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29/03/08

Gloucester Athletics Club Tour 2008. Hervis Prague International Half Marathon.

Gloucester AC were out in force at the Prague International Half Marathon on 29/03/08. The race was part of the clubs annual tour which this year saw them taking in the delights of the Czech Republics capital city.

Race day saw blue sky and warm temperatures, but a very strong headwind around the majority of the course. This coupled with the cobbled, and tram lined streets of the city centre meant that the racing was never easy.

First home for the club, in a fantastic 22nd place overall, and first British finisher, was Steve Millward. Although very happy with his position, Steve felt he could have gone faster if it had not been so windy. As Steve was near the front of the field, the television coverage showed him several times, including the final km, in which he closed and overtook the first placed international lady finisher.

Next home was Dave Gresswell, who just managed to take 3 seconds of his previous best time, which placed him 5th overall in the Vet 40 category. He was closely followed by Lee Smith, who took a massive 2 mins off his pb. Again, Lee was pleased with his time, but remarked that he thinks there is more to come this season, and he hopes to break the 80 minute barrier later this year.

Club coach, Ian Summers, found the course hard and not to his liking, but still managed a creditable run finishing 4th for the club. Nick Cousins  had a strong run despite not having the pre-race training that he would have liked due to injury. Club Vet60 John McClean had a good run. Having driven across Europe to Prague, John was understandably a little tired. He was followed in by Neil Scowby, who completed the course in well under 2 hours, which was respectable due to his lack of training due to work commitments.

For the ladies Gemma Collier had a very good run finishing 79th lady. Gemma, who has a background running much shorter distances, found the course tough, but really enjoyed the crowd support and the atmosphere of a big city race.

The club also had two guest athletes on tour. First was Laura Nurse, who has been training with the club this year, while working for a local company. Laura who has previously run for a Spanish club, and Team Bath during her university days, had an amazing run in her first ever half marathon. She finished 10th lady overall, and 1st in the under 25 age group. Also on tour was a member of local club Severn AC, Jason Gresswell, who acquitted himself well.

Steve Millward 1:11:55 22nd place Man 1st GB Dave Gresswell 1:19:46 69th place Man 5th Vet 40 Lee Smith 1:22:00 95th place Man   Ian Summers 1:23:10 119th place Man 13th Vet 40 Nick Cousins 1:25:13 159th place Man   Laura Nurse 1:27:26 10th place Lady 1st u25 Jason Gresswell 1:40:29 973th place Man   John McClean 1:40:48 889th place Man 8th Vet 60 Gemma Collier 1:43:26 79th place Lady   Neil Scowby 1:55:08 2059th place Man

                

MORE PHOTOS HERE

29/03/08

Gloucester Athletic Club veterans continued their domination of the County AAA's Short Course Cross Country Championship  winning the event for the third year running. Arthur Daley (V55) led the team home in 10th place with his fastest time over the 4000m event of 14:50.  Dave Spackman (V60) beat the wind and rain to power in in 23rd place with 16:32, gaining 2nd over 60 individual despite a cold gain whilst working in Europe. Bogdan Jochym sprinted in 29th in 17:16 ahead of Arnie Yeomans 32nd in 17:24 after battling around the 3 lap course at Plock Court for the honour of completing the team.

Emma Jeffery ran the second fastest time of the day for a Gloucester AC runner finishing 20th in 16:23 gaining 3rd lady prize and becoming Senior Lady Champion in her last year before qualifying as a veteran.

29/03/08

Mower wins the Crawley 6 Hour Track Race.

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Welsh International Jeremy Mower produced his best ever ultra running performance yet in winning the Crawley 6 hour track race. Mower managed to cover 46.8 miles in the 6 hours and beat his nearest rival Scottish international Bill Watson by nearly three miles in less than ideal conditions. It was constantly windy, a short hailstorm early on and the rain during the last 90 minutes was particularly tough for the tired athletes. Mower and Watson constantly shared the lead for the first four hours when Mower opened up a 200 metre gap and when it began to rain Mower seemed to be unaffected lapping his fellow athletes several times and his last three miles were his quickest of the day. Mower was elated to win his first ever ultra race and admitted surprise at the distance he had managed to cover. He also went past the 40 mile distance quicker than his personal best set only three weeks ago. This all bodes well for the 100km Anglo-Celtic Plate in May when he runs for Wales against the other home nations. With three personal bests already this year Mower’s extra dedication to the ultra distances seems to be paying off and he is aware he may need to do more to meet the qualifying standards for the Commonwealth Games as being ranked number three in Wales may not be enough. It was quite a Gloucestershire affair as the race was organised by Pam Storey formerly of Gloucester, Mike Storey (Gloucester AC) and Dave McNamee (Cheltenham Harriers) acted as Mower’s lap scorers and had helped with the races organisation. Ron Ellis honorary member of Gloucester AC also helped out with the running of the event.

