28, 28 Alice Thomas (U13) 11.22.

Women: 1 Wendy Jones 24.07, 2 Ellen Leggate 24.58, 4 Jane Wassell 26.18, 15 Helen Langsam 29.23, 31 Diane Moore 31.51, 37 Carol Clarke 32.41, 48 Sue Brown 34.27. 77 finished.

Teams: 1 Cirencester 7pts, 2 Headington 23, 9 Cirencester 'B' 83. 26 teams closed in.

Overall after 4 races: 1 Cirencester 112pts, 2 Headington 117, 3 Witney 143. 22 teams closed in.

Men: 1 William Joyce (STE) 33.47, 8 Chris Illman 35.16, 18 Peter Holmes 36.18, 21 Dan Leggate 36.30, 24 Pancho Diaz 36.51, 43 Bill Leggate 38.39, 53 Martin Pitts 39.49, 78 Tim Collings 41.27, 79 Duncan Atkinson 41.34, 115 Chris Riches 44.33, 120 Bob Ferris 44.58, 125 Chris Sherrington 45.23, 126 Colin O'Hare 45.28, 137 Peter Langsam 46.12, 141 Tony Curry 46.48, 159 Dick Waldron 49.03, 164 Chris Brough 49.31. 190 finished.

Teams: Div. 1 - 1 Woodstock 99pts, 2 Headington 140, 3 Cirencester 245, of 10 teams. Div. 2 - 1 Eynsham 449pts, 6 Cirencester 'B' 843. 20 teams closed in.

Overall after 4 races: Div 1 - 1 Woodstock 383pts, 2 Headington 418, 3 Witney 1376, 6 Cirencester 1504. Div 2 - 1 Eynsham 2081pts, 10 Cirencester 'B' 4037, 17 teams closed in.

Selected overall individual positions (best three from four races): 5th U11 girl L Vass, 1st FV35 (and overall) W Jones, 2nd FV35 (and overall) J Wassell, 10th FV45 C Clarke, 1st U20 C Illman, 13th SM P Diaz, 17th V40 M Pitts, 12th V50 C Riches, 2nd O60 T Curry, 4th O60 D Waldron.

RANKINGS

After four 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 23pts, 2. J Wassell 18, 3=. D Moore, H Langsam 9, 5. C Clarke 7, 6. E Leggate 6, 7. S Brown 4, 8. E Wilson 3, 9. S McKeeman 2.

Men: 1. P Diaz 52pts, 2. C Illman 46, 3. B Leggate 34, 4. D Atkinson 27, 5=. D Wright, C Riches, M Pitts 26, 8. P Holmes 25, 9. C O'Hare 18, 10. R Sinclair 15, 11=. C Sherrington, D Leggate 14, 13=. I Fletcher, N Morris, P Langsam 13, 16=. M Gluning, T Curry 11, 18=. T Willson, T Collings 10, 20=. I Sanders, J Baraclough 9, 22=. P Barlow, R Ferris 7, 24 D Waldron 6, 25 J Nicholls 5, 26. D Edelsten 3, 27. C Brough 1.

FORTHCOMING RACES & CONTACT DETAILS:

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 previously highlighted this race fills up very quickly so, if not already too late, 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 (see below).

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

6 March Oxford Mail XC League, Horspath, Oxford . Race headquarters are at the running track in Horspath, very near the main Cowley car plants, and the race is over Oxford University 's famous Shotover course. From Cirencester the best route is probably via Burford onto the A40, turning right off the Oxford ring road onto the A4142. The left turn to the track is about two miles down this road. Alternatively those departing from Fairford or Swindon might find it quicker to go via Faringdon and the A420 to Oxford and then around the southern ring road which becomes the A4142. The race HQ will then be on the right after the Cowley car plants. 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 . This is a really big day for the club so a large attendance is needed. A map giving directions can be found on www.geocities.com/oxmailxc and race results are usually posted on this website by late Sunday evening

13 March Forest of Dean ½ Marathon . Another race that fills up to capacity very quickly. Forms 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

20 March at 10.30 Cleevewold '13', Winchcombe, nr Cheltenham . A tough 13 mile multi-terrain race with 1500 ft of climbing. Exhilarating high level running (when you get up there!) and definitely one to tick off as having been done. Details www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk

2005 CLUB ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP

The designated races for this year's championship are as follows:

20 February Bourton 10km www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk

13 March Forest of Dean ½ Marathon www.rotary-royalforestofdean.org.uk/trails.html

24 April Highworth 5 mile www.swindonweb.com/hrc

19 May (Thursday) Globe Inn ( Gloucester ) 5km www.severnac.co.uk

5 June Fairford Festival 10km www.fairford.org/10K/index.html

11 July (Monday) tbc Frampton-on-Severn 10km www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk

3 August (Wednesday) Bugatti 10km (nr Winchcombe) www.cheltenhamharriers.co.uk

11 September Witney 10 mile www.witneyroadrunners.org.uk

23 October Stroud ½ Marathon www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk

There are nine races, one each month from February to October, with best six scores to count towards the separate men and women championships. As oft stated a lot of these races reach their limits very quickly so plan ahead, get the entry forms from the above web sites or the club noticeboard and enter early. To qualify runners must be fully paid-up members of Cirencester AC and be representing the club at the race. Points awarded to the first 15 finishers on a reducing basis from 15 down to 1. Based on times achieved in 2004, as published in the last newsletter, bonus points will be awarded for improvements: 1 minute or more = 5pts, 45 seconds = 4pts, 30 seconds = 3pts, 15 seconds = 2pts and up to 15 seconds = 1pt. The Globe Inn, Fairford, Bugatti & Stroud races form part of the Gloucestershire County road race series.

MISCELLANY

. apologies to Helen Langsam for omitting her name from the list of ladies that won the Oxford League in 2003/2004. Sorry, Helen, blame it on the New Year excesses and let's hope that you are part of another winning team in 2004/2005!

. finally, a reminder that anyone with results from non-mainstream events that would be missed by the editor, or who wishes to contribute an article or even an observation for the newsletter, should send such information to wrights@tesco.net

More information and news, including past newsletters, can be found on the club's website www.cirencester - ac.org.uk .

David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224