Category Archives: Results

Cross Country, Results, Thornbury Running Club

Moguls and Molehills – cross-country race report, 8th January

How we love the fast-draining limestone soil of the Cotswolds!   

The Gloucestershire County Championships took place at the Cotswold Farm Park, and despite a fortnight of almost continuous rain it was remarkable how much actual grass we had to run on, even on lap 3 of the senior men’s race, some three hours after the competitions began.   

The start and finish took place on what the organisers called the ‘bumpy field’ which was full of moguls, hillocks and tree-roots, before a testing long section through fields and wooded paths.

The senior women’s race was combined with the men’s over 65s.  As the women sprinted for the sanctuary of the finish line with the occasional septuagenarian in hot pursuit, I did suggest to the organisers that they played the Benny Hill theme tune over the loud-speaker, but they just told me to stop bothering them and go away.

Taryn Roberts was the first TRC woman to finish, and demonstrated that her recent resurgence in form is continuing by securing an excellent 5th place overall in 33:42.   That should qualify her to run for the Gloucestershire team in the UK inter-counties championships.

Equally impressive, and less than 2 minutes behind Taryn, was Melanie Wilson who recorded a 5th place placing in her age-category competition.   Mel pipped team captain Hannah Hamilton to the line, but Hannah was significantly hampered by a nasty fall during the race that cost her a lot of time.   After the race her swollen knee resembled a 3-dimensional, scale-model of the aforementioned ‘bumpy field’.    Despite the accident Hannah should also have qualified, with Melanie, for the county team.

Some of TRC’s best endurance athletes filled the next few places – all of whom recorded comfortable top-10 age-category results.  It was great to see the talented Natalie Bennett on the cross-country course.  She was home in 36:23.   Jo Plumbley was next for TRC in 37:23.    Clare Watt and Ros Rowland were, not surprisingly given their abilities, first and second respectively in their age-categories.   Carol Mosses also ran a strong race to complete the line-up.

Arthur Renshaw was the clear winner in his age category, and he exudes such an aura of invincibility that none of his contemporaries were willing to line-up against him.   (are you trying to say he was the only runner?   Ed.)

The men’s race was very competitive up at the front, with UK inter-county places on offer.   The men had to circle the bumpy field five times in total, with three long laps around the main part of the course thrown in too.   The underfoot conditions remained good, but the pinch points at the corners were now very slippery indeed.

James Harrod has been injured for much of the past two months, and so was severely lacking in any form of speedwork coming into this race.   He began cautiously but was rewarded with a storming final lap as he worked his way through the field to finish in 9th place overall, and the runaway winner in the U20s competition.    A muddy, hilly 10k in 38:17.

Andy Wilson produced arguably the performance of the day for TRC’s men.   He was 39th overall in 42:03, but that was a big improvement on his last outing.   Andy has undoubted speed and talent, but until recently had been fading towards the end of the longer races.   His steady endurance training over the winter is already paying dividends as he paced his run to perfection this time around.   I am very confident that he will make further progress up the field in the next few races.

The ever-reliable Ben Bohane just lost out to Andy this time, finishing in 41st place in 42:30.    There then followed a sizeable gap to some of the TRC veterans, although they were consoled with some top 10 age-category finishes.   James had time to scoff a few slices of cake before watching his dad, Paul, slip-slide around the final corner like a malfunctioning milk-float:  52nd in 44:21 but 8th in category.   George Evans improved on his last outing, and was 6th in category, and 55th in 45:03.  X-country captain Jim Godden was less than a minute behind, and an excellent 5th in his category.    Will Hamilton was closing in fast on Jim and secured 63rd place overall in 46:17.   Paul Saville was the final member of the team home and should be pleased with a top-10 age category finish as well.

In the overall competition Thornbury’s men were fourth overall, and the ladies, fifth.   Both teams missed their top-scoring senior runner from last time around, (Laura and Sean), and the men’s team in particular has several other luminaries to call upon in the future.   Please put the next race, on the 13th February, at Pitville Park in Cheltenham, in your diaries.

Members, News, Results, Thornbury Running Club, Uncategorized

December parkrun results – and Pete Mainstone Challenge

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”.

Members, News, Results

Thornbury parkrun 100no – race reports w/e 21st and 28th November

Thornbury parkrun celebrated its 100th race on Saturday 20th November, only two and a bit years behind schedule. 

