HEADLINES

• Wendy Nicholls competes for Great Britain in World ½ Marathon Championships.
• Jane Wassell selected for first international vest, Wendy Nicholls also picked.
• Men qualify for National Relay Championships for first time.
• Cirencester 10km a great success with record numbers participating.
• Numerous individual wins for Chris Illman, Wendy Nicholls and Jane Wassell.
• Final race in club road championship at Stroud this weekend.

NEWS

More fantastic news on the international front just a week after Wendy Nicholls competed in the World ½ Marathon Championships (see below). After a year of stunning success, Jane Wassell has been picked to run for England in the Home Countries Veterans Cross Country International to be held at Stormont Park , Belfast on Saturday 17 November, her first international vest. This is the event where Nicholls’ international career started just two years ago and she has also been picked once again, giving the club two athletes in the small England team, Nicholls running in the FV35 category and Wassell the FV40 group. Wassell made Belfast her major target this year after just missing out in 2006 when she was a reserve for the team. A snapshot of her magnificent year to date shows why the selectors picked her:

• Outright and FV40 champion in Gloucestershire Cross Country League
• 5th overall in Gloucestershire County Cross Country Championship
• 4th in National Veterans Cross Country Championship (2nd FV40)
• Overall and FV40 champion elect in Gloucestershire Road Race Championship
• Champion elect in Cirencester Ladies Club Road Race Championship
• Broken 10 club age group records
• Won eight road races outright (as well as, obviously, 1st FV40) and finished 2nd five times

ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN / TRACK RESULTS

13 September, Malmesbury 5km . With fourth place here, Nicola Denning won the overall ladies title for the Malmesbury leisure centre series of 5k’s through the summer, giving her the not inconsiderable prize of six months membership of the leisure centre worth £198.

1 Ross Davidson (Corsham) 17.57

4 Nicola Denning (Cirencester, 1st lady / FV35) 19.36

6 Tony Shelbourn (1st V60) 19.52

10 Chris Riches 21.49 – club V55 record. 16 finished.

16 September, Woodchester Park ‘8’ m/t. Fine run from Chris Brough, improving his time from 2006 by over five minutes on this undulating off road race.

1 Phillip Matthews (Chepstow) 47.36

32 Chris Brough (Cirencester) 59.12. 109 finished. www.stroudac.co.uk

22 September, Midland six stage road relays, Sutton Park , nr Birmingham . With great enthusiasm, new captain Adrian Williams put together an excellent team in an attempt to qualify for the first time for the National Relays in October. To qualify the club needed to finish in the top 25; a quick glance below will show that the aim was achieved. After a typically fine run on the ultra competitive first stage by Chris Illman, in a time over a minute faster than 2006 reflecting his improvement in the last year, the rest of the team, including newcomer Charles Woodd, ran very consistently to keep the club within touching distance of the top 25. It was left to fearless Marc Fallows to run the club’s second fastest time of the day and overtake six runners on the last stage to give Cirencester the much desired qualifying spot.

1 Notts AC 1.47.29

22 Cirencester 2.03.00 (Chris Illman 18.48 (14), Charles Woodd 20.32 (23), Adrian Williams 20.47 (25), Paul Barlow 20.56 (26), Joe Barrowclough 21.34 (28), Marc Fallows 20.23 (22))

106 teams competed. www.race-results.co.uk

23 September, Cirencester Park 10km. Entries closed well ahead of race day once again as the club’s autumn promotion proved as popular as ever. Thanks to a massive amount of work done by club members both before and on race day – particular mention going to David Edelsten, Bob Ferris, Tony Curry & Rupert Chesmore – the event went very smoothly. Reflecting the year that the club has had, it was terrific to see that both winners were from the home club: Chris Illman pulverising the opposition in a fine front running display to win by over a minute, and Wendy Nicholls finishing fifth overall despite a 15 mile training run the day before as part of her World Champs build-up. Notwithstanding a large number of members officiating, the ladies won the first team prize thanks to Nicholls, Sarah Cooper and Jenny Manners.

