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29/03/09 Millward breaks course record at Carterton 10km

Fresh from the disappointment of losing out on the county 4km cross-country title the day before, Steve Millward raced at the Carterton 10km near Oxford and came away with a more satisfying performance. Leading from the field of 250 runners from the start, Millward pulled away strongly throughout the race on a tough course to take the win and break the course record by 30 seconds.

29/03/09 Reading Half Marathon

Several Gloucester AC athletes competed in the Reading Half Marathon on Sunday. Lorraine Ryan having finished her debut cross -country season as overall senior womens champion, suffered with a back problem from eight miles but still came home in 1:27:59, narrowly missed out on a personal best. Michelle Stark was pleased to take over 90 seconds off her personal best, with a time of 1:36:14. Also racing was Christine Campbell, who took a massive 18 minutes off her previous best with an excellent 1:51:08. Paul Robins also managed to dip under the two hour barrier with 1:56:42.

28/03/09 Summers takes County 4km title aged 14

Becky Summer stormed to the county 4km cross-country title on Saturday at Plock Court, taking the under 17 title and defeating all of the senior women in the process. Running a composed race in the windy conditions, Summers led throughout and won by a comfortable margin.

Also racing was Steve Millward, who took bronze in the senior mens 4km race after losing out in a three-way sprint finish with Dave Roper (Cheltenham AC) and Seb Duffy (City of Stoke) for the county title.

28/03/09 Gloucestershire Cross-Country League (Leamington) De Camps leads Gloucester AC to Team Title

Athletes from Gloucester AC created history on Saturday when taking the team title at the final fixture in the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League at Leamington on Saturday. For the first time in more than a decade, the club took the honours after an excellent team performance. Leading the way was track specialist Andrew De Camps in a fine 3rd place, with club captain Dave Gresswell gaining his highest ever league placing with 11th overall. Lee Smith also achieved his best ever result with 15th place, followed by Nick Cousins in 23rd position. Cousins was delighted with his showing, despite losing his shoe when crossing the stream on the first lap.

Alistair Wakefield continued his rich vein of form with 26th place and the team score was completed by the long-awaited return of Mark Ingram in 32nd position. Ingram has been struggling with illness and injury for the past two years so the club was happy to see him back in club colours and running well. Providing back-up with another league-best performance was Mark Thrall in 62nd place, obviously encouraged by the promising 3rd place achieved by son Adam in the under 15 boys race. Under the guidance of coach Rob Cytlau from Severn AC, Adam had progressed well this winter  with third place overall in the league this season, and will be looking to re-write his personal best times on the track this summer.

Despite not racing in the final fixture, Lorraine Ryan was crowned the overall senior womens champion to complete a fantastic debut cross-country season. Michelle Stark was also amongst the prizes as she took 2nd overall in the over 35 category. Ryan and Stark instead raced at the Reading Half Marathon the next day and both came away with positive performances.

28/03/09 Anglo-Celtic Plate and UK 100km Road Running Championship

A sunny and cool day greeted competitors at the Celtic 100k road race, which took place in Galway, Ireland on 28 March 2009. The 100km (62.1 miles) road race incorporated the 2009 Anglo Celtic Plate competition between the home nations of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. Running a fifth time for Wales was Gloucester Athletic Club’s Jeremy Mower. Mower was suffering with tight glutes as a result of not recovering from winning the Welsh championship three weeks earlier and he struggled from the Marathon distance up to 50 miles with the problem. Turning around a cone at each end of the course was agony for him. At 50 miles it eased off and he actually ran the last 12 miles faster than most of the field. He was able to finish in a respectable 8:53:07 and 27th out of the 49 starters. He was third scorer for the Wales team as they narrowly missed out on 3rd place despite in being their best cumulative time for eight years.

15/03/09 Gloucester athletes fare well at Forest Half

Dave Spackman was the pick of the Gloucester athletes at the Forest of Dean Trails Half Marathon held at Parkend Village on Sunday. Fresh from a gold-medal winning performance at the county road relay champs the day before, Spackman finished in 1 hour 33.59 to take third place in the over 60 category, just missing out on second place. Alistair Wakefield continued his fine run of form with 49th position from a field of almost 1800 runners, coming back in 1.26.27. Also competing were Terry Onions (2.16.52) and Josie Thomas (2.44.20)

14/03/09 Medhurst shines in Newent

Gloucester AC's Ryan Medhurst produced an outstanding performance at the Gloucestershire Primary Schools Cross Country Champs held at Newent on Saturday. In ideal racing conditions, under 11 athlete Medhurst finished 5th overall and first city athlete from a field of almost 100 runners. Even though this is his first season with the club, Medhurst is already showing great potential.

14/03/09 Gloucester Girls qualify for London mini-marathon

Two Gloucester AC athletes have qualified to represent Gloucestershire in the mini-marathon which precedes the main London Marathon race on Sunday 26th April. Becky Summers and Georgie Lowe finished 5th and 6th respectively at the trial race held in Bristol on Saturday.

14/03/09

Gloucester AC came away with the most medals in the County AAA Relay Championships held in conjunction with Severn AC'c open race with all the teams collecting a medal.

First to finish was the three man over 50 team with an average age of 57 years of Keith Short o/55 (19:28), Arthur Daley o/55 (19:11)and Dave Spackman o/60 (20:33) taking the open and County Gold medal. This was the 4th successive year they have taken the title and once again it was never really in doubt after the first two legs recording times that were faster than a few Vet 40's on the day.

