A lot of club members were in action this week in 7 different races, so obviously no adverse effects from the club curry and awards night on Monday. Also 7 runners gave me contributions however brief for this week's report (a recent record in itself possibly - keep the feedback coming.)
Trail and off-road
A trio of club members ran the Winter’s end marathon together on Saturday in Winchester.
32 Lara Tompson (Cirencester AC) 5.35.29
33 Jill Hadland 5.35.32
34 Martin Croucher 5.35.34
72 finished
Dave Musgrave raced the Forest of Dean Half with just under 800ft of elevation in an impressive 1.30.02, and with no green comments on his Strava activity at the time of writing it sounds like no food/gel problems this time.
On Sunday James Widdowson ran with a friend about to turn 50 in the Treehouse School 10km, in Cholsey, Oxon. He reports
“it was fundraising event with a big field and some great runners at the front. Paced to get round after a dodgy week post Tuesday training. Felt comfortable and nice to dip under 5min pace in the last km. Left knee and leg behaved. Lovely event.”
It’s a good job James'relaxed time of 51.54 wasn’t threatening any club records, because his kit, albeit very colourful, would have been a problem ;-)
ROAD RACES
In a change from its usual Saturday slot, this year’s over-subscribed Fission 20 at Berkeley took place on Sunday. Unfortunately, some members with places couldn’t even start due to injury (Rachel R, Rich A), whilst even worse Charlotte Wilton retired hurt part way round. We wish them all a speedy recovery.
The race was both a county and club championship fixture {Ed. club champs table on website will be updated next weekend). Luke Campbell sent this report
“Great conditions to be racing; nicely overcast and not too windy. The parking and facilities were well organised, so no logistical worries. The pointy end of the race set off very quickly. I had a friend from Stroud AC who had the same pacing plan, so I stuck with him which helped to battle the boredom. The first 10 miles were smooth, gels every 30 mins and sips of water at the stops.
The plan to pick up pace at half way went well, until it didn’t…the last 3 miles were a physical battle, but mostly a mental one. Maybe I pushed the pace too much. Final mile was a slog, only overcome by the cheers from the finish line. A very real step up into the world of longer distance road running, with a lot learnt ahead of the Shakespeare marathon on 27th April.”
Not too far behind Luke, Kate Jacobs was using the race as a training run for her Newport marathon, running only 16 of the miles at marathon pace. Nevertheless, she still set a new ladies club record for 20 miles with a time of 2.21.24, beating Corinne Clark’s 2.25.07 from 2018. Great job Kate, and best of luck with the taper.
Andy Duff and Phil Davey (preparing for Brighton marathon)
Liza Darroch and Rupert Chesmore enjoyed the run together. Rupert wanted to run on tired legs so he had already run 20 off road on Saturday! Liza was worried about the 4-hour cut off but her time of 3.48.58 suggests there was no need. She notes that there were two hearses parked at the start but she was happy to say they were also not needed! Liza finished as 1st FV70 and also took a healthy chunk off her own club record set last year at Bramley! A good solid day’s work!
23 March 2025, Fission ‘20’, Berkeley Power Station, 20 miles road
1 Sam Juson (Croft Ambrey RC) 1.49.58
56 Luke Campbell (Cirencester AC) 2.16.25
80 Kate Jacobs 2.21.24 – 5th lady, club Ladies and FV45 record
93 Andy Duff 2.25.38
299 Phil Davey 3.16.21
361 Liza Darroch 3.48.58 – 1st FV70, club FV75 record
362 Rupert Chesmore 3.49.00
Another 20-miler over a “playfully undulating” Hullavington course saw Chris Miller checking his fitness ahead of London. Getting back to ingesting gels presented a challenge on his way to a time of 2.14.34 which earned him 8th place and 1st MV50. Fellow club member Jake Miles was competing "incognito", and finished 4th in a strong 2.07.49.
Elsewhere, in Reading Tommy Payne took almost 5 minutes to cross the start line in the very popular half marathon, his third year in a row. Here's his account
"Conditions were perfect for the 7500 runners at the start of Reading Half, overcast and around 10C. I thought I’d gone off too fast but found I was able to hold a good rhythm so kept at pace. Very happy with a new half marathon PB of 1h35m47s, and even more happy that I beat my 19 year old nephew that studies at Reading University - silencing the jeers I’ve had on the family WhatsApp group all week! 😂"
Congratulations to Tommy for improving his PB by over 2 minutes.
Finally, three members tackled the hilly Highworth 5 miler. Karen Higuera was struggling with asthma so was pleased just to finish after a few walking breaks.
1 Harry Woods (Swindon Harriers) 26.07
72 David Moss (Cirencester AC) 36.52
115 Karen Higuera 39.37
199 Gordon Jones 46.25
Parkrun
Steve Hale rounded his parkrun tour of Australia and New Zealand off at Mildura Weir in Victoria, where he ran with his cousin Lloyd, finishing a few steps ahead of him (well done Steve, job done!). After starting with the Thursday runners, he’s now aiming to join some Tuesday sessions, hopefully just in time for the summer venue (look out for updates on that).
At Cirencester, congratulations were in order for Neil Broadley who clocked a PB of 23.34 to be the first club member home, just one second ahead of his “pacer” Casey Vatcher, who’s in training for the Brighton marathon in a few weeks time. Kate Kilby also ran her fastest time this year to top the age-graded scores again.
Cirencester: 33 Neil Broadley 23.34, 34 Casey Vatcher 23.35, 39 Kate Kilby 23.57,44 Rob Tuttle 24.21, 79 Gordon Jones 26.50, 85 Tom Morgan 26.58, 119 Amanda Naylor 28.44,142 Kirsty Leggate 30.20, 236 finished.
Tetbury: 39 Alan McAdam 26.06, 50 Rachel McAdam 27.01, 73 Ben Hilditch 29.26,75 Angela Hilditch 29.27, 146 finished.
Marlborough Common: 44 David Moss 27.00, 133 finished.
Newbury: 122 Phil Davey 25.33, 463 finished.
Stockley Country Park, Hayes, Middlesex: 23 Paul Timms 26.24, 46 Samantha Timms 32.01,73 finished.
Mildura Weir, Victoria, Australia: 38 Stephen Hale 25.32, 188 finished.
Comments