Congratulations to all our award winners who we were not able to honour in any form of ceremony last year. Not only can we now tell you WHO won our various club awards but, thanks to Chair Pam, (helped by her wonderful Committee) we can tell you WHY. Meanwhile our social Committee is hoping to arrange some form of “get together” after June 21st – watch this space.
But back to 2019,
First the following ran the races, got the places and emerged top of Men and Ladies Club Championships
Road race Champion Men – Bill Leggate
Road race Champion Ladies – Pamela Wheeler
Club runners Champion men – Ionel Iancu
Club runners Champion Ladies – Barbara Thomas
Cross Country Champion Men – Dave Bell
Cross Country Champion Ladies – Holly Willis
And below the Committee explains their decisions:
MOST IMPROVED ATHLETE OF THE YEAR - Mark Sysum
After a break for a couple of years from running, Mark has returned with a bang! In 2019 he recorded some impressive results all of which speak for themselves. From parkrun in 17.49, to 5 miles in 29.17, 10k 37.39, 10 miles 60.21, half marathon 87.00 to marathon in 2.58 Mark has recorded some stellar results over all distances. 2019 saw him PB in 5miles, 10 miles and marathon. Well done!
TRIATHLETE OF THE YEAR - Oliver Pritchard
Oliver competed in the ETU Triathlon European Championships in Weert, The Netherlands, representing GBR in this standard distance event. This was his highest profile race and he competed in the age group 20-24 category having qualified for selection after he competed in a standard distance event in Arundel, West Sussex in 2018. On the technical course in Weert, he exited the swim in 24.32. His strong 59.20 bike leg kept him with the main contenders, but he found it was a run for survival in the heat of 25 degrees, but he still achieved a credible 40.45, gaining 11th place and 4th GB athlete in 2.08.40.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR - David Musgrove
David joined us in October 2019. He has competed in a range of races from parkruns to cross-country to half marathons to trail running. In parkruns he is usually in the top 6 and first in his age group. In the Gloucestershire League cross-country fixtures this season in the particularly wet conditions at Wotton Under Edge he was placed 4th followed by 6th at the muddy Old Down course last December. In October 2019 he completed the Cricklade half marathon in 79.57 in a brilliant 4th place and 1st in his age category and in the more recent Helsby Four Villages half he achieved 78.53 in 11th place. Tackling the precipitous slopes and churning mud of the Rough ‘n Tumble at Milton Lilbourne near Pewsey he completed 10 tough miles in 1 hour 13 min to earn him 5th place. David has made an impressive contribution to the club in a few months.
LONG DISTANCE RUNNER OF THE YEAR- Rupert Chesmore
Rupert pushed the boundaries when he completed the 185 miles of Offa’s Dyke (Chepstow to Prestatyn) in 73 hours 26 minutes. He took a total of 3 hours sleep over the 3 days and nights having started on Friday evening to finish on Monday evening. The route requires total concentration as it winds its way up and down the Welsh hills and with every one of the 29,000 ft of climbing taking its toll, over 50% retired along the way. Rupert’s time gave him 9th place and 1st V60.
TEAM OF THE YEAR - Team Thomas
Liz, James and Louise all do so much for the club. They all compete in sometimes shocking conditions – the Nationals springs to mind! They have been responsible for the club website, Chedworth, Cotswold Way Relay and Glos AAA cross-country championships all of which have been organised in an extremely positive, efficient and professional manner. Only the early birds among you will have seen the Thomas team arrive at Rendcomb last January. James swung into action with the course, Liz with the admin and Louise completing the family team by looking after young Sylvester. James and Liz’s contribution to the club committee is also impressive and Sylvester likes to join in all of it, including our committee meetings!
VETERAN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR - Louise Horner-Baggs
In March 2019, Louise competed in her first 20 miler in Gloucester in a time of 2.53.28 (chip). She then went on to compete in the London Marathon in 4.02.46. Half marathons then followed with 1.52.08 in August at Burnham Beeches, 1.50.10 in September at Cheltenham and then an impressive 1.48.04 in Stroud last October. In the Windsor half in January, Louise completed the course in another PB of 1.46.08. An improvement of exactly 6 minutes over 4 races is impressive.
MEMBER OF THE YEAR - Tim Ingham
Tim is a modest and committed member who quietly gets on with things. He is conscientious, dedicated and extremely loyal add this to some impressive race results in 2019. He set a PB of 93.43 for the half marathon at Stroud in October 2019 and briefly held the club 20mile age group record for his impressive 2.41.23 at Berkley in March 2020 only for it to be beaten 24 hours later by Ionel. We look forward to a further attempt for the crown from Tim! He works tirelessly on the exacting and hard graft required for course set-up and close down for both of our races, Chedworth and the Summer Sizzler. He also keeps Rupert in his place! We could not hold our races without his tremendous input which we all value massively.
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR - Henry Sheffield
In July 2019, Henry, then aged 12, competed in the Cheltenham mid-summer Open Track Championships. He secured 4th place in the 200m in 28.9, 5th place in the 800m in 2.18.5, 6th in the 100m in 14.6 sec and 8th in the mile in 4.59.1 against a field of all comers. He then capped this by coming first in the U13 1500m South West Inter Counties Championships at Exeter with a time of 4.34.49. We have long been in awe of Henry’s precocious talent and it was a delight when he was recently awarded the Bob Hussey Memorial Trophy at the 2019 Gloucestershire AAA awards ceremony which has been given to many very successful athletes in the past and honours the best track performance by a county runner, male or female. Henry is the youngest athlete to have ever received the award. In March 2019, Henry capped his cross-country season with a superb triumph at national level by finishing a fantastic 13th in the Inter-County cross-country championships. Competition was at its highest level at Loughborough with entrants fighting for places at the World cross-country champs. In April 2019, Henry took part in the London 3 mile mini marathon achieving 8th place in 16.30. Henry’s personal best for a parkrun achieved at the Severn Bridge event last December is 16.55. In January 2020 Henry competed in back to back races in the Gloucestershire County Championship at Rendcomb, now in the U15 age category, and the following day in the South West Inter County Championships at Yeovil securing first place in both races. We all wish Henry well as he tackles a host of challenges in sport and at school.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR AWARD WINNERS