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Some achievements 2010

As 2010 draws to a close, Gloucester Athletic Club can look back on its involvement in the major international competitions over the year with considerable pride.

The first international championship of the year was the Indoor World Championships held in the Qatar capital of Doha. Here, Gemma Turtle made her GB debut in the 3000 metres. Turtle had gained selection for the championships with a stunning personal best time of 9 mins 02.81 seconds when placing second in the trials at Sheffield and although unable to repeat that performance in Doha, she nevertheless acquitted herself well in her first major international fixture.

Wearing the green vest of Ireland in the 1500 metres at the same championships was Rose-Anne Galligan, in her first international championship as a senior. She had to qualify for the Worlds the hard way, for despite producing some impressive results during the indoor season, she still had to achieve the qualifying standard. She attained this when competing in the Spanish indoor championships down in Valencia, recording an excellent 4 mins 12.72 seconds. She was unable to improve on that time, but was another to learn from the experience.

Later in the summer, Galligan again represented her country over 800 metres, firstly in the European Team Championships in Hungary and then in the European Championships in Barcelona. The stifling heat of the Catalan capital was clearly to her liking as she ran a new personal best time of 2 mins 01.76 seconds.

The final international championships of the year were the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, in October. The city club had no members competing, but there was plenty of interest as two throwers coached by Gloucester’s Lorraine Shaw - Carys Parry and Zoe Derham, representing Wales and England respectively – both progressed to the final. In an enthralling competition, Parry took the silver medal with a season’s best throw of 64.93 metres and Derham the bronze with a throw of 64.04 metres.

Club Chairman Andy McKenzie says “These athletes and coaches have all brought great honour to the club and city and we hope it continues.”

It shall continue, for Beverley Jones shall be competing in the discus and shot putt in the International Paralympic Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, in January to start what the Gloucester club hopes shall be another momentous year.

04/12/10 Midland Women’s Cross-Country League

Illness and injury decimated Gloucester Athletic Club’s ladies cross-country team meaning that only Chris Campbell was able to compete in the second Midland Women’s Cross Country League race at Perry Barr on Saturday.

Nevertheless, Campbell produced one of her best ever runs in a Gloucester vest as she paced herself well over the difficult early stages before picking up the tempo to finish a very creditable 169th.

04/12/10 Birmingham & District Cross-Country League

Gloucester Athletic Club’s men battled gamely against the cream of the Midland’s distance runners in the second round of the Birmingham & District Cross-Country League Division One fixture at Perry Barr on Saturday.

Even before the season started, Gloucester knew that they would be competing at a level far higher than their current crop of runners had ever experienced and the gulf in class was evident as they finished 15th of 16 teams in Saturday’s race.

With the odds stacked against them, the city runners stuck to their task and there were several much-improved performances throughout the team, none more so than from Andrew de Camps. A track specialist, de Camps made light of the difficult conditions as he led the team home in 101st position, an improvement of over 30 places on his showing in the first round. This was de Camps last cross-country race before he turns his attention to the indoor scene, where he will be hoping to challenge for a place on the GB team that competes in the European Indoor Championships next March.

Second runner home for Gloucester and in his first race following a lengthy injury lay-off was Luke Herbert, in 105th place. He will be hoping for a spell of consistent, injury-free training and racing over the next month in an effort to kick-start his season.

Captain Dave Gresswell was third man home in 131st. Lee Smith, making his first appearance of the winter, tracked Gresswell throughout before tiring over the closing stages to finish in 140th position.

Gloucester’s fifth scorer was Arthur Daley in 153rd place. Now a seasoned veteran competing in the V60 age group locally, Daley again belied his years to finish ahead of many athletes who were not even born when he made his first appearance in this league.

Completing the scoring six and another to improve on his performance in the opening race, was Mark Ingram, who finished in 162nd place.

Immediately behind Ingram, in 163rd was Omar Alim, in his first season of cross-country running, with another newcomer, Matt Powell, in 180th place. Both runners made considerable improvements on their first Birmingham League race.

