Ben leads way Almosts out in force at Newent
AGROUP of 46 Almost Athletes took to the undulating country lanes around Newent in a scrap for points in the last event in the club’s annual road race series, the Newent 9.
Final standings changed hands in a number of age categories and there were standout performances from Ben Stone, who acquitted himself admirably on his return to racing, securing a top 20 finish (39:25, fourth in category) as first Almost to cross the line.
Allan Green (49:06) and Desiree Beer (50:53) both earned first in age category prizes to add to their ever-expanding 2022 hauls.
Securing top five age category finishes were Katie Coleman (40:47, second); Patricia Dendy (40:57, third); John Johnson (41:32, fifth); Joanne Johnson (42:06, fourth); Mike Kennedy (42:11, fourth); Olga Goffin (42:17, fourth); Rachel O’bryan (44:52, second); Alison Hume (50:57, fifth) and Jane Russell (55:01, fifth), the latter narrowly missing her course PB.
New member Tom Fletcher (45:20) and Maddie Page (45:36) ran course PBS, while Mike Daly (46:07); Chris Mcmahon (50:14); Carole Doherty (68:20) and Wendy Haskins (68:21) made a welcome return to the race circuit.
Other results: Craig Jackson (40:46); Mike Bryce (42:08); Steve Phelps (42:49); Ian Poole (42:59); Duncan Mounsor (43:22); Peter Mitchener (43:42); Matt John (44:23); Neil Tring (45:19); Mike Smith (45:35); Thomas Wood (47:56); Jim Trowbridge (48:40); Pete Blakeman (49:06); Rob Hume (49:09); Vicky Kennedy (51:06); Dave Mayo (52:50); Aline Buckley (53:55); Nicole Hope (54:12); Ela Antosiewicz (54:42); Charlotte Jamieson (56:36); Jeff Tibbles (56:40); Heather Smith (57:16); Sue Monaghan (59:39); Steve Yarnold (60:16); Cathy Booth (61:31); Cos Pearson (64:56); Ju Averiss and Iris Mayo (both 67:20) and Lynne Macedo (67:51).
At the Castle Combe racetrack, husband and wife team James and Ivana Wilson took on two different events.
Ivana recorded a new personal best (48:22) in the Chilly 10k, while James completed his first duathlon in 1:21:06.
At the Draycote Water Running Festival half marathon John Bailey recorded a time of 1:50:13, while Jackie Slaughter travelled further afield to participate in the inaugural Falkirk half marathon (2:21:23), which starts at Falkirk stadium and runs past the Kelpies and along canals.
A quartet took on the very hilly Broadway half marathon - Shaun Carr (2:03:24); Ross Greening (2:29:09); Helen Fursman (2:33:30) - making her return to racing after a long layoff with injury - and Natalie Greening (3:14:47), while long distance enthusiasts Craig Bullingham (4:39:07), Fi Barnes (5:05:03, course PB) and Mark Willicott (5:41:59) tackled the full marathon distance, which included an additional steep climb at the end due to a path closure.
Ingrid Harris acquitted herself exceptionally well to finish in fourth position in the Sunset to Sunrise night marathon in Little Dawley, Telford (4:22:39).
The race follows the banks of the River Severn on the disused Ironbridge to Bridgnorth railway line.
Rocking up at this year’s Roly’s Run in Swanmore – an annual fundraising event in celebration of the life of former club stalwart Rich Walklate – were Kev Fairs, Thom Stephens and Graeme Stopp, who navigated the offroad course in just over five hours, being rewarded for their efforts with unique carved ‘mini Boris’ rocks in lieu of medals.
In parkruns, the standout performance was recorded by Issy Ravenhill at Oaklands, finishing as first female and 10th overall in a new personal best time of 21:17.
Leah Maddiss enjoyed some tourism to Salisbury (30:10), while Jason Hulance and Jakia Hussain (35:37) commemorated the third anniversary of Seven Fields parkrun.
However, the furthest travelled was Bob Spawton, who enjoyed the Cottesloe parkrun in Perth, Western Australia. Finishing second in his age category, Bob was pleased to secure a time of 29:44 despite having to run a kilometre on a sandy beach.
There were top 10 gender finishes for Nick Lewis (20:16); Hamish Adamson (22:10); Rose Hubbard (25:58) and Nicole Hope (27:38) at King George V Playing Fields; Matt Polson (18:09) at Peel; Sharon Hadad (24:29) at Edgbaston Reservoir and Alistair Mathew (19:57) at Cheltenham.
Neil Tring again finished first in his age category at Didcot (22:43)
In addition, there was an Almost Athlete presence at Cannon Hill, Gloucester City, Kingsway, Mallards Pike, Rogiet, Tewkesbury, Wimbledon Common and Wimpole Estate.
One of the club’s Leaders in Running Fitness, Kim Lewington, helped organise a Runtogether Run2help 10k on the runways of Gloucestershire airport with the staff and students of the Skyborne Airline Academy, raising awareness and almost £1,000 for Breast Cancer UK and Prostate Cancer UK.