News Apr-Sep 2009 Oct 2008-Mar 2009 Apr-Sep 2008 Oct 2007-Mar 2008 Apr-Sep 2007

28/03/10 Forest of Dean Half Marathon

Gloucester AC's Nick Cousins was delighted to race to a new personal best time at the Forest of Dean half marathon on Sunday, knocking a minute off his previous best with 1 hour 24 minutes 27 seconds. Despite having to cross-train in recent weeks due to some niggling injuries, Cousins finished in 35th place overall from a field of more than 2000 entrants on a tough, undulating course that started and finished at Speech House. Veteran over 45 athlete and Forest of Dean resident Peter Lloyd made the most of his local knowledge to claim a top 100 spot with 83rd place and a time of 1 hour 29.56 minutes. Lorraine Ryan was next home for Gloucester and was pleased with a time of 1 hour 30.10 minutes, which was good enough for 3rd place in the lady over 35 category.

Kim Drinkwater was another athlete to claim a new personal best time, finishing in 1 hour 34.18 minutes which resulted in her finishing 7th senior lady. Anne-Marie Edwards completed a good day for the Gloucester team with 724th place in a time of 1 hour 54.33 minutes.

28/03/10 Minchinhampton 10km (Stroud)

Club cross-country captain Dave Gresswell was the sole Gloucester AC athlete to take part in the inaugural Minchinhampton 10km on Sunday, taking a fine second place overall on the testing course. Gresswell was unable to stay with the pace of local rival Lee Rankin, who took off from the start, but was pleased with first veteran over 40 which earnt him a trophy, medal, and an Easter egg, after pulling away from the chasing pack on the hills and finishing in a time of 37 minutes 54 seconds.

27/03/10 Gloucestershire County 4km Cross Country Champs (Plock Court)

Strong headwinds and wet, slippery conditions made for slow times in the County 4k Cross Country Championships. Gloucester Athletic Club's Vet 60 team overcame the adverse conditions to take a clean sweep in the their category. Arthur Daley placed 17th in the race with 17:05 followed by Vet 65 Dave Spackman in 31st place with 18:49. Spackman ran a steady first two laps and pushed hard on the final lap of Plock Court to finish first V65 despite taking antibiotics to get rid of a lung infection. The team was completed by John McClean who picked up the silver Vet 60 place with 20:03 gaining him 40th position out of the 73 finishers; McLean started off quickly but also suffered from chest problems after the first outward section.

Jason Gresswell V40 whose current training involves much shorter, sharper work finished strongly with 18:12 putting him in 24th place.

21/03/10 Reading Half Marathon

Gloucester AC's Chris Campbell was delighted to produce another personal best performance at the Reading half marathon on Sunday. Campbell took 38 seconds off her previous best as she completed the course in 1 hour 48.59 minutes.

21/03/10 Chedworth 10 Mile

Fresh from his quickest ever run at the Midlands Road Relay Champs, Gloucester AC's Steve Millward was delighted to defend his title at the Chedworth 10 mile multi-terrain race held in the beautiful but muddy Cotswolds on Sunday. After holding off the ealy pace of Stroud AC's Lee Rankin, Millward moved away on the uphill sections around halfway and pulled away throughout to win in a time of 58.09 minutes. Ian Summers ran strongly throughout to finish in a fine 23rd place, with a time of 70.23 minutes. Not far behind was Peter Lloyd who is returning to form after several months of injury troubles, finishing 33rd in 72.04 minutes. Paul Nash also made a successful return from injury in 50th place, completing the saturated course in 74.54 minutes.

Kim Drinkwater produced her second good run of the weekend to claim third senior lady in a time of 76.15 minutes, after playing a vital role in the Midlands success of the womens team the day before. Junior athlete Becky Summers was pleased to complete the tough course in 111th place from a field of almost 350 runners in a time of 80.48 minutes. Veteran over 55 Terry Onions was satisfied with a time of 92.40 minutes for 219th place, before Chris O'Carroll finished proceedings off for Gloucester with 257th place and a time of 97.29 minutes.

20/03/10 Midlands 12 & 6 Stage Road Relays (Birmingham)

Gloucester AC's ladies team produced their best ever performance at the Midlands womens 6 stage road relays at Sutton Park in Birmingham on Saturday, narrowly missing out on medals after a superb 5th place. With an excellent all round team performance, the team improved massively on their 29th place from last year.

Leading the way on stage one, over a distance of approximately 3 miles, was Irish international Rose-Anne Galligan who flew around the course in a time of 16:34 minutes to lead the entire field home, her time being good enough for fourth fastest overall on the day. Michelle Stark had the unenviable task of following Galligan, but enjoyed her time at the front and held on well with a time of 21:22 minutes. Anne-Marie Edwards produced her best ever run at Sutton Park to keep Gloucester in contention at the halfway point in 14th place, with a time of 22.01 minutes which was over a minute faster than last year.

Gemma Turtle took over on the fourth stage and scorched round the course in a time of 15.57 minutes, which hauled the team back up to 6th place and was the fastest time of the day by some considerable margin. Turtle was frustrated to find out afterwards that she was just 3 seconds away from running the fastest stage in the history of the Midlands Championships! Kim Drinkwater continued the great team performance with her quickest ever run at Sutton Park with a time of 19.41 minutes, the eighth quickest time on her stage, before handing over to the dependable Gemma Collier on the final stage. Collier ran round in 20.30 minutes to take the team up to the dizzy heights of 5th place at the end of the race, which was 45 seconds quicker than she ran in last years event.

Gloucester AC's mens team also produced a superb team performance to finish in 10th position overall, their best result in recent history and the highest finishing county club in the race. Richard de Camps started proceedings off on the 5.4 mile first stage, coming back in 18th place with 29.44 minutes, his quickest time on this course. Andrew de Camps produced a similarly good run on the 3 mile stage two, with 16.45 minutes before handing on to Nico Constanti who brought the team up to 13th place after 3 stages with 16.37 minutes. Steve Millward then claimed the 5th fastest time overall on the 5.4 mile fourth leg, moving the team up to 9th place with his quickest ever run at Sutton Park in 27.46 minutes.

