News & Press Reports for 2012

Boxing Day 4 mile road race - 27/12/2012

 

In the Pilot Inn 4-mile road race on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, Matt Powell placed 9th in 24:01. Nathan Smith had led Powell for all but the final 500 metres before finishing 11th in 24:07, a personal best for the distance by eight seconds.

 

Next home was Max Sheppard, whose 25:59 in 18th place was a massive reduction of 46 seconds on his previous best. Newcomer James Head placed 20th in 26:26, while Hayley Winters clocked 26:36 in 21st place, to secure 3rd place in the women’s category.

 

Paul Nash finished in 25th place in 27:01 and the squad was completed by Nicola Hovey who reduced her previous best time by 73 seconds with 29:26 to finish 33rd overall and 1st W50.

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Forest of Dean Christmas Tree 5 - 16/12/2012

 

For the second consecutive year, Gloucester Athletic Club’s Richard de-Camps proved too strong for the opposition in the annual Forest of Dean "Christmas Tree" 5-mile multi-terrain race.

 

De-Camps had planned to run conservatively in the early stages of the race, knowing he was strong over the final one mile climb. However, he soon realised he was coping better than his opponents with the very muddy conditions so hit the front on the first downhill section and gradually increased his lead over the next few miles. Entering the final mile of ascent, de-Camps lead was 50 seconds which he extended to nearly 90 seconds by the finish.

 

Afterwards, de-Camps said “I was very happy with that race as I had missed some training earlier in the week due to a trapped nerve in my leg. My time was slightly faster than last year but in much heavier conditions, so I know I’m in good form.”

 

Results: 1st Richard de-Camps (Gloucester AC) 28min 47s, 2nd Lee Rankin (Stroud AC) 30min 15s, 3rd Kyran Hale (Severn AC) 30min 46s.

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Northern Counties Indoors Open - 08/12/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Rose-Anne Galligan celebrated her 25th birthday with a comfortable win over 3,000m at the Northern Counties Indoors Open Meeting at the English Institute of Sport track at Sheffield on Saturday (8th).

 

The Irish international 800 metres runner stepped up to contest the longer event as part of her endurance training programme and came home the victor in 9 minutes 31.45 seconds, some three seconds ahead of second-placed Sion Wynne-Williams of Liverpool.

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Welsh Athletics Grand Prix - 08/12/2012

 

Galligan’s Gloucester club-mate, Thomas George, was also racing indoors, at the Welsh Athletics Grand Prix series meeting at the National Indoor Centre in Cardiff.

 

Competing in the Open 3,000m, the Gloucester youngster placed 5th overall and 1st Under 20 in a new personal best time of 8:59.37, his first time inside nine minutes indoors or out. Later, George ran 1:30:08 for 600 metres to place third in his heat.

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Gloucestershire Cross Country League - 08/12/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s men and ladies teams were both in action in round three of this season’s Gloucestershire Cross-Country League on a very muddy and heavy course at Tewkesbury on Saturday (8th).

 

In the senior men’s race, Steve Millward put the disappointment of a below-par run in the previous week’s Birmingham League fixture behind him to lead the team home in 5th place. Jeremy Mower continued his solid form to finish in 26th place, with Tom Randles next home in 45th place. Matt Powell, in what he described as “probably the toughest race I have ever run”, finished in 74th place and the scoring six was completed by V60 Arthur Daley (99th) and Simon Barnes (100th) as the team finished in 7th place overall. Paul Loveridge placed 136th and Chris O’Carroll, in a rare outing, finished in 164th place.

 

In the ladies race, Beryl Sampson was the first City runner to cross the line in 23rd place and first V55. Kim Millward, continuing her comeback after a maternity break, finished in 31st place and the scoring team of three was made up by Nicola Hovey who placed 43rd. Denise Evans placed 48th and team captain Christine Campbell was 61st.

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Gloucestershire Cross Country League - 08/12/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Alex George continued his domination of the local cross-country U17 age group with a commanding victory in the U17 race in the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League fixture at Tewkesbury on Saturday (8th).

 

Without his twin brother Thomas, who was running indoors in Cardiff, to keep him company, George dominated from the gun and was clear of the main pack after 500 yards. Adopting different tactics of applying pressure from much further out rather than rely on his sprint finish, George started to wind up the pace with over a mile still to run and came home a comfortable winner some 50 yards clear of second-place Declan McManus (Worcester) despite taking a tumble in the atrocious conditions, to maintain his 100% record in the League this season. Newcomer Harry Stansfield, in his first season of cross-country racing, placed 8th.

 

Bethan Moor, the Club’s most improved junior female athlete of 2012, placed 5th in the U15 girls race, while Abi Pearce placed 14th. In the U15 Boys race, Will Staddon placed 5th, whilst in the U13 Boys event, Harry Wells and Alfie Crouch placed 7th and 10th respectively.

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Birmingham Cross Country League - 01/12/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club assembled the largest team for a single race in recent history when 26 runners toed the start line for the second of this winter’s Birmingham Cross-Country League Division Two races at Plock Court on Saturday (1st Dec).

 

Following last winter’s disappointment when the club struggled to field two scoring teams of six runners in each of the League races, this season’s captain Omar Alim has been on a crusade to encourage all of the Club’s endurance runners to compete in this, the flagship of the Club’s winter fixture list.

 

His team are responding magnificently and the increased numbers are producing much-improved performances all round as the runners are all challenging each other to get into the two scoring teams.

 

Saturday’s race on a very heavy course that had to be re-routed due to severe flooding at the Tewkesbury Road end of the field, saw the City ‘A’ team secure fifth place on the day to move into fifth place overall and the ‘B’ team win their section to move to the top of that table.

 

Richard De Camps ran another solid race to lead the large Gloucester contingent home, in 8th place, with Steve Millward just behind in 10th position. Debutant Paul Barlow was the next scorer, the new-signing from Cirencester placing an excellent 20th in his first-ever Birmingham League race. Andrew De Camps was next home, in 39th place and another League debutant, Mike Mansfield was fifth scorer as he finished in 53rd place. Completing the ‘A’ team was Jeremy Mower in 55th. The team’s points total of 185 was an improvement of over 50 points on the opening race.

 

Some very solid packing by the next batch of City runners saw Tom Randles finish in 65th, Matt Boon 66th, Nathan Smith 68th, Lee Smith 71st and Wayne Mayer in 72nd and, with Simon Fortnam placing 78th, they secured first place among the ‘B’ teams with a points tally of 420, an improvement of over 100 from the first race.

 

Providing essential back-up and support were: Dan Steel 96th, Luke Herbert 106th, Dave Gresswell 113th, Max Sheppard 116th, Matt Powell 122nd, Ian Summers 130th, Arthur Daley 135th, Simon Barnes 159th, Lloyd Andrews 161st, Paul Nash 173rd, Humphrey Phillips 189th, Merlin Tolley 192nd, Paul Loveridge 194th and Martin Hobson 196th.

 

Alim was delighted with the overall performance, saying “This is a long re-building process, but we’re starting to put ourselves back on the cross-country map following a couple of disappointing seasons. We may have given ourselves a bit too much to do if we are to win promotion back to Division One this season, but we’re most definitely heading in the right direction.”

Gloucestershire County Schools Cross Country Championships - 01/12/2012

 

Whilst Gloucester Athletic Club’s senior men were doing battle in the Birmingham Cross-Country race at Plock Court, its youngsters were covering themselves in glory at the county schools cross-country championships at Newent.

 

Alex and Thomas George continued their domination of the local scene, finishing first and second respectively in the Senior Boys event. In the younger age groups, Bethan Moor took 6th place in the Junior Girls race despite losing a shoe early on, ahead of Daisy Woodford (21st), Abi Pearce (27th) and Heather Christie (39th). In the Junior Boys race, Harry Wells finished 14th and Alfie Crouch placed 8th in the Minor Boys event.

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English Schools Cross-Country Cup Final - 01/12/2012

 

Gloucester AC youngster Will Staddon represented his school, Sir Thomas Rich’s, in the English Schools Cross-Country Cup Final at Bolton on Saturday 1st and placed 35th out of 130, to mark another significant improvement in his form since teaming up with coach Kerry Newell.

Pomphrey Sports 5K Road Race - 27/11/2012

 

Three Gloucester Athletic Club members took part in the latest Pomphrey Sports 5km Road Race series in Bristol on Tuesday (27th Nov).

 

Arthur Daley continued his comeback from injury by placing 39th overall and first in the M60 category in 19:57, his fastest time for six months. Nicola Hovey placed 77th in 22:50 and Vanessa Anderton finished 112th in 33:38, a three and a half minute improvement on the time she set in her previous race on the same course.

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King Henry VIII Schools Cross Country Relays - 21/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Alex and Thomas George have been quietly establishing themselves as the top young cross-country runners in the area, each producing outstanding runs in the past week. Last Wednesday (21st), the twins from Abbeymead went to St Albans in Hertfordshire to represent Marling School in a 6 x 3000m cross-country relay event. After the first four legs, Marling were lying in fourth position. Despite driving rain and hail, Alex clocked an excellent 9:37 to make up one place, before handing over to Thomas who recorded the fastest time of the day, just one second faster than his brother, to bring the Stroud school home in second place.

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Brighton 10km - 18/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Simon Fortnam continued his comeback after having spent 12 months on the sidelines with injury when he finished 119th in the Brighton 10km road race on Sunday in 37:24.

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Runway 10km - 18/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members competed in the Runway 10km race at Staverton on Sunday (18th). New signing Mike Mansfield was the first Club runner to finish. The former Leigh-on-Sea athlete crossed the line in 6th place with a 2012 best time of 36:47. Peter Lloyd was next man home, in 9th place, recording 38:01, with Dave Gresswell finishing in 13th place with 39:12. Other Gloucester AC runners to finish were Paul Nash (47th, 43:44), Dave Spackman (107th, 50:04) and Donna Veal (160th, 64:44).

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Northern Athletics Open Meeting - 17/11/2012

 

Rose-Anne Galligan of Gloucester Athletic Club opened her winter indoor season with a 2000 metres race at the EIS indoor arena in Sheffield on Saturday (17th). Running in a mixed race, the Irish international finished 5th overall and 1st lady in a new best time of 6 minutes 04.38 seconds. Afterwards, Galligan said “I’m happy with that run. My indoor season has started two months earlier than it normally would, so I didn’t know how the race would go. I’m going back to do some more endurance work and shall be back up here in early December for a 3000 metres race.”

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Sodbury Slog - 11/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Gemma Collier finished 6th lady and 57th overall out of 1040 finishers in the Easy Runner Sodbuy Slog at Chipping Sodbury on Sunday, completing the nine miles course in 71 minutes. Billed as being not for the faint-hearted, the multi-terrain challenge is held over some of south Gloucestershire’s most stunning countryside.

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Birmingham Cross-Country League Div 2 (Leamington Spa) - 10/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s cross-country revival took another step forward when the senior men finished a pleasing sixth place in the opening Birmingham Cross-Country League Division Two fixture at Leamington Spa on Saturday (10th).

 

The Club had targeted a return to the League’s top division last year following relegation in 2010-11 but that aim was never a reality given the lack of runners who were prepared to race in this most arduous of athletic disciplines. However, this season’s new captain, Omar Alim, has rallied around his troops in recent weeks resulting in the Club fielding its largest number of runners in recent fixtures for many a year and this was evident again at Leamington as the club completed two scoring teams.

 

The first City runner to cross the finish line was Steve Millward in 3rd place. A past winner of the individual league title, Millward made light of the very slippery conditions as he showed he is not far off his best form. The ever-consistent Richard De Camps was the next ‘A’ team runner home, in 10th place, an excellent run considering he has been side-lined for the past two weeks after badly twisting an ankle. Ultra-distance specialist Jeremy Mower demonstrated his endurance strength by coming home as the third scorer in 44th place, with Wayne Mayer just behind in 48th. Lee Smith made a welcome return to competitive running, placing 63rd, just holding off Tom Randles who completed the scoring ‘A’ team in 64th spot.

 

The Club’s ‘B’ team was led home by two League debutants. U20 Dan Steel finished in 69th place and Matt Boon placed 83rd. They were followed in by seasoned campaigner Peter Lloyd who, in a rare Birmingham League outing, placed 88th. Despite having raced very little in recent weeks, Luke Herbert finished in 91st place, closely followed by Dave Gresswell in 93rd position. The scoring ‘B’ team was completed by Nathan Smith who finished in 97th place despite suffering a nasty-looking fall at the final water jump.

 

Other City runners to finish were Omar Alim (99th), Ian Summers (105th), Matt Powell (126th), V60 Arthur Daley (127th), Paul Loveridge (182nd), Humphrey Phillips (183rd) and Club Chairman Andy McKenzie, who placed 216th.

 

The ‘A’ team placed 6th of the 15 scoring ‘A’ teams with 232 points and the ‘B’ team placed 2nd with 521 points. Afterwards, team captain Omar Alim said “The most pleasing thing for me today was the number of runners who made the trip to Leamington to race. There’s a real buzz around the endurance section of the Club right now and, with several runners due back for the next League race, I’m hopeful we can challenge for a top four placing.”

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Guy Fawkes 5 mile (Tewkesbury) - 04/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club runners achieved a host of personal best times in torrential rain in the Guy Fawkes Five Mile road race at Tewkesbury on Sunday (4th).

 

Matt Powell was the first City runner home, finishing in 20th in 30 mins 54 seconds to equal his personal best. Gemma Collier was next to finish, in 29th place. Her time of 31:21 was an improvement on her best time by 48 seconds, with Max Sheppard also reducing his personal best by a huge margin with 31:54. Club middle distance coach, Kerry Newell, finished in 97th place in 35:37, nearly two minute faster than her last attempt at the distance, whilst in 111th place Denise Evans also set a new personal best with 36:21. V60 Dave Spackman placed 142nd in 38:27 and the team was completed by V50 Mike Anderton in 293rd with 51:55.

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Gloucestershire Cross Country League - 03/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s senior men showed their strength in depth by fielding two scoring teams in the second Gloucestershire Cross-Country League at Pittville in Cheltenham on Saturday (3rd), finishing third ‘A’ team and second ‘B’ team. Although the runners enjoyed a bright, crisp autumnal day the recent heavy rain had made the conditions heavy and slippery underfoot. Andrew De Camps showed signs that he is regaining fitness following a summer on the sidelines through injury. In his first outing of the winter, the former Midland Counties senior 800 metres champion led the City contingent home in 31st position. Following closely behind was new signing, and another to show signs of regaining fitness, Mike Mansfield in 35th. Wayne Mayer ran a well-judged race to finish 39th, his best-ever League placing. The next City runners to finish were both young newcomers - Dan Steel placed 44th and Darren Mitchell 48th in their League debuts. Dave Gresswell completed the scoring six for the ‘A’ team, in 50th place. Peter Lloyd continues to confound his younger club mates as the V55 led the City’s ‘B’ team home in 64th place. Team captain Omar Alim was next home, in 74th with Ian Summers placing 79th. Another seasoned campaigner, Arthur Daley, placed 116th, just holding off Simon Barnes in 117th with Paul Nash bringing the team home in 131st place. Paul Loveridge finished 175th overall out of the 224 finishers.

 

Team captain Omar Alim said afterwards, “I’m very pleased with that performance today. All of our runners raised their game from the opening race and even though we were missing a couple of our leading runners due to non-availability, we were able to bring in a few new members who showed they are going to be pushing for places in the ‘A’ team in the very near future.” In the veteran’s section, the City club’s ‘A’ team placed second and the ‘B’ team 10th.

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Gloucestershire Cross Country League - 03/11/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Irish international track runner, Rose-Anne Galligan, was in majestic form in the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League fixture at Pittville on Saturday (3rd), coming home a convincing winner of the senior ladies race. Galligan had a strong second half of her 2012 track campaign, posting some impressive times over 800 and 1500 metres and she is clearly taking that form with her into the winter months, as she beat Cheltenham’s Julia Cooke by nearly 20 seconds.

 

The rest of the Gloucester ladies squad responded to Galligan’s lead as Beryl Sampson (31st) and Michelle Stark (44th) brought the ‘A’ team home in 7th place. For the first time in several seasons, the City ladies finished two scoring teams in a League race. Nicola Hovey led the ‘B’ team home in 78th place, team captain Christine Campbell placed 91st and newcomer Lynsey Rycroft finished in 116th in her league debut.