Paul Loveridge (194th), Humphrey Phillips (198th) and Mike Anderton (208th) completed the Gloucester team.

Though disappointed by the result, team captain Gresswell said “We have no excuses. Our runners all tried their best, but it just wasn’t good enough for this level. Even though we were missing one or two runners due to injury and illness, they wouldn’t have made much difference. This really is the best league in the country and it is a privilege to run against runners of this quality.”

21/11/10 Brighton 10k

Gloucester AC athletes Gemma Turtle and Simon Fortnam made the long trip to Sussex for the 27th running of the Brighton 10km road race on Sunday.

Turtle, in her first race since July because of injury, ran an excellent race in the womens section against international quality oppositon. In a tight finish only 10 seconds covered Liz Yelling in second place, Justina Heslop in third and Gemma in fourth in 33:52 (chip time 33:47).

In the men’s race Simon Fortnam had his best race of an injury hit year to finish 62nd in 35:35 (chip time 35:33).

20/11/10 Gloucestershire Cross-Country League/Women (Cheltenham)

Gloucester Athletic Club’s ladies team produced another solid performance to finish seventh team in the second Gloucestershire Cross-Country League race at Cheltenham on Saturday.

Kim Drinkwater showed the way home for the city ladies when finishing in 15th place. Work commitments have limited Kim’s racing opportunities recently but she showed no rustiness as she turned out her best performance for several months.

Team captain Michelle Stark had another consistent run when placing 42nd and the scoring team was completed by Helen Davies in 62nd spot.

The team’s development was highlighted by Anne-Marie Edwards and Chris Campbell who provided excellent back-up to the scoring trio by finishing in 69th and 79th places respectively.

Michelle Stark was pleased with her charges, saying “Given that we were missing a couple of runners due to unavoidable circumstances, seventh place shows that we are developing nicely. Individually, we’re getting better and as a team we are definitely on the up. I hope we can take this performance into the next Midland Women’s Cross-Country League race in two weeks’ time.”

Results: 1st Holly Rush (Team Bath); 2nd Gwen Kinsey (Stroud & Dist); 3rd Jane Wassell (Ciren).

Gloucester placings: 15th Kim Drinkwater; 42nd Michelle Stark; 62nd Helen Davies; 69th Anne-Marie Edwards; 79th Chris Collins.

Teams: 1st CLC Striders; 2nd Team Bath; 3rd Stroud & Dist; 7th Gloucester.

20/11/10 Gloucestershire Cross-Country League/Men (Cheltenham)

An improved turn-out saw Gloucester Athletic Club’s men, secure fifth place in the second Gloucestershire Cross-Country League race at Cheltenham.

With the next Birmingham Cross-Country League race only two weeks away, team captain Dave Gresswell had rallied around his troops in an attempt to get much-needed race practise and they responded well.

Saturday’s race saw a mighty tussle at the front of the field between Dave Roper of the host club and Dursley’s Garry Hughes with the former prevailing, but there was some tight competition behind them.

Leading the city team home again was Andy Renfree in 14th place. Currently producing some very solid, consistent performances he is shouldering the responsibility of leading the team out in the enforced absence of Steve Millward.

Next Gloucester runner home, in 25th position was Andrew de Camps, demonstrating that he is gradually regaining his form and fitness following an injury-ravaged summer.

Team captain Dave Gresswell was next man to finish in 36th position, followed in 53rd by Jeremy Mower. Wayne Mayer came home in 59th place and the evergreen Arthur Daley belied his years to complete the scoring six in 65th place.

Further evidence of the Gloucester athletes’ response to captain Gresswell’s call to race was provided with the ‘B’ team finishing in 4th place in their category.

Peter Lloyd led them home in 74th position with Alistair Wakefield next to finish in 94th place. Matt Powell was the next Gloucester man home (127th) followed by Dave Spackman (145th), Mark Thrall (159th) with Paul Loveridge completing the scoring in 167th place.