1 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 32.50

5 Wendy Nicholls (1st lady / FV35) 34.47

12 David Wright (2nd V50) 37.12

34 Tony Shelbourn (2nd V60) 39.36

48 Jonathan Knight 40.54

57 Adam Harborow 41.30

79 Tony Kingston 42.41

86 Andrew Bradley 43.11

92 Sarah Cooper 43.26

127 Mark Evans 45.44

128 Jenny Manners 45.53

133 Alice Thomas 46.12

166 Jane Thomas 47.51

298 Barbara Thomas 53.56

323 Brian Barrowclough 55.58

334 Liz Brown 57.01. 433 finished. www.cirencester-ac.org.uk

Teams (3 to score): Men, 1 Stroud 32pts, 3 Cirencester 40pts (Illman, Wright, Shelbourn)

Women, 1 Cirencester 225pts (Nicholls, Cooper, Manners).

25 September, Bridge Inn 5km.

1 Dave Bishop (Bristol & West) 15.02

9 Wendy Nicholls (Cirencester, 1st lady / FV35) 16.31

11 Adrian Williams 17.04

18 Justin Nicholls 17.40

23 Jane Wassell (4th lady / 1st FV40) 18.01

60 Justin Davies 20.40. 103 finished. www.bristolandwestac.org.uk

29 September, Glos County XC Relays, Plock Court (4 x 2 miles). Cirencester runners were a model of consistency as they build towards the national relay championships at the end of October.

1 Bristol & West 37.53

6 Cirencester 40.25 (Bill Leggate 9.58, Paul Barlow 10.10, Marc Fallows 10.02, Adrian Williams 10.15). Fastest time, Josh Lilly ( Severn ) 8.58.

30 September, Great North ½ Marathon

1 Martin Lel ( Kenya ) 1.00.10

1,373 Martin Croucher (Cirencester) 1.35.17. 35,833 finished. www.greatrun.org

30 October, Bexhill Seafront 10km. Not only did Chris Illman win this race by two full minutes, he also took 98 seconds off his own course record, reflecting the progress he’s made in the last year.

1 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 33.49. 221 finished. www.bexhillrunners.co.uk

7 October, Cricklade 10km . Club championship event. Despite almost being knocked down by traffic at one point, Chris Illman not only continued his domination of the local road race scene but also edged ever closer to the top of the club championship leaderboard. He was well supported by fine runs from new club captain Adrian Williams and a rejuvenated & rapidly improving Justin Nicholls. A great turnout by the club resulted in good battles all the way down the field as some excellent photos on snapfish website taken by Bill Leggate and Wendy Nicholls reveal: log on to www.snapfish.co.uk enter e-mail address of cirenac@hotmail.com and password of cirenac.

1 Chris Illman (Cirencester) 32.41

4 Adrian Williams 36.05

7 Justin Nicholls 37.33

8 Joe Barrowclough 37.48

18 Tony Shelbourn (1st V60) 38.58 – equals own club V60 record

20 Martin Croucher 39.15

21 Stephen Elverd 39.19

32 Jon Young 41.31

44 Kveta Kroulikova 43.27

52 Chris Riches 44.26

65 Trudi Compton 45.58

66 Bryan Reid 46.06

67 Alice Thomas (1st FU20) 46.08

71 Wallace Ascham 47.03

106 Sandra Elphick 51.47

109 Barbara Thomas 52.00

128 Brian Barrowclough 54.24. 256 finished. www.crickladefunrun.co.uk

7 October, Cricklade ½ Marathon . A few old timers who have lost the ability to run fast enough to do 10km’s (ok the editor was scared of being beaten by Mr Nicholls!), ran the half marathon instead. This race started almost immediately after the 10km and followed the same route for three miles, causing total chaos as the half marathoners tried to weave through the back markers of the 10km.

1 Mark Hollands (Maidenhead) 1.16.45

7 David Wright (Cirencester, 1st V50) 1.21.52 – club V50 record

23 Mike Humphries 1.28.43

55 Terry Ranger 1.35.33. 235 finished. www.crickladefunrun.co.uk

7 October, Oldbury Power Station ‘10’. A fine outright win for Jane Wassell in yet another club age group record, her 10th this year.

1 Scott Hazell ( Coventry ) 52.49

30 Jane Wassell (Cirencester, 1st lady / FV40) 1.02.31 – club FV40 record.

239 finished. www.thornburyrunningclub.co.uk including photographs.

