Blimey – What a week!

Written by David Jones on 19/05/2022. Posted in News

We Are The Champions – Again.

The results from last weekend’s Warwickshire County T&F Championships, showing that the club retained the Warwick Vase for the 6th successive year. A remarkable achievement, as recognised by the quote below from Ray Morgan of WCAA

“Please find attached a summary of the points awarded to the competitors in the Warwickshire County Track and Field Championships which are used to award the Warwick Vase

Congratulations to Stratford Upon Avon AC for retaining the trophy and continuing a remarkable run.“

There is also the following quote from Paul Bearman

I can’t tell you how proud I am ….and I know Paul Hawkins will be too as he enjoys a well-deserved holiday…that we have retained the Warwick Vase for the 6^th year. As Ray Morgan from WCAA says a “remarkable run”.

Birchfield as expected trounced everyone in the seniors our strength is in the number of athletes we get to compete and great all-round performances across the age groups, especially in the U13s and U15s.

The old adage that every point counts and the fact that we were also missing at least a dozen of our U17/20s makes the victory all the sweeter.

Great job and now it’s onwards and upwards for the rest of the summer.”

A full report on the Championships with more photos will follow, hopefully next week.

A few of the 90+ club members who were part of our Warwick Vase winning team at the weekend.

More photos together with a full report next week.

The Hilly 100 team photo.

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Blimey, that will teach me to take a week’s holiday.

Haven’t you been a busy lot?

With close to 100 members competing for us at the Warwickshire County T&F Championships, where we won the prestigious Warwick Vase for the 6th successive time, yes the 6th successive time, there were then 40 members competing in The Hilly 100 plus lots and lots of support crew, family members and club mates. Our men’s team came 2nd to Kenilworth by just 4 minutes 12 seconds, that’s barely 2.5 seconds per mile over 100 miles.

There’s a few catch up reports due to my absence, on GB duathlete Fern Hordern’s superb performance at the Duathlon Middle Distance World Championships in Denmark, Beck’s Pridham’s amazing 50k Ultra in Scotland, the recent Heart of England Division 1 fixture. Lots of triathlon news courtesy of Simon Taylor, a belated report on Walton Hall 10k plus Phil Brennan’s report on the BMAF 10000m Championships.

Phew !

There’s also an advert for the important position of club Press Secretary. Please give it some thought. It really isn’t that difficult and it does raise the club’s profile plus you know it’s always nice to see your name in the paper!

Take care

Best Wishes

David Jones

Ready for the off at 5am !

Hilly 100

Report – Hannah Osborne.

Sunday 15th May saw the club compete in the ever popular Cotswold Hilly 100 Race. This is an event not to be missed!

This year saw 36 teams competing in the event, with 4 from Stratford, a Mens A Team and 3 Mixed Teams. The Mixed Teams set off at 5am in a deserted town centre as the rain was coming down. This early start allows more time to get round the route. The more competitive Teams set off at 6 or 7am.

7am saw the Stratford Men’s team set off and 1st to run was Alex Adams who set the team up with an outstanding 1st leg run through Welford to hand over at 10 miles in 54:53 to Ben Kruze. Ben again ran a race that showed the quality athlete he is by running 10 miles with over 1,000 ft of climbing in 54 minutes 39 secs and 14 minutes ahead of 2nd place.

The race continued for the men’s teams as Kenilworth pushed on and showed the strength of runners they have when they eventually took the lead, with it passing back and forth between the 2 clubs a few times.

The support shown from club mates after they’d finished was and is such a huge part of the spirit of the day.

Alex Adams commented on the day, “Great experience for my first Hilly 100 and what a team to do it with. Great support and brilliant performance all round. Absolutely loved it and will be back to get revenge on Kenilworth next year”

The mixed teams saw the many new runners to the Athletics club step up and take on the challenge of a leg, all supported by other club members and family. With lots of friendly rivalry in the different teams and legs thrown in.

So many moments from the day but a few here….

Beverley Bridgen coming in to finish her leg and the next runner not there, support telling her she’s just a bit further on and Bev running on (not realizing she’d finished the distance!).

Karl Harris seeing snow on the top of the hill he was about to climb!

Wild poo’s?! Plenty of them…I’ll say no more.

Trains that cross the road you’re on, when you’re on it….poor Adam Linforth in the lead had to stop and do some train watching, or maybe he welcomed the breather.