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Gloucestershire Cross-Country League - 03/11/2012

 

Not for the first time this season, Gloucester Athletic Club’s Alex and Thomas George crossed the finish line together ahead of their rivals. This time, it was the U17 Mens’ race in the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League fixture at Pittville (8th) as the twins broke away from a chasing pack on the penultimate lap to win by comfortable margin. Alex was given the win, repeating his victory in the opening league race.

 

Despite suffering a badly cut knee, Ryan Hearn held on for 8th place and Harry Stansfield, in only his second cross-country race for the Club, finished in 12th place as the City squad took first place in the team event.

 

In the U17 Ladies race, Hannah Jones placed 7th whilst in the U15 races, Bethan Moor placed 7th in the girls race and William Staddon 4th in the boys event. Harry Wells took 5th and Alfie Crouch 17th in the U13 boys race whilst in the U13 girls race, Hannah White placed 22nd. The Club’s youngest competitor on the day was Charlotte Ross who placed 28th in the U11 girls race.

30/10/2012 - Pomphrey Sports 5k Winter Series

 

Gloucester AC’s Arthur Daley took 1st prize in the M60 category at the Pomphrey Sports 5k event in Bristol last Tuesday (30th). Returning from injury, the seasoned Gloucester veteran placed 56th in 20mins 06 seconds to knock 54 seconds off the time he set four weeks ago on the same course.

 

Nicola Hovey was 97th overall and 3rd in the L45 category in 22:44, a personal best by 21 seconds and Vaness Anderton placed 128th in 37:11.

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17/10/2012 - District Schools Cross Country

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s promising junior athletes were prominent in district schools cross-country championships last week (17th).

 

Marling School pupils Alex and Thomas George were a class apart in the Stroud schools event. Content to sit in the leading pack for much of the 3km race, the twins made their move with 200m remaining to come home clear winners, crossing the line together in joint first place. This followed on from their first and second places in the recent Schools West Mercia League race when Thomas narrowly edged out his brother.

 

In the Gloucester district schools races, age group titles went to Ryan Hearn and Will Staddon, who finished just ahead of Dominic Tutton, with Alfie Crouch in 4th place. Hannah Jones took third place in her U17 Girls race.

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13/10/2012 - Malvern Beacon

 

Three Gloucester Athletic Club members competed in the Malvern Beacon race on Saturday (13th) which comprised eight miles over the Malvern hills.

 

Despite the race being run in bright autumnal sunshine, the conditions underfoot were heavy going due to the recent heavy rain, which made hard going for all of the competitors. First man home for the City club was Wayne Mayer, who placed 14th in 50 minutes 43. Tom Randles continued his comeback to cross-country racing, placing 27th in 53:00 and Club cross-country captain Omar Alim finished in 40th place in 54:43. 246 runners completed the arduous course.

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07/10/2012 - Chester Marathon incorporating Welsh Championships

 

Gloucester Athletics Club's ultrarunner Jeremy Mower stepped down in distance for a rare outing at the marathon on Sunday. It was his first marathon for three years and only the second one he has actually raced with the others being used as training runs.

 

Chester was described as a flat course capable of fast times which was not entirely to be the case and there was a good turn out of Welsh athletes being so close to the border. The first mile was ran mostly on the Chester racecourse through very wet grass, then coming out of the racecourse was the first hill, which was followed by three other hills in the first five miles, the course then levelled out and Mower reached half marathon distance in 1hr 24min 58 sec in about 50th position.

 

Mower was confident that his strength from ultrarunning would take him through the field in the second half of the race. Gradually he caught others and a few athletes dropped out ahead of him as the course and the weather surprisingly got quite hot for the runners. Mower kept cool pouring plenty of water over his head.

 

The final three miles had two very large hills, the second of which Mower took steadily knowing he had the Welsh Masters over 45 title in the bag. Coming off the hill he had dropped two places overall but with his well known fast finishing speed he regained those places in the final run in to the finish.

 

Mower finished 34th overall out of 2066 finishers in a time of 2 hours 51 minutes 31 seconds. He was awarded the Welsh Masters Over 45 title which capped off a good season for him, where under the guidance of coach and former top marathoner Bob Cytlau he has regained the speed he had several years ago to add to his endurance.

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06/10/2012 - Gloucestershire Cross Country League

 

Gloucester Athletic Club fielded a second-string squad to take 10th place overall in the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League fixture at the Cotswold Farm Park on Saturday.

 

In the absence of some of the Club’s leading runners and making a welcome return to cross-country racing, Tom Randles ran a solid race to lead the team home in 47th place. Second runner to finish was Dave Gresswell in 63rd, making further strides in his battle to regain full fitness, with Peter Lloyd next home in 69th.

 

Nathan Smith was the fourth City runner to finish, placing a 74th, just one week after his run in the Berlin Marathon, whilst debutant Max Sheppard placed 78th. The scoring six was completed by new team captain Omar Alim, in 98th place.

 

Simon Barnes (107th), Arthur Daley (128th) and Martin Hobson (144th) completed the City line-up.

 

Beryl Sampson led the City Club’s ladies team home, in 24th overall and first in the L55 category. Kim Millward (38th), Denise Evans (41st) and team captain Christine Campbell (63rd) brought the team home in 11th place.

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06/10/2012 - Gloucestershire Cross Country League - Juniors

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s younger cross-country runners produced some encouraging results in the opening Gloucestershire Cross-Country League fixture of the new season at the Cotswold Farm Park on Saturday (6th).

 

The U17 men’s team were dominant in their category. Alex George led the team home as he held off Harry Bishop of Severn AC to win by just three seconds. Thomas George placed 5th, Ryan Hearn 6th and newcomer Harry Stansfield 16th as the City squad romped to a comfortable team win.

 

The U15 races gave evidence of the great improvement made by the City youngsters in 2012. In the U15 girls race, Bethan Moor placed 6th and Abi Pearce 19th in their first race in this age group, whilst in the U15 boys race, William Staddon placed 5th.

 

In the U13 boys event, Harry Wells took 7th place and Archie Crouch 31st, whilst in the U13 girls race, Hannah White placed 28th in her first Club race. The U11 girls race saw the Club’s youngest competitor of the day, Charlotte Ross place 25th.

30/09/2012 - Bristol Half Marathon

 

One of Gloucester Athletic Club’s most prominent female throwers in recent seasons, Kate Yhnell, completed her first half marathon on Sunday (30th). Feeling the need to set herself a completely different challenge this year, the hammer thrower ran 2hrs 32:56.

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29/09/2012 - Gloucestershire County Cross-Country Relays

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s senior men finished fifth in the Gloucestershire County Cross-Country relays at Plock Court on Saturday (29th).

 

The Club used the event to give two of their promising Under-17s, Ryan Hearn and Dominic Tutton, their first senior cross-country outing and both acquitted themselves well against some good-quality competition.

 

Tutton ran the opening two-miles leg and came home in fourth place, clocking 10:18. Tom Randles took over on the second leg, running 10:37 before handing over to Hearn who ran 10:07 for his leg. Steve Millward ran the final leg, clocking an excellent 9:32 to bring the team home in fifth place.

 

The Gloucester Club’s Veterans team of Jeremy Mower, newcomer Mike Mansfield, Omar Alim and Simon Fortnam in his comeback race after 12 months out through injury, placed 10th overall and second veterans’ team.

 

The ladies team of Rose-Anne Galligan, Gemma Collier, Kim Millward, also making a welcome return to racing after two seasons out, and Claire Hawling placed 13th overall and second ladies team.

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28/09/2012 - Gloucester AC Awards 2011-2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club recently held their Awards Night for performances over the 2011-12 winter and 2012 summer seasons.

 

Awards for services to the Club during the year were presented to Cheryl Hunter (ladies) and Bob Purcell (men), whilst Charlotte Stallard was the recipient of the Terry Sysum Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Achievement.

 

There was a special award made to Ron Freeman in recognition of his 50 years service to the Club, making him the longest-serving current Club member.

 

Full award list:

 

Highest Points scorers over four meetings in Avon League:

U11G Jada George; U11B Lewis Drewett; U13G Chloe Jones; U13B Alfie Crouch

U15G Catherine Hardy; U15B Joe Beckett; U17W Kate Davies; U17M Tom Beckett

Senior Women - Alex Purcell; Senior Men - Sean Beckett.

 

Highest Points scorers over three meetings in McCains Young Athletes League:

U13G Chloe Jones; U13B Jack Holdsworth; U15G Catherine Hardy; U15B Joe Beckett

U17W Lucy Humphreys; U17M Ryan Hearn

 

Highest Points scorers over four meetings in National Junior League:

Female - Kate Davies; Male - Jacob Lange

 

Highest Points scorers over four meetings in Midland League:

Female – Alex Purcell; Male - Gareth Winter

 

Leading Distance Runner Award:

Female - Christine Campbell; Male - Richard De Camps

 

Most Improved Athletes 2012:

Junior Female - Bethan Moor; Junior Male - Joe Beckett

Senior Female - Kelly Constable; Senior Male - Thomas George

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Pomphrey Sports 5K Road Race - 25/09/2012

 

In the Pomphrey Sports 5km road race in Bristol on Tuesday (25th), Arthur Daley finished 41st overall and 1st M60 but was disappointed with his time of 21:00. Nicola Hovey placed 60th and 2nd in the W45 in 23:07, a personal best by over 40 seconds and Vanessa Anderton placed 84th and 3rd W55 in 34:19.

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Cirencester 10K - 23/09/2012

 

Peter Lloyd led the Gloucester Athletic Club contingent home in the recent (23rd) Cirencester 10km road race when he placed 25th overall and first M50 in 38 minutes 42 seconds. Matt Powell was the next City runner home in 47th place with 40:39, Denise Evans took 135th place in 46:21 and Paul Loveridge recorded a personal best for the distance, clocking 46:52 in 141st place. Dave Spackman placed 150th overall and 6th M60 in 47:23 Anderton placed 413th in 60:33.

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English Schools Combined Events Championships - 16/09/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Kate Davies finished 10th in the English Schools Intermediate Girls heptathlon at Bedford at the weekend (15/16th).

 

Despite setting a new lifetime best in the opening event, the 100 metres hurdles, Davies found herself down in 35rd position overall. She then equalled her personal best in the second event, the high jump (1.59m) to move up to 18th position, before an 8.60m shot putt moved her up to 16th place. Davies then ran 27.78 seconds for the 200 metres to finish day one in 12th place on 2448 points.

 

Davies opened day two with a 4.76m long jump which dropped her down to 19th place but she rallied with a 31.71m throw in the javelin to move back up to 11th place before rounding off her competition with a 2:35.03 clocking in the 800 metres to improve by one place with a final points total of 4083, just 15 points down on her personal best and Gloucester AC club record.

 

The competition was won by the outstanding Georgina Westwood from Berkshire.

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Martin Daykin

 

Gloucester Athletic Club and world of ultra-distance running are mourning the passing of one of their more illustrious and colourful members, Martin Daykin, who died on 12th September whilst on a walking trip in Shropshire.

 

Martin was born on 14th June 1947 in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, but at an early age moved to Norfolk where he spent much of his childhood and it was there that he developed a liking for running, representing his home county at cross-country.

 

He moved to Gloucester in the early 1960s and continued his schooling at Sir Thomas Rich’s School in the City. He ran for the school cross-country team and, like many of his schoolmates, joined the Gloucester Athletic Club for whom he ran in cross-country, track and road races.

 

After competing on the county road and cross-country circuit for several years, Martin realised that these events were far too short for his liking and he decided to prepare for the marathon. His training regime increased until he was regularly running over 100 miles per week and he made his marathon debut at Rugby in 1978, clocking 2hrs 48mins 45 seconds.

 

However, Martin considered even the classic marathon distance of 26 miles 345 yards to be “on the short side” and he took an interest in the ‘Ultra Distance’ craze that was sweeping Europe. In 1979 he ran in Scotland’s most famous ultra-distance event, the 36-mile Two Bridges Race across the Firth of Forth, placing ironically fourth.

 

In September 1980, Martin, who by now was an established ultra runner, recorded the world’s fastest 100km time for the year when clocking 6:35:05 at Winschoten in Holland.

 

Gloucester Athletic Club was one of the leading club teams in Europe and would receive many invitations to ultra events. With his Gloucester AC colleagues, Dave Dowdle, Chris O’Carroll, Ken Leyshon and Les Davis, Martin would often head across the English Channel and North Sea to take on and, more often than not, beat crack European squads.

 

In 1981, the Gloucester club staged what is still considered a classic among ultra aficionados. The 100 mile road race around the lanes of Forthampton, nr Tewkesbury went down in racing folklore as Martin and Dowdle became locked in a race-long battle in which the lead changed hands on numerous occasions. Martin eventually prevailed by less than 150 yards and his winning time of 12:16:46 remains an English record to this day.

 

The following year, the Gloucester club staged a 24-hour track race in which Dave Dowdle set a new world best for the distance covered. Martin’s target was a new world best for 200km and set about achieving that goal from the gun. As he entered the final 20kms Martin, always a staunch Gloucester club man, donned his club vest as he stormed to what everyone thought would be a new world best by over 30 minutes. It was only much later in the day, after the race was over, that a lap-counting error was discovered and Martin had run 400 metres short.

 

Later that summer, Martin returned to Scotland to run in the Two Bridges race and, in a record field of 115 starters, he placed second, just half a minute down on the winner. With Les Davis placing sixth and Ken Leyshon 16th, Gloucester AC took the team prize in what many consider the finest achievement in their history. Martin finished his racing programme that year with a personal best for the marathon, 2:24:24, set when placing second in the Gloucester event.

 

In 1983, Martin was a member of the Gloucester AC squad that won the 24-hours four-man track relay event at Cheltenham in a new world best of 246 miles, it was the final world record that they set as a team, though Martin was to set a world over-40 best for the Barry 40-mile track race in 1989.

 

Many more victories followed as Martin and the Gloucester squad cemented their cult-hero status in Europe. Martin’s final race was the Snowdonia Marathon in 1995 when he placed 39th in 3 hours 03:45. It was later that year when he was diagnosed with an enlarged heart becoming, as he said, one of the very few people who were advised by their GP to cut down on exercise.

 

Martin was not one to stop exercising altogether as he took up cycling and the more leisurely pursuit of walking. It was when he was out on a walking trip in Shropshire with his wife Liz and friends that he passed away suddenly, aged 65.

 

Many people in Gloucestershire running circles and the wider ultra-distance scene shall remember Martin and how he could often be found at the end of a race, sitting down with a beer in one hand and a bunch of bananas in the other. He was a great character and the running world shall miss him.

 

Announcement from the Citizen:

DAYKIN Martin John (Of Kempley) Passed away suddenly in Shropshire on Wednesday 12th September 2012 aged 65 years. Treasured husband of Liz and brother of Tony. Funeral service and interment at St. Edward's Church, Kempley at 1pm on Friday 28th September. Family flowers only please. Donations in aid of St. Edward's Church, Kempley (cheques payable to Kempley PCC) may be sent c/o Greenfields Funeral Services Ltd, Malvern Road, Staunton, Glos, GL19 3NZ. Tel: 01452 840460

 

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Hereford Open - 16/09/2013

 

A group of four Gloucester Athletic Club throwers finished their 2012 season in style with some outstanding results at the Hereford Open Meeting on Sunday (16th)

 

Anna Robertson was a double victor, winning the senior ladies hammer event with 44.20m and the discus with a new personal best 27.11m, an improvement of three metres on her previous best.

 

Charlotte Stallard won the U17 ladies hammer throw with 43.18m and Jacob Lange won the U17 mens hammer with 56.39m, each being just one metre down on their personal bests.

 

There was further success in the U15 girls hammer as Ellen Thrall added nearly two metres onto her previous best when placing second in the hammer with 42.61m.

 

All four athletes are members of Lorraine Shaw’s hammer group based in Gloucester.

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Veterans Inter Area Match - 09/09/2013

 

Gloucester AC’s Marion Loveridge made her Midland Master’s debut in the inter-area Veterans match at Solihull on Sept 9th and won the hammer event in the 35-49 age category with a throw of 34.76m.

