Fat Turkey, Knacker Cracker and Larkstoke !

As fine a bunch of talented young athletes as you'll see anywhere. Okay, looks can be a little deceiving. Some pretty good coaches as well. This photo just missed the deadline for last week's photo special and I thought it was just too good to go to waste. Happy New Year. Those of you who were out running over the New Year and who are featured in this week's newsletter certainly didn't go for the easy option, with hills seeming to be the order of the day. We've got Jon Mulkeen's report on the latest Winter Series race, there's a fabulous report from Lesley Kirk about her run in the "Toughest race in Britain" There's James Cusack competing in the Fat Turkey 10k in Dublin and finally a group of members tackling the Malvern Hills. Best Wishes David Jones From top to bottom. Emma Parkin, Matt Burdus-Cook, Matt and Dan Lynch and age category winner Ivan Sarti. Photos courtesy of Barry Cornelius. Tempo Winter Series 2018-19 Race 3. Report - Jon Mulkeen. Matt Burdus-Cook was the first of the club's members to finish the latest Tempo Winter Series race in Ilmington on 30 December. The Tempo Winter Series comprises five races of 10.13km held once a month between October and February each winter. The picturesque but notoriously challenging course is the same for each race but is run counter clockwise then clockwise on each alternate date. Burdus-Cook, who was recently named the club’s most improved athlete of 2018, finished fifth overall last weekend in 39:45, his fastest ever time in Ilmington. It was the first time Burdus-Cook had been Stratford’s top finisher in one of the Winter Series races and he crossed the line one place and eight seconds ahead of club-mate Dan Lynch. Both men ran significantly faster than they did on this same route in the first of the Winter Series races in October. Both the overall participation number of 285 and the Stratford AC contingent of 28 represented the biggest turnout of the Winter Series so far; an impressive feat given the event’s close proximity to Christmas. Chris Cond produced his fastest time of the current series to finish 14th in 41:52 and he was followed just nine seconds later by Ivan Sarti, who finished 15th overall and first in the M55 age category. Malcolm Bowyer placed second in the M55 category and 19th overall in 43:34, almost two minutes faster than his October clocking. Ilmington debutant Jon Mulkeen finished 23rd in 43:57, 42 seconds ahead of Owen Goschen in 32nd place. David Smyth (55th, 47:09), Ryan Bakewell (59th, 47:22), Joe Lee (62nd, 47:34), Peter Sugden (68th, 48:15) and Damian Wheeler (72nd, 48:51) were the other club members men to finish inside 50 minutes. Alan Dwyer (88th, 50:18), Sam Nicholson (111st, 53:02) and Simon Curran (122nd, 54:15) followed soon after. Emma Parkin was the club’s first woman past the finish line. The 11th-placed woman overall, her finishing time of 48:59 was her fastest ever performance in Ilmington.…