Normally a road and cross-country runner, Aspinall competed in the 800 metres, recording a time of 2mins 36.0, 5000 metres (19min 36.0) and the 3000m steeplechase (15min 03.0).
Afterwards, Aspinall said “Three races in one day was mentally and physically tiring for someone like me who is used to just one race every few days, but it was great fun!”
Gloucester Athletic Club’s youngsters competed in the final McCain’s Young Athletes League fixture of the season at Radley on Sunday.
Team manager Garry Hunter has worked tirelessly in encouraging the Club’s younger members to compete more this year and they have responded well, producing a staggering total of over 100 personal best performances and three club age group records throughout the league season.
Sunday’s performance again highlighted the improvements the youngsters have made by competing more regularly and whilst there were many performances of note, the stand-out result was the U15G 4 x 100m where the city quartet of Kelly Constable, Dayne Willoughby, Jenny Hayward and Catharine Hardy reduced the six year-old club record by over half a second.
Gloucester Details:
Hayley Ralley - 70mH 2nd - 14.2s pb. 75m 5th - 11.9s. 150m 3rd - 23.3 pb.
Chloe Jones - 70mH 5th - 15.6 pb. LJ 3rd - 3.47m pb. SP 2nd - 6.33m pb.
Joanna Gresty - 800m 2nd - 3.02:8
Shya Pinnock - 75m 1st - 10.3s. 150m 1st - 20.3s pb
U15G
Catherine Hardy - 100m 3rd - 13.2s. HJ 2nd - 1.40m
Kelly Constable - 100m 2nd - 13.1. 200m 2nd - 26.6 pb
Dayna Willoughby - 200m 3rd - 26.8 pb
Jenny Hayward - 75mH 3rd - 15.1s. LJ 5th 3.53m. 800m 3rd - 3.15.0 pb
Hannah Jones - 1500m 2nd - 5.47:1. JV 4th - 13.30m.
Cerys Bradley - 800m 4th - 2.59:8 pb. HJ 4th - 1.05m
Lucy Humphreys - SP 2nd - 8.61m pb. DT 2nd - 17.97m pb.
Ellen Thrall - SP 3rd - 6.86m. DT 1st - 18.56m pb. JV 3rd 13.86m
4x100m relay (K Constable, D Willoughby, J Hayward, C Hardy) 1st 52.4 Club rec.
U17Ladies
Harriet Hunter - 80mH 1st - 12.8s pb. LJ 1st 5.01m pb. TJ 2nd 10.19m
Kate Davies - 80mH 2nd 13.7s pb. LJ 2nd 4.74m. SP 2nd 7.39m
Katharine Chadwick - HJ 2nd 1.50m. DT 3rd - 19.33m pb.
Lurenda Mudd - 100m 1st 27.0s. 200m 1st - 13.0s
Danni Mulraney - 300m 1st - 47.8s. SP 4th - 5.17m pb.
Gloucester Athletic Club members were in medal-winning form at the Midlands senior and U20 championships at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium at the weekend.
There were high hopes in the senior men’s 800metres as the Club’s trio of Andrew and Richard de-Camps and Nico Constanti had all shown they were rounding into good form at the right time with recent impressive performances. And so it proved as all three comfortably progressed from their heats to Sunday’s final.
The final itself was a slow-run affair with the elder de-Camps, Andrew, always to the fore. When the pace did pick up, he held off the fast finishing Thomas Gayle of City of Stoke AC to win his first senior outdoors title in 2 minutes 00.33 to Gayle’s 2mins 00.44 seconds. Constanti finished 7th in 2:01.91 and Richard de-Camps 8th in 2:04.61.
Afterwards, the victorious de-Camps said: “The time doesn’t matter when it comes to championships, it’s all about the racing and I’m really pleased to finally win this title. I knew I was in good form going into the event having set a personal best at Watford last week and I’m now looking to run under 1 minute 50 seconds.”
Following his surprise bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at last month’s Inter-Counties Championships, Steve Millward was hoping to make a successful defence of the Midlands title he won last year and he did not disappoint as he ran a season’s best 9mins 37.55 seconds to take the gold medal.
In the ladies 2000m steeplechase final, Gemma Collier and Becky Summers both made their championship debut at this event and came home in 4th and 5th place respectively.
