Last Wednesday evening Lorna and Brian Harris headed to London in search of new PBs at the Battersea Park 10k. It appears that the streets really are paved with gold and it was mission accomplished for both of them, placing 1st and 2nd in their age groups too. They each tell us a little about their race.
Lorna says “Brian persuaded me to sign up immediately after taking part in the Sizzler but it was only after my parkrun PB 2 weeks ago that he suggested I might get another PB if I kept the pace up for a bit longer! I set off with my daughter Jo as my pacemaker instructed to keep me running at 6:30/km. There were runners everywhere, I’m very used to being lapped by others but found myself overtaking people which was a good feeling!”
“Jo told me if we got it right I’d run out of energy right at the very end. So, feeling I had a little bit left for the last km, I sped up and when I thought I didn’t have anything left managed a sprint finish! Despite the pouring rain I actually enjoyed myself and am delighted with my chip time 01:04:48, 1:40 off my previous fastest time and 2:40 off my 2023 Sizzler time.”
And Brian reports “I crossed off the last of my main targets for this year with a new lifetime PB of 41:27 although achieved in a somewhat bizarre manner due to GPS malfunction.” “The race started with dense tree cover which seemed to slow down my watch pace compared to how I felt. Sort of unwound over first 2 miles but then it was getting harder than it should have been to keep on schedule so I thought it’s just not my night. I was taking my foot off the gas as I lapped my wife and daughter but Jo made me restart and give it another go. Very glad she did. I kept going at what my watch was telling me was over 7 minute pace, and didn’t go all out at the finish as I thought I was only around 43 minutes so no point.”
What a fantastic family day out!
26th July, Chase the Sun Battersea Park 10k, 10k road
1 Ryan Callahan (Unattached) 33.20 chip time
94 Brian Harris (Cirencester AC) 41.27 – 2nd MV60
406 Lorna Harris 1.04.48 – 1st FV60
447 finished
Andy Hindson was pleased with his performance in the incredibly tough Lakeland 50 race on Saturday. Andy has completed the event before and this time did it some 48 minutes faster than back in 2021 when conditions were very hot.
The route of the race takes participants through areas of the Lake District that are very much off the beaten track and it’s the kind of event that requires great preparation and the ability to confidently self navigate. Yet another great achievement for Andy.
29th July, Montane Lakeland 50, 50 miles, trail
1 Neil MacNicol 8.03.58
320 Andy Hindson (Cirencester AC) 12.47.48
1377 started
David Wright took part in the latest of the Poole Runners Upton Summer Series of 5k races. This was number 5 of 6 and was run in pouring rain. David took 1st place in his age group. And he couldn’t escape the rain even in France where completed the Cote de Granit Rose 20k race.
26th July, Upton Summer Series, Race 5, 3.5 miles trail
1 Rob McTaggart (Bournemouth AC) 18.34
43 David Wright (Cirencester AC) 24.30 – 1st MV65
151 finished
23 July, Cote de Granit Rose, 20km, Perros Guirec to Trebeurden
1 Benoit Fanouillerre 1.03.46
283 David Wright (Cirencester AC) 1.31.14
1346 finished
And some parkrun snippets for this week….. there were returns from injury for Ollie Campbell and Gordon Jones. Joseph and Robert Stickney had excellent runs at the notoriously tough Woolacombe Dunes event. They finished either side of former GB athlete Mara Yamauchi and enjoyed overtaking other runners on the “Dune of Doom”!
There was a big turnout at Cirencester where Brendan McCarthy ran his 102nd parkrun, Tom Morgan enjoyed a run with the whole family after a solo run from home and Gary Wood was also incorporating parkrun into a long run. Cathie Cowell was the all important tail runner and clocked up her 85th volunteer credit and Benjamin Conway ran another PB for the course.
Alan and Rachel McAdam hot footed it from parkrun at to WOMAD, Ian Barrett had another fine top 5 finish, this time at Wolford Wood and Dave Wright reports that when Holly Willis crossed the line at Poole she completed the 5000th parkrun by a Cirencester AC member.
29th July, parkrun, 5k trail
Brueton parkrun
1 Donald Brooks 16.25
172 Ollie Campbell (Cirencester AC) 27.08
402 finished
Poole parkrun
1 Andrew Green 16.00
301 Holly Willis (Cirencester AC) 25.46
758 finished
Penallta parkrun
1 Michael Lewis 16.30
97 Rachel Jones (Cirencester AC) 29.40
99 Gordon Jones 29.43
161 finished
Buckingham parkrun
1 Michael Pearce 17.49
173 Bryan Reid (Cirencester AC) 30.49
268 finished
Marlborough Common parkrun
1 Doug Wilkie
75 David Moss (Cirencester AC) 29.38
137 finished
Woolacombe Dunes parkrun
1 Alistair Fitch 20.44
5 Joseph Stickney (Cirencester AC) 21.38
12 Robert Stickney 22.51
222 finished
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Max Benfield 19.24
23 Alan McAdam (Cirencester AC) 25.49
40 Rachel McAdam 27.41
136 finished
Chipping Norton School parkrun
1 Andrew Ford 18.05
72 Colin Tapley (Cirencester AC) 34.07
73 Clare Tapley 34.16
100 finished
Wolford Wood parkrun
1 Nye Davis 17.58
5 Ian Barrett (Cirencester AC) 19.54
111 finished
Cirencester parkrun
1 Dougie Moffett 17.44
36 Benjamin Conway (Cirencester AC) 22.04
94 Rory Brown 26.58
120 Brendan McCarthy 28.37
140 Pamela Wheeler 29.32
161 Gary Wood 30.43
192 Lorna Harris 34.11
228 Tom Morgan 38.52
244 Cathie Cowell 1.02.17
244 finished
Links to race results please to Martin at cirenacresults@gmail.com and stories to Rachel at rachelelisabethbarrow@hotmail.co.uk
*******************VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CHEDWORTH**************
The club is once again hosting the Chedworth Roman Trail 10 mile race, taking place on Sunday 10th September. It takes a huge team effort to put on these races and we really need more volunteers to sign up so check out the latest post on the club WhatsApp for a link to add your name to the list if you can spare a few hours.
The sale of cakes and drinks on the day is a great club fundraiser so if you have time to bake a cake or too that would also be very much appreciated.
There is currently quite a low number of entries for the race. Please spread the word around running friends, family and work colleagues to help generate some more numbers.
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