Road / Trail / Cross-Country

Road

The club’s main focus is the Midland Mens 6-stage, Womens 4-stage and Young Athletes 3-stage Regional Road Relays held in September, and the Midland Mens 12-stage, Womens 6-stage and Young Athletes 3-stage Regional Road Relays held in March or April, both at Sutton Park, Birmingham. Both are qualifiers for the English Road Running Association (ERRA) National Road Relays, also held at Sutton Park, in October/November and April respectively.

 

These are superb events with a fantastic atmosphere and make a great team day out.

Other events:

 

The club often targets other competitions such as local and regional road races, multi-terrain and relay events. These can range in distance from 1 mile up to ultra distance.

  

Locally there is the Gloucestershire County Road Race Series, organised by the GAAA. This involves a series of 12 races throughout the year within the county of varying distances – runners gain points according to their finishing position relative to their competitors in the series in their age group, with up to 8 races to score. Awards are made to the top three individuals (in 5-year age groups) and teams at the end of the season.

 

The club has a great history of success in ultra distance events, from the heyday of the early 1980s when Martin Daykin, Dave Dowdle, Chris O’Carroll and Ken Leyshon were setting world and UK records and winning European team titles, to the more recent successes such as Jeremy Mower who has represented Wales since 2005 in international 100Km races, and team successes such as the Marlborough Downs Challenge 33 mile trail race where Ian Summers, Neil Scowby and Andy McKenzie won the team prize for Gloucester AC in both 2003 and 2004. The club has enjoyed success in long distance relay events, winning the mixed team award at the Lightning 12-hour relay in 2011 and 2012. The club also regularly competes in the 106-mile Cotswold Way Relay in June.

Cross Country

Cross country, while being the bane of many a school child, is actually tremendous fun at club level and great training in its own right.

 

Please let us know if you are interested in competing in any of the cross-country races this season, we'll be more than happy to welcome you into the cross-country fold!

 

While you're at it, why not visit our Facebook Cross Country page!

Birmingham League:

The club’s main focus in the winter is the Birmingham and District Cross-Country League for the senior/U20 men. This league was established in 1925 and is regarded as arguably the most prestigious league in the country. More details of the club's performance in this league are given below.

 

Midland Womens League:

The senior/U20 women have the Midlands Womens League available to them for top-level league competition.

 

Gloucestershire League:

The Gloucestershire Cross-Country League provides a series of four local races, and with categories for all age groups from U11 to Master for both men and women, gives everyone the chance to enjoy cross-country without having to travel far.

 

Championships:

There are various championships in addition to the leagues. These include the Gloucestershire County Championships, the Midland Championships and the National Championships, together with the likes of the Midland 7, County Relays and Midland Relays, giving a range of races open to all age groups.

 

Gloucester AC placed 3rd in the Midland Relays in 1977-78 and 1978-79, both at Redditch. Steve McHale won the Midland Youth Championship in 1969 at Nottingham.


Gloucester AC's Birmingham League History

Gloucester AC first entered the league in Division 3 in 1969 and gained promotion to Division 1 for the first time in 1973 having won Division 2 in the 1972-73 season. They stayed there for the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons before being relegated to Division 2, which they promptly won in the 1975-76 season. This started a period of fourteen seasons in Division 1, with a solitary visit back to Division 2 in 1987-88. The club’s best finish was 3rd equal in 1976-77. The 1990s saw the club’s fortunes fall away to ultimately drop to Division 4 before a resurgence in the 2000s saw the club rise up again and, after a couple of close calls, re-enter the top division for the 2010-11 season. Sadly the club dropped back to Division 2 for the 2011-12 season, where they stayed for the next seven years. A drop to Division 3 after the 2017-18 season was immediately followed by successive promotions as Divisional 3 Champions in 2018-19 and Division 2 Champions in 2019-20 to Division 1 for the 2020-21 season, a season that was ultimately cancelled due to Covid. The League was back to normal for the 2021-22 season and we maintained our place in Division 1.

 

The club’s lowest ever team score came in the last Division 2 race of the 1975-76 season at West Bromwich when they placed their six scoring runners in the top 11 for 34 points. The lowest season score was in Division 2 in 1972-73 where the club scored 46, 72, 59 and 47 for a total of 224. Their best Division 1 score was 138 in the third fixture of the 1976-77 season when they also achieved their best ever Division 1 season score of 642. Best Division 3 score was 49 in the final fixture of the 2018-19 season; best Division 3 season score was 268 in the 2018-19 season. Best Division 4 score was 56 in the fourth fixture of the 2000-01 season; best Division 4 season score was 508 in the 2000-01 season.

