Where do you get your energy from ?

Team Williamson tackle the Two Castles

Report – Angela Williamson

 I ran the Two Castles 10K on Sunday for the first time (my second 10K) with my husband Mike and son Arthur. 

It was encouraging to see lots of fellow Stratford runners as we drove into Warwick Castle.  We’d made a new club friend, Chris, before we’d even left the car park and picked up top tips about the course and logistics as we made our way to the warmup and Warwickshire Road Race League start area. 

The size and scale surprised me, I hadn’t realised it was such a big event!  We had near perfect conditions, dry with sunny spells and not too hot.

As we filed towards the start line through the landscaped grounds and castle walls it felt like queuing for a thrill ride at Disney, with a similar sensation of butterflies. 

The three of us had different expectations.  Back in February I’d hoped to target 45:00 but had revised this to sub-50:00.  Mike was aiming for 50:00ish, he’s been rebuilding his fitness following shingles, with the help of the excellent club swimming sessions in Shipston.  Arthur’s been focussed on GCSEs, and was in for fun and experience, but still aiming for sub-40:00.

We were off and running.  I’m new to racing and still getting my head around going as fast as possible with no let up.  It’s tough!  But the roads were beautifully clear and lined with supporters, a lovely surprise.  I had no spare puff for thanks, nor spare legs to reach for the “POWER UP” placards, but appreciated them all the same. Occasional glimpses of Stratford club mates also spurred me on. 

I tried to focus on increasing cadence on the inclines whilst maintaining rhythm and ignoring the impulse to walk.  Until I was jolted from my reverie by a roar from the spectators on the approach to Kenilworth Castle, to find I was being overtaken by a dinosaur.  

The finish was a blur that couldn’t (and didn’t) come soon enough.  How many corners did they make us turn? I definitely swore at one point but I somehow made it across the line.  We all three did. It wasn’t quite like the thrill ride that you immediately want to get straight back on for another go but it took only us around a full minute to agree we must do it again next year.  

By any standards the race was very well organised with a great atmosphere throughout.  The courtesy bus at the end set off straightaway for a journey back to the start filled with tired but happy post-race chat.  

From Arthur: “my first hack at the Two Castles 10K was fun but very tiring by the end.  The start, straight along the Coventry Road, was run with an underestimation of what lay ahead.  By far the hardest section was the climb into Leek Wootton, which gave me a stitch that lasted until the end at Kenilworth.  The roadside water sprays helped a little but I was sorry I couldn’t slow down for the sweets. I’m already looking forward to next year.”

All three of us were pleased with our results, chip times: Arthur 39:21.9 (8^th U20 male), me 47:49.1 (chuffed to place 4^th V50 female), Mike 51:04.2.  

Two Castles and Four Ladies

Report – Clare Goodwin

We left Stratford at 7.15am to get to Warwick Castle in plenty of time.   It was so lovely to be car sharing with Kath Pester (the driver), Lisa Lambourn and Ann Absolom.   All of us were a bit nervous about the race and it was Kath’s first time.       

It was perfect running conditions, not too hot and a little bit overcast.  All our yellow vests congregated into the VIP area and some group photo’s were taken.  This settled our nerves as we were in it together.  Then we were guided to the start which goes through a walled area.  The yellow vests were so useful for spotting one another in a sea of other colours. 

The hooter was sounded and we were off ….

The route meanders through the rural landscape showcasing lush greenery and picturesque views. The course includes a mix of moderately hilly sections.  The support was amazing with people lining the route.  Some children even had hose pipes lightly spraying runners as they past.

With just coming back from injury I started well and kept a steady pace.  The last 3kms were the hardest for me.  I was lucky and came upon a friend and we ran the last 3kms together.  It was a wonderful feeling to get to Kenilworth Castle and come over the line.

In our little quartet of ladies, Lisa was first back in a P.B time of 51:55 then I was back in 55:21 and then hot on my heels was Kath in 56:40 and then followed by Ann of 1:08.

The Two Castles is such a fun and sociable event.

Mike’s Magical Race

Report – Mike Hayward

The castle’s at Kenilworth and Warwick have long been on the ‘must visit’ list of places for my distant relatives but never did I imagine running between the two of them! 

It was only when I decided to take part in the Warwickshire Road Race League that I considered doing this challenge and I was a little apprehensive, having only completed the one 10k previously (Stratford last year).