In the field events, Gareth Winter continued his winning streak in the shot putt, taking the U20 gold medal with 16.47 metres. He backed this up with a silver medal in the U20 discus with a throw of 50.26m.
The second of this year’s White Horse 5km road races in Sandhurst on Thursday saw Gloucester Athletic Club assemble one of its largest teams for several years when 15 members toed the start line.
The Sandhurst 5km course is generally recognised as one of the fastest in the county but the windy conditions put paid to any targeted improvements that the club’s leading runners had set themselves nevertheless, there were many performances of note.
Tom Randles was the first city runner home. In his first 5km road race of the year, Randles finished just outside the top 10 in 11th place with a time of 16 minutes 55 seconds.
Dave Gresswell was the next runner home, in 16th place. He had been aiming for a sub-17 minute clocking, but the conditions put paid to that as he finished narrowly outside with 17:03. Simon Fortnam was just behind, in 17th place in 17:26, whilst ultra-distance specialist Jeremy Mower dropped down in distance to record 18:05 in 23rd place.
Steven Haines produced possibly the performance of the evening, reducing his personal best time for the distance to 18:14. Coach Arthur Daley said “Steven’s still new to racing, so we have been experimenting with various tactics in recent races to broaden his racing knowledge. He’s making great strides and is showing promise for next winter’s cross-country season.”
Daley had been involved in a cat-and-mouse tussle with Matt Powell during the race and it was Powell who showed the greater strength over the latter stages to pull away and record a personal best time of 18:42 in 30th place. Daley finished with 18:52.
There then followed a cluster of red and white-vested runners as Ian Summers (37th, 19:06), Omar Alim (39th, 19:17), Matt Drinkwater (40th, 19:17) and Mark Thrall (42nd, 19:28) crossed the line in a flurry. Drinkwater and Thrall both set personal bests in the process.
Leigh Nelmes finished in 52nd place with 20:30, Paul Loveridge 64th in 21:20 and John McClean placed 69th in 21:44.
Michelle Stark took 2nd place in the L35 category and 73rd overall in 22:06.
James Ferguson of Gloucester Run England, another runner advised by Daley and running his first 5km race since starting
Gloucester Athletic Club’s Andrew de-Camps produced an outstanding performance at the British Miler's Club Elite International meeting at Watford on Saturday. Running in the 6th heat of the 800m, de-Camps lowered his personal best by almost a second, recording a time of 1:50.95 to move second on the Gloucester all-time list.
After the race, de-Camps, usually known for his tactical nous, said "Although the time is pleasing at this stage of the season, I ran far from a perfect race. I was clipped 3 times, so would hope to run quicker in the coming weeks.”
De Camps now turns his attentions to this weekend’s Midlands Championships where he will go into the 800m as one of the favourites. Interestingly, for the first time, he will go head to head in a senior competition against his brother Richard and their training partner Nico Constanti.
Gloucester’s Rose-Anne Galligan recorded a season’s best 2:04.87 when finishing seventh in the headline women’s 800m race.
Harry Wells - 1500m 4th - 5.32:4
U15B
Laurence Leat - 100m 1st 12.1s. 200m - 2nd - 25.1s pb. SP 1st - 9.81m
Luke Stephens - 100m 4th 13.4s. 1500m 2nd - 5.28:5. SP 3rd - 6.88m pb
Dominic Tutton - 800m 2nd - 2.14:1. 400m 1st - 59.6. LJ 3rd - 4.27 pb.
Joe Beckett - JV 5th - 10.16m. LJ 5th - 3.50m pb. DT 2nd - 15.72m pb.
U17Men
Tom Beckett - LJ 5th - 4.16m. TJ 5th - 10.29m pb. JV 3rd - 24.04m pb.
Tom George - 1500m 3rd - 4.51:6. 3000m 1st 9.36:2 pb.
Alex George - 1500m 2nd - 4.46:9. 3000m 3rd - 9.39:3 pb. 800m 2nd 2.16:8pb
Ollie Clarke - 100m 4th - 12.3s pb.
