AGM

On 14 September the club AGM was held in the surreal surroundings of squash court no. 3 in the leisure centre. Nearly 30 members attended and heard the three senior officers all reporting in a very upbeat mood of the vibrancy in the club that has materialised in the last 12 months. Full minutes of the AGM will become available in due course but for the newsletter herewith a short précis of proceedings.

Bob Ferris commenced matters with his Chairman's report. The highlight of the year had clearly been the success of the ladies in the Oxford league. He also stated that numbers had increased dramatically on Tuesday night sessions, although he would like to see more out at 09:30 on Sunday mornings. The Sunday night swimming sessions were also extremely popular and Paula's junior club sessions on a Wednesday evening were also very well attended.

David Edelsten, in his last meeting as club secretary, reported on the success of races staged by the club: 420 ran the Roman Trail multi-terrain at Chedworth and 260 the 10k in Cirencester Park ; both races creating a good surplus for the club. In addition Cirencester hosted an Oxford league fixture (always one of the best attended of the winter despite the distance most of the Oxon. based clubs have to travel) and the Gloucestershire county cross country championships in January. The club is affiliated to the Glos AAA, Oxford League, British Association of Road Races and the British Triathlon Association. Regular articles appear in the local Wilts & Glos Standard. Elaine Wilson will take over as the new club secretary with Chris Sherrington handling publicity.

The treasurer, Colin O'Hare, presented a very positive looking income & expenditure account for the year, which reflected the comments previously made and showed that finances are buoyant.

When the meeting was opened up for members to air any comments there was a vote of thanks proposed by Tony Curry for all the work done by David Edelsten over many years. As a mark of the club's appreciation for his efforts Bob Ferris presented David with a bottle of malt whisky. Lisa Darroch also proposed a vote of thanks for all the efforts put in by Bob Ferris during the year.

Lyn Ferris remarked how successful the new once a month Thursday evening runs had become, whereby each month a different venue was chosen. Bob Ferris thanked Jenny Hill for organising a very successful annual dinner, Paula Vass, Ian Sadler and Tim Collings for running the junior section of the club, David Wright for starting up the newsletter and members in general for all their help and support at the club's race promotions.

After the meeting members percolated into the bar and enjoyed a drink very generously supplied by the committee on behalf of the club.

RESULTS

Chris Riches advises that Tim Willson won a bronze medal in the marathon at the World Firefighters Games in Sheffield last month. His award was for his age group (45-49) and his time was 3h 24m 36s. He goes on: " The international field was first class, as you would expect, and very competitive, as you would expect, so Tim did exceptionally well. The winner was from Spain (2h 37m) and the silver medallist was from Hong Kong . This was Tim's tenth marathon and his second fastest time on a two lap challenging course in Clumber Park , Nottingham ."

Bob Ferris reports on triathlons recently held on consecutive weekends:

"Faringdon Triathlon 5 th September 2004

Only two intrepid souls braved the heat and bumpy roads for the 5 th Faringdon Triathlon on September 5 th, Wendy "look at my new bike" Jones and Bob "my bike was new once" Ferris. The course included an 800m pool swim, water was wet but no hills, then 55k bike, more or less riding back to Cirencester on very bumpy roads (I bet nobody from Glos C.C. rides a bike), followed by an 8.5k run, some on road and some on tracks, with one big hill, not an easy run.

Wendy in only her second triathlon was second lady, 4 th overall run split, finishing in 2h 48m.

Bob managed to finish without having to switch on his lights and was back for swim training that evening. Time 2h 35m - I think.

All in all a good event. Harder than expected, and did I mention the bumpy roads?

Star Date - September 12 th 2004 at 8.00am.

The Cotswold Sprint Triathlon at the water parks - Keynes Park lake. This race being organized by my sister-in-law and club member Lorraine Ferris, I don't have to pay to enter (na, na nana na), but I do help set up the course. Again only two club members took part, Diane Moore and myself, not being one to turn down a free entry. This must be one of the better settings for triathlon and is certainly one of the better organised (look who helps out - no I did not mean Curry).

The swim section is 750m following a triangular course, the first 300m was into the sun and made spotting the first turn buoy difficult; I just followed everyone else and hoped for the best (race tactics). Once exiting the swim it was about a 50m run to transition then out on the bike - good thing about an early start was there was very little traffic on the roads. The course goes down the spine road, turns left onto the old main Swindon / Cirencester road, through Love Lane trading estate and back along the Somerford road to the lake - distance about 20k.

Into transition again and out on to the run. The two lap run around the lake is just under 5k but there were a couple of twists and turns but it's a good running surface. Considering the weather forecast for wet and windy weather, it was cool but sunny with no wind ( Ed. Lucky you didn't run the Witney '10' a few hours later, Bob, as the forecast was proved to be correct).

