wrc

Preston 10k

Sunday, 28th September

Ideal conditions for this undulating run - 2 laps of the city centre then down to the river through the park and back. I'm still not ready to join the sub-35 minute club though.

1 Matthew Livingston 32:50
6 Trevor Morris 35:03

622 finishers

Serpentine Last Of The Month Friday 5k

26th September 2008

Another great time by Damian. 

But it struck me that while most of us have to travel a fair distance to find a race we can win ...

1 Orlando Edwards (Shaftesbury & Barnet) 15:26
2 Damian Nicholls 15:37

Full results at http://www.serpentine.org.uk/rdb/showrace.php?race=4555

Macclesfield Half Marathon

28 September 2008

Perfect weather and a friendly atmosphere made for a great race. 

Mark Bale achieved the rarity that is a PB on the hills of Macc.

Thanks to all the Wilmslow supporters out on the course.

1 Andi Jones (Salford) 1:07:51
3 Andrew Lamont (Macclesfield) 1:14:42
5 Rob Downs 1MV40 1:15:34
56 Mark Bale 1:28:18
100 Gavin Mendham 2M55 1:33:02
257 Amanda Bradbury 1:43:49

803 finishers

Full results at http://www.ukresults.net/2008/macchalf.html

Photos will be at http://www.mickhall-photos.com/
and http://racephotos.topcities.com/

Bramhall Park parkrun 5k

27th September 2008

In perfect conditions the unstoppable Jim set about re-inventing his 5k PB on one of the slowest courses around and moves to 4th on the all time list.  The only thing he needs to work on now is smiling for the camera.  A great run from Nina who also took over a minute off her course PB.

1 Jim Pendrill 16:22 (82.18%)
3 Steve Dempsey 18:55 (74.98%)
60 Nina Birch 24:46 (59.76%)

130 finished 5k

Full results, photos and report at www.bramhall.parkun.com

9am every Saturday - "as run by Jim Pendrill"

Sutton and Cheshire Grand Prix

The following pictures (from Tony) show some of the members of our Sutton and Cheshire Grand-Prix winning teams - Men first, Ladies second.  Both men and ladies finished first teams at Sutton (and have the wine and beer to prove it!).

An excellent performance from everyone both on Sunday, and over the Grand-Prix season as a whole.  Let's keep the standards rising!

(Click on a pic to see a bigger version)

 

 

Autumn is here and so follows cross country

With the summer series approaching its exciting conclusion and positions still in the melting pot  , the Cheshire GP settled.....what a brilliant performance by all , both individually and as a team ....with every single runner contributing to the further success of the club.

And so we think ahead to the challenges awaiting . Last year both men and ladies teams finished 2nd with the men retaining the vets title : the ladies will be determined to get amongst the medals in that category also .

The men have four new runners registered and the ladies are growing by the week ; what a fantastic situation to be in .

Dates can be found on the site but if any further detail is needed please do contact either myself or Dr Kate . We kick off at Heaton Park , Saturday 25th October .

Who knows what we might achieve ....we wont be short of talent , commitment , energy and drive .

What a fantastic opportunity for us all.

See you tonight .
Nick.

Bramhall Park parkrun 5k

20th September 2008

Summer returned to the park and in ideal conditions course PB's were there for the taking.  With some of our regular club runners away at road race and cross country fixtures it was great to see so many new faces to push our numbers to a record 135 finishers...

Phil Smith was back for the weekend and sprinted in strongly to gain second place.  Not far behind Ray Eagle ran the fastest VM50 time that we've seen in the park.  Steve Demspsey orienteered his way around without a map but with his family chasing him all the way.

1 Paul Freary (Belgrave Harriers) 16:46 (81.41%)
2 Phil Smith 17:57 (71.87%)
4 Ray Eagle 18:22 (83.24%)
9 Steve Dempsey 18:50 (75.51%)

136 finished 5k.

Full results, photos and report at www.bramhall.parkrun.com

 

Sutton 10k

Sunny, windless, 17^o; perfect conditions in my book, though some like it cooler. Fourteenth race of the Summer Series and final race in the Cheshire Grand Prix. The Men sewed-up the title for the sixth year in succession at Great Warford but that doesn’t stop the whole of Group 1 being there to emphasise our superiority in club spirit and loyalty. The Ladies, also here in strength, have had to concede the title to Macclesfield but need a good result against Vale Royal to retain last year’s second place.