24/03/08  

Gloucester Athletic Club's veteran ultra-runner Jeremy Mower showed he still has a bit of speed in his legs over the shorter distances at the Tredworth Easter Monday Road Race. The 42 year old from Elmbridge finished in a surprising 3rd place overall and 1st veteran over 40. His time of 24 min 52 secs was his second fastest time on the 4.3 mile course. Mower sat off the pace for the first two miles and used his strength to come through late on in the race picking up two places. Mower very pleased with his run and he has been doing little speed work but hopes that he did not over do it as he has the Crawley 6 hour Track Race this Saturday which he is hopeful of a top finish.

22/03/08

Six members of Gloucester AC braved the high winds last Saturday at the Easter 10km road race from the White Horse restaurant in Sandhurst, Gloucester. The strong wind probably added about 50 seconds to most athlete’s times and accounted for a small field of fifty two runners turning up. Dave Gresswell showed he has had a return to form finishing 5th overall and first Vet 40 in the race. Gresswell had a close battle with John Mansfield of Tewkesbury who he managed to shake off in the final 3 km. It was Gresswell’s third fastest ever 10km race and his best time on the Sandhurst course. Had it not been for the wind Gresswell would have certainly ran a PB and got very close to breaking 36 minutes. Jeremy Mower finished 7th overall had a totally different race in contrast to Gresswell finding himself running around the course by himself and he was pleased to go under 38 minutes on the back of a hard training week as he prepares for his 100km race on May, 18th. Arthur Daley ran well despite a tight hamstring and lost out by a few seconds in the Vet 55 category. All three vets were pleased with their form as Gloucester have entered the Midland Vet road relays in a few weeks time, but they were however disappointed with the some of their other club members not turning out as they would have won the men’s team prize but were one short. Emma Jeffery had a decent run as she is returning to form after a recent lay off.

Gloucester AC times: Dave Gresswell, 5th (1st Vet 40) 36:55; Jeremy Mower, 7th (3rd Vet 40) 37:50; Arthur Dailey, 12th (2nd Vet 55) 39:54; Nick Cousins, 17th 41:12; Emma Jeffery, 34th 45:15; Bogdan Jochym, 43rd 48:29

16/03/08  

Gloucester AC athlete Michelle Stark ran the Bath Half Marathon, her second half marathon this month. Reading was obviously a warm up for her Bath effort which produced a PB of 1:51:11 with a 10k time of 53:35. This was a great achievement in beating her previous best time by over 6 minutes.

You might have heard all the bad press the organisers of the Bath Half Marathon received this year. The weather was appalling. We queued for over an hour at one of the park and ride bus stops in the wind and the rain. The parking lot was flooded so every time a car drove past the queue of runners, water washed over our feet soaking shoes and socks.

When I did get into Bath everyone was talking about the delayed start. This was because the medical tents weren't ready on time and they hadn't arranged enough buses to bring runners into the centre of bath. I'm sure, like me, there were a lot of annoyed runners who had timed their high energy, low GI, bowls of porridge with an 11am start.

Every coffee shop in Bath was packed with runners. We secured a corner on the floor in Starbucks and had some coffee and a muffin to thaw us out and top up our energy reserves.

But, despite all the hassles - frozen knees, wet socks and a delayed start, I still managed a PB. I am very proud of my 1:51. Six minutes off my previous best. Am now determined to do the next one in under 1:50.

