One member’s grateful journey

Written by David Jones on 08/08/2024. Posted in News

Only here for the beer.
Do you notice a theme (apart from the dodgy sunglasses)
Susan Hunt and Ade Mason

We start off this week’s newsletter with reports from a couple of members on their participation in the popular Hooky 6. It’s then a recap on yet another successful season for our Vets T&F team plus a lovely item from Ian Hill on his journey to SAC.

Mark Barker has sent in a report on his latest ultra. Well done Mark.

There is an item on the possible closure of part of Birmingham’s High Performance Centre (Hi Pac), a facility that will be familiar to many of our T&F members.

Former club member Alex Adams has departed to America. I am sure many of you will join me in wishing him every success as he embarks on this exciting venture.

The Stratford upon Avon Herald have acknowledged Charly Marshall’s achievement in representing Great Britain in the European Triathlon Junior Cup in Tábor, Czechia.

Finally there is something of a mea culpa from me for confusing the Stratford brothers up last week.

Take care.

David Jones.

Old friends, sat on their park bench like bookends.
(with respect to Simon and Garfunkel).
Allan Coldicott and John Butler.

Susan’s Hooky 6

Report – Susan Hunt

The Hooky 6 is a great local race that I’ve done many times over the years.

I love it because:

1) Hook Norton is lovely and you get to see it twice (it’s a 2 lap course)

2) It’s a chance to support a local running club -it’s a fundraiser for Hook Norton Harriers.

3) It’s sponsored by the Hook Norton Brewery (I can recommend Sunday lunch there afterwards) and they provide generous prizes, including for the first 3 runners in every age category and the T shirt always says “fuelled by beer since 1985”.

4) The course profile (uphill at the start of the lap and a glorious downhill in the final mile) suits my preferred race tactic of starting like a slug and finishing like a freight train.

It’s always fun to spot SAC clubmates and I arrived at the sports club to see the field peppered with golden vests. Most, on closer inspection, turned out to be Woodstock Harriers; but I spotted John Butler and Alan Coldicott warming up on a bench and Ade Mason doing serious drills. Keith Jewett was also there but (I think) running undercover in black.

Conditions were the best we could hope for in August – a tad warm but nothing life-threatening. I was happy with my run (the climbs felt small-fry in comparison to last month’s mountainous Hornton 6) and I chose to ignore the graph on my Strava that showed my steadily declining performance on this route over the years.

The goody bag didn’t disappoint – a stylish T-shirt and matching sunglasses and I was excited to receive a gift box of beer with souvenir pint glass for winning silver on the age-grade podium.

I hung around for tea and cake afterwards, chatting to Hooky Harrier buddies who said that they will consider extending the age categories beyond the current limit of 65 years, prompted by feedback from 4 runners who were aged over 80. This is good news, since I will continue to do this race for as long as I’m able..

Ade’s Hooky 6

Report – Ade Mason

This is the fourth time I have run this race and if truth be told, I only really turn up for the beer!

Following the hot weather we’ve had over the past few weeks, it was a little kinder and cooler on Sunday morning, albeit still humid.

The six mile course hosted by Hook Norton Harriers follows a lovely two laps around the village of Hook Norton and the race always attracts some very strong runners from Oxfordshire clubs.

Top 10 was a big ask for me this year, that said I was more than happy with my gradual return to form, only finishing 20 secs behind my time from 2021 (my in-form year), in 16th place and a time of 36:53.

The top 6 all finished under 34 mins, with the winner crossing the line in 31:28!

Other Stratford AC runners spotted included Susan Hunt, John Butler, Keith Jewett and Allan Coldicott.

All in all, a great race, great t-shirt plus free sunglasses as a race memento and the option to stock up on beer from the Hooky Brewery. What’s not to like? I’ll be back next year.

Midland Vet’s T&F League

Shown above are the final results for this year’s Midland Vet’s T&F League. They show that it has been yet another successful season for our team.

The results of the final fixture show that Worcester ladies triumphed with a score of 140.5 with our ladies in 2nd place on 115 and B&R in 3rd place with 78.5. Worcester men were also triumphant with 125.5, just 8.5 points ahead of our own men (117) who themselves held off the challenge of B&R on 110.5.

The overall result for the fixture was Worcester in 1st place with 266 points, Stratford 2nd with 232 and B&R 3rd with 189.

For the season as a whole Worcester women secured 561.5 versus our own 502 and B&R’s 287.5.

Our men also finished 2nd with 439 points v Worcester’s 539.9 and we also held off a determined challenge from B&R (415.5) to secure 2nd place.

Overall scores for the season were:

Worcester 1101
Stratford 941
B&R 703
Halesowen 595
Sparkhill 447
Black Pear Joggers 438
Midland Masters 428
Droitwich 210

This performance means that we have once again qualified for the ‘A’ Cup Final on September 1st at The Pingles Stadium in Nuneaton.

