Gloucestershire Cross Country League fixtures for next season are :
Oct 9 2010  Guiting Power  Bourton RR
Nov 20 2010  Cheltenham  CLC Striders
Dec 11 2010  Gloucester (Blackbridge) Gloucester AC
Feb 5th 2011 Gloucester (Plock Court) Severn AC.

Two forest athletes managed the long journey to the Gloucester half marathon at Newent on Saturday 24^th July 2010 at 6:00pm. This is the fourth time I (Mark Jeffries) has run in this race, each year getting slower. At the end of the race I pressed the stop button on my watch and found I had achieved a p.b. and then even more pleased when I found out from the results, I’d actually run 10 seconds faster than I thought. There were a total of  209 finishers.

Mark Jeffries 84^th position 01:41:23

Andy Dallow 89^th position 01:42:33

It could be said that this years race ‘coincided’ with a rally of Rolls Royces arranged in memory of Henry Rolls one of Monmouth’s favourite sons.   Having seen the following on the organiser’s web site I’m not certain that ‘collided’ isn’t a more appropriate term

“Unfortunately this year some runners took the wrong course.  It transpires that one of our marshals was physically attacked by a motorist and another knocked over by a van, which accounts for their absence in their positions.  Tempers were flared by the congestion caused by the Rolls Royce rally.”

It was a very hot and sticky afternoon start which was delayed by the parade of expensive metal.  This did cause some muttering amongst the competitors but, when we did get off and ran past the stationery auto leviathans, I couldn’t see any Garmin shaped dents.  There were vehicles of all ages, a bit like the runners really who all enjoyed the great reception give by the carnival crowds in the High Street.   I’ve no doubt it helped steel us for the 750 climb and descent that was to follow.  

The route followed a mixture of road, track and field as it wound up the hill to the monument where it seems Nelson engaged Lady H in a somewhat different exercise.  For those in a fit state to appreciate it the views were phenomenal; for those in a less aesthetic frame of mind it was the end of the up and the start of the down.  Release brakes, disengage brain and off we went, all the way back down to the Wye over the bridge, under the bypass, back over the start, past the school to a parkland finish.

When I left to wend my weary way home all the rollers had returned from whence they came and the roads seemed quiet.  Less than two hours ago it seemed that chaos reigned and some idiot motorists had seen fit to vent their frustrations on people doing their bit for a worthy cause.  Like many things it had passed, I hope the sense of achievement of finishing a hard race thirty seconds quicker than last year will linger a bit longer.

Full results will be out on Thursday when I’ll post of our members times and places

Charmouth challenge + fun run Dorset Saturday July 3^rd 10

The annual 8 mile fell run and 2 mile fun run are organised by Charmouth primary school with the help of the parents and children. The race starts at the school then makes its way through the village before a mile long ascent where, at the top, I notice a familiar face,  Vicki marshalling, loudly shouting at everyone to turn left after the narrow gate. We then ran over the Jurassic coastline with its spectacular scenery encompassing woodlands, stone tracks, grassland, precarious cliff edge along with hurdles such as stiles and gateways. The hardest part was the final demanding 191 metre ascent to Golden Cap but this was followed by the  final down hill run to the finish where local firemen were waiting with their hoses to cool us down.  This was the second time I’d run this race which I finished in 121^st position out of 232 with a time of 1.19.03.

Plympton road runners ‘duck ponds’ 7k 10^th July 10

It was the 20^th anniversary of this 7k. multi terrain race and I nearly missed it. I’ve got to tell you cus I know Vicki will if I don’t.  I got half way there and remembered I’d left my trainers back at the caravan. This was not a good start and meant that, having returned to get them, got back, found the start, registered and got changed, I had just 5 minutes to warm up before the race began,   It was a nice warm summers evening with the course taking us round the school field before heading off to the duck ponds. The rest of the run was on gravel tracks through the woods and into the local park with steep grassy banks on an awkward left hand camber. We then ran back around the duck pond for the second lap and back to the school for the final dash around the field to the finish. I finished the race in 31.50 seconds in 75^th position out of 214 finishers.

   FRAMPTON 10 K  Monday 12th July 2010

We travelled all the way back from Dartmouth with just enough time to set up the caravan in Slimbridge ready to shoot of to Frampton.  It was a nice cool evening compared to some of the recent weather we’ve had and I think that was the reason for a good turn out of runners and spectators. The race started promptly at seven thirty across the green then into the country lanes for a fast and flat 10k. At the finish we were welcomed with cups of ice cold cider.  Thanks to Stroud & District AC for another well organised race which I finished in 45.34 giving me 124^th position out of 454 finishers.