Michelle

10/03/08 Mower wins Silver Medal at Welsh Ultra Championship

Jeremy Mower of Gloucester AC won the silver medal in the Welsh Ultra Championships at the Barry 40 mile race yesterday which is held at Jenner Park Stadium, the home of Barry Town FC. The event consists of running 161 laps around a tartan track and tackling the Barry weather. This year it threw up two freezing cold hail showers and short rain showers. The event was particularly strong this year with English and Welsh Athletics using the race as part of the selection procedure for their ultra-running teams. At 15 miles Mower was tucked in nicely in 3rd position in the Welsh Championship when he had to pull up as his running shoe was causing a hotspot in the arch of his foot. Knowing this would turn into a blister later on he took 3 minutes out to change shoes which put him half a mile behind the 2nd placed Welsh athlete. Mower put in a huge effort to make up the lost ground and by the Marathon distance moved into the silver medal position. Unfortunately stomach pains then caused Mower to slow down and make three stops costing him valuable minutes. One thing ultra-runners are though is tough and despite the stomach pain and blisters on his two big toes as the changed shoes were not his ultra shoes. Your feet can swell up a whole size when running these distances. Mower hung on and finished strongly to run a new PB in 5 hours 11 min 29 sec, 11th position in the open race and second Welsh athlete. True testament to the quality of the field was that 23 of the 26 starters finished in a race which normally has a higher drop out. Mower was pleased with his medal and time, but most of all pleased that his legs were still in great condition at the end of the race and had plenty more miles in them which bodes well for his next two races the Crawley 6 hour track race in 3 weeks and the 100km Anglo-Celtic Plate race where he should be selected for a fourth time to represent Wales.

10/03/08

Dave Gresswell ran the Castle Coombe 10km race finishing 6th overall in 37mins 8secs, his third best time ever, but still 43 secs slower than his PB. He said he was happy as it was early in the season so he had plenty of time to improve.The course was flat, but a bit exposed, and a strong headwind on part of motor race circuit over the three laps meant that a third of the race was into the wind. Not used to running on such a wide race track Gresswell felt it took him one lap to work out the best racing line which cost him some time. Gresswell plans to run the same race in the summer and has set himself a target of improving on his PB.

08/03/08

The annual Severn AC Grocery 4 mile road race saw all Gloucester Athletic Club runners take a prize.

First home was under 17 year old Sarah Hopkinson in 23:55. Sarah, who was ranked in the top five in all the steeplechase events under 3000m last year finished 3rd lady over this flat and fast course. 

Track specialist Keith Short defied his name to run over distance as preparation for an indoor 1500 next week and finished 17th in 25:30 as first over 55. Only 12 seconds behind him was an improving Paul Nash, who is recovering from a break in training and picking up veterans prizes in his first year as an over 40 - in this race first over 40.

Less than a minute behind him was Dave Spackman, winner of the 2007 Gloucester AC Road Race Series, who ran a steady race after the previous week's double triumph in the County Road Relays at the same venue. Dave finished in 26:30. 

02/03/08

The annual Gloucester 20 mile road race took place from Frampton-on-Severn on Sunday 02/03/08 in lovely weather conditions. This was the tenth time the race has been held over the Frampton course since race organiser Andy McKenzie moved it there from Brockworth in 1999 and built up the field from little over 100 to the 600-700 seen in each of the last three years.

The prevailing light wind made the final few miles a challenge for the 630 strong field, many doing the distance for the first time as a build up to the London Marathon on April 13th, but this didn't deter Bourton Road Runner's Vet40 Mike Smith from leading from start to finish in a creditable time of 1:52:53. His coach, Norman Lane, had hoped to see some faster runners at the race who could have pushed Smith to a sub 1:50 time and perhaps challenge the course record of 1:49:43 set last year by Neil Renault.

Following Smith home in second place was Matt Giles of Stourbridge Running Club in 1:56:33, then Vet40 Alistair Lockey from Bourton in 1:56:48. With Dennis Walmsley in 6th and Andy Chapple in 36th, it was Bourton Road Runners who scooped the first mens team prize ahead of Tipton Harriers. First city man home was Gloucester AC's Tom Randles in 19th place overall in a time of 2:07:57.

The ladies race saw a new course record time of 2:03:28 from Bristol and West AC's international Amy Chalk (nee Stiles), eclipsing the 2:04:17 set by Melanie Ellis back in 2002. Chalk picked up a £50 bonus for her efforts. Second lady was Vet35 Adele Salt from Trentham Running Club in 2:09:16 with Myshola Kirkham of Coventry Godiva third in 2:12:10. The first ladies team prize went to Bath AC with Bitton Road Runners second.