Dave Gresswell was much happier with the turn-out of his runners, saying “The Gloucestershire Cross-country League is the ideal preparation that our runners need for the stern challenge of the Birmingham League and we need to get as many of the guys racing as we can. Two tough races per month over the winter season are what we all need if we are to make an impact at this level. With one or two exceptions, they all turned out today, so I’m pretty happy.”

Results: 1st D Roper (Cheltenham & Co Harriers); 2nd G Hughes (Dursley); 3rd J Parker (CLC Striders).

Gloucester placings: 14th A Renfree; 25th A de Camps; 36th D Gresswell; 53rd J Mower; 59th W Mayer; 65th A Daley; 74th P Lloyd; 94th A Wakefield; 127th M Powell; 145th D Spackman; 159th M Thrall; 167th P Loveridge; (200 ran)

Teams: 1st Chelt & Co 68 pts; 2nd Clevedon 153; 3rd CLC Striders 209. 5th Glos 252.

20/11/10 Gloucestershire Cross-Country League/Young Athletes (Cheltenham)

Gloucester Athletic Club’s potential “stars of the future” were in action at the second Gloucestershire Cross-Country League fixture at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The first race of the day was the Under-11 girls event and saw Bryony Goddard-Jones leading the Gloucester youngsters home in eighth place in a very competitive race. Kezia Smith (13th), Hannah Meheran (19th), Charlotte Sprason (31st) and Charlie Friday (47th) brought the team home in fifth place.

The Under-11s boys race was dominated by runners from Team Bath who filled six of the top seven places. However, Gloucester’s Harry Wells did his best to break this stranglehold, coming home in an encouraging 10th position. Joshua Friday ran well to finish in 65th place.

The city club managed one representative in each of the Under-15 Girls, Under-15 Boys and Under-17 Ladies events, where Hannah Jones, Andrew Bowers and Becky Summers finished 15th, 18th and 7th respectively. Adam Thrall produced possibly the most encouraging performance of the city’s youngsters when taking third place in the Under-17s Men’s race.

13/11/10 Chocolate Biscuit 4-mile (Plock Court)

Despite undergoing surgery less than three months ago, Gloucester Athletic Club’s “super veteran” Dave Spackman is showing that his enthusiasm for the sport he has graced for 30 years burns as brightly now as it did when he first took up the sport.

His victory in the V65 category at Severn AC’s Chocolate Biscuit 4-mile cross-country event at Plock Court on Saturday came just one week after he took second place in that category at the Guy Fawkes 5-mile road race at Tewkesbury – a performance which, incidentally, clinched him 3rd place overall in this year’s County Road Race Series for the V65 age group.

Spackman took up running in 1981 when, along with a group of his team-mates at Spartans RFC in Gloucester, he started training for the city’s inaugural marathon that was taking place in the autumn of that year.

Spackman explains: “There was a special team prize for local rugby clubs in the marathon that year and as the running boom had really taken off, thanks to the London event, I managed to persuade a few of my colleagues to give it a go. Even if they weren’t going to actually run the marathon, it would have been good pre-season fitness training for them.”

History shows that Spackman led the victorious Spartans RFC team home that day in a very impressive debut time of 2 hours 49 minutes.

Spackman continues: “That one race signalled the end of my rugby days and the start of my running career because I was collared just after the race by the race organiser, Terry Haines, who advised me to take up running.”

Nearly thirty years later, “Spackie” is still a regular and very familiar face at most of the county’s road races and, though into his 66th year, is showing no signs of easing off.

“I’ll be running at the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League race at Pittville next Saturday (20th), followed by Severn’s Christmas cross-country handicap race in early December.”

Christmas Day celebrations with the family will be put on hold for a few hours because Dave shall be running in the annual Christmas Morning 3-miles road race and uphill sprint race. “It blows away the cobwebs from the night before and gives me a good appetite!”

GLOUCESTER AC WIN TOP HONOURS IN COUNTY ROAD RACE SERIES

Gloucester AC have had a successful year in the 2010 Gloucestershire County Road Race Series which concluded at the Tewkesbury five mile race on Sunday.