Perhaps we can liken Thornbury parkrun to an unreliable boyfriend: frequently cancels at the last minute, and can go silent on you for ages without an explanation, (or due to a global pandemic – this analogy is already at breaking point.)   However when he does turn up, somehow all is forgiven. 

Thornbury parkrun may have been cancelled more weeks than not, but looking back at the past 100 runs you can see how it has helped us grow as a club.    TRC has dominated the first finisher roster:  Henry and Laura Orna have been first ten times between them; Hannah Hamilton has won the women’s race five times, Ben Bohane six, and Nick Williams leading the way with nine wins in total. Perhaps as important is to look at how much some members have improved since the parkrun was first staged.  Several people (who know who they are) have knocked a good couple of minutes off their PB from the early stagings to the most recent.

The 100th race benefitted from ideal conditions.   There was virtually no wind, and the course was not too slippery or wet underfoot.   Several runners came in fancy dress, including Roger Glew in a very fetching costume that looked fantastic, but would have weighed him down on that telling final lap!   There was a rare outing from Batman too.  Parkrun rules means he has to register as Bruce Wayne, so every time he scans his barcode it gives the game away, but it was still good to see him working on his aerobic fitness.  Most importantly the race director had brought a huge cake to celebrate, with some Bake Off standard icing depicting the parkrun logo and the century of races at the Mundy mudbaths.   A fantastic turnout from the community meant it had to be cut up in well over a hundred pieces.

Ben Bohane led from start to finish and secured a very impressive course PB in 18:21.  Paul Harrod was some way back in third, but also got a new PB in 18:54.   Hannah Hamilton was the first TRC woman, securing third place, 18th overall, in 21:52. The top performer for the club was still Clare Watt however.   Her age-graded score was the highest by some margin, at just under 80%.    John Watt missed his course PB by just three second, and also missed getting under the 30 minute barrier by just six.  

One week later, and the conditions could hardly have been more different.   Storm Arwen had scattered the recycling bins across the town, and it is greatly to their credit that the organisers managed to keep so many parkruns going. So the times from last week can not be remotely compared to the times from the week before.   All the same TRC once again had the two first finishers at Thornbury, with Sean Leadbetter (19:06) and Asten Haynes (19:16) producing two stunning performances, especially as it would have been hard to keep moving forward on the sections of the course that were into the teeth of the wind.   Normally I tend only to report on PBs or near PBs, but this week that isn’t realistic.   Any run close to it deserves a special mention.    So congratulations particularly to Moray Sloan for his 10th place finish in 22:53.

Performance of the week must have come from Melanie Wilson who headed out onto the ‘Dune of Doom’ at Woolacombe Bay, and somehow ran 5k into the teeth of a force 10 gale in just over 31 minutes.   She finished second woman, and 10th overall, in what is always a highly competitive event.    Kevin Wood was 20th in the same race, and the fact that someone as consistent as Kevin ran the course 8 minutes slower than his PB gives some idea of how brutal the conditions must have been.   However wind, saltwater and sand does make for excellent exfoliating beauty treatment, so there was an upside.

Events, Members, Results

race reports w/e 7th and 14th November

Saturday 6th November meant it was time for the club’s parkrun of the month – held on this occasion at Berkeley Green.   Even if the grounds of a discontinued nuclear power station stretches the definition of ‘park’ to breaking point, it is still a great venue with a fast and flat course. 

Berkeley Green also attracts some fast runners chasing PBs, but none could top TRC’s dynamic duo of Taryn Roberts and Sean Leadbetter.    Taryn was first female finisher, and 9th overall in 21:06.    Her age-adjusted time was 0.06% better than Sean’s which is a fact that absolutely nobody will be interested in, but it does amuse the inner-Stato in me.   Sean was runaway first finisher in 18:43, and the only man under 19 minutes- all the more impressive after the gruelling cross-country race of the week before.   

There was a fine turnout from TRC members, and it was lovely to see the team photo posted up on Facebook.  There’s not enough room to list everyone, but special mention to Jonathan Hall in 15th place, and 22:40; Kevin Arnold in a fine top-20 finish in a shade over 23 minutes; Chris Studley in a high 60% plus age-graded time; plus Tom Witherbed, glad to be back on terra firma after the mud of Ciren, with a new course PB of 26:34.    For the women, Ashleigh Ferris missed her course PB by fractions (27:30); Emma Pritchard ran a strong 28:38.   Well done also to Karen Carr and Kathy Willott who both recorded age-grade scores in the high 60s.