A donation from the proceeds of the race will be made to the local branch of the National Childbirth Trust. The Trust helps a great number of new parents, from all backgrounds, to prepare for pregnancy, birth and early parenthood through the provision of antenatal classes, information, services and support. Race Organiser Andy McKenzie said "My wife and I joined the local NCT a year ago prior to the birth of our first son and they gave us invaluable help both in terms of preparing for the birth and support after. We have made some good friends through the group and can testify to the worth of the charity. That's why I chose it"

Announcement - Gloucester Half Marathon 

Gloucester AC are pleased to announce that C&G Cheltenham & Gloucester are sponsoring the Gloucester half marathon as part of their continuing support of sports at grass roots level. C&G is part of Lloyds TSB Group, the first official partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The event will be known as the C&G Gloucester Half Marathon and will take place on Sunday 27 July from Newent Leisure Centre, Newent. For further details and online entry click here. The C&G Gloucester Half Marathon charity is Amberley Ridge School, Rodborough Common, Stroud for children with special needs who are raising funds for a multi sensory room.

02/03/08

Matthew Wade ran a PB of 1:33:10 placing 231st at the Milton Keynes Half Marathon 02/03/08.

Michelle Stark ran 1:58:05 at the Asics Reading Half Marathon 02/03/08.

Anne-Marie Edwards ran 1:52:15 at the Mizuno Liverpool Half Marathon 02/03/08

Dave Edwards ran 1:39:01 at the Mizuno Liverpool Half Marathon 02/03/08

01/03/08

Gloucestershire County Road Relays

All of the three teams entered by Gloucester Athletic Club in the Gloucestershire County Road Relays over a 3.25 mile course last Saturday won Gold medals.

U15 Ladies Amber Watson     19:32 Christine O'Caroll 22:36 Becky Summers 20:37

It was an extra special day for the ladies team as it was their first road relay victory for many years. What made it more remarkable was that an under 15 ladies team beat all the other senior ladies teams in the open race as well as the county championship. Once the talented Amber Watson had given them a commanding lead they never really looked back. Handing over to Christine O’Caroll who has only started serious training in recent months, she maintained their position and it was left to the youngest member 13 year old Becky Summers who extended the lead and brought home a special victory. The young ladies were all delighted with their gold medals and more so because they had finished ahead of the senior ladies.

Vet 40 Men Paul Nash          19:29 Mark Thrall          20:21 Ian Summers      18:04 Jeremy Mower     18:21

It was a good day for the Summers family as Becky’s father and club coach Ian “Lofty” Summers was part of the victorious Vet 40 men’s team. Paul Nash and Mark Thrall running for their first time in such an event put the city club in second place just behind Bourton Road Runners. Ian Summers than ran a superb third leg putting Gloucester into the lead by over five minutes and handing over to Jeremy Mower who after moving the team up one position in the open race was then able then to ease off the pace for a comfortable victory. 

Vet 50 Men Keith Short          19:23 Dave Spackman  20:36 Arthur Daley       19:12

The third Gold medal which was probably the only one that was not a surprise was that of formidable Gloucester Vet 50 team who have won many county relay medals in recent years. Keith Short (Vet 55) who has won European age group medals on the track gave the Vet 50 team an unassailable lead to the individual Vet 60 County Champion Dave Spackman. A good run by Spackman meant that Gloucester’s top Vet 55 road athlete Arthur Daley was able to run a relaxed race knowing it was in the bag. Showing that he has no ideas of slowing down Spackman then ran a leg for a Vet 60 Corinthians team which also won the Vet 60 team prize in the open race.

24/02/08

Steve Millward running his first road race in a Gloucester vest broke the club's 10km record at the Bourton last Sunday. He ran 31 min 29 sec for 6th place, and almost caught 5th place on the line. It was a huge personal best by 80 seconds and he went through halfway in 15:53 in 10th position moving through strongly to 6th with a 15:36 second half.

Millward said 'I knew I was in good shape as training has been going well, and just not had much opportunity to race so I was delighted with a strong showing.' Better known as a track runner and steeplechase specialist the former Cardiff AC athlete who competed regularly in the British League, Millward is looking forward to the summer and hopes to set some new pb's for his hometown club.

Not to be out done Gloucester AC's Emily Pidgeon set a new ladies club record also at the Bourton 10km, finishing 2nd lady in a time of 33 min 26 sec. Eighteen year old Emily's time is the second fastest time recorded by a UK athlete under 20 lady. Only the legendary Zola Budd faster running 32.20 in Phoenix, AZ, USA in 1985.

