If Arthur Renshaw ever invites you for dinner on Shrove Tuesday, you might want to think twice before accepting.

At the pre-race briefing for the Club 10k championships, Arthur assured us that most of the course was “pan flat” – which makes you question how much heat his kitchen utensils would transfer to the pancake batter!

In fact, the course did get flatter as it went on – and in my view Arthur and the TRC committee have found a fantastic route to relaunch the Thornbury 10k in July.    It begins with seriously steep climbs and descents out of Oldbury; on into the tiny hamlet of Cowhill (although I bet the estate agents still call it Oldbury-on-Severn); followed by bumpy bits in and around Kington, before a final two-mile loop on the outskirts of Oldbury that takes you back into the heart of the village for the finish.  It is a test of race strategy, as well as endurance, and it should certainly be possible to run a negative split if you can avoid the temptation to run too hard on those opening climbs.

A huge thank you to the volunteer marshals who made sure the event ran smoothly, and will help refine the plan ahead of the race later in the summer when we expect up to 200 runners to take part.

It was a warm and sunny Sunday morning, even by 8.30am when the first runners arrived at the Anchor Inn, where the race would start and finish.   You don’t normally see that many scantily-clad people congregating at a pub so early in the morning unless you’re about to board a flight to Malaga.   The Anchor management kindly let us use the outdoor toilets, and given the high percentage of middle-aged men taking part that was a mercy.

Jack and Rory Williams were there to check out the course on which they intend to win the 2038 edition of the race.   They enthusiastically rang their cow bells as we set off, and were still shaking them with undimmed enthusiasm an hour or so later when the final runner came home.  It gave the opening climb something of an Alpe D’Huez vibe, but fortunately their mum, Lizzie, had confiscated the orange smoke flares.

Rory and Jack already knew their dad was awesome, but Nick reminded the rest of the club of that fact, with a stunning run in 35:44, which I am told is the best 10k time by a TRC male runner in nearly a decade.  Nick could go at least a minute quicker on a properly flat course!

Nick led from the gun, and had already put about 10 seconds on the second place runner by the time we passed Oldbury parish church.   Before the start, I predicted the finishing order of the runners would be the same as at the top of that first climb.  But like driving to the very edge of Almondsbury village, it ain’t Over till it’s Over. 

Andy Wilson was second up the hill, motoring to his usual fast start, but showed how much his endurance levels have improved to hold on to that position, despite the quality of the runners behind him, and finish in 37:07.  Andy’s best run in TRC colours so far I’d suggest.

Phil Blackburn deployed a different strategy and was much more circumspect up the opening hills, and he was the only runner to come through the field, moving from 5th to 3rd, to record an excellent time of 37:22.   Sean Leadbetter did struggle slightly in the closing miles, but that’s all relative.   He was still fourth in 38 mins flat.   Ben Bohane continued his remarkable run of results with 38:11 in fifth place, although like Paul Harrod (39:02; 6th), is possibly at his best on the flatter road routes, and/or evening events.  Both were notably down on their Berkeley 10k PBs.

George Evans has the most elegant and efficient upright running style – honed by bounding hurdles topped with champagne coupes set out by his butler at his Kington estate.  George pulled away from Asten Haynes in the final mile to finish in 40:25, with Asten a mere 19 seconds behind.   Paul Thomas (42:11) and Pete Cable (44:05) completed the male top 10.

Ali Vaz was an equally emphatic winner of the women’s race, and also finished inside the overall top 10.   Ali ran a brilliant race and completed the tough course in 42:15.   Jo Plumbley – just a week after finishing another gruelling ultra – managed to outsprint Hannah Hamilton, and pip her by 44:50 to 44:54.   

Nikki Foss ran her overall 10k PB, which is a magnificent achievement.  She ran 51:54, and I am sure there is much more to come, as she has fractionally more time to devote to training now the demands of motherhood are merely relentless as opposed to all-consuming!  Congratulations to junior runner Abbey Bonnet for coming in 5th place in the women’s race in a fabulous time of 53:40, and for making sure her dad, Danny, didn’t get lost or get into mischief on the way round.