Harrison Sayer - 100m - 1st 11.7s. 200m 3rd - 23.9s.TJ 4th - 11.33m
Josh Jakeway - 200m 5th - 26.7s. LJ 4th - 4.27m02/06/11 Four Mile Fitness Run (Pilot Inn)
Gloucester Athletic Club members were out in force for the second of this summer’s Severn AC-organised Lloyds-TSB Four Mile Fitness Runs, at Hardwicke last Thursday.
The run attracted a field of over 130 starters and saw Gloucester runners Matt Aspinal, Matt Powell and Steven Haines leading at the one mile stage, which was reached in a brisk 5 minutes 40.
Haines took the race by the scruff of the neck after one and a half miles and maintained his lead to compete the course in 24:06, a personal best for the distance.
Aspinal and Powell both suffered from the fast early pace as they faded over the final mile, giving way to V60 Arthur Daley who finished 4th in 24:39. Powell was next Gloucester man home in 6th place with 24:57, with Aspinal, who had run three track races for the Army on the previous day, finishing in 11th place in 25:52.
Matt Drinkwater finished in 17th place with a 26:31 clocking whilst Michelle Stark was the first lady to finish with 27:18.
Paul Loveridge ran 28:51 for 29th place whilst Humphrey Phillips, running in his first road race for several years placed 31st in 28:59. Helen Davies ran her first race since April’s London Marathon and finished 33rd overall and 4th lady with a time of 29:06.
New club signing Ryan Price set a standard of 31:31 in 53rd place, his first attempt at the distance.
04/06/11 Midland League Div.2 (Yate)
The Gloucester/Severn AC composite track and field team produced another impressive display to win the ‘Up and Running’ Midland League Division Two match at Yate on Saturday.
With two of the four matches now gone, the city team leads the division by two points from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC and is in a strong position to win promotion to the top division.
The city team combined a blend of youth and experience with quality and commitment as they stormed to victory by nearly 30 match points over their illustrious rivals.
This team victory was built around another strong performance by the Gloucester ladies and dominance of the middle distance and throwing events by the men.
Leading the way was GB Junior international Gareth Winter who continued his remarkable season by setting new personal bests and club records when winning the shot putt (15.40m) and discus (49.15m), the latter beating the old club record that had stood since 1970. Winter was not the only thrower to shine as Tim Williams set a new personal best in winning the men’s hammer with further victories being recorded by team captain Justin Sysum in the ‘B’ shot and hammer and Beverley Jones (ladies ‘B’ shot putt) and Kate Yhnell and Anna Robertson in the ladies ‘A’ and ‘B’ hammer.
The men’s middle distance runners also impressed, with double victories being recorded by Nico Constanti, Ben Coldray and Richard de Camps, whose elder brother, Andrew, also won the 400m.
The ladies team welcomed back Ireland international Rose-Anne Galligan who took a second place in the 200m ‘A’ race before storming to victory in the 400m. A host of second and third placings ensured the ladies achieved their highest-ever placing in their category, making a huge contribution to the overall team score.
Team captain Justin Sysum, who had another busy day, said afterwards “This was another great team effort. We’ve brought in many youngsters this summer and they are all adapting well to senior athletics. We’re very pleased with them.”
12/06/11 Avon League (Yate)
Like many sporting events on Sunday, the first Avon Athletics League match at Yate fell foul of the weather and was abandoned before fewer than half of the events could be completed.
However, several Gloucester Athletic Club members still had time to record some encouraging performances before the rain set in.
There were a host of personal bests in the hurdles races. In the senior men’s 110m event, Sean Beckett set a new personal best time of 21.8 seconds when securing 2nd place. Harriet Hunter reduced her best time by 0.7 seconds when taking 2nd place in the U17 ladies 80m and Mason Tonks, in his club debut, went one better to win the U15 boys 80m.
There was a double first in the senior and veterans men’s 3000 metres events from Steve Millward and Dave Gresswell respectively, whilst the George twins Alex and Tom took second and third places in the U17 men’s category.
In the ladies hammer, the City club took a clean sweep as Kate Yhnell, Beth Sewell and Anna Robertson filled the first three places, with Welsh Veterans hammer champion Marion Loveridge taking 5th place.
