Variety is the spice of life !

Report – Paul Bearman.

Warwickshire County Athletics Association recently announced that Stratford upon Avon AC has won the Warwick Vase which goes to the best Club overall, based on points for positions in finals at the county championships.

They have now announced the awards to the best individual performance in each age group. Stratford athletes have made a clean sweep of the U20 male and below categories.

The prestigious Jack Hartley Trophy is awarded to the individual who WCAA judge to have recorded the best performance overall. This year it has been awarded to Lewis Byng for his shot put of 17.07m which is over 2m further than the previous County record which was set 16 years ago.

The other Stratford winners were :

Cole Williams Under 17 Men 100m Hurdles 13.32
Freddie Clemons Under 15 Boys 80m Hurdles 11.47
Thomas Weaver Under 13 Boys Javelin 32.10

After hearing of his award Cole thanked Warwickshire County Athletics and added “I always enjoy the County Champs and I am delighted that all the hard work my coach, club and I have put in over the year has been recognised”.

Club coach Pau Bearman said “we’re thrilled for the lads with their outstanding performances being rewarded. It takes hard graft and determination as well as talent to reach this level of achievement and all the coaches are working together to make sure all our athletes are trained to be the best they can be and I’m confident there’s more success to come as the season unfolds.

Reports – David Jones.

The Edinburgh Marathon is fast and flat. The course was voted the fastest marathon in the UK by Runners World.

Starting on Potterrow, in the grounds of one of the oldest Universities in the world, this incredible city centre start takes runners through the very heart of Edinburgh. It meanders down the historic Royal Mile, heading towards and past the somewhat controversial Scottish Parliament building.

It takes in spectacular views of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags as well as the Palace of Holyrood, before heading east towards the coast. As runners turn and head back along the coast, they see the finish line ahead.

With a descent of almost 90 metres to near sea level, the organisers’ believe that this is one of the fastest marathon routes in the world.

Club member Adam Evans completed the race in 3:24.23, to finish in 551st out of the 7300 finishers.

Adam commented that he really enjoyed the course, that the support was great and in typical Scottish fashion they had all four seasons in a day. The headwind coming into Musselborough was pretty strong but he was proud of finishing the race only a minute slower than Brighton, just 6 weeks ago.

His next marathon is New York in November.

The race was won by Dan Tanui in a time of 2:30.13

Edinburgh 5k.

Two of the club’s talented junior endurance runners competed in the Edinburgh 5k..

The beautifully scenic route took runners around Holyrood Park in the heart of Edinburgh, with stunning views of Edinburgh Castle and panoramic views of the city. The route passes St. Margaret’s Loch before starting the ascent around the east side of Arthur’s Seat before passing Dunsapie Loch.

On the far side of Arthur’s seat and approaching the halfway point, runners enjoyed spectacular views of Duddingston Loch below and across the southside of Edinburgh and beyond, towards the Pentland Hills with the knowledge that the rest of the route is flat and downhill.

The last 250m section ran back through the start line and then turns left onto Holyrood Gait and the finish line.

First of our club runners to finish was 13 year old Charley Marshall, who completed the course in 21.42, finishing in 47th place and 9th female finisher.

Charley was followed by 12 year old Molly Bullock, who’s time of 23.48 ensured she finished 84th out of the 1500 finishers.

The race was won by George Collins in 17.11 and the first female finisher, in 13th place, was Valencia Wright with a time of 19.23.

Report – David Jones.

Sir Mo Farah was the star attraction at the 2019 Vitality Westminster Mile as thousands of runners took part in the world’s biggest timed mile event.

One of these runners was 12 year old club member Maddie Linfoot. Maddie ran superbly to finish in a time of 6.08, 5 seconds quicker than last year.

Maddie’s excellent run ensured she finished 2nd equal in the Girls U13 category, a category that was won by Lauren Russell in 5.59.

Report – Paul Hawkins.

Pressure of time has prevented Paul compiling a full report but he has been able to make the following comments :

Our first fixture in division 3 saw us finish 4th but with just 2 points separating us from 3rd place.