 The Tintern Trot

 Anne Nixon LV50 was the first FODAC runner home finishing 18^th in 43.13.  She was followed in 27^th place by Martin Steel MV40 in 44.55,  John Linden MV50 28^th in 45.03.  Walter Leach MV45 was 48^th finishing 48.03 with Peter Short MV 55 coming in 60^th with a 48.56.  Then came Michael Melhuish MV40 in 65^th place with 49.24 and Jim Storrar MV50 ran in 93^rd finishing in 52.44.   In 124^th place came John Dow MV50 with 56.18 followed by Lynne Park LV45 in 56.48 and in 149^th Peter Covington-Jones MV50 with 1.00.16.

The Devils Chimney

Two weeks after running up and down Ben Nevis (to see if he could) and one week after running a difficult leg in the Cotswold Relay Colin Baker took part in this 10K steep scramble and finished a creditable 50th in 47.32.  He said it was a tough climb up and hairy descent but his recent experiences held him in good stead

27th June  it was a bit HOT

The Cotswold Relay - Our team ‘The Forest Boars’ acquitted itself well running through extremely hot conditions across the length of the Cotswold Way.  They finished 26th out of 74 teams overall and 12^th out of 18 Senior Mens teams. The star performance came from Pete Lloyd who finished 3rd in his leg which is probably a club record.

The team fell into the ‘Senior Mens’ category because just one of us was under 40.  As well as that Fiona Turner showed tremendous team spirit by taking over the 1^st leg as an honorary ‘senior man’ when the original incumbent had to drop out.

We finished the individual legs as follows

Leg 1 Fiona Turner running as a senior man 39^th , Leg 2 Walter Leach 35^th, Leg 3 Chris Hawkins 45^th, Leg 4 Steve Cunliffe 15^th, Leg 5 Pete Lloyd 3^rd, Leg 6 Chris Moore 38^th, Leg 7 Colin Baker 51^st, Leg 8 Fred Van Arkel 29^th, Leg 9 Brian Griffin 52^nd, Leg 10 Martin Steel 24^th, Timings were immaterial as each leg was of a different length and difficulty.

Click here to read Chris Hawkins report.

Results from Wednesdays race can be found by clicking on the following link

http://results.racetectiming.com/default.aspx?CId=27&RId=21 or for a PDF of FODAC members results including the children's races click here.

Photos from the event can be viewed in the Gallery. Please click here.

Hammer thrower Ashley Andrews won his first Welsh Senior Champs/Commonwealth Games trials medal (a bronze) at Cardiff today with a new pb of 46.65m. Ranked 4th going into the competition, Ash threw a great set of throws and moved into 3rd place after the 2nd round. He then threw further each round finished the set of 6 with his pb.  Against older and more experienced athletes, Ash showed such a mature performance way beyond his 18 years. He can now relish the prospect of more medals at the Welsh U20 champs on July 10^th.
 
Darren Andrews came 5th with a throw of  34.12m .  This was a bit below his best but a good show for his first Welsh senior champs. He's previously made the British masters standard (34.60m) so has that championship to look forward to in Cardiff on July 4th.

Rose Inn Race 2 of 4 & Lynnes new PB!

After a day of very changeable weather the conditions for this 4 mile event seemed again pretty much ideal as they were for Race 1.   There was a again a decent turnout from the club including new member Jim Storrar.  Jim ran a little slower than Race 1 but so did Freek, myself and most of our entries as far as I can ascertain as the times are yet to be published.  However the only thing we all really need to know about this particular Race is that Lynne Park ran a PB taking something in the order of 30 seconds off her previous PB to finish in 28:27.   By the time we had all caught our breath and were enjoying a beer outside the Rose Inn the wind had picked up noticably.  The winning times announced also seemed to be slower than Race 1 so this all puts Lynnes PB into perspective as a great time. Roll on July 13th for Race 3 and a chance to get those times a bit quicker again.
 

21 months after damaging her knee ligaments Wendy Lawrence, FV55, raced in the Fairford 10k.  Although she didn't win any prizes she was pleased with a time of  59.43 on a hilly course.