 

Damian apparently dominated from the front and Jim, he’s had a brilliant season, made it a Wilmslow one-two, but someone else will have to tell the story, I was some distance from the action.

 

Owen, Penny and Sarah had, quite independently, and unknown to me, chosen the same tactic; to use me as pacemaker. The result was that the four of us went through 2k in a bunch. At 3k and 4k, I was unsure about the others but Penny and I were shoulder to shoulder. By 5k I had edged in front of Penny.

 

I’ve had a good season in the tables but been unhappy with my times and seen my wins as a failure , as has happened in previous seasons, of other runners to come through Group 4, ready to move up to Group 3 and beyond. My watch at 6k put me sub-45, I’d done 43:30 at Sutton two years ago but not been under 45 since and, for the first time in ages I was pleased with my time. I could also relax; 45 minutes would be a big PB for Penny, Owen or Sarah. Amanda had been there, but we were nearly six-months on from her last good performance.

 

I was able to forget the 4/5 race and concentrated on the watch. 7k nd 8k were ok, but I blew it between 8k and 9k and felt tired in the final kilometre. Still 45:20 was a comfortable Group 4 win, until I turned and saw, not only Penny, but also Sarah and Amanda were only yards behind me. We were all delighted with our performances as was Owen, although he had dropped off a little.

 

Peter’s working his way back and, with no fun run choice, came down the right funnel. Rod has slowly regained his fitness and had his best run for some time, probably of 2008. He was in front of

Roy

, again enjoying perhaps his best run of the year. It could be a good finish between the two of them for the rest of the Series, their points are very close. although it does start to get cold and it may be a long time for some of you to hang about.

 

Charlotte

, despite a bad chest, managed to fight her way past Trevor, who’d spent Saturday fell racing. Nina did not have her best day but is consistently picking-up the points

 

Next is Congleton, the opportunity for the distance runners – we might see a very different 4/5 finishing order.

 

Ian Ashcroft  

Summer Series Update - Sutton "Six" 10K (Race 14)

1	Damian	NICHOLLS	Senior Men	00:32:51
2	Jim C	PENDRILL	Male Vet 35	00:33:43
6	Malcolm	FOWLER	Male Vet 45	00:34:24
10	Tom	McGAFF	Male Vet 50	00:35:00
11	Trevor Hugh	MORRIS	Male Vet 45	00:35:12
14	Stuart D	PARROTT	Male Vet 45	00:35:44
23	Rob H	DOWNS	Male Vet 40	00:37:05
34	Mark	BALE	Senior Men	00:38:04
39	Mick	FAIRS	Male Vet 60	00:38:35
51	Vicky	McKINNON	Senior Ladies	00:39:48
53	Ian	SMALLWOOD	Male Vet 45	00:39:55
56	Tony	HULME	Male Vet 60	00:40:01
57	Robert A	GILBERT	Male Vet 40	00:40:04
64	Steve	SMITH	Male Vet 45	00:40:51
70	Sue	HOOL	Senior Ladies	00:41:29
72	Andrew J	WATTS	Male Vet 55	00:41:35
82	Kate J	SUTTON	Lady Vet 45	00:42:30
108	Ian S	ASHCROFT	Male Vet 60	00:45:25
111	Penny E	HINKE	Lady Vet 45	00:45:36
113	Sarah	WAITE	Senior Ladies	00:45:49
114	Amanda	BRADBURY	Senior Ladies	00:45:50
123	Owen	ASHCROFT	Senior Men	00:46:57
128	Peter	WATSON	Male Vet 65	00:47:34
141	Rod	COOMBS	Male Vet 55	00:48:39
156	Roy	POWNALL	Male Vet 55	00:49:50
170	Charlotte	GODFREY	Lady Vet 50	00:51:33
174	Trevor	FAULKNER	Male Vet 65	00:51:46
191	Nina	BIRCH	Senior Ladies	00:53:45
( 233 runners )

Don

Mcr University XC Relays

Stuart has asked if we are entering teams in the Mcr Univ XC Relays.

http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2008/efmanuni.pdf

Saturday Ocober 11th
6 men and 3 ladies needed.

Anyone interested please let Kate or Nick know to allow the entries to be made.

Nick.

Mcr XC League entries

We are in the process of registering runners for the fortcoming Mcr XC League season but need some DOB details : Emails have been sent to regular runners of previous sesaons : if for any reason you dont receive an email but want to run , please just provide me by email (nickcg.bishop@virgin.net) your DOB.