Richard Dobedoe & Nick Cooper missing the turn ½ mile from handover and running an extra kilometre. I’ve still not found out who led who the wrong way.

Meeting new club member Dean Hands at a handover leg – knew who he was because in the club vest….but he hadn’t had the memo about which way round it went! Karl Harris soon told him (sorry Dean!)

Kim Lee decided running 1 leg of the race wasn’t enough of a challenge so continued on for another leg keeping Kate Sergent (who was ‘shaking her ass’) company.

The finish at the sports club saw runners and club mates gather together to support their final runner and get together as a team, comparing notes on legs and enjoying a burger & pint.

Pip Bell commented on the day: “As I have only been a member of SAC for about 9 months I had only vaguely heard about the Hilly 100. It sounded like a very daunting event and the word “Hilly” in the name was enough to make me think I should wait a couple of years before trying it out. However I took the plunge and decided to give it a go this year. I loved every hilly minute of it!! The support from SAC, other clubs, fellow team members and our support crew was amazing!! I definitely feel a part of this amazing club now and I will wear my Hilly 100 T-shirt with pride!! A big shout out all of the support crews who made the event so much easier! I’m still buzzing from it and hope others will try it in 2023.”

The Men’s Race was won by Kenilworth Runners in 10:15:29, with Stratford AC coming 2nd in 10:19:41. The Ladies Race was won by Spa Striders in 12.35.96, with Northbrook winning the Mixed Team in 11.18.10.

A big thank you to everyone who was involved in the day – from runners, support crew, family members, club mates and Tony Jackson for putting on the event, you all made it another memorable day.

Press Secretary

The Club is urgently looking for someone to become Press Secretary.

This is a key role for the Club, as it gives us the opportunity to share our achievements with a wider audience and also the general public.

Many of you will have previously been featured in our local newspapers and that has been a really useful way to raise the Club’s profile and to attract new members also.

The role involves collating results from local or national races where our athletes have participated and writing a succinct and punchy report for publication in the Herald and/or Observer.

It applies across all age groups and disciplines that the Club covers.

Frequently athletes or coaches will write race reports for inclusion in our weekly newsletter and sometimes these can be edited for press publication.

Photos are also needed to add further interest.

There is an established line of contact and process with the two local papers, with copy required by Tuesday mornings.

You’d be part of the club’s Comms group, which looks at all communication and engagement with members, coaches, parents and officials plus externally across a variety of platforms.

It will typically involve no more than 1 or 2 hours work a week, primarily on Sunday and Monday.

If you are interested, please contact comms@stratfordsport.ac.uk with the email subject Press Secretary, or have a chat with Louise Stewart, Paul Hawkins or David Jones.

Club member and GB duathlete Fern Hordern

Duathlon Middle Distance World Championships 2022 – Viborg, Denmark (Powerman)

Report – Fern Hordern

On Saturday 7th May I competed in the Middle Distance Duathlon World Championships which entails a 10km run, a 60km bike followed by a 10km run.

I had actually qualified for this race in 2019 and had entered the race for 2020 when, of course, lockdown changed everything.

The race was subsequently postponed 3 times and eventually took place on 7th may.

On race day, the weather was cool and windy and the course was varied with hills and sections of cobbles.

My age group (50-54 years) was very competitive, so I set off at my own race plan and ignored the jostling further ahead!

I had a reasonably drama-free time and finished 6th in my age group behind some very experienced long distance racers.

This was only my second time at this distance, so I was pleased overall to have come away with plenty to build on for the future.

I suspect there may have been times when the smile slipped from Becks Pridham’s face during her 50k Ultra north of the border but knowing her it wouldn’t have been for long.

Hospital bed to ultra: Six month plan.

Report – Becks Pridham

By now several of you will have known that I completed a 50km ultra in Scotland recently. It wasn’t quick (around 08:09 moving time with plenty of stops bringing my time to 08:45), it wasn’t pretty (not showing many photos), but I did it. What made it even more of a milestone to me was that six months ago, almost to the day, I was recovering from abdominal surgery which took place on 9 November.

Oh, I hadn’t even done a marathon prior to doing this race.

I started a new full time role at ACCA in May 2021 and in October, a few of us ‘known to run’ types were asked if we fancied doing an ultra. I was especially hesitant given I knew my impending operation on 9November. However, I signed up, as that is exactly the sort of thing I would do (just how hard can it be?!).

