Our successful medley relay teams, both of who comfortably won at last week’s Midlands Veterans T&F League Fixture.

Follow the link below to look at almost 200 photos from the event courtesy of club member Max Ross. Thanks again Max.

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AHZPp8VhBmY1PBs&v=photos&cid=DBF019FEF0440E30&id=DBF019FEF0440E30%2178450&parId=DBF019FEF0440E30%2178485&o=OneUp

Warwickshire County Championships

Paul Bearman

At the same time that Andrew Pozzi is preparing for the 110m Hurdles at the Olympics in Tokyo, over 80 Stratford athletes are due to compete in the delayed Warwickshire County Championships this coming weekend in Nuneaton.

The championship covers clubs within the old Warwickshire boundary and will include the traditionally “big” clubs like Birchfield and Coventry Godiva.

Disappointingly, injuries, illness, unavailability, holidays, didn’t enter(!!) and Covid isolation will mean some of our athletes won’t be able to take their place on the start line and whilst the competition will be strong,

I’m confident that, with every point making a contribution, our athletes performances across the board will still be good enough to be in the mix trying to retain the Warwick Vase as the best points scoring club.

Details of the Champs for competitors need to be read very carefully and can be found at

https://www.warwickshireathletics.co.uk/warwickshire-county-track-field-championships/

Interestingly, scanning the County records several Stratford athletes hold records in a wide range of events and Andrew Pozzi doesn’t hold any hurdles records (Rory and Jack do) but surprisingly he does hold the Under 15 Triple Jump record!!

I wonder if we will have any new record breakers this weekend?

The Midland Counties U17/U15 Championship and U13 Quadrathlon is being held on 21st August at The Pingles Stadium, Nuneaton and entries close on 6th August.

This is a very good championships that SUAAC have been strongly represented at over the years and we will urging all our athletes to apply at:

https://entry4sports.co.uk/entry/v5/competition/showEntriesV2.php?compid=241

Midland Veterans T&F League

Miles of records for Stratford AC Masters athletes

Report – Peter Coote

With hard work on the track, and even more off it, Stratford AC hosted a very successful Midlands Veterans Track and Field League match last Wednesday, pushing league leaders, Worcester AC very close.

The team reduced the deficit between themselves and Worcester from 33 points in the last fixture to a mere 11 points – 267 v 256. Our ladies team came within just 2 points of Worcester ( 124 v 122 ) and the men were just 9 points off ( 143 v 134 ).

A tremendous performance.

The evening got off to a strong start, with good 100m performances by Elaine Ledden, Jan Turner, Liz Manzella, Paula Williams, Hannah Osborne, Peter Coote, David Jones, Dave Wilson, Simon Curran and Drew Sambridge, with Elaine and Peter setting new age group club records. The sprinting continued with some good results in the 400m for Hannah, Emma Bexson, Elaine, Ben Kruze, Matt Burdus-Cook, and Peter.

As with last match at Redditch, Stratford’s middle distance runners were far too strong for the opposition, picking up 44 points out of a potential maximum of 48 in the mile. Ben Kruze ran an incredible 4 minutes 35.6 seconds, which is both a new club and league record. Tim Hutchinson on his league debut, Matt Burdus-Cook, Emma Bexson, and Kate Sergent also set new age group club records and Kim Lee was rewarded with a new PB time.

In the field events, Paula Williams comfortably won her long jump, while Elaine Ledden took second place in the triple jump with a new club record, and third place in the high jump.

Hannah Osborne, trying the discus for the first time, missed out on a club record by just 60cm. David Jones returned to the long jump pit after a seven-year absence to set a new club age group record while Dave Wilson did well in both the long jump and the triple jump.

Peter Coote narrowly won a close M60 discus contest and took third place in the high jump. Sprinter Mark Illingworth, showed his versatility, dropping down 20 years, to take third place in the M40 discus, while John Boxall took third place in the M50 shot.