Last Saturday saw a rare running of the Thornbury parkrun in November.   The Mundy playing fields is a wonderful location, but sadly it drains as slowly as the kitchen sink in Withnail and I, meaning winter cancellations are pretty frequent.   So TRC members took advantage of a dry week of weather, perhaps mindful that this could be it until the Spring.

It’s always exciting to see new members improve week by week.   However Asten Haynes seems to be the sort of runner who somehow gets fitter during a run.  His progress is extraordinary, and he coasted to a first place finish in 18:56 – the sort of the time you usually only see on the hard ground of the summer, and even then rarely.   Ben Bohane was close by in third place in 19:12.  Ben seems to be racing each weekend which is remarkable, and has shown his flexibility in marathons, 10ks, cross-country and parkruns in the last two months alone.  I don’t know where he gets his remarkable endurance from, although he does have young children, so it is possible that he expends less energy racing at 6-min mile pace than he does chasing after excited children on a weekend morning.  It was also great to see Carol Mosses back racing after an injury lay-off.  She ran alongside Karen Broadbent, finishing just outside 40 minutes.

Simon Pinnington went over to Wotton to try out the cross-country course ahead of the (now sadly cancelled) second Glos League race.   Wotton is also hilly, muddy and uneven, so his time of 20:19 is an excellent one.   Proof of that was his second place overall, and I hope he will forgive me for pointing out that it is extremely rare for a V50 to finish in second place in any parkrun given the quality of the local running scene.  Fantastic run, Simon.

However even Asten and Simon might need to doff their Timberland trail caps to Hannah Hamilton who stormed to a first place finish, plus an incredible 8th overall at Chipping Sodbury in a shade over 21 minutes.   Chipping Sodbury regularly gets 250-300 runners, so to win her race is a fantastic achievement.

Notwithstanding these heroic parkrun efforts, the club’s DNA is really out on the trails.    Nick Williams was the winner of the CTS Gower Ultra, a 32 mile race including large parts of the Welsh coastal path, and nearly 4000 ft of climbing.   Nick completed that race at an average speed of under 8 and a half minutes per mile, a pace many of us would be happy to hit on a flat road run a fifth of the distance.  

Finally the Sodbury Slog returned, complete with mud, mud, glorious mud!   There was yet another strong turnout from TRC members.   Sean Leadbetter led the way with a 12th place finish in a high-quality men’s race.   He finished in 1 hr and 8 mins, and anything under the 80 minute mark is very fast on that brute of a route.  Ian Evans also made it home under that time, and just missed out on a top 20 age-category finish.   Melanie Wilson was 24th in her age category, running 1hr 35.    Kevin Cundy ran 1hr 43.    Ian Hoffman beat the 2hr mark by 20 seconds; Hugh Mcpherson missed it by 20 seconds, but he was consoled by a top-25 age category finish.   Judy Mills was in her element on those trails and was the only TRC runner to get on the virtual podium, recording a brilliant third place overall in her age category.

Cross Country, News, Results

CROSS COUNTRY RACE REPORT – W/E 31ST OCTOBER

As men’s team captain Jim Godden put it: ‘that was proper cross-country.’

Round one of the Gloucestershire League took place at Cirencester Park. The venue features acres of lush green grass that allow for a spectator-friendly event and a fast and furious race. Instead we were pitched down rain-sodden tracks, along rutted woodland paths, and (for the men at least) three times through a swamp which was knee-deep in places. Discerning readers may detect vague hints at my personal preference for a race route, but there is no denying that the sense of solidarity and achievement is all the greater if you make it to the finish line in a race like that more or less unscathed. Plus if you enjoy startling squirrels, you were in your element.

The highlight of the day was seeing just how many TRC runners turned out. As a result we had some excellent team and individual performances, even if we were missing many of our stars from the women’s team. Even a strong senior men’s team was missing Nick and Dylan, arguably our two fastest runners. So the potential is there for the club to perform even better in future events.