Everything about this event was superbly well organised, as well you might expect, but with more than 5000 participants I was incredibly impressed. 

You got a real sense of excitement joining others arriving and the feeling of warming up and starting a race from within the castle was very special.

I didn’t want to start too far back and was encouraged by Kim Lee to get further forward. I had set myself a 4:20 per km target, whilst conscious that there was an elevation gain through several uphill sections. 

There was no delay and the hooter got us all off smoothly. Immediately I was aware of the passionate support from people lining the streets, cheering and clapping as we passed by, which got more intense as the race progressed. 

I loved the way that young people were involved in spraying us with water from carefully positioned hose pipes, which all helped to make this a truly memorable experience.

I was counting down the km’s to the finish inside Kenilworth castle, where the atmosphere was amazing and I have to say how delighted I am to have taken part, with so many other wonderful Stratford AC runners. Congratulations to each and everyone of you!! 

The race left me with a great feeling, a smile on my face and a real buzz. I managed to come first in my 65 age group, which was an unexpected bonus, in a time of 43:04 (chip time 42:56), exceeding my target and setting a new pb by more than two minutes. I was also placed 9th overall on age grade percentage, which is insane.

It was way back in 1984 (at the Derby marathon) when I last competed in such a big race and I stopped running soon afterwards but I definitely enjoying competing again.

County Schools Championships.

Report – Paul Bearman

The Club/School links that the juniors have established over many years with local schools has provided the club with a constant flow of young athletes and continues to do so

At the beginning of the season, one of the prime objectives of the Stratford juniors is to work towards the English Schools Athletics Association (ESAA) national championships, which is the pinnacle of junior schools athletics.

Initially trials are held across all the English home counties broken into discrete geographical areas and this is first step on the road to the ESAA champs. Following the respective area trials, athletes are selected to represent their area, which is a feather in their cap to start with, at the various County schools’ championships. 

These are essentially the prime gateway for junior athletes, assuming they do well, to be selected for the prestigious inter county Mason Trophy championships which is a major stepping stone towards the possibility of being selected for the respective county ESAA championship teams, assuming they reach the stringent ESAA entry standards. 

After the club supporting the South Warks Schools trials and being a high profile part of the selection process, over 40 club athletes were selected to represent the 7 senior South Warwickshire senior schools and the Central area in the Warwickshire inter county championships. Five more athletes represented their schools in the Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire county championships.

For the first time Warwickshire presented medals and Stratford athletes received 31 medals of various colours

Gloucestershire and Worcestershire don’t publish their results but Martha Edwards won the High Jump at the Gloucester champs and in the Worcester champs Lila Gallinagh was first in the Long Jump and second in the High Jump and busy chap Ethan Winning won the 110m Hurdles, 200m, Shot and Long Jump.

There were some outstanding performances at the Warks champs epitomised by Lolita Newby Vincent’s win in the 300m Hurdles, Tom Stanton breaking 51 seconds for the first time in the 400m and then Carter McKenzie’s metronomic run from gun to tape in the 800m and smashing his PB by 7 seconds

Jamie Richens from Alcester Grammar the south team manager commented afterwards, “a massive thank you for all those that have helped in any way with the South Warks athletics team this year. From trials, chasing the schools and athletes to helping on the day (Sandy Green, Nick Hillard, Eleanor Nabney, Nick Campbell, Carolyne Johnston and me), I really appreciate your efforts and the team performed fantastically on the day with a number of medals and PB’s”. 

Midland Master T & F Championships

Pingles Stadium

Sunday 14th June

Report – David Jones

A magnificent 7 of our Vets were among the 459 entries across 62 events at these Championships and we returned with a magnificent haul of 14 medals between us, with each and everyone adding to our trophy cabinets.

The conditions were pretty much perfect and, unusually for this venue, it wasn’t particularly windy.

Leading the medal haul was octogenarian Phil Brennan with a gold in each of his 3 events – 400m (1:54.60), 800m (4:04.97) and 3000m (17:30.13).

Special mention goes to Jan McLure, who as well as picking up a silver medal and equalling her PB (12:40.91) in the 2000m racewalk, won the inaugural Eric Horwell Memorial 2k Racewalk Handicap Award.

Elaine Ledden picked up 3 medals. Golds in her 100m (16.13) and 200m (33.45) as well as a silver in the triple jump with a jump of 7.38.

