Another mixed bag of reports this week. 100 metres to 42.195k with some field events as well.
We start off with an appeal for any of you who are competing in London, Manchester or Stratford Marathons, plus the Stratford Half, all of which take place on April 27th, to please let me know you are competing and to maybe write a report of your race with a view to us hopefully being able to submit a combined report to The Stratford Herald.
Also, talking of the Stratford Herald, there is currently a vacancy for a Press Correspondent or Correspondents to submit reports on our varied activities to our local newspaper on a regular basis.
The first race report is on the Massey 5, the opening fixture in this season’s Warwickshire Road Race League, where we had 6 senior members competing.
At the Rugby Easter Open T&F meeting lots of our juniors posted PBs in that was a hugely successful meet for them. There were also a handful of members competing in the Charnwood Open and the WK Athletics Enterprises Open Meeting at Pingles in Nuneaton.
It was case of role reversal in the Faithfull household with Suzanne competing with considerable success in the SheUltra, with hubby Paul in the supporting role. Suzanne, until recently a self-proclaimed “non-runner” who had never run more than 10k and with only 10 weeks to prepare, competed in the second “SheUltra”, a female only (the world’s largest with over 1300 athletes this year) 50km trail run around the beautiful Llyn peninsula in North Wales finishing 1 1/2 hours quicker than anticipated. Now that is impressive. Time to take a back seat Paul.
Nigel Chidgey completed his 2nd marathon in 6 weeks, this time in Boston, Lincs. He now thinks he will take a well earned rest from the 42.195k races until the Autumn. A wise move Nigel.
We also had 3 members competing in the Leicester Big 10k.
I’m conscious of the fact the it was the Stratford Tri last weekend. I’ve had a quick glance at the results but reports on triathlons are way outside of my pay grade, so apologies if you competed. If you did and would like to write a report it would be very gratefully received as I’m aware of the fact that perhaps we don’t pay enough attention to the exploits of our triathletes.
Take care.
David Jones.
An Appeal
27th April
Super Marathon Day
Crazily it seems that the London, Manchester and Stratford marathons are all being run on the same day this year, along with the Stratford half, as well as the London mini marathon on the 26th.
It would be really nice if we could produce a combined report on these events for The Stratford Herald.
If you are running in any of these could you please let me know and also maybe write a few words on your races ?
A small but strong contingent of 6 Stratford AC members descended upon the opening fixture in the Warwickshire Road Race League on Sunday morning: a 5k at Coventry’s War Memorial Park, hosted by our friends over at Massey Ferguson RC.
While I have been loving the sunny spring weather, thankfully the temperatures dropped a touch, creating pretty much perfect running conditions.
This, combined with the pristine tarmac and lack of hills (ignoring a few gentle inclines) meant I had no excuses not to go for a PB, and I was delighted to get over the line 1 minute and 10 seconds quicker than my last official 5k race!
It wasn’t just me taking advantage of the elements – Kath Pester also managed to run a fantastic 21-second PB. The Mars Bars at the finish line were very much appreciated!
It would be great to see a few more Stratford runners at the upcoming WRRL fixtures, all of which look to be fantastic events supporting local clubs. At the very least, remember to sign up for the Sphinx 5 as – if I’m not mistaken – that’ll be our June Shakespeare race!
Results:
James Lake: 17:38 (19th)
Adam Linforth: 18:08 (29th)
Seth Turner: 19:12 (54th)
Yumiko Turner: 23:34 (159th)
Lisa Stevens: 26:29 (219th)
Kath Pester: 26:59 (228th)
Another Appeal!
Press Correspondent
This important role involves submitting reports on our many and varied activities to The Stratford upon Avon Herald.
Most people like to see their name/photo in the press and I know for a fact that it gives a great deal of pleasure to parents and their children when juniors’ are featured.
Since January we have been without a press correspondent. The role has been filled on an interim basis and during this time we have had tremendous support from The Stratford Herald when we have submitted reports.
It is not a particularly time consuming role. Reports can be collated from those submitted by members or parents. The newsletter can also be used as a resource, as it has often been in the past, with just minor tweaks needed before submitting.
As a club of considerable stature in the town I think it only right that we make the wider public, outside of our membership, aware of our considerable achievements.
If you are interested in taking on this role please contact myself:
Lucia Ogilvie-Putt and Jasmine Mothershaw at Rugby
Rugby Easter Open
Report – David Jones
Last Saturday saw a veritable posse of our juniors descend on Rugby for this meeting and goodness me didn’t they do well with PBs galore, thus benefiting from all of the hard work they have put in training over the winter months.