The men’s veteran 40 team was crowned champions and the women won the open women’s section. The senior men’s team finished runners up to Bourton Road Runners by the narrowest of margins.

In the individual standings Michelle Stark rounded off her excellent year with a win in the lady vet 35 category. Christine Campbell was 2nd.

Jane Leckebusch was surprised and delighted to finish not only second lady vet 45 but also second in the ladies open competition.

Arthur Daley finished second in the Vet 60 catagory and Jeremy Mower secured third place overall in the veteran 40 age group.

07/11/10 Guy Fawkes 5 (Tewkesbury)

Gloucester Athletic Club athletes turned out in force for the Tewkesbury five mile road race on Sunday and put on a good display.

In favourable conditions, first home for the club was Andy Renfree in fifth place in 26:49 on his return to racing after a recent illness. Cross country captain Dave Gresswell was next to finish in 28:31 for 19th position, that was close to his PB and only three seconds slower than his best time on that course. Dave was closely followed by Simon Fortnam in 28:42 for 22nd place, his best race of an injury hit year and another step towards full fitness. Jeremy Mower completed the scoring A team in 35th place (30:14) after an injury break.

Peter Lloyd was 43rd in 30:47 and in 48th place Arthur Daley narrowly missed breaking his own Vet 60 club record by five seconds with 30:59. Veteran 65 Dave Spackman returned after injury to finish 104th (34:26) and Michelle Stark was the clubs first woman to finish in 117th in a new PB of 34:57. Michelle has enjoyed a great year setting new best times over 5k (road and track), five miles and 10km.

In 130th place Jane Leckebusch took 23 seconds off her PB with 35:39 and she was closely followed by Helen Davies in 137th who took four minutes off her time from last year with 35:54. Christine Campbell finished 189th in 38:18 missing her best time by just eight seconds.

Results:

5th Andy Renfree 26:49; 19th Dave Gresswell 28:31; 22nd Simon Fortnam 28:42; 35th Jeremy Mower 30:14; 43rd Peter Lloyd 30:47; 48th Arthur Daley 30:59; 104th Dave Spackman 34:26; 117th Michelle Stark 34:57; 130th Jane Leckebusch 35:39; 137th Helen Davies 35:54; 189th Christine Campbell 38:18. (366 finished)

GB selection for Gloucester athlete

Gloucester Athletic Club thrower, Beverley Jones, has been selected to represent Great Britain in the shot putt and discus at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) world athletics championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in January.

Beverley has previously successfully combined sprinting with shot, winning category T37 100m & F37 shot gold medals on successive days at the 2005 European Champs, and a bronze medal for Wales in 100m EAD at 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. More recently, she has concentrated on throwing, winning Gold at the 2006 World Championships with a then world record 10.57m in the F37 category shot.

The championships run from 22nd – 30th January 2011 in the Queen Elizabeth II stadium, venue of the 1974 Commonwealth Games.

30/10/10 Birmingham & District Cross-Country League

Gloucester Athletic Club’s men’s team made its long-awaited return to the top Division of the Birmingham Cross-country League on Saturday and found the opposition as tough as the arduous Leamington Spa course.

Division One of this league is widely regarded as the toughest in the country and boasts among its members, two of Britain’s leading distance-running clubs - Birchfield Harriers and Tipton Harriers. Therefore, just to compete at this level is a remarkable achievement, let alone to actually challenge for top places.

Despite finishing last in the opening fixture, there were several typically gutsy performances from the city athletes.

Leading the way home for the first time was Richard De Camps, in 85th place. Starting off at a fast pace, he held his position well and his performance augers well for a solid winter season.

Next home for Gloucester was Dave Gresswell, in 126th. Gresswell also started well and although he started to feel the effects from last week’s Stroud Half Marathon during mid-race, he rallied well to claw back several places over the closing mile.