Mid December, I wasn’t allowed to run yet, my fitness was non-existent (even Strava seemed to have given up on me, and the Garmin watch not worn for weeks!). However, determination to finish and not to embarrass myself in front of my colleagues was the aim. Plus, I am pretty stubborn (some would say ‘bl**dyminded’).

Close to Christmas, I was allowed to start some gentle jogs and I even managed 2 miles on Christmas day. I started weight training twice a week to rediscover a non-existent core (thanks James Purdy for help on that one!) and set out to clock in short, regular, gentle runs.

Anyway, onto the ultra…

Ultra X 50k runs up from Fort Augustus to Inverness, along the eastern edge of Loch Ness. The terrain was probably the most varied I have ever come across: road, gravel, dried track, screed, mud, bog (really! It’s like a soggy green carpet that sort of burps at you as you run over it), root strewn forest floors and loose stones.

The scenery was amazing, the weather was incredible, it was sunny with a cool breeze but warm enough to be pleasant. Being my first ultra (and, rather efficiently, also my first marathon), I was unsure what to expect, but one of the best things was the camaraderie between competitors, often you would see the same people and it was lovely to have those brief intervals of human contact when running along. I ended up running solo for the majority of my run, which I was actually fine with as it is important to ‘run your own race’ (thanks Louise S and Emma B for that) and not try to keep up/run too slow to be with someone else. Our team had made this agreement prior to the race, so that did help when we started to spread out.

It wasn’t easy. The terrain went tough and very technical around 16 miles, with the legs feeling it from around 21 miles. The self doubt and wobbles hit at 4 miles to go, but after a strong ‘talking to’, I was adamant that I would be crossing that finish line. Hannah and Drew both texted me messages of support, and one of Drew’s messages reached me just as I really needed it ‘You’re doing great! Final push now” spurred me onwards. I was definitely going to cross that line!

The last mile was possibly the worst designed ever. It was down a very steep switchback track path, no wider than 1.5 metres with loose pebbles, you then found the road and then ran around a field to get to the finish line. I could see the inflatable blue marker and thought ‘it’s facing the wrong way’ and then ‘I have to run AROUND the field? [insert rude words]’

I crossed that line, legs aching, hungry, emotional, relieved, amazed that I did it. All of our group finished and the first thing we wanted when we got back to the accommodation? A cup of tea (then the cava!)

Scarlett Dawson

Martina Grace

Jake Richardson

Caitlin Boyle

James Day

Heart of England League Division 1

Report – Paul Bearman & Mike Sheppard

Over 60 Stratford AC junior athletes made the short trip to Coventry in the first Heart of England Division 1 league match since 2019.The top division is very competitive but despite gaps in the Stratford team sheets, causing a drop in valuable points, a superb combined effort right throughout the various age groups saw the team finish second behind a very strong Rugby & Northampton AC team.

Mike Sheppard, the under 15 team manager commented “it was disappointing that that we couldn’t fill all of the events with athletes unavailable for various reasons but the upside was that it opened up opportunities for others and we saw some excellent individual performances with loads of PB’s set.

Particularly pleasing was seeing the middle distance athletes performing so strongly and new faces on their league debut, combining with established performers and all doing their bit, sometimes competing in unfamiliar events for the team, to secure a very strong second place”.

He added “this is a tough division against 7 other big and very well organised clubs but we picked up good points across the team and it also shows the terrific spirit we have in the club. With every point counting we are also very grateful for our Officials also doing their bit to add points to the team score”.

The Stratford team of the day were undoubtedly the U17/20 females with Maisie Joy Spriggs, Maddie Linfoot, Olivia Robinson, Niamh Hillard, Tilly Campbell, Lucy Lane, Megan Thomas, Caitlin Boyle, Holly Newton and Issy Newton completely dominating their age group.

High jumpers Lucy Lane (1.60) and Caitlin Boyle (1.45) won the A&B events respectively with Lucy jumping just below her PB and Caitlin jumping 10cm over her previous PB.

The U15 girls team has a good blend of talent from right across the events and they finished second in their age group behind R&N with Laura Talowska, Eloise Collins-Bliss, Tessa Parkin, Charlotte Skinner, Nikki Wodzisz, Ella Smith, Ella Peeke, Annie Silvers, Ruby Edwards all making a positive impact in all their events.