We have been asked to only register those that appear regularly as last year only half of all the registrations received from member clubs were used. It helps the organisers.

We can enter on the day.

We had a marvellous year last winter : we have set our standards !

Kate is picking up the ladies.

Thanks.

Gawsworth 10k

Actually 10k and a bit, which fits with the ‘villagey’ quaintness of the event. This has tended in the past to make it a 3/4/5 day rather than one for the stars. The stars anyway had been pre-occupied with the North-West relays the previous day, excellent report by Rob, have a look if you’ve not read it. The Relay was a brilliant performance by both the Men (Damian, Malcolm, Rob and Jim) and Ladies (Sue, Jane and Vicky) giving us our best-ever finish in both races.

 

So a recovery day for them and a points bonanza for us? Oh no, here they all were for a weekend double-header. Damian’s performance on Saturday had been stunning but today he went for popular appeal by not wearing his Wilmslow vest. A bonus for his team-mates and an extra point for the rest of us.

 

It is the turn of the season. Afterwards we were talking as to whether Nicky could secure Alderley Edge Tennis again for the Christmas Party. The weather, however, was better than for much of the summer; dry and warm. I was relieved having returned from 38^oC only on Saturday evening. My ‘equivalent time’ monitor, however, had the course, or us, running a little slower than last year.

 

Sir Nicholas was briefer than in the past and Stephen was nice enough not to ask him about his expenses. I made one of my more sensible starts, Sarah went off quickly, Penny was also in front of me, Rod, a little behind and Roy, of course, doing his Michael Johnston for the first half kilometre.

 

We stabilised with Sarah 40m in front and Penny 10m ahead of me keeping close company with the man wearing no clothes. I crept up on Penny between 2k and 3k, She never lets me go by without a bit of a flurry but today she only forced her way back in front once. I made little progress towards Sarah either on the road or along the canal bank but by the time we crossed the footbridge I was in close contention. I also appreciated on the bridge that I had not, despite pushing hard, ‘lost’ Penny. At the Gun Run, Sarah and I had changed places for 3 miles and four times in the last 100m, but today she looked to be tiring badly as I took her just before we joined the Fun Run.

 

I was frustrated at the sudden mass of fun runners as I tried to get way from Penny and Sarah. The path was not wide enough for holding hands and chatting and potentially dangerous. A little girl suddenly darted in front of me to avoid a patch of mud, they seemed unaware of the 10k runners. I feel the organisers need to change the route or timing.

 

Sarah, it turned out, was as tired as she looked; she had played hockey on Saturday afternoon, and I was more fearful of Penny. The real danger, however, was Chris, who I had not seen but had clearly moved through the field in the second half. Simon in a brilliant finish edged Penny for fourth place, and 1^st. V65. He was generous enough to suggest this was down to Penny being more considerate to the fun runners blocking her down the hill. Peter was next home, further progress after his long injury, but was guided down the fun run finish.

 

Rod had won his battle Louisa, nice to see her racing regularly again but she wouldn’t admit to enjoying it. Then, employing his considerable weight advantage, he stormed downhill past Angela. She, however, was far from downhearted, this was the day on which she completed her 7 races for her first t-shirt but perhaps more significant is the improvement in her running in achieving it. Roy was drifting to a disappointing performance but was galvanised by Trevor, who ran one of his best races of the year and was 3^rd. V65. Determined to beat Trevor, Roy , I’m sad to say, also overtook Julie.

 

After Julie, two making a somewhat belated Summer Series start. I think this was Soraya’s first race, an excellent debut. Then, a bit more of him than I remember, and he would have been 7 minutes faster a couple of years ago, it was great to see Bill back. Next, Stephen despite being a Gawsworth specialist was missed by the finishers and Sarah, who had run so well at Goyt, had one of those days we all suffer.

 

In the first half of the race I could see the ginger of Kate who took 1^st. L45 despite Saturday’s mountain biking. Nicky was 1^st. L50. Geoff fell on the steps following the bridge, he was in a lot of pain and we fear a broken wrist. Gavin was 3^rd. V55, Andy 2^nd. V55, Mike 2^nd. V40, Tony 1^st. V60, Tom 1^st. V55, Jim 4^th. overall, Malcolm 3^rd. overall and 1^st. V45 and Damian completed a superb weekend for him and Wilmslow with the win.