Soon after that the resurgent ladies team of Michelle Stark o/35 (20:59), Lorraine Ryan (19:52) and Gemma Collier (21:44) triumphed as they finished second Lady's team behind a strong Bristol team and first in the County Championships by a comfortable margin.

The Senior Men did not have their strongest team available, but were strengthened by the inclusion of u/15 Adam Thrall who ran 17:34 for the 3.25 mile course. Peter Kellie moved Gloucester up ahead of Severn on leg two and was happy with his 16:24 and on leg 3 Richard DeCamps ran the fastest leg of all Gloucester runners with an impressive 16:18.  Nick Cousins still recovering from his marathon in Malta ran 19:50 for the last leg and was passed by Severn's Josh Lilly. Cousins held on to bring the team home in 5th place in the open race and take the bronze medal.

The over 40 Men's team ensured that Gloucester had medals of all the colours by finishing second in both the open and County races. Vet 45 Pete Lloyd had a great run with 17:58 putting Gloucester into 2nd place, a 21:43 for Mark Thrall on leg 2 saw him overtaken by Dave Randle of Cheltenham, Ian Summers came home in 18:41 on leg 3. Jeremy Mower brought the team through to second place on the final leg to complete an excellent afternoons racing.

08/03/09 Mower is Welsh Ultra Marathon Champion

Jeremy Mower of Gloucester Athletic Club is the new Welsh Ultra Marathon champion placing first Welsh man in the Barry 40 mile track race on Sunday. With PB’s at the marathon and 35 mile distance already this year Mower was the favourite to take the title for the first time. The conditions on the day were called the worst in the 23 years of the race. Three hail storms, rain, and a steady wind of 21 mph with 34 mph gusts for nearly two hours of the race. What made it worse the wind was in your face in one direction but you did not get the full benefit behind you as it was blocked out by the large stand at the Jenner Park Stadium. Mower was content to follow his rival Mark Baker, Northbrook AC for the Welsh title and waited until he showed signs of tiring before making his move just after half distance. Mower went through the marathon distance in 3 hr 15 min 2 sec and opened up a mile gap on Baker. About this time the wind picked up and Mower's left lateral quadricep became sore and it was like running with a dead leg which was due to him not fully recovering from his 35 mile race two weeks earlier. With everyone struggling in the conditions Mower was happy to drop the pace and make certain of his first ever Welsh National title, finishing in 5 hours 13 min 39 sec. Mower finished 4th overall in the race behind three runners from England and also took home with him the first Vet 40 prize. Mower will travel to Ireland to compete for Wales at 100km on 28th March 2009. It will be his fifth international vest making him one of the most experienced ultra runners in the race.

07/03/09 Lorraine Ryan leads the way for Gloucester AC

For the first time in more than a decade, Gloucester AC had three senior women representing the county at the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships held on Saturday in Nottingham. All three athletes were making their senior debut and leading the way was Lorraine Ryan in 176th place on a challenging but fast course, coming home third scorer for the county. Michelle Stark was next back in 265th place, finding the pace tough after putting in some high mileage in the build-up to the London Marathon in April. Following closely behind was Gemma Collier in 273rd place, fresh from an excellent personal best time in the Malta half-marathon six days before.

In the age groups, Adam Thrall was the clubs highest placed athlete of the day, with 152nd spot in the under 15 boys race and 4th county scorer. Thrall was satisfied with his run after struggling with a illness for the past few weeks.

In the under 15 girls race, Becky Summers was 5th home for the county team in 167th place overall.

01/03/09 Malta Half Marathon - Herbert leads Gloucester AC to international honours

Gloucester AC have returned from the recent Malta Marathon and Half Marathon with a host of honours and personal bests. Leading the way  in the half marathon was Luke Herbert, coming home 7th from a field of over 700 runners in a time of 1hour14.29. After settling into a strong chasing group, Herbert pushed the pace throughout and was delighted with a personal best by four minutes. Taking 16th position and third in the veteran 40 category was club cross-country captain Dave Gresswell, finishing in a personal best time of 1hour18.03. Following closely behind in another fantastic run was an ecstatic Lee Smith with 1hour18.30, smashing the 1 hour 20 barrier for the first time in his career. These three athletes closed the team scoring and gained third place overall, being presented with their glass plaques at the official evening presentations.

Andrew Hawkins from Severn AC came home in 1 hour 21.07, an encouraging time after missing several months through injury. Running for the first time in a Gloucester vest, Jo Fletcher dominated the womens race and came home to win in a time of 1 hour 23.42, almost a minute ahead of team-mate and 2nd placed female, Lucie Woodyatt. Combining the top two with a personal best performance from Lorraine Ryan in 7th place with 1 hour 27.14, the Gloucester AC team were convincing winners of the team prize.

Paul Nash was next home for the club in 1 hour 27.45 despite suffering with platar fasciitis throughout the race, followed closely by Jason Gresswell in a personal best time of 1 hour 28.32 in 68th place. This meant that Gloucester AC had 10 representatives in the top 70, an excellent achievement. Not to be outdone, Gemma Collier stormed home in yet another personal best time, taking three minutes off her previous best with 1 hour 34.43 for 132nd overall and 12th female.

Neil Scowby finished in 1 hour 49.34 off limited training, with Arnold Yeomans coming home in 1 hour 52.10, almost eight minutes quicker than he predicted before the race!

Club chairman Andy Mackenzie was pleased to finish in a time of 2 hours 5.53, with Gill Gresswell running a personal best time of 2 hours 8.31 to complete what was an excellent squad performance.

Nick Cousins was the sole Gloucester AC athlete to take on the marathon and on a tough course with several twists and turns, he was delighted to finish in 3 hours 06.38 for 27th place from a field of almost 200 runners. This was a fantastic debut by Cousins who was hampered with injury in the build-up to the race and will be looking to go even quicker next time.