One club record was broken, which was in the women’s 4 x 400m of 4.10.6, a 3 second improvement on the previous record. The relay team was Imy Sheppard, Daisy Musk, Georgie Campbell & Jess Sheppard.

Thanks to the officials John & Andy Turner, Amanda van der Schyff, Rob Forman, Jenny Sheppard and Neil Musk.

Finally, it was wonderful to see Eleanor Johnston competing for the first time since 2016 following a serious injury.

The next match is Sunday 16 June at Tipton.

For a full list of the results click on the link below ;

http://www.midlandathletics.org.uk/19mids_division3_m1.pdf

The league positions after the first fixture are as follows :

Report – David Jones.

This five-mile race is off-road and on mainly flat paths that surround Ryton Pools.

The inaugural Ryton 5 race was held in 2014 and it was designed and created with the view of giving local club runners a chance to race in a new environment at a relatively low cost.

It was, and remains the organiser’s intention to create a no-frills race in order to make it as accessible as possible for those wanting to race.

For the 9 club members taking competing, the race had the added incentive of being part of the club’s Grand Prix competition.

The first of the 9 to finish was Ollie Senior in a sub 30 minute time of 29.46, finishing in 21st place.

He was followed by James Cusack (75th – 33.04). James was competing in a somewhat shorter race than the half or full marathons he is accustomed to.

Pete Sugden (33.47) thoroughly enjoyed the race and said conditions were perfect – a beautiful May evening and not as hot as the last 2 years.

He managed to avoid going off too fast at the beginning and found a nice rhythm and was really pleased to finish nearly a minute quicker than last year.

Next for the club was Luke Watkins (39.28). Dave Maundrell (41.23) was another runner who ran the race quicker than last year, as did Bev Brigden, who’s time of 43.07 was some 75 seconds quicker.

Simon Curran (43.59) was followed by the 2nd of the club’s female finisher, Ruth Calderbank in a time of 46.10. Finally, Pippa Abrams recorded a time of 47.58.

The race was won by Simon Birch in 26.33 and the first female finisher was Megan McDonald, in 27th place and a time 30.18.

356 runners completed the course.

Report – David Jones.

International Masters athlete Phil Brennan was England when he competed in the Great Birmingham 10K at the weekend

The annual Great Birmingham 10k starts alongside the cathedral in the centre of the city and after an out and return towards Perry Barr, finishes in the grounds of Aston University.

The return leg proved to be most difficult as it was into the wind.

It is an almost unique opportunity to run traffic-free through the city. Among the 7000+ runners was a selected team of English Masters athletes in competition against an invited Celtic nations team.

In practice, the Celtic team was under strength, so the event was an unofficial England Masters championship.

Phil came second in his age category behind his England Masters colleague Vic Shirley. His time was 49:25, a minute quicker than the 3rd placed runner in his age group.

The race was won by Douglas Musson in a time of 30.22

Report – David Jones.

Worcester Pitchcroft 10k.

Report – David Jones.

Worcester Racecourse was the venue for the 24th running of this event. The course is over three traffic free laps around the tarmac perimeter tracks and paths.

It is a fast flat route and offers PB potential.

The sole club representative was the ubiquitous John Butler. Competing just a week after he ran the Chester half marathon, John completed the race in 1:10.21 and was absolutely delighted to have won his age category, the reward for which was a plaque together with a bottle of Beaujolais!

The race was won by Ben Toye in a time of 32.52

Report – David Jones.

Paul and I competed in this event at Abingdon last Saturday. We both won our respective races but were denied medals because we were entered as guests.

Paul recorded a time of 18.38.49 in the 3000m walk. This was 18 seconds outside his best time over this distance. He picked up a couple of yellow cards early on in the race so slowed down to ensure he didn’t get red carded.

However he enjoyed the race and thought his first mile was probably a PB.

I was running my 3rd 800m race in 2 weeks and was absolutely delighted to improve on my own club record from 4 years ago. I was a tad disappointed that my time of 2.46.88 was just 0.18 outside my PB set in 2014.