As the TRC committee decided that this would be a straight shoot-out for the club championship, there isn’t space to list all the results.  However please check out the website to see the full standings.  Many of the other performances were just as impressive on an age-graded basis, but we weren’t recording those on this occasion.

Finally, a brief roundup of some of highlights during the previous fortnight.

Ros, Jo and Natalie – the 3 Amigas – ran the 40 mile Stroud Ultra together.  Literally, ran it together, as they paced each other round to finish at the same time, in 9 hours and 54 minutes.   All very civilised, and each of them got medals in their age categories; in Ros and Jo’s cases it was gold!

Ben Bohane ran his first ever ultra, in Pembrokeshire – a race that attracted a high quality field from across the UK, and he only went and finished 6th!   Stunning run, for a guy I’m running out of superlatives for.  Well, I ran out of them a while ago, but just hope you’ll forgive the etymological recycling.

Mark West ran one of the best marathon races in recent TRC history, with an excellent 3hrs and 8 mins.   At the other end of the scale, Phil Blackburn was the first TRC member to race in a county 1500m track championship for quite some time.  In his first attempt at the distance since he was school, Phil bravely tracked the leaders for the first few laps, and while he inevitably had to descend into the pain cave over the last 400m, he still finished in a brilliant 4 mins and 33 seconds.   I am sure he can improve on that, and I’d also like to challenge Andy Wilson to try one too!

Highlights from the parkruns include, 14th May, a first place at Lydney for Dylan Roberts in 18:08, (followed by a second at Berkeley Green the following week). and a 19:06 PB at Severn Bridge for Simon Pinnington. 

On the 21st May, Jo Webster ran her 104th parkrun – which is a great achievement – and completed the Thornbury run in 26:34.    Catherine Dack was fourth women at Wotton (sounds like a Shakespeare play) in a new PB of 26:29, while at Severn Bridge, Richard Jackson equalled his course PB of 21:31, but given the windy conditions I estimate that to be a real terms decrease of 15 seconds.

On Sunday, several TRC members had the privilege of improving their running technique under the expert eye of coach Shane Benzie.   However the early proof of that pudding was to be tasted the following evening, as they lined up for the Berkeley 10k, the first event in this year’s Pete Mainstone Challenge.

During the warm-up there were admiring glances from other club members as we arched our backs and locked our eyes on the horizon, like Kate Winslet on the bow of the Titanic; or cycled our legs under our centre of mass like Roadrunner; or placed our forefingers on our thumbs and drove our elbows back, like a Yoga Master bisecting logs with a tiny saw.

Sorry, maybe you had to be there on Sunday!

Anyway, Shane’s input has already borne fruit, as several members ran their course, or even all-time, 10k PBs.

It’s particularly hard to single out any individual in such an impressive, collective, set of results.  I’m tempted to award it to Hannah Hamilton who ran a fantastic 43.56, and finished 12th in the women’s race – the best overall result by any TRC member.

Yet how can we not applaud Ben Bohane, who, just nine days after racing a ludicrous 34 miles along the Pembrokeshire Coast, pitched up at Berkeley and knocked a full minute of last year’s time to finish in 21st place in 37.05?  That’s 21st in a race that attracts runners from across the region and was won by an outstanding senior athlete who was a former silver medallist in the English schools 3000m.  Yet again one wonders how fast Ben could run if he ever actually tapered for a race!  

So Hannah and Ben were the two stars of the evening, but they were by no means the only ones to produce an outstanding performance.

Not far behind Ben was Phil Blackburn, who will represent the club in the Avon county 1500m championships on Sunday.  Phil proved once again that his endurance level is starting to approach that of his jaw-dropping raw pace, and finished a mere 4 seconds further back in 22nd place.   Paul Harrod ran his 10k PB and finished in 37.22, 27th overall, and third VM45.

When I wrote last week that I felt Simon Pinnington’s form was so good that he could get under 40 minutes at Berkeley, I was intending to pay him a compliment!   This was a rough extrapolation from his recent parkrun performances.  However it shows how bad my maths is, because Simon himself was aiming to go more than a full minute faster!  Hopefully he doesn’t read these reports…  In the end, Simon ran a wonderful PB of 39.02, but such is the measure of his recent improvement, that he was a little disappointed.   He was fifth VM50, and 44th overall.