18/06/11 Humph's Hilly Half (Bourton on the Water)
Gloucester Athletic Club members were in action at the recent Bourton “Hilly Half” which forms part of the County Road Race Series. As the name suggests, this is not a course where runners go for a fast time but for a testing challenge around the Cotswolds village.
David Gresswell was the first Gloucester club runner home, in 7th place. His time of 1hr 21mins 24secs earned him the V45 prize and a maximum 10 points in the County series to increase his lead after four races.
Two and a half minutes behind was Jeremy Mower, in 13th place. Mower’s time of 1:23:52 was the fastest he has run on the course in six attempts and earned him 9 points in the V45 category.
Next home was Michelle Stark, whose time of 1:44:23 gained her the L35 prize and a maximum 10 points towards her County total.
One of the club’s most prolific runners, Terry Onions, was next club runner to finish, in 1:45:15, with Christine Campbell completing the Gloucester representation in 1:50:24, gaining maximum County series points in the process.
Details:
7th Dave Gresswell 1 hr 21 mins 24 secs
13th Jeremy Mower 1 hr 23 mins 52 secs
96th Michelle Stark 1 hr 44 mins 23 secs
102nd Terry Onions 1 hr 45 mins 15 secs
131st Christine Campbell 1 hr 50 mins 24 secs
Gloucester Athletic Club took the mixed team prize in the Cotswold Way Relay at the weekend.
Now in its 19th year, the race is run over the full Cotswold Way route from Chipping Campden in the north, to Bath Abbey in the south – a distance of 103 miles divided into 10 legs of varying length and ascent – and this year attracted a total of 74 teams.
From the start, the Gloucester mixed team became involved in a race-long battle with Bristol-based Bitton Road Runners mixed team, before pulling clear over the final stages to win their category by 21 minutes and finish 5th team overall, in 13hrs 11:56.
The Gloucester men-only ‘B’ team finished 17th overall and 9th men’s team in 14hrs 25:47.
Gloucester ‘A’:
Lucie Woodyatt 1hr 34:51 (fastest lady on leg 1)
Steve Millward 1hr 21:16 (2nd fastest time ever recorded for leg 2)
Anne-Marie Edwards 1hr 18:59
Tom Randles 1hr 31:42
Ian Summers 1hr 26:54
Gemma Collier 1hr 20:56
Dave Gresswell 52:29
Wayne Mayer 1hr 29:42
Richard Moor 1hr 09:40
Luke Herbert 1hr 05:27Gloucester ‘B’:
Matt Powell 1hr 33:51
Alex Toseland 2hr 09:51
Omar Alim 1hr 05:09
Arron Newell 1hr 59:10
James Rose 1hr 17:53
Mark Thrall 1hr 14:06
Dom Malsom 56:00
Don MacDonald 1hr 36:56
Matt Wade 1hr 12:12
Merlin Tolley 1hr 20:39
Kate Davies, Gloucester Athletic Club’s top junior multi-event athlete took silver medal in the south-West Schools heptathlon in Exeter at the weekend, setting a new Gloucester club record in the process. Davies set no fewer than six personal bests in the seven-event competition and her overall total of 4014 points places her 4th in this year’s U17 UK ranking list.
Despite setting a new personal best in the opening 100m hurdles event, Davies found herself in 10th place in the competition. She improved to 5th place after the high jump, in which she set another personal best of 1.54m. Another personal best, in the shot putt (8.33m), saw her slip down to 7th place but a gutsy performance in the 200m saw her finish the first day in 4th place with 2390 points, 244 behind the leader, Jordanna Morrish from Cornwall.
Day Two opened with a solid long jump which saw Davies hold her place, before she recorded the longest javelin throw of the competition to move up to 3rd place. She finished with another personal best in the 800metres to finish 2nd overall with 4014 points.
Gareth Winter of Gloucester Athletic Club won silver and bronze medals at the Aviva UK U20s and U23s Championships at Bedford at the weekend.
Competing in the U20s shot putt, Winter threw 16.47m for 2nd place and then threw the discus 52.03m for 3rd place.
Training partners Tim Williams and Mike Tommey were also in action. Williams finished just out of the medals in the U20s hammer, placing 4th with a throw of 62.60m, whilst Tommey finished 6th in the U23 hammer, throwing the heavier 7.26kg weight 49.90m.