16/02/08

A number of Gloucester AC athletes had fine performances at the 3rd Indoor Grand Prix at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. Richard De Camps took 1.5 seconds from his 800m PB at Cardiff with a cold and with no track specific training as yet. With Richard’s encouraging improved form he should be pushing some of the senior middle distance guys for a place in the new composite Gloucester AC and Severn AC Track & Field team. Running his first race as a first claim member Steve Millward formerly of Cardiff AC set a new PB for the 3000m. Steve was pleased with his PB but with no lap times being given he had not realised the early pace had been too slow and could have run under 8:40.

Welsh U23 international athlete Andrew De Camps ran an excellent time although a couple of seconds outside his PB such are his high standards. Ben Jones set a new 400m PB by two hundreths of a second. A relative newcomer to the sport Lewis Cavanagh showed his future potential as he set a new U15 club indoor long jump record of 5.29 metres and ran a respectable 7.70 for 60 metres. Gloucester’s top sprinter in 2007 Ashleigh Naylor ran slightly slower than his recent PB’s of 7.33 for 60m and 23.77 for 200m.

Results:

200m Ashleigh Naylor (U20) 24.64

800m Richard De Camps (U20) 2:00.42 (PB)

800m Andrew De Camps (U23) 1:55.72

400m Ben Jones (U20) 55.78

60m Lewis Cavanagh (U15) 7.70

60m Ashleigh Naylor (U20) 7.38

3000m Steve Millward (SEN) 8:49.0 (PB)

Long Jump Lewis Cavanagh (U15) 5.29 (PB)

Report by Jeremy Mower, Gloucester AC Track & Field Team Manager

20/01/08

Pete Lloyd 35th (01:08:59), Emma Jeffery 185th (01:23:58) and Terry Onions 195th (01:25:10) survived the muddy terrain at the May Hill Massacre at the weekend. Some great photos of the event, runners and officials on the Massacre website. Wish you were there? Actually .......

17/01/08

Daley Asda Answers.

Arthur Daley helped a depleted Gloucester AC team of eight athletes avoid a bottom place finish at Saturdays Division 2 Birmingham League XC Race. Running on a rain soaked course in Wyken Park, Coventry, the V55 runner pulled out all the stops to finish 4th scorer for the ‘A’ team. Continuing a good run of form, and first home for the club was Dominic Malsom, who finished 51st overall, two places higher than the previous race. XC vice captain Dave Gresswell was next home, closely followed by Lee Smith who had flown back to the UK from a week working in Europe to make the race. The ‘A’ Team was completed by Alistair Wakefield who made a welcome return to club competition, and Paul Nash in his first XC race since becoming a Vet40 athlete. Bogdan Jochym and Andy McKenzie completed the Glos AC finishers, but unfortunately a lack of numbers prevented the club finishing a full ‘B’ team. Due to rather cramped conditions in the club bar post race, Arthur Daley suggested a trip to the local Asda for post race refreshments. This was a suggestion that proved to be very successful, as not only did the whole team enjoy a nice warm drink, but Arthur also purchased a new pair of trousers!

The final Birmingham league division 2 race is at Blackbridge, Gloucester, and it is hoped that a full ‘A’ and ‘B’ team can take part in this vital final fixture.

Full Glos AC Results.

Dominic Malsom (51st position) 34:42     Dave Gresswell (85th position) 36:17    Lee Smith (89th position) 36:26   

Arthur Daley (118th position) 38:04    Alistair Wakefield (131st position) 38:55    Paul Nash (135th position) 39:04    

Bogdan Jochym (194th position) 46:45     Andy McKenzie (210th position) 54:16

NATIONAL RANKINGS update 12/01/08

Gloucester AC’s strength at distance running – especially in the Ladies sections - is shown in the recently completed national rankings for athletics.

Emily Pigeon and Sarah Hopkinson head several lists.

Emily Pigeon is 22nd at 3000m on the track (9:27) but the same performance places her 3rd in the U20 age group; she is at the bottom of this age group and this new year should see her move up the listings. Emily has also run on the road gaining 17th at 5 mile, 28:4 and 16th at 10k with 33:37 (first under 20 for both events). Back on the track 4:21.08 gives her 6th place at 1500m whilst her run at Cheltenham in July places her second on the 1 mile list. 16:19.49 gives Emily another second place (16th Seniors) at 5000m.

Sarah Hopkinson leads the U17 women's ranking at 1500 with 4:20.8 and the steeple chase over the same distance with 4:50.3 but drops to 2nd when the distance is increased to 2000m (6:32.55). Sarah also leads the 3000m steeple chase list. In all these events Sarah also features in the top 5 for Senior women and has the best UK performance for the 1500m steeple chase.