However it was the Masters men that delivered the performance of the day. Nick Langridge, Chris Foley and Arthur Renshaw won their team competition, while Nick was second in his individual age category. Our three musketeers ran alongside the senior ladies, who also ran at the same time as some very speedy U17 and U20 juniors. So picking out the specific results is not straight-forward. Laura Orna knew if she didn’t get round the course at a serious trot then her children would almost certainly have eaten all the cakes. So she did not disappoint by finishing in 51st place overall, but much higher in the senior ladies’ race, and a very impressive eighth place in her age category.

6km is barely a warm-up stride-out for Ros Rowland, but she proved that her ultra-marathon trail running hasn’t sapped her speed, as she finished in 77th place, and third in her age category. A top three age category finish in an event of this quality is a significant achievement. Ros was still pipped to the post by Jo Plumbley who finished 10 seconds ahead, in 76th place. Maria Hobbs completed the line-up and she finished in 98th place. Anything inside the top 100 is very good indeed.

The senior men’s race was also of an extremely high quality. Perhaps the 18 month plus Covid gap, and the fact that this was an ideal warm-up for some of the very serious guys looking ahead to the national cross-country relays, meant that there seemed to be a particularly strong turnout from the likes of Bath AC, Western Tempo, and some of the University teams. To put it into perspective, the winner of the men’s race ran well under 30 mins for 10k on the road the previous week.

So the TRC men’s team performed very creditably, even if I sensed some disappointment from a few of us at the placings. However virtually everyone on the team was making their cross-country club debut, and it does take time to gauge the right pace, and adapt to running on such challenging terrain after a summer on the roads.

18 year old James Harrod made his first appearance in a senior race, which involved a step-up to 10k from the usual 6km covered in the junior races. He was holding on to fifth place deep into the final lap when stomach issues necessitated a pit-stop in the woods during which he slipped to 10th place and James could not overhaul any other runner before the finish. However a top 10 placing in such a competitive race is a great achievement.

Sean Leadbeater, Phil Blackburn and Ben Bohane probably lost out to some guys they would easily beat on the road, but they still performed exceptionally well in their first XC races for the club. Sean grabbed a highly-prized top 50 finish in 46th. Phil was only 20-odd seconds behind in 53rd , while Ben just another minute back in 63rd.

There then followed a veritable cluster of TRC runners, with Paul Harrod in 79th; a brilliantly-paced effort from Simon Pinnington in 82nd (and 9th in his age category), Andy Wilson one place back in 83rd, and a fantastic effort from very-recent recruit Asten Haynes in 88th. Asten has made remarkable progress in a matter of weeks, so I am sure he will climb the ranks in future races.

London marathon club record holder George Evans was 95th, and running in the same month as his monumental effort in the Capital was heroic, and probably cost him a few places. However top 100 is still very good. Captain Jim Godden was 107th, but 6th in his age-category. Henry Orna was 122nd and Martyn Green 134th. Tom Witherbed sadly had to pull out just after halfway. He felt his hamstring was struggling on the sharp descents, and wisely spared himself injury. Hopefully Tom will be back for the next race which is likely to be on a less extreme course.

The net result was that both the senior men’s team, and the vets’ team (over 40s) are in seventh place overall. In an ideal world we’d get a few more fast guys out next time, then all the seniors score for the senior team, leaving those vets that scored for the senior team this time round (are you following at the back?) free to score for the vets which would correspondingly bump up that score. A top 5 placing in both team categories is therefore possible.

Next race is SUNDAY 12th Dec at Wotton Park. Any club member is welcome to join the team, and, based on our experience last week, the quality of the running is only exceeded by the quality of Jim Godden’s patisserie skills.

Members, Results, Thornbury Running Club

AWESOME ORNAS CONQUER EDEN – race report w/e 10th October

TRC has notched up a few parkrun ‘first finishers’ in recent weeks.   Last Saturday saw a hat-trick of sorts on a single day.

Mallards Pike is a single-lap course through the Forest of Dean that attracts some serious cani-cross runners – of both two and four-legged varieties.  Bristol and West’s Ben Robinson holds the course record in 12:34.   Clearly he is some athlete, as you have to have incredible leg-speed to avoid face-planting into the dirt at 4-min mile pace, but after recording that time you’d think the dog would get a name-check too.