28/02/09

Three Gloucester AC runners took part in the Winter 5 mile road race organised by Severn AC from the White Horse, Sandhurst. Jeremy Mower found the going tough as he had not recovered from his previous week’s ultra race but led the club home in finishing 23rd out of the 56 finishers. Arthur Daley again won his Vet 55 male age category and was 37th overall. Michelle Stark was 37th overall and 1st Lady over 35. Michelle has been making great improvements recently and has won her age group category more than once in the last few months. Gloucester Athletic Club have had a lot of admirers lately because of their new training kit and have received comments such as "very smart" and "professional".

Times:

Jeremy Mower 30 min 39 sec       Arthur Daley 31 min 46 sec       Michelle Stark 34 min 52 sec

23/02/09 Jeremy Mower selected for Wales and takes 5th place at Draycote 35 mile race

Gloucester AC ultra runner Jeremy Mower has been selected to run for Wales for a fifth time in the Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km on March 28, 2009 in Galway, Ireland. He capped his good news with a new PB in the Draycote 35 mile race in finishing 5th place in a time of 4 hour 14 min 42 sec.  It was a good quality field with Scotland sending four internationals down to the race. Race winner was Scotland’s Marcus Scotney one of the leading mountain runners in the UK. The conditions were very cold and windy for the first 3 hours of the race and at the open end of the lake it was difficult to run straight at times. Mower battled it out with Scotland’s Les Hill and Richie Cunningham. The three ran around together for the first twelve miles and when Cunningham picked up the pace Mower decided it was too quick and kept his present pace. At 23 miles Mower overtook Hill and had Cunningham in his sights and eventually went past him at 29 miles. Mower finished strong and managed to do the last mile in under 6 min 30. He is now favourite to win the Welsh Ultra Championships at Barry on March 8th, 2009 but has to be careful not to overdo it with the international only 3 weeks after it.

14/02/09

Gloucester AC achieved the highest team placing for more than a decade in the final Birmingham League Division Two Cross Country fixture at a muddy Coundon Park in Coventry. Finishing 4th team on the day and 4th overall for the season, the club narrowly missed out on one of the three promotion spots available despite another strong showing in the final race.

On a waterlogged course in Coventry, Steve Millward led the team home with a fine 5th place, taking the lead on the first lap and always staying in contention. Luke Herbert had his best cross-country race in two years to finish in 13th position from a field of more than 210 runners. Herbert has improved steadily throughout the season as he regains fitness and his determination was evident in an excellent run. Peter Kellie came home in 17th position despite being in the middle of exams for a medical degree. Richard de Camps was next home in 45th place which resulted in him finishing joint third under-20 athlete for the season. The first team was completed by Lee Smith in 51st, who is in the middle of heavy training for the London Marathon, and club captain Dave Gresswell in 60th place.

The B team was led home by vice-captain Ian Summers who was pleased to finish 79th, an improvement on the previous fixture. Jason Gresswell followed Summers home in an encouraging 80th place on his return to the Gloucester AC cross-country squad. Alistair Wakefield narrowly missed out on the top 100 with 104th place, while Nick Cousins followed in close behind in 108th place despite having to work in the morning. Paul Nash and under-20 athlete Ben Jones completed the scoring, finishing almost together in 126th and 127th positions. Dave Edwards provided solid backup with 157th place, which enabled the B team to finish 3rd on the day and 3rd overall for the season.

Gloucester AC are already looking forward to next season and aiming to sustain a serious challenge for promotion to the top division, after a most encouraging season.

Gloucester AC: Marathon & 50km reports: Midland XC: Welsh Indoor Open Track

Gloucester AC Ultra-runner Jeremy Mower stepped down in distance to tackle the Gloucester Marathon which was also the official county championship. The early pace of the leaders was too much for Mower to keep up and he dropped down to sixth place. In the latter stages his ultrarunning strength brought him through the field and he finally finished in 4th place just missing out on third. Mower was second finisher in the County Championship behind race winner Stroud AC's Rob Gornall. Mower set a new PB in 2 hours 54 min 52 sec and finished the race in excellent condition which is a good job as he has three ultra races coming up in the next nine weeks, including the Welsh and UK championships. On the same course a 50km race was held and Gloucester AC's Christine Campbell made her ultra debut finsihing in a respectful 5 hrs:14 min:44 sec. Christine was pleased with her run as she managed to get round without any problems.

Richard De Camps finished 25th in the U20 Mens at the Midland Cross Country Championship. He was delighted as he seems to be getting back to some sort of form after all the achilles problems which have blighted his training since Christmas.

Andrew De Camps was 5th in the final at the Welsh Open Indoor Champs at Cardiff in 1 min 55 secs.  The race was won by GB International Richard Hill.  Gloucester's new signing Nico Constanti was 3rd in the B final of 400m in 50.63s which was a PB indoors.  Ryan Preddy was 3rd in the A final in 49.51s.

01/02/09

Gloucester athletes conquer May Hill

Athletes from Gloucester AC were again to the fore at the May Hill Massacre multi-terrain race on Sunday. On a bitterly cold morning, over 500 competitors took part in the extremely tough 8.7 mile race, running through knee deep mud and water. Fresh from a victory at the Linda Franks Memorial race the previous week, Steve Millward made an early breakaway together with Garry Hughes from Dursley AC as they climbed up towards May Hill. Hughes managed to get away and cruised to take the title, with Millward finishing strongly as both athletes were comfortably inside the course record previously held by Lee Rankin of Stroud AC.