14 October, World ½ Marathon Championships, Udine , Italy . Wendy Nicholls travelled to Udine in northern Italy for her second World Championships but was disappointed by her result. Starting well, albeit near the rear of the field, reflecting the quality of this global event, she was on course for her planned 72 minute final time over the first few kilometres on a fast, flat course in perfect conditions. Unfortunately and for no apparent reason, she started feeling sick after 10km and was ultimately physically sick at the side of the road. She gamely continued to the end, one of only two Britons to finish, frustrated because her legs still felt fresh, but also glad to have been part of a world record race. Bill Leggate takes up the story of the weekend:

“Wendy's call up to the GB team for the World ½ Marathon championships provided the perfect excuse for a weekend away. The Easyjet flight to Venice lived up to it's name, although David Wright and I were glad to pass through security at Bristol airport just before a large group of Goth teenagers, who we left removing a variety of piercings, chains and other assorted metalwork to the despair of those behind. Having struggled to decipher an Italian bus timetable we were glad to rendevouz with David's daughter Natalie who became honourary interpreter, tour guide and supporter for the rest of the weekend. After watering and dining well on Saturday evening we joined Wendy and the GB team who had appropriated the TV in their hotel lounge in order to watch the rugby semi final albeit with Italian commentary . With Natalie and I confidently predicting a French victory we had to endure some gentle ribbing from Dave Bedford and co as Jonny Wilkinson kicked England to victory. It was an early start on Sunday morning with David and myself having managed, with the aid of a hastily faxed entry form and some "confused foreigner" gesticulations, to blag a free entry to the mass race, run prior to the main championships over one 7.1km lap of the course. I was pleased to finish 23rd overall in my first "international" race with David appearing not long after in 51st. Initially disappointed with his run he soon perked up on hearing he'd beaten the former London Marathon winner and erstwhile Ranelagh teammate Hugh Jones for the first time after many years of trying. It got even better as it later transpired that we can both also claim the scalp of a double Olympic champion in the form of Montreal 400m and 800m winner Alberto Jauntorena (tho' clearly no longer at quite that level of fitness!). After a short opening ceremony, closed by an impressive parachute display, it was on to the main event with the men up first. We witnessed an astounding display of running with Tadessa, cheered on by a vociferous Eritrean support, barely letting up after an opening 10km of 27.35 to win in 58.59 - an amazing 7 men finishing under the hour and a further 10 in under 61 minutes. Could the ladies race live up to this? Well it was the undoubted highlight for me, seeing Wendy lined up in her GB vest alongside Lornah Kiplagat, Deena Kastor et al. Some carefully planned sprints through the cobbled streets of Udine, past bemused Italians supping cappuchinos, allowed us to cheer on Wendy at three points of each lap and see her finish a gutsy 49th behind Kiplagat's new world record. Awesome stuff! The flight home on Monday night after an afternoon wandering round the canals of Venice provided a suitable opportunity to reflect on a fantastic and inspiring weekend ... who's up for Rio next year?!”

Leggate was being over modest about his run in the mass race as he actually went through the 5km point in a personal best of 16.48. He also took a number of photos of the World Champs which are on the club’s snapfish website.

Women:

1 Lorna Kiplagat ( Netherlands ) 1.06.25 (World Record)

49 Wendy Nicholls ( Great Britain ) 1.16.54. 56 finished. Full details can be found on www.iaaf.org and www.wrrc2007.com (note this is different to the address given last month, which will come up with a very interesting website all about industrial crane training!).

14 October, Mass Race 7.1km, Udine , Italy .

1 Lorenzo Della Pietra (Carnia Athletica) 22.17

23 Bill Leggate (Cirencester) 24.16

51 David Wright (3rd V50) 25.44. 1,100 ran. www.wrrc2007.com

14 October, Leicester Marathon . Canny competitor that he is, Stephen Elverd decided that he would gain some valuable extra points in the club championship by slipping in a mere 26.2 miles just before the deadline. As will be seen below it had the desired effect as his personal best time guarantees him a top two place and a prize at the club’s year end prizegiving. Colin Tapley had aimed to run but a trapped nerve put paid to his plans. As he’d already booked the hotel he made use of it – nothing like a short break away in Leicester in October – and lent support to Elverd.

1 Hendrik Zietsman 2.34.25

184 Stephen Elverd (Cirencester) 3.36.21 (chip time 3.35.35). 570 finished. www.leicestermarathon.org.uk

ROAD / MULTI-TERRAIN FIXTURES (Sunday unless stated)

20 October (Saturday), National 6 stage road relays, Sutton Park , nr Birmingham .

21 October, Stroud ½ Marathon at 10:00 . Club championship event.www.stroudac.co.uk

25 November, Eynsham 10km at 10:30 . Popular race that fills up very quickly. www.eynshamroadrunners.org.uk

27 January 2008 , Slaughterford m/t ‘9’. This off roader is limited to 350 entrants, is very popular and always fills up quickly www.chippenhamharriers.co.uk

RANKINGS

Chris Illman’s recent win on the tough Witney ‘10’ course in a time of 54.29 ranks him 4th in the national U23 rankings for 2007.

