This weekend saw the autumn marathon season in full swing with club members in action around the country putting months of training to the test.
Brian Harris went to Dorney Lake and proved that his months of hard work and meticulous following of a plan were all worth it. A fairly small event with just 309 finishers, there was a mass start. His target was sub 3:25 and he paced it to perfection, running just inside this to allow for any discrepancies in the course and slowing in the latter stages. His 3:23:54 finish is not only a new PB but also claims the club MV55 record. Although Brian has another marathon on the calendar for next year he is also looking forward to working on his 10k and half marathon times.
3rd October, Dorney Marathon, 26.2 miles, road
1 Henry Hart (Unattached) 2.29.25 (2.29.22)
63 Brian Harris (Cirencester AC) 3.24.04 (3.23.54) – MV55 Club Record
309 finished
More club records were broken in London where tens of thousands took to the streets. Chris Miller’s superb 2:47:31 is a new club MV45 record. Robbie Brown finished in 2:52:05, all the more impressive as he has had little recovery time since his epic run on The Cotswold Way. Joyce Matthews bagged a new PB with her splendid 3:42:20 finish. Nick Wall reports a really enjoyable day and, despite his finishing time of 4:01:16 being just outside his target, he does claim a new club MV60 record. He says the sun came out after a chilly start but the wind picked up in the latter stages making the stretch along the Embankment pretty tough.
As well as the ‘real’ event many thousands ran a virtual London marathon including our own Jos Randall and Paul Edrich. Jos was really pleased with her 4:30:58 finish, pretty impressive as she had forgotten she had even entered until her race number landed on the doormat. Paul completed his 26.2 miles in an excellent 3:53 and was kept company by an assortment of Cirencester ladies!
3rd October, London Marathon, 26.2 miles, road
1 Sisay Lemma (Ethiopia) 2.04.01
782 Chris Miller (Cirencester AC) 2.47.31 – MV45 Club Record
1,165 Robbie Brown 2.52.05
8,248 Joyce Matthews 3.42.20
12,946 Nick Wall 4.01.16 – MV60 Club Record
Approx 50,000 finished
Experienced marathon runner Gary Wood went to Chester to accompany a friend completing his first. Gary was also using the run as part of his training for Exeter marathon in 5 weeks time. Things didn’t go quite to plan as Gary unfortunately began to encounter sickness from 18 miles causing him adopt a walk/run approach for the final 8 miles. A reminder of what a huge physical challenge this distance is. Well done to Gary for persevering.
3rd October, Chester Marathon, 26.2 miles, road
1 Michael Young (West Cheshire Athletic Club) 2.27.32 (2.27.31)
1,010 Gary Wood (Cirencester AC) 4.29.29 (4.27.37)
1,656 finished
A marathon is obviously not enough for the unstoppable Martin Croucher. Following his exploits last weekend, he was back in Kent again this week for not one but two ultra runs. Similar to his event last week and organised by the same directors, these were both 6 hour challenges. Fuelled by hot cross buns and bananas, Martin used his run/walk technique for the Sunday event when the weather was a little kinder. He did more continuous running on the Saturday and reports only getting completely drenched for the final 3 hours! He was delighted with a first place on Sunday and two more very unusual medals for his collection.
3rd October, Beatrix Potter Challenge, 6 hr Challenge, trail
1 Martin Croucher (Cirencester AC) 6.12.32 – 36.1 miles
61 finished
2nd October, Unicorn Run, 6 hr Challenge, trail
1 James Patterson (Unattached) 6.18.02 – 39.3 miles
4 Martin Croucher (Cirencester AC) 5.25.24 – 32.8 miles
65 finished
There was every kind of weather on Sunday morning for the Berkeley 10k. Four Cirencester athletes ran the two lap route in heavy rain followed by warm sunshine. Rachel Barrow was really pleased with a race PB. Barbara Thomas and Ruth Fulford finished within a minute of one another, and each earned an age group place. Paul Barrow claimed a very unusual combination of being first Cirencester man home and also last place overall.
3rd October, Berkeley 10k, 10k, road
1 Anthony Bailey (Western Tempo) 34.52 (34.50)
113 Rachel Barrow (Cirencester AC) 52.07 (51.53)
136 Barbara Thomas 58.13 (58.01) – 1st LV65
139 Ruth Fulford 59.12 (58.58) – 2nd LV70
159 Paul Barrow 1.13.43 (1.13.23)
159 finished
Cirencester runners were at a few local parkruns. David Musgrove took 2nd at Cirencester with Rachel Ranger being 2nd lady. At Tetbury Nea Sneddon-Jenkins was 1st lady with a new PB on the course.
2nd October, parkrun, 5k, trail
Lydiard parkrun
1 James Hills (Unattached) 17.47
78 Gordon Jones (Cirencester AC) 25.00
87 David Moss 25.25
156 Rachel Jones 31.08
Cirencester parkrun
1 Harry Trend (Unattached) 18.39
2 David Musgrove (Cirencester AC) 19.50
10 Ionel Iancu 23.21
15 Rachel Ranger 24.26 – 2nd Woman
31 Richard Edwards 27.33
32 Brendan McCarthy 27.49
72 Cathie Cowell 53.16
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Jonathan Jamieson (Unattached) 17.44
5 Nea Sneddon-Jenkins (Cirencester AC) 21.07
17 Paul Timms 23.24
29 Alan Mcadam 24.54
38 Rachel Mcadam 25.59
51 Sam Timms 27.51
________________________________________________________________
Comments