Dom Malsom finished a superb 5th place with a well-controlled run, continuing his string of recent impressive performances. Peter Lloyd came home in 28th place overall despite going slightly off-course just after the halfway mark. Nick Cousins was next back in an encouraging 33rd place, despite not having raced for several months. Paul Nash looked comfortable throughout and was pleased to finish in 64th position, just ahead of Lorraine Ryan who was 3rd Senior Lady home. Ryan was delighted to later discover that she was the recipient of some Mizuno apparel for her podium performance. Following closely behind and running extremely well for a longer than normal race was Ben Gregory in 75th place overall and 3rd Junior Male. Terry Onions found the freezing conditions difficult and was relieved to finish in 213th position, just ahead of Michelle Stark in 217th who positively revelled in the muddy conditions. Emma Jeffery displayed her usual tenacity and determination to defy the tough course and come home in 292th place.

Steve Millward 56.04         Dom Malsom 58.34           Peter Lloyd 65.21           Nick Cousins 66.36

Paul Nash 69.53                Lorraine Ryan 70.08         Ben Gregory 71.03          Terry Onions 82.25

Michelle Stark 82.56         Emma Jeffery 88.12

25/01/09 Linda Franks Memorial Race

Gloucester AC athletes dominated proceedings at the Linda Franks 4.2 mile memorial race on Sunday, the second race in the County Road Race Series. With five men in the top eight and four women in the top ten in the category, it was a commanding team performance. Leading from the front was Steve Millward, winning the overall race with a time of 21.58. Pulling away from the pack after one mile, Millward stretched the lead to over half a minute by the finish to continue his comeback to fitness. In third place was Luke Herbert with 22.58, who hung on well after going with the early pace. Dom Malsom finished strongly in fourth with 23.05, after keeping off the early pace. Malsom now leads the county series after two races and is looking for a strong performance at the London Marathon this year.

Dave Gresswell finished as first veteran over 40 in seventh place overall, cementing his position as category leader in the county series. Lee Smith finished close behind in eighth with 23.59 to further emphasise the clubs strength in depth. Alistair Wakefield ran well to finish 15th overall, while Lorraine Ryan claimed third place in the womens section with an excellent 26.41. This puts Ryan joint second in the county series and confirms her current good form. 14-year-old Becky Summers came back in 35th overall and 5th place in the ladies race with a composed run, just behind first male veteran over 60, Dave Spackman.

Michelle Stark produced a strong run to finish in 45th place, 2nd lady over 35 with 29.32, just ahead of the fast finishing Gemma Collier with 29.34. Bogdan Jochym found the shorter distance race difficult but produced a solid run for 5th male veteran 55, and will be hoping to get amongst the medals in the county series again this year. On her comeback after 8 months of injury, Jane Leckebusch had an excellent showing to finish 71st overall and 5th lady over 45 from a field of almost 150 runners.

24/01/09 Midlands Cross Country Champs (Mansfield)

Adam Thrall, an under 15 athlete from Gloucester AC, had his best ever cross country race to finish 14th in the Midlands Cross Country Championships held recently at Mansfield. Displaying maturity beyond his years, Thrall ran a composed race to gain his highest ever placing in a regional championships. Benefitting from a new training regime under Rob Cytlau at Severn AC, Thrall was always towards the front of the field and was delighted with his race.

17/01/09

Gloucester AC achieved their highest team position in recent years at the third Birmingham League fixture held in Coventry on Saturday 17/01/09, claiming an excellent third place. Showing solid improvements throughout the team, Gloucester are currently fourth overall for the season and aiming for promotion. On a fast and relatively flat course at Wyken Park, Steve Millward led the team home in 7th place from 225 starters, despite suffering from flu. Peter Kellie finished close behind in 10th place, a solid improvement on the 16th place achieved in the previous fixture. Luke Herbert also progressed up the field this time around, coming home in 17th position after missing several weeks training with injury. Providing strong support for the first team was Dom Malsom, with a measured run to finish 33rd, just ahead of Richard de Camps in 34th place overall and 4th Junior male. Lee Smith recovered well from a disappointing run the previous week to close the scoring in 49th place.

Leading home the B team was club cross country captain Dave Gresswell in 68th, who was also suffering the effects of illness. Ian Summers ran well to finish in 76th place, while Alistair Wakefield consolidated his recent good form with 93rd, an improvement of almost 40 places on the previous fixture. A close tussle throughout the race ensured Paul Nash and Arthur Daley finished strongly to claim 121st and 124th respectively. Dave Edwards completed the scoring in 169th place for the B team, which resulted in 3rd place on the day and 3rd overall, proving that Gloucester is getting a strong squad together.

Also running well and providing solid support were Bogdan Jochym in 204th place, Arnold Yeomans in 212th place and club chairman Andy McKenzie in 217th position.

04/01/09 Gloucester New Year 10

Gloucester Athletic Club held their 10 Mile Road Race from Quedgeley school last Sunday 4th January 2009. This annual event to raise charity money, was this year also the opening event in the 2009 Gloucestershire County Road Race Series. With nearly 400 athletes pre-entered, and over 100 entering on the day, it gave this popular event one of the biggest fields yet. In fact, partly due to the numbers who turned up, the event start had to be delayed by 30 mins.

All the runners were treated to an extremely cold run around the country lanes, by the Sharpness Canal and River Severn.

As well as hosting the event, Gloucester AC also had a strong contingent taking part.