Apologies to Brian Barrowclough who, unnoticed by the usually eagle eyed editor, set an inaugural club V55 5km record when running 24.15 at the White Horse race in May. The fact that this time has subsequently been beaten by Chris Riches (see Malmesbury race above), takes nothing away from the achievement which will remain forever in the annals of the club’s history. Suitable recompense, in the form of a pint of beer, has changed hands!

Current club records prior to this weekend’s Stroud ½ Marathon are as follows:

U20: 1.14.16 Chris Illman, Stroud 2006

Male senior: 1.09.07 Mike Smith, Stroud 2000; Female senior: 1.17.42 Ellen Leggate 2001;

FV35: 1.12.48 Wendy Jones (Nicholls), Reading 2007;

V40: 1.17.26 David Wright, Stroud 1999; FV40: 1.23.57 Jane Wassell, Bristol 2007;

V45: 1.19.59 Brian Wither, 1992; FV45: 1.38.30 Molly Fisher, 1991;

V50: 1.21.52 David Wright, Cricklade 2007; FV50: 1.43.20 Carol Clarke, Stroud 2002

V55: 1.42.34 Bob May, Stroud 2002; FV55: 1.39.55 Carol Clarke, Leeds 2006;

V60: 1.41.43 Dick Waldron, Stroud 2002;

V65: 1.52.49 Dick Waldron, Forest of Dean 2007;

V70: 1.58.19 Fred Robson, Cricklade 2004.

CLUB ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIP 2007

With the cancellation of the Bugatti 10km due to flooding, the championship will now be best 7 out of 11 events in 2007. As a result of Stephen Elverd running in the Leicester Marathon last weekend (see above), the final outcome is still very much in the balance. His time was the fourth fastest by a club member during the year and he achieved maximum bonus points for a personal best time. Chris Illman remains the favourite if he runs at Stroud but anything can still happen. Elverd & Adrian Williams have already run in the maximum number of races so can only improve their scores by dropping a previous score and/or scoring bonus points. All to play for!

Jane Wassell cannot be beaten in the ladies competition and will therefore retain her trophy.

Unofficial scores after the Cricklade 10km and Leicester Marathon are as follows:

Men: S Elverd 159pts, A Williams 145, C Illman 143, B Leggate 120, M Fallows 118, M Croucher 109, D Wright 102, D Matts 93, C Brough 92, J Young 80, T Shelbourn 72, A Bradley 63, P Gonzalez-Diaz 57, D Waldron 56, B Reid 54, T Willson & B Ferris 50, T Ranger & M Gluning 42, D Edelsten 39, C Riches 35, D Dent & J Nicholls 34, J Barrowclough 32, P Barlow & B Barrowclough 28, N Dunnage, T Kingston & C Hook 25, C Tapley 23, R Brown 21, K Firkin 17, J Fallon 16, A Harborow 14, J Knight 13, G Grafton 11, W Ascham 10, E Sinton & A McKeeman 6, J Burgess 4, J Bennett 2.

Women: J Wassell 145pts, A Thomas 89, Corinne Clark 85, T Compton 80, B Thomas 79, S Elphick 58, N Denning 57, W Nicholls 52, S Brown 45, L Ferris 44, Carol Clarke 43, S Cooper 41, K Kroulikova 40, C Blampied 29, C Bolam 27, J Manners 25, K Withycombe 22, C Cox 18, R Brown 16, E Wilson 15, S McKeeman 13, J Hill 12, J Green 9, N Hunt 7.

The final fixture is the Stroud ½ Marathon on 21 October (see above).

GLOUCESTERSHIRE ROAD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP 2007

Just two races remain and a number of Cirencester athletes are in the frame for prizes. Jane Wassell (Ladies Open and FV40) and David Wright (V45, based on age as at 1 January) both lead in their categories and Andy Bradley (V50) is a close second. Scores and rules can be viewed on the official website www.runnerduck.co.uk/running. The final fixtures are as follows:

21 October, Stroud ½ Marathon (see above)

4 November (provisional), Tewkesbury ‘5’ www.tewkesburyac.blogspot.com

CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

13 October, Gloucestershire League, Blackbridge, Gloucester . Jane Wassell started her cross country season with a fine run in a classy field. Marc Fallows & Paul Barlow had good workouts in advance of their participation in the National Road Relays.