Jeremy Mower and Andy Hawkins consolidated the team position on stages 5 and 6 with times of 17.35 and 18.10 respectively, before Andy Renfree took over on the long stage 7, bringing the team back into the top ten with a time of 28.45 minutes. Ian Summers and Nick Cousins ran the 3 mile stages 8 and 9 in times of 17.45 and 17.39 minutes before Luke Herbert ran the last long stage in a time of 29.54 minutes to keep the team in 11th place. Mark Ingram ran 18.13 minutes for the 3 mile stage 11, before Dave Gresswell finished a fine day for Gloucester AC off in style with a time of 17.21 minutes for the 12th and final stage.

14/03/10 Barry 40 mile Track Race - Welsh Ultra Championships

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Welsh International ultra-runner Jeremy Mower used all his experience in the Barry 40 mile track race which doubled up as the Welsh Ultra-running championships. Setting off at a steady pace he covered the first twenty miles in 2 hours 32 minutes in 9th place. This was his slowest ever midway split compared to running this distance on four previous occasions. In the next 12 miles he kept a similar pace realising he was gaining on the others as they were slowing, moving into 8th. At 32 miles Mower stepped up his pace, realising he was not gaining quickly enough and increased his pace to 6:50 miling. This put him into 5th position. With 3 miles to go he was half a mile from 4th and “decided to go for broke”. An incredible finish saw him take the 4th position with 200 metres to go. Mower also took home with him the first Vet 40 title a repeat of last year’s performance and was second in the Welsh Championship. Mower’s time of 5 hours 5 minutes was a new personal best for 40 miles by over 6 minutes. Mower must now wait to see if he is chosen to run for Wales at the 100km UK Championships to be held in Boddington, Gloucestershire on June 19th, 2010. Providing the Welsh team is picked on form, his selection should be a formality.

07/03/10 Gloucester 20 Mile Road Race

Gloucester AC hosted their annual 20 mile road race on a crisp but cold morning in Quedgeley, on a new course which involved three laps of the country lanes around Haresfield. As the majority of club members were either marshalling or manning the water stations, it was left to a hardy few athletes to fly the flag for the host club. Gary O'Brien from Swindon Harriers was the overall race winner, finishing in a time of 1 hour 59:38, from a field of just under 300 runners. Jeremy Mower was the leading Gloucester athlete, pacing the race well to move through the field and finish 14th in a time of 2 hours 10:59. Running over-distance for the first time was Andy Hawkins, who produced a solid run to finish just behind in 17th place with 2 hours 12:14. Alistair Wakefield was next in, treating the race as a training run at marathon pace for his attempt at the London Marathon in 6 weeks time, claiming 19th spot and 2 hours 13.35.

Jane Leckebusch was the leading lady for the club in 125th place, finishing in a time of 2 hours 37:56. Chris Campbell was delighted to smash her personal best by over 5 minutes, just missing the 3 hour barrier with 3 hours 00:48. Newcomer Salina Wathen finished strongly in her build up to the Brighton Marathon, claiming 253rd place with 3 hours 15.02, followed in by Rachael Hancocks in 271st place with a time of 3 hours 24.02.

06/03/10 Gloucestershire County Road Relays Champs (White Horse)

Gloucester AC dominated the county road relay championships, held at the White Horse in Sandhurst on Saturday, taking senior county gold medals in both the mens, womens and mens veteran over 60 category. Gloucester also claimed the fastest individual legs in both the mens and womens race, through Steve Millward and Gemma Collier

It was Steve Millward who lead the team home in first after the opening leg, having pulled away from Stroud ACs Ben Coldray over the second half of the 3.25 mile course in a time of 15.21 minutes. Track specialist Andrew de Camps took over and kept the team in contention with 17 minutes 33 seconds, followed by Nico Constanti, fresh from a 1.52 pb over 800m indoors the previous week, who ran round in 16.36 minutes. Richard de Camps finished proceedings off to bring the team home in 3rd overall with a time of 16.05 minutes, good enough to take the senior county title.

Michelle Stark led the ladies team off with an encouraging return to form with 21.30 minutes, before handing over to Melissa Whitlock who continued her recent improvement with 21.28 minutes. Gemma Collier completed the great team performance with her best recent run, clocking 21.08 minutes for the days fastest lady award.

In the mens veteran over 40 category, Dave Gresswell started the team off with 17.51 minutes, handing over to Paul Nash who timed 19.47 minutes for a solid run after missing almost 12 months through injury. Jeremy Mower made up some ground on Severn AC with 17.55 minutes, before handing over to Ian Summers who almost caught Severn AC to take the county title, gaining over a minute on their final leg athlete.

Gloucester ACs formidable veteran over 60 team were pleased to take their county title, led off by Arthur Daley who ran superbly for 19.05 minutes to be the quickest over 60 athlete of the day. John McClean kept Gloucester in the hunt with 21.48 minutes and the the team was brought to victory by Dave Spackman, who produced a great run for a time of 22.02 minutes.

21/02/10 Wokingham Half Marathon

Gloucester AC's Luke Herbert produced the fastest club half marathon performance of the year so far with an excellent run in the Wokingham Half Marathon on Sunday, finishing 30th in a time of 75 minutes 16 seconds. Herbert started quickly and stuck with a good group before becoming detached and rallying in the final miles to narrowly miss out on a new personal best time.

21/02/10 Gloucester Winter 5 Mile Race - Sandhurst

A small team of three from Gloucester AC took part in this year’s Winter 5 mile road race in Sandhurst, Gloucester. On a cold, but bright winters afternoon, the earlier snow had melted which meant reasonable conditions underfoot.

Leading the club home, was the club cross country captain and V40 runner, Dave Gresswell. Still flushed with the success of promotion to division one last weekend, Gresswell put in a solid performance to finish 8th overall in 29mins 18 secs.

Next home was V60 Arthur Daley, finishing in 12th place in a time of 30mins 54secs. This beat a long standing V60 club record for the distance, previously held by super vet Dave Spackman. Daley was initially disappointed, thinking that he had missed out, until the records were checked, and confirmed that his time had taken nearly a minute off the record. This also places Daley 5th overall so far on the UKA rankings for his age group this year.

