Before news of results from this weekend, a couple of pieces of club admin for you all.
Firstly, it is almost time for the all important renewal of memberships. To make life as easy as possible for Rachel she needs a current email address for everyone. If any existing members have changed their email address in the last year, please let her know. For those of you who have started attending training sessions but not yet officially joined the club, please email Rachel on membership.cirenac@gmail.com Prompt responses to any communication regarding renewal cut down on the need to spend time chasing up and are very much appreciated.
Next, an update from the Social Committee.
“Due to ongoing hesitation amongst many club members regarding socialising indoors, and the lack of awards to present, the social committee has decided to cancel the Awards Evening in March. We will focus on the BBQ and prediction run (probably in June) and hope that this popular event will be well attended by members and their families. Further details to follow.
Now onto this weekend’s racing which saw club members out and about at an interesting mix of events.
Clare and Colin Tapley made a family outing of the Minchinhampton 10k on Sunday morning. Joined by Clare’s daughters, they enjoyed the route around the country lanes, even THAT hill in the middle. Also competing was Barbara Thomas who, despite claiming to only have one speed, threw in an impressive sprint finish as witnessed by Clare!
6th March, Minchinhampton 10k, 10k, road
1 John Barnes (Unknown) 36.04 (36.03)
80 Colin Tapley (Cirencester AC) 52.23 (52.09)
151 Clare Tapley 1.04.57 (1.04.44)
152 Barbara Thomas 1.04.57 (1.04.38) – 1st LV65+
209 finished
Simon Campbell, Lara Tompson and Tim Ingham travelled to Devon to take on the challenge of the aptly named Grizzly race.
Starting and finishing on the esplanade at Seaton, this is a seriously tough 20 mile multi-terrain route. Runners encounter bogs, river crossings, stretches of energy sapping shingle beach and plenty of steep ascents and descents, including the notorious Stairway to Heaven. Anyone without a head for heights shouldn’t try this one.
Simon was the first Cirencester finisher with a time 7 minutes better than his previous Grizzly best and well inside the top 100. Tim, despite suffering knee damage on the last big climb, finished just inside 4 hours with Lara completing the distance soon after.
Congratulations to all three.
6th March, The Grizzly, approx 20 miles, multi-terrain
1 David Green (Rugby & Northampton AC) 2.18.30 (2.18.30)
68 Simon Campbell (Cirencester AC) 3.01.38 (3.01.30)
496 Tim Ingham 4.00.42 (3.59.56)
629 Lara Tompson 4.13.53 (4.13.06)
1211 finished
The weather on Saturday was very kind for the final event of the Gloucestershire AAA Cross Country season at Old Down Park. Thank you to Liz Thomas and Dorian Matts for providing some details about the day.
Liz reports, “Seven intrepid souls ventured to Old Down Country Park on Saturday to run the last fixture of the Gloucestershire XC series. They were rewarded with beautiful sunny weather and lots of farm animals for entertainment, even some kangaroos! Nea and Liz both raced for the women (including the under 20 women), who actually also raced against the under 20 and over 65 men, with Nea coming an impressive 18th overall and 15th lady despite having done a parkrun earlier that morning! Liz was pleased to finish strongly and make it around all of the tough hills over the 3 lap course having raced last weekend.”
“For the men James, Bill, Aaron, Tom & Dorian all sallied forth to complete an even more gruelling 4 lap course. The men also had beautiful sunshine and lovely views - if you spare a glance to look at them - across to the Severn Bridge. Aaron had a great race and bagged himself a silver MV40 medal. Bill was pleased to put in a strong performance after coming back from injury. James was pleased with his performance with it being his second race within a week after racing Bourton 10k last Sunday and Dorian conquered the hills and put in an impressive sprint finish! So, a good day was had by all, followed by flapjacks!”
And from Dorian, “First runner of the day was Seb Compton-Evans, who placed 10th in his mixed boys and girls U11 race. His improving performances (20th, 11th and 7th) resulted in 11th place overall in the U11 boys,”
“Nea’s finish, combined with her 5th place last time, gave her 3rd place overall in the Senior Ladies category. Although not running on the day, Jo Roberts previous performances were enough for her to secure 5th overall in LV55.”
“In the men’s race, Aaron Willis again led the line with an impressive 7th place. He was closely followed by Bill Leggate, Tom Hunton and James Thomas in 9th, 10th and 16th places. Dorian Matts was 86th. Although we didn’t have the required 6 runners needed for a senior team, the Masters team (V40+) were first, unsurprisingly with Aaron, Bill and Tom scoring so well. Aaron was first in the MV40 age group on the day, resulting in second place overall. James was 5th overall in the Senior men, Tom 4th in MV40, Bill 4th in MV45 and Dorian 5th in MV60.”
A great season from all our intrepid cross country runners.
5th March, Gloucestershire Cross County, Old Down, Various Distances
Mens Race Distance – 8.6km
1 Max Davis (University Of Bath) 30.24
7 Aaron Willis (Cirencester AC) 33.20 – 1st MV40
9 Bill Leggate 33.29 – 2nd MV45
10 Tom Hunton 33.36 – 2nd MV40
16 James Thomas 34.07
86 Dorian Matts 50.55
89 finished
Team Masters Men
1 Cirencester AC – 26
10 finished
Boys and Girls U11 Race Distance – 2.0km
1 George Bull (Swindon Harriers) 7.28
10 Sebastian Compton-Evans (Cirencester AC) 7.54
48 finished
Ladies / MU17 / MV65+ Race Distance – 6.4km
1 Frederick Cooper (Westbury Harriers) 25.37
18 Nea Sneddon-Jenkins (Cirencester AC) 31.17
61 Elizabeth Thomas 39.20
83 finished
At parkrun this week Nea Sneddon-Jenkins was 1st lady at Tetbury as she warmed up for cross country later in the day. Wendy Nicholls was 2nd lady on her first outing there.
5th March, parkrun, 5k, trail
Lydiard parkrun
1 James Bellward (Unattached) 17.20
119 James Hunton (Cirencester AC) 26.48
326 finished
Thornbury parkrun
1 Alex Sewell (Unattached) 19.13
43 Ruth Fulford (Cirencester AC) 31.29
65 finished
Cirencester parkrun
1 Mark Garrett (Unattached) 20.07
34 Tom Morgan (Cirencester AC) 24.47
42 Gordon Jones 25.17
49 Rachel Ranger 26.24
65 Brendan Mccarthy 27.58
92 Pamela Wheeler 32.00
113 Brian Harris 36.43
131 finished
Marlborough Common parkrun
1 Michael Stone (Unattached) 19.26
14 Paul Timms (Cirencester AC) 24.32
103 finished
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Max Benfield (Unattached) 19.17
8 Nea Sneddon-Jenkins (Cirencester AC) 21.51 – 1st Female
12 Wendy Nicholls 22.04 – 2nd Female
54 Samantha Timms 28.04
100 finished