Diane - swim: 17.03, bike: 40.50, run: 21.34.

She was 9 th in her age group & 283 rd overall; also a lot faster than last year - top class performance.

Bob - I took my time, having not paid I wanted to get good value.

Swim: 13.17, bike: 34.06, run: 18.47. 2 nd over 50, 62 nd overall; yes I was pleased.

Starting next month - October - I plan to organise a monthly ride on a Saturday morning about 1½ - 3hrs duration, let me know if you are interested, I don't expect to hear from Wrighty or Barnsy."

12.09.2004 Cotswold Classic '10', Witney

The penultimate race of the 2004 club championship saw a relatively healthy turnout given the clash of dates with the water park triathlon. The renowned tough course was enhanced by high winds, not quite of Hurrican Ivan proportions, and lashing rain. Best club run of the day was undoubtedly Bill Leggate's PB, a result of his recent increased training for the imminent Loch Ness marathon. The organisers clearly had difficulty deciphering his entry form (he is, after all, a doctor) as he appeared as Rick Leggats in the results. Another to run well was Tim Collings, particularly as he thought he was running a 10k! Kim & Carol both ran solidly to set up a really intriguing finale to the ladies section of the club road race championship. Any one of four athletes could yet win the championship at Stroud. Remarkably an e-mail of the full results was despatched to all runners by 3.30pm on the same day as the race.

1 H Chepkwony (Army) 53.38 (having missed the start by two minutes!), 24 David Wright 1.04.46, 30 Tim Collings 1.05.52, 44 Mark Gluning 1.07.30, 45 Bill Leggate 1.07.35, 80 Paul Barlow 1.12.39, 118 Chris Sherrington 1.19.06, 136 Kim Withycombe 1.23.48, 142 Carol Clarke 1.24.35, 171 David Edelsten 1.32.27. 193 finished.

Unofficial scores in the club championship with just the Stroud ½ marathon to go:

Men: D Wright 87pts, M Pitts 58, B Ferris 53, D Atkinson 46, C Sherrington 41, T Curry 39, B Leggate 36, C Riches 31, N Morris 25, R Waldron 24, P Barlow 23, G Clarke 19, K Firkin 15, M Humphries & T Collings 14, C Illman & M Gluning 13, D Edelsten 12, J Prout 10, I Fletcher 9, J Young 5.

Women: J Wassell 58pts, C Clarke 53, K Withycombe 51, W Jones 48, K Ingleby 40, L Ferris 30, P Vass 23, S Brown 20, S McKeeman 14, E Wilson 13, J Bourke 8, A Sherrington 8.

Sunday 24 th October at 10:00 . Stroud Half Marathon

Entries close on 15 October so no time to waste. This is one of the classic races in Gloucestershire and is by far the biggest with some 1500 runners. Not to be missed! Entries close 15 October latest. Full details on www.stroudathleticclub.org.uk

Other forthcoming races and contact details:

26 September CIRENCESTER PARK 10k - entries appear to be coming in thick & fast with just a few days to go, so slick organisation will be necessary. David Edelsten will be in charge of such matters so expect to hear from him during the week regarding necessary help required. Note that there will be no need to supply cakes as the club is using outside caterers this year.

3 October at 10:30 Cricklade ½ marathon & 10km www.crickladefunrun.co.uk

3 October at 10:30 Offa's 'Orror, nr Chepstow, a race discovered by Chris Sherrington. This is a 20k multi terrain race on footpaths & forest trails forming the early part of the Offa's Dyke long distance footpath. More details of this tough race, which includes 1,600 ft of climbing, can be found on www.chepstowharriers.org.uk Whether Chris is running has yet to be announced but watch this space!

17 October at 11:00 Swindon ½ marathon (new race) www.swindonhalfmarathon.co.uk

28 November at 10:30 Eynsham 10k - popular race on fast course. Must enter in advance. Forms on club noticeboard at leisure centre.

The focus for the cross country season will, of course, be the Oxford League. Fixtures have now been published and should already be in everyone's diaries (see below). Contrary to popular belief XC leagues are not for elite athletes - if they were Cirencester AC would not take part - they are for club runners of all standards. By turning out on the first Sunday of each month running against the same clubs, the races are a perfect barometer of how the winter running is going. The ladies race is usually about 5000 metres (3 miles) and the mens race 8500 metres or 5½ miles. There is no entry fee, just turn up on the day. As each race approaches full details of the venue will be published in the newsletter as well as any meeting times for group travel. Full details on the league, including results from previous years, can be found on www.geocities.com/oxmailxc

7 November Ascott-u-Wychwood

5 December Enslow Quarry

2 January Drayton School , Banbury

6 February Cirencester Park

6 March Shotover, Horspath, nr. Cowley

MISCELLANY

At long last we have reached the final part of Rupert Chesmore's trilogy detailing his participation in the 145 mile Birmingham to London canal race. Any new readers should refer to newsletters nos 3 & 4 for the first two parts as well as an explanation (the newsletters can be accessed via the club's website).

