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RACE REPORTS


  London Marathon Results
Contragulations to all those who did the FLM this year. The results are in the table below
 
Fred van Arkle M45 3 hrs 8 mins 49 s 499th in age group 1,350th overall
Peter Williams M45 3.32.07 499th, 3,547th
Robert Davies M60 3.36.18 42nd, 4,017th
Steven Harris SM 3.57.25 1.339th, 7,199th
Samantha Mulligan SL 3.57.25 254th, 1,394th
Aileen Griffiths L50 5.23.29  374th, 7,301st

  Race Reports from the Terminator
A tough multi-terrain race held at Pewsey, Wiltshire. Allegedly it was supposed to be only 10 miles, but in fact was over 11 miles! A very tough race - with plenty of mud, hills and water and harder than the Dursley Dozen, which is saying something. There were 740 finishers.

Forest stalwart Fiona Turner was the sole FoDAC Runner and she finished in a time of 1:42:38 which was good enough for her to finish 4th lady overall and 1st V45, and 133rd overall. All in all an impressive performance.


 
Dursley Dozen, Good Day out for Forest Vets!
 
At the Dursley Dozen Multi Terrain race held on Sunday 11th February, team-mates Ian Smith and Fiona Turner won 1st MV45 and 1st LV45 prizes respectively.  Despite the very muddy conditions, Ian completed this testing course nearly 3 minutes faster than last year in a time of 83.59 which placed him 13th overall.   Further down the field Fiona was having her own battle with Brian Griffin (V50) who eventually just pipped her to the finishing line in 103.39 (118th), with Fiona finishing just behind in 103.40 (119th).  The race was won by Craig Davey (City of Bath AC) in 74.59, and there were 386 finishers.
 
Kelsey's Top 5 Finish
Junior Lady Kelsey Smith from Kerne Bridge ran in the Hereford & Worcester Year 10 & 11 Schools Cross Country Trials.  She now goes forward to compete in the National Schools Cross Country to be held in late March at Leeds.  
 
Captain Steve's Mens Captain's Report Of the Mens Cross Country Season
The cross country season saw some excellent individual performances and
more highs than lows from a team perspective. The forward plan is to
take a side to the 12 stage relay at the end of March and to focus on
certain races during the league close season which we hit as a team.

Highlights of the season came in the form of individual awards from the
Gloucester League. Ian Smith took gold in the v45 class and Bob Park and
Steve Cunliffe added silver and bronze in the v50 category. Earlier Bob
and Steve won medals in their respective county championship events.

From a team perspective the veterans team was unlucky not to get a medal
after a very consistent season ( 4th, 6th, 6th, 2nd). The full team
performed well in 3 events but let themselves down in the 3rd race when
we could only field 5 runners. Where we fielded a team we were either
6th or 7th in a league of 23. (A good result considering the top five
are Clevedon, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Severn and Bath).

Also on the plus side, in the 4 races this year, we had a total of 32
finishers with a maximum of 12.The turn out has been significantly
better than in recent years, we just have to work on not all being
unavailable at once.

Looking forward to next season, I would like to continue the trend to
greater involvement in team races with a view to entering 2 teams in the
Gloucester league in 2007/8. We also need to target the same events as
the ladies ( midland relays etc)

 
Midland Counties Cross Country Championships
Midland Counties Cross Country Championships were held on Stafford Common.   The FoDAC Ladies took 11th Team place in a competitive field. 
 
First home for the Forest Club was Samantha Mulligan in 36th place in 30 mins 43 s.  Fiona Turner was 64th in 32.53, Lynn Park 105th in 36.31, Wendy Lawrence 135th in 41.33 and closing the Team Claire Morgan 140th in 42.34.  
 
In the Junior Men & Ladies races Alison Drew came home in 18th place in 25.48 and Richard de Camps took 39th place in 27.42.  

 

May Hill Massacre Results:
On a bright clear January Sunday Morn,nearly 500 runners comprising Club and casual runners set off on an 8 mile recce of May Hill stating and finishing at Huntley Sawmills. 
 