 

In 1994 a ‘B’ team competition was brought in for the 7th to 12th place runners in each team. Gloucester AC has always put great importance in strength-in-depth, and try to field as many athletes as they can in each race. This was rewarded by ‘B’ team wins in Division 4 in 2000-01, Division 3 in 2004-05 and Division 3 in 2018-19.

 

Steve McHale won the individual title in Division 2 in 1970-71 (1, 1, 1, 2), and 1975-76 (1, 1, 1, 1), Mike Hill won it in 1972-73 (1, 1, 1, 2), and Steve Millward won it in 2009-10 (8, 1, 5, 4). The highest individual finisher within a Division 1 race was Bob Cytlau when he placed 4th in the third fixture of the 1974-75 season at Perry Barr. Simon Kellie won the Division 4 individual junior title in 2000-01. Harry Wells finished joint winner of both senior and junior Division 3 titles in 2018-19 and won the Division 2 junior title in 2019-20.

 

It is considered a major achievement to place in the top 10 in a Birmingham League race. The club’s athletes who have achieved this feat are:

Season

Division

Race

Venue

 

1969-70

3

1

Solihull

2nd Steve McHale, 3rd John Pope

 

 

2

Stourbridge

2nd Steve McHale, 3rd John Pope, 7th Kevin Tayler

 

 

3

Gloucester

3rd Steve McHale, 8th Mike Price

 

 

4

Sparkhill

8th M Hall, 10th Steve McHale

1970-71

2

1

Sparkhill

1st Steve McHale, 8th Bob Cytlau

 

 

2

Gloucester

1st Steve McHale, 8th Bob Cytlau

 

 

3

Leamington

1st Steve McHale, 4th Mike Price, 9th Bob Cytlau

 

 

4

Redditch

2nd Steve McHale, 5th Mike Price

1971-72

2

1

Sparkhill

6th Bob Cytlau

 

 

2

Wombourn

6th Bob Cytlau

 

 

3

Halesowen

1st Bob Cytlau, 4th Steve McHale, 6th Mike Hill

 

 

4

Redditch

5th Steve McHale, 8th Mike Hill, 9th Bob Cytlau

1972-73

2

1

Gloucester

1st Mike Hill, 2nd Steve McHale, 7th Brian Balls, 9th Bob Cytlau

 

 

2

Nuneaton

1st Mike Hill, 2nd Steve McHale, 10th Brian Balls

 

 

3

Leamington

1st Mike Hill, 2nd Bob Cytlau, 8th Peter Irvine

 

 

4

Halesowen

2nd Mike Hill, 4th Brian Balls, 7th Bob Cytlau, 8th Peter Irvine, 9th R Clark

1973-74

1

1

Tipton

7th Mike Hill

 

 

2

Great Barr

10th Mike Hill

1974-75

1

1

Aldersley

5th Bob Cytlau

 

 

3

Perry Barr

4th Bob Cytlau

 

 

4

Tipton

6th Bob Cytlau

1975-76

2

1

Halesowen

1st Steve McHale, 3rd Mike Hill

 

 

2

Sparkhill

1st Steve McHale, 2nd Mike Hill, 7th Bob Cytlau, 9th Norman Thomas

 

 

3

Telford

1st Steve McHale, 3rd Bob Cytlau, 8th Mike Hill

 

 

4

West Bromwich

1st Steve McHale, 2nd Mike Hill, 3rd Bob Cytlau, 7th Jerry Smith, 10th Phil Hoddy

1976-77

1

1

Coventry

6th Bob Cytlau, 7th Steve McHale

 

 

2

Perry Barr

6th Steve McHale

 

 

3

Gloucester

8th Chris O’Carroll

1980-81

1

3

Perry Park

9th Steve McHale

1983-84

1

2

Gloucester

8th Dave Cowles

1987-88

2

1

Leamington

7th Gerry Neely, 8th David Wilson-Evans

 

 

2

Massey Ferguson

3rd Gerry Neely

 

 

3

Stoke

8th Hugh Dixon

 

 

4

Sutton Park

3rd Gerry Neely, 9th Rob Love

1990-91

2

1

Hinckley

4th Alex Hope

 

 

2

Coventry

10th Darren Hale

 

 

3

Stoke

10th Darren Hale

 

 

4

Newcastle

9th Darren Hale

1991-92

2

1

Hinckley

9th Alex Hope

 

 

2

Massey Ferguson

7th Alex Hope

 

 

3

Newcastle

9th Alex Hope

 

 

4

Sutton Park

7th Alex Hope, 10th Darren Hale

1992-93

2

2

Massey Ferguson

8th Darren Hale, 9th Nathan Bishop

 

 

3

Gloucester

7th Darren Hale

1994-95

3

1

Princethorpe College

10th Mike Hill

1998-99

4

1

Senneleys Park

6th Mark Ingram

 

 

2

Kenilworth

8th Mark Ingram

 

 