U11 Boys: 3 Cameron Wassell 7.54

U13 Boys: 32 Lewis Wassell 13.01

Ladies:

1 Rachel Felton (Stroud) 24.42

5 Jane Wassell (Cirencester, 1st FV35) 26.18. 86 finished

Men:

1 Phil Wylie (Bristol & West) 31.14

15 Marc Fallows (Cirencester) 34.15

28 Paul Barlow 35.20. 152 finished. www.glosaaa.org.uk

CROSS COUNTRY FIXTURES

The cross country season is upon us and that means, principally, the Oxford League for Cirencester AC. For newer members – there are lots – this league is very much a team affair. There is no entry fee payable – the club pays a fee covering the whole season – and you do not need to enter in advance. Just turn up on the day with club vest and usually £1 for parking, then race. In the men’s race each team comprises seven runners and in the women it is three to score. In both cases the more that run the better as the club can then finish A, B, C, D teams etc. Last season the men had their best season ever with the A team finishing second in Division One and the B team winning Division Two. The women have won the league outright for the last four seasons! The courses are usually muddy but great fun and there is always a really good atmosphere. Full results are always published on the league website by the evening of race day.

Fewer runners do the Gloucestershire League mainly as the emphasis is on Oxford , but the races are there to be run, just turn up on the day, pay an entry fee and take part. There are always a handful of club runners taking part.

Note that Oxford League races are on Sundays and Gloucestershire League on Saturdays. Respective websites are www.oxonxc.org and www.glosaaa.org.uk

4 November, Oxford League at Ascott-u-Wychwood. A big turnout is needed for the first race of the winter to build momentum from the start. 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 women start at 11:10 and the men at 11:40 . The course includes a water jump and a few hills. There should be a map to the race on the league website.

17 November, Glos League at Leamington

2 December, Oxford League at Culham Park

15 December, Glos League at Pittville Park, Cheltenham

30 December, Oxford League at Drayton School , Banbury

2 February 2008 , Glos League at Gloucester (exact venue to be advised)

3 February, Oxford League at Cirencester Park

2 March, Oxford League at Horspath, Oxford

TRIATHLON / DUATHLON FIXTURE

18 November, Cirencester Park off road duathlon at 10:00 . This twice a year event organised by Lorraine & Kevin Ferris always seems to attract muddy conditions. Format is 2mile run, 10mile bike, 2mile run or novice/youngsters event of 1-5-1 . The second fixture is on 17 February 2008 . See www.triferris.com

CLUB ADMINISTRATION

The club’s AGM held on 25 September was a lively affair with much active debate. One of the consequences of the evening was to facilitate more openness within the club by publishing minutes, or extracts thereof, of the AGM and committee meetings during the year. The committee is currently looking at how this can best be established with the likely outcome being that they will be published on a members only menu, that is password protected, on the club website. In the meantime it is considered important that the current members of the committee are listed:

Chairman: Bob Ferris

Secretary: Dick Waldron

Treasurer: Colin O’Hare

Captain: Adrian Williams

Membership Secretary: Sandra Elphick

Committee members: Tony Curry, Trudi Compton, Jenny Hill, Chris Sherrington

NEW MEMBERS

Two new members this month, Bill Eaton and Justin Davies, the latter having already made his debut for the club in the recent Bridge Inn 5km.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

The club’s previous venue for this outrageous occasion is no longer big enough to cope with such a rapidly growing organisation, so Jenny Hill has been scouring the countryside for an alternative as she explains here:

“Attention all party animals: it’s time to be thinking of donning the glad rags and preparing for a night of drinking, eating, drinking, dancing, drinking, socialising, drinking, oh and a spot of prize giving!!

The annual Christmas Party & Prize giving has been booked for Friday 14th December, at AV8 Kemble, the cost will be £25:00 per person for a four course dinner and will include a ½ bottle of wine (per person). The club have kindly agreed to cover the cost of a disco.

If anyone is interested I will try to arrange a coach from Cirencester but please let me know as the more we have the cheaper it will be!

I can be contacted on Tuesday nights at the club (I’m the one at the back, talking!) or on (01285) 653733, hillmrshl@aol.com or at 52 Purley Rd. Cirencester GL7 1EP .