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Angels 10K - 09/09/2013

 

A small group of Gloucester AC runners took part in the Angels 10km road race in warm and sunny conditions around Ashleworth on Sunday (9th).

 

Peter Lloyd was the first club runner home, finishing 6th overall and first in the M50 category with a 39:32 clocking. Mike Mansfield followed him home in 7th place and second M40, just missing out on his sub-40 minute target with 40:03.

 

Paul Loveridge set a new best performance for 10km when finishing in 39th position in 47:12, just ahead of Denise Evans who placed 41st overall and 3rd in the W50 category in 47:27.

 

Dave Spackman won the M65 prize, finishing 47th overall in 48:11 with Mike Anderton completing the City team in 95th with a new best performance for 10km, 61:01.

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Lloyds TSB Fitness 4 - 06/09/2013

 

Gloucester Athletic Club was well represented in the last of the season's Lloyds TSB Fitness 4 mile Road Races at Hardwicke with three runners finishing in the top 10.

 

Gemma Collier produced one of her best runs of the summer to finish first lady and fifth overall in an impressive 26:21. Max Sheppard, a recent addition to the club, was next home in 26:46 to claim 7th place with Paul Loveridge finishing in 9th with a new personal best of 27:25, knocking 40 seconds off his previous best.

 

Martin Hobson was next home, 13th in a new personal best of 27:46, Denise Evans placed 19th in 29:23 with Nicola Hovey 32nd in 31:39. Phil Du Plessis, in his first appearance of the summer, was 35th in 32:11 closely followed by Emily Cross who was 36th in 32:15.

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Oxford City AC Open Graded Meeting - 05/09/2013

 

Three of Gloucester AC’s talented young athletes competed in the Oxford City AC open meeting.

 

Multi-event athlete Kate Davies finished off her preparations for next weekend’s English Schools Heptathlon championships by running in the U17 Women’s 800 metres, recording a time of 2mins 36.98.

 

The U17 Men’s 1500 metres saw club mates Dominic Tutton and Ryan Hearn go head-to-head. Hearn went off the harder of the two, keeping with the breakaway pack whilst Tutton was content to sit in the chasing group. As they reached the bell, Tutton made his move before catching and overtaking Hearn on the home straight. Tutton was rqarded with a new personal best 4:21.49 in 5th place, with Hearn one place behind in 4:21.61.

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Yate Sprints & Hurdles Challenge - 02/09/2013

 

Gloucester AC sprinters brought the curtain down on their 2012 season by taking part in the Sprints & Hurdles Challenge at Yate on Sunday (2nd).

 

The races were mixed age groups and genders, but the squad achieved the following performances:

 

Results:

U13 Girls

100m Amelia Hill 15.27 secs; Kirstie Constable 16.03

75mH Amelia Hill 16.56

 

U15 Girls

100m Catherine Hardy 12.91

200m Catherine Hardy 26.66 (pb)

 

U15 Boys

100m Luke Hill 12.49

200m Luke Hill 25.64 (pb)

 

U17 Ladies

100m Kelly Constable 12.96; Dayna Willoughby 13.00; Adela Hill 13.90

200m Dayna Willoughby 26.42; Kelly Constable 26.59; Adela Hill 28.45 (pb)

300m Dayna Willoughby 41.66

 

U17 Men

200m Andrew Bowers 25.03

400m Andrew Bowers 55.72

BMC Regional Races - 28/08/2012

 

Richard De Camps and Dominic Tutton travelled to Exeter to race at the British Milers Club graded meeting. In the 800 metres ‘B’ race, 16 year-old Tutton knocked over a second and a half off his personal best when placing 5th in 2minutes 04.07 seconds. In the 1500 metres ‘A’ race, De Camps took an excellent 3rd place in 4:01.41, his fastest-ever time outdoors.

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Avon League, Match 3 - 26/08/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members have been busy competing at various events throughout the south-west as the 2012 track & field season draws to a close.

 

There was a strong Club representation at the final Avon League fixture at Yate on Sunday (26th).

 

The Club uses these fixtures primarily as development competitions for its youngsters and there were several newcomers present who have joined Gloucester AC in recent weeks as a result of the huge interest generated by the Olympics.

 

Team manager Bob Purcell said “This match was the ideal opportunity for our newcomers to take part in a proper competition in a non-pressure situation and, judging by their reaction, they all enjoyed the experience. We’re hoping that they’ll continue training with us over the winter on our new Black Bridge facility.”

 

Results:

 

U11 Girls

75m Race 2 4th Eire Rowland-Evans 13.0 secs; Race 3 4th Jada George 12.4 secs

600m 6th Elissa Moor 2:14.0; 8th Jada George 2:22.0

Ball throw 6th Jada George 21.14m; 14th Eire Rowland-Evans 10.67m

Long Jump 7th Elissa Moor 3.11m

 

U11 Boys

75m Race 1 6th Joseph Crouch 12.9 secs; Race 2 7th Theo Yearwood 12.5 secs

Ball throw 12th Joseph Crouch 22.57m

 

U13 Girls

100m Race 1 5th Tianna George 15.2 secs, 7th Miaya Ellis 16.0 secs; Race 3 4th Amelia Hill 15.2 secs

200m Race 1 6th Miaya Ellis 34.4 secs; Race 2 6th Tianna George 32.1 secs

Long Jump 14th Amelia Hill 3.00m

Discus 1st Chloe Jones 17.65m

Shot Putt 1st Chloe Jones 7.97m; 9th Amelia Hill 4.91m; 13th Miaya Ellis 4.04m

4 x 100m 4th (M Ellis, A Hill, J George, T George) 63.4 secs

 

U13 Boys

100m Race 2 5th Lewis Nichols 14.4 secs; Race 3 4th Alfie Crouch 14.3 secs

200m Race 1 4th Alfie Crouch 29.3 secs; Race 2 6th Lewis Nichols 31.5 secs

1500m 12th Lewis Nichols 6:20.9

Javelin 14th Jack Holdsworth 13.28m

 

U15 Girls

100m Race 1 1st Catherine Hardy 12.7 secs

200m Race 1 2nd Catherine Hardy 26.7 secs

800m 2nd Bethan Moor 2:38.1, 8th Abigail Pearce 2:59.0

Long Jump 9th Bethan Moor 3.96m

Discus 2nd Ellen Thrall 20.35m, 7th Chayna Rae Nichols 15.19m

Shot Putt 3rd Chayna Rae Nichols 8.67m, 6th Ellen Thrall 7.25m

 

U15 Boys

100m Race 2 4th Luke Hill 12.5 secs

Javelin 6th Joe Beckett 23.28m, 12th Luke Hill 3.90

 

U17 Ladies

100m Race 1 4th Adela Hill 13.9 secs; Race 2 5th Danni Mulraney 13.5 secs

200m Race 1 2nd Danni Mulraney 28.0 secs; Race 2 5th Adela Hill 28.9 secs

800m 4th Hannah Jones 2:48.6

Long jump 1st Harriet Hunter 4.65m

Shot Putt 3rd Hannah Jones 6.66m

Discus 4th Hannah Jones 14.05m

 

U17 Men

100m Race 1 4th Jevaughn Gayle 12.0 secs; Race 3 5th Tom Beckett 12.4 secs

400m Race 1 6th Andrew Bowers 55.7 secs; Race 2 3rd Ryan Hearn 56.4 secs, 7th Charlie Ferret 58.3 secs

1500m 2nd Ryan Hearn 4:21.5

Hammer 1st Jacob Lange 54.11m

Javelin 2nd Jacob Lange 22.11m

Triple Jump 5th Tom Beckett 10.43m

 

Senior Ladies

100m 2nd Alex Purcell 13.8 secs

200m 3rd Chris Campbell 34.0 secs

Long Jump 1st Alex Purcell 4.38m

 

Senior Men

100m Race 1 5th Sean Beckett 13.0 secs

High Jump 2nd Matt Powell 1.30m

Javelin 1st Sean Beckett 28.94m

400m Hurdles 1st Sean Beckett 77.8 secs

3000m 4th Mike Anderton 15:21.4

4 x 100m 3rd (T Campion, J Lange, S Beckett, T Beckett) 50.3 secs

 

Veteran Ladies

100m 1st Chris Campbell 16.6 secs

 

Veteran Men

100m 4th Matt Powell 14.7 secs

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Gloucestershire County Championships, part 3 - 22/08/2012

 

The final part of the 2012 County Track & Field took place at the Five Acres track in the Forest of Dean and saw Gloucester AC members add to their tally of gold medals won at the championships held earlier in the season.

 

The City ladies quartet of Becky Summers, Jemma and Danni Mulraney and Alex Purcell took the county titles in both the 4 x 110 yards and 4 x 440 yards events.

 

Jeremy Mower took the gold medal in the M45 category of the 10,000 metres, recording 37 mins 42.8 seconds.

 

In the open one mile race, Vanessa Anderton placed 8th in 9:53.8.

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White Horse 5K Series - 16/08/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members were out in force at the recent White Horse 5km road race around the lanes of Sandhurst. This was the last of the Club’s targeted races for the summer and saw the largest number of Club runners racing all season.

 

Tom Randles took his recent run of good form into the race and was rewarded with a top 20 placing, finishing 20th in 17 minutes 11 seconds. Ultra-distance specialist Jeremy Mower was next city runner home, placing 24th in 18:04 with Ian Summers just making the top 30, placing 30th in 18:53.

 

Gemma Collier finished strongly over the final 400 metres, taking 37th place in 19:50 and the first senior lady in the County Championships, whilst Iain Fake finished one place behind in 19:57. Merlin Tolley showed signs of recovering from a recent injury, finishing 44th in 20:31.

 

Paul Loveridge was awarded the County M50 Bronze medal when placing 56th in 20:59, with newcomers Bernie Cannell and Martin Hobson running 21:30 and 21:40 for 63rd and 65th places respectively.

 

Denise Evans took the County W50 bronze medal as she finished in 81st position with 23:22, with fellow W50 athlete Nicola Wong clocking 24:18 in 91st place.

 

The Club’s line-up was completed by Vanessa Anderton, who placed 106th in 33:31.

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National Junior League - 12/08/2012

 

A combination of Olympic fever and holidays meant that it was a depleted Gloucester AC team that travelled south to Plymouth to compete in the final National Junior League, Avon Division, match on Sunday (12th).

 

That said, there were numerous promising performances from youngsters who shall be challenging for places in the Club’s senior teams in the next few seasons.

 

In the U17 men’s category, throwers Tim Campion and Jacob Lange were a class apart as they recorded first and second places in all of their events.

 

Lucy Humphreys provided solid support in the U17 ladies group, including a new personal best in the hammer event.

 

Harriet Hunter gave signs of a return to form, winning the long jump and taking second place in the triple jump.

 

The sprinters earned their customary large haul of points, culminating in a clear win in the U17 ladies 4 x 100m relay.

 

See Results below

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Olympic Torch - 14/08/2012

 

Many of Gloucester Athletic club’s younger members had their first glimpse of the Olympic Torch at their Black Bridge headquarters last week.

 

Gloucester resident, Vickie Mattock, had been nominated as a torch-bearer on its nationwide relay because of her involvement with the Acorns Children’s Hospice in Ross-on-Wye and carried the torch in Dorset, near the venue for the sailing events during the Games.

 

Garry Hunter, a sprint coach at the Gloucester club contacted Vickie and invited her to one of the Club’s training sessions, where she posed for photos with the youngsters. Hunter explained: “It was a great chance for our youngsters to see one of the torches close up as they had either only seen it from a distance when it passed through the City or, in many cases, not at all. They were all keen to have their photos taken with the torch and it’s something they will remember for many years.”

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Cranham Beast MT5 - 11/08/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club enjoyed a successful outing at their latest event, the inaugural Cranham Beast multi-terrain race at Cranham (Aug 11th), dominating the team and individual categories. Formerly the Cranham Boundary Chase, the race had to be re-vamped due to stringent new rules placed on race promoters and race organiser Ian Summers can be justly proud of his new event.

 

Stroud’s international runner Rachel Felton went straight to the front from the gun, with only Gloucester youngster Ryan Hearn and his club-mate Tom Randles able to go with her in the hot conditions. Felton continued to exert pressure and pulled clear with just over one mile remaining to come home a comfortable winner in 33 minutes 5 seconds.

 

Randles overtook Hearn to come home in second place in 33:43, with Hearn third in 33:52. Dave Gresswell was the next Gloucester runner to finish, in seventh place in 36:26, whilst Matt Powell (ninth in 39:10) and Gemma Collier (10th in 39:37) completed the host Club’s top 10 placings.

 

In the supporting junior races, Gloucester’s Elissa Moor place 7th in the one lap event, with Harry Wells and Bethan Moor taking the top two places in the two lap race.

 

Cranham Beast, Gloucester Placings:

2nd Tom Randles (33:43); 3rd Ryan Hearn (33:52);  7th Dave Gresswell (36:26);  9th Matt Powell (39:10);  10th Gemma Collier (39:37);  12th Dan Finn (40:27);  19th Denise Evans (44:08);  20th Martin Hobson (44:43);  25th Paul Loveridge (45:47); Team results:1st Gloucester ‘A’; 3rd Gloucester ‘B’;  4th Gloucester ‘C’

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Midland League, Match 4 - 04/08/2012

 

A magnificent performance by their ladies and another solid showing by their male throwers was not enough to save Gloucester Athletic Club’s senior track & field team from relegation from the top flight of the Up and Running Midland Athletics League at Nottingham (Aug 4th).

 

The team went into this final league match knowing that they would have to produce a near super-human effort if they were to avoid the drop. And they very nearly succeeded, falling short by just five match points on the day.

 

The ladies were sensational on the day, finishing just 10 points behind Birchfield Harriers but ahead of illustrious rivals including Wolverhampton & Bilston, Notts AC and Bristol AC.

 

Anna Robertson spearheaded the Gloucester challenge, setting three new personal bests in the hammer, shot putt and discus to complete a successful league campaign. Marion Loveridge took a well-earned victory in the ‘B’ hammer event, whilst youngster Lucy Humphreys also earned valuable points.

 

On the track, Rose-Anne Galligan continued her recent run of good form as she comfortably won the 400 and 800 metres ‘A’ races. She received solid support from Beth Wynn, Rachel Underhill and Gemma Collier who all took top three placings in their respective events.

 

The team’s young lady sprinters also impressed, with Dayna Willoughby setting a new personal best in the 200 metres, but they saved the very best for last as the sprint relay quartet of Sophie Lambert, Lurenda Mudd, Kelly Constable and Dayna Willoughby ran the fastest-ever time by a City team placing second behind the powerful Birchfield squad in 50.1 seconds.

 

The men’s team were hit by injuries but still gave a good account of themselves. The throwing team of Gareth Winter, Justin Sysum and Tim Williams again showed they are a major force in the region, taking seven top three placings out of the eight events.

 

Team captain Steve Millward said afterwards “We are gutted to be going down. The team again showed great fighting spirit and we’re all proud of what we have achieved this year, but we just weren’t strong enough throughout to survive. Millward continued “We’re looking forward to having the new Black Bridge track completed in the next few weeks so that we can finally train on a par with these big clubs.”

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Lloyds TSB Fitness 4 - 02/08/2012

 

Gloucester AC's Matt Boon, in the middle of a hard training week, won the Pilot 4 mile race in 23:59 breaking the 24 min barrier and effectively banning himself from the race.

 

He was closely followed by Nathan Smith in 2nd in 24:04 and Omar Alim in 26:06.

 

Bernie Canell M50 was 21st with 28:47 and Gemma Collier ran a easily paced 28:55 for 24th. Newcomer Nicola Hovey W50 finished with a PB of 20 secs in 32:06 for 40th and new senior ladies Emily Cross and Claire Reeves were 43rd and 47th in 34:06 and 35:22 respectively.

BAL, Division 1 - 28/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Gareth Winter was in action at the British Athletic League Division One match at Hendon on Saturday (28th). Competing for his second claim club, Cardiff, he placed third in the shot putt with 15.65m and then took another third place in the discus with 49.00 metres.

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Cheltenham Midsummer Open - 25/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club youngsters have been in fine form in recent open meetings.