Dominic Malsom led the way to finish in 4th place, smashing his previous personal best for the distance to finish in 57mins 40secs. V40 Dave Gresswell, managed to stay with Malsom and finished 7th in 59mins 20secs, just a few seconds over his current best. A fantastic run by Lee Smith also resulted in a sub 1 hour finish, and 8th place in 59mins 46secs in his first race over this distance. Smith who is currently marathon training was very happy with his time, as the miles of training are obviously paying off. Gloucester AC ultra-runner Jeremy Mower, also showed that he still has good leg speed over shorter distances, as he finished just 8 seconds over the hour in 10th place.

In 18th place was Gloucester AC veteran Peter Lloyd in 1hr 2mins 20secs followed by Alistair Wakefield who was over the moon with his 24th place finish, in a personal best of 1hour 3mins 14secs. Bogdan Jochym completed the course just 4 seconds slower than last year.

Gloucester AC ladies also finished well, led home by in-form Lorraine Ryan, who  was chased hard all the way round by Gemma Collier. Collier finished in 1hr 12mins which was over 2 mins faster than her previous best.

Michelle Stark also got a PB of  1hr 13mins, although felt afterwards that she could have run faster if it were not for the undulations and cold weather. Emma Jeffery was next home also suffering in the cold conditions, and Chris Cambell with her second PB in the same week completed the Gloucester AC finishers.

03/01/09 Gloucestershire County Cross-Country Relay Championships – Plock Court

Golden Gloucester take haul of County Medals. All four Gloucester AC teams entered in Saturdays County Cross Country Relay Championships came away with gold medals.

Each runner had to complete a 2 mile loop of a very cold and frosty Plock Court course.

First back were the Senior Mens team, consisting of Andrew DeCamps, Dominic Malsom, Richard DeCamps and Steve Millward in a winning time of 39mins 34secs.

Placed second after the first leg, the team gained the lead over the 2nd and 3rd legs, with a strong final leg by Millward giving a convincing win.

Millward had run from the centre of Gloucester in order to take part, where he was preparing to take over joint ownership of Gloucester Sports the following Monday.

Andrew DeCamps collected the fastest Junior Male time for his leg of 9mins 48secs.

The Senior Ladies continued their strong showing at Cross Country events this season by finishing in a winning time of 50mins 43secs.

A strong start by Michelle Stark on the first leg put the team in contention, followed by the fastest team leg by Lorraine Ryan meant that Emma Jeffery and Gemma Collier could finish off in style.

For most of the ladies this gave them their ever first cross country county medals.

The V40 Mens team of Ian Summers, Mark Thrall, Jeremy Mower and Dave Gresswell finished in 44mins 56secs to collect their gold medals, with Gresswell running the fastest V40 leg in 10mins 32secs.

The V50 Mens team consisting Arthur Daily, Keith Short and Dave Spackman easily won their race in a time of 35mins 54secs.

Gloucester XC team captain, Dave Gresswell, said “This is the first time in several years that Gloucester AC have entered so many teams, and to come away with Gold Medals for everyone is fantastic. Although this event was re-scheduled, there was still a good turn out from county athletes. I would recommend this event to all clubs for next season, as it was good fun and at Plock Court it was good viewing for spectators to cheer the teams on”.

01/01/09 New Years Day 5 Mile – Pilot Inn, Quedgeley

A few hardened members of Gloucester AC braved the cold and post New Year celebration hangovers to take part in the New Years Day 5 Mile Road Race.

Run over a testing undulating course from the Pilot Inn, Dave Gresswell was first back for the club in a new PB of 28mins 24secs. Well worth getting out of bed for. “hic”

Chris Campbell also finished with a PB, and along the way she also ran the first 4 miles quicker than she had previously done.

26/12/08

Gloucester Athletic Club produced the first two local runners at the Pilot Inn 4 mile Boxing Day road race. Luke Herbert looks like being back near to his best after a year of injury as he was only a few seconds outside his PB for the course in coming 3rd overall. Herbert at the moment is only training twenty miles a week a far cry from his normal 50 miles and is confident 2009 will be a prosperous new year for him. Michelle “Gazelle” Stark last week was awarded the "Most improved female athlete" at Gloucester AC's award ceremony and she backed this up in winning her first ever road race. Having joined the club in 2006 Michelle's stock has risen at quite a rate, she has just begun training for the 2009 London Marathon and one day would like to run the Comrades in South Africa where she was brought up. Jeremy Mower is in heavy training at present for the 100km Anglo-Celtic Plate where he will represent Wales still managed a respectable 10th position. Arthur Daley collected yet another age group prize in finishing 1st Vet 55 man.

Gloucester AC results:

Luke Herbert 21:31 3rd

Jeremy Mower  23:38 10th

Arthur Daley 25:16  19th  1st Vet 55

Michelle Stark 27:06 30th and 1st lady

Dave Spackman 31:12 54th

26/12/08

Steve Millward from Gloucester AC continued his comeback from injury with 2nd place over 5 miles in Cwmbran, Wales on Boxing Day. On a two lap course with a long hill, Millward was satisfied with a time of 27:25 after a 7 month lay-off.

26/12/08

In Poole, Dorset, Emma Jeffery competed in the Round the Lakes 10km road race. Finishing in a time of 46:16 minutes, Jeffery was happy with her performance after missing training recently.

13/12/08 Glos League Cross Country - Plock Court

On a shortened Plock Court course due to heavy rain overnight, Gloucester AC had their best Senior Mens & Ladies team results this season.

There were also some good individual runs by some of the junior club athletes.

In a very close U15 boys race Adam Thrall was 3rd overall, with only 12 seconds covering the first three places.