 

I always enjoy this race but I think the Fun Run needs a re-think

 

Ian Ashcroft

 

Summer Series Update - Gawsworth 10K (Race 13)

1	Damian Nicholls	0:35:03
3	Malcolm Fowler	0:36:27	1	V45
4	Jim Pendrill	0:36:38
7	Tom McGaff	0:38:31	1	V50
15	Steve Dempsey	0:42:08	6	V45
18	Ian Smallwood	0:42:49	9	V45
21	Tony Hulme	0:43:33	1	V60
23	Mike Cooper	0:44:08	2	V40
25	Andy Watts	0:44:29	2	V55
26	Gavin Mendham	0:44:37	3	V55
34	Geoff Gilbert	0:45:25	4	V55
35	Sue Hool	0:45:36	4	L
39	Gareth Trimble	0:45:54
48	Nicky Mowat	0:47:09	1	L50
49	Don Bullough	0:47:13	6	V50
51	Kate Sutton	0:47:16	1	L45
71	Ian Ashcroft	0:49:38	3	V60
76	Chris Watts	0:50:20
82	Sarah Waite	0:50:51	12	L
83	Simon Fenton	0:51:10	1	V65
84	Penny Hinke	0:51:15	3	L45
	Peter Watson		2	V65
110	Rod Coombs	0:53:34	9	V55
113	Angela Maziere	0:53:40	5	L45
118	Louisa Gilbert	0:54:15	22	L
131	Roy Pownall	0:54:47	11	V55
135	Julie Lucas	0:54:50	8	L45
137	Trevor Faulkner	0:55:01	3	V65
141	Soraya Mason	0:55:25	5	L40
149	William Staniard	0:55:49	23	V40
	Stephen Feber	0:57:12
261	Sarah Miles	1:05:27	96	L

Full results available at > http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2008/gaws10k.pdf

And, action photos can be seen at > http://racephotos.topcities.com/

A very competitive race and also between ourselves!  Seems to have turned into a Vets race, but we still managed to claim most of the category prizes (Rob - where were you?).

Don

North West Road Relays September 13

Wilmslow fielded arguably its two strongest ever mens and ladies teams for this major event. Both teams finished in the top 10 which was a major achievement given the strength of the opposition and the fact that some of the county's top runners turned out. The men came 5th and the ladies 9th.

In the delightful surrounds of Marbury Country Park near Northwich the course was a traffic-free 2.7km loop on a narrow path past lots of cows alongside the edge of woods.  Both men and women did two loops for the 5.4km distance.

The women were first off with Sue justifying her first leg status with the quickest leg, followed by Jane (who had hotfooted it from Running Bear) and Vicky who were just three seconds apart. Vicky managed to pick up a couple of places on the last leg for the top 10 finish.

Damian (also via Running Bear) had a blinding first leg for the men posting one of the quickest times of the day and taking some major scalps. As big Malc took over he briefly found himself in the lead until Pete Riley from Leigh Harriers stormed past. Malcolm held onto 2nd, passing to Rob who found himself up against some speedy third leg runners which pushed us back to 5th. I was last leg but there was no glory as I neither passed Altrincham in front nor was caught up!

All in all a refreshing change in a great venue and the closest running gets to a true team event. Thanks to Roy and Dave for their support too.

Ladies

leg 1: Sue Hool: 21.03 (team 13th position)

leg 2: Jane Saunders: 21.30 (11th)

leg 3: Vicky McKinnon: 21.33 (9th)

Men:

leg 1: Damian Nichols: 16.26 (2nd)

leg 2: Malcolm Fowler: 17.40 (2nd)

leg 3: Rob Downs: 17.53 (5th)

leg 4: Jim Pendrill: 17.34 (5th)

Jim

And more from Rob ...

Roy: “Well here comes Malcolm but I haven't seen the leaders yet ...”

Rob: “Yes Roy, Malcolm is in the lead”.

As we skipped around Alderley Edge on Thursday Malcolm had been recalling his long career in relay racing.  Back in the glory years at Salford he'd prided himself on never losing a place in his relay leg.  But surely today was one for him to slot in near the top of his relay experiences: here he was leading the entire North West around the park. 

The start of the story was a storming first leg by Damian who produced possibly his best race yet to finish 2^nd in a top class field.  Winner Gareth Raven had no team so Malcolm launched himself into the lead and was only overhauled by Pete Riley during his second lap.

I now had a hard act to follow.  I set off with Leigh already out of sight.  It is hard to judge the pace with no runners visible ahead but no sooner had I though this than I heard fast footsteps behind and Liverpool, Warrington and Altrincham all raced past me in a group.  Losing places like this is a relay nightmare but blowing up is worse so I just tried to relax and run a pace I could maintain.  Into the second lap I kept plugging away and the gaps stopped expanding and I managed to work back towards Altrincham and Warrington.

