Strava segment challenge, Otillo (what's that?) and podium places for Kate/Sam
CLUB NEWS BEFORE THE RUN REPORT
Cross-country season - if you aren't on the club whatsapp you may have missed the dates for the Glos races - please contact Aaron Willis for more details as we are keen to get a mens team out and the ladies are getting themselves organised.
The first race is at Tinkley Gate (near Stroud) on Sunday 18th October. Details on all the races, including how to enter, can be found at : https://www.athletics4u.co.uk/cross-country/
The entry website is here
NEW - Strava Winter Segment Challenge
Our chairman has had a fun idea - starting in October, each month we'll select a strava segment in Cirencester (or local area) and share it with you the members with the challenge of seeing
a. who has the fastest men/women's time during the month, and
b. who is the local legend.
The idea is to help keep up interaction over the winter months and maybe encourage more of us to run together. Could be a mixture of short/long/hills/flat/loops etc.
While we won’t be able to track it for you, you may want to do the segment early in the month and then try again towards the end to see how you progress. You will also need to make an activity public for it to register on segment leaderboards. There are also age-group categories on Strava segments.
This would also be a great opportunity for you to join the club's official (now member-only) strava group, if you haven't already. Here is a link - you'll need to be approved to join so be patient.
Any questions/problems please ask a committee member before next weekend when we hope to announce the segment(s) for October (they'll be put on whatsapp, this weekly report, and strava posts).
Curry Night
Please pencil in Monday 16th November at the usual place for our next social - details tbc.If you're getting bored of curries, we really are still looking for a social rep who might ring the changes, but until then your editor will hopefully line up same as last time.
Next, some late news from last week.
Coniston Gritty Swim-run Sunday 20th September
Multi-sport specialist Ann Sherrington has uncovered another permutation you probably hadn’t heard of – Swimrun, or Otillo :-
· The Sport: Athletes race in teams of two, alternating between trail running and open-water swimming.
· The Gear: Competitors run in their wetsuits and swim with their trainers on to save transition time.
· The Name: Ö till ö translates from Swedish as "island to island".
“I did my first Otillo swim run event on Sunday 20th in The Lake District. Very different to my usual sprint Aquathlon, the course was half marathon distance (18k run plus 3 k swim) split into 6 runs and 5 swims. I was in a pair, tethered on the swim, swimming in running shoes, carrying all our kit and having to stay within 10m of each other on the swim. It was great fun! It was a big running challenge for me as my usual distance is just 5k. The swims acted as recoveries. I definitely couldn’t have run 18k in one go. . 😂 I think the closest one to us is Gower in June 2026. Food for thought maybe? I’m definitely going to do another one.
We came 8/10 female teams and took 4h 21. Winners took 3h 15! “
Ann sent these photos of her and her race partner Kathryne
Congratulations on embracing another example of Swedish culture making it to the UK Ann. {Ed – as a marathon softie worrying about chafing in the dry, the thought of running in a wetsuit and wet shoes wouldn’t be my cup of tea, or even “fika” (an excellent Swedish custom).}
PARKRUNS SATURDAY 26th SEPTEMBER
There was lots to celebrate at our home Cirencester event. Congratulations to all these
· Rich Allen and Charlotte Wilton, first man/lady respectively.
· New PB’s for our youngest and oldest finishers Toby Conway JM11-14 and Tony Shelbourn SM80-84.
· Richard Edwards reached his 200th milestone.
Both Rich and Charlotte are expected to go the extra mile (LOL) at the AAA and club race at Sharpness next weekend, so a useful sharpener for that. Rich is planning to run the Abingdon marathon 2 weeks after that, so best of luck with your taper Rich (esp. after the 21 miles today).
Finally, not listed in the results below was the 2nd man home at Cirencester, Blair Thomson a V50 with a course PB of 18.54 (congratulations). Blair has been to a few training sessions and will be formally joining the club very shortly.
Some parkrun enthusiasts are always looking for a “challenge” that gives them an excuse to run new events. Amanda Naylor and Jonathan Higgs were at Sizewell – any readers spot a potential theme there? (Hint – we have a relatively local event at Berkeley).