In the senior ladies race the team was lead home by a Lorraine Ryan who again finished inside the top ten in 7th place. Also improving on her position last time out was Michelle Stark in 18th place. Completing the ‘A’ team was Gemma Collier in 27th. The team finished 3rd overall, with Chris Campbell improving by over 20 places in 45th and Anne-Marie Edwards in 49th, there is strength in depth in the senior ladies team that is looking good for the future.

The senior men also had a good finish overall taking the 2nd team spot. Luke Herbert finished first for the club in 6th place, followed by brothers Richard DeCamps and Andrew DeCamps, in 12th and 13th position. Club captain Dave Gresswell was the fourth scorer in 23rd place, with Jeremy Mower 35th and Ian Summers 38th completing the ‘A’ team. Good runs by Arthur Daley in 54th and Paul Nash in 55th also meant that Gloucester scored 3rd Male Vet team on the day.

Junior Ben Jones had a solid run for 58th place. Dave Edwards finished 76th closely followed by club Vet 60 Dave Spackman in 78th place. Mark Thrall was 98th meaning that the Gloucester ‘B’ team also finished a creditable 8th overall. In his first ever cross country race, and indeed run for the club David Januetta finished 115th.

06/12/08

Gloucester AC finished 4th overall in the second fixture of the Birmingham & District Invitational League Division 2, on Saturday 6th December at Leamington Spa. This excellent result, also moved them up to 4th overall, with two further fixtures to go, and a slim chance of promotion next year if they can finish in the top three at the end of the season.

Returning from nearly 8 months of injury problems, Steve Millward led Gloucester AC men’s team to one of their best finishes in recent years. Millward finished a creditable 11th place overall on a tough course at Leamington Spa. Next home was Peter Kellie in 16th place. Kellie was leading the Gloucester charge until he slowed in the second half of the race as a late night at university the day before took its toll.

Luke Herbert was third home for the club in 20th place. Herbert has also had a tough time with injury over the last year, but is quickly returning to full fitness, and this was an excellent run as he improved on his previous race finish position by over 30 places. Richard DeCamps finished 34th overall, one place down on the previous race, but still showing good form and was one of the first Juniors home. Improving by over 20 places and fourth home was Dominic Malsom, who was hotly pursued round the course by Lee Smith who made up the final scoring position in 41st place. This was Smith’s best ever league finish, and shows that the marathon training he has been doing now gives him the strength to hold the basic speed he has always had.

Smith's speed also showed over the last 100m of the race as he held off a late challenge from Club XC Captain, Dave Gresswell. Gresswell led home the ‘B’ team in 43rd place, followed by vice-captain Ian ‘Lofty’ Summers. The ‘B’ team was completed by Alistair Wakefield in 131st, Paul Nash in 140th and club veterans Arthur Daley and Bogdan Jochym. Providing useful back up and last back was the ever dependable Arnold Yeomans. In the ‘B’ team competition, Glos finished 6th on the day, and held their 5th overall position again showing their good strength in depth.

Michelle Stark also travelled with the team to Leamington to take part in the Midland Women’s League race which was run on the same course. In her first race in this league, which contains some of the best women in the Midlands, Stark finished 80th overall out of over 140 finishers. Stark now hopes that long term she will be able to get a team out to compete more regularly in this division, as it has been many years since Gloucester AC ladies were represented at this level.

23/11/08 Gresswell takes the honours

Dave Gresswell from Gloucester AC took the Vet 40 title at the Swindon 10km on Sunday, running yet another personal best with 36:07. Despite the harsh weather conditions, Gresswell was always up with the front runners and finished strongly to come home 8th overall from a field of over 400 runners. Matt Wade also ran well to finish 41st overall with another personal best in 40.36 and will surely dip under the 40 minute barrier in the next few months.

Michelle Stark was delighted to run a personal best by more than 2 minutes to finish with 43.22 for 75th and 2nd Lady Veteran 35. Despite this, Stark knows that there is still more to come and is looking to make further improvements on the cross-country over the next few months. Gill Gresswell was pleased to come in under the hour with 58.43 for 342nd, after having time off from running recently.

19/11/08

County Road Race Series Awards - Plock Court Tennis Centre, Gloucester

Three  Gloucester AC athletes collected medals:

Jeremy Mower MV45  Bronze;   Bogdan Jochym MV55  Silver;   Dave Spackman MV60 Bronze

15/11/08

Gloucester AC's senior mens team made a move up the league standings with an excellent 3rd place in the Glos XC League race at Blackbridge on Saturday 15th November 2008. Despite missing several strong athletes, the team packed well to snatch 3rd. Leading the charge was Richard de Camps in 14th place, moving through well over the second half of the race. Andrew de Camps was close behind in 23rd, despite running considerably further than his accustomed 800m. Lee Smith was next home in 34th place, his highest ever position in the league. Tom Randles finished in 44th with a rare venture over the mud, with Dave Gresswell in 52nd despite suffering from an intercostal muscle injury over the second half of the race which at times reduced him to a walk. Ian Summers closed the scoring team in 54th on his comeback from injury.

Providing solid backup was Alistair Wakefield in 73rd, Dave Edwards in 109th, veteran over-60 Dave Spackman was 115th, Paul Loveridge displaying a strong sprint finish to come 142nd with Mark Thrall close behind in 143rd. Martin Chopping ran consistent laps to come 157th and was followed in by Tim Evans in 159th.

The senior women continued their excellent form with 6th place team, led home by an excellent run from Lorraine Ryan in 9th place. Belying her lack of experience over the mud, she ran a controlled race to stay in the top ten throughout. Superb packing resulted in Michelle Stark finishing in 28th, Gemma Collier just behind in 29th and Emma Jeffery in 31st, all improving on their placings from the first fixture. Anne Marie Edwards finished the course in 67th and was chased home by 69th Chris Campbell, from a field of almost 100 athletes.