Asten Haynes narrowly missed out on running sub 40, but only by 10 seconds.  That was a very notable run, and Asten is another club member who is naturally quick, and is now building an aerobic base that means he can be highly competitive in the longer distances.  The same is true of Tom Usherwood who is racing regularly, and with great consistency, and should be delighted with his time of 44.17.

I’ve written this before, but it bears repeating: a quick scan of the results might mean you overlook Nick Langridge’s performance.  He finished in 45.11, and for most of the race looked like he might get under 45 minutes.   That is still a fine run, but to do so while now competing in the VM70 age-grade is truly exceptional.  It goes without saying Nick won his age category race.

Paul Saville finished in 47.33, and sneaked into the top 100 of the men’s race by finishing 99th.  Kevin Wood had a busy weekend – running at the parkrun of the month, and attending Shane’s workshop.  Yet he once again produced a stellar performance to finish in 49.42 and fifth in age category.   Lizzie Williams was just  seconds outside the 50 minute barrier and a highly creditable 30th place overall in the women’s race.  Some of the club’s loyal and long-standing legends completed our line up.  Hugh McPherson 55.44; Arthur Renshaw in 57.10 and Mel Lloyd in 1hr 10.   In all cases they ran strong races and finished inside the top 10 in their age categories, so their results are entirely comparable with many of their younger teammates further up the standings.

The amazing members of Dursley running club put on another wonderful event.   I’m biased – I don’t think anyone organises races better than we do – but Dursley runs us close!  Once again, the good burghers of Berkeley were out on the streets to offer their support.   I’m always amazed how few cars are out and about – it really does feel like it is a closed road event, even though it isn’t!

Last Saturday was ‘parkrun of the month’ and we were back at Severn Bridge.   Sixteen members took part, which is a good number, especially as lots of us wanted to save our legs for Berkeley just two days later.

Andrew Darton was first TRC member, running a course PB of 20.28.   Chris Pritchard is improving noticeably and came home in his PB of 25.01 – so close to a 24 minute something time.   Jonathan Hall, 22.34 and Ashleigh Ferris, 26.26 ran the event for the first time.   

Congratulations to Kev Cundy for completing his 50th parkrun.   Hope he got a cheer from the Chepstownian locals for that achievement, followed by a chorus of boos when it was revealed he came from ‘that Thornbury’.   Kev ran with wife Suzie and let her finish 1 second ahead of him in 29.12.   Who says chivalry is dead?  Finally, the PB machine that is Carol Mosses – the Birkenhead Dibaba – raced to another personal landmark, finishing in 36.56.

Thornbury Running Club members dominated the local parkruns in December, with our tally of first-place finishers surely* a record. It has certainly capped a fantastic year for the club, and our thanks must be extended to the amazing volunteers who kept the parkruns going through the late autumn and early winter.

December 4th was ‘parkrun of the month’ at Severn Bridge. This was during those halcyon days before it became a criminal offence for runners to congregate and run alongside Welsh motorways. Apparently good ventilation helps prevent the spread of Covid 19, and so one would have thought the furious gales whipping down the Wye Valley would make the event “safe,” but apparently not.

Anyway, huge congratulations to Sean Leadbetter for winning the race in 18:25, thereby joining Laura Orna as the only TRC member to be first-finisher at this event which attracts a lot of speedy runners from across the region, due to the downhill finish and PB potential (wind-permitting). Alan Gatling was 7th overall in 21:37, and Nathan Darkin 9th in 21:52, surely* the only time we’ve had three in the top ten at this event.

There was a suggestion on the day that the M48 was closed to traffic, and concerns over a wasted journey meant that Hannah Hamilton decided not to make the trip. There then followed frantic calls to her agent from the other parkrun directors, before she elected to run at Wotton. Needless to say she surfed the mud in spectacular style to win her race in the aesthetically pleasing time of 22:22. At the Mundys, Ben Bohane came first in 19:37, leading, as always, from the first few strides, with Paul Thomas in third in 21:03.