On Saturday, TRC’s Taryn Roberts was first across the line in a brilliant 20:08.  The results page says she was ‘assisted’ and while it is possible she stopped on the way to ask for directions, we can presume that she too strapped herself in behind her canine companion and set off into the woods like Boudicea astride her chariot. Taryn has set the mark: any other TRC member fancy competing for the unofficial club cani-cross record?!

At the Mundy playing fields Sean Leadbetter continued TRC’s excellent showing at our home parkrun, winning in an impressive 18:46.   The grass, hills and sharp turns mean Thornbury is not a fast course, so any male time under 19 minutes is seriously good.

Severn Bridge, by contrast, is a fast course, although running from the bottom of the bridge to the apex into a headwind is deceptively tough.   18 year old James Harrod prudently paced his effort to the half-way point, and then used the slope back to base to good effect, finishing with a sub 5-min mile, to record 16:09, the fastest time by a junior and the ninth quickest in the history of the event.

Behind our three race winners there were some other noteworthy performances.   Ashleigh Ferris missed her Thornbury parkrun PB by a handful of seconds, and ran just over 25 minutes.  Melinda Evans ran a 30:56 PB in the same race.  At Severn Bridge, Paul Harrod was still in England while son James was scanning his barcode in Wales, but still finished 6th in 18:30.   Roger Glew is in a rich vein of form at the moment, seemingly knocking off parkrun PBs each week for fun.   He’s increasingly resembling a Michelangelo sculpture that is coming into sharper relief as the marble is chiselled away.  Another 23:27 PB to add to the collection.  Catherine Dack (24:24) and Ann Green (28:06) also ran their respective Severn Bridge PBs and both comfortably exceeded a 70% age-grade score.  Congratulations too to Naomi Hibbard, for her ‘post baby PB’ of 29:44! Finally, at Cheltenham, Clare Watt ran 24:20, and recorded yet another highly impressive age-grade score of 77% plus.

Phil Blackburn joined TRC during lockdown, and has been wowing the 7-min group with the dizzying rate at which he has been improving.   Phil came from a background in football, and so for the first few weeks needed help tying his shoelaces, and had to be carried off with cramp after the first couple of miles [citation needed].   Since then he has been posting fast times at races from 5k to half-marathon.   On Sunday, he ran his debut marathon in Manchester and finished in a wonderful time of 3hrs and 5 mins.   He was on for a sub-3 until about mile 23 when he just couldn’t quite maintain the 6 min 50 mile pace he had been hitting on average right up to that point.   Old hands at the club know it takes years to build an endurance base.   Phil has achieved a phenomenal amount in 12 months, and if he can maintain his obvious enthusiasm for training, then allied with his natural talent and raw speed, he could knock 20 mins plus off that time during the next few years.

The Eden Project marathon in Cornwall sounded like a fell run that happened to be on tarmac.  The site itself is full of sharp ‘switchback’ paths that sap the hamstrings on the way up, and the quads on the way down.   Plus the rest of the route on local roads is undulating to put it mildly.  So forget the times, and focus on the finishing positions.   Ben Bohane cranked up that internal diesel engine of his and finished in a fantastic 7th position overall, in a time of 3hrs 33 mins.  A quite brilliant run for someone who hasn’t had the time to train seriously for a marathon, even if he has been ripping up the 10ks.   

Laura and Henry Orna were raising money for MIND – a fine charity, and a cause very dear to their hearts.   Laura was the 5th lady, and finished within the margin of error of 4 hours.  Husband Henry’s relentless training sessions up and down Olveston’s Vicarage Lane were put to good effect as he finished in a shade over 3hrs 50.   Henry and Laura are NHS heroes who somehow seem to combine bringing up their two lovely children, with incredibly demanding and stressful jobs, and yet still find time to train and race at a high level.  Inspirational stuff, and all your club mates salute you!

*Next race report will be w/e 30th October, covering round one of the Glos cross country league.

Members, News, Results, Thornbury Running Club

GEORGE’S MARVELLOUS MARATHON, race report w/e 3rd October

Unless you’re a runner, you don’t really appreciate what a supreme effort it is to complete a marathon. It demands months of focused training, and even then it is almost impossible to prepare the body to keep moving forward at speed when glycogen reserves in muscle fibres are exhausted. There is a reason why marathon aficionados say that 20 miles is the real half-way point. At the end of the race you know you’re going to be walking like John Wayne for the next fortnight, and won’t be able to run at any serious pace for at least a month.

