On Saturday some of our Juniors, all boys (now, come on girls!!!), ran in the National Primary Schools Cross-Country Championships at Stoneleigh, in Warwickshire. The course was tough, undulating with long grass, but the weather was not the usual XC weather (see photo). Albert pleased with his medal Representing the Club, in the Year 4 boys race (U9s), we had: Brecon Musk and George Platts . In Year 5 (U10s) race it was: Ruaridh Wright , and in Year 6 (U11s), it was George's

Quite a busy weekend for our members competing over distances from 5 mi to half marathon on road and trail – all today Sunday 22 nd . We'll start with the run that looked the most fun! Chianti trail half marathon (Italy, obviously) Angela Hilditch covered just about 3,000ft of elevation in this trail race, and looking at her photos on Strava no wonder her comment was “Stunning scenery, really fun, very hilly ⛰️🍇” Angela Hilditch with the enviable scenery behind of the

15 March 2026, Fission ‘20’ and HM at Berkeley former Power Station Shifting from a Saturday to clash with Mothering Sunday didn’t seem to reduce by too much the numbers running the Fission 20 and HM races at Berkeley this year. Whilst the 20 mile race was in the Glos AAA road race series, it also attracts runners from Wales, Avon, Wiltshire and even further afield. some of them of a very high standard ( the winning time for the 20 miles was faster than anyone from our clu

Each summer we measure some performances on the track and field, so we can see how the Teens, in particular, are progressing. In addition to just looking at how the performanne level changes over time, we use a couple of established standards: the English Schools Sports Associations (ESAA) standards and the EA PB Awards standards. I have already reported on the ESAA achievements by Juniors and Teens . For the PB Awards, there are no U11 standards, the lowest age group being

As mentioned in the QuadKids competition blog , here I am going to report the best performances, last summer semester, as determined by the England Schools Athletics Association standards. The standards are set up to motivate children and recognise their improvement and go from 1 to 9. Age is not a factor, but gender is, so the expectation is that children will increase their level, or "stages" as ESAA call them as they do athletics events. Consequently, it's almost impossibl

As mentioned in the QuadKids competition blog , here I am going to report the best performances from last summer semester, as determined by the England Schools Athletics Association standards. The standards are set up to motivate children and recognise their improvement and go from 1 to 9. Age is not a factor, but gender is, so the expectation is that children will increase their level, or "stages" as ESAA call them as they do athletics events. Consequently, it's almost impos

Several Juniors represented their districts in the Gloucestershire Year 5 and 6 Primary School Championships, last Sunday, at Ashley Manor Preparatory School. Representing their districts were: Year 5's: Hetty Franklin, George Farmer, Jacob Harrison and Ruaridh Wright Year 6's: Albert Platt, Clari Wallis, and Digby Withington The Gloucestershire districts competing were: Cheltenham Cirencester Cotswolds (North) Dursley Forest Gloucester Stroud Tewkesbury The course wasn't you

Aria and Henry in Glos Sportshall Team colours. Last weekend Aria Stavrakakis and Henry Thomas represented the County at the South West Sportshall athletics championships in Taunton, Devon. Henry ran in the hurdles and obstacles races in the Boys' Under 11 age category Aria ran in the four lap race and the relay in the Under 13 girls. The Sporthall competitions are team events at this level and Henry's team came 4th, and Aria's 3rd. Aria on her relay leg and Henry going over

It was a relatively quiet week for racing, with just 3 road races on Sunday 8 th March, although lots of members were out at the weekend putting in long training runs as part of their Spring marathon preparation. One of those building several races into his marathon plan is Mike Hobbs, and he’s on a bit of a roll! In his third race at least this year, this time at the Dorney Lake course (Ed. I know it well – great for a PB attempt if the wind isn’t too bad) Mike, who is in

Before the regular reporting on last week’s racing, just a reminder on a couple of important dates coming up :- 1 st April - last chance to nominate members for various 2025 awards – this year we have hopefully made it easier and there is an online form for you to fill in – please follow this long! link https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=DQSIkWdsW0yxEjajBLZtrQAAAAAAAAAAAAGBUbVcqtBUNE01VFZROENJNjJMWVZCTzlSMDdFRlZNOC4u&route=shorturl 28 th April – AGM