Perhaps the stand out performances came from Martina Grace in the 1500m (5.21.76) who led from gun to tape. In the B race newcomer Charlotte Skinner (6.05.89) showed the strength in depth in the clubs middle distance group with a second place.

Not to be outdone in the field events Nikki Wodzisz won the Shot with 7.94m and in an unfamiliar event for Tessa Parkin (6.10m) she was second in the B event.

The U13 girls team of Ava Sheppard, Holly Clifford, Lois Ford, Luiza Talowska, Marijke Tear-Verweij, Martha Silvers, Rachel Sparrow, Scarlett Dawson and Stella Sant contained many athletes who had just moved up from the U11s and in a strong all round performance only 2 points separated the girls and R&N with the latter just coming out on top.

Marijke Tear-Verweij (5.34.09) and Rachel Sparrow (6.26.42) were 2 more middle distance runners who helped pile up the points with a win in the A race for Marijke and 2^nd in the B race for Rachel.

Arguably the individual performance across all the age groups came from Scarlett Dawson in her first year as an U13 with a hat trick of wins in the 100m (13.7s), the 200m (28.5s) and the Long Jump (4.13). Her times in the sprints propelled her in to the top 20 in the UK rankings.

The cumulative points scored across the three girls age groups meant that Stratford finished 35 points ahead of R&N….an impressive performance across the team.

In the U13 boys a spirited team performance by Sam Plumb, Aran Cooper, Joel Ledgard, Arthur Mansbridge, Will Howell, Max Hutchings and Alex Wood meant they too finished second in their age group.

Combining track and field events at a young age is the club’s philosophy and this was epitomised the all-round effort by 3 more specialist middle distance runners with a gritty gun to tape run by Aran Cooper in the 1500m (5.05.76) and 2^nd in the High Jump (1.25). He was backed up by Sam Plumb’s 5^th place in the A 800m (2.39.35) and 2^nd in the B High Jump (1.15). Joel Ledgard had a busy afternoon finishing first in the B 800m (2.32.75), 5^th in the 200m (30.22) and 2^nd in the B Long Jump (3.98m).

Thirteen athletes made up to U15 boys team; Alex McMillan, James Day, Josh Harrison, Keenan Stratford, Luca De Freitas Pires, Lucas Welzel, Sam Lambert, Sam McKenzie, Seb Hillard, Will Marriot, William Mayes, Zak Lambert and Jake Richardson.

Jake Richardson (1.50) and Lucas Welzel (1.35) impressed when making their debuts in the High Jump as did Seb Hillard in the 80m Hurdles, knocking .5 of a second off his hurdles PB with 13.2 s. He also threw another PB of over 5 metres in the javelin with Alex McMillan winning the B event with a throw of 27.25m.

The U17/20 male age group is very tough with the SUAAC team suffering from the unavailability of some of the key U17 athletes. Some stalwart U20s Ben Stockhill, Caleb Spriggs, Ned Campbell and Taylor Stubbins were drafted in from the middle distance group and coupled with U17s Utkarsh Rawat, Alex Adams and Otis Tustin the team put up a very good show in their respective event, but with only 50% of the events that could be covered it was always going to be hard going and so with only Otis Tustin available to compete in the field events the team finished in 5^th place.

Even with a depleted U17/20 team the cumulative points scored across the three male age groups meant that Stratford finished behind the dominant R&N team.

Full results

https://hofe-league.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Division-1-2022-Match-1-Results-by-Age.pdf

https://hofe-league.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Division-1-2022-Match1-Results-Summary.pdf

Triathlon News.

Charly Marshall

Camilla Creswell

James Purdy and John Devine

Stratford Triathlon

Report – Simon Taylor

A number of SAC triathletes finally emerged blinking into the sun to race for the first time since last season at the recent Stratford Triathlon. The triathlon attracted over 800 athletes, racing in near perfect conditions.

Pride of place goes to the women athletes as SAC athletes finished first! Charly Marshall won the women’s race overall in a stunning time of 58.30. She looked fantastic throughout and strength gained racing cross country in the winter showed as she completed the run in well under 20 mins.

Camilla Cresswell followed Charly home in 11th place and 1st in her age group. In her 3 triathlons Camilla has competed in since she started in 2021, she has placed 1st, 3rd and 1st! Not bad going! Camilla promises a massive year in 2022 as she continues to train hard and seek GB age group qualification.

Caroline Gionis never has a bad race! Despite a few injury problems (and an ongoing bad back), Caroline stormed around in 20th place and also 1st in her age group!