Michelle Stark completed the trio of club finishers in just over 37 mins, which was good enough to earn her the lady V35 prize. Stark ran well, and enjoyed the race, despite a lack of training in recent weeks.

20/02/10 Midlands Indoor Open (Birmingham)

Gloucester AC athletes Andrew and Richard de Camps were both in fine form at the Midlands Indoor Open at NIA in Birmingham on Saturday. Both ran in the senior mens 800m A race, with Andrew placing 2nd in a new indoor PB of 1:53.51, following on from his win at the Midlands Champs the previous week. Younger brother Richard stole the show though with 3rd place in 1:55.75, carving more than 1 second off his outdoor PB and 4 seconds inside his previous indoor best, despite this being his first indoor race of the season.  

Training partner Nico Constanti was also in action over the weekend, representing UWIC in the Celtic Cup at Cardiff and made amends for last weekends disappointing performance with a cracking run, placing 4th in 1:53.41, a new PB by 3 hundredths of a second and 1.2 secs off his indoor best.  

Ashleigh Naylor was also competing at the NIA in 60m and 200m, claiming 3rd in his 60m heat in a seasons best 7.43 seconds and 5th in the 200m with 23.58 seconds.

13/02/10 Midlands Womens Cross Country League (Walsall)

Gloucester AC Ladies team finished their first ever full season in the Midlands Womens Cross Country League in fine form on Saturday, at a tough course in Walsall. Despite slipping down the rankings slightly on the final race to 21st team, Gloucester were pleased with 14th overall for the season.

Leading the way this time was Melissa Whitlock in 65th place, who has had a fantastic first season with the team and has progressed well. Team captain Michelle Stark was satisfied with 83rd place and the team was completed by Helen Davies in 123rd place, who is putting in the miles in preparation for the London Marathon in April.

13/02/10 Midlands & South West Indoor Championships

Whilst brother Richard was running well on the mud in Worcester, Andrew de Camps was producing the performance of his career to claim the combined Midlands and South-West Indoor 800m title. After several near misses in recent seasons, de Camps finally confirmed his class by winning in an excellent time of 1 minute 53:97 seconds to claim Midlands gold and South West gold. After keeping off the early pace, de Camps took the lead with 100m to go and was never challenged. After remaining undefeated in Midlands League competition last season, de Camps will be hoping to continue this rich vein of form into the summer months. Training partner Nico Constanti was unlucky to miss out on the final by one place after being pipped on the line in his heat, producing a time of 1 minute 58:46.

After a seasons best time of 51.73 seconds in his 400m heat, Ashleigh Naylor was delighted to come away with the South West Championships bronze medal with a 52.05 clocking in his heat. Lurenda Mudd produced a solid run against tough opposition in the under 15 girls 200m, claiming 4th place in her semi final with a time of 27.96 seconds after qualifying through the heats with 27.8 seconds.

13/02/10 Birmingham Cross Country League (Malverns)

Gloucester AC created history on Saturday at the final Birmingham and District Cross Country League Division 2 fixture at the Malverns, as they made a triumphant return to Division 1 after an absence of 20 years. Having dropped to the depths of division 5 in recent years, Gloucester are finally back in the top flight of Midlands cross country running after producing a superb team performance over the four fixtures this season. After taking third place team on the day and second in the overall rankings, team captain Dave Gresswell said "Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved, we can be proud of this achievement and we are determined to become a permanent fixture in the top division".

On a challenging course in the Malverns, Steve Millward led the team home with a solid run for 4th place, which resulted in him taking the individual series title. Several athletes produced their best performances of the season, none more so than Richard de Camps who stormed through the field to take a fine 7th place and 3rd place in the junior mens series rankings, by far his best run in a Birmingham League fixture. Consistent team scorers Andy Renfree and Luke Herbert were next home in 17th and 18th places respectively, leaving Jeremy Mower and Dave Gresswell to secure promotion for the team with 63rd and 68th positions.

Ian Summers led the B team in with comfortably his best run of the season in 74th place, followed in by Andy Hawkins in 88th spot. The evervescent Arthur Daley, fresh from his recent 5km road performance which currently ranks him 3rd in the UK, was 109th and Dave Jannetta produced a strong sprint finish to claim 123rd place. Mark Thrall ran well for 154th place, with club stalwart Humphrey Phillips making a rare appearance on the mud to close the B team scoring in 180th place. The B team finished 3rd on the day and 2nd overall, emphasising the strength in depth that Gloucester now possesses. It was perhaps appropriate that club chairman Andy Mackenzie completed the proceedings on a triumphant day by finishing in 191st place.

07/02/10 Millward is king of May Hill

Gloucester AC's Steve Millward was a delighted winner of the May Hill Massacre multi-terrain race on Sunday, held on an 8.7 mile testing course near Huntley in the Forest Of Dean. In gloriously muddy conditions, Millward finally pulled away from Stroud AC's Lee Rankin on the final climb and raced to a 50 second victory in a new course record of 54 minutes 34 seconds. Millward said " Lee was flying past me on the downhill sections but I was stronger on the uphill, so I knew that I needed a gap before the long downhill stretch to the finish and really worked hard up the final hill".

Lloyd Pritchard made a surprise appearance in a Gloucester vest and used his knowledge of the local area to claim 7th place in 60 minutes 22 seconds. Nick Cousins improved his time from last year by three minutes to finish 23rd with 63.46 minutes, with Peter Lloyd not far behind in 35th place.

Cross Country captain Dave Gresswell completed the arduous course in 60th spot with 69.16 minutes, ahead of first lady Lorraine Ryan who enjoyed the ankle deep mud to finish in 95th place from the field of over 500 runners. Matt Wade was close behind in 110th place, with Michelle Stark in 311th spot and Terry Onions claiming 348th position.

