Tibbles leads the Almosts contingent at Westonbirt
THE bank holiday Easter weekend meant a quieter weekend in terms of organised races, but that didn’t stop Almost Athletes members lacing up their trainers and getting out and about.
One event that did take place was the Westonbirt Easter 10k and Half Marathon, and Almosts were well represented, with Jeff Tibbles leading the way with a new PB of 2:11:09 in the longer distance.
Christopher Benjamin completed his 97th half marathon in 2:08:29; while Thomas Yiend (49:06), Andy Holmes (53:34), Helen Pardoe (56:11), Deb Cartlidge (1:06:18 – just a week after completing Manchester Marathon) and Adrian Courtenay (1:10:19) ran the 10k.
Clive Baker ran the Shapwick Bunny Hop, a 7.5 mile trail race in Somerset; while Allan Green completed his weekly marathon, finishing the Strawberry Fields Marathon in Devon in 5:08.
Despite the quieter weekend for races, it certainly wasn’t any quieter on the weekly parkrun front as 84 members took part in 34 different events on Saturday morning, with good numbers taking advantage of the holiday weekend to indulge in some parkrun tourism.
Furthest away from Cheltenham were Steven and Jayne Adams, running The Entrance parkrun in New South Wales, Australia – and both came first in their respective age categories.
A little bit closer to home, but still a good few hundred miles away, was
Rachel O’bryan at Pollok in Glasgow, while Lorraine Taylor and Neil Tring ran York – Neil ran in jeans and a shirt after leaving his running kit at home and Lorraine earned herself a PB of 26:38 after some injury problems in recent months.
There were plenty of other notable parkrun achievements. Ben Taylor finished in first overall position at Kingsway in 18:54; while a day after Westonbirt, Jeff Tibbles scored himself another PB at KGV, finishing in 27:06.
Coming first in age category were Ela Antosiewicz at Forest of Dean; Issy Ravenhill at Cannon Hill in Birmingham; Hester Coggin and Megan Davis at Newent; Ed Munro at East Grinstead; Mark Wreford-bush at Haverfordwest; Lesley Cottle at Exmouth; Peter Morris at Alderford Lake; Matthew Bevan at Bartley Park; and Rosemary Hubbard, Cheryl Rodham, Sharon Hadad, Kate Nichol, Felicity Read and Sue Monaghan, all at KGV.
Also on the tourist trail were Ivana Wilson at Stewart parkrun in Middlesbrough, Phil Jeyes at Woolacombe Dunes, Mark James at Darlington South Park, Jon Owen at Wotton, and Jason Hulance at Stratford Park, Stroud.
The club were also represented at Worcester, Chester, Porthcawl, Evesham, Burnham and Highbridge, Tewkesbury, Monsal Trail, Gloucester City, Severn Bridge, Marlborough Common, Ross-on-wye, Clevedon Salthouse Fields, Fulbourn Hospital, Peel, and University Parks.