In the male age group races, performance of the day came from debutant Ryan Medhurst in the U11 boys with a fine 4th place. After a cautious start, Ryan moved through the field and was delighted to come home not far behind the race winner. Ryan Hearn ran well to finish 10th in the U13 boys race closely followed by Sam Evans in 14th, who ran well despite suffering from a leg injury. In the U15 boys, Adam Thrall ran another strong race to finish 9th and was backed up by Dougie Bryant in 29th. Ben Gregory continues to improve in the U17 men with 7th.

Gloucester's U15 girls dominated the team race to win comfortably, led by a rejuvenated Amber Watson in 2nd. Becky Summers was 7th and the team was completed by Sam Roberts in 10th. Gabriella Lowe was 16th in U13 girls race with Hannah Jones in 20th. Newcomers Chantelle Chambers and Natalie Whitehouse found the going tough to finish 25th and 42nd in the U11 girls race.

02/11/08

Tewkesbury AC's Guy Fawkes 5 went with a series of bangs for Gloucester AC. Lee Smith overtook Jeremy Mower (Vet 40) in the final stages to finish in his second fastest 5 mile time of 29:55 (23rd) with Mower only 9 seconds behind despite still recovering from running 120 miles in 24 hrs hours  two weeks ago. Mowers finish gave him Silver medal in the County AAA Road Race Series. Alistair Wakefield rocketed off to a personal best of 30:36 and 31st place whilst Matt Wade finished only 14 seconds later.  Wades time of 30:50 gave him 44th place and a personal best.

Paul Nash (Vet 40) exploded over the last half mile to finish in 66th in 32:59 just beating 2nd placed Vet 55 Arthur Daley 33:05 whose experiment with a slower than usual start provided him with even paced miling. Vet 60 Dave Spackman ran a similar race working though the field of 330 runners to finish the flat and fast course in 33:25.

Gloucester's leading lady in this competition, Emma Jeffery, was 5th Lady Vet  in 36:27. Helen Davies running one of her first races in a Gloucester AC vest finished in 38:36.  Bogdan Jochym completed a steady race with 191st in 39:44 helping him to a medal position in the County AAA Road Race series. Dave Janetta completed the fireworks with a personal best by over half a minute of 40:37.

26/10/08 Stroud Half Marathon

Gloucester AC's womens team continued their superb vein of form with a strong showing at the Stroud Half Marathon. Leading the team home was Lorraine Ryan with 1.27.37, a personal best by 20 seconds. Kim Drinkwater was second lady home despite struggling with injury in recent weeks, running a 10 minute personal best with 1.35.12. Gemma Collier followed closely behind with another personal best, coming in with 1.37.01. Michelle Stark was delighted with an 8 minute pb with 1.37.44 and Emma Jeffery finished with 1.37.56 before dashing off on holiday.

The men were led in by Jeremy Mower with 1.24.23 for 97th place overall from a field of 2000 runners. Peter Lloyd was close behind with 1.25.32 and Dom Malsom finished in 1.27.38, despite having run the cross-country the day before in Birmingham. Matt Wade was pleased to run a personal best, dipping under the 90 minute barrier with 1.28.15. Over 60 Dave Spackman put in a typically strong showing to finish in 1.32.37.

26/10/08   BUPA Great South Run

Three members of Gloucester AC took to the wet and windy streets of Portsmouth last Sunday to compete in the 10 mile Great South run. First home was Dave Gresswell in a new personal best time of 59mins 13secs, which placed him 53rd overall, and 3rd place in his age group. Gresswell said “I could not believe it. Having run cross country the day before, I was really not expecting much, so was over the moon with both the time and finish position”. Also improving on her run last year was Gill Gresswell, 01:38:21, who ran the race with friend and fellow club member Cath Nicoll.

25/10/08 Birmingham & District Invitation Cross Country League

Gloucester AC Men got off to an excellent start at the Birmingham Cross Challenge in Senneleys Park last Saturday. Competing in Division 2, Gloucester AC managed a 5th place finish hich was the highest team placing in several years.

New club cross country captain, Dave Gresswell, was very happy with the team’s performance.

Gresswell said “ This is one of our best league starts in years, if we can put in the same performance in the remaining three fixtures, we should be safe in Division 2 or maybe even push for promotion!”

Gresswell was particularly impressed by the overall 6th place finish by Pete Kellie, and continuing improvement from Richard De Camps in 33rd. Luke Herbert also impressed in one of his first races back after months of injury problems with 45th. Solid performances from Gresswell himself in 47th, Dom Malsom in 56th and Lee Smith in 72nd, completed the ‘A’ Team.

Club vice-captain and endurance coach Ian Summers led home the ‘B’ team to a promising 6th place finish in that category, coming home in 79th, followed closely by Alistair Wakefield in 82nd. Paul Nash finished in 125th and was backed up by solid runs from Paul Challenger in 189th, Paul Loveridge in 197th and Mark Thrall in 200th. Arnold Yeomans came home in 212th place, with Tim Evans in 216th and club chairman Andy Mackenzie finishing the scoring with 222nd.

In the age groups, standout performance came from Amber Watson with 4th place in the under 15 girls. She was backed up by Becky Summers in 16th and Sam Roberts in 23rd. In the under 15 boys, Adam Thrall finished in 11th to underline his recent improvements. Sam Evans finished 13th in the under 13 boys and Ben Gregory also managed to finish 13th in the under 17 mens category.