Our sprinters were in particularly fine form as shown below:
100m
Arthur Mansbridge U17 11.78 PB
Sam McKenzie 11.92 U17 just .02 off his PB
Niamh Williams U15 13.14 PB
Megan Thomas U20 13.42
Ava Sheppard U17 13.48 PB
Annabel Stacey U15 13.86 PB
Isabella Marriott U15 14.27 PB
Lila Gallinagh U15 14.41 PB
Laurence Hovell U15 15.17 PB
There were also PBs for all of our 800m runners:
Will Hovell U17 2:07.51
Annie Silvers U17 2:17.24
Lucia Ogilvie-Putt U15 2:36.51
Maggie Silvers U13 2:40.07
Jasmine Mothershaw U15 2:48.29
Dexter Sharpe U13 2:52.1 in his first competitive 800m
Georgia Sharpe U15 2:55.21
300m:
Sam McKenzie U17 40.51 PB
Elle Weir U15 45.69 PB
Lucia Ogilvie-Putt U15 49.02 in her 1st competitIve 300m
In the field events Bertie Hovell jumped 2.20m in the long jump with Lila Gallinagh clearing 4:30 in the same discipline. Alice McIntosh threw the javelin 20.24m, which was a huge PB, her previous best being 18.49m in July last year. This throw puts her 15th in the current U13 UK rankings.
In the shot, the industrious Lucia Ogilvie-Putt threw 5.92m and Maggie Silvers cleared 8.95m in the triple jump. For both of them it was their first time competing competitIvely in these events.
All in all it was a superb meeting for our juniors.
On Sunday at the Charnwood Open, our World Champion Paula Williams professed herself pretty pleased with 13.39 in the 100m and at the same meet U17 Alex Wood was surely delighted with his 2 PBs in the 100m and 200m, recording times of 11.43 and 23.14 respectively.
On a somewhat breezy (understatement) Wednesday night at The Pingles Stadium in Nuneaton, U13 Alice Macintosh ran PBs in both her 100m and 200m with times of 15.70 and 34.00. Well done Alice. Over the same distances M60 Andy List professed himself really pleased with his times of 13.70 and 28.60. After a period of prolonged injury Andy was particularly pleased to come through unscathed. Before the season started he had targetted 14.00 and 28.00 as a starting point, so he has every right to be pleased. I was initially disappointed with my time of 6:31.70 in the 1500, as it was 4 seconds slower than my time of a couple of weeks earlier but on reflection, considering the windy conditions, I’m okay with it.
Did I mention it was windy ?
Sue Faithfull on the right of the photo.
SheUltra
Report – Paul Faithfull
Whilst not a regular runner with SuAAC, my better half, Suzanne joined the club earlier this year and partook in some of the morning swimming sessions.
Inspired by a friend and a desire to find a new challenge she enrolled in the second “SheUltra”, a female only (the world’s largest with over 1300 athletes this year) 50km trail run around the beautiful Llyn peninsula in North Wales.
As a self-proclaimed “non-runner” who had never run more than 10km, and with only 10 weeks to prepare I was both impressed and slightly concerned with the task ahead. Sue diligently followed a steady weekly incremental plan, building her run distance from 10 to 30km without injury and only the odd blister.
The Welsh weather was unusually kind, with a beautiful sunrise welcoming the start of Wave 3 at 6:40am on Abersoch beach.
We predicted the long day would be finished in the rain around 4pm, and so, with a couple of friends, she set off from the beach immediately climbing up to the headlands.
I spent the day cycling furiously from point to point on the course to offer my support, noting that the times at each location were considerably earlier than anticipated. I am usually the athlete, not the supporter so it was good to enjoy the vibe without the effort, although I hadn’t appreciated how challenging supporters logistics are! Something I will bear in mind in the future.
At each point I could see Sue was still smiling and sticking to plan, run the flats and the downs, walk the ups.
A sore back (the organisers were quite insistent on a lot of kit being carried) was evident about 35k in as the route descended back from the central hills (sorry mountains!) to the coast, and whilst Sue was clearly in some discomfort, the smile was still there, although it was clear that chat between the ladies had rather dried up.
The last part of the course was a longish, slightly uphill drag through Pwllheli and a last chance to inspire, as breaking 8 hours was possible.
Sue picked up the pace and crossed the line in 7h59m09s, a full 1.5 hours earlier than we expected and still in the sunshine. I have to say I was a very proud husband, knowing Sue’s first 12km run only 10 weeks ago was a real barrier for her to overcome and in such a short time to build to this performance was fantastic.
The race had been sold as a glass of fizz would be waiting at the end, which turned out to be some unbranded cola, the only downer on a fabulous day (I am told the spread at the aid stations made up for it).
This was soon put to rights, and I think Sue has the bug so watch out for a new member Dirty Weekenders. A next trail run challenge is already being sought.
Nigel Chidgey
Boston, Lincs Marathon
Report – Nigel Chidgey
Two marathons in 6 weeks is never a good idea but as it was already booked and the flattest in the uk, how hard could it be 🙄
Yes I was back at it, this time in the UK, Boston Lincolnshire and this time the temperature was looking good.
What I hadn’t anticipated was the wind! It maybe a flat course but a strong wind certainly gave the effect of running up hill.
I ended up with a 4:15 which was off what I wanted, so I think maybe an Autumn one might be next to give me time to recover and build up again.
I couldn’t resist stepping on the podium, it was just that getting off it was a challenge!
Leicester Big 10k
Looking at the results it seems that we had 3 members competing in this event with Chris Bloomfield being first of the 3 to finish in 92nd place overall with a time of 45:52, followed by Paul Forshaw (50:14) and John Butler (1:19.44). John was 4th in his age category. the race was won by Adrain McBride in 32:23 and the first lady finisher was W45 Sheryl Heath in 41:44. 836 runners completed the race.
For the full results please follow the link below:
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptRead More
Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