Gemma Smith celebrated a recent big birthday with another club record in the 2000m walk while the biggest cheer of the evening was for a battling performance by club chairman Paul Hawkins who volunteered to step in to walk at the last moment despite his recent health challenges.

The evening ended with the crescendo of mens and womens medley relays, involving legs of 800, 400, 200 and 200m. The Stratford teams of Ben Kruze, Matt Burdus-Cook, Drew Sambridge, Dave Wilson and Emma Bexson, Hannah Osborne, Elaine Ledden, Paul Williams vividly demonstrated the improving strength and breadth of Stratford track talent with clear wins in both races.

The Southern league Secretary and Worcester member commented afterwards ” You gave us a real scare. Thanks again for hosting. You have a lovely set-up at Stratford, far nicer than we have in Worcester, plus a friendly group of helpers. “

Report – Simon Taylor

Pride of place can only go to one person. A brilliant well done to Emma Bexson. Emma is training hard for the World Ironman Championships in Kona in October. In preparation for the event, Emma competed in the Ironman Stafford 70.3 event. On a tough course and hot conditions, Emma triumphed in her age group and came in 8th female overall. A truly stunning result. Well done Emma! Emma’s strength and single-minded determination will no doubt see her compete brilliantly in Kona and challenge the best Ironman Triathletes in her age group.

Two weeks ago there was a brilliant turn out of Stratford triathletes at the Upton on Severn Triathlon. A fantastic event that I have done a few times myself and it comes highly recommended and is well supported by the local community. The event starts with a brisk walk up river to the start and then a swim down the River Severn, two laps of the bike course and two laps of a mostly off-road run.

Neil Gardner led the team home in the Standard distance event, coming in 5th in his age group in a time of 2.29.33. Neil is showing the talent that we all know he has and is looking good for his GB Triathlon debut next year. A solid winter will no doubt see him challenge for age group honours.

The incredibly multi-talented Kate Wright came second Stratford athlete and also second in her age group. I find it quite scary what Kate could achieve if she concentrated on triathlon – giving her running rivals a rest from being beaten by her. She would no doubt challenge for international honours in her age group.

Chasing Kate hard and keeping her honest was Hannah Osborne. Hannah also finished 2nd in her age group and came within a minute and a half of catching Kate after over 2 and a half hours of racing. Hopefully we’ll see more of Hannah racing triathlon as she shows a rare talent for the sport.

Another to finish 2nd in her age group was Cara Reynolds. Taking time off from posting head stand selfies long enough to race Upton, Cara has been struggling with injuries this season and stunned herself by how well she performed. Always competing with a smile on her face, her performance was no surprise to those of us who know how hard she pushes herself.

The man with the shortest legs in Triathlon (you need to see the photos for that one) – Karl Harris – fought his way round againt Becks Pridham as both finished within 3 minutes of each other. Competing in a pair of cargo shorts – not the most aero dynamic – and carrying half a bike shop just in case he punctured, Karl may well have challenged Neil with a more aero package! Becks again finished with a smile on her face and along with Cara, Kate and Hannah certainly entertained the other triathletes with some strange, not to say dodgy, discussions prior to climbing into the River Severn to start their race.

Next to finish was Philippa Paddock. Those who have swum with Phillippa on a Saturday morning know just how hard she works. Coming 5th in her age group is testament to that and to the fact that there is more to come. Next season will undoubtedly see her in the top 3 in her age group.

Stratford’s golden couple – Rich and Cherry Eden – competed in the sprint race. True to form, Rich chased Cherry around the course (he caught her once and now they are married!) and both had fantastic results. Cherry took a leaf out of Herb Elliot’s book (he once said he only won because he was so scared of the opposition catching him and losing his unbeaten 1500m streak) she ran scared of Rich catching her and ended up a glorious second in her age group. Trying to catch Cherry meant that Rich too medalled in his age group finishing third. Well done to both.