The terrain was variable with steep rutted sections layered  with a welly depth of clingy mud and a layer of Forestry thinnings for good measure.    The views from the top of a crystal clear May Hill to the Black Mountains were worth a pause in the stride for even the most determined runner.  
 
7 members of FoDAC took part, some of whom who competed the day before in the Gloucester Cross Country League, for good measure. 
 
The results were:
 
43rd John Lindon MV45 1 hour 9 mins 11 s;  84th  Fiona Turner 6th Lady overall and first LV45; 101st Brian Griffin MV50 1.15.24; 111th Peter Short MV50 1.16.42; 118th Andy Dallow SM 1.17.04, 259th  Trevor Kingdom SM (who jogged around with a friend) 1.31.56; 278th Chris Hawkins MV55 1.34.59;

Report on Sarah Rossiter winning her GB Vest:
Sarah Rossiter has at last be rewarded with international selection as a senior athlete. Sarah ran for GB as an U20 400mts runner. After University she didn’t run much for a while then reinvented herself as a Long Jumper. Last year was Sarah’s most successful competively winning the UKA jumpsfest, UKA Challenge and finishing 6th in the National indoor and outdoor championships. She will have a very busy few days leaving the UK on Thursday she will compete in her first England vest in Budapest. The team moves on to Bratislava on Sunday then to Vienna on for a meet on Tuesday. Sarah has been a model of determination over the years having been overlooked for younger girls a couple of times she has put her nose to the grindstone rather than complaining. The Monmouth Haberdashers school teacher hasn’t enjoyed the benefits of the increased expenditure on sport recently. She still trains on the Redgra track at Five Acres and does weight training in her coach’s garage. Her school installed a new Long Jump run up and pit a couple of years ago and there are now several of her pupils training with her. The success of the group and Sarah gaining international recognition is a good pay back after such a short time.

County Championships - Saturday 6th January 2007

The weather conditions at Blackbridge on Saturday 6th January were perfect for Cross-Country!  Thankfully though there was no wind and the rain finally eased off on the latter stages of the Junior/Senior/Vet Ladies race but it left a waterlogged, muddy course for the men’s race.

Only 3 FODAC ladies competed in the 7.7km race with Alison Drew coming in in 12th position (3rd Junior Lady) in 34.33, next was Fiona Turner in her first race for 9 months in 35.20 (1st LV45) followed by Carol Johnstone in 19th place in 39.38.

Just two men competed in the 11km Men’s race with Wayne Bevan coming in in 21st position n 44.04 and Steve Cunliffe (1st V50) just behind in 45.44.

Grateful thanks should go to the organisers and the many marshals who, despite standing out in muddy, wet fields for most of the day, managed to remain cheerful and supportive throughout all the races!

Gloucestershire AAA Cross Country Championships
Forest Junior Athletes shine despite the gloomy weather
Forest of Dean Athletic Club came home from the Gloucestershire AAA Cross Country Championships with medals of every colour. Forest of Dean AC turned out a strong and well prepared team thanks in part to a training session in the sand dunes of South Wales with their coaches. Sand training is good for strength and it certainly paid off, the races were run in torrential rain that didn’t relent all afternoon turning the track into oozing mud. Forest came away with an individual gold, two silvers and a bronze medal as well as a team gold medal.
 
In the under 11 boys Emmett Thompson was seventh at one point but demonstrated his determination by fighting back through the field to claim the silver medal. Forest of Dean AC took the gold medal in the team competition with a strong team of Rhys Lloyd (7 th), Mark Eynott, (9 th), Emmett Thompson (2 nd) and James Johnstone (11 th). The race was won by Lawrie Cox of Stroud AC who is Emmett’s rival from the Gloucester league races.
 
Sam Roberts was delighted to win the under 13 girls county championship despite being in the younger age group in her race. Sam was forced to battle for the whole race by Beth Wells of Gloucester AC, the fight went all the way to the final 300 meters when Sam got the upper hand and pulled clear winning with a shout of joy. Mellisa Chidley another regular county runner from Forest of Dean Athletic Club was 7th.
 