Four member of the club took part in the Dymock Half Marathon with the following results
8th and 1st Male Vet  Tony Marshall in 1.22.37
24th Fred van Arkel in 1.31.59
41st Peter Short  in 1.37.46 and
62nd Mathew Jones 1.44.04

The Darrens Dash is a challenging 8 km hill run, run on the eastern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.  The run includes a total of 900ft ascent, undulating running along the Offa’s Dyke path and a swift descent to the Olchon Valley.   Proceeds were being raised for Longtown Mountain Rescue Team, The Noah’s Ark Appeal and the Longtown Outdoor Education centre Bursary Fund.  As it was the 5^th anniversary of the race they made it a family event with a 2km race for the juniors and a chase the Clown for the little ones.  (I could have entered that one)!  In addition there was climbing, Kayaking, face painting, stilt walking and an inflatable obstacle course.

It was good to be joined by 3 other FODAC runners on this very hot Saturday, Mike (Sadie’s Dad), John and Alex Dow.  We were bused to the start and after a short wait we were off straight up the hill, no preambles.  The climb is totally runable and once on the top a lovely run along the Offa’s Dyke Path.  The descent is very fast down a very rough grassy track, very testing on the old knees.  And yes, yet again I was overtaken on the descent by the same guy who over took me on the Crocodile. Through a farmyard and then up a short steep section of road to a final lap of the finishing field which just about finishes everyone off. I was totally exhausted coming into the finish, thank goodness my juniors weren’t there to see my atrocious running style (except Sadie and she was busy looking out for her Dad).  The 4 of us all had good runs especially Mike as it was a toughy.  Not sure where we all came except I was 1^st Lady in 40mins I think, Mike in 46 minutes, John was next and then Alex.

There was free tea and cakes to all runners, I scoffed the biggest and best piece of homemade sponge cake I have ever had, I needed it I can tell you.   John and Alex can vouch for the most delicious homemade ice cream ever.  So who’s coming to join us next year? Ann Nixon

Another well organised multi terrain race held at Burghill County Primary School.  The race gets its name from the local nickname for Tillington’s beautiful Badnage wood through which the greater part of the race takes place.  The wood looks from a distance uncannily like the body of a crocodile.  The crocodile itself is challenging as it has 105 steps in addition to 13 stiles and kissing gates on route.

FODAC managed a 1, 2 , 3 with Tara stealing the limelight in the Junior race finishing  1^st girl and 5^th  or 6^th overall.  The junior course was 2 laps around the orchard opposite the school, with quite a tricky hill to tackle.

Kim Mazzuca and myself started off together and had to push our way towards the front as we were a little late getting to the start line, not helped by yours truly deciding at the last minute to discard my running vest as it was so hot. Kim seeing another lady in front of us soon set off in hot pursuit leaving me to chase. (Kim was later to regret going off so fast as she was unaware of the 105 steps up the crocodile!)  Shortly before we left the road to climb the crocodile a very welcome hose pipe was spraying those runners who needed a cool down. (Reminded me of the races we did in Bermuda).  The steps were quite steep and even I who rarely walk hills have to admit that I walked a few.  However to be fair they were as high as my knees. (No wise cracks from you guys).  After a couple of flights of steps and almost head butting a couple of runners bums, I managed to catch Kim up and squeezed past.  Once on the top it was a lovely run through the wood with the smell of garlic filling the air.  On the way back down were a couple of very muddy stretches which you could avoid if you kept your wits about you.  The last stretch was on road and I was overtaken by 2 men who I had managed to overtake on the steps, but such is life.  Will have to do some speed sessions!  Along the way there were a few surprises, we had women singing to us outside the church and drums beating at the top of the final climb.  I finished 2^nd lady in 58:43 and Kim 3^rd in 1:00:07, 23rd and 29^th, overall out of 271 finishers.  .

Although the steps are steep the section is short and the run along the top through the woods makes the effort more than worthwhile.  I would recommend this multi terrain race if you are looking for an off road race as it’s fairly local, well organised with plenty of water stations and well supported.  It was certainly much easier that the Black Death Run!

Click here to read about park runs special weekend and a fixture update

To enter Click here

 The Forest Of Dean Athletic Club are hosting their 5 mile race and fun run at Mallards Pike on June 16^th. For those who do not know the area it is a picturesque Forestry Commission run site with lake, walks and cycle tracks

This is an event open to all ages and all abilities and starts are between 7.00 and 7.35pm on Wednesday June 16^th.

