It’s a bumper report this week covering two busy weekends of racing.
On a fine Friday evening runners gathered for the fast and furious Bourton mile race, the latest in both the club and county road race series for 2023. It’s always a fun event with bemused tourists watching these strange goings on.
There were blistering performances across the board with Luke Campbell first home, not much between James Widdowson, Rachel Ranger and Gordon Jones, who was 1st MV70, followed by Ruth Fulford rounding off the Cirencester team effort.
For James, it was his first bash at a mile race. He reports having set off at an unsustainable pace but eased off to keep something back for the finish when he managed to overtake people. He enjoyed feeling energetic on a stretch that is usually the gruelling end of the Bourton 10k.
Our talented Under 11 Rory Brown also put in a spectacular performance to finish 89th with a chip time of 6.39.
Following the race, the current top three in the standings in the club road race series are:
1 Rachel Ranger
2 Ruth Fulford
3 Jo Musk
1 James Widdowson
2 Gordon Jones
3 Brian Harris
And in the County Road Race series Ruth is currently 1st in her age group and Brian 2nd in his.
12th May, Bourton 1 Mile, 1 Mile, road
1 Ben Robinson (Bristol & West AC) 4.32
18 Luke Campbell (Cirencester AC) 5.17
71 James Widdowson 6.27
96 Rachel Ranger 6.56
98 Gordon Jones 7.01 - 1st MV70
163 Ruth Fulford 9.46
173 finished
Trail specialist Andy Hindson completed the Ultra Trail Snowdonia on a day when the weather was almost too good.
The hot weather combined with more distance and ascent than advertised made for a tough day. Andy also battled through cramp in the final section and was pleased to finish a race that saw many people drop out.
13th May, Ultra Trail Snowdonia, 50k, trail
1 Thomas Evans (Red Bull) 5.27.11
377 Andy Hindson (Cirencester AC) 11.20.14
875 finished
There was huge success for two more of our trail loving club members.
Robbie Brown won the Marlborough 33 and Kate Jacobs was 4th overall and 1st lady.
Tremendous efforts.
13th May, Marlborough Challenge, 33 miles, trail
1 Robbie Brown (Cirencester AC) 4.37.59
4 Kate Jacobs 4.53.47 – 1st Lady
66 finished
On the roads of Bristol there was a good Cirencester presence for the half marathon and 10k.
First home was Tom Purnell in an impressive 45th place.
Of note amongst all the other great runs were age group 4th places for Rachel Ranger after her mile effort two days prior, and for Nick Wall, just over a bout of Covid. Rachel’s 1.48 finish was a pleasing new PB for her. Also with a new PB was Paul Timms.
14th May, Great Bristol Half Marathon, 13.1 miles, road
1 Alex Milne (Hercules Wimbledon AC) 1.08.55
45 Tom Purnell (Cirencester AC) 1.19.44
941 Paul Timms 1.42.54
1378 Rachel Ranger 1.48.27
2066 Nick Wall 1.55.31
1550 David Phelps 1.56.59
2484 Jake Yeo 1.59.25
2979 Jocelyn Randall 2.05.43
4076 Samantha Timms 2.24.16
Our only representative in the 10k event was Ruth Fulford rounding off a busy week of three races racking up points in club and county competitions. The race was a qualifying event for next year’s England Age Group Masters championship.
Ruth was much happier with her performance and finish time than at her recent Berkeley 10k and is now looking forward to some smaller local races, the Stroud Beer race and Summer Sizzler in the county series and Fairford 10k in the club road race series.
14th May, Great Bristol 10k, 10k, road
1 Chris Thompson (Unattached) 29.45
277 Ruth Fulford (Cirencester AC) 1.02.16
In the rolling Cotswold countryside around Sherborne there was a Cirencester AC first and second place for James Thomas and Brecht Grieten and a fine run from Gordon Jones, his second race of the weekend, brought him a well deserved 1st MV70.
Really well done to all three.
14th May, Sherborne 5 Mile, 5 miles, trail
1 James Thomas (Cirencester AC) 30.42
2 Brecht Grieten 31.57
31 Gordon Jones 45.40 – 1st MV70
82 finished
There was lots of great parkrunning as usual. Check out individual event websites for detailed results but one that stands out is Gordon Jones…..a fine parkrun sandwiched between Bourton Mile and the Sherborne 5 mile trail race. What a weekend for Gordon!
13th May, parkrun, 5k trail
Lydiard parkrun
1 Peter Woodward (Unattached) 17.31
72 Gordon Jones (Cirencester AC) 24.40
327 finished
Merthyr parkrun
1 Matthew Emery (Unattached) 18.02
24 Jo Musk (Cirencester AC) 28.02
44 finished
Cirencester parkrun
1 Chris Beevor (Unattached) 18.20
7 Zac Humphries (Cirencester AC) 21.27
20 Benjamin Conway 23.30
46 Gary Wood 26.2
85 Pamela Wheeler 29.59
153 Jocelyn Randall 56.16
153 finished
Witney parkrun
1 Tegid Jones (Unattached) 18.34
141 Colin Tapley (Cirencester AC) 34.36
147 Clare Tapley 34.54
182 finished
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Max Benfield (Unattached) 17.54
22 Paul Timms (Cirencester AC) 24.09
24 Alan McAdam 24.13
34 Rachel McAdam 25.39
96 Helen Cue 35.25
123 finished
At an old favourite location, Rupert Chesmore enjoyed the new offering of a marathon distance at Compton. He reports enjoying a good steady run on firm tracks with not too many hills and was very pleased with his 5:20 finish and 1st MV60 placing.