December 11th was the only week of the month where TRC didn’t notch up a first-place at a local race. However Nick Williams won the Brueton parkrun in 17:42 – a fine victory in a field of over 200 runners. Lizzie Williams was just outside the top 10 in her race in 23:49.

Other notable performances came from Moray Sloane, 7th at Thornbury; Taryn Roberts, third at Chipping Sodbury, and homing in, once again, on the 20 min barrier, with 20:31; plus Kevin Arnold, sans 50kg backpack this time, with an excellent 12th place on Severn Bridge. However performance of this week must go to Simon Pinnington (20:46) and Gary Slater (20:50), third and fourth respectively at Wotton. Both men compete in an age-group that would merit a round of applause and a modest raise of the bat in a cricket match, and they showed the youngsters how it’s done by recording strong 70% plus age-graded scores. On a flat, tarmac course they’d both be mightily close to 80% I believe, which Parkrun UK says is ‘national standard’.

Jim Godden missed that mark by 0.03% on December 18th at Chipping Sodbury – that early Christmas glass of prosecco the night before counting against him in the agonising sprint to the finish. Still, 14th place, in 19:53, and as close as makes no difference to 80% age-graded score, is proof that Jim is running as well as he ever has. In the same event Catherine Dack just missed out on a top 10 finish, running 25:30.

Dylan Roberts won the Mallards Pike race in a brilliant 17:28, although with modest assistance up the steep bits from his canine companion. At Thornbury, the incomparable Clare Watt was first finisher in 23:39, also missing an 80% age-graded score by a fraction, but the heavy ground of the Mundys in mid-December, means she is significantly above that benchmark in reality. She was backed up by Richard Jackson (22:59) and Moray Sloan (23:12) who recorded top-ten finishes in the men’s race.

Christmas Day fell on a Saturday this year, and so it was fantastic to see so many parkrun events take place. Once again, we can’t thank the volunteers enough for giving up their precious time on this most special of days. The turnout from TRC members was also impressive, with over a dozen members keen to offset their pigs-in-blankets with a bracing three-miler in the mud.

The Watt family were at Warwick Racecourse, and despite the going being good-to-soft at best, Clare still came close to an 80% score with a 4th place finish in 23:55. John ducked under the 30 min barrier, and was allowed roast potatoes at lunch as a result. Poor Andrew Darton has had a miserable year with injuries, but still finished inside the top 10 at Hentstridge parkrun. Wishing him a full return to racing form in 2022. Finally, Chipping Sodbury always schedule their event on Christmas Day, and four of our most venerable members donned their Santa hats for this one. Nick Langridge doesn’t even take Christmas Day off from being awesome; he ran within a rounding error of an 80% score to finish in 22:03. Kevin Wood ran an excellent 24:30, Chris Foley 26:45, and John Francksen 33:20.

Finally, Dec 19th was the date for the Chippenham ‘Shortest Day’ 10k, and the latest event in the Pete Mainstone Challenge. I ran the ‘Longest Day’ version, which was held one sun-dappled evening in June, a contrast to the cold, wind and mud of last month. The course is a good one, but runners climb gradually for most of the first 9km and then you go sharply downhill for the final 1000m. The net effect is that you can’t go as fast as you’d like on the downhill, and the cumulative effort of the climbing means that this not a PB course, especially in the winter.

That makes Sean Leadbetter’s performance all the more remarkable. Sean was fifth overall in 36:25, beaten only by some of the most seriously committed club runners in the region. Sean was spotted in the pre-race photo sporting an outlandish woollen bobble hat that ought to have to led to his disqualification on sartorial grounds, but that fashion crime aside, he delivered one of the very best results by a TRC member across the whole of 2021. Well done Sean!

Nick Langridge maintained his Vadar-like grip on the top of the overall leaderboard with a typically consistent run of 46:71, second in his age-group. Kevin Wood just missed getting under 50 minutes, but was rewarded with a fourth place age-category result. John Welsh ran 53:19 and Carol Mosses finished in 80 mins.

*writer shorthand for “I can’t be bothered to check”.