Paula Williams, as well as presenting medals at the event, found the time to win silver in the javelin (25.52m) and gold in the shot  (12.97m, which was over 3 metres further than the next placed thrower).

Dave Wilson ran the 200m in 27.22 seconds and won bronze in his 100m race with a time of 13.41.

It was a busy day for multi-eventer Mark Illingworth. He picked up gold in the last event of the day, the javelin. His throw of 25.52m being almost 3 metres clear of the 2nd placed thrower. He also managed silver in the discus (24.43m) and was just 0.18 of a second off a bronze medal in his 100m (14.93).

I managed a bronze in the 800m with a sluggish 3:08.99 and silver in the 400m (1:23.87).

All in all a pretty good day at the office for our vets.

For me, the Man vs Horse race, set in the stunning Welsh countryside, is my hiraeth. From the wonderfully bonkers concept of the event to the locals thanking you for coming to their town, it’s a day unlike any other and then there are the ladies making endless rounds of sandwiches at the finish—who knew jam and cheese on soft white bread could be the perfect refuelling food?

This was my fourth time taking part, running as part of a relay team with Karen Gisbourne and my oldest friend from Wales, Marilyn. Taking on the full course were Ian Stevens and Rob Gisbourne, while Rachel Fielden and Emma Davis (Team Bonkers) decided to run two legs each. We had plenty of yellow vests represented! A few years ago, we realised that Builth Wells Running Club has similar vests to ours, so we’re always warmly welcomed by their supporters—usually by mistake.

Our relay team, The Moody Mares, rotates legs each year and, given the ever-changing course and elevation profile, it’s always a gamble as to who gets the “best” leg.

The route varies between 22 and 24 miles; this year it was 22 miles, but with more than 4,000 feet of elevation across roads, slate paths, grass, rivers, streams and, of course, plenty of mud.

The runners set off 15 minutes before the horses to prevent congestion, with times adjusted at the finish. Even so, the horses catch you surprisingly quickly. The thunder of hooves behind you, accompanied by frantic shouts of “Horse!”, definitely keeps you on edge. We’ve worked out that horses are brilliant uphill and on grass but don’t enjoy the downhills quite as much, so it’s not always guaranteed they’ll win.

At the first changeover, there was plenty of swearing from runners across all teams: “Brutal!”, “Awful!” and “Never again!” could be heard everywhere.

Leg 2 was fantastic. Two steep climbs followed by a fast descent on a slate fire road made for a challenging run as the temperature climbed. Karen, who broke her ankle in April, bravely chose leg 3 for her first run back. She worked incredibly hard to regain her fitness and did brilliantly.

In total, 567 individual runners, 173 relay teams and 49 horses completed the course. There was a high number of dropouts at the changeovers due to how tough the route was this year.

Ian finished in a blistering 3:43, beating 25 horses. Rob crossed the line in 4:19, beating 17 horses. Team Bonkers finished in 5:07, beating 9 horses, and The Moody Mares finished in 5:15, also beating 9 horses.

A brilliant, uplifting day.

Please don’t enter next year—I need to make sure we get a place.

Diolch.

Tempo Summer Series – Race 2

Thursday 11th June

Report – David Jones.

Jamie Hall repeated the victory he achieved in the 1st of these 5k races. His winning time of 16:21 was 28 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Chris McKeown of Spa Striders.

Next was U14 Charlie-Jay Cassells, who ran a magnificent race to finish in 6th place overall. His PB time of 17:27 was 48 seconds quicker than his previous best over this distance in March of this year.

33 seconds behind Charlie-Jay was Matt Burdus-Cook, who’s time of 18:00 secured him 8th place.

There was then a welcome return to this parish by Jess Sheppard, who finished in 15th place overall with a time of 19:35, this also saw her finish as 2nd female overall.

Jess was closely followed in 16th place by James Coy (20:11). It was then Keith Jewett (30th – 22:50) followed by our next two lady finishers – Emma Vickers (42nd – 23:10 – 2nd in her age category) and Kim Lee (48th – 24:07). 

Richard Hartwell was 57th in 25:35, followed by Emma Davis (64th – 26:36), Hannah Stockil (74th – 27:43), Ali Kirk (91st – 30:33) and finally John Butler (111th – 37:42).