The men also performed well, with John Devine showing that he has wintered well, encouraged by Hannah Osborne throughout the race, to finish in 1.01.27. John was chuffed with his performance and is looking forward to racing more this summer and showing his class!

James Purdy also showed that he has wintered well, coming in shortly after John in a time of 1.02.47. James heads to the Eastbourne Triathlon in a few weeks, in an aim to qualify for the GB Age Group team and he should be buoyed by a performance that should give him ghuge confidence.

Dan Hutchings, competing in his first triathlon since TV’s were black and white, overcame the surprise of some dodgy character jumping out of a bush on the Tiddington Road (me – long story), to finish in 1.04.46.

Two of the old lags of SAC Triathlon community had a great race with each other, with Karl overcoming Paul on the run. Both Paul Nash and Karl – finally finding the joys of Lycra – Harris racing to great times. Paul’s swim and bike times had him well up the rankings, but struggled on the run (no one jumped out of a bush at him, so no excuse there!). Karl’s time was 1.15.09 and Paul’s time 1.20.56.

Finally, the Three Amigos put racing rivalry behind them and competed as a relay team. A hasty change of order (as a result of Ricky’s winter diet (or lack of!), he sat on his bike during the week and broke it). This led to Ricky having to do the swim, Neil the bike and Mark finished it off with the run. Their overall time was 1.03.11 which, strangely, is slower than they have each done as individuals. Work that one out!

Just to show that Triathlon is a sport for any age and it’s never too late to start, Judith Mackay from Birmingham completed the race. She is 85! There are no excuses!

John Devine

My Stratford Tri

John Devine

I hadn’t entered the Stratford Triathlon event this year but due to a friend’s injury a few weeks before, I got their place. With two weeks focused training sessions I managed to take nine minutes off my previous time from 2019, finishing in 34th place in a time of 1:01:27.

The hard work, dedication and training plan working a treat! I feel like in the next year I can improve a little on the swim and a lot more on the running.

It was great to see other SAC athletes racing and have the supporters out there too. Here’s to a great year ahead!

Kate Wright.
Kate’s age grade percentage in last week’s parkrun was 102.17%! 100% is World Record level but I guess that is for mere mortals. Her time ranks her 2nd in the UK for her age group, just 8 seconds off the top spot. She is now 7th on the all-time list. Well done Kate.

Sarah Odell

Camilla Cresswell

This Week’s Triathlon News

Report – Simon Taylor

A weekend of triathlon dominated by some great performances.

Kate Wright and Sarah Odell ventured down the A422 to the cultural wilderness that is Banbury (yes, I lived there when TV’s were black and white) to compete in the Banbury Sprint Triathlon. The race was Kate and Sarah’s opening triathlons of the year …and a great start was had by both.

The swim is in the brilliant 50m Banbury Lido and then undulating bike and run courses. Sarah set off 13 mins ahead of Kate and swam a cracking 15 mins. That edged her a minute further ahead of Kate, who swam 16 mins. As Kate said, swimming under ropes and left turns (?) aren’t her forte. Sounds more of an obstacle swim course than a triathlon swim.

Both had great rides, Kate a bit quicker and gained time on Sarah. As expected Kate smashed up the run, with one of the fastest runs of the day (overall) and closed to within 3 mins of Sarah.

Overall, Kate came 2nd lady (and yes, won her age group!) in 1.20.33, missing out on first place by 28 seconds. Sarah overcame a dose of Covid and various injuries to storm into the finish in 14th place in 1.30.32.

Elsewhere, Camilla Creswell ventured to Eton Dorney rowing lake to compete in the Eton Dorney draft legal European qualification race. In only her 4th ever triathlon, this race was a real step up in quality. The top age groupers in the country turned up for the first sprint qualifier race of the year.

Camilla showed that she deserves to be competing at this level and had a brilliant performance. She came 6th in the qualification race (first 4 qualify automatically), but no doubt she will qualify with a roll down place, finishing well within 120% of the winning time – to qualify automatically for GB age group you must be top 4. If outside the top 4, you need to be within 20% of the age group winner.

A big tri future awaits her.

Heading up the M1 on Sunday morning, Ben Phyall put in a brilliant performance at the Outlaw Half Iron distance triathlon.

The Outlaw series of triathlons are some of the best and well organised events in the UK, they sell out every year and are always raced by some of the best triathletes in the UK.