However, if you’re going to put yourself through it, then our capital city must be the place to do so. Congratulations to all the TRC runners for racing the London marathon: without exception you did yourselves and your club proud.

Yet special mention must go to debutant George Evans who smashed Rob Watkins’ all-time club record for the London marathon. George took part to raise money to help refurbish the netball courts at his daughters’ school. After his stunning 2hr 52 and 33 second effort they ought to name them after him. George’s progress in recent months has been staggering – and it was no surprise to see him record such a marvellous time, some 23 minutes inside the ‘good for age’ benchmark that London marathon organisers set as a target time for the very best runners in the UK to aim for. Dad of three, environmental consultant, champion runner, community fundraiser, Boden catalogue model…is there nothing George can not do? If he can find the enthusiasm to stick to this training routine over the next 12 months, is Nick Langridge’s all-time club marathon record of 2hr 43 under threat?

Hard to think anyone could better George’s effort, but Chris Foley came very close. He finished 43rd overall in his age category (which for a race the size of the London marathon is amazing) in a time of 4hrs 16 mins. He beat his own ‘good for age’ target by an even greater percentage than George did, which is in indication of how good Chris’ run was, and it is remarkable how consistently he performs across the distances.

Club captain Kevin Wood had prepared meticulously for the event, and more importantly raised thousands of pounds to support the Young Lives against Cancer charity. However his race-day began when the fire alarm was set off at the hotel and he was pitched out onto the street at 1am. Will these die-hard supporters of Chepstow Harriers stop at nothing? Bleary-eyed and weary before he started, Kevin still managed to produce an excellent run of 4hrs 12 mins. Not far behind him, Paul Reeves finished in 4hrs 25, Sarah Newnes in 4hrs and 28 and Sonya Bryson in 4 hrs 32. Mike Bennewitz ran a fine 5hrs 51.

Sunday also saw the rescheduled running of the Berkeley 10k, which was also the latest instalment of the Pete Mainstone challenge. It is a brilliant race, meticulously organised by our friends at Dursley running club. It starts and ends at Berkeley Green College (site of the old power station) and features two loops of the picturesque town, the highlight being the run over the bridge where fatigued runners can glance up at the Castle and see the window where the anxious King Edward II watched the 1327 edition of the race. It is a pretty flat and fast course, and TRC members took advantage to produce some excellent finishing times.

Nick Williams followed up his Bristol half-marathon PB with another stellar performance to finish in second place overall in a time of 34:57. From an already high base, Nick is still improving, and now mixing it with the very top runners in our region. Ben Bohane has a marathon next week, but still gave this race the Spinal Tap treatment, ratcheting it up to 11, and finishing in 38:05. Simon Pinnington also smashed the 40 min barrier, finishing in 39:15, and a clear winner in the MV50 category. Congratulations.

Phil Blackburn also has a marathon next week, and therefore soft-pedalled a little, but still pushed a big enough gear to finish in 40:14. He pipped Paul Thomas to the post by just one second. Jim Godden continued his strong recent form with 40:44. Paul Saville said his ‘lungs felt like old hoover bags’ but they still got him around the course in 44 mins. Nick Langridge consolidated his lead in the overall Challenge standings, and his 45:09 was the highest age-adjusted score of the day. Jonathan Hall finished in 45:50; Chris Pritchard ran under 55 mins; Richard Illingworth and Mel Lloyd took just over an hour.

The TRC ladies team also produced some fantastic results. Hannah Hamilton wasn’t very well, but was still the first TRC women home in 45 mins. 10km is really just a warm-up stride for Jo Plumbley, but this endurance specialist is still rapid over the shorter distances. She was the second TRC woman, in a shade under 47 mins. Emma Barnes was third women for TRC, in 48:49 and a brilliant second place overall in her age category. Clare Watt ran 49 mins, and would have been very high up indeed in her age category. Selina Slater completed a very strong set of results for the ladies team with a run of 52:39.

Despite all these outstanding results, the only TRC member to win a race this weekend was Chris Worrell, who was first finisher at the Minehead Parkrun in 18:51. Our cross-country team seems to get stronger by the week.

