This week saw the spring weather returning and club members were busy bees making for a hive of activity on the racing front!
Corinne Clark put in a great performance to complete Manchester marathon in 3 hours and 14mins.
Tash Pauck and Annie Campbell were running the Devizes half marathon. They had lovely weather for it and pushed pretty hard despite the hills, which resulted in a time of 1 hour 45mins (a PB by 8mins) for Annie and a post-baby PB of 1hour 44mins for Tash, so well done to them both.
Another half marathon this weekend with CAC attendance was Reading, a firm favourite which saw Tommy Payne, Dave Bell and Jos Randall competing. Tommy reported that the crowd and atmosphere were amazing as usual! Dave finished in a cool 1hour 19mins, Tommy in 1hour 45mins which he was pleased with considering recent knee trouble and some cramp towards the end of the race, and Jos finished in 2hours 13mins.
Ann Sherrington was competing in the Tewkesbury Tri club Aquathlon. It consisted of a 400m pool swim and 5 laps of a field to make up a 4.75k run. It was a really supportive, friendly, brilliantly organised event and Ann was 26th overall and 1st in her 60-69 age group of 6 competitors which earnt her a box of milk tray! Those Sunday swim sessions are definitely paying off! This event is reportedly a great one for first timers or triathletes who want an early season outing so look out for this one next year any budding triathletes.
On the track, James Widdowson took part in the Mark Cawte Memorial Open Meeting to try his hand, or more accurately feet at the mile! James finished in 6mins and 18secs. He reports that he had aspirations for a sub-6 that matched his first lap, but will stay in mind for another time, so instead he was pleased to have set a PB in what was described as blustery conditions. Swindon's meet was very friendly, inclusive and inspiring to see the next generation make it look easy. And electronic timing boards! There was also a strong junior presence at the meet which Dorian has reported separately in a blog post dedicated to the youngsters.
Rupert was up to his usual antics again taking on crazy distances, this time in very inclement conditions! Read on below to find out more from the horses mouth......
The Northern Traverse is 180 mile route devised by Wainwright from St Bees in the west to Robin Hood's Bay in the east crossing The Lake District, The Dales and The North York Moors. This was my second attempt at completion and again - a DNF. From the start Storm Kathleen was forecasted with 70mph winds and torrential rain and as a result, a section over Kidsty Pike was re-routed to a lower, safer option. The going underfoot was bottomless mud or dangerously slippery - especially in the dark. I slipped and fell more than 30 times, hit my head hard once and broke one of my poles. I joined a small group from Shap and we battled our way to Kirkby Stephen but, at 80 miles I ran out of mojo and handed in my GPS tracker. Throughout the run, family (scattered all over the world) and club members were able to follow my progress. It is hard to explain just how much I valued this unseen encouragement and support. Yet again a measure of the value of our small club - and thanks to you all for your messages during and after the event. The decision to retire was proved to be correct as I succumbed to a 5 day "man cold' on my return. The pebble I collected on the beach at the start will get thrown into the sea at the finish later this year.
Andy Fellows snuck under the radar last week to complete Brighton marathon in 3hours 16mins. After training through one of the wettest winters of recent years he was relieved to set off with 13000 others under clear blue skies with sunshine throughout the race, although the winds were strong! As is so often the case, any pre-race plans for even pacing soon went out of the window, as he got absorbed in the atmosphere but he ran a solid race and managed to take over 13mins off his previous PB. Great effort Andy!
There were various parkrunners from CAC out and about this week, Sam Timms in Aberdeen, Paul Timms in Oxford, the Tapleys were at Bressay, 10 runners in Cirencester, the McAdams at Tetbury Goods Shed, Martin Croucher was at King George V Playing Field parkrun, and Kate Sackett at Maryport Prom.