 

On a night of excellent performances at the latest Midsummer Open Meeting at Cheltenham (25th), Jacob Lange’s personal best throw of 57.40 was probably the highlight.

 

Gloucester athletes were prominent in the hammer competitions as Anna Robertson took victory in the senior ladies event and Lucy Humphrys took second place in the U17 Ladies category with a new personal best.

 

The city’s sprinters were also in impressive form, claiming several wins during the evening. Kelly Constable confirmed her hotly-contested position as the current top U17 Lady sprinter in the County, whilst Catherine Hardy did likewise in the U15 Girls age group.

 

Gloucester runners also filled the top two places in the U17 Men’s 800 metres when Dominic Tutton ran a season’s best to hold off club mate Ryan Hearn.

 

Gloucester AC results from Cheltenham Midsummer Open Meeting:

 

100m

U13 Girls 4th Kirstie Constable 16.2 secs

U15 Girls 2nd Catherine Hardy 13.0 secs

U17 Ladies 1st Kelly Constable 13.0 secs, 6th Lurenda Mudd 13.6 secs, 8th Adela Hill 14.1 secs

 

200m

U17 Men 2nd Andrew Bowers 25.7 secs

U15 Boys 3rd Luke Hill 26.6 secs

U17 Ladies ht1 2nd Lurenda Mudd 27.3 secs

U17 Ladies ht2 1st Kelly Constable 26.8 secs, 5th Adela Hill 29.2 secs

U15 Girls 1st Catherine Hardy 27.1 secs

 

800m

U17 Men 1st Dominic Tutton 2min 06.0, 2nd Ryan Hearn 2min 08.0

U17 Ladies 5th Kate Davies 2min 35.8

 

70m H

U13 Girls 6th Amelia Hill 16.5 secs

 

80m H

U17 Ladies 3rd Kate Davies 13.9 secs

 

LJ

U15 Boys 4th Luke Hill 4.40m (PB)

U13 Girls 14th Kirstie Constable 3.51m (PB)

 

Shot

U17 Ladies 4th Lucy Humphrys 8.29m

U13 Girls 6th Amelia Hill 4.76m

 

HT

U17 Men 1st Jacob Lange 57.40m (PB)

Snr Ladies 1st Anna Robertson 43.95m

U17 Ladies 2nd Lucy Humphrys 24.81m (PB)

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National Junior League - 22/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s juniors were again in scintillating form at the McCain’s National Junior League fixture at Cheltenham on Sunday (22nd), setting many personal best performances during the day.

 

The Club’s junior ladies have been setting new standards throughout the season and this trend was continued as Kelly Constable ran a storming 200 metres to reduce her personal best to 25.8 seconds, the fastest by a City athlete this year.

 

Dayna Willoughby and Adela Hill also broke their own best times in the 200 metres ‘B’ and guest events.

 

Willoughby and Danni Mulraney both set new personal bests in the 400 metres, as did Hannah Jones and Lurenda Mudd in the 800 metres.

 

Whilst not setting any personal bests, Katharine Chadwick gave further evidence of her hurdling potential when winning the 100 metres hurdles. She then won the ‘B’ string high jump before taking second place in the ‘B’ discus event.

 

Chadwick’s throwing colleague, Lucy Humphrys, was another to set a personal best, throwing 23.78 metres for 3rd place in the hammer event.

 

The girls did not have it all their own way, however, as the junior men were also in record-breaking form. Harrison Sayer ran a season’s best 11.4 seconds for the 100 metres before running a lifetime’s best in the 200 metres of 23.1 seconds. He will be looking to dip under the 23 second barrier before the season’s end.

 

Andrew Bowers (200 and 400 metres) and Ryan Hearn (800 metres) also set personal bests, as the athletes all took advantage of the warm, sunny conditions.

 

In the field events, Jacob Lange had another busy day, competing in three events, whilst newcomer Peter Griffiths continued his development when taking third place in the triple jump.

 

RESULTS:

 

U17 Women

100m A) Kelly Constable 1st 12.8; B) Lurenda Mudd 3rd 13.2

800m A) Hannah Jones 3rd 2:39.8(PB); B) Lurenda Mudd 1st 2:46.9(PB)

400m A) Dayna Willoughby 2nd 60.5(PB); B) Danni Mulraney 3rd 65.6(PB)

100m Hdls A) Katharine Chadwick 1st 18.1

200m A) Kelly Constable 2nd 25.8(PB); B) Dayna Willoughby 1st 26.0(PB)

Guests - Lurenda Mudd 26.6; Adella Hill 28.5(PB)

1500m A) Kate Davies 2nd 5:58.5(PB)

4x100m H Hunter; L Mudd; K Constable; D Willoughby 1st 50.6

SP A) Lucy Humphreys 1st 8.07m; B) Kate Davies 1st 7.87m

HT A) Lucy Humphreys 4th 23.78m(PB)

LJ A) Harriet Hunter 3rd 4.50m

HJ A) Kate Davies 2nd 1.55m; B) Katharine Chadwick 1st 1.45m

JV A) Hannah Jones 4th 16.97m

DT A) Lucy Humphreys 4th 20.50m; B) Katharine Chadwick 2nd 17.51m

TJ A) Harriet Hunter 2nd 10.10m

 

U17 Men

100m A) Harri Sayer 3rd 11.4; B) Peter Griffiths 4th 12.5

800m A) Ryan Hearn 3rd 2:03.9(PB); B) Dominic Tutton 3rd 2:06.0

400m A) Andrew Bowers 4th 55.3 (PB)

3000m A) Alex George 2nd 9:13.1; B) Thomas George 2nd 9:17.4

200m A) Harri Sayer 2nd 23.1(PB); B) Andrew Bowers 3rd 25.0(PB)

1500m A) Ryan Hearn 3rd 4:28.0

2k S/C A) Thomas George 4th 6:55.6; B) Alex George 1st 6:56.9

HT A) Jacob Lange 1st 49.19m

SP A) Jacob Lange 2nd 10.36m

TJ A) Peter Griffiths 3rd 11.10m

DT A) Jacob Lange 3rd 22.25m

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BMAF Championships - 21/07/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Marion Loveridge won the silver medal in the W45 Hammer event at the recent British Masters Championships at Derby, throwing 37.34m.

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Aviva SIAB International Match - 21/07/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Charlotte Stallard made her international debut at the Aviva SIAB Schools International at Ashford, Kent on Saturday (21st).

 

Competing for England Schools in the hammer, the Gloucester youngster was delighted to throw a new personal best 44.58 metres for 5th place.

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BMC Grand Prix - 21/07/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Richard De Camps recorded 1:56.54 for 5th place in the men’s 800 metres at the BMC Grand Prix meeting at Solihull.

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BMC Grand Prix - 21/07/2012

Meeting Internazionale di Atletica Leggera - 17/07/2012

 

Gloucester’s Rose-Anne Galligan has been in sparkling form in the past week. She followed up her stunning run over 800 metres at the Bottrop Gala in Germany with another fast clocking in the invitation meeting at Lignano, Italy on Tuedsay (17th) running 2:02.72 for 8th place. She then returned to the UK to run her first 1500 metres of the season in the BMC Grand Prix at Solihull on Saturday (21st), running 4:13.34 behind several Olympic-bound competitors.

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White Horse 5K Series - 19/07/2012

 

Tom Randles was the Gloucester club’s first runner home in Severn’s White Horse 5km event in Sandhurst last Thursday (19th), finishing in 17th place with 16:48. Dave Gresswell was the next club member home, in 30th place with 18:36. Matt Powell dipped under 19 minutes, clocking 18:55 in 36th position.

 

Other Gloucester finishers were Omar Alim, 42nd with 19:26, Merlin Tolley 53rd in 20:25, Paul Loveridge 57th in 20:35, Leigh Nelmes 70th in 21:03, Michelle Stark 73rd in 21:16, newcomers Bernie Cammell and Martin Hobson were 79th and 80th in 21:37 and 21:39 respectively, Denise Evans placed 95th in 22:58 and Nicola Hovery placed 100th in 23:42.

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Cheltenham Midsummer Open - 19/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members contested the rarely run 150 metres distance at the latest Midsummer Open Meeting at Cheltenham’s Prince of Wales Stadium last week (19th), with three of them bettering the old Club record.

 

Competing in the U17 Ladies race, Dayna Willoughby came home the winner in an exceptional 18.9 seconds, just ahead of Kelly Constable in 19.0 in second place with training partner Lurenda Mudd in 4th in 19.3 seconds. The previous Gloucester all-time best had stood since 2003 at 19.9 seconds to Kathryn Purcell.

 

In the supporting races, multi-eventer Kate Davies ran a personal best 20.8 seconds and Christine Campbell also set a personal best 26.2 seconds.

 

Constable and Campbell also ran personal bests in the 300 metres; Constable recording 43.9 seconds in her first race over the distance and Campbell, 56.2 seconds.

 

Members of the Club’s young middle distance group were also in action, using the meeting as a useful training exercise. Dominic Tutton recorded 2:06.2 and 4:37.2 for the 800 and 1500 metres respectively. Ryan Hearn ran 2:09.0 and 4:34.5. Andrew Bowers ran 2:15.1 in the 800 metres and Harry Wells ran 5:10.2 for 1500 metres.

 

At the same meeting, Marion Loveridge continued her fine form to win the women’s hammer event with 35.96 metres, whilst training partner Jacob Lange won the U17 men’s event with a throw of 55.59 metres.

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South West Inter Counties Championships - 15/07/2012

Gloucester Athletic Club members were again on the medals podium at championships over the weekend (14/15th).

On Sunday, the Club had a strong presence at the South-West Inter-Counties Championships at Exeter, winning no fewer than six titles.

 

The highlight performance of the afternoon and, indeed, the championships came from Gareth Winter who launched the discus out to a new personal best 50.50 metres – his first time over the 50m mark and an improvement of 54 cms on his previous best. Winter also retained the gold medal in the shot putt, with a 15.49m putt.

 

Club track & field captain Steve Millward was a comfortable winner of the senior men’s 2000 metres steeplechase. Content to bide his time and not go with the early leader, he came home the victor in a season’s best six minutes, 13 seconds.

 

For the fifth time this season, twin brothers Tom and Alex George took to the track in direct competition, this time in the U17 men’s 3000m. The two controlled the race, leading from the first lap and, with one lap remaining, Alex started to gradually wind up the pace. His brother followed and with 250 metres to go, took the lead which he maintained to the finishing line.

 

Sprinter Catherine Hardy confirmed her reputation as one of the leading sprinters in the south-west, winning the U15 girls 100 metres in 12.63 seconds.

 

The Club’s success was not restricted to the track, however, as Jacob Lange won the U17 men’s hammer with a throw of 56.21 metres, adding over one metre to his previous best and taking him into the nation’s top 12 young throwers for 2012.

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Midland U15/U17/U20 Championships - 14+15/07/2012

 

The Midlands U17 Championships at Leicester saw Charlotte Stallard and Dayna Willoughby continue their excellent recent form. Stallard followed up her silver medal in the hammer throw at the previous weekend’s English Schools Championships by going one better to take the gold medal with the second best throw of her career, 42.09 metres, to win by over four metres.

 

Willoughby has been the Club’s find of the season over 300 metres and stormed to the silver medal in this event with her fastest electronic time, 41.43 seconds, less than three tenths behind the winner. She later returned to the track to contest the 200 metres and won the bronze medal with a new personal best 26.06 seconds, the fastest by a city runner this year.

 

Kate Davies had a busy meeting as she prepares for the English U17 heptathlon. She took silver medal in the shot putt with 9.16m, just one centimetre below her best. She then won the bronze medal in the high jump with a 1.50m clearance, fourth in the long jump (4.75m) and 7th in the 100m hurdles (13.8 secs).

 

Lucy Humphreys was the club’s other performer at the Championships, placing fifth in the U17 shot putt with 8.26m.

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Pilot Inn 10 - 14/07/2012

 

Tom Randles was Gloucester's first finisher at the Pilot Inn 10 Mile Road on Saturday (14th). He led the race for much of the way but ended up finishing 4th in a time of 60 minutes 46 seconds, just behind the second and third placed runners.

 

Jeremy Mower used the race as warm up for next week’s Anglo-Celtic Plate 100km, when he will be wearing the red vest of Wales and finished in seventh position in 62:57.

 

Nathan Smith came in tenth position in 67:35, equalling his best time ran over the same course last year.

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Frampton 10K - 09/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members achieved the following times at the Frampton 10km road race (9th):

 

11th Matt Boon 37:00

32nd Matt Powell 38:43

39th David Mandeville 38:59 (M40)

59th Arthur Daley 40:25 (1st M60)

130th Kerry Newell 44:21 (F40)

153rd Simon Barnes 45:23 (M40)

160th Denise Evans 45:39 (F50)

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Avon League, Match 2 - 08/07/2012

 

Three of Gloucester Athletic Club’s young stars were in impressive form at the Avon League match at Yate on Sunday, setting new league records in their respective events.

 

Catherine Hardy extended her winning streak for the season, winning the U15 Girls 100 metres in a new personal best 12.3 seconds to establish her among the top sprinters in the age group in the country.

 

Kelly Constable also set a personal best in the 100 metres, running 12.4 seconds to win the U17 Ladies race, to give much optimism for her chances in the Midland Counties 200 metres this weekend.

 

The third athlete to set a new league record was Dayna Willoughby, whose 40.7 seconds clocking for the 300 metres also set a new Club overall and U17 Ladies best for the distance.

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AAI Senior Championships - 07+08/07/2012

BottropGala - 06/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Rose-Anne Galligan was busy over the weekend (6-8th).

 

On Friday, she posted her fastest 800 metres time for two years when running 2min 02.62 for 6th place at the BottropGala International Meeting near Dusseldorf in Germany on Friday. The race was won by former world champion Caster Semanya of South Africa in 1:59.18.

 

Galligan then returned to her native Ireland to compete in the national championships. On Saturday, she ran a comfortable 2:12.0 to qualify for Sunday’s final where she placed 3rd in 2:07.95, after having run the final 600 metres minus a shoe which she lost when getting clipped by another runner.

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English Schools Championships - 06+07/07/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members were in top form at the English Schools Championships at Gateshead last weekend (6/7th).

 

Charlotte Stallard took an excellent silver medal in the Inter Girls hammer. Going into the competition, Stallard was sixth ranked among the top competitors and knew that she would have to produce the performance of her life to get among the medals. She rose to the occasion and threw a lifetime’s best 42.67m for second place.

 

Training partner Jacob Lange was another to impress as he also set a new personal best throw of 54.91m to take 9th place in the Inter Boys hammer throw.

 

On the track the George twins, Alex and Tom, were contesting the Inter Boys 1500 metres and both progressed to the final – Alex by right and Tom as a fastest loser. In the final, won by the hugely impressive Matthew Shirling of Merseyside, Alex took 9th place in 4mins 04.26 secs, with Tom finishing in 12th place with 4mins 07.40.

 

Gloucester club chairman, Andy McKenzie, said “We are immensely proud of these athletes, plus all of our other youngsters who competed so well throughout the schools competitions this year. They are all putting the Gloucester club on the athletics map and will clearly benefit from the new facilities that we shall have going into the winter.”

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Lloyds TSB Fitness 4 - 05/07/2012

 

Gloucester AC members have been in action at recent road races. At the Severn AC Lloyds-TSB Fitness Four-Mile event at Hardwicke on Thursday 5th July, they achieved the following placings:

 

8th Matt Aspinall 25:48; 15th Paul Loveridge 28:05; 16th Michelle Stark 28:35; 24th Gemma Collier 29:12; 27th Denise Evans 29:47; 40th Nicola Hovey 32:16.

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Cheltenham Midsummer Open - 04/07/2012

 

Christine Campbell of Gloucester AC competed in the Cheltenham Midsummer Open meeting last Wednesday (4th) and recorded personal best times in the 100 metres (16.8 seconds) and 400 metres (79.7 seconds).

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Midland League, Match 3 - 01/07/2012

 

The Gloucester-Severn composite team produced another spirited showing at the Midland Athletics League Division One match at Bristol on Sunday. Their fourth place leaves them level on points with Wolverhampton & Bilston and Notts AC with just one match remaining.