Those that know and train with Ben, know that he always gives his all and never leaves any regrets on the course. His improvement over the last few years have been testament to his hard work ethic.

Ben finished just outside 5 hours in an outstanding 5.04.27. This included a 2 hour 30 min 90km bike ride at an amazing average speed of 22.4 mph!

Well done Ben!’

More Non-Tri Stuff

Team Stratford.

Graham Hill

It’s a family affair. L to R – James and William Mayes with dad in the middle. William was the first junior finisher in the race in 6th place and also first finisher from the club with a time of 41.10, 26 seconds ahead of our first Senior finisher Seth Turner in 7th place,

Walton Hall 10k

Report – Graham Hill

The Walton Hall 10K is a local run starting at the 16th century mansion set in 65 acres of glorious countryside, running through nearby woods, up and down hills, through the village of Walton and back to the Hall, all raising funds for local Shipston Nursing Home.

With such a local run, I had no excuse just to run from home to Walton Hall as a gentle warm up ready to pick up my number and join everyone ready for the start.

The route for this year had changed with the route leaving the Walton Hall grounds up a steep hill with poor under foot conditions, before heading into the woods making a loop back around and into the Walton Hall estate.

With a short run out along the main driveway, we headed towards Wellesbourne over fields and stiles following the river Dene.

Upon arriving in Wellesbourne, we headed back towards Walton Hall passing through the village of Walton before arriving back at the finish line in the tree lined avenue on the approach to the main 16th century mansion.

With refreshments available after the race (bacon and sausage baps, bananas, water, coffee and tea), people could stop to enjoy the grounds and provide support for all runners and walkers with all donations going to the Shipston Nursing Home.

The race was an enjoyable route and well supported with local runners and walkers.

A pleasant way to enjoy the morning sunshine in the countryside.

All that was left to do was to have a warm down run back home.

Full results below:

https://www.shipstonhomenursing.co.uk/walton-hall-10k-results/

Phil Brennan and Paul Hawkins

BMAF 10000m Track Championships

I Should Know Better By Now…..

Report – Phil Brennan

Paul Hawkins and I were at the recent BMAF 10000m Track Championships.

My impression was that numbers competing are still down after COVID, particularly among the older age groups.

The organisers took the inscrutable decision to leave the middle categories alone
but amalgamate the M70+ and M35-45 age groups into one race. This was fine by me – I really like being overtaken by an express train every lap.

Everyone knows that when one or more runners are gathered together, the first (often only) topic of conversation is injuries. A bunch of the boys, all above 65, were meeting and greeting beforehand. “Who’s had COVID, then?”. Everyone’s hand shot up, except mine. A long discussion followed about depleted oxygen, tiredness etc. Everyone seemed to agree that they weren’t really up to it, didn’t really want to be there, but thought they ought to give it a go. It made me feel a bit wimpy about my injury, particularly as there was one guy whose legs looked like an explosion in a KT Tape factory.

My mate Pete, the only other M75, said “why don’t we just jog round and have a chat?” My other mate John, M70, thought he would be lucky to break 50 minutes. So somehow we agreed on that. Two minutes per lap. Simples.

I should know better. In the words of Sun Tzu, no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Pete lasted a good 200 yards before he shot off, finishing in 46:34, eight minutes ahead of me. His excuse afterwards was that if he felt bad after the first kilometre, he would have dropped back and joined us.

John lasted a bit longer, but then he took off and I was soon hot and isolated, still going at just inside 50min pace.

I managed to keep it up until past halfway, when I was suddenly attacked by a rabbit-faced giant squid…….not really, just got hotter and slower.

Silver medal for finishing (54:22) but I reckon I earned it. Still inside the EA performance standard, if nothing else.

Please see above a flyer for the Balsall Common 10k which is on the 18th September 2022.

The race is the 9th (last but one) in this year’s Warwickshire Road Race League series.

And Finally

A few more photos

Some of our U15 West Midlands XC Awards winners after collecting their trophies at the pavilion last week.

Ruby Edwards on her way to a PB long jump of 4.75 at Chipping Campden last Friday.

A couple of our Quadkids at The Pingles last weekend. Martha Edwards and Emily White.

Chairman Paul Hawkins showing his delight at being awarded a place in the Commonwealth Games’ Queens Baton Relay. You will be allowed to bend your knees and have both feet off the ground Paul.