Amber Watson is 3rd on the 1500m list for U15W with 4:32.14 and team mate Bethany Wells 8th for the U13W with 5:02.4 and just makes the top 20 for 800m with 2:28.4

Melissa Baverstock is the only Gloucester sprinter to make the top 20 rankings with 47.2 giving her 4th place in the national ranks at 300m

Three veteran male athletes ranked in the top 20 and two gained their placings at the County Track Championships in August.

Arthur Daley’s 10000m at the county championships ranked him 11th in veteran’s O/55 40:16.4 whilst Cross Country vice-captain Dave Gresswell’s 36:27.2 in the same race ranks him 17th in the Veteran’s O/40.

Keith Short's 2:14.93 in Helsinki ranks him 3rd in the O/55 at 800m with a sub 60sec 400m time giving him 7th place nationally. Despite being a middle distance specialist Keith makes 19th place at 200m with 27.8 and ranks sixth at 1500m (4:48.17)

Three women show that Lorraine Shaw's hammer group are maintaining excellence: Kate Yhnell U17 lady hammer thrower makes 3rd place in her age group with 48.60 and Nikita Morgan achieved 47.24 to make 16th in the U20 women's group. Marion Loveridge places 5th with 39.34 in the O/40 age group.

Jimmy Coleman threw 47.49 at Yate to make 12th in the U15 men whilst Tim Williams is ranked 14th with 54.35 in the under 17 group. Justin Sysum's first appearance in the Midland League at Birmingham in May placed him 9th in the U23 category with 52.02m.

More details and other Gloucester AC athletes in the top 100 can be seen at http://www.athleticsdata.com/rankings/

06/01/08

The County Road Race Series started off the New Year with the Gloucester Athletic Club’s New Year’s 10 run over a revised course. Mike Smith, Bourton Road Runners, won by a convincing margin having established a large lead by the 3 mile mark and finishing with 54:11.

The largest field in the events 26 year history saw Dom Malsom lead the Gloucester AC contingent home in 6th place in 58:58 followed by Tom Randles whose 10th place in 01:00:03 will make him a welcome addition to the cross country teams next challenge in the Birmingham League.

A rare run by evergreen Peter Lloyd (3rd M45) 01:02:38 gave him 16th place and again encouragement to strengthen the team in the next endurance race. Paul Nash in his second race as a veteran ran smoothly to finish 41st in 01:06:59.

Catherine O'Carroll (76th) was first lady from Gloucester AC home in 01:10:22, with 84th place being gained by David Spackman making him the first over 60 to finish 01:10:50.

The trio of Gemma Collier L, 01:14:27, Kim Drinkwater L, 01:14:27 and David Edwards M, 01:14:28 all finished fast attempting to be the first runner in the group home.

185th position saw Bogdan Jochym, M55, 01:19:56, have a steady run as a first tryout since injury.

Gill Gresswell (286th) completed her first race around this course in 01:38:54.  306 finished.

05/01/08

Gloucestershire AAA – County Cross Country Championships – Blackbridge – 05 Jan 2008.  CLICK HERE for full results

Despite a relatively low turn out of Glos AC club athletes for this event, with runners in Belfast for the national cross challenge, and some saving themselves for the New Year 10 mile race the following day; Glos AC still managed to come away with a nice haul of medals.

Overnight rain, meant that the course, which was un-changed since the previous Gloucester League XC Race, was much heavier going than the December race. Led by Mike Storey and Arthur Daley, a number of club members arrived early to help set out the course which also enabled them to gauge the conditions for the race.

When the racing got going, the junior club members, as always, led the way with gold medal wins for Adam Thrall in the U13 boys race, and Georgie Lowe in the U15 girls. Hannah Jones and Gabriella Lowe picked up silver and bronze in the U11 girls, with Jack Evans finishing 2nd in the U15 boys race.

In the senior mens race it was a trio of veterans representing the club. Dave Gresswell managed to pick up a bronze medal in the V40 age group, but the was bettered by gold medals for Arthur Daley V55 and the evergreen Dave Spackman in the V60 category.

Emma Jeffery was the Glos AC lone representative in the senior womens race, but still managed a top ten place in a respectable 8th.