 

The men’s throwers and middle distance runners and the ladies’ sprinters produced some outstanding performances on the day. Throwers Gareth Winter and Justin Sysum took six first places and two second places in eight events to provide a solid foundation with Winter producing the highlight - a huge shot putt of 16.57m to add 80cms to his personal best and club record when winning the ‘A’ event - with Sysum backing him up to win the ‘B’ string.

 

Tim Dalton repeated his double victory from match two, when winning the 800m and 1500m, receiving solid support from Richard De Camps and Kyran Hale.

 

In the ladies events, the team welcomed back Irish international Rose-Anne Galligan and she duly responded with a double victory in the 400m and 800m. Her young team-mates followed her example with Kelly Constable setting a new personal best in the 100 metres and Dayna Willoughby and Lurenda Mudd achieving their best ever positions at this level.

 

Constable, Willoughby and Mudd then joined forces with Harriet Hunter in the 4 x 100m relay and they took an excellent second place with a Club record-equaling 50.4 seconds.

 

Galligan, Willoughby and Mudd were then joined by Danni Mulraney in the 4 x 400m relay as they recorded the fastest time by a City squad for a decade.

 

Rachel Underhill was a welcome addition in the distance events, taking 2nd place in both the 1500m and 3000m where she was supported by Beth Wynn, who took a second place in the 3000m ‘B’ race.

 

Team manager Richard Blackwell said afterwards: “Again, we showed our fighting spirit against some top-class opposition. If we are honest, we are punching above our weight in this League, but we are enjoying the challenge and it’s a great learning experience for the youngsters.”

League Standings after three matches:

 

Birchfield 18 pts; Cheltenham & Co 11; Bristol & West 10; Wolves & Bilston 8 (920 match pts); Gloucester-Severn 8 (917); Notts AC 8 (891)

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ESAA South West Schools Combined Events Championships - 01/07+30/06/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s top young multi-event athlete, Kate Davies, smashed her personal best score in the heptathlon and increased her own Club U17 record by over 80 points when taking the bronze medal in the South West Schools heptathlon at Exeter last week.

 

The City athlete opened day one of the two day competition with a solid, if unspectacular, 100 metres hurdles where her 13.73 seconds clocking earned her 595 points for 14th place in the standings.

 

A personal best 1.57m clearance in the high jump earned Davies 701 points and propelled her up to eighth place overall and she further improved her position with a 8.96m shot putt. She finished day one on a high note when she set a new personal best of 27.22 seconds in the 200m. That performance earned her a further 694 points and moved her up to third place overnight on 2452 points, some 242 points down on the leader, Emily Dixon of Wiltshire Schools, and 106 points behind second placed Jordanna Morrish from Somerset.

 

Davies dropped down one place after the first event of day two, recording 4.82m and gaining 511 points in the long jump, but regained her podium position with a 30.94m javelin that earned her 494 points.

 

She concluded her competition with a season’s best performance in the 800m, recording 2min 34.22 for 641 points, leaving her in third place with a points total of 4098, an improvement of 84 points on her previous best and Club U17 record.

National Junior League - 24/06/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s junior team headed west to compete in the latest round of the National Junior Athletics League at Aberdare on Sunday (24th). The City squad was depleted as a result of several of their team attending the South West Schools championships in Exeter the previous day but, despite this, they still produced some encouraging performances.

 

Andrew Bowers showed signs of a return to form when setting a new personal best 55.94 seconds in the U17M 400m, whilst newcomer Ben Potts set new standards in the 100m (12.26 secs) and 200m (24.63 secs). Sean Beckett, normally a hurdler, showed a previously unearthed talent when throwing the javelin 33.66m.

 

In the ladies team, there were personal bests for Dayna Willoughby in the 200m (26.15 secs), Kate Davies, whose 9.17m shot putt was her second personal best of the weekend and Hannah Jones (17.15m javelin).

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ESAA South West Schools Championships - 23/06/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s top youngsters travelled to Exeter for the South-West Schools championships on Saturday (23rd) in their final attempt to gain selection for the National Schools’ Championships next month.

 

The U17m 1500m final saw Alex and Thomas George pit their ability against the best of the region’s talent. Following a slow first 800m, Alex Carter of Bath injected pace in an effort to break up the pack, with only the Gloucester pair able to follow him. With 200m to go, Alex George struck, followed by his brother, and came home the winner in 4min 03.90 seconds. Thomas was second in 4min 04.16 seconds, reducing his personal best for the second time in four days.

 

Dayna Willoughby extended her rich vein of form as she knocked half a second off her personal best in the U17W 300m, winning her heat in 41.88 seconds. She placed 4th in the final with 42.26 seconds.

 

Fellow sprinters Kelly Constable and Lurenda Mudd were drawn against each other in the U17L 200m with Kelly prevailing by just five one-hundredths of a second in 26.46 seconds.

 

Mult-eventer Kate Davies was another to set a new personal best as she cleared 1.56m in the high jump and there was double success for the Gloucester club in the U17 men’s and ladies hammer competitions as Jacob Lange and Charlotte Stallard won their first South-West titles, the latter with a new personal best.

 

Harriet Hunter took two sixth places in the long and triple jumps and Tim Campion placed sixth and fifth in the U20M shot putt and discus.

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Malvern Midsummer Marathon - 23/06/2012

 

Jeremy Mower took ‎first place out of a field of fifty runers at the Malvern Midsummer Marathon in 4hr 26min. The off-road marathon with 4800ft ascent was made tougher with very muddy conditions in parts and was not condusive for fast times. However Mower was only 4 minutes outside the course record  despite loosing both shoes in the mud and loosing 5 minutes due to missing a turn. Mower hopes to return next year as he's sure he can break 4:15 for the course. He said he had beaten his previous best for the course by 5 minutes which made it three course personal bests in his last three races. Mower will be looking towards getting a PB in a 100km race in July.

 

Jeremy Mower took ‎first place out of a field of fifty runners at the Malvern Midsummer Marathon recording 4hr 26min, an improvement of five minutes on his previous best for the course. The off-road marathon which included 4800ft ascent was made tougher with heavy conditions in parts and was not conducive for fast times.

 

Despite this, Mower was only four minutes outside the course record and will return next year, confident of breaking 4:15 for the course. Before then, however, there’s the small challenge of a 100km road race later this month where the Welsh international is hoping for a new personal best.

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White Horse 5K Series - 21/06/2012

 

In the White Horse 5km road race at Sandhurst, Matt Powell recorded 18mins 44 for 6th place.

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Birmingham Rowheath Open - 20/06/2012

 

There was double joy for brothers Alex and Thomas George in the Birmingham Rowheath Open Meeting last Wednesday (20th) on the newly laid track at Birmingham University which will be the home of Usain Bolt prior to the London Olympics. In the 1500m, Thomas knew it was possibly his last chance to achieve the English Schools’ qualifying time and book his place on the trip to Gateshead. Going into this race, Thomas had been just 2 hundredths of a second outside the standard but, keeping his nerves in check and running a mature race which belied his experience, he bettered his best by over 3 seconds recording 4:04.68.

 

Alex was already the county’s fastest U17 over 1500m and 3000m and at the Birmingham meeting he confirmed his all round status when he became the County's fastest U17 for 2012 over 800m when reducing his best time, set on the previous weekend, by more than 3 seconds as he ran 2:02.16.

 

At the same meeting there was a season's best for Richard de-Camps over 800m. After a slow first lap the field started to bunch forcing Richard to take the initiative with 300m to go. This possibly cost him ultimate victory but, nevertheless, he was satisfied with his 3rd place in 1:56.53.

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Bourton Half Marathon - 16/06/2012

 

Three runners from Gloucester AC took part in the “‘Humph's Hilly Half Marathon” at Bourton-on-the-Water over a tough 13.1 mile course that took in some long steep climbs and descents, as well as being run in very unseasonal weather.

 

Jeremy Mower ran his best time of 1hr:21min:28sec over the distance for five years to finish in 6th place, using his ultra-distance fitness to pass several runners over the final long hill. Denise Evans was 14th lady and 2nd LV50 in 1:43:48 whilst Dave Spackman was one position and 10 seconds behind Denise finishing 2nd MV65.

 

David Beñitez finished a clear second place in the Mallards Pike 5 miles multi-terrain race organised by the Forest of Dean AC in 29:44.

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Mallards Pike MT5 - 13/06/2012

 

David Beñitez finished a clear second place in the Mallards Pike 5 miles multi-terrain race organised by the Forest of Dean AC in 29:44.

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National Young Athletes League - 17/06/2012

County Schools Championships - 16/06/2012

Avon League, Match 2 - 10/06/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s young track & field athletes have been in top form in the past two weeks, with many of them setting new personal and season’s bests.

 

At the Avon League fixture in Yate on 10th June, sprinter Lurenda Mudd knocked two tenths off her best 100 metres time when winning the U17 Ladies race in 12.5 seconds. She reduced that time by a further tenth when winning the County Schools title at Cheltenham on Saturday (16th). Mudd also set a season’s best of 26.2 seconds for the 200 metres when winning the County title at the schools event.

 

Mudd’s club-mates Dayna Willoughby, Kelly Constable and Catherine Hardy have also been busy revising their best times. Willoughby has been setting consistent times over the 100 and 200 metres events in recent weeks but it is perhaps over 300 metres where her talent is best suited as she has established herself as the club number one with an impressive 42.3 second clocking in the McCain’s Young Athletes League match at Brierley hill on Sunday (17th). Constable has shown that she is recovering her very best form after injury by equalling her best 100 and 200 metres times at the weekend whilst Hardy, who at just 14 years old is the youngest of the talented group, also equalled her best sprint times at the schools and McCain’s meetings.

 

However, it is not just the sprinters who have been in record-breaking form. Jacob Lange has firmly established himself as one of the top young throwers in the region, setting new personal bests at hammer and the shot putt at recent events, with fellow throwers Ellen Thrall and Lucy Humphrys setting new standards. Harriet Hunter remains unbeaten in the triple jump this outdoor season and is recording consistent performances in the long jump whilst pentathlete Kate Davies is showing signs of rounding into form in time for the South West Schools pentathlon in two week’s time.

 

Many of these talented youngsters shall be heading to Exeter this weekend to contest the south west schools championships, hoping to qualify for the national schools championships, the pinnacle of any youngster’s season, at Gateshead in July.

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Midland Masters Championships - 10/06/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Marion Loveridge was in record-breaking form at the Midland Masters Championships at Nuneaton on Sunday (10th).

 

Loveridge won the W45 Hammer throw with a championship best performance 37.62m, a season’s best and her best throw for three years.

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Lloyds TSB Fitness 4 - 07/06/2012

 

Dan Finn led the Gloucester Athletic Club contingent home when he finished fourth in the Severn AC-organised Four Mile Fitness Run at Hardwicke (June 7th).

 

Finn’s time of 26 mins 19 was an improvement of nearly two minutes on his best recorded time for the distance and an indication of the improvement he has made since joining Arthur Daley’s training group.

 

Just behind Finn was Gemma Collier, showing signs of having recovered from her London Marathon experience last month. Collier was first lady to finish, in 5th place overall in 26:20, with Daley himself finishing in 6th place and 1st M60 in 26:22.

 

New member, Ben Headland, was next home in 7th place with 27:05, Michelle Stark 10th overall and first W40 in 27:30 and Paul Loveridge, 14th in 28:34.

 

Humphrey Phillips completed the Gloucester line-up, finishing in 29:28.

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Brewer Games - 04/06/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Ryan Hearn set two personal bests when competing at the Brewer Games meeting on Bank Holiday Monday. The 16 year-old middle distance prospect from the Kerry Newell group based at Gloucester first reduced his 400m time by half a second to 57.4 seconds before taking over seven seconds off his 1500 metres best time with 4:19.0.

 

Clubmate Dayna Willoughby was another City club athlete to set a personal best at the meeting. After using the U17 ladies 100 metres as a warm-up, in which she ran 13.3 seconds, she went on to win the U17 ladies 300 metres in a new personal best time of 42.5 seconds, an improvement of over half a second on her previous best.

 

Willoughby’s training partner, Lurenda Mudd, recorded a time of 13.2 seconds in U17 ladies 100 metres.

 

Gloucester AC results from the Brewer Games at Cheltenham on Monday 4th June:

 

U13 Girls

75m Hurdles 1st Jude Dowdeswell 12.3 secs

 

U15 Girls

Discus 3rd Ellen Thrall 21.43m

Hammer 1st Ellen Thrall 40.65m

 

U17 Ladies

100m 1st Lurenda Mudd 13.2 secs, 2nd Dayna Willoughby 13.3 secs

200m 2nd Lurenda Mudd 26.8 secs, 6th Kate Davies 28.0 secs

300m 1st Dayna Willoughby 42.5 secs (pb)

80m Hdls 3rd Kate Davies 14.5 secs

High Jump 1st Kate Davies 1.45m

 

U17 Men

400m 2nd Ryan Hearn 57.4

1500m 3rd Ryan Hearn 4,19.0 pb

Shot 2nd Jacob Lange 10.58

Discus 3rd Jacob Lange 27.27

Hammer 1st Jacob Lange 53.99

 

Senior Ladies

Shot 1st Anna Robertson 10.06

Hammer 1st Anna Robertson 43.14

 

W45

Hammer 1st Marion Loveridge 37.31

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England Championships - 02/06/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Richard De Camps placed 8th in his heat of the men’s 1500 metres at the England Closed Athletics Championships at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium on Saturday (2nd) in a season’s outdoor best time of 4mins 04.87 seconds.

Bridge Inn 5K Series - 29/05/2012

 

Two Gloucester Athletic Club members travelled to Bristol to compete in the latest race in the Bridge Inn 5km road race series.

 

Arthur Daley finished 44th in 19:33 for the first M60 spot, just one second slower than his 5km track race 2 weeks previously. Michelle Stark gave further evidence of her improvement in shorter distances as she first W40 in 20:49, just a few seconds short of her season's best set 10 days before.

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Midland Track & Field League Div1 - 27/05/2012

 

A host of personal and season’s bests saw a young Gloucester Athletic Club team take fourth place in the second Midland League Division One fixture at Wolverhampton on Sunday (27th).

 

No fewer than five members of the Club’s junior U17s team were drafted into the team for their first taste of senior competition and all acquitted themselves well with the massive step up to the top level of club athletics in the region.

 

On the track, Tim Dalton was a class apart from the opposition in the men’s events as he strolled to a comfortable win in the 800m ‘B’ race before putting on an impressive display of front running to win the 1500m ‘A’ by the length of the home straight.

 

Richard De camps was another impressive winner as he took the men’s 3000 metres.

 

In the field events, throwers Gareth Winter and Tim Williams earned valuable points as they took a double victory in the men’s shot putt before following up with second places in the discus, all with season’s best performances.

 

Marion Loveridge won the ladies ‘B’ hammer again and there were solid supporting performances in the throws by Anna Robertson and young debutant Lucy Humphrys.

 

Dayna Willoughby and Oscar Davies were two more youngsters to put in solid performances on their debuts as they set new personal bests in the sprints.

 

Team captain Steve Millward had another busy day but was still able to win his speciality event, the 3000m steeplechase, in convincing fashion. Ladies captain Alex Purcell was also fully occupied, filling in several gaps during the afternoon.

 

Team Manager Richard Blackwell was more than happy with the effort his team put in on the day saying “We showed some tremendous fighting spirit today. Youngsters came in at short notice and all performed way above expectations. They have promising futures in the sport.”

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Dymock Half Marathon - 27/05/2012

 

Jeremy Mower was Gloucester AC sole representative in the Dymock Half Marathon on Sunday (27th), finishing 3rd in 1hr 26:40

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IFAM - 26/05/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Rose-Anne Galligan competed in the International Flanders Athletics Meeting at Oordegem in Belgium on Saturday (26th), placing 4th in the 800 metres ‘A’ race in a season’s best 2:04.99.

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National Young Athletes League - 20/05/2012

 

Thrower Jacob Lange was the stand-out performer as Gloucester Athletic Club’s youngsters enjoyed a successful day to take third place in the McCain’s Young Athletes League match at Yate on Sunday (20th).

 

Lange set new personal bests in each of his three events, the hammer, shot putt and discus, to win the male athlete of the match award. Lucy Humphreys won the female athlete of the match award on the basis of her two personal bests during the afternoon.