Just behind Gresswell, in 130th position, was Lee Smith who showed signs of returning to his outstanding road form of last year. A few more weeks of consistent, injury-free training should see him again challenge the club’s leading runners.

The elder brother, Andrew De Camps, was the next Gloucester runner home, in 133rd. Normally a track specialist over 800 metres, he adapted well to these less familiar conditions, despite visibly tiring over the closing stages.

Ultra-distance specialist, Jeremy Mower, showed good pace judgement and produced another solid run to place 152nd, whilst team vice-captain Ian Summers made up the scoring six for the A Team when finishing just behind Mower in 155th position.

The city club’s B team fared better in their category. Experienced campaigners Mark Ingram (170th) and V60 Arthur Daley (174th) led the team home, closely followed by Alistair Wakefield in 176th. Wakefield’s run was all the more remarkable considering he had run the Amsterdam marathon just seven days previously. The fact that he also travelled nearly 200 miles from his south-coast base to compete in Saturday’s race typified his commitment to the team.

Two club newcomers, Omar Alim and Matt Powell, both in their first ever appearances over the country, were next in and the team was completed by Matthew Aspinall, who finished in 191st place.

The Gloucester contingent was completed by non-scorers Gareth Malsom (209th), Paul Loveridge (214th), debutant Mike Anderton (226th) and Club chairman Andy McKenzie in 228th.

Afterwards, team captain Dave Gresswell said “This result proved conclusively that this is by far the highest level of cross-country competition that our athletes have ever raced in. The result is disappointing, but the effort was there and I know we will benefit from the experience. Every one of our runners has to be fit, healthy and available for each of the remaining three matches if we are to have a chance of survival, but it is a very tall order.”

Provisional results:

A teams: Birmingham Uni 86 pts; Birchfield H 115; Coventry 118; Tipton H 179; Loughborough Students 268; BRAT Club 366; Cheltenham & Co 417; OWLS 422; City of Stoke 428; Halesowen 437; Staffs Moorlands 457; Warwick Uni 514; Kenilworth 556; Telford 558; Rugby & Northampton 658; Gloucester AC 781.

B teams: Birmingham Uni 173 pts; Coventry 343; Loughborough Students 450; Tipton H 829; Halesowen 857; Warwick Uni 922; BRAT Club 932; Kenilworth 993; Gloucester AC 1083.

30/10/10 Midland Women’s Cross-Country League

Gloucester Athletic Club’s ladies team travelled to Leamington Spa to compete in the opening match of this winter’s Midland Women’s Cross-Country League.

Thanks to the encouragement of their captain, Michelle Stark, the team has gradually increased its commitment to this league and are currently the only county team competing at this level.

On Saturday, five city ladies toed the line and Gemma Collier was the first to show. Currently in a rich vein of form over a wide range of distances and surfaces, Collier found the hilly Leamington course to her liking as she led the team home.

The next runner home was Melissa Whitlock, making a welcome return to racing. Finishing strongly, she looks to be recovering well from the injuries that disrupted her summer’s racing and training programme.

Michelle Stark completed the scoring three, showing few ill effects from having competed in a half marathon and 5km road race in the week leading up to this event.

Anne-Marie Edwards and club debutant Vanessa Anderton provided solid support by completing the course.

Team captain Stark was satisfied with the team’s showing, saying “This is a good platform to build on. We are keen to make our mark in this league, not necessarily in terms of high-end team placings, but in numbers. We want to get as many city ladies racing in these events as we can so that we can really make our presence felt.”

Overall positions: 59th Gemma Collier;  99th Melissa Whitlock;  146th Michelle Stark;  170th Anne-Marie Edwards;  265th Vanessa Anderton

30/10/10 Snowdonia Marathon

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Wayne Mayer finished an impressive 12th in the M40 category and 34th overall of 1299 runners at this year’s running of the Snowdonia Marathon.

Encircling Mount Snowdon, the event is considered by many as being among the toughest road marathons in Europe, as runners have the steep inclines as well as inclement autumnal weather and local wildlife to contend with.