The McAdams obviously didn’t let a walking holiday stop them parkrunning, or for a few more weeks until the plaster’s off, parkwalking in Rachel’s case.
Cirencester: 1 Rich Allen 18.24, 6 Toby Conway (J) 19.37 PB, 26 Charlotte Wilton (1st lady) 22.03, 52 Rachel Ranger 23.46, 93 Susanna Austin 26.09, 140 Tony Shelbourn PB 28.26, 190 Kirsty Leggate 30.33, 215 Richard Edwards 31.37, 321 finished.
Swindon, Seven Fields: 120 David Moss 33.44, 180 finished.
Carterton, Kilkenny Lane: 12 Colin Tapley 21.54, 148 Gordon Jones 47.56, 159 finished.
Reading: 24 Martin Croucher 21.01, 378 finished.
Sizewell, nr. Aldeburgh: 60 Amanda Naylor 29.23, 87 Jonathan Higgs 33.25, 118 finished.
Ashbourne Recreation Ground, nr. Derby: 57 Alan McAdam 26.30, 207 Rachel McAdam 48.05, 215 finished.
Lyme Park, nr. Whaley Bridge: 29 Ben Francis 25.44, 174 finished.
Dorney Lake Marathon Saturday 26th
Michael Hobbs continued his 2026 marathon streak with a change of venue.
If the wind isn’t up, the Dorney Lake course whilst rather boring can be a quick one. Testament to this was the high quality of the field this weekend. No less than 51 of the 175 finishers beat the magic 3-hour mark, and a whopping 5 in every 7 were inside 3.30!
Michael was hoping that the lack of about-turns and minor obstacles on his usual Phoenix running route would allow him to improve on his very consistent series of times so far this year, but in the event his chip time of 3.12.21 was a bit slower than he’d hoped.
“Tough out there today. I'd had a bit of a virus last weekend and have struggled to shake the effects this week. Just achy and tired. Despite this, I set out around 3.05 pace (suicidal) and maintained this till about halfway. I knew I was in for a tough second half though, and as the temperature rose, it turned into an ugly grind. Got it done, my 8th marathon this year.Weather - perfect to start, cool, clear, hardly any breeze. Warm later!”
One silver lining (if you can regard 3:12 as disappointing) is that we do at last have a photo of Michael in action, with his trademark cap of course ;-))
1 Ben Tyler (Medway & Maidstone AC) 2.31.30 (chip 2.31.26)
82 Michael Hobbs (Cirencester AC) 3.12.38 (3.12.21)
175 finished
Bourton HM Sunday 27th
Unusually the club only had one runner in this race which served as the county HM championships as well as one of the road race series.
Kate Kilby collected another gold, winning her LV65 age category and cementing er chances of finishing 1st overall in the series with just 2 races to go.
Well done Kate and good luck to you and Andy for your marathon soon.
1 Edward Mallett (Hercules Wimbledon) 1.14.35 (chip 1.14.35)
77 Kate Kilby (Cirencester AC) 2.02.03 (2.01.57)
106 finished
Poole Round the Lakes 10km Sunday 27th
David Wright ran what the organisers claimed was the fastest course around, being traffic-free around lakes sounding quite pleasant. No age group placing this time, but DW is within months of progressing onwards and upwards from the 60-69 grouping used.
1 Thomas Corbin (Poole AC) 32.44 (chip 32.43)
112 David Wright (Cirencester AC) 44.21 (44.17)
293 finished
And finally......
Not on the official results pages, but Thursday regulars Paul and Sam Timms were working hard on their holidays entering an international multi-distance running festival in Leros, Greece. Paul explains
"We’re on Leros they had a 1000m 3000m 5K & 10K races today. There were only 12 of us in the 10k Sam was the 3rd lady and ended on the podium. However, the marshal didn’t know the route and cut it short by 1.6K😂😂
Only in Greece .....but we had a lovely morning with tremendous hospitality from the organisers."
Comments