 

Gloucester details:

 

U13 Girls

Jude Dowdeswell - 70mH 4th 17.0s; 150m 3rd 24.9s; LJ 3rd 3.13m

Bethan Moor - LJ 1st 3.78m; 1200m 1st 4.19:2

Amelia Hill - 75m 4th 11.7s; SP 2nd 4.89m

Miaya Ellis - 75m 3rd 12.4s; SP 2nd 4.27m

Tianna George - 150m 4th 23.7s

J Dowdeswell, T George, M Ellis, A Hill 4x100 relay 2nd 61.7s

 

U13 Boys

Harry Wells - 1500m 1st 5.11:3 PB

Jack Holdsworth - SP 3rd 3.99m; 1500m 2nd 6.21:4

 

U15 Girls

Hayley Ralley - 75mH 2nd 15.4; 200m 2nd 31.7s

Jennifer Hayward - 75mH 4th 14.5s; 100m 3rd 14.4s; HJ 3rd 1.15m

Joanna Gresty - 800m 4th 2.48:5

Catherine Hardy - 100m 1st 13.3s; 200m 1st 27.1s; LJ 1st 4.79 PB

Ellen Thrall - DT 2nd 24.19m, SP 3rd 7.10m, HJ 3rd 1.15m

 

U15 Boys

Luke Hill - 100m 3rd 13.1s; 200m 3rd 26.9s; 300m 2nd 42.9s PB

Charlie Morton - 100m 2nd 14.5s; LJ 4th 3.41m

Joe Beckett - SP 3rd 7.53; JV 2nd 22.71m; DT 2nd 19.63m (3xPB's)

 

U17 Ladies

Libby Taylor - 80mH 2nd 16.2s; LJ 1st 4.16m; SP 1st 6.08m

Adella Hill - 100m 1st 14.3s; 200m 1st 29.7s

Dayna Willoughby - 100m 1st 13.2s; 200m 1st 29.7s

Hannah Jones - 1500m 2nd 5.53:7; JV 3rd 16.76m

Charlotte Stallard - HT 1st 38.82m

Lucy Humphreys - HT 1st 20.73m; SP 2nd 8.59m PB; DT 1st 20.93m PB

Harriet Hunter - LJ 2nd 4.88m, TJ 1st 10.04m

 

U17 Men

Dominic Tutton - 800m 1st 2.14:7; HJ 1st 1.40m PB

Alex George - 3000m 1st 9.29:3

Ryan Hearn - 1500m 1st 4.26:7 PB; 400m 3rd 56.9s PB

Tom George - 1500m 1st 4.24:7

Jacob Lange - HT 2nd 54.80m; DT 2nd 27.96m; SP 1st 11.07m 3x PB's

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Tewkesbury Half Marathon - 20/05/2012

 

Denise Evans was the Gloucester club’s only competitor in Sunday’s Tewkesbury Half Marathon, taking 3rd place in the W50 category in a new personal best time of 1:41:14

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White Horse 5K Series - 17/05/2012

 

Five Gloucester Athletic Club members competed in the first of the 2012 White Horse 5km road races at Sandhurst on Thursday (17th).

 

Jeremy Mower was 10th out of the reduced field and second M45 in 17:38. Nathan Smith ran 18:42 for 16th place whilst 3 places behind in 19th with 19:13 was Matt Powell whose legs were still jaded from a 33 mile race 10 days before. Michelle Stark was fourth lady overall and first W40 (26th overall) in 20:44 setting a season's best. Stark is now 52nd in the UK age group rankings. Becky Summers was 32nd in 22:45 and first in the WU20 category.

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County Championships - 16/05/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Arthur Daley ran in the Gloucestershire AAA track 5000m championship on Wednesday (16th) and was delighted with his 40 second improvement on his road 5km time set three weeks previously. His even paced 19:31.7 gave him the M60 championship and placed him 3rd on the UK M60 rankings for the 2012 season.

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Berkeley 10K - 14/05/2012

 

In the Berkeley 10km road race, Gloucester Athletic Club’s Denise Evans was 125th overall in 46:21 and Nikki Harding was 157th in 48:17

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County Championships - 13/05/2012

 

Three of Gloucester Athletic Club’s brightest young talents were in medal-winning form at this year’s County Athletics championships at the Prince of Wales Stadium in Cheltenham.

 

In conditions far more favourable than his early-season races, Thomas George took silver medal in a physical 800 metres, narrowly losing out on the gold in a sprint finish. Twin brother Alex fared better in the 1500m, a mixed race with junior and senior men competing. A fast opening lap sorted out the field, with George staying in touch with the leader before making his move with 300m remaining. He sprinted down the final straight to cross the line first in 4.03.1, bettering his previous best set earlier in the week. His time ranks him 7th in the UK for U17 at the distance this year.

 

Catherine Hardy established herself in the UK’s top 20 sprinters in the U15 age group by finishing 2nd in the 100m with a new personal best time of 12.8 seconds. She went one better when winning the 200m in a personal best-equalling 26.7 seconds.

 

Gloucester Athletic Club results from the part one of the 2012 Gloucestershire County Athletics Championships held at the Prince of Wales Stadium, Cheltenham, on 13th May:

 

60m

U11 Girls

Ht 1 Jada George 4th 10.2 sec

Ht 2 Imogen Dowdeswell 7th 10.9

 

100m

Senior Men - 2nd Ashleigh Naylor 11.3 secs

U17 Men - 3rd Oscar Davies 12.2 secs

U17 Ladies - 1st Lurenda Mudd 12.7 secs, 2nd Kelly Constable 12.9 secs, 4th Dayna Willoughby 13.1 secs, 6th Libby Taylor 14.0 secs

U15 Girls - 2nd Catherine Hardy 12.8 secs

U13 Girls - 3rd Tianna George 15.3 secs, 6th Jude Dowdeswell 15.8 secs, 7th Kirstie Constable 15.8 secs

 

200m

U17 Ladies - 1st Lurenda Mudd 27.1 secs

U15 Girls - 1st Catherine Hardy 26.7 secs

U13 Girls - 5th (ht) Tianna George 32.1 secs

 

300m

U17 Ladies - 2nd Lurenda Mudd 42.6 secs

 

400m

U17 Men - 2nd Ryan Hearn 57.5 secs

Senior Ladies - 3rd Christine Campbell 71.8 secs

 

600m

U11 Boys - 1st Samuel Earl 2:02.8

U11 Girls - 5th Jada George 2:22.0

 

800m

U17 Men - 2nd Thomas George 2:06.4, 5th Ryan Hearn 2:09.8, 6th Dominic Tutton 2:13.2

Senior Ladies - 3rd Christine Campbell 3:01.6

 

1500m

U17 Men - 1st Alex George 4:03.1

U13 Boys - 4th Jack Holdsworth 6:20.2

U15 Girls - 4th Tara Senaden 5:42.2

 

300m Hurdles

U17 Ladies - 3rd Dayna Willoughby 49.5 secs

 

400m Hurdles

Senior Ladies - 2nd Becky Summers 76.7 secs

 

Long Jump

U13 Boys - 7th Jack Holdsworth 3.44m

U17 Ladies - 4th Libby Taylor 4.15m

U13 Girls - 9th Tianna George 3.16m, 12th Kirstie Constable 2.91m

 

Shot Putt

Senior Men - 1st Gareth Winter 15.10m

U20 Men - 1st Tim Campion 10.43m

Senior Ladies - 2nd Marion Loveridge 7.04m

U17 Ladies - 4th Lucy Humphrys 7.83m

U13 Boys - 2nd Jack Holdsworth 4.62m

 

Discus

Senior Men - 1st Gareth Winter 47.61m

U20 Men - 1st Tim Campion 35.27m

U17 Ladies - 3rd Lucy Humphreys 20.19m

U15 Girls - 2nd Ellen Thrall 22.15m

 

Javelin

U17 Ladies - 2nd Kate Davies 30.81m

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Marlborough Downs Challenge - 12/05/2012

 

Eight Gloucester AC members took part in the recent Marlborough Downs Challenge 33 mile trail race (12th). Ian Summers has done the race three times before and Andy McKenzie twice and were able to pass on their wisdom to their team mates who were attempting this distance for the first time.

 

Weeks of wet weather had left many parts of the course very muddy and boggy, particularly through the woods in the first five miles, but, mercifully, the weather on the day was kinder - sunny and bright with a cool breeze - giving wonderful views over the Wiltshire countryside from the many vantage points on the scenic route.

 

As the squad had decided prior to the start to treat the event as more of a challenge than a race, Jeremy Mower's club record time of 4h 44m from 2009 was never under threat. Andy McKenzie had not done any distance greater than seven miles during the previous three years and wisely split off from the 33 mile route at the 9-mile checkpoint where the route divides, offering runners the option of taking a 20 mile route.

 

Wayne Mayer was first home in 65th place in 6hr 12m, a time shared by Richard Moor in 66th. Ian Summers was 78th in 6hr 22m, Ben Gardiner 85th in 6hr 26m, Matt Powell 88th in 6hr 36m and Luke Herbert 92nd in 6hr 43m. In 106th was John McClean with 7hr 19m with Glenn Church 109th in 7hr 43m.

 

The race was won by Guy Landon from Team Bath AC who completed the 33-mile course in 4hr 19m. Andy McKenzie finished the 20 mile event in 4hr 08m.

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Blaisdon Bluebell 10K - 07/05/2012

 

Three Gloucester Athletic Club members competed in the Blaisdon Bluebell 10km on Bank Holiday Monday. Jeremy Mower, fresh from setting a club V45 record for 2000m steeplechase on Saturday, led the trio home in 6th place. His time of 37:06 was his fastest since 2005. Matt Powell finished in 7th place, setting a new PB of 39:04 and Denise Evans won the ladies race in 47:14

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McCain Young Athletes League (Worcester) - 06/05/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s young athletes produced a host of encouraging performances in the McCain Young Athletes League fixture at Worcester (6th May).

 

In the U17 ladies age group Lucy Humphreys recorded three wins in the shot putt, discus and hammer. Sprinter Kelly Constable recorded a sprint double, winning the 100m and 200m in new personal best times. Harriet Hunter also recorded a double victory in the long and triple jumps, as did Dayna Willoughby (100m ‘B’ and 300m hurdles) and debutant Libby Taylor in the long jump ‘B’ and shot putt whilst Hannah Jones won the ‘B’ discus.

 

In the U17 men’s category, Andrew Bowers won the 400m and 800m, just holding off his clubmate Ryan Hearn in the latter.

 

In the U15 girls events, Catherine Hardy set two new personal bests when winning the 100m and 200m while Jennifer Hayward also set a personal best when winning the 100m ‘B’ event.

 

In the U13s age group, Chloe Jones took victories in both the long jump and shot putt and Harry Wells won the 1500m.

 

Full results:

 

U13

 

Chloe Jones. 70mH- 4th 16.2s, LJ-1st 3.97m PB, SP-1st 7.25m PB

 

Amelia Hill. 75m-5th 11.7s PB, 150m-5th 23.4s PB

 

Miaya Ellis. 75m-5th 12.0s PB

 

Kirstie Constable. LJ-4th 2.79m, 150m-4th 24.4s

 

Jones-Constable-Ellis-Hill. 4x100m relay-3rd 62.2s

 

Harry Wells. 1500m-1st 5.26:4

 

Jack Holdsworth. SP-4th 4.21m, 1500m-4th 6.13:3

 

U15

 

Hayley Ralley. 75mH-2nd 15.5, 200m-2nd 30.6s, HJ-3rd 1.15m

 

Jennifer Hayward. 75mH-3rd 14.0s, 100m-1st 14.0s PB

 

Catherine Hardy. 100m-1st 12.9s, 200m-1st 26.7s PB

 

Ellen Thrall. DT-2nd 18.98m, SP-3rd 6.70m, JV-2nd 12.57m

 

Charlie Morton. HJ-2nd 1.25m 100m-5th 14.3s PB

 

Joe Beckett. SP-3rd 6.77m, JV-3rd 19.69m, DT-1st 18.53m

 

U17

 

Libby Taylor. 80mH-2nd 15.8s PB, LJ-1st 4.18m PB, SP-1st 5.79m PB

 

Harriet Hunter. LJ-1st 4.69m, TJ-1st 10.05m

 

Kelly Constable. 100m-1st 12.8s PB, 200m-1st 26.4s PB

 

Dayna Willoughby. 100m-1st 13.5s, 300mH-1st 50.4s PB, 200m-3rd 27.3s

 

Hannah Jones. DT-1st 12.12m, 1500m-2nd 5.55:2, JV-3rd 16.49m

 

Lucy Humphreys. HT-1st 16.68m, SP-1st 7.89m, DT-1st 19.12m.

 

Constable-Taylor-Jones-Willoughby. 4x100m relay-1st 55.1s

 

Andrew Bowers. 800m-1st 2.10:1, 400m-1st 60.0s

 

Ryan Hearn. HJ-1st 1.35m 800m-1st 2.11:3, 400m-2nd 58.2s

 

Oscar Davies. 100m-2nd 11.8s, LJ-1st 4.45m, 200m-3rd 25.8s

 

Tom Beckett. LJ-2nd 4.50m, 200m-2nd 26.7s, TJ-2nd 10.44m

 

Photos below: top l - Kelly Constable; top r - Catherine Hardy; bottom l - Tom Beckett & Oscar Davies; bottom r - Ryan Hearn & Andrew Bowers

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BUCS Championships - 05/05/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Tim Williams is the 2012 British Universities hammer champion. Throwing in the first meeting to be staged in the new Olympic Stadium, 19 year-old Williams, representing Loughborough University, set a new personal best throw of 61.15m to win the title from Alex Warner who, like Williams, is also a member of the Lorraine Shaw training group.

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Lloyds TSB Fitness 4 - 03/05/2012

 

Severn AC's four mile fitness run brought success for Gloucester AC distance runners.

 

U20 Dan Finn was the club’s first runner back with a fast finish as W40 Michelle Stark chased him hard over the final 400m. Finn finished in 15th place with 27:34 and Stark was second woman in 27:51 in 16th. Three places behind was M50 Paul Loveridge, whose 28:19 was 32 seconds faster than his previous recorded best time. Humphrey Phillips completed the quartet in 25th place in 29:18 for the first M60 placing.

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Stroud Beer Race 7.2 - 02/05/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s new distance running signing David Bolanjos made his club debut in the recent Stroud Beer race.

 

Using the first of the three laps to establish the quality of the race, he then moved through the field to take second place in 43minutes 38. Matt Powell was second Gloucester club runner home, in 10th with a 48:19 clocking whilst Arthur Daley finished 1st M60 and 15th overall in 50:16. Nikki Wong was 3rd W45 and 41st overall in 59:32.

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Midland Track & Field League Div 1 - 05/05/2012

 

The Gloucester-Severn combined team finished 5th in the opening Up & Running Midland Track & Field League Division One match at Cheltenham on Saturday (5th).

 

This was the team’s first appearance in the top flight of the combined league following their promotion last year and they performed admirably against some of the region’s top clubs.

 

Individual victories at this level will be few and far between but the City team managed three wins on the day, as throwers Justin Sysum (‘A’ hammer), Gareth Winter (‘A’ discus) and Marion Loveridge (‘B’ ladies hammer) each secured well-deserved first places.

 

There were three Gloucester club age group records to celebrate as Kate Davies set a new standard in the U17 javelin and Jeremy Mower set a V45 record in the 2,000m steeplechase but perhaps the most impressive record of the afternoon came in the ladies 4 x 100m as the talented City squad of Harriet Hunter, Lurenda Mudd, Dayna Willoughby and Kelly Constable knocked over half a second off the 34 year-old U17 record.

 

Elsewhere there were personal bests aplenty. Summer signing Beth Wynn set a new best in the 1500m and Kate Davies recorded another best in the 100m hurdles. There were also new personal bests for two of the youngest members of the men’s team as Ryan Hearn (800m) and Harry Bishop (1500m) reduced their best times.

 

After the match, captain Steve Millward said “This result was pretty much what we expected with the team we fielded. The youngsters all performed superbly but it was the throwers and jumpers who were the un-sung heroes as they all did really well and earned valuable points."

