A cake special ;-))

******************CHEDWORTH CAKE ALERT*****************

If you use whatsapp you will probably already have spotted a plea for cake donations next weekend – there’s likely to be over 200 mouths to feed on Sunday 10^th May at the village hall race HQ in Chedworth. Think how you’d feel if you’d slogged round the countryside only to find the cake had run out when you got back – nightmare!!

“Dear Everyone, this is my annual plea for cakes for Chedworth.  We ran out of cakes last year so we need lots this year.  It would be great if everyone could bring a cake (made or bought) to the race if you are running or marshalling. If you can't be there on the day please bring an offering either to the Tuesday session (5th May) or to next Thursday’s social run (7^th May, see below!) and I will be there to collect them.  Thank you very much 😁🎂

Jo Roberts"

{Ed. - a huge thank-you to Jo for co-ordinating this yet again}

****************Thursday Runners – give it a go!******************

Whilst on the subject of cakes, here we look at a club feature that is well overdue a mention in these weekly reports.

Stretching back at least as far as 2018 (when the group’s whatsapp chat started), and subject to the wretched Covid interlude, one of the club’s enduring fixtures is a weekly sociable run starting at 9am with a choice of distances, the longest finishing in time for coffee at 11am, usually from the LC.

A few years ago the number of numbers had regulars had fallen, but they are now nicely back up again and members new to the tradition are very welcome to come along and join in if time/work commitments allow.  

For the first part of the run, if the faster runners go ahead, they are expected to wait at intervals and/or sweep back to keep a sense of togetherness with the slower runners. After a group photo people choose between a shorter/longer route option.

When it started, Dick Waldron set the routes every week, but we now have a rota of 3 wonderful “routemasters” (Alan, Brendan and Nicola) who share the load.

Rumour has it that cakes were originally only when somebody had a Birthday, but this has evolved to the point where no excuse is needed, and a cake/biscuit free week is now a rarity.

Another more recent evolution is occasionally to start at a different (café) location other than the LC in town. This week we used Fire and Flow in Perrotts Brook as our base for a beautiful sunny outing with some great views, courtesy of Brendan. As our resident photographer Rachel McAdam was away on a walking holiday, an inexperienced temp took the shot below.

Thursday runners, near Rendcomb, 30.4.26

These outings are almost always accident-free, but commiserations this week to Dave Wright who face planted after tripping over a tree root and grazed both knees. [Ed. It didn’t stop him posting a rather speedy parkrun time 2 days later.]

Westonbirt Arboretum 10k

In the first mid-week race for a while, on Wednesday 29^th Angela Hilditch joined more than 1000 others runners in 4 waves to enjoy an early evening trail 10k run amongst the stunning bluebells at Westonbirt arboretum, taking 62.06.

A Hilditch Westonbirt Arboretum 10k Apr 26

1 Gareth Edwards (Western Tempo) 37.24 

560 Angela Hilditch (Cirencester AC) 1.02.06

1064 finished

****************PARKRUNS******************

Ian Barrett was our highest placed parkrunner this week at Grove Fields in Wantage. Wrapping his parkrun as usual into a longer training run, Ian came 2^nd only 8s behind a younger runner and his 80% age-graded time was the best of the day there. {Also spotted on the volunteers list for the Grove course was former long-time member Adam Harborow somewof you may remember }.

Well done to David Moss, the club’s only London marathon runner who got straight back to parkrunning the weekend afterwards, particularly as problems with his hip had slowed him down to barely a jog for the last 5 miles.

The Cirencester event saw a whopping 395 finishers (and a suprisingly large 37 volunteers!), boosted no doubt by the cancellation of both Tetbury and Swindon events.

On a fine day with the usual course route now restored (albeit still badly rutted in places) no less than four of our runners bagged course PB’s.

·       Toby Conway knocked 12 seconds off his parkrun PB to finish first for the club in 20.19 - well done Toby

·       Not far behind in 20.31, Edward Knight had only run faster once before - last summer at Tetbury where he clocked an impressive 19:54

·       Jonathan Higgs ran his fastest parkrun since 2015 and his wife Amanda also ran her best time for over a year.

Fastest age-graded member at Ciren was Karen Higuera at almost 81%, but apparently "still not pushing it as she hadn’t had time for a warm-up"!

Kirsty Leggate was happy to run her fastest since March last year. Lorna Harris was not quite os happy with the queuing just to get over the start. Given that grandparents with a walking toddler very unreasonably started ahead of her you can sympathise (although it isnt a race.....). ;-)

2 May 2026, parkruns, 5km trail

Cirencester: 10 Toby Conway (J) (PB) 20.19, 15 Edward Knight (J) 20.31, 33 Dave Wright 21.41,53 Paul Timms 23.15, 54 Brian Harris 23.15, 64 Clare Stickney 23.43, 72 Karen Higuera 23.59,104 Jonathan Higgs 25.16, 119 Susanna Austin 25.58, 157 Brendan McCarthy 27.27,182 Amanda Naylor 28.30, 189 Richard Edwards 28.50, 209 Kirsty Leggate 29.47,227 Pam Wheeler 30.34, 258 Samantha Timms 31.40, 310 Lorna Harris 34.39,327 Ruth Fulford 36.40, 394 finished.

Swindon, Seven Fields: 109 David Moss 26.11, 360 finished.

Carterton, Kilkenny Lane: 72 Gordon Jones 27.42, 195 finished.

Wantage, Grove Fields: 2 Ian Barrett 18.58, 223 finished.

Cambridge, Milton Country Park: 70 Stephen Hale 25.00, 342 finished.