Kyran Hales was also in the younger age group in his race he finished an excellent third to take the bronze medal in the under 13 boys. The race was won by Jack Evans of Gloucester AC
 
In the under 15 boys Jordan Fishwick finished 11th and in the under 17 boys Richard De Camps fought hard through the race to come home a well deserved second claiming the silver medal behind Joseph Dalgleish of Westbury Harriers.

 


 

PLOCK COURT REPORT AND RESULTS

Reports by Steve and Brian
 

Forest Athletes slither to glory.

Junior Athletes from the Forest of Dean Athletics Club ran through very slippery conditions in the Gloucester League meeting at a very wet Plock Court. Despite being one of the smaller clubs in the league, FoDAC continue to punch well above their weight. For many this was their second race of the day having already run in the morning in the County Schools final Schools.

The under 11 boys maintained their second place in the league, Emmett Thompson was third and now lies equal second in the league. Mark Eynott continues to improve and looks a promising prospect in this age group next year. In the under 11 girls Fenella Madley another athlete in the youngest group, came striding through the mud to fourth, place.

In the under 13 girls, Sam Roberts who won the mornings school race, sealed second place in the league with third place in the race. When Gloucester’s Amber Watson moves up to the under 15s Sam looks to be a good tip to be champion next year. The under 13 girls team were second overall.

The under 13 boys were fourth overall, with another fine run by an Kyran Hale leading the way for the team, exhausted but fourth following a fine run to schools victory in the morning. The under 17 men's team, who have dominated the team competition so far, were seriously weakened by the loss of Ethan Cross through ill health and the necessity for Richard de-Camps to run 2 races within 90 minutes. They were led home by Nico Constanti, himself suffering the effects of a heavy cold, in 9th place, with Richard 10th admirably backed up by Ben Jones in 14th and Rhys Williams 15th. Nevertheless, they suffered defeat for the first time in the competition and must now accept that fixture clashes weight any title chances heavily in favour of non Gloucestershire teams.

The results were:

U11 Boys:

 

3rd Emmett Thompson 4 mins 27 s. ; 11 Rhys Williams 4.46; 15 Mark Eynott 5.00. The U11 Boys were 2nd Team on the day.
 
U11 Girls:

 

4 Fenella Madley 4.55; 20 Kitty Jewell 8.34
U13 Boys:

 

4th Kieran Hale 8.00; 11 Gethin Richards 8.34; 19 Freek Van Arkle 8.57; 22 Alfie Thompson 9.07. 4th Team.
U13 Girls:

 

3 Samantha Roberts 8.23; 10 Tilly Jewell 9.05; 21 Bethany Williams 9.41 . 3rd Team. Sam Roberts a few hours earlier won the Glos schools U13 cross country trial.
U17 Boys

 

9 Nico Constanti 19.07; 10 Richard de Camps 19.26; 14 Ben Jones 21.21; 15 Rhys Williams 21.22 2nd Team. Number 1 runner Ethan Cross was missing due to illness.
U17 Girls:

 

5 Kelsey Smith 12.52

 

Ladies 25 Alison Drew JL 27.17; 34 Penny Cartwright L45 27.59; 64 Jackie Green L45 29.59; 67 Denise Rees L50 30.59; 80 Wendy Lawrence L55 33.06. A Team 13th, B Team 23rd. Lady Vets A Team 8th.
Men 25 Ian Smith M45 33.59 (first M45); 58 Wayne Bevan 36.37; 68 Steve Cunliffe M50 37.19; 83 Fred Van Arkle M45 38.11; 108 Walter Leach M45 40.18. Vet Team 7th.

 

Newent Triathlon, 1st October

Report by Fiona Turner
Two FODAC members took part in the Newent Triathlon on Sunday. As one contestant was overheard to say "I didn't realise that swimming was involved in all 3 events!"