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Ultra Running

 

Gloucester’s Norman Wilson has been recognised for his contribution ultra-distance running by being elected onto the World Governing body of the Ultra Runners Executive Council for the period 2012-2016. A former Great Britain international and past winner of the Berlin Marathon, Wilson is a respected ultra-distance running coach.

Mallards Pike Mixed Pairs - 29/04/2012

 

The Mixed pairs Multi-terrain relay at Mallards Pike in the Forest of Dean saw several Gloucester AC members battle torrential rain, gale force winds and temperatures that at times dropped as low as three degrees.

 

First club member home was Christine Campbell, running the 3.3k leg in 17:13 for 2nd veteran pairs prize after a 22:47 5.5k leg from her partner Leyton Fleet. She was followed by M60 Arthur Daley, the only male running the shorter leg (15:04) whose running partner had been the only woman taking the longer leg in 25:15.

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Bridge Inn 5K Series - 24/04/2012

 

Two Gloucester AC members entered the Bridge Inn Bristol 5km road race and both came back with prizes. Christine Campbell ran 23.25 for 94th place and was delighted to receive the first prize as woman's winner of the winter series. Arthur Daley made a return to road competition after a six month lay-off and clocked 20:12 to retain his M60 title.

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London Marathon - 22/04/2012

 

Gemma Collier was the first Gloucester AC runner home in this year’s Virgin London Marathon, recording an excellent 3hrs 22:31 in her first attempt at the distance.

 

Formerly a sprint hurdler, Collier had taken up cross-country and endurance events in recent years and this performance ranks as perhaps the finest ever for the 26 year-old from Upton St Leonards.

 

Collier had not set herself a time target, her main aim was to run the full distance without stopping. This she achieved, as she passed through the half way stage in 1:34:17 before finishing in 237th place in her category and 3457th overall.

 

Matt Wade was the second Gloucester club runner to finish when he came through in 3:30:58, for 4731st overall. Next home was Matt Powell, who completed the distance in 3:35:43 (5513th) with Helen Davies beating her pre-race target to finish in 5:25:24 for 30,086th place.

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Charnwood Open Meeting - 15/04/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s top thrower, Gareth Winter, got his 2012 outdoor season underway with a double victory at the Charnwood Open Meeting on Sunday (15th).

 

The UK’s top ranked U20 thrower last year, Winter recorded 15.04m in the shot putt and 46.84m in the discus.

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Brighton Marathon - 15/04/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Nathan Smith reduced his personal best by a remarkable 45 minutes when placing 107th in the Brighton Marathon on Sunday.

 

Smith went into the race with a best time of 3hrs 53:16. By the end of the race, this had been lowered to 3 hrs 06:04.

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Bushley Mile - 09/04/2012

 

Gloucester AC Chairman Andy McKenzie set a new M50-54 club best performance for the one mile road race when recording 7:41 for 23rd place in the Bushley One Mile Race near Tewkesbury on Easter Monday.

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Cotswold 10k (Temple Guiting) - 01/04/2012

 

At the Cotswold Spring 10km road race at Guiting Power, Dave Spackman finished 20th out of 113 runners in 45:49 for the first M65 prize.

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Bournemouth John Rumbold Memorial Open - 01/04/12

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Lurenda Mudd got her 2012 season underway with a convincing win in the U17 300 metres at the John Rumbold Memorial Open Meeting in Bournemouth (1st April).

 

The 16 year-old, who is coached by Paul Pepler, stopped the clock at 43.9 seconds to win by over 1.5 seconds. Later in the meeting, she placed third in the 200 metres in 27.1 seconds.

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Reading Half Marathon - 01/04/2012

 

Gloucester AC’s Omar Alim recorded a personal best 1:29:28 in Sunday’s Reading Half Marathon, his first time inside 90 minutes, just eight weeks after resuming training following several months of injury.

Midland Area 12-stage Road Relay (Sutton Park) - 31/03/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s ladies produced an encouraging performance in the Midland Counties Women’s 6-stage road relays at Sutton Park.

 

Becky Summers ran the opening leg, recording 22:08 to bring the team home in 36th place. She handed over to Kim Drinkwater who was running her first race since giving birth seven months ago; her time of 21:30 made up four places. Michelle Stark improved six places, running 21:19. Lyndsey Hollands maintained 26th place, running the team’s fastest leg of the day (21:04). Christine Campbell made up a further place, clocking 23:01 in 25th place and the team was completed by newcomer Rachel Fake who ran 23:25 to bring the team home in 23rd place with a total time of 2hrs 12:27.

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Midland Area 12-stage Road Relay (Sutton Park) - 31/03/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s men’s team finished 24th overall in the Midland Area 12-stage Road Relay at Sutton Park in Birmingham on Saturday (31st).

 

Injuries and non-availabilities meant that several reserves and newcomers were drafted into the team for this, the major road race on the calendar.

 

The race consists of four legs of 8.6km and eight legs of 5.3kms. Andrew Renfree gave the team a solid start, running the opening 8.6km leg in 29:35 for 26th place. He handed over to Mark Thrall who covered his 5.3km leg in 19:20, handing over to Jeremy Mower in 34th place.

 

Mower recorded his fastest-ever time for the short leg, his 17:34 clocking pulled the team up to 30th place. He then handed over to Steve Millward who made up a further eight places on the longer stage, with a 29:08 clocking – the fastest long stage by the City team. Matt Powell recorded 19:22 for leg five (25th) whilst debutant Jack Evans ran an impressive 17:55 on leg six to leave the club lying in 22nd place at the half-way stage.

 

Tom Randles ran 31:13 on the longer stage to make up one place, while Leigh Nelmes (20:52, 24th) and Merlin Tolley (20:57, 27th) both produced steady performances.

 

Luke Herbert made up two places, running the long leg in 31:52, before handing over to newcomer Iain Fake who ran 19:11 to hold his position. Dave Gresswell’s 19:14 for the final leg made up one place to bring the team home in 241th position in an overall time of 4hrs 36:13.

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Midland Counties Open - Outdoor Throws - 25/03/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Charlotte Stallard made a significant breakthrough at the Midland Counties Open Throws Meeting at Birmingham on Sunday. Competing in the U17 women’s hammer competition, the Gloucester youngster threw over 40 metres for the first time as she added over a metre to her recent personal best, throwing 40.73 metres to win the event by over five metres.

 

Club mates Jacob Lange placed second in the U17 men’s hammer with 52.41 metres and Kate Davies threw 8.69 metres for a season’s best in the shot putt.

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Buff Lightning 12 Hour Relay (Eastnor Castle) - 25/03/2012

 

Gloucester AC retained the Buff 12 Hour Lightning Relay they won last year in the Mixed Team of Five Category.

 

The race took place in the Deer Park at Eastnor Castle near Ledbury. The only members from last years team were Ian Summers and Gemma Collier. They were joined this year by Tom Randles, Jeremy Mower and Matt Powell.

 

Tom Randles ran the first leg in total darkness at 6.00am aided by a head torch and followed the lead bike. He led the race overall on the first leg and handed over to Jeremy Mower who retained the overall lead and ran the second fastest time of the day in 42 min 43 seconds.

 

Eventually Gloucester lost the overall lead to the mens team Whitchurch Greyhounds. Tom Randles then ran the fastest leg of the day in 42:20 on his second run of the day. Gemma Collier ran despite not being well on the day which was really important as she was the only lady enabling Gloucester to complete a mixed team.

 

Gloucester completed 16 laps of the 10km off road course which was very hilly and through woods in parts. They were over two laps ahead of the second placed mixed team when they crossed the line in first place in their category. The mixed Gloucester team ran so well in the final stages that they nearly overhauled the men's winners Whitchurch, finishing just 1 min 50 sec behind them.

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BMAF Cross Country Championships - 25/03/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club entered a team in the M55-64 category of the British Masters Cross Country Championships at Bath on Sunday.

 

The team was led home by Arthur Daley in 141st overall in a time of 34:58 for 11th place in the M60 age group. He was closely followed in by Humphrey Phillips (39:31) in 146th and John McLean (40:39) in 149th place overall. The team were eighth in the category, but first team comprising entirely of M60s.

 

Beryl Sampson running her first year as a W50 finished 85th overall in the ladies race, completing the 6k course in 25:42 and gaining fifth place in her age group.

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County Short Course (4K) Cross Country Championships - 24/03/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members won two gold medals and a bronze at the Gloucestershire AAA Short Course Cross Country Championships run over a 4km course at Plock Court on Saturday.

 

Ryan Hearn placed 6th overall and first in the U15 Boys category whilst at the other end of the age scale, super-veteran Dave Spackman finished 10th overall and first in the M65 age group. Jason Gresswell placed 9th overall to win the bronze medal in the M40 category.

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Midland Counties Open - 24/03/2012

 

Three of Gloucester Athletic Club’s promising juniors competed at the final meeting of the winter season, the Midland Counties Open Meeting at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Saturday.

 

In the U17 women’s 60 metres, Kelly Constable set a new personal best 8.22 seconds when placing second in her heat. She later recorded 13.08 seconds for the rarely run indoor 100 metres.

 

Catherine Hardy set a new personal best and Club U15 girls’ record of 8.23 seconds when placing third in her 60 metres heat. She also ran in the 100 metres, recording 13.25 seconds.

 

Multi-eventer Kate Davies also recorded personal bests, in the U17 women’s 60 metres (9.0 seconds), the 100 metres (14.30 seconds) and the 60 metres hurdles (11.04 seconds).

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Gloucester 20 - 18/03/2012

 

Matt Powell was the Gloucester club’s leading performer in the Club’s own Gloucester 20-mile road race held around the lanes on the southern outskirts of the city on Sunday.

 

This race appeals to many runners who are gearing up for marathons in the spring, Powell included, as he is entered for the London Marathon in April.

 

The city runner made a solid start and was averaging seven minutes-miling pace up until the 16 mile mark when a lack of recent training due to injury caused him to slow over the final stretch. He finished in 58th place in a new personal best time of 2hrs 26:04.

 

Terry Onions was the next Gloucester runner to finish, crossing the line in 135th place in 2:39:47 and the city trio was completed by Lyndsey Hollands who set a personal best when she stopped the clock in 2:46:40 in 166th place.

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Rhayader Round The Lakes 20 - 17/03/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Tom Randles competed in the recent Rhayader ‘Round the Lakes’ 20-mile road race in the picturesque Elan Valley in mid-Wales and finished 17th of the 359 finishers in 2hrs 13:42, a new personal best. The race was won by David Kehoe of Swansea Harriers in 1:59:46.

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Barry 40 - 04/03/2012

 

On Sunday Gloucester Athletic  Club’s Jeremy Mower competed in the Barry 40 mile Track Race which included the Welsh Ultra Championship. He battled it out with 19 other runners around the 400 metre track against a constant high wind in the back straight, unfortunately the competitors did not get any benefit in the home straight which was sheltered.

 

For the first half hour they had light rain but this cleared for the remainder of the race. Mower decided to take a cautious approach knowing that the high winds would take their toll on the athletes in the latter stages.

 

At the 20 mile point Mower was in 9th position in 2 hours 31 mine 18 sec. Having got to halfway in good condition he then gradually pulled back the other runners, going through the marathon distance in 3 hours 18 min and moving up to sixth position. At this stage many of the runners were really struggling with the high winds which had picked up and some having to walk into the headwind. Mower was able to maintain his pace and by 36 miles had forced his way into third position. He was able to take the last four miles steady to secure 3rd place in under 5 hours 8 minutes, his best ever finish in the UK’s longest running ultra race.

 

He was also the first Vet 40 finisher and took the Silver medal in the Welsh Championships behind Matt Shone who, although making his debut at the ultra distance, has broken 4 minutes for the mile. Scottish international athlete Grant Jeans was the overall winner.

 

Mower was pleased with his run as it had taken very little out of him and he finished the race in good condition which bodes well for the 100km Home International on the 22nd July where he will be competing for Wales.

Track & Field 2012 - 26/02/12

 

Gloucester Athletic Club have named their senior track & field team captains for the 2012 summer season.

 

Steve Millward captains the men’s team, taking over from Justin Sysum who led the team to the Midland League Division Two title last year. Millward is the reigning Midland Counties senior 3,000m steeplechase champion and was the Gloucester team’s leading points scorer in the Midland League last season.

 

Alex Purcell continues as the ladies captain. An accomplished sprinter, hurdler and jumper, she adds experience to a very youthful team.

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English National Championships - 25/02/12

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s top young distance runner, Alex George, placed 46th overall and first county runner in the U17 men’s category at the English Cross Country Championships over London’s gruelling Parliament Hill course on Saturday. This was the first time that the city youngster had contested these championships, so a top 50 placing was an excellent achievement. Twin brother Thomas, also in his first appearance at ‘the national’ finished 207th.

 

In the senior men’s race, David Gresswell placed 800th of the 1690finishers.

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Cotswold 35.2 Challenge - 19/02/12

 

Gloucester’s Jeremy Mower took part in the Cotswold 35.2 mile challenge on Sunday.

 

The race, which started at Temple Guiting, attracted a high class field as it incorporated selection trials for the World 100km championships later in the year and was run over four laps of country lanes over a demanding hilly course.

 

Mower set off at a fast pace before fading over the final seven miles to finish in 10th place in 3hrs 29:58.

 

Afterwards, Mower said “This was the toughest road race under 100km that I have probably ever run due to the hills and a very cold wind. I’ve now got two weeks to recover before the Barry 40-mile track race, which I prefer.”

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May Hill Massacre - 19/02/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Steve Millward won the re-arranged May Hill Massacre on Sunday by over five minutes in a new course record time of 52 mins 34seconds, bettering his own course record by two minutes.

 

Further down the field, Nicola Wong set a new personal best of 1hr 22:00 mins, four minutes better than her previous best while just behind her, Christine Campbell also reduced her personal best by six minutes to 1hr 24:30. Club newcomer, Liz Usedon, in her first race for the Club recorded a time of 1hr 30:00 mins.

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Winter 5 mile (Plock Court) 18/02/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club's Simon Barnes competed in the Severn AC Winter 5 mile road race at Plock Court on Saturday, placing 12th in 32:20.

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Midland Counties Indoors U17 Championships (NIA) - 12/02/2012

 

Two of Gloucester Athletic Club’s promising young athletes took part in the Midland Counties Indoors U17s championships at the National Indoor Arena.

 

Harriet Hunter recorded two new indoor personal bests. She clocked 8.93 seconds when placing 6th in the 60 metres hurdles before recording a distance of 10.11m for 4th place in the triple jump. She was the club’s top ranked athlete at both events last summer and will be looking to improve further during 2012.

 

Multi-event athlete Kate Davies had a busy weekend, setting indoor personal bests in no fewer than four events. She placed 5th in the high jump with a 1.50m clearance, 5th in the long jump with 4.60m, 6th in the shot putt with 8.28m and 6th in the 800m, running 2mins 37.25.

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Dursley Dozen - 12/02/2012

 

New Gloucester AC recruit, Nikki Wong, competed in the annual Dursley Dozen, completing the course in 2hrs 07 minutes.

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Midland Women's Cross Country League (Cheltenham) - 11/02/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s ladies finished a complete team for the first time this winter in the final Midland Women’s Cross-Country League fixture of the season at Cheltenham on Saturday.

 

Irish international Rose-Anne Galligan spear-headed the Gloucester challenge as she made a welcome return to competition since illness curtailed her season last July. Keeping with the lead group over the first half of the race, Galligan found that her lack of race fitness caught up with her over the second half as she faded to finish in 10th place. Nevertheless, Galligan and her coach David Farrow will have been pleased to finally get a race under her belt after six months absence.

 

Junior Becky Summers was the next Gloucester runner home. Like Galligan, she started strongly but faded over the final mile, finishing in 94th place. Christine Campbell was next to finish in 97th place. In contrast to Galligan and Summers, Campbell started off at a more conservative pace before picking up the pace over the final quarter and overtaking several athletes on the run-in to give evidence of her speed improvement since she started working with coach Paul Pepler towards the end of 2011. The team was completed by Lyndsey Hollands, another on the comeback trail following a hamstring injury, finished in 101st place.

