A bumper report on two busy weekends of racing.
There was a good club turnout and some great results at the Stroud Half Marathon, the final race in the club road race championship series for this year.
First home for Cirencester, 4th lady overall and 2nd LV40 was Kate Jacobs adding to an impressive string of excellent results this year.
Brian Harris, still with the Dorney marathon in his legs, was only hoping to bag his second fastest half marathon time. After an experimentally fast first half, he relaxed the pace considerably but held on to finish less than a minute outside his 2021 PB, much closer than expected. He was 2nd MV60.
Kate Sackett’s strong run took the 1st place in her FV60 category. She was followed in by Jake Yeo and James Widdowson. James was delighted to complete a half marathon distance for the first time in a while, especially after a training year focused on 10k or less and staying healthy. He only really upped the time on his feet a fortnight before the race and then also had a brush with Covid. Finding he could run the whole way at a consistent pace was a real confidence booster. Added to all that, James is also thrilled to have taken top spot in the club road race competition this year.
Rupert Chesmore paced his run well to come in just inside the 2 hour mark. Jos Randall crossed the line just a couple of minutes later and Liza Darroch completed the Cirencester lineup just inside 2.20, 4th in the FV70 age group but no doubt top of the FV75s.
Very sadly, Jo Musk had to make the sensible decision to pull up at around the 7 mile mark with a worsening calf problem.
With the final points added to the road race totals, James Widdowson wins the mens competition with Brecht Grieten and Brian Harris sharing second place and Gordon Jones fourth. Kate Sackett takes top spot in the ladies competition with Ruth Fulford second and Liza Darroch third. Well done all on some great results this year.
29th October, Stroud Half Marathon, 13.1 miles, road
1 Lee Stopford (Stroud & District AC) 1.10.59 (1.10.59)
50 Kate Jacobs (Cirencester AC) 1.26.43 (1.26.42) – 2nd LV40
88 Brian Harris 1.30.41 (1.30.37) – 2nd MV60
290 Kate Sackett 1.46.10 (1.45.55) – 1st LV60
363 Jake Yeo 1.50.17 (1.50.01)
407 James Widdowson 1.53.31 (1.53.06)
554 Rupert Chesmore 2.00.13 (1.59.36)
578 Jocelyn Randall 2.02.28 (2.01.59)
737 Liza Darroch 2.20.05 (2.19.36)
843 finished
Tom Purnell had a fine run at the Snowdonia Marathon. He completed the demanding, spectacular route in a superb 3.05 finishing in the top 50.
The race gets great reviews. For those interested, the ballot for the event next year opens on 1st December
28th October, Snowdonia Marathon, 26.2 miles
1 Marshall Smith (Ashford AC) 2.31.21 chip time
48 Tom Purnell (Cirencester AC) 3.05.00
2227 finished
Barbara Thomas enjoyed the quiet country lanes around Calne when she completed the Clock Change Challenge 10k.
29th October, Calne Clock Change Challenge, 10km, road
1 Mo Kachach (Unattached) 34.44
166 Barbara Thomas (Cirencester AC) 1.07.17
181 finished
Some great parkrun results as ever including a win for Ollie Campbell at Chippenham and a close battle at Cirencester for 2nd and 3rd place. Ian Barrett was 2nd at Stroud and there was a McAdam family outing to Chipping Norton.
28th October, parkrun, 5k trail
Lydiard parkrun
1 Valentin Nitu (Unattached) 18.30
134 Gordon Jones (Cirencester AC) 27.53
335 finished
Chippenham parkrun
1 Ollie Campbell (Cirencester AC) 19.29
196 finished
Cirencester parkrun
1 Harry Barnes (Unattached) 17.38
2 Aaron Willis (Cirencester AC) 17.55
3 Rob Forbes 17.59
29 Howard Ewan 22.13
39 Brecht Grieten 23.34
56 Rachel Ranger 24.49
106 Pamela Wheeler 28.24
163 Lorna Harris 35.02
164 Brian Harris 35.02
194 finished
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Richard Hynes (Unattached) 18.16
16 Paul Timms (Cirencester AC) 23.21
55 David Moss 26.52
88 Jocelyn Randall 29.24
148 finished
Stratford Park parkrun, Stroud
1 Matt Wagstaff (Unattached) 19.53
2 Ian Barrett (Cirencester AC) 20.36
69 finished
Chipping Norton School parkrun
1 Jacob McAdam (Unattached) 20.04
34 Alan McAdam (Cirencester AC) 26.07
45 Rachel McAdam 27.20
118 finished
Blaise Castle parkrun
1 Richard Foster (Unattached) 19.07
215 Ruth Fulford (Cirencester AC) 33.41
292 finished
The popular Guy Fawkes 5 at Tewkesbury was the final race in the county road race championship this year. There was a last minute change to the usual route due to flooding on the course. The changed route was an out and back in pleasant autumn sunshine.
Despite cross country the previous day and Stroud Half the previous week, Kate Jacobs ran another cracking race and was 3rd lady overall.
Brian Harris was delighted with a PB for the distance and an age grade exceeding 80% for only the second time. Ruth Fulford ran a fine sub 50 minutes to place 3rd in her FV75 age group.