This year the club are proud to be able to support Hope for Tomorrow which is  a national cancer charity dedicated to helping those with cancer – and their dependents – cope. The charity is doing this through their Mobile Chemotherapy Unit project, which brings vital chemotherapy treatment closer to patient’s homes. We are lucky in being serviced locally at the Dilke Hospital, Cirencester and Ross On Wye.

The Club has also been fortunate in gaining the support of Go Ape, who term themselves a high wire forest adventure and have one of their courses at Mallards Pike. They have offered  tickets to be presented to two of our run winners.

Our other supporters are also local companies, Black Sheep Sports, who are also involved in promoting sporting  events, especially triathlon and cycling. They are providing us with their state of the art timing chips.

Water Coolers Direct have donated sports water bottles for the fortunate winners.

It’s definitely an evening not to be missed, so come along and enjoy a sociable run

Rose Inn 2010 Series Run 1.

The 1^st run of the 2010 Rose Inn (Redwick) series on Tuesday 11^th  May saw the biggest turnout from the club for years with 4 ladies and 5 gents  all making a good show for the club.  In near perfect conditions there was also a good turn out overall with 189 runners finishing.  The flat 4 mile course is made up of two laps of two miles and is a good test of pace for the runners and with the race starting by the pleasant country pub, passing it at the mid-point and finishing right outside also makes it a great event for spectators too - especially on a warm summers evening.  Not only was it a good turnout but we had some excellent results with Freek Van Arkle finishing 6^th overall in 21:58 and 2^nd Junior Male, Sasha Herman finished in 25:24, 22^nd overall – both were running this event for the first time.  Some of the old hands were next with Walter Leach 56^th in 26:22, followed by Fred Van Arkle 61^st in 26:55 (a solid run after his exertions in the Tewksbury half on the Sunday before) and Andy Dallow 69^th in 27:34.  Lynne Park lead the ladies home just 3 seconds off her PB in 97^th with a time of 28:56 chased by Jackie Green (31:37, 141^st), Claire Morgan (33:22, 156^th) and Jacqui Winds (33:32, 158^th).   The race is generally the 2^nd Tuesday in each month and the remaining three are on Tues 8th June, Tues 13th July, and Tues 10th August, all at 7:30 with entry on the day.  A drink from the bar is included in the entry fee so overall it is a good value evening and a good workout as part of your training plan.

and we will be supporting the Hope for Tomorrow Charity

click here to visit the Go Ape site

Click here for an entry form and more information

Click here for a Multimap map showing the start.

It was a wet, windy and cold start to the morning of the 26^th Great West Run Half Marathon, 5k race and family fun run held in Exeter. The half marathon consists of 1 lap of Exeter arena, then on to two laps of Pinhoe road and then into Exeter city centre.

A great race for all the family to do. People cheering you all the way around, also bands playing in the streets and the city centre. There are ample water stations, sponge stations and plenty of bowls of jelly babies. This has been my third time of running this race and each year it gets much better and my time gets faster. This year I managed a pb for the great west run in 1hr 42mins and 55 secs, making me 50^th in my category and 423 out of 2103 finishers.

2 Ashley Andrews JM 46.38

S&VM Discus
1 Darren Andrews (M35) 30.38

S&VM Shot

1 Darren Andrews (M35) SM 9.39

SL Hammer

6 Sarah James 13.76

S&VM

1 Darren Andrews (M35) 35.10

Full results are available here.

My first Park Run by Chris Hawkins

The first thing to say here is that it’s free (apart from the delicious tea and cakes supplied at the end which are well worth the price).  All I needed to do was fill out a small form at parkrun.com (no wwws), print the bar code that arrived be email, take it with me and present myself at the start opposite the college at 9 am.   In the words of that  Meerkat “Simples”.

The 5K course is flat but needs care because of ruts, mud and tree roots which all adds to the character of the run.  City folks are welcome to their smooth tarmac and manicured grass tracks, this is still real Forest running with the friendly atmosphere enhanced by mix of ages and abilities and even the odd dog dragging its owner round (wonder if it had a bark code). 

The signs and coloured streamers marking the course didn’t prevent a couple of wrong turnings (from me at least) but nobody got hopelessly lost and everyone made it to the finish.  Now this is where the really clever bit comes in.  As I crossed (staggered) across the finishing line I was handed a token which, after getting my breath back, I presented to a really nice lady who zapped it along with my bar code.   Later on that day I  get an email with my times and a link to a full list of runners.

One word of advice though. This time of year the mossies round the area are vicious little whatsits  so if, like me, they see you as lunch, use some bug spray.