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Birmingham Cross Country League (Wolverhampton) - 11/02/2012

 

A depleted Gloucester Athletic Club senior men’s team brought the curtain down on their 2011-2 Birmingham Cross-Country League campaign at Wolverhampton on Saturday. They finished (9th) team on the day and 5th overall in the league standings.

 

Snow and ice made conditions difficult underfoot for all runners but one who was not put off was Steve Millward as he led the team home in 6th place. This was enough to secure him 3rd place in the overall individual league for the season.

 

Richard De Camps finished his most consistent league season to date as he achieved his 4th top 10 finish of the season, placing 10th, with Luke Herbert finishing third Gloucester man, in 46th place.

 

Dave Gresswell and Ian Summers were locked together for much of the 10km race before Gresswell pulled away to finish just outside the top 100 in 102nd, with Summers coming home in 110th.

 

Simon Barnes, in his first League race for the club completed the scoring six in 122nd with Omar Alim (144th) and Humphrey Phillips (199th) completing the squad.

 

Afterwards, team captain Dave Gresswell said “Fifth place overall is OK given the number of people who have been missing at one time or another this season. Our challenge for next winter has to be promotion to Division One which we will only achieve if all our runners realise that this league is an integral part of their winter season.”

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Aviva UK Indoor Championships and World Championships Trials (Sheffield) - 11/02/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club members were in action at the Aviva UK Indoor Championships and World Championships Trials at Sheffield at the weekend.

 

Gareth Winter threw a season’s best 15.02m to take 9th place in the senior men’s shot putt, missing out on 8th place on the count-back ruling, whilst in the senior men’s 800 metres Andrew De Camps was unable to reproduce his stunning form for the previous weekend when he won the Birmingham Games title, placing 4th in his heat in 1:54.34.

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Birmingham Games - 04&05/02/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic club’s leading track runner, Andrew De Camps, ran his best ever race indoors to win the senior men’s 800 metres at the Birmingham Games at the National Indoors Arena.

 

After easing through Saturday’s heat in a modest 1min 57.09 seconds, the Midlands outdoor champion was not perturbed as Sunday’s final started at a blistering pace. De Camps was content to sit towards the back of the seven man field for the first 400 metres before gradually moving through the field to reach the bell in third place. He moved into second place down the back straight before hitting the front 75 metres from the finish, winning in a new indoors personal best time of 1min 51.68, the 8th fastest by a UK runner this winter.

 

After the race, De Camps was ecstatic, saying “The final was a perfect race for me. My tactics were spot-on and to win in a new personal best is the best possible preparation for next week’s UK Championships.”

 

Gloucester AC youngsters were also in at the Games. Kelly Constable ran an indoors personal best 27.03 seconds when placing second in her heat of the U17 Women’s 200 metres, her first race in this age group since moving up from the U15 category.

 

Dominic Tutton was another runner to set an indoor best, recording 2mins 06.32 when placing third in his heat of the U17 Men’s 800 metres and Kate Davies recorded a time of 2mins 39.55 in the U17 Women’s 800 metres.

 

Harriet Hunter warmed up for next weekend’s Midlands Indoors Championships, recording a solid 4.66m in the U17 Women’s long jump and 10.30 seconds despite losing a shoe in the 60m hurdles.

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Gloucestershire Cross Country League (Tewkesbury) - 04/02/2012

 

A small group of Gloucester Athletic Club members braved the snow and freezing conditions to compete in the final round of the Gloucestershire Cross-country League at Tewkesbury on Saturday.

 

Ryan Hearn was again the Club’s only winner as he stormed home to take the U15 Boys race. Andrew Bowers took 6th place in the U17 Men’s event.

 

Three members contested the senior men’s race with Dave Gresswell leading the trio home in 33rd place. Simon Barnes placed 47th and Paul Loveridge placed 91st.

 

In the senior ladies race, Becky Summers placed 35th and Christine Campbell 40th whilst Abi Pearce took 8th place in the U13 Girls race and Charlotte Sprason placed 24th in the U11 Girls event.

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McCain City Indoors Challenge (Sheffield) - 04/02/2012

 

Gloucester’s top thrower, Gareth Winter, was in action at the McCain City Indoors Challenge at Sheffield on Saturday.

 

Representing Birmingham Falcons, the 18-year old recorded 14.94m to finish 7th in the shot putt.

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South West Schools Inter Counties (Exeter) - 04/02/2012

 

Alex George won his first South West Schools cross-country medal when taking 3rd place in the championship race at a freezing Exeter on Saturday.

 

Keeping with the leading group throughout, the Gloucester youngster sprinted home to claim the bronze medal. Brother Thomas also finished strongly, placing 13th.

Bridge Inn 5K Series - 31/01/2012

 

Two stalwarts of Gloucester AC’s women's team braved freezing temperature to race Westbury AC's Bridge Inn 5k race. Michelle Stark finished in 96th place in 21:15 and Christine Campbell finished 117th with 23:01 again finding the first 2k too slow. Both runners found themselves caught up in the bottle neck for the first two kilometres of the race which slowed their time and those of their competitors considerably.

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Celtic Cup (NIAC, Cardiff) - 29/01/2012

 

Gloucester’s top 800 metres runner, Andrew De Camps, was in action again at the weekend when competing in the invitation 800m event at the Celtic Games at the NIAC Cardiff.

 

De Camps placed 3rd in 1min 53.55 seconds, his fastest ever time on the tight Cardiff track and over two seconds faster than he ran when winning silver medal in the Welsh Championships the previous weekend at the same venue.

 

De Camps will now turn his attentions to the Birmingham Games this weekend before tackling the UK Championships incorporating the World Trials at Sheffield the following week.

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Gloucester Marathon and 50km - 22/01/2012

 

There were some encouraging performances from Gloucester Athletic Club runners in the Gloucester Marathon and 50km road race on Sunday.

 

In his 4th marathon in less than four months, Nathan Smith set a new personal best time of 3hrs 18:51 for 43rd place overall.

 

In the 50km event, ultra-distance specialist Jeremy Mower set a new Gloucester V45 age group record of 3hrs 42:14 in 12th place. He went through the marathon distance in just under 3hrs 04 but a hip injury that has plagued him since September caused him to slow over the final five miles of the course.

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Welsh Indoor Championships (Cardiff) - 21&22/01/2012

 

Two Gloucester Athletic Club members were in action over 800 metres at the Welsh Indoors Championships in Cardiff at the weekend.

 

In the U17M event, Dominic Tutton placed 3rd in his heat, his first ever race indoors, in a time of 2mins 07.66 which earned him a place in the final where he finished a highly creditable 5th in 2:10.73. A heat and final on the same day probably took its toll on the youngster who will have benefitted and learnt much from the experience.

 

For the second year running, Andrew De Camps won the silver medal in the Senior Men’s event. De Camps found himself in probably the toughest of the qualifying heats where current UK Champion Joe Thomas of Cardiff set a new Welsh All-comers record and a World Championship qualifying time of 1 min 48.18. De Camps placed 3rd in 1:55.56 to qualify for Sunday’s final which was a much more tactical affair with the Gloucester runner using his strong finish to take second place with a 1:55.94 clocking. Thomas took the gold medal in 1:53.08.

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McCain UK Cross-Country Challenge (Cardiff) - 15/01/2012

 

Four of Gloucester Athletic Club’s stars of tomorrow were in action at the McCain UK Cross-country Challenge fixture at Cardiff on Sunday and found themselves up against the cream of the young running talent across south Wales and the south-west of England.

 

The fixture also incorporated a match between the Welsh Schools and Gloucestershire schools for added spice.

 

In the U17M race, Alex George achieved his aim of a top 10 finish by placing

8th out of the field of 130 starters, whilst his brother Thomas placed 13th.

They were 2nd and 3rd Gloucestershire runners to finish and helped their

team to a victory over their Welsh counterparts.

 

In the U15B race in which there were 135 starters, Dominic Tutton finished in

35th position with club-mate Ryan Hearn in 38th.

 

After the race the coach to all four runners, Kerry Newell, said: “The McCain

Series is a top quality event which attracts some very good runners. It’s

important that the boys pit themselves against the best to see how they

compare and make sure they learn from their mistakes.”

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Midland Counties Open Meeting (NIA) - 14/01/2012

 

Gloucester sprint starlet, Catherine Hardy, made her indoors debut at the Midland Counties Open Meeting at the National Indoor arena on Saturday. She placed 5th in her heat of the U15 girls 60 metres in a time of 8.80 seconds.

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Birmingham Cross-Country League Div2 (Coventry) - 14/01/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s senior men finished sixth team in the Birmingham Cross-Country League Division Two race at Coventry on Saturday to consolidate their league standing. With one race remaining, the city team lie in fifth place overall.

 

A heavy overnight frost meant that the course was firm under foot, conditions which suited Steve Millward as he took 4th place on the day with what he later described as his best-ever run on the twisting Wyken Fields course. Richard De Camps showed that he was over the virus that forced him to drop out of the previous week’s county championship race by taking a fighting 8th place. Both runners have now achieved top ten places in all three league matches this season.

 

De Camps elder brother, Andrew, was the next city runner to finish in 26th place. The Midlands senior 800 metres champion, he will now turn his attentions to the indoor season beginning next weekend.

 

Luke Herbert had targeted a top 40 finish and he achieved exactly that, finishing in 40th position, and the scoring six was completed by Steve Haines (88th) and team captain Dave Gresswell, who produced another improved performance when taking 95th for a points total of 261.

 

Behind them, Paul Nash and Mark Thrall were locked together throughout the race with Nash just holding off Thrall as they crossed the line in 125th and 126th positions, while Nathan Smith was just three places down in 129th.

 

The Gloucester squad was completed by Paul Loveridge (196th) and Humphrey Phillips (208th).

 

Results:

1 Paul Ward (Telford AC) 30.19; 2 Richard Harper (Leamington) 30.22; 3 Chris Wilson (Worcester AC) 30.32; 4 Steve Millward (Gloucester AC) 31.07; 5 Lewis Roberts (Worcester AC) 31.32; 6 Stuart Nelson (Rugby & Northants) 31.47; 7 Dan Brazier (Wolves & Bilston AC) 32.06; 8 Richard de Camps (Gloucester AC) 32.14; 9 Chris Bull (Leamington) 32.16; 10 Ashley Miles (Sphinx AC) 32.18.

 

Teams:

Worcester 119 pts; Wolves & Bilston 175; Dudley & Stourbridge 227; Telford 232; Rugby & Northants 248; Gloucester 261; Amazing Feet 287; Severn 374; Leamington 379; Sphinx 379.

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Blackbridge track update – a time to celebrate - 13/01/2012

 

I am delighted to announce that the refurbishment and upgrade work to the Blackbridge track and field facility is due to start in May. By the end of August we will have a secure, floodlit, and effectively brand new, competition standard facility.

 

Due to shortfalls in the provision of equipment, it probably will not be fully equipped at day 1, but efforts are ongoing to bridge this gap.

 

We have for many years put up with an ever-deteriorating and sub-standard facility. There have been a number of false dawns and dashed hopes for a new one – notably Plock Court and Gloucester Academy, both ultimately proving to be unviable. In the end the only option left was upgrading the present site – even that was not a straightforward solution as the current Blackbridge site had been earmarked for residential redevelopment that would have left us with nowhere to train at all.

 

This is the best news the club could have and I am sure you will all agree that it is 100% what the club desperately needs in order to attract and retain new members and provide the current members with far superior training conditions than we have at present. The whole club can now look forward with genuine excitement to training, and competing, at a facility to be proud of. Long term there is also the possibility of a new clubhouse.

 

All this would not have come about without the sterling and tireless efforts of Bob Purcell who has spearheaded the effort to make this dream a reality. We all owe him a big debt of gratitude.

 

Unfortunately, and inevitably, access to the track and infield will be severely restricted while the works are done with the consequence that much summer training this year may have to take place elsewhere. We are currently looking at temporary alternative provisions to cater for all the athletes, hopefully without having to move away from the Blackbridge / Crypt location.

 

Here’s looking forward to seeing the new Blackbridge take shape,

 

Andy McKenzie,

Chairman, Gloucester AC

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County Awards Night - 11/01/2012

 

Gloucester Athletic Club’s Gareth Winter was the recipient of the Athletic Achievement Award at the Gloucestershire AAA Awards night for his outstanding 2011 season. During the summer season, the 18 year-old from Linden and a member of Lorraine Shaw’s Gloucester-based throwing squad, won his first GB Junior international vest, and was the top ranked U20 shot putter and second-ranked U20 discus thrower in the UK. He also set Gloucester AC senior records at both events.

 

It was as an 11 year old that Winter took up athletics, joining the Severn Athletic Club in Gloucester where Terry Haines took him under his wing and carefully nurtured his talent for the first five years of his career. Realising that Haines had taken him as far as he possibly could, Winter joined Shaw’s group in 2009 where that talent has blossomed spectacularly.

 

This was the second year in succession that a Gloucester member has taken this prestigious award, Steve Millward having won in 2010.

 

Gloucester Athletic Club road runners were recognised at the county AAA awards evening for their performances during the 2011 County Road Race Series.

 

Age group titles went to Dave Gresswell (M45), Michelle Stark (L35, for the third consecutive year) and Dave Spackman, who took the M65 category for the second year in a row.

 

Jeremy Mower finished second in the M45 group, a placing shared by Christine Campbell in the L40 category.

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Gloucestershire Cross-Country Championships (Plock Court) - 07/01/2012

 

There was success for Gloucester Athletic Club juniors at the Gloucestershire Cross-Country Championships at Plock Court on Saturday.

 

Leading the way was Ryan Hearn who took the gold medal in the U15 boys’ event, coming home the victor by five seconds. A product of the Kerry Newell training group, this was his first county medal.

 

More medals came the Club’s way in the U17 men’s’ race where another member of the Newell stable, Alex George, and Adam Thrall took the silver and bronze medals behind pre-race favourite Kyran Hale of Severn AC. Thrall’s performance was all the more noteworthy given that he has endured an injury-ravaged 18 months, so he will be encouraged by his third place in his first race back for the Club. Thomas George finished sixth to secure the team gold. In the U17 ladies event, multi-event athlete Kate Davies showed her versatility taking the silver medal.

 

In the younger age groups, William Staddon, in his first race for the Club, took an encouraging fourth place in the U13 boys race, with Harry Wells placing 13th, whilst Abigail Pearce also took 13th place in the U13 girls race. Charlotte Sprason was the Club’s youngest representative, taking 14th place in the U11 girls’ event.

 

After the races, coach Kerry Newell was quick to praise her group, saying “There were some really good performances by the youngsters today and they were delighted to come away with the medals. The next target will be the Inter-Counties in a few weeks’ time.”

 

There was some real quality at the head of the senior men’s race as Josh Lilly (Tipton H) took the title ahead of Bristol & West’s Tom Russell and Cheltenham’s Dave Roper. Dave Gresswell led the Gloucester team home, taking 28th. Behind him, the team packed well as Paul Nash (41st), Mark Thrall (43rd) and Nathan Smith (44th) were able to work together and spur each other on. Simon Barnes (51st) and Jason Gresswell (56th) completed the Gloucester scoring team with Dave Spackman taking the M65 prize in 59th place and Mike Anderton finishing in 75th place.

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New Year Day 5 - 01/01/2012

Hereford 10K - 01/01/2012

Liverbird Marathon - 01/01/2012 & 31/12/2011

 

The Pilot Inn was the venue for the annual Severn AC-organised New Year’s Day 5-mile road race. Here, Peter Lloyd led the Gloucester club home, taking his second M50 prize of the week by finishing 14th overall in 30:31. Dave Spackman was next Gloucester runner to finish (34th in 34:46) taking the M65 prize in the process. Phil Du Plessis ran his first race for several month following illness, clocking 39:39, whilst new member James Ferguson placed 57th with 45:19. Mike Anderton was the final Gloucester runner to finish, 58th in 45:48.

 

Matt Powell competed in the Hereford 10km road race on New Year’s Day. On an undulating course and in windy conditions, he placed 22nd of the 218 runners in 39:40.

 

Nathan Smith competed in the arduous Liverbird Marathon double – two marathons run on two days in Liverpool – over the New Year. His first run, on New Year’s Eve, saw him record a time of 3hrs 51mins. His second run, just 24 hours later, was 4 minutes faster at 3hrs 47mins.