Full results for the county road race series can be found on the athletics4u website but the highlights for Cirencester AC are as follows:
Brian Harris - 2nd MV60
Jo Musk 1st - FV40
Kate Jacobs - 3rd FV45 and 3rd overall
Kate Sackett - 1st FV60
Liza Darroch – 3rd FV70
Ruth Fulford – 1st FV75
These fine results also combined to win 3rd overall and 3rd veterans in the ladies team competition.
Congratulations to all who took part through the year.
5th November, Guy Fawkes 5, 5 miles, road
1 Steve Kenyon (Severn AC) 26.45
31 Kate Jacobs (Cirencester AC) 31.19 – 3rd Female
55 Brian Harris 32.53 – 2nd MV60
334 Ruth Fulford 49.26 – 3rd FV75
426 finished
Martin Croucher had a trip to Kent and probably a sense of déjà vu on Sunday when he ran his second marathon of the weekend on exactly the same route as first one!
These were the “as many miles as you like in a given time” events that Martin enjoys and he comfortably clocked up enough miles to add marathons number 132 and 133 to the ever growing list.
Well done Martin.
5th November, Ranscombe Lucky Dip, 8 hours, timed
1 Debra Bourne (Unattached) 7.50.07 – 35 miles
10 Martin Croucher (Cirencester AC) 5.25.59 – 26.2 miles
48 finished
The club played host to the first cross country of the season in Cirencester Park. Plenty of rain in the run up to the day meant ‘proper’ cross country conditions.
Headed up by Dorian, a huge team pulled together for setting up and marshalling of the course during the various races.
Dorian was delighted with the efforts of his juniors and has already posted about their fantastic results.
He concluded “There were lots of good performances, especially as many were doing cross country on a ‘proper cross country course’ as opposed to a school playing field for the first time. The stand out performances came in the U13 boys race where we placed 2nd, 4th and 5th, namely Joe Stickney, Ben Conway and Robbie Stickney. They now hold a 30 point advantage in the championship, so I will be wrapping them in cotton wool in between the next three races!”
Check out the EXCELLENT results below for our senior teams………….and the photos go some way to showing the great atmosphere and team spirit at a cross country event. There are three more events through the season for anyone who fancies giving it a bash.
4th November, Cross Country, Cirencester Park, Various Distances
Senior Men & Senior Mens Masters & Men Under 20 race – 9.4km
1 Leon Chevalier (Team Bath AC) 35.47
23 Aaron Willis (Cirencester AC) 41.09 – 2nd MV40
27 James Thomas 41.59
32 Brecht Grieten 42.26
45 Ian Barrett 43.33 – 2nd MV50
77 Alex Banks 46.49
139 Paul Edrich 54.34
182 finished
Senior Ladies & Senior Lady Masters & ladies Under 20 & Ladies Under 17 & Men Under 17 & Masters Men Over 65 – 6.4km
1 Sam Wilson (Cheltenham & County Harriers) 24.09
30 Kate Jacobs (Cirencester AC) 31.03 – 1st LV45
33 Wendy Nicholls 31.14 – 1st LV50
49 Corinne Clark 32.46
76 George Whelan 34.55
91 Charlotte Evelyn-Wilton 36.04
115 Kate Sackett 38.28 – 3rd LV60
156 Tanya Everett 44.11
188 finished
Boys and Girls Under 15 – 4.5km
1 Tobi-Lee Loughlin (Team Bath AC) 19.13
12 Isabella Stickney (Cirencester AC) 21.26 – 2nd LU15
57 finished
Boys and Girls Under 13 – 3km
1 Alistair Spurr (Cheltenham & County Harris) 13.16
2 Joseph Stickney (Cirencester AC) 13.25
4 Ben Conway 13.57
5 Robert Stickney 14.00
27 Ernie Hayward 15.35
40 Tobias Conway 16.26
54 Bertie Andrews 17.33
57 Freddie Peart 18.00
58 Josh Neal 18.01
70 Joshua Garrett 19.57
72 Amy Head 20.07
74 finished
Boys and Girls Under 11 – 2km
1 Albert Jakubowski (Team Bath AC) 8.06
14 Heath Forbes (Cirencester AC) 9.18
21 Elliot Fountain 9.30
25 Otis Forbes 9.36
27 Ted Lockhart 9.38
30 Finlay Garrett 9.45
54 Annabel Campbell 11.08
55 Wilf Andrews 11.10
57 Aria Stavrakakis 11.12
58 Charlie Cutler 11.14
76 Isla Wright 12.19
77 Leuan Mather 12.20
85 finished
As mentioned above, marathon number 132 for the unstoppable Martin!
4th November, Autumn Ranscombe Challenge, 8 hours, timed
1 Josie Nye (Unattached) 7.04.21 – 39.3 miles
25 Martin Croucher (Cirencester AC) 6.10.10 – 26.2 miles
87 finished
There were some challenging parkruns this week after wet weather.
4th November, parkrun, 5k trail
Cirencester parkrun
1 Steven Harris (Unattached) 20.20
45 Jocelyn Randall (Cirencester AC) 29.00
46 Sophie Humphries 29.06
90 finished
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Samuel Snell (Unattached) 21.02
19 Alan McAdam (Cirencester AC) 27.37
29 Rachel McAdam 29.22
95 finished
Seven Fields parkrun
1 G Omirinde (Unattached) 19.33
65 David Moss (Cirencester AC) 27.36
177 finished
Please send results to Martin at cirenacresults@gmail.com and any stories attached to them to Rachel via the WhatsApp group or at rachelelisabethbarrow@hotmail.co.uk
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