Pictures to follow

01/01/08

Three Gloucester AC runners competed in the New Year's day 5 mile event held at the Pilot Inn, Hardwicke. Dom Malsom started the new year by running his shortest race ever.  14:17 gave him 4th place at the halfway turn; he ran the second half 3 seconds faster to finish 3rd.   Cross Country vice captain Dave Gresswell still feeling the effects of the club's two sessions of training (as was Melton) over the sand dunes at Merthyr Mawr slowed a little over the final 2 miles but gained one place to finish 7th.  Paul Nash competing for the first time as a veteran - O/40 - also moved through the field in the second half to finish 16th in 32:24.

Gloucester AC had only one competitor in the Boxing Day  4mile race (held on 27th Dec).  Arthur Daley ran his slowest 4 mile race for nearly two years to finish first over 55 in 25:50.

22/12/07

A sixth of the field in Severn Athletic Club's Christmas Handicap came from Gloucester AC and all sixth won prizes! [Actual times are shown with the handicap time in brackets]

The first Gloucester AC runner to complete the 4 lap course, running off a 15 minute handicap, was newly signed first claim member Steve Millward in 25:12 (40:12) for 2nd place followed by international sprinter Ryan Preddy (3rd) who was running well above his usual distance for stamina in 31:12 (40:32). Returning from a long lay off after injury and also working on improving stamina with his new coach, David Farrow, Keith Short V55 (4th) was only 1 sec behind having run 31:23 (40:33). Although within his target pace this was not fast enough to take the fastest veteran over 55 prize which was won by Arthur Daley (10th) with even paced running as his four lap times were within 6 secs of each other giving 31:03 (41:23). Enjoying the fast Plock Court course O60 Dave Spackman took first place in his category with ease in 32:52 (41:42). International Sarah Hopkinson felt that  her first Under 17 lady (and fastest lady overall) placing gave her a good workout with 29:39(42:00)

Christmas Dinner and Awards Presentation

Saturday 8th December 2007

CLICK HERE

25/11/07

A quiet drive through the countryside found us at Castle Combe racing circuit in just over an hour, for the EAS Chilly 10k on Sunday 25th November 2007. It was cool but sunny in the morning and good running conditions. Certainly after mid-day it was getting quite chilly so it was nice to have had the best of the weather. Michelle Stark, Fiona Roberts, Bogdan Jochym and Matthew Wade were keen to get some more racing done before Christmas. Michelle forgot she had a dinner party the previous night (lots of red wine) when she booked the race. She was, however, delighted to get a PB in 50:58 (140th) taking about 5 minutes off her previous best. Newbie runner Fiona (171st) also put in a great PB in beating her previous one hour time, in 53:46, a huge achievement. Bogdan (113th), although not at his best following hamstring injury, managed to get round in 48:22. Matt, the first Gloucester AC runner (74th), was also recovering from injury but ran a PB of 44:22. There were 244 finishers with goody bags including T-shirt, chocolate and energy bars. All enjoyed the good conditions and organisation. Full results at www.dbmax.co.uk

7/11/07

Gloucestershire Cross Country League, Leamington, Saturday 17 November 2007

18th Birthday Present for Gloucester AC from Richard De Camps.

On his 18th birthday, Gloucester AC summer-signing Richard De Camps led home our cross country team last Saturday at Leamington. Richard put in a star performance that saw him finish 24th, which was 19 places higher than the first race at Blackbridge. In addition to his first placing in the Glos AC team, birthday boy was also 3rd U20 runner and only just over a minute behind the race winner. His father and coach Paul De Camps was very pleased with the performance, as the Leamington course was long and hilly and it proved that his son’s endurance was now starting to match the speed he has shown on the shorter track races this summer.

Second home for the club, and first club veteran placing was Dave Gresswell, who could only stay with Richard’s pace for the first lap before dropping back to finish 35th. Dave was otherwise in line to be first Glos man home but victory was snatched by the “in-form” Richard, or was he just wanting to get away early for his birthday bash? Just behind Dave was team captain, Ian “Lofty” Summers in 37th, ultra runner Jeremy Mower 42nd, and Lee Smith in 46th. Both Jeremy and Lee also finished over 10 places up from the previous race. In 6th place for the club, and with his first ‘A’ team finish was Nick Cousins in 68th.

Club stalwarts Arthur Daley 70th, Dave Spackman 97th and Mark Thrall 109th completed the veteran team, closely followed by Bogdan Jochym 149th and Martin Chopping 158th.