While the athletes expected to get wet in the 400m swim, the torrential rain accompanied by thunder and lightening added a certain something to the 18km cycle and 5km run. Credit should be given to the 150 participants who competed and all the marshals who stood out in the rain for many hours

The event was certainly something of a baptism of fire to Bill Turner of Longhope who was competing in his first (and probably last!) triathlon. More used to rock climbing in the sun and doing the odd 5k race to keep fit, he was satisfied to finish just outside the top third in 53rd position, recording times of 8.40, 40.24 and 19.15 respectively.

Penny Cartwright was hoping to beat her previous times set last April, however the inclement conditions thwarted her attempt. However, Penny finished a very creditable 73rd overall with times of 7:04, 42:56 and 20:26.

The event's winner was Rob Buckland who completed the event in 0054:10.


 

BRITISH Milers Club Event Bristol

Sam Roberts & Emmett Thompson competed in the u13s and u11s respectively. Sam was the youngest girl in her age group but still took third place with a time of 6 min 4 s. Young Emmett lead the under 11s boys race across the finishing line in 6 mins 1 s to take the gold medal.

Nottingham Half Marathon

Senior Mens Club Captain Steve Cunliffe returned to running after a layoff with a PB over the 13.1 mile course. In 1 hr 26 mins which will stand him in good stead for another PB in the late Autumn Stroud HM.

Midland 4 stage road relays

Report by Carol Jones
Sutton Park hosted the Midland 4 stage road relays on 23rd September, the warm Autumn weather ensured that there were some fast times recorded throughout the day. FoDAC had two teams competing, the 'A' team finishing in 26th place and the 'B' team in 46th position. The winning team were Charnwood completing the 4 stages in 1.01.28.
Fodac times below.

 
'A'  1 Caroline Jones            16.15
     2 Penny Cartwright         18.40
     3 Lynne Park                 19.17 
     4 Deborah Pritchard        19.53
 
Total time 1.14.05
 
 
'B'  1 Jackie Green            20.35
     2 Carol Jones              20.56
     3 Claire Morgan           22.52
     4 Aileen Griffiths          22.46
 
Total time   1.27.09

The fastest run of the day was Wendy Jones of Cirencester in 14.40


 

Woking

Report by Dave Lucas
A group of young athletes took part in the Woking Young Athletes Championships. Most successful athlete of the day was U17 Fiona Hunter Johnson. Fiona won gold in the Long Jump 5.35 and bronze in the Shot 8.59. Her series of jumps included 2 at 5.35 and a 5.19. Fiona narrowly failed to get a pb in the High Jump going out at 1.45 in 4th place. She looks in good form ready for the UK schools games in Glasgow this week. School and club mate Ellie Dawson finished 3rd in the LJ 4.63. Although below her lifetime best it was a seasons best.. Ellie was 4th in her heat of the 100mts but missed out on a final place. The 3rd medallist was U20 Alison Drew. Alison ran a very controlled race in her 2nd ever 400mts. Into the straight she had passed the girls outside her and looked lie winning. The 2 girls were more experiend though and fought back on the line.
Under 11s Youngest competitor of the day was Rebecca Madley. Rebecca had the biggest cheer of the day when finishing the 600mts. Sister Fenella was 6th in the LJ 2.68 and 11th overall in the 600 3.04. Mark Eyenott and Emmett Thompson both competed in 3 events. Mark was 11th of 21 in the LJ and 600. Emmett did 3.06 in the LJ and 2.03 in the 600 for 9th position.
Under 13s Sam Roberts & Jenny Probyn missed their High Jump after roadwork’s caused a delay. Sam was 2nd in her 800 heat, 6th of the 22 starters. Jenny ran in a fat 100mts heat and just missed a final place. In the LJ Jenny was 3rd in her pit and 6th best with 3.76. Alfie Thompson was 8th fastest of the qualifiers for the 80 hurdles. He then ran a cracking race in the final to come in 4th place. He then had to put in another sprint to get to the LJ and put in reasonable jump of 3.64. Kryan Hale had a fine day 5th in both the LJ 3.68 & the 800 2.31.
Under 17 Ben Jones & Richard de Camps ran in the same heat of the 800mts. Both were well outside their best Richard by 3 seconds and Ben by. They finished din 2.09 & 2.17 respectively.