Ian Hill

My Journey to SAC

Report – Ian Hill

I played and coached football and cricket to a good standard and then started running at around 50 to avoid the gym.

When we moved to Stratford 10 years ago I spotted some of the yellow vests on the streets near where we live and got chatting which got me introduced to the club.

I attended the track nights and was made to feel very welcome instantly by coaches and fellow athletes of both sexes and skill levels, I was never made to feel like a novice athlete.

I continue to be amazed by the quality and enthusiasm shown by the coaches which is highly motivating .

We are very fortunate to have the resources to be able and encouraged to have a go at all events.

I joined the dark side ( Vets T&F ) around 18 months ago and was warned correctly that I would be’ broken’ but I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I would never have imagined that at 65 I would be sprinting again and throwing a hammer!

Being part of the vets team and competing is a real highlight and has bought back the buzz of my former team sport days. The camaraderie is infectious and I feel as though I have made some good friends as well as learning new skills .

Mark Barker
Job done. No problem
Now where’s the pub?

South West Coast Ultra 50k.

Report – Mark Barker

Last Saturday I enjoyed a weekend away in the West Country taking part in the brilliant South West Coast Ultra 50k.

It’s one of the many events organised by Action Challenge and one of the most popular events in their calendar.

The event starts in the grounds of Dunster Castle in Somerset and the first half of the route takes the SW coastal path to Porlock on the Somerset Devon border, it then takes on Exmoor National Park, reaching Dunkery Beacon, before descending back down to the finish at Dunster.

The event was superbly organised, with a mix of 1200 runners and walkers, starting over several waves, there was also a more sensible 25k option.

The support from the Action Challenge crew was great, with huge checkpoint stations that had plenty of food & drink choices, so I only had to worry about carrying water and a few essentials. The route was so easy to follow, with pink arrows everywhere, usually pointing towards a great big hill!

The conditions were perfect, the mini heat wave was over, and the usual August weather had resumed but without the rain!

I set off in the first wave at 7am. The waves were released every 30 minutes, which meant that we were reasonably spread out and I would spend the majority of the race not seeing many other runners.

The first 6k was a good warm up with a nice flat run along the beach, then came the climb up Minehead Hill, from then on it was hills all the way.

The views along the coastal path were stunning with Exmoor to the left and to the right, views over the Bristol Channel and Wales.

At the halfway checkpoint I think I took too long to rest for lunch, as the legs did not want to move once I set off again! This next section was the toughest, as the route climbed through forests, moorland for around 13k from the coast up to Dunkery Beacon the highest point on Exmoor.

It was good to get to the final checkpoint as I knew most of the hard work was done, however there was a very challenging hill at 41^st kilometre, that seemed to go on forever, the km markers seemed to be getting further apart in those last 5k! The route finally went through the lovely village of Dunster to the finish line and there was a glass of bubbly waiting, however all I wanted was a beer in a West Country pub.

Save the High Performance Centre for Athletics

Many of our T&F members will be familiar with The High Performance Centre (HiPac) in Birmingham. It was built as the only indoor training and competition venue for athletics in the West Midlands. Since the closure of the venue for the Commonwealth Games the facility has never been returned to a full athletics venue with no sand in the jumping pits and no throws nets. This means athletes in the region have had nowhere to train and in poor weather have had to travel for at least an hour in order to access training facilities.

Birmingham City Council has now put in a planning application to take out space in the HiPac to create a gym for the general public. This development will mean there may be no indoor training facility for pole vault or throws so field athletes will be greatly disadvantaged. It wil also stop any local indoor competitions so local athletes have to travel significant distance for competition in the winter months

If you are interested in signing a petition in an attempt to stop this please follow the link below

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-high-performance-centre-for-athletics?recruiter=467059322&recruited_by_id=0aaa1af0-bb0c-11e5-a7f5-9fd82c03aabe&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_for_starters_page&utm_medium=copylink&sfnsn=scwspwa.

Charly Marshall

This week’s Stratford upon Avon Herald has acknowledged Charly Marshall’s achievement in representing Great Britain in the European Triathlon Junior Cup in Tábor, Czechia.

Best Wishes Alex.

I’m sure many of you will join me in wishing former member Alex Adams all the very best as he leaves for America.

Alex will be studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology-Sports Management at Washburn University – Topeka, Kansas, as well as running, training and competing

Before departing he said how deeply grateful he was to SAC for all of the coaching team, support and encouragement he received as a member and also to friends he made along the way. Thank you SAC so much.

Good luck Alex

Alex in his England debut. A much deserved accolade that he achieved while still a member of the club.

Alex kneeling down at the front.

Apologies to Stratford’s Stratfords.

Last week I unforgivably showed a photo of U13 Connor Stratford with a caption stating that it was his brother U17 Keenan. Connor was apparently rather chuffed. I’m guessing Keenan was less so . Anyway, in an effort to right my wrong, below is a photo of Keenan.

Sorry Keenan.

Keenan Stratford