Gloucester AC Senior Mens Team 7th position.

Gloucester AC Vets Mens Team 4th position.

Glos AC juniors put in their now expected good performances, with the highlights of the day being a 2nd place finish by Bethany Wells in the U13 girls race. There was a third place finish for Hannah Jones U11 girls who was followed home by club mate Natalie Whitehouse in 21st, Adam Thrall was 3rd in the U13 boys with Keiran Meheran close on his heels in 6th. Becky Summers took 3rd place in the U15 girls with Georgi Lowe finishing strongly behind in 11th place.

Here is the link to the GlosAAA site for full results from the day

28/10/07

Three members of Gloucester AC took part in the BUPA Great South Run in Portsmouth on Sunday 28/10/07. With over 18,000 entrants and 12,000 finishers, all three athletes finished in the top half of the table.

Despite terrible conditions of rain and a near gale force wind, Cath Nicoll managed to take over a minute off her previous best set on the same 10 mile course. Nicoll ran well to 8 miles and was surprised that she managed to hold onto her form over a very testing last 2 miles into the wind. Nicoll now turns her attention to continuing training towards next years London Marathon. Also representing the club, were husband and wife team Dave and Gill Gresswell. Dave was happy with his time and position, particularly as he had ran a cross country race the day before. Gill, who is Nicoll’s training partner, also put in a good performance despite being hit on the head by an egg thrown at the passing runners!

Dave Gresswell (V40) (82 Position) 1 hr 2 mins 3 secs – PB.

Cath Nicoll (SL) (5413 Position) 1 hr 33 mins 33 secs  – PB.

Gill Gresswell (SL) (7244 Position) 1 hr 40 mins 12 secs.

27/10/07

Birmingham League Cross Country - Senneleys Park – 27th October 2007. Gloucester AC’s senior mens team had a hard start to the league, despite a fantastic performance by Peter Kellie. University student Kellie managed to finish 4th overall in the Division 2 race even though he has been concentrating on college studies recently, and has not been in full time training. Unfortunately, the promotion from Division 3 last season meant that the rest of the team struggled to score well against some strong midlands teams. Dave Gresswell was next home for the club in 62nd position, closely follows by a returning to form Jeremy Mower, and Ian Summers. Completing the ‘A’ team positions were good runs by Lee Smith and Alistair Wakefield.

The team are now 12th in the league and although club captain Ian Summers was happy that everyone had tried their best, he was concerned that the team was missing some key runners through a mixture of injury and work commitments. With 16 teams in the division, Summers said that the team would need to put out all the stops over the next three fixtures if relegation back to Division 3 was to be avoided.

On a more positive note, the sons and daughters of the seniors showed how it should be done with some great individual performances. All the junior athletes finished well inside of the top ten positions. In the under 13 girls and boys age group, Beth Wells was 4th finisher and Adam Thrall was 5th. Becky Summers was 7th in the U15 girls, with Ben Coldray 6th in the U17 boys. Placing 1st in the U17 girls was Sarah Hopkinson, and 1st in the U20 ladies was Sarah Waldron.

Senior Men ‘A’ Team Peter Kellie (4th) (33 mins 00 secs) Dave Gresswell (63rd) (37 mins 54 secs) Jeremy Mower (69th) (38 mins 12 secs) Ian Summers (71st) (38 mins 18 secs) Lee Smith (88th) (39 mins 14 secs) Alistair Wakefield (111th) (40 mins 20 secs) Senior Men ‘B’ Team Arther Daley (118th) (40 mins 39 secs) Paul Nash (128th) (41 mins 39 secs) Mark Thrall (146th) (43 mins 20 secs) Dave Edwards (150th) (43 mins 48 secs) Rob Wells (151st) (43 mins 50 secs) Humphrey Phillips (178th) (46 mins 27 secs) Junior Athletes. Beth Wells (U13 Girls) (4th) Adam Thrall (U13 Boys) (5th) Becky Summers (U15 Girls) (7th) Sarah Hopkinson (U17 Girls) (1st) Ben Coldray (U17 Boys) (6th) Sarah Waldron (U20 Ladies) (1st) Other Club Finishers Arnold Yeomans (184th) (47 mins 26 secs) Paul Challenger  (190th) (48 mins 33 secs) Paul Loveridge (192nd) (48 mins 43 secs) Bogdan Jochym (200th) (50 mins 25 secs)   PHOTOS