Mayer’s time of 3hr 8min 27sec was a personal best for the course by over nine minutes. His Gloucester club-mate Philip Du Plessis placed 140th in the M40 category in a time of 4hr 30min 50sec. 

24/10/10 Stroud Half Marathon

Gloucester AC members were in attendance to compete in the biggest mass-participation race in the Gloucestershire road race calendar, the Stroud Half Marathon, on Sunday.

This year’s event, the 29th, was run in cold but sunny, dry and near-windless conditions and saw a mix of established and new club members competing, along with a rare appearance by club stalwart Mike Storey, who dusted off his somewhat moth-eaten club vest to take part.

From the gun, club cross-country captain Dave Gresswell, was the first of the Gloucester contingent to show, establishing an early lead over his fellow club members that he was never to surrender. Clocking 59 minutes for the opening 10 miles, Gresswell tired slightly over the closing miles, but still recorded a personal best for the Stroud course of 1hr 18min 30sec for 37th place overall.

Next home for Gloucester was ultra-distance specialist Jeremy Mower, who showed he is on the way back from injury, producing a solid performance and finishing in 1hr 23min 23sec for 76th place.

Peter Lloyd was just outside the top 100, finishing in 1hr 25min 14sec, and he was followed home by Omar Alim. Alim, a new club recruit and a regular attendee at the club’s growing distance running group, finished in 1hr 31min 5sec. This was a personal best, taking a full eight minutes off his previous best time.

First lady home for the club was Hayley Winters, whose time of 1hr 34min was good enough for 276th place. Winters now plans to work abroad for 6 months in a ski resort, where she will have the chance for some high altitude training before next year’s road racing season.

Vet 55 Terry Onions was in attendance as ever, with a clocking of 1hr 36mins for 365th place overall.

Michelle Stark (LV35) was just one minute outside her personal best, benefiting from solid support from her coach, and vet 60 athlete, Arthur Daley, who accompanied her during the race.

Gareth Malsom, and new club member Alex Toseland, were only separated by 30 seconds as they both came home just outside the top 400 finishers.

Another Lady Vet 35, Christine Campbell, continued her steady improvement producing a PB of 1hr 46min 48sec.

Completing the list of Gloucester club finishers in 2 hrs 19 mins was Mike Storey. Nowadays, Storey can be more often found actively occupied as a Course Director in local road races but still finds time to pull on the old shoes for these races.

16/10/10 National Road Relays (Sutton Park)

Gloucester AC fielded both men’s and women’s teams in the National Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park on Saturday.

The men’s team finished a creditable 72nd and third county team behind Cheltenham and Cirencester AC over the 6 x 6km lap. The competitive first leg was run by Andy Renfree (19.20) who improved his Midlands relay time by seven seconds to hand over in 63rd place. Richard De-Camps ran a strong second leg (19.46) to finish in 67th, an improvement of 39 seconds on his Midlands time. Dave Gresswell (21.12) responded well to his late call up to the team to pass on in 70th after bettering his outing last month by seven seconds. On leg four, team manager Simon Fortnam continued his return to racing fitness after injury by taking 30 seconds off his time with 20.57. Lee Smith (21.03) took over in 73rd and held that position before Pete Kellie (21.33) brought the team home, gaining one place on the way.

The women’s team finished a fine 57th in the 4 x 4.3km race with some good performances. The team was led off by Michelle Stark (17.57) who handed over in 66th. Helen Davies (19.23) took 24 seconds off her time from the Midlands relays and handed over to Anne-Marie Edwards (19.41) in 67th. Edwards held 67th and took seven seconds off her time from last month. The final storming leg was run by Gemma Collier (16.54) who gained 10 positions and improved her time by 10 seconds. 

Results: 

Women: 57th  Gloucester AC  1:13.55

Michelle Stark - 17:57; Helen Davies - 19:23; Anne Marie Edwards - 19:41; Gemma Collier - 16:54 

Men: 72nd Gloucester AC  2:03.51

Andy Renfree - 19:20; Richard De-Camps - 19:46; Dave Gresswell - 21.12; Simon Fortnam - 20:57; Lee Smith - 21:03; Pete Kellie - 21:33. 