06/02/10 Gloucestershire XC Champs & Glos XC League (Cheltenham)

Maxine Gray was the star performer for the Gloucester AC Ladies team at the final Gloucestershire Cross Country League fixture, held at Pittville Park in Cheltenham on Saturday. The race, which incorporated the postponed county championships was held over a testing course in relatively good conditions and Gloucester produced a strong turnout, which resulted in the team taking the county bronze medals.

Gray produced her best run of the season with an excellent 17th place, having improved in every race in the league series. Following closely behind was Lorraine Ryan, who celebrated her birthday in style with a fine 19th position. The dependable Gemma Collier closed the scoring for the womens A team with 32nd place, with Mel Whitlock running well for 47th spot to lead the B team home for 4th place in their category.Team captain Michelle Stark and Chris Campbell were evenly matched throughout the race, with Stark just edging it with 60th and 61st places respectively. Anne-Marie Edwards continued her return from injury troubles with 71st place and was supported by Helen Davies in 89th and Gill Gresswell in 92nd place.

In one of the closest finishes in county history, Steve Millward just missed out on claiming his first county cross-country title after an excellent race-long battle with Will Ferguson from CLC Striders. After a dramatic sprint finish, both athletes were given the same time but Ferguson got the verdict on the line to deny a disappointed Millward. Luke Herbert claimed his best placing in the league this season with 6th spot, before a keenly contested tussle between Alistair Wakefield, Dave Gresswell and Nick Cousins resulted in them taking 40th, 41st and 42nd places respectively. Closing the A team scoring was Jeremy Mower in 48th place to secure 4th place in the team stakes and county bronze medals. League secretary Arthur Daley was next back for Gloucester with 75th place and 2nd veteran over 60, just ahead of Mark Ingram in 78th. Dave Janetta produced a strong sprint finish for 103rd place, with newcomer Herve Tribuilloy claiming 112th place. Veteran over 65 Dave Spackman was satisfied with 126th place and the scoring was completed by Mark Thrall in 132nd position.

In the under 11 girls, Briony Goddard-Jones continued her consistent top ten performances with 7th place, and was supported by Kezia Smith in 20th and Chloe Jones with a great sprint finish in 29th place for 5th in the team standings. Hannah Jones and Elin Caine were almost inseperable in the under 13 girls race, claiming 19th and 20th places. Sam Roberts took a break from all her hockey and netball exploits to finish 7th in the under 15 girls race, before Becky Summers took 5th spot in the under 17 ladies race.

The under 11 boys team also finished 5th on the day, thanks to Brandon Gifford in 8th place, Henry Adams in 13th spot and David Irvine in 29th position. Adam Thrall completed a successful day for the club with a strong run for 6th place in the under 15 boys race.

31/01/10 Welsh Indoor Championships ~ Turtle gets double 

Gloucester AC's form athlete Gemma Turtle returned to the Welsh Indoor Championships on Sunday and claimed her second title of the season, storming away to win the 3000m in a time of 9 minutes 8.11 seconds. Turtle, who had been struggling with a cold in the build-up to the race that forced her to miss the televised meeting in Glasgow the previous day, controlled the race from the 1km point and pulled away for a convincing victory. Team-mate Rose-Ann Galligan was marginally outside her personal best for second place with a time of 9 minutes 17.79 seconds.

30/01/10 Midlands Cross-Country Championships

Richard de Camps produced an encouraging run at the Midlands Cross-Country Champs at Stafford Common on Saturday, finishing in a fine 20th place in the mens junior race. De Camps has been struggling with a shin problem all winter, so was delighted with his run on the frozen course and to come through a tough race unscathed.

26/01/10 Bridge Inn, Shortwood 5k (Bristol & West AC)

Gloucester AC's Arthur Daley took part in the January edition of the Shortwood 5km race in Bristol recently, finishing 33rd overall in a time of 19:07 minutes to convincingly win the first veteran over 60 prize.

24/01/10 Linda Franks Memorial 4.2 Mile Road Race (Cheltenham)

Gloucester AC's Steve Millward took the honours at the Linda Franks Memorial Road Race in Cheltenham on Sunday, the first race in the county series for 2010. Defending his race and series title from last year, Millward was content to run with Jon Parker from Cheltenham Harriers for the majority of the race before sprinting clear in the final 400m to win in a time of 22.23 minutes. Next home was Jeremy Mower in 10th place overall and 3rd veteran over 40, with a time of 24.47 minutes. Mark Ingram continued his strong recent form with 13th place overall in 25.01 minutes before Alistair Wakefield claimed 19th spot with a time of 25.31 minutes. Ingram and Wakefield then continued their marathon training by running the 10 miles back to Gloucester.

Peter Lloyd was satisfied with 20th place and 1st veteran over 45 with 25.36 minutes, closely followed by Ian Summers who was 24th with a time of 26.09 minutes. Becky Summers produced an excellent run to finish in 42nd place and 2nd junior female with a time of 27.49 minutes, just ahead of Dave Spackman who took a convincing win in the veteran over 65 category in a time of 28.14 minutes. Club newcomer Herve Tribouilloy made his competitive debut for Gloucester with 56th place and a time of 29.42 minutes. Jane Leckebusch was the final club member home in 82nd place from a field of more than 160 runners with 31.32 minutes.

23/01/10 Midlands AA Open Throws Meeting (Birmingham)

Several members of the Gloucester AC elite hammer throwing squad made their seasonal debut at a chilly Alexander Stadium on Saturday, producing some encouraging performances. Using the open throws meeting as a gauge of how winter training has progressed, Justin Sysum won the senior mens competition with a distance of 55.89 metres, defeating junior team-mate Tim Williams who was delighted with a new personal best distance of 52.85 metres. Mike Tommey was satisfied with 43.18 metres to take 5th position, whilst in the womens open competition, Anna Robertson produced a throw of 35.78 metres for 6th place.

23/01/10 Welsh Indoor Championships ~ Turtle smashes Welsh All-Comers Record 

Gloucester AC's Gemma Turtle produced another scintillating performance at the Welsh Indoor Championships in Cardiff, taking her second Welsh all-comers record in three weeks, this time over 1500m. Turtle reduced her personal best down to 4 minutes 14.06 seconds, which also broke the Championship best performance by 5 seconds, and has now been selected to run for the Commonwealth Select team at the televised Aviva Games being held in Glasgow this coming weekend. Helping Turtle to achieve this time was team-mate and training partner Rose-Ann Galligan who led the way for the first 1000m but still held on to produce a superb time of 4 minutes 16.8 seconds.

