Beer, a windmill and marathons.

Team photo and club officials from last night's wonderfully enjoyable Vet's T&F league fixture at Redditch. Results and report to follow. The next fixture is on 3rd July and we will be hosting it at our own High School track. Somewhat exhausted from last night's memorable Vet's T&F fixture in Redditch, I'm happy to report that it has been yet another mixed bag of events this week. The newsletter kicks off with reports on magnificent marathon performances by Dave Parkin in the Lake District and Tara Lambert in Ireland. There were 11 members competing in the scenic Windmill Run at Tysoe and the week just wouldn't be complete without a report of another gold medal for Phil Brennan. There's also a report on the wonderful Beer Relays. A splendid time was guaranteed for all. Last night saw the latest of the Warwickshire AA Open Graded Meetings, where our 4 competitors all achieved personal bests Finally, Cindy, Emma and Karl were strutting their stuff in Sutton Coldfield. Good luck to those of you who are competing in the Two Castles at the weekend. Good luck to those of you competing in the Midland Masters T&F Championships at the weekend, indeed good luck to any of you competing anywhere at the weekend. Best Wishes David Jones. Dave Parkin Coniston Marathon. Report - David Jones. Starting and finishing at Coniston Hall Landing Point on the shores of Coniston Water, this marathon consists of a complete circuit of Coniston Water along well marked and marshalled footpaths and bridleways. Taking in the idyllic beauty spot of Tarn Hows and the elevated Beacon Tarn the course gives panoramic views of Lake Coniston and the surrounding peaks of the Old Man, Swirl How, Wetherlam and Dow Crags. Described by Runners' World magazine as 'the most scenic trail Marathon in Britain’ For Dave Parkin this was his 3rd running of the race as he attempted to break the 4 minute barrier for the first time in this extremely challenging race. He finished comfortably under his 4 hour target in a time of 3:56.44, placing him 23rd overall and 9th in his age category. The race was won by Joel Jameson in a time of 3:03.20 and 210 runners finished the race. In His Own Words. Dave's thoughts on his run are as follows. This was my third attempt to break the 4hr mark on the Coniston Trail Marathon, having previously run 4:27 and 4:10. I had been out with injury for a critical period of my training this year and so expectations weren't high but having learnt much about hydration and pace on my previous two outings, things seemed to go well from the start. As many marathon runners can attest, I had a great feeling of it being 'in the bag' at the 20 mile mark, only to completely blow up by 23 miles thinking I couldn't even finish, let alone hit my target time. This feeling is particularly exacerbated on this course as you celebrate reaching…