 

Iron Man

Report by Ian Smith
It was the Ironman UK that I did in Sherbourne last weekend. I was really pleased with how it all went, and I finished in 10h 58min. (160th - 13th in age group, I think about 1000 finished in the 17h cut off) The swim 3.8km was 1h 7mins and very busy with bodies everywhere, about 6h on the bike (112 miles = 3 very hilly circuits trying to watch my HR all the time) and a 3.45min marathon, plus some bits in transition! All I can say is that at least the swim was flat, and as usual the run was a bit of a struggle with cramp as we completed the second half of the run along one lane of a dual carriageway (it was closed off) I can now officially tick that one off the list and wear the T shirt with pride.


 

UKA challenge final

Report by Dave Lucas
After a season of competion where performances were changed into points the top 8 athletes in each event were invited to take part in the UKA challenge final. Where some of the top 8 declined the invitation the organisers went down the list until they had 8. Athletes had to have competed in at least 4 events through the season to qualify for the final. This rule was overlooked in some events, one of them being the Long Jump. After finishing 3rd in the rankings for the season Sarah was denied the title of UKA Challenge Champion for now because of the relaxation of the rule. She finished 2nd to a competitor who had only jumped in 2 of the specified events despite the fact that there were 22 opportunities. The whole event was about consistent performances through the season and raising the standards in the specified events. Sarah had one of her most consistent series of jumps all season starting with 5.90 then 6.04, 6.03, 5.84,5.81 and 5.91. She wasn’t able to find the form of a couple of weeks ago when she went out 6.24. Normally jumping this well right at the end of the season Sarah would have been delighted. Unfortunately the last minute rule change left her very deflated. In the end she had to settle for 2nd beaten by 20cms.
The previous weekend Fiona Hunter Johnson had been delighted to finish 11th of 21 competitors in the AAAs multi events championships. Fiona had a fine set of results throughout the 2 days. 80 hurdles 13.84, High Jump 1.41, Shot Putt 8.79pb, 200 28.11, Long Jump 5.08 Javelin 26.79pb, 800 2.40.2pb. She finished with 3743 points against the winners 4752. The top Midlands athlete finished with 3996. Has this was Fionas 1st ever Heptathlon that total is easily within reach. She will have the winter to sharpen her events with Sarah who teaches and coaches her, Nick Walker and Dave Lucas. Unlike Sarah who will now be putting her feet up for a couple of weeks Fiona has an open meeting this weekend the UK schools games in Scotland and the Inter Counties the following 2 weekends.
There was more confusion at the county relays evening. In the 4 x 100 1st it was the Gloucester U15 girls who were disqualified but after the gold medals were presented to the FODAC U15 team it was discovered it should have been the Gloucester girls U13 team who were disqualified. So the Gloucester U13 and the FODAC U15 teams had to return their medals. The Forest girls Sam, Rebecca, Jenny and Sarah were much the happier at the end as at least they had silver medals to bring home. The U17 girls Danielle, Fiona, Ellie and Katherine were unopposed. They therefore settled for safe changeovers and finished 2nd in the race to Gloucester senior ladies.

 


 

Nick Walker Takes Second place in the British Masters Decathlon

Nick Walker the FoDAC Coleford based athlete took a well deserved 2nd at the Horspath Stadium, Oxford on the 12 & 13 August. Despite nursing a tender foot injury he came through the gruelling 10 event match with a silver medal.

His performances were:

100 m 1.78 s,
long jump 6.18 m,
shot put 9.98 m,
high jump 1 m 46 cm,
400 m 61.98 s,
hurdles 18.5 s,
discus throw 30.8 m,
pole vault 3.4 m,
javelin throw 40.23 m,
1500 m 5 m 55 s.

Nick excelled in the field events taking first place in the
javelin and pole vault.