On the mens side, Nico Constanti and Andrew de Camps both claimed medals in the senior mens 800m with silver and bronze respectively. Both athletes produced composed performances in their separate heats to win comfortably and progress to the final, where Constanti ran 1 minute 54.61 to take silver and de Camps ran 1 minute 55.10 seconds to take the bronze. Coming off the back of several outings over cross-country recently, both athletes displayed an impressive turn of pace which bodes well for the Midlands Champs in a few weeks time.

16/01/10 Midlands Womens XC League

Gloucester AC's womens cross country team put in a strong performance at the third fixture in the Midlands Womens League held at a muddy Wyken Park in Coventry on Saturday.

Lorraine Ryan made a welcome return form a niggling injury problem to lead the team home in 42nd place in a high standard competition. Maxine Gray produced her best run of the season to finish just behind in 46th position. Gemma Collier continued her recent upturn in form for 69th place, with Mel Whitlock coming back in 88th. Team captain Michelle Stark enjoyed her slog through the mud for 110th place and Ann-Marie Edwards splashed through the icy puddles in preparation for her triathlons later this year, with 126th position.

16/01/10 Birmingham & District XC League

Gloucester AC mens cross-country team put in a superb performance at the third Birmingham & District cross-country fixture, held at Wyken Croft Park in Coventry on Saturday, which sets them up for promotion to Division 1 for the first time in over a decade. Gloucester produced their lowest points score of the season to consolidate 2nd place in the league behind a powerful Telford AC, enhancing the growing reputation of the club as a distance running force.

Leading the way was Steve Millward who ran a solid race, but was slightly disappointed to finish 5th after vying for 3rd spot for much of the race. This leaves Millward top of the series rankings and aiming to wrap up the individual series title at the final fixture at Worcester in 4 weeks time. Andy Renfree produced his best run in a Gloucester vest with 14th spot after a below par run at the Worcestershire Champs the previous week. Just behind was the fast-improving Nico Constanti who is getting better as the cross-country season develops and was pleased with 19th position and 3rd junior male in the series rankings. One place behind was the ever dependable Luke Herbert who is having yet another strong season. Richard de Camps shrugged off a recent shin problem to finish in 22nd, with brother Andrew de Camps rounding off an excellent first team performance with 38th place after his best run of the season.

The B team also finished 2nd overall with the lowest team score for the season thus far, with Lee Smith starting the scoring with 58th place. Jeremy Mower was next in for 69th position, closely followed by Mark Ingram in 73rd with a very encouraging run. Ian Summers produced his customary good performance with 87th place, with Alistair Wakefield just behind in 88th spot which bodes well for his marathon attempt in the spring. Closing the scoring was Andy Hawkins in 98th, who ran well despite finding the going tough.

Team captain Dave Gresswell struggled round in 108th place after suffering with a virus for the past week, followed in by Tom Randles who put aside his dislike of cross-country to record 112th position. Arthur Daley was next in for Gloucester with 129th place after missing several weeks through injury, with Dave Edwards in 148th place and cross-country debutant Gareth Malsom claiming 153rd position. Dave Janetta enjoyed the slog through the thick mud to finish in 160th place and club chairman Andy Mackenzie completed a successful day with 217th position.

10/01/10 UWIC Indoor Grand Prix (Cardiff)

Gloucester AC's Gemma Turtle smashed her personal best performance over 3000m at the UWIC Indoor Grand Prix on Sunday, taking the Welsh All-Comers record in the process and beating the qualifying time for the World Indoor Champs being held in Qatar in March. With a previous personal best of 9.05.41 minutes, Turtle set a ferocious pace from the gun with the aim of beating the 9.03 qualifying time. Turtle managed it comfortably by finishing in a superb 8.56.23 minutes, the fastest time ever produced by a female at the track in Cardiff.

Irish cross-country international Rose-Ann Galligan, running on an unfamiliar surface, also produced an excellent run and just missed beating her own personal best performance with a time of 9.20.94 minutes.

03/01/10 Welsh Masters 5 mile Championship

Gloucester AC’s Welsh international Ultra runner Jeremy Mower, showed he still has some speed at the shorter distances when he competed in the Welsh Masters 5 mile Championship in Cardiff on Sunday. With a temperature of two degrees centigrade and a freezing wind he set off with the leading pack, but was dropped before the second mile. He held on to finish 3rd in the over 40 category and took home the Bronze medal. Mower was reasonably happy with his time of 29:43 as the conditions were poor and he had suffered from the fast early pace. Mower said “I’d probably lost half a minute going off that hard but I wanted to win it no matter what the consequences of failing. I think some of the athletes were surprised to see me having a go at them, as they know me in Wales for marathons, or the Barry 40 mile track race which I’m doing in March to defend my Welsh Ultra-distance title”.

01/01/10

Pete Lloyd ,V45, 8th (30:49) was the first Gloucester AC finisher in Severn AC's New Year 5 at Hardwicke, closely followed by youngster Jack Evans in 32:40. Dave Spackman V65 finished 2nd in his age group in 34:17 whilst Hayley Winters was fourth lady in 35:05. Chris Campbell LV35 completed the course in 38:13. Mike Storey, running his first race for 5 years, finished the 5 mile out and back course in 47:46 mins. Mike is known for his 100 Marathons achieved by 2002.

09/12/09 Street 5km (Somerset)

Gloucester AC's Gemma Turtle and Rose-Ann Galligan upset all the male runners at the Street 5km in Somerset last week, as they stormed to first and second place overall respectively. Both athletes are coached by David Farrow and it was England international Turtle who took the victory after a race long battle in a superb time of 16 minutes 32 seconds. Irish international Galligan, who was using the race as a final preparation for the European cross-country Championships being held in Dublin this weekend, was close behind in 16 minutes 38 seconds.