Conditions at the Mundy playing fields are probably now no better than good to soft, so any PBs from now on are all down to improved running performance. So ‘chapeau’ to 14 yr old Thomas Darton (19:49), Michael Owen (24:07) and Roger Glew (24:22) for setting new course PBs.

Members, News, Results, Thornbury Running Club

Calm before the (London) storm. Race report, w/e 26th Sept.

There are positives and negatives when the wind does not blow. On the down-side it means less renewable energy production, leading to greater reliance on natural gas, which in turn leads to a price surge, with knock-on effects for the energy market, which could exacerbate an inflationary spiral with huge consequences for the cost of living, household finances and the global economy.

But on the plus side, light wind makes for perfect Parkrun PB conditions.

At the Mundy playing fields Jim proved that he has still Godden-it! Our men’s cross-country captain ran a 20 minute-flat PB, finishing fourth overall. As Jim competes in a category reserved for those with high levels of accumulated wisdom, this translated to an age-grade score a smidgen under 80% – a ranking Parkrun UK says is national standard. A fantastic run by Jim, and hopefully this level of performance will mean he will challenge for his age-group title in the forthcoming Glos Cross Country League races.

Not far behind Jim, Tom Usherwood also ran an excellent PB, finishing in 8th place in 21:53. Emma Pritchard was fourth female finisher, and just missed out on her course PB, running 28:05. Melinda Evans also missed her PB by a handful of seconds. She ran 32:08.

To judge from his Strava feed, Dylan Roberts has spent the past two years, off-grid, living wild in the Forest of Dean, surviving on berries and wild boar. Or possibly he and his family moved to Lydney – I ought to check. Either way, this naturally-gifted athlete has been throwing out some stunning park-run times recently. He was second place at Mallards Pike in 18:22, but has previously run 17:44. Hopefully Dylan can be tempted back over the Bridge to bolster our men’s cross-country team.

Six days after a full-on half-marathon effort most people are still re-fuelling on pies and vin rouge, but Paul Thomas joined Dylan at Mallards Pike in a very respectable 6th place/19:25/78% age-grade. Over at Stonehouse, Nick Langridge ran 21:54, which also gave him a 79% age-grade score. I realise I go on about these quite a lot, but it is worth noting that a 25-year old male runner would need to record something like 15:45 to get a comparable score to those recorded this week by Jim, Nick and Paul.

I understand that Nikki Foss ran the Nottingham half-marathon on Sunday. She finished in 2hrs 17mins which is an excellent effort, especially considering she’s only recently started to train consistently after giving birth.

Finally, just a week out from London, not many people would choose to warm up with a trail half-marathon. However George Evans continued his highly impressive run of form with an outstanding 15th position out of 527 runners at the Forest of Dean Half, in a time just over 1hr 28 mins. This route wouldn’t be comparable to a road run, so this tune-up suggests a sub-three hour run could be on the cards next Sunday in London. Good luck, and have fun, to all the TRC runners heading to the capital next week!

Members, Results, Thornbury Running Club

WILLIAMS, WILSON AND THOMAS IN BRISTOL HALF-MARATHON SUCCESS

The streets of Bristol came to life on Sunday for the rescheduled running of the half-marathon and 10k events. After the 18 months we’ve all had it was a particular joy to race around, marvelling at the generosity of spirit of enthusiastic residents cheering on those of us fortunate enough to participate.

The Great Run organisers did a fantastic job – (except for the paucity of porcelain which led to huge pre-race toilet queues) – and devised a wonderful route that showcased Bristol at her best. The half-marathon route did the usual loop up and down the Champs El’Portway, but then joined the 10k course that weft and waved its way along the docks, over Bristol Bridge, across Queens Square, past St Mary Redcliffe (beautiful church, shame they built it on a roundabout), alongside Castle Park, and then through the Centre and old part of the City to the finish on Anchor Road. There were several sharp turns, cobble segments, and a handful of steep sections, so probably not a PB course, but the variety of the vista more than made up for it.

Lucie Wilson ran a beautifully paced effort to finish inside 1hr 30 mins: 16th place overall in the women’s race. Considering the Bristol half-marathon attracts international runners at the very front of the field this is a marvellous achievement. Nick Williams smashed his PB with a stunning time of 1hr 16 mins and 47 seconds – an average pace of 5:47 per mile. Nick was 5th in his age category, and an incredible 28th overall, in a race won overall by multiple-Olympian Chris Thompson.