FODAC’s wandering half marathoners

 On the weekend when most attention was focused on the London Marathon Aileen and Claire took the road north to join 5500 other runners in the Sheffield Half Marathon.   Following trips to Tregaron in west Wales and to Liverpool this was their third half this year plus they even found time for the first ever Kilo-marathon (26 kilometres) in Nottingham.

  The race started in the Don Valley International Stadium at 9.30 am and, contrary to the discouraging forecast, the sun warmed the runners as they hit streets.  The traffic free course took them through the city centre on roads lined with enthusiastic spectators to return to the stadium for a grandstand finish.   Both our ladies started well but Aileen was feeling under the weather and had to give up at 4 miles. Claire kept going and finished in a very respectable 2.00.21 

Their previous times this year were;

Ras Cors Caron (Tregaron) - Claire 2.03.  Aileen 2.11

Liverpool – 2.01 for both

Kilo-marathon in Nottingham - 2.41for both  

Read Chris Hawkins report here

and click the link to see the BBC news report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/things_to_do/newsid_8637000/8637453.stm

16th June 2010

To find out and read Chris Hawkins race report Click here.

It’s the middle of Wales in the middle of March and rain drops cover the weather map.  Maybe not the most encouraging scenario for a race that includes some really wild and woolly high ground but the running gods looked kindly on us, allowing temperatures to creep into double figures while permitting only an occasional light drizzle dampened proceedings. Click here to read the rest of the report.

The Grizzly bears all

The Grizzly is one of those iconic races well known within the running community but little heard of elsewhere.  That’s unless you live in the little sea side town of Seaton in east Devon where it is a major calendar event bringing in people from all over the country in what would otherwise be a quiet weekend in early March. for race report click here

CASTLE COOMBE CHILLY 10K

Two forest athletes made the trip to Castle Coombe race circuit on a day that weather forecasters predicted heavy rain and high winds. Maybe the race should have been called ‘the wet and windy 10k’. I don’t know what happened to the high winds or heavy rain as the weather was typical for Castle Coombe, drizzle, cold and windy on one corner. Earl Smith was first home in a magnificent 8^th place in a time of 0:39:07.074 followed by Mark Jeffries in 68^th place with a time of 0:48:16.517. There being a total of 168 entrants.  Another well organised race by DB Max, CC comes highly recommended. Maybe see you at the next two races organised for 15^th August and 21^st November. www.dbmax.co.uk/store/events

You can sponsor Victoria for her sport relief challenge at

http://www.mysportrelief.com/betsiebadger?SID=96828

Ladies success in Kidderminster

 While the FODAC men were at Castle Coombe, FODAC ladies Anne Nixon and Lynn Park drove north to Kidderminster for the Treat 8 Multi Terrain race.  Like the Castle Coombe pair they experienced wet and miserable weather, but despite the conditions both had excellent races.

 Anne continued her return to form by taking 1^st Lady, as well as 1^st V50 (19^th overall) in 54.40 with Lynn Park 4^th Lady and 2^nd V45 in 1:02:51 (39^th overall).  There were 79 finishers

Wednesday 16 June at 7.00pm for Mallards Pike Summer race

Stroud and district athletic club race programme available here

Dave is hoping to get a park run course going at 5 acres check back here for details and finally......

June 6th race for heroes in Swindon www.runforheroes.org.uk

Click here for the womens results

Would you like to be involved in helping to run FODAC?

u11 Girls Lauren Wallis had a particularly fantastic race, she beat all her rivals some for the first time ever, to claim the gold medal to become the u11 County Champion. Bailey Summers, Katie Kersey and Tara Sladen finished out of the individual medals but together with Lauren they brought the team home in the gold medal position to make the Forest of Dean AC the u11 girls team county champions.

u13 boys Andrew Evans, Connor Creed, Josh Dowle were up against it in this age group, with only Connor being among the older athletes, they still managed to claim the team bronze medal though.

u13 girls The team led by Emily Dowle, (who claimed the individual silver medal), along with Phoebe Crawley, Sadie Melhuish and Laura Taylor combined to win the overall gold medal to make the Forest of Dean AC the u13 girls team county champions.

u17 boys  Freek van Arkle, got into a real battle with a Cheltenham athlete but he managed to claim the gold medal and to claim his first County Championship.

u17 girls Eleanor Dow was once again the lone Forest of Dean AC athlete. She finished just outside the medals.