"From the waist upwards I was fine. Everything below was very very tired, numb and sore. Thankfully no blisters yet, (but I spoke too soon!) and I was still able to eat and drink. Geographically I had no idea where I was and was totally in the hands of by now two support crew all the time. J & J were summoned from their B&B to get to an agreed site NOW. Missing their breakfast, they got going only to get another message that I would not be there for another three hours! Anyway they raided a supermarket for more supplies, including marmalade sandwiches and more socks. Drying damp socks on the windscreen blower was not that effective. By midday the crew harmony was restored but that canal map / road map problem caused some grief as they tried to meet up at different points, even two different supermarkets. Old canal bridges are numbered, new ones not, and from the towpath you cannot read the street names, I just kept walking on....

Somewhere on that Sunday morning I realised that I needed to lie down,'five mins only' I said as I crumpled and out I went. I was unaware that as I lay out cold I was twitching and jerking. My loyal crew stood proudly beside me appearing not to notice as a local lady walked by. 'Oh he always does this....' five mins up I climbed and onwards. I repeated this requirement several times before the end, and Jo was always worried that I would collapse onto a dog muck, she scanned the grass carefully, so kind. The closer we got to London more house boats, some smart, others very hippy, others rotting hulks. All narrow boat owners have beards (just like Dick) and all drink like fishes. They all encouraged us, amazed at where we had started. The fishermen on the other hand were less friendly, reluctantly moving long poles and clutter. At one point there was a cloudburst. Under our bridge it was nice and dry but J & J had an accident as some one slid into the back of their car in the wet conditions. I just kept walking on. Apparently we had passed under the M25 and there was a surprising area of green countryside before the industrial wastelands.

Inevitably meeting points were at canal-side pubs. One chosen turned out to be a strip joint and the next one was the scene of a fight as the crew arrived. Chairs did fly into the canal and Jo and Liza had to be held back from 'sorting them out'. The good name of the club was at stake. I just kept on walking...and falling down. 35, 30 only a marathon to go, 20, 15 miles. This was painful. Blisters now up the side of one heel and all across the sole of the other foot. Finally the turn up the Paddington Arm at 133 miles: 12 to go final passage control, 74 in 74 out and a fluorescent flashing dog collar? Put it on your arm for safety. I'm a country boy born and bred so I was oblivious to the canalside drugs dealing that went on as we headed into the metropolis. I heard another rave but was so impressed with the guy taking his whole sound system along on the towpath with a sack truck. Clever these Londoners. Damp patch in my shoe, biggest blister burst. Don't look, don't touch. Just keep forwards.

The two cars went ahead to the finish and then everyone agreed to come back down the path to finish with me. There was one problem with this. Someone, who shall be nameless only admitted afterwards that (a) he had never driven a big 4WD like mine before, (b) never driven an automatic and (c) never driven in London . But then he was in good company with the navigator who muddled up the blue M4 with the blue line of the canal on his map. Out of the darkness somehow they appeared. Oh it's just around the next bend, not far to go. That last few miles took a very long time. Suddenly there in the distance a yellow flashing light, a final hallucination ? That's the finish..... 50 yards to go and I managed to get back into a run. Small band of organisers clapping, photo flashing and Dick Kearn put a medal around my neck. That's it.... all over. Final photo of all the crew, turn up across the road into the car and asleep.

Yes I was No 74 who went the whole way but if it had not been for the team effort of the crew I certainly would not have done it. Without their moral and physical support I would have been a DNF. I can never really thank them enough for their time and effort. The real heroes are those who complete unsupported relying on the organisers for only food and drink.

Stats: 52 starters 23 finishers. I finished 21st in 43 hrs 43 mins, averaging 18.01 mins per mile The winner took 32 hrs 26 mins. I was asked whether I would ever try and do such an event again. Of course I denied such thoughts, but then I did have my fingers crossed behind my back......... and I am MAD....."

Further to the note in the last newsletter about Norm Lane 's run from John O'Groats to Lands End, the club has made a £100 donation to the arthritis charity for which he ran. His journey is described on www.normlane.org.uk

Following Lyn Ferris' comments at the AGM and the success of the social gathering held afterwards, Bob Ferris has proposed that on the first Tuesday (or any other) of each month we try and finish training by 7.30pm and then congregate in the bar for 20-30 minutes for a social chat and drink. Thus, the first such evening will be Tuesday 5 th October.

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

STOP PRESS:

The annual club dinner will this year be held on Friday 10th December at the Corinium Court Hotel (the same venue as last year). More details next time

David Wright

wrights@tesco.net or 01285 641224