Phil Blackburn and Paul Harrod recorded exactly the same time – 1 hr 25mins and 59 seconds, but did so running 30 minutes apart in separate waves of the race. Paul Thomas – whose mileage volume makes Forest Gump look like a HIIT trainer – ran yet another amazing race. He matched Nick in finishing 5th overall in his age category, which is a considerable accomplishment in a race of this size and quality, and finished in 1hr 28 mins and 28 seconds. Can’t wait to see how Paul will do in his upcoming marathon.

Andy Wilson set off like he’d remembered he’d left the iron on at home, and his 10k split would have placed him high up in that separate race. He had to slow towards the end of the run but still finished in 1hr 29 mins and 27 seconds. His raw pace should make him a linchpin of our senior men’s cross-country team, and if he adopts his wife’s pacing strategy then he is more than capable of knocking lumps of time off that mark when he next does a half-marathon! Roger Glew continued his own rapid rise in fitness and running performance with a fine finish in 1 hr 47mins flat; Ashleigh Ferris ducked inside 1hr 50 mins to complete a highly successful day out for the TRC half-marathon massif.

The 10k runners had to wait until later in the morning for their race to start, and as such had warmer weather to cope with. TRC members still produced some excellent performances. Mitch Ford ran 41:24, despite electing to front-load his effort, a.k.a going off like a lunatic! Paul Reeves is tuning up nicely for the London Marathon and his 54:54 time bodes well for that event. Simon Groves ran 1hr 4 mins, with Sam Findlay in 1hr 7, and Rachel Smith in 1hr 15 mins.

Sunday was also the day for the Wotton-under-Edge 10k race, held on a new multi-terrain route. Paul Saville ran 46:04 to finish in a very strong 12th place overall. Judy Mills ran an excellent 1hr and 9 mins despite, or perhaps benefitting from, running the length of the Anglesey coastal path the previous week.

On Saturday Hannah Hamilton ran the Badminton trail marathon. Her Strava feed records the race as 28.3 miles long, so I presume it was an over-distance event, unless Hannah over-did the social distancing etiquette when overtaking people on the later laps. She finished in four and a half hours, and her actual marathon time would have been close to 4 hours. A fantastic performance for an off-road event of that distance.

Finally to the parkruns. Congratulations to Simon Pinnington for coming third overall at Thornbury, running 20:15 and with a very impressive 73% age-grade score. Tom Usherwood ran a 22:12 PB. Well done also to Kathy Willott who made her debut at Severn Bridge and finished in 33 mins and 19 seconds. This translated to a highly competitive age-graded score of 68%.

Events, Members, Results, Thornbury Running Club

race report w/e 12th September

The Great North Run is the biggest half-marathon in the world, with 57 000 runners taking part in this year’s 40th anniversary celebration. I presume the race is called ‘great’ because it refers to the wider geographic area of the north of England, rather than ‘great’ as in ‘super, smashing, great’, but either way it is an extraordinary event, and one for any serious runner’s bucket list.’ The weather in the North East was unseasonably hot, with the temperature rising close to 15 degrees, but that was no problem for TRC’s intrepid trio who had spent the summer acclimatising in the tropical South West.

Melanie Wilson was the first Thornbury runner to finish in a time of 1hr 44 mins. She was in 76th position overall in her age-group, which is a wonderful achievement in a race of such magnitude. Hugh McPherson and Chris Foley were barely ten minutes behind Mel, yet four and a half thousand runners crossed the line during that time – another indication of the scale of the event. Chris and Hugh compete in highly exclusive age categories, and once again achieved remarkable results: Chris an amazing 9th overall, and Hugh in 49th. They ran together and finished well inside the 2 hour mark.

There isn’t much to report from this week’s parkruns. Lots of club members are preparing for the Bristol Half, and of course the London Marathon. In a limited roster of results, the highlight has to be Laura Orna, who was first woman at Thornbury, in 22:10. Claire Watt was second woman, and her age-graded score was a fraction below 78%, which on that course is seriously fast. Ashleigh Ferris was in the top 5 at Haverford West, running 24:55, while Ian Hoffman ran 21:44 and was 8th overall in the Llyn Llech Owain parkrun: (translated from the Welsh it means ‘Lynne likes Owen’, presumably a reference to the burgeoning romance between the race directors).