05/12/09 Midland Ladies XC League

For the second time this season, Gloucester AC ladies completed a team in the Midland Ladies XC League. Competing at Perry Bar in Birmingham, Maxine Gray led the team home in a very respectable 51st place. In only her second ever cross country race, Grey literally found her feet, as she took full advantage of much longer spikes in her shoes! Mellissa Whitlock was next home in 103rd place, another relative newcomer, but really enjoying her run over the 4 mile course. Completing the team was ladies XC Captain, Michelle Stark in 137th place. Stark had started slowly due to illness, but worked her way up through the field in the second half of the race. As club captain, Stark was very pleased with the ladies performance, and thoroughly enjoyed the relatively flat fast course. Stark said “With more of the clubs ladies showing an interest in cross country running, we hope that this is just the start of better things to come. Our aim is to get more runners competing at the final two fixtures, and really build for next year”.

05/12/09 Birmingham & District Invitational Cross Country League Div 2 - Blackbridge, Gloucester

After another superb performance last Saturday, Gloucester AC are flying high in Division 2 of the Birmingham & District Cross Country League. Despite a few notable runners being unavailable due to illness and injury, the team took full advantage of the home fixture at Blackbridge by finishing 2nd team on the day.

The team, and in fact the entire field, were led home by Stephen Millward who finished clear in 1st place overall. Millward looked comfortable in a small group of four athletes for the first two laps of the three lap course. Millward said “I have planned to make my move on the final lap, but found myself with a gap on the others with just under two to go, and feeling good, decided to push on”. This is the second cross country win for Millward this season, and proves that the steeplechase specialist is just as good in the mud, as he is on the track over hurdles.

Next home for the club was Luke Herbert in 14th place, closely followed by Andy Renfrew in 18th place. Both athletes repeating the good performances they put in at the first fixture. Nico Constanti was 4th finisher for the ‘A’ team. Constanti, who is an accomplished track athlete, has really found his feet this season on the country and has started to put in some excellent performances. Club Captain, Dave Gresswell, said “Nico is one of our under 20 athletes, who under that guidance of coach Paul DeCamps, is certainly one to watch in the future”. Indeed it was Paul’s son, Andrew DeCamps, who was the 5th team scorer, with a much improved performance. Completing the ‘A’ team finishers was Vet40 athlete, Lee Smith. Smith had another good run only a week after placing high in a 20 mile multi-terrain night race in Wales.

The first of the ‘B’ team runners, Jeremy Mower, was not far behind in 67th place. Mower, the clubs ultra distance specialist, always a force to be reckoned with. Mark Ingram finished 77th, and again seems to be getting better with every race. Club vice-captain, Ian Summers, finished next in 93rd place, a good run after several weeks out through illness. Alistair Wakefield finished 121st, looking a little tired on the final lap, but understandable as he had been suffering with a cold. Completing the ‘B’ team finishers were Dave Edwards and Dave Jannetta in 161st and 173rd. Chasing Jannetta home and finishing in 189th place was Paul Loveridge. With 215 athletes in the race, excellent performances all round. In fact after two races, the ‘B’ team also currently sit 2nd in the second string competition.

Club Captain, Dave Gresswell, said “This really now sets the club up for promotion to 1st Division next season, as we still have other strong athletes to add to the team at the next event. Our coaches here at Gloucester should take pride in what our athletes are doing, as all the hard work is starting to pay off”.

29/11/09 Evans scorches around Cotswold 10km

Under 17 athlete Jack Evans produced a strong run at the Cotswold 10km on Sunday, finishing 6th overall and first junior male from a record entry of 138 runners with a time of 41.16 minutes. Evans has been improving steadily on the roads in recent weeks as this run followed on the heels of a good run at the Guy Fawkes 5 in Tewkesbury.

28/11/09 Galligan revels in muddy conditions in Liverpool

Gloucester AC's Irish international Rose-Ann Galligan produced a superb run at the UK Cross Challenge event held in Sefton Park, Liverpool on Saturday. Enjoying the muddy conditions and competing against the best female distance runners in the UK, Galligan finished 18th overall and 5th under 23 to confirm her fitness after a recent warm weather training trip to South Africa. The European Cross Country Champs are being held in Dublin in two weeks time so Galligan is hopeful of selection for the Irish team to compete on home soil.

Also competing in Liverpool was track specialist Adam Thrall, who finished in an excellent 20th place in the under 15 boys race. Thrall has been regaining fitness after missing several months through illness and was pleased to produce a solid run in such a high standard competition.

21/11/09 Gloucestershire Cross Country League

Luke Herbert was the leading Gloucester AC athlete at the second round of the Glos XC League held at Blackbridge in Gloucester on Saturday. Held in poor weather on a course that got progressively worse as the day wore on, Herbert produced an excellent run in 9th place for the host club, to lead them to a solid third place in the team stakes despite missing several key athletes. Herbert was supported by Andy Renfree in 16th position, making his debut on the country in Gloucester colours and track specialist Nico Constanti who took 19th place with a measured run. Tom Meheran had another strong run for 31st place overall and 1st veteran over 50 to cement his place at the top of his age category overall for the season. Dave Gresswell was his usual consistent self with 34th position, being followed home by Jeremy Mower in 43rd spot and a welcome return to form by Mark Ingram in 44th position.

Alistair Wakefield was home in 99th position, ahead of Dave Edwards in 115th place. Dave Spackman celebrated his recent county road race series title in the veteran over 60 category, by taking 1st spot in the same age category and 118th overall. Jason Gresswell made his comeback from fitness with a solid run for 124th position, with Mark Thrall in 144th and Paul Loveridge completing the scoring with 162nd spot.

After a see-saw battle throughout the womens 6.4km race, Lorraine Ryan just managed to take the club honours from Kim Drinkwater, finishing in 17th and 19th positions respectively from a field of 120 runners. Maxine Gray completed the scoring for the first team in 34th position, helping the team to 5th place on the day. Melissa Whitlock continued her rapid improvement with an excellent run for 47th position, just ahead of womens team captain Michelle Stark who finished in 53rd place. Chris Campbell was home in 62nd position, followed close behind by Anne-Marie Edwards in 67th place on her return from injury. Helen Davies was pleased with 92nd place, despite taking a tumble during the race on the tricky terrain and Rachael Hancocks just managed to sneak inside the top 100 on her cross country debut with 98th place. Finishing off an encouraging team performance was Gill Gresswell in 107th position.