3

Gloucester

10th Mark Ingram

 

 

4

Stafford Common

8th Mark Ingram

1999-00

4

1

Senneleys Park

4th Mark Ingram

 

 

4

Gloucester

2nd Phil Pollard, 9th Mo Hill

2000-01

4

1

Senneleys Park

2nd Simon Kellie (J), 7th Aidan Mercer (J), 8th Lloyd Pritchard (J)

 

 

2

Droitwich

2nd Simon Kellie (J)

 

 

3

Stafford Common

4th Mo Hill, 5th Simon Kellie (J), 10th Aidan Mercer (J)

 

 

4

Gloucester

1st Mo Hill, 2nd Simon Kellie (J), 3rd Aidan Mercer (J)

2001-02

3

1

Senneleys Park

9th Simon Kellie (J)

 

 

2

Coundon Park

1st Peter Kellie (J), 8th Mo Hill

 

 

3

Princethorpe College

8th Mo Hill

2002-03

2

1

Senneleys Park

4th Peter Kellie (J)

 

 

2

Massey Ferguson

6th Peter Kellie (J)

2004-05

3

1

Senneleys Park

4th Peter Kellie

 

 

4

Solihull

10th Simon Kellie

2006-07

3

1

Senneleys Park

7th Luke Herbert

 

 

2

West Bromwich

5th Luke Herbert

 

 

3

Hinckley

3rd Luke Herbert

 

 

4

Gloucester

9th Luke Herbert

2007-08

2

1

Senneleys Park

4th Peter Kellie

2008-09

2

1

Senneleys Park

6th Peter Kellie

 

 

3

Wyken Croft Park

7th Steve Millward, 10th Peter Kellie

 

 

4

Coundon Park

5th Steve Millward

2009-10

2

1

Senneleys Park

6th Peter Kellie, 8th Steve Millward

 

 

2

Gloucester

1st Steve Millward

 

 

3

Wyken Croft Park

5th Steve Millward

 

 

4

Malvern

4th Steve Millward, 7th Richard de-Camps (J)

2011-12

2

1

Leamington

4th Steve Millward, 7th Richard de-Camps

 

 

2

Northampton

4th Richard de-Camps, 8th Steve Millward

 

 

3

Wyken Croft Park

4th Steve Millward, 8th Richard de-Camps

 

 

4

Wolverhampton

6th Steve Millward, 10th Richard de-Camps

2012-13

2

1

Leamington

3rd Steve Millward, 10th Richard de-Camps

 

 

2

Plock Court

8th Richard de-Camps, 10th Steve Millward

 

 

3

Wyken Croft Park

6th Steve Millward, 8th Richard de-Camps

 

 

4

Cheltenham

9th Richard de-Camps, 10th Steve Millward

2013-14

2

1

Leamington

1st Alex George (J), 8th Tom George (J), 10th Richard de-Camps

 

 

2

Burbage Common

1st Alex George (J), 5th Richard de-Camps

2014-15

2

1

Leamington

2nd Tom George (J), 6th Richard de-camps

   

2

Plock Court

5th Richard de-Camps

   

3

Burbage Common

10th Richard de-Camps

2016-17 2

2

Clopton Park

5th Steve Millward

   

3

Lilleshall

3rd Steve Millward

2017-18 2

2

Clopton Park

2nd Steve Millward

   

3

Cofton Park

4th Steve Millward

   

4

Ullenwood

3rd Steve Millward

2018-19 3

1

Coundon Park

1st Harry Wells (J), 2nd Steve Millward, 7th Steve Kenyon, 9th Owen Parry

   

2

Plock Court

1st Harry Wells (J), 3rd Steve Millward

   

3

Churchfields Farm

2nd Steve Millward, 3rd James Denne, 4th Harry Wells (J), 9th Owen Parry

   

4

Cattle Country

2nd Harry Wells (J), 3rd James Denne, 4th Steve Millward, 5th Steve Kenyon

2019-20 2

1

Burton Dassett

1st Ben Robinson, 2nd Harry Wells (J), 3rd James Denne, 10th Steve Kenyon

   

2

Clopton Park

2nd James Denne, 4th Harry Wells (J), 10th Steve Kenyon

   

3

Coombe Abbey

2nd James Denne, 6th Harry Wells (J)

   

4

Lilleshall

3rd James Denne, 7th Steve Millward

2021-22 1

1

Betley

10th Ben Robinson

 

In the earlier years there were separate young athletes races at the league fixtures, and the club’s team of U17s regularly finished in the top three, winning in 1969-70, 1970-71, 1976-77, 1982-83, 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1992-93. Individual titles were won by Nathan Bishop in 1982-83, Phil Ennis in 1988-89 and Nathan Piper in 1989-90. 1992-93 was the last year the young athletes races were held.