Not content with his performance at Upton, Neil also competed in the Standard distance at the Cotwold triathlon a week later. Neil’s grumbling Achilles meant that he swam and cycled (essentially an Aquabike) and didn’t run. Unlike the last time he did that course, no puncture this time. The following day, Sarah Odell competed in the Aquabike event. Sarah is making her comeback from a foot injury and has been training hard in the water and on the bike. Sarah always gives of her best and is always a brilliant performer. True to form, Sarah crossed the line in 1.52.26 and 21st place overall.

Finally, what more can be said about Rach Pearce. She turns up at Henley sprint triathlon as a red hot Adam Peatyesque favourite and delivers another win! This time, Rach was showered and changed and on her way home before the second athlete crossed the line. A slight exaggeration maybe, but a win by 4 minutes in a sprint triathlon is pretty special. Well done Rach.

Report – Graham Hill.

The Leamington Spa half marathon takes in the beautiful town and surroundings of Royal Leamington Spa. Used by many as a course to achieve a PB or for those looking to try their running feet at their first half marathon, it’s the ideal race.

For me, it’s the first time that I have been able to run this particular local half marathon as I always ended up with a clash in the calendar, but not this year !!

The start is located in the Pump Room Gardens and for this year, set off in socially distance waves. So with all the preparation done and warm up routines, I headed for the second “RED” wave and found another SAC runner, Sam Wilks getting ready for the start.

The route takes you through the town of Leamington Spa and heads out northwards towards Lillington and Cubbington before hitting the countryside.

With the sun starting to beat down, the temperature started to rise even before we reached Weston under Wetherley, Hunningham before starting to make our way back towards Leamington.

The return route takes you through Offchurch and Radford Semele before heading through the streets of Leamington Spa and the final push past the Pump Rooms onto the Finishing Line to collect the finishing goodies.

After having an evening out the night before with beers and a curry, a quick time was not expected, but I was extremely pleased to finish in a respectable 1:39:37 (Finishing 239 out of 1570 and 25th in my category).

Other SAC member results included, Ollie Senior (1:20:24, Finishing 24th and 18th in his category), Jonathan Ashley (1:21:31, Finishing 32 and 6th in his category), Sam Wilks (01:30:07, Finishing 113 and 22nd in his category), Rebekah Loftus (2:30:29, Finishing 1403 and 130th in her category) and Philippa Abrams (2:56:02, Finishing 1526 and 148th in her category).

The support along the course was excellent with people all along the route and outlying villages and great marshalls keeping the traffic free route clear.

If you are looking for a local Half Marathon to try to shoot a PB, then this is a great course to try it on !

Report – Sarah Odell.

Having entered the triathlon earlier in the year but having to drop out due to an ongoing foot injury I decided to drop down to the aquabike instead.

Covid restrictions were still in place so group of around 30 athletes set off in waves. I was off at 10.15am. On arriving at lake 62 I thought it was looking very black above!! I checked in, racked up, off to the the start area.

At the briefing they said there was temporary traffic lights on the course, if you have to stop please give your race number to the marshall.

A very relaxed start for the swim which was perfect – no bun fight, walk in to the water over the mat and off you go.

2 x 750m laps for the swim completed out of the water 28.30, into transition, during the swim a downpour had arrived, onto the bike. The bike was 2 laps, 1 of 8k and the 2nd 32k. The first lap consisted of dodging potholes, at about 2k in I caught one and heard a bang, looked down and my drink had bounced off my bike.

On my 2nd lap approaching the airport, signs were appearing for the traffic lights. On arrival I had to stop gave my number to the marshal, had a brief chat & off we go again.

Into the transition area, rack bike 1.20.54 (average speed of 18.4mph) and a 200m run to the finish, with very jelly legs.

I was really pleased with my overall time of 1.52.26. 4th lady and 2nd in my category.

I do have to say a MASSIVE thanks to the Sunday Tri group, without them I would not of managed the average speed on my bike.