19/10/08 Cardiff Half Marathon

At the Cardiff Half-Marathon, also held on Sunday, Gloucester AC's Lee Smith finished in a personal best time of 1hr21.56 to come 75th from a field of almost 6000 runners

19/10/08 Abingdon Half Marathon

Further evidence of the renaissance in running by Gloucester AC's women was demonstrated by Anne-Marie Edwards at the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday. Despite suffering from achilles problems in the build-up to the race, Anne-Marie finished in a time of 4hrs09.32, a personal best by over 10 minutes. " I was on course for sub 4 hours at halfway but suffered during the second half of the race, until I managed to pick up the pace again over the final few miles and passed lots of runners".

18/10/08 Tooting Bec 24 hour Track Race

Jeremy Mower of Gloucester Athletic Club was one of forty runners who set off in near perfect conditions at 12 noon on Saturday to circle the 400 metre track for 24 hours at the superb south London venue of Tooting Bec athletics track. Unlike a standard marathon where a fixed distance is covered in a certain time, in a 24 hour race the time is fixed and the distance covered determines the end result. A high class field included ten international 24 hour/multi-day runners including William Sichel who has recently given some most valuable advice on nutrition to Mower. Mower managed to cover over four marathons recording 172.35 km (107 miles 164 yards) which is considered a respectable distance for ones debut at this gruelling event and he managed to finish 14th overall beating some more experienced 24 hour runners. His biggest problem apart from blisters, aches and strains was trying to stay awake at night and he said “I think I actually fell asleep about three times whilst walking during the night and each time woke up just as I was about to fall over”. Mower had gone into the event with slim hopes of achieving the 200km standard for the Commonwealth Games but after 11 hours realised he was an hour off his schedule so backed off the pace in order to finish in reasonable condition and save himself for another day. Mower will now concentrate his efforts on trying to achieve the 8 hour 45 min Commonwealth Games standard for the 100km in the next few months. In the latest World 6 hour track rankings Mower is 24th and is ranked number one in the UK with a distance of 46.8 miles.

18/10/08 National Road Relays  - Sutton Park, Birmingham (Sat 18th/Sun 19th October 2008)

Rapid Improvement for Gloucester

The senior womens team from Gloucester finished in an excellent 60th place in the National 4-stage road relays, held in Birmingham on Saturday. In their first outing in the national championships for many years, Gloucester continued the rapid progress shown this year. Michelle Stark led the team off on the highly competitive first leg, bringing the team home in 90th place with an 18.52 clocking. Lorraine Ryan took over on second leg and moved superbly through the field with a time of 17.07, gaining 15 places for the team. Kim Drinkwater ran a strong leg to continue the forwards momentum with a time of 18.02 to bring Gloucester through to 64th, moving the team up another 11 places. Gemma Collier had an excellent run to bring the team home in 60th place with a time of 18.21, almost 40 seconds quicker than her run in the Midlands relays held on the same course - "I gave it everything up the final hill and managed to gain a few more places. The whole team ran well and we can't wait to come back next year and finish even higher up".

In the National Young Athletes Road Relays on Sunday, also held at Sutton Park, Gloucester AC's under 15 girls finished in a superb 16th place. Amber Watson led the team out with 13.48, which was good enough for third place on the leg and sixth fastest of the day overall. It was fully 45 seconds quicker than her time at the Midlands YA Relays, which was almost matched on second leg by Sam Roberts who improved 36 seconds on last months time with 15.55. Becky Summers brought the team home in 15.29 with a typically strong run, which was also 26 seconds quicker than last month at the regional championships.

11/10/08 Gloucestershire Cross Country League

Gloucester Women on the up

Gloucester AC's senior women achieved the best team result in several years with an excellent 5th place in the first Gloucestershire League cross country fixture of the season. Over a tough course with several challenging climbs and obstacles to overcome, several team members made promising debuts. First home was new recruit Lorraine Ryan in 12th place, moving through the field well on the second lap. Emma Jeffery continued her rich vein of form this year with 31st in a high-calibre field, followed closely by Gemma Collier in 35th with her best result in recent seasons. Michelle Stark held on well in her cross-country debut to finish 43rd, with Chris Campbell in 72nd and Fiona Roberts in 74th completing the strong showing by Gloucester's women. The great team spirit that has been created within this training group bodes well for a strong season.

In the age groups, the standout performance came from Grace Walker with a superb 2nd place in the under 13 girls race, only 2 seconds behind the winner. Gabriella Lowe finished 23rd in the same age group, with Natalie Whitehouse replicating that position in a tough under 11 girls section. Becky Summers ran well to finish 10th in a combined under 15 and 17 girls race, competing against girls up to 3 years older than her. Adam Thrall ran a controlled race to finish 6th in the under 15 boys and Ben Gregory also finished 6th in the under 17 men for a promising cross country debut.

Despite missing several athletes, the senior mens team performed well to finish 6th team and 8th team in the veterans category. Track specialist Richard de Camps showed strong endurance to come home 2nd junior male with 16th overall from a field of more than 160 runners. Lee Smith continued his progression with an encouraging 31st, with Ian Summers moving through on the hills to finish 38th. Paul Nash ran consistent laps to finish 57th and Arthur Daley continued his rehabilitation from injury to finish fourth veteran in the over 55 category and 88th overall. Dave Edwards completed the scoring team with 94th place. Ben Jones finished 103rd despite being unaccustomed to running such distances, with Mark Thrall in 128th, Paul Loveridge in 136th and Arnold Yeomans in 143rd completing the scoring for Gloucester AC 

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