09/10/10 Gloucestershire XC League - Fixture 1 (Bourton)

With several key senior mens and ladies athletes missing due to injury or other commitments, Gloucester AC got off to a steady start last weekend at the first of the Gloucestershire League Cross County fixtures at Bourton.

In the Senior Ladies race, Gemma Collier transferred her recent run of form on the roads onto the country with a fantastic 6th place overall. Collier positioned herself within the first ten places right from the start and moved easily through the field as others around her tired. Ladies XC Captain, Michelle Stark finished 32nd despite suffering with a cold all week, and only deciding to run minutes before the start. Anne-Marie Edwards was 52nd a solid run after spending most of the summer focusing on triathlons. Helen Davies had a great run for 62nd overall. Christine Campbell also ran, but missed out on the scoring team this time. This leaves the Senior Ladies team 9th overall after one race.

With the senior mens team missing at least five of its top runners, it was left to XC Captain, Dave Gresswell to lead the team home in 28th place. Running most of the race alongside club mate Tom Randles, Gresswell managed to pull clear and move up several places over the final lap of three. Randles finished second scorer in 37th. V50 athlete Tom Meheran was third to score with a fantastic run to finish 46th overall. Mark Ingram was not far behind in 50th place, and continues to improve race by race. 54th was Jeremy Mower. A good effort on the back of very limited training over the last couple of months due to injury. Completing the scoring ‘A’ team was Peter Lloyd in 64th.

This gave the ‘A’ team a top five finish overall, which was an excellent result given that key personnel were missing.

Club vice-captain and coach, Ian ‘Lofty’ Summers was just behind in 65th place leading home the ‘B’ team. A steady run, from another athlete who has been suffering with illness before the race. V60 Arthur Daley, on his birthday weekend, was 86th. Dave ‘Ed’ Edwards was 111th, Mark Thrall at 133rd , Gareth Malsom was 137th and Paul Loveridge 151st to round out the ‘B’ team. V60 runner John McClean was not far behind the ‘B’ team in 152nd.

With several of the ‘A’ team runners being V40 or above, these positions were also good enough to give the team 4th place overall in the Masters category.

In the U17 races the competition was close at the top with only a minute separating the top few places. Adam Thrall was 3rd in the U17 Boys race, less than 30 seconds off the lead runner, with Becky Summers 9th in U17 Girls.

02/10/10 Gloucestershire XC Relays (Plock Court)

Gloucester AC's older runners picked up honours at the County Cross Country Relay Championships.

Over 50 Tom Meheran brought the M40 team home on the first 1.9 mile leg in 11:27 for 11th place overall. Ultra-distance specialist Jeremy Mower improved the team's position by one with  a leg of 11:17 whilst Cross Country Captain Dave Gresswell improved by another one place - overtaking Severn AC's M40 team with his second leg of the day in 11:39.  V60 Arthur Daley also ran two legs and completed his second in 12:14 bring the team home in 11th place to claim the County M40 silver.

Gresswell had raced in the Senior Men's team taking the first leg in 10:56, a time which gained him the fastest M40 award. Gresswell passed over to Steve Millward in 4th place. Millward, running during a late lunch break from his Gloucester Sports shop, scooted around the flat course in 9:25, the fastest time of the day by a Gloucester based runner. Mark Ingram moved the team back to 5th place with 11:21. U17 Jack Evans ran the last leg for the Senior men returning a time of 11:21 which was comparable with his older team mates.

The V60 team lead off by Arthur Daley completed the first leg in 12:00 for 17th position. John McClean ran 13:45 for the middle leg whist a  recovering V65 Dave Spackman ran the fastest time for his age group with 13:35 and brought the team home for gold medal.

Gloucester's only lady Becky Summers ran in a team with friends from Bourton and recorded 13:02.