In the age group races, pride of place went to Henry Adams in the U11 boys race with 8th position, supported by team-mate Joshua Friday in 30th place. In the under 11 girls, Bryony Goddard-Jones was 12th, with Hannah Meheran finishing just behind in 14th place. Verity Butler was 17th, Kezia Smith celebrated her upcoming birthday with 18th place and Eire Rowlands Evans finished the scoring off with 30th place. In the under 13 girls, Elin Caine was 26th and Becky Summers claimed 10th place in the under 17 girls race. Jack Evans continued his good recent results with 11th position in the under 17 boys race

Gloucestershire County Race Series 2009

Gloucester AC senior mens and womens teams have created history by winning both team titles at the county road race series for 2009, which will be presented at the Civic Offices in Gloucester Docks this evening (Thursday 19th November). Comprising of 12 races over a range of distances and organised by the various clubs in the county, Gloucester AC had too much strength in depth and were convincing winners in both categories.

Leading the way was senior mens individual winner Steve Millward, who won six of the seven races he competed in to wrap up the series title at the final race in Tewkesbury two weeks ago. Luke Herbert produced a strong finish to the season to snatch 3rd place overall at the final race. Dave Gresswell dominated the veteran over 40 category, taking several age group wins to claim his first county series title. Gresswell was backed up by mens road team captain Jeremy Mower who was a clear second in the same age group. These four athletes were supported by Dom Malsom, Lee Smith, Alistair Wakefield and Andy Renfree to make up the victorious team.

Gloucester AC's womens team claimed their maiden county series team title, producing consistently strong performances from a core of talented and upcoming athletes. Gemma Collier claimed second place overall, behind convincing winner Stephanie Lane from Bourton Road Runners, before looking to attempt the steeplechase on the track next summer. Lorraine Ryan took third place overall in the series despite struggling with niggling injuires in the second half of the year. Michelle Stark was the delighted winner of the over 35 category with several maximum 10-point performances and was well supported by Chris Campbell who was third overall in the same category. Completing the team success was Kim Drinkwater, Jane Leckebusch, Maxine Gray and 15 year old Becky Summers.

01/11/09 Guy Fawkes 5 (Tewkesbury)

Gloucester AC's Gemma Turtle was the star performer at the Guy Fawkes 5 mile road race held in Tewkesbury on Sunday, the final race in the county road race series. From a field of almost 400 runners, Turtle finished in a magnificent 8th place overall with a time of 27.36 minutes, just 1 second outside the ladies course record. Steve Millward was satisfied with 2nd place overall despite suffering from a cold, which was enough to wrap up the senior mens county title, the first time a Gloucester athlete has won the title in more than a decade.

Luke Herbert had a superb run to finish 4th overall in a new personal best time of 26.47 minutes, running a sensible pace throughout. Dom Malsom was 13th overall in a time of 28.27 minutes, followed in by veteran over 40 Dave Gresswell who finished 17th overall in 29.34 minutes to confirm his victory in the county series in his age group.

Jeremy Mower claimed 25th spot with a time of 30.11 minutes, with under 17 athlete Jack Evans finishing next for the club in 42nd place overall with 31.18 minutes. Alistair Wakefield claimed a top 50 place with 46th overall in 31.45 minutes, just 6 days after his superb performance at the Dublin Marathon.

Arthur Daley sneaked home in 50th position overall and first male veteran over 60 with a time of 32.06 minutes, as he revels in his new age group category. Nick Cousins was 67th in 32.54 minutes after also performing well at Dublin Marathon the week before. Dave Spackman took 84th spot with a time of 33.42 minutes and was followed in by Gemma Collier who finished 114th with 35.17 minutes to take 2nd senior lady in the year-long county series. Michelle Stark continues her return to form with 143rd place and 36.50 minutes, which confirmed her win in the lady over 35 category in the county series.

Robert James made a rare appearance in a Glouceter vest to finish in 194th position with a time of 39.28 minutes, just beating Helen Davies who dipped under the 40 minute mark with 39.52 minutes for 201st place.

26/10/09 Dublin Marathon

Alistair Wakefield and Nick Cousins were the Gloucester AC representatives at the Dublin Marathon held on Monday, both producing excellent performances. Wakefield was making his debut over the marathon distance but ran very even splits to finish in a time of 3hrs 2m 18 s for 133rd place from an entry of more than 12000 runners. Cousins ran a superb time of 3hrs 8m 29s, despite suffering an injury-interrupted buildup to the race which curtailed his training.

25/10/09 Stroud Half Marathon

Jeremy Mower was the leading Gloucester AC runner at the Stroud Half Marathon on Sunday, claiming 48th place from a field of more than 2000 with 1hr 21m 54s just a day after competing in the cross-country in Birmingham. Dave Gresswell was not far behind after leading Mower for the first 9 miles, finishing in a time of 1hr 24m for 72nd position. Leading lady was Hayley Winters on her debut at the half marathon distance, running a superb race to finish 16th lady in a time of 1hr 34m exactly. Tracking Winters all the way was Maxine Gray who also ran well to finish in 1hr 34m 20s. Melissa Whitlock and Gareth Malsom ran the course together and were absolutely delighted to finish in 1hr 40 m 1s, an encouraging debut run. Terry Onions was his usual consistent self and was just behind in 1hr 40m 23s for 408th place. Chris Campbell ran well to finish in 1hr 49m 37s, only a few weeks after producing a massive personal best at the Nottingham Marathon. Veterans Dave Spackman and Bogdan Jochym were together for most of the race, finishing in 1hr 50m 43s and 1hr.50m 35s respectively. Rachael Hancocks was pleased to finish strongly in 2hrs 3m 1s to end a superb weekend for the club.