Jim is in great form and never looked troubled in maintaining 5^th place but 4^th remained tantalisingly out of reach.  So Jim ran in to give us 5^th overall and 2^nd in Cheshire behind a strong Warrington team.

Damian had produced a real star turn that gave the rest of us a great race experience and the team held on for an excellent result for Wilmslow.

 

Rob

And I felt a good deal better after reading the full results at http://www.cheshireaa.com/Results/ROAD/2008/NWRR2008_Results.doc

Bramhall Park parkrun 5k

6th September 2008

Come Hill or High Water ...

I arrived to set up the course and parked in the usual place.  I was just about to point out the start area to my brother when I noticed that it just wasn't there any more... 

The river had overflowed and a deep, brown lagoon covered the finishing straight and surrounding area.  A quick dash round the course revealed that the rest of the course was soggy but runnable.  Creeping along the edge of the river I paced out the distance lost and, with Trevor looking on, carefully added this to the new start line on the corner.  The result was another 150m up the hill and a rather scenic position for the gazebo under a big oak tree with the hall in the background.  Clare set about redesigning the finish area while the race got underway on time.

After this excitement it was business as usual with the evergreen Malcolm Fowler loving the mud and skipping through the puddles to win comfortably on the slightly longer course.  All Wilmslow runners won their age categories except Mike who was after all up against stiff competition.  It was great to see Sally out and running well.  Trevor regained his V65 course record which had been lost to an opportunist MDOC veteran in the perfect conditions of the previous week.

This week's international was Jess Coulson of Stockport Harriers who competed at the junior world cross in Kenya in 2007.  In our somewhat damper conditions she won the ladies race in 18:31.

1 Malcolm Fowler 17:09

2 Rob Downs 17:20

8 Mike Cooper 19:14

20 Geoff Gilbert 20:47

27 Sally Gilliver 21:56

62 Trevor Faulkner 25:48

113 finished 5k

Full results, photos, report at www.bramhall.parkrun.com

Every Saturday 9am - just turn up and have a go!

Trafford 10k - September 7

The Trafford 10k lived up to its billing as probably the fastest 10k in the region as in almost perfect conditions at least three of Wilmslow's fastest runners recorded PBs. Damien, Jim and Trevor M all clocked new figures while the men also walked away with the team prize. The early start didn't suit Damien who claimed he didn't really wake up until 2k and so only improved on his best by about 10 seconds. However Jim somehow managed to take another minute off his best and joined the sub 34 club, while Rob was just outside 34 mins again. Trevor didn't quite make sub 35 while Mick also smashed Tony's V60 club record and Paul was just outside 40 mins.

It will be interesting to see what times the above do at Sutton as comparison. For the record, Trevor's Garmin clocked the course as spot on 10k - just in case you thought it was short!

6. Damien Nicholls 32.35

13. Jim Pendrill 33.39

18. Rob Downs 34.11

22. Trevor Morris 35.00

59. Mick Fairs 38.09

90. Paul Nichols 40.16

309 ran

Club registration with England Athletics

An update on the status of the club England Athletics registration.

So far most race organisers have been happy with either a blank, or a simple ‘registration applied for’ statement when they ask for registration details. In future, when the system is fully in place, we will have to quote a personal registration number. Judging by the rate of progress to date, it might still be a while before all UK runners have their own number!

Wilmslow Running Club is fully affiliated, and has even paid the fee of £50. Furthermore all club members are now personally registered, and the club has paid the individual fee of £5 each! However, as their normal mode of operation seems to be glacial slowness, England Athletics have not yet fully processed the registrations, and so the numbers exist only in their database, which can be viewed by Paul, Dave and Andy.

Next steps are that England Athletics will send out individual registration cards, and will also provide everyone with a userid and password to enable you to maintain personal information such as address, phone number etc. If anyone is interested in seeing the process, it is documented on the EA web site at http://www.englandathletics.org/welcome/

So to summarise:-

 - the Wilmslow Running Club Affiliation Reference is 2658808. Use this number on any entry for the time being.
 - personal numbers are available if you need them – just send me an e-mail.
 - You should shortly get a registration card in the post to your home address, and also a password for your entry in the database Please get back to me (or Paul or Dave) with any questions or if you need your personal number.

Andy