20th May, Compton Marathon, 26.2 miles, trail
1 Alex Briscoe (White Horse Harriers AC) 3.05.26 (3.05.24)
58 Rupert Chesmore (Cirencester AC) 5.20.07 (5.19.49)
74 finished
Also on the trails, this time the North Downs Way, were our intrepid trio of Jill Hadland, Lara Tompson and Jo Roberts.
Jill forged ahead to finish inside 11 hours and Lara and Jo worked together to complete the tough challenge in 12.31.
Tremendous.
20th May, North Downs Way 50, 50 miles, trail
1 Jose Rodriguez (Unattached) 6.33.35
159 Jill Hadland (Cirencester AC) 10.53.11
283 Lara Tompson 12.31.39
284 Joanna Roberts 12.31.44
317 finished
Great news from Chester Half Marathon which, for the second year running, was playing host to the England Athletics Age Group Masters Championship.
Our own Liza Darroch qualified to compete in her FV75 age group. Accompanied by Rupert after his warm up marathon the previous day, Liza reports “We both started really badly but eventually remembered how to do it at around mile 5. Spent the rest of the half overtaking until the last mile drag back up into the city. Finished in 2:22:58 to be third FV75 and so get the bronze medal!”
Many congratulations to Liza on another great achievement.
21st May, Chester Half Marathon, 13.1 miles, road
1 Andrew Heyes (Hallamshire Harriers Sheffield) 1.05.52 (1.05.52)
2857 Liza Darroch (Cirencester AC) 2.26.52 (2.22.58)
2858 Rupert Chesmore 2.26.52 (2.22.57(
3447 finished
Dave Musgrove loves to push himself in really tough challenges and this weekend was back in Cornwall for a favourite race, the Endurancelife Classic Quarter Ultra. The route covers 44 miles of the South West Coast Path between The Lizard and Lands End.
Dave says the beautiful sunshine was perfect beach weather but made for hard running conditions. The path was very overgrown and jungle like for large parts and conditions underfoot oddly boggy.
Dave’s 10hr20 finish time was an hour slower than his best time there but he was very satisfied just to finish.
If you would like to get a hint of what it is to run an event like that, check out Dave’s brilliant short film to get a taste of the highs and lows. You can find it on the club WhatsApp group but don’t watch it if you feel queasy at the mere mention of vomit.
21st May, Endurancelife Classic Quarter Ultra, 44 miles, trail
1 Laurie Luscombe 6:40:15
65 David Musgrove (Cirencester AC) 10:20:16
175 finished
David Wright had another great run at the May 5, a 5 mile race around Canford Heath organised by Poole Athletic Club. The race starts and finishes on the Ashdown Athletics Track.
21st May, May 5, 5 mile, multi terrain
1 Christopher Peck (Egdon Heath Harriers) 26.24
91 David Wright (CirencesterAC) 34.20
283 finished
Lots of fantastic parkrunning with a particularly strong turnout at Cirencester this week where there was magic in the air with four club members in the top seven finishers and an abundance of new course PBs. Take a look at detailed results for any individual parkrun event to see age graded performances…..some very impressive stats from our club members of all ages.
Paul Timms ran his 100th parkrun and Rachel McAdam ran her best time on the tougher of the two Tetbury routes.
20th May, parkrun, 5k trail
Cardiff parkrun
1 Harry Waring (Unattached) 16.40
119 Nea Sneddon-Jenkins (Cirencester AC) 22.06
789 finished
Lydiard parkrun
1 James Trevithick (Unattached) 17.20
79 Gordon Jones (Cirencester AC) 24.35
337 finished
Bolton parkrun
1 Matthew Garside (Unattached) 19.18
60 Kate Sackett (Cirencester AC) 26.19
250 finished
Thornbury parkrun
1 Marcus Leathwood (Unattached) 18.34
76 Ruth Fulford (Cirencester AC) 31.28
76 finished
Keswick parkrun
1 Ben Livesey (Unattached) 16.29
4 James Thomas (Cirencester AC) 17.43
254 finished
Cirencester parkrun
1 Harry Barnes (Unattached) 17.17
2 Aaron Willis (Cirencester AC) 17.25
3 Rob Forbes 17.35
6 Ian Barrett 18.23
7 Brecht Grieten 18.31
11 Luke Campbell 19.31
12 Joseph Stickney 19.59
14 Robert Stickney 20.09
17 Zac Humphries 20.40
19 Brian Harris 20.50
34 Paul Timms 23.12
46 Benjamin Conway 24.33
51 Rob Jones 24.48
62 Gary Wood 25.58
72 Jocelyn Randall 26.31
73 Rachel Ranger 26.33
94 Pamela Wheeler 28.54
113 Samantha Timms 30.43
160 Lorna Harris 37.48
180 finished
Witney parkrun
1 Matthew Lock (Unattached) 17.29
21 Neil Morrissey (Cirencester AC) 21.56
235 finished
Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun
1 Phil Hambleton (Unattached) 18.28
23 Alan McAdam (Cirencester AC) 26.14
31 Rachel McAdam 26.42
109 Helen Cue 36.52
126 finished
And finally, although he was running for his second claim club, Dorian Matts reports a new 200 metre track PB at a veterans meet last Tuesday. He surprised himself as the conditions weren’t ideal, he wasn’t feeling great and so didn’t even use blocks. He puts his result down to his training and feeling relaxed.
Please send stories to go with your results to Rachel at rachelelisabethbarrow@hotmail.co.uk or via WhatsApp. And please please please send a link to you race results to cirenacresults@gmail.com as soon as you can. Martin tends to pull the results together on a Monday evening which makes my Tuesday job a whole lot easier.
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