25/10/09 Great South Run

Mark Ingram was the sole Gloucester AC runner to compete in the Great South Run 10 mile road race hled in Portsmouth on Sunday. After putting in some solid training in recent weeks, Ingram was pleased to finish in 65 minutes and 2 seconds for 157th place from more than 20000 runners, in spite of the poor weather conditions for the final few miles.

24/10/09 Birmingham XC League 

Peter Kellie was the leading Gloucester AC athlete at the opening fixture of the Birmingham and District Cross Country League at a sunny Senneleys Park, as the club bids to gain promotion to the top flight of the league. Competing in division 2 after narrowly missing out on going up last season, Gloucester AC made a superb start as they finished a clear 2nd on the day behind a powerful Telford AC and backed this up with 2nd in the B team competition.

Kellie produced his best cross country run in several years to claim 6th place in a high calibre field of more than 200 runners, with Steve Millward backing him up with 8th place to put two athletes inside the top ten. Luke Herbert ran well throughout to finish in 12th place with Richard de Camps having a storming run to claim 16th spot and first junior male. Track specialist Nico Constanti answered the call for a strong team with an encouraging run to finish in 32nd place and the first team was completed by cross country captain Dave Gresswell who closed the team scoring with 63rd position.

The B team was led home by Andrew de Camps who found the infamous brook crossing difficult but still ran well to finish 73rd, closely followed by Jeremy Mower who was 80th. The ever dependable Ian Summers was 88th, while Tom Randles made a rare venture onto the mud and was rewarded with 97th place. Andy Hawkins was just behind in 98th position and the B team score was completed by Arthur Daley who was 127th.

Paul Loveridge and Dave Jannetta had a great tussle for supremacy throughout the race, with Loveridge claiming the advantage at the finish after Jannetta had taken a tumble in the brook on the final lap, finishing in 177th and 178th places respectively. John McLean finished off a very successful day for the club with 197th position.

18/10/09 Abingdon Marathon

Gloucester AC's Lee Smith produced a sparkling performance at the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday, running the fastest time by a club member in several years. Smith ran strongly throughout the race to finish in a time of 2 hours 49 minutes 25 seconds, a personal best time by more than 12 minutes. Lorraine Ryan also joined in the success on her debut over the marathon distance, running a time of 3 hours 14 minutes 33 seconds despite having suffered with injury problems in the build-up to the race. This time qualifies Ryan to be on the elite start at next years London Marathon. Jane Leckebusch also achieved a qualifying time for London next year in the over 45 category, running an excellent time of 3 hours 36 minutes and 03 seconds. Leckebusch finished with cuts on both knees after tripping over a kerb at 21 miles, but still managed to finish strongly, as did Anne-Marie Edwards who ran the whole course with her mother and finished in 5 hours 6 minutes and 35 seconds.

10/10/09 Gloucestershire XC League

Gloucester AC's Arthur Daley celebrated his 60th birthday in perfect style on Saturday, by winning his new age category at the first Gloucestershire Cross Country League meeting of the winter at Cotswold Farm Park. Daley, who is also the league organiser, stepped up to the veteran over 60 category and won comfortably, placing 80th overall from more than 160 runners. Tom Meheran also won his age category on his return to Gloucester colours, winning the veteran over 50 section with an outstanding 33rd place overall.

The overall race was won convincingly by Steve Millward, who took his maiden cross country victory in winning by more than 30 seconds. Luke Herbert produced an encouraging run in 5th place to further display his recent return to form and was ably supported by Richard de Camps who took 14th place overall and 2nd Junior Male. Lee Smith claimed 26th place and was closely followed by Dave Gresswell in 28th position. Jeremy Mower closed the scoring for the mens A team in 41st spot, resulting in Gloucester finishing 2nd team behind a strong Cheltenham Harriers team.

Alistair Wakefield led the B team home in 45th place with Mark Ingram finishing in 51st spot. Mark Thrall claimed 124th position and was supported by Paul Loveridge in 133rd and Dave Jannetta in 139th place, which resulted in Gloucester having the 1st B Team. Veteran over 60s John Maclean and Chris O’Carroll completed a very satisfying day for the club in 149th and 159th places respectively.

In the age group races, pride of place went to 8-year-old Bryony Goddard-Jones who finished 2nd in the under 11 girls race with an outstanding run. Despite running against girls up to 2 years older, Goddard-Jones was always with the leaders and only lost out in a sprint finish. Hannah Meheran ran well to finish 14th and Chloe Jones completed the team scoring in 28th place, which resulted in the team claiming 4th place. In the under 11 boys, Joshua Friday also ran well to finish in 39th position in a highly competitive race, proving that the new under 10's training group led by coach Jeremy Mower is already starting to show its promise.

In the under 15 girls, Sam Roberts ran strongly to claim 3rd place before dashing off to an afternoon hockey match, a result which was equalled by Adam Thrall in the under 15 boys race with another confident run. Hannah Jones was pleased with 15th place in the under 13 girls race and was supported by newcomer Elin Caine who finished an encouraging 23rd on her cross-country debut.

In the under 17 girls, Becky Summers produced her customary good form to take 4th place, making the most of her recent steeplechase training to negotiate the various obstacles on the course. Jack Evans and Charlie Simmonds were the Gloucester representatives in the under 17 mens race, taking 9th and 19th places respectively.

Gloucester AC Ladies team put in an excellent all-round performance at the opening fixture of the Gloucestershire Cross Country League on Saturday. Leading the way was new signing Emma Gooderham, an ultra-distance specialist who ran superbly well to take 4th place overall from a field of more than 100 runners. Kim Drinkwater produced her best ever run in a cross-country race to claim 19th spot overall, with Maxine Gray completing the scoring for the A team by finishing 22nd, which resulted in the team placing 2nd. Gemma Collier found the going tough but still produced a strong run to finish 29th and lead the B team to 1st place in their category. Cross-country captain Michelle Stark continued her comeback to form with 43rd place, closely followed by Melissa Whitlock who ran very well on her cross-country debut to finish just behind in 44th spot. Helen Davies completed an encouraging day for the ladies team with 73rd place.

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