The last regular weekly report before the editor’s holiday was published on 1 st February. This is a catch-up report covering the next 3 weeks to 22 nd February. *************************Cross-country series*********************** Newsfeed items have kindly been posted by Dorian Matts covering the cross-country events on 7 th and 14 th Feb (Cotswold Farm Park and Pittville Park). A short item confirming the consequent position on the club championships for 2025/26 was

As covered in Dorian's news item on 18th February, the last of the Glos county series of XC races took place at Pittville Park in Cheltenham on 14th February. The 4 races in the series were the fixtures for the club XC championship and were October 12th - Tinkley Gate near Woodchester November 1st - Cirencester Park December 14th - Bath University February 14th - Pittville Park, Cheltenham No ladies took part in any of the races, so the club shield/cup won't be awarded for th

If I was to ask Club members about what should your training comprise, most would answer : a long steady run, an interval session, and a tempo run. And, of course, they would be right. Some would add that 80% of runs should be easy and the rest intense. So here’s the question - why? Why not all intense or all easy? Why not 50/50? Ok, this may sound like an academic exercise (pun intended) but perhaps an understanding of what the different types of training do, may help runner

William taking the water crossing with style! On a cool but sunny day, many of our Juniors and Teens took part in the last Glos XC league race at Pittville Park in Cheltenham. For some it was yet another race in the series but for others their first time taking on the challenge of cross-country. We had a good turnout for the Under 11s race (second race of the day): Alex Willis, Charlie Goodman (first timer), Clari Walllis, Digby Withington, George Farmer, Henry Thomas, Hetty

Big turnout by the Oxfordshire XC League Clubs - the dogs weren't running! I haven't run all the cross-country (XC) races this year, but the last two Oxfordshire league races were quite something : big fields, great courses and not being dominated by one Team. This month's race (they're on the first Sunday of each month, November to March) was at Cotswold Farm Park, near Guiting Power and was a pukka XC course, only missing one thing in my opinion:- a water crossing. It had b

From Juniors to Seniors : Ed Knight, Alice Averies, Aaron Willis and Kate Sackett There’s so much information on how to train, what to do, when to do it, etc. that it’s difficult to sometimes know what to do. Also, fellow runners are apt (it’s human nature) to tell you what worked for them. It may have worked for them, but will it work for you? Hmm. I call that anecdote. So the purpose of this article is to help you decide how to train, in a way that works for you. Let me st

********************REDUCED/DELAYED RACE REPORT SERVICE IN FEBRUARY*********** With thanks again to our excellent results co-ordinator David Wright, we’re expecting the raw race results to be uploaded to the club website on a timely basis as usual – see here https://www.cirencesterac.com/results However, these accompanying commentaries will be subject to a variable delay over the next several weeks. If you do race, then please consider posting about it, including any ph

The Gloucestershire County AAA 2026 road race series kicked off today with the a 10 mile race along the country lanes near Boddington, organised by CLC Striders. Fortunately the weather decided to stay dry and the sun even appeared for the latest finishers. Now in its 3 rd year after the previous Staverton 10 course based at the airfield was compromised by housing development, the 4-lap race is virtually car-free (but this year not horse-free!!) and fairly flat, albeit pro

Henry's so fast, he's a blur ! The third Sportshall event was completed in mid-December (14th), but the results were a little late getting to me. We had only one Under 11 : Henry Thomas and the two usual U13 girls : Aria Stavrakakis and Katie Leicester. Again they were all well supported by Aria's mum, Fritha. Henry did three individual events : speed bounce, vertical jump and javelin (indoor type!) and scored highly in all of them. He also was part of a composite team doing

Linda Franks 5 miles There was a good club turnout for more or less the first road race of the year, and it was particularly encouraging to see, in addition to the road race regulars who weren't injured some relatively new faces including husband and wife pair Jonathan Higgs/Amanda Naylor as well as Bill Leggate and fast-improving Clare Stickney. Feedback was that it was a really friendly, well organised club race with great marshals and lovely cakes. Given last year’s V45