Jenny Hill” Cheques to Jenny please, made payable to Cirencester AC.

TRAINING

As most people are now aware, the club are meeting at Deer Park school on Tuesday evenings until the leisure centre is reopened, likely to be well into 2008. With the colder weather and dark evenings now with us, rather than wait around in cars for the session to start it would make more sense to meet inside the school near to the car park. The facilities are excellent with comfortable showering and changing that will make moving back to the leisure centre feel like a retrograde step! As for last winter, club coach Bob Ferris has produced a schedule of planned locations for club sessions so that anyone arriving late will know where to go. These sessions will be updated monthly in the newsletter. Note that they are only plans and there may be some variation:

23 October – College, 30 October – school, 6 November – abbey grounds, 13 November – school,

20 November – Tetbury hill, 27 November – school.

For newer members, the sessions at the various locations are:

School – efforts on floodlit astroturf circuit

College – efforts on 600m road circuit (only run during college holidays)

Tetbury hill – one mile road circuit starting from leisure centre

Abbey grounds – variable distance road efforts on footpaths lit by street lamps in and around grounds.

To alleviate overcrowding on some of the Tuesday sessions, particularly on the astroturf and at the abbey grounds, it has been decided that a second group will train at different locations in town during the winter months, although all will meet at Deer Park . A separate e-mail will go out to those in this group.

All members are, of course, welcome and encouraged to join in for a relaxing drink, cheesy chips and lively debate in local hostelry Somewhere Else in Castle Street after the club session.

MISCELLANY

… at the recent AGM it was agreed that the club would donate £300 to a charity supported by club member Sarah Cooper. This is very close to her heart as the following very touching article explains:

“I ran the Bristol ½ Marathon on 9th September to raise funds for the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. The club has made a really generous donation to the hospital’s charity - The Wallace and Grommit Grand Appeal - and I wanted to convey my thanks and also to explain a little about the reasons why I chose to run for this Charity.

Lola, my daughter, was born 15 months ago with a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. It’s basically a complex hole in the heart condition, with four associated defects which leaves her blue and breathless. We discovered the condition when she was five weeks old and she was immediately referred to Bristol . She underwent major surgery a few weeks later. That however, was a ‘palliative’ procedure to alleviate her symptoms and allow her to grow enough for her ‘full repair’. Amazingly, once her repair is done, her outlook is very positive and children with her condition do really well.

The Children’s Hospital is a regional unit providing specialist care for the whole of the southwest. The staff and the facilities are truly family orientated. The staff are endlessly patient with answering questions, explaining treatments and offering their support. There are play rooms for patients and their siblings, children’s entertainers visit the wards, siblings and the whole family are encouraged to participate in the care and recovery of the patient in a noisy and colourful environment – just like home! Funds from Wallace and Grommit’s Grand Appeal allow the hospital to provide care above and beyond what is possible with NHS resources.

It is year ago since Lola's first operation and her full repair is scheduled for later this week (4th October).  I was chatting to a friend recently about our experiences.  I recalled a night, a year ago, when Lola was in intensive care post-operatively and not very stable.  I had forgotten to arrange a bed in the family hostel for Ruby (Lola’s twin sister) and me.  I put Ruby in her bouncy chair, sat by Lola's incubator and prepared to wait for the night to pass. My husband went to fetch my bags from the cardiac ward and set off home to see the other children. The staff on the ward were having none of it.  They found me a room on the ward (probably against NHS protocol, as at that point Lola was not their patient).  When I crawled up there in the early hours, carrying an exhausted Ruby in her bouncy chair, I was physically and emotionally shattered.  I found a softly lit room, a bed made up for me and cot made up for Ruby, my belongings placed where they should be and Lola's good luck cards put out on the shelf.  The night staff had done it all.  It is something I won't forget and one of the reasons I wanted to raise funds for them. Thank you for helping me to support this Charity.” 

… Rupert Chesmore (this end) and Liza Darroch (that end) are pleased to advise that the 60 pairs of used trainers donated by members of the club have safely reached their destination in Ethiopia and are currently being distributed to Aspiration Hope. We all look forward to hearing how much faster the shoes go over there than they did over here!

… Tony Shelbourn, who has made a big impression at the club since joining in the spring, both in terms of his considerable ability (nationally ranked in the V60 category) and his impact on the social side of things, is departing these shores at the end of October. Happily he will be returning in the spring, fitter and faster so he states, after taking a six month tour of America with his lovely wife.

David Wright: wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224