News

We’re back to a regular weekly review this week.

Starting at the Devizes 10K which was a club championship event. We had 12 runners there setting some excellent times, leading the way for Corsham were John Wilmott and David Mackie, not far behind them were Vicky Henderson (I’m counting her as CRC already) and Laura Midwinter who were 3rd and 4th lady overall.

At the Salisbury half marathon, Dave Townsend achieved a 2.5 minute PB of 1:37:26. Mark Cortaville didn’t quite achieve a PB but he was very close and still achieved an excellent time.

In other half marathon news we had 4 ladies running at the Forest of Dean half marathon, including Jane Tunicliffe doing her first half for over 4 years. All 4 of our ladies were within 11 minutes of each other too.

After a long injury lay off it was good to see Stewart Unsworth return to racing at the Brinkworth Bash 10K. He was taking it easy as a return race but he still came in around 56 minutes. Good to have the Bolton Bullet back.

It was a family affairs in Pembrokeshire where Richard Biggs ran the Dale 10k with his daughter. No taking it easy for the chairman though as he finished 10 minutes before her. Well done Dad.

I’m going to do things a little differently this week.

Sometimes while writing these reports and updating the results I notice some patterns, and as I was putting the ‘Yes’ in the PB column for the Swindon Half Marathon I couldn’t help noticing that 2 of them often get a ‘Yes’ in the PB column so I started to get curious and took a look at their improvement and well honestly, it’s worth highlighting. The two in question are Lois Norcott and Katharine Burrett and their journey has been phenomenal.

I won’t start right at the beginning but we’ll go back 17 months to February 2018 and the Wiltshire 10. For both of them it was a first run in double figure mileage and both just beat 2 hours, Lois in 1:55:34 and Katharine just behind in 1:56:02. Two months later saw their first Half Marathon at Bournemouth Bay, Lois clocking 2:27:09 and Katharine 2:31:05. That month also saw them both do the Corsham 10K in 1:07:38 and 1:08:22. By the time 2018 was finished they had both gone under an hour for 10K, Katharine achieved it first at the Castle Combe Chilly (58:13) in November and Lois a couple of weeks later at the Bromham Pudding Run (59:56). They’ve both gone even faster again at the Calne Clock Change Challenge in March of this year, Katharine going sub-55 for a PB of 54:22 and Lois currently has a PB of 56:59.

Heading back to where we started at the Wiltshire 10. Both of them were over 20 minutes quicker in 2019 than they had been in 2018. Lois (1:35:16) and Katharine (1:36:01). They both went even quicker at the Good Friday 10 miles in Chippenham 2 months later, Lois (1:33:59), Katharine (1:35:44).

In between the two 10 mile races, they completed another half marathon, this time in Bath. And similar to the Wiltshire 10 differences, in a year Lois had reduced her half marathon time by nearly 23 minutes to 2:04:24 and Katharine had taken 25 minutes off to finish in 2:05:55. They have now done 2 half marathons in September, setting a PB at both. Lois went under 2 hours for the first time at Chippenham (1:58:39) before taking a bit more off at Swindon this weekend (1:55:34) and Katharine just missed out on a sub-2 at Chippenham (2:02:16), but achieved it with a 1:58:43 at Swindon. For those paying attention, Lois’ time is exactly the same as her Wiltshire 10 from 17 months ago and Katharine is only 3 minutes behind so they can now do an extra 5k in the same time.

At the beginner’s graduation at Chippenham in July, Oscar Zalek was aiming for a sub-30 minute 5k for the first time and I told him to keep the yellow tops of Lois and Katharine in sight as they’d be good pacers. They ended up as the bread on an Oscar sandwich and as expected, all 3 achieved a sub-30. As well as these improvements in speed, it’s been great to see both Katharine and Lois getting more confident with running, they’ve both been present at a lot of club championship events, they both did a leg as part of our Avon Valley Relay teams and in almost all race photos, they have a smile on their face. So next time you see either of them at club or a race give them a pat on the back or a round of applause, they definitely deserve it.

And now we return to our regularly scheduled weekly review and I guess I should start with some of the others who raced at the Swindon Half Marathon as there were another 5, there was a PB for Lauren Edwards by 4 minutes as she came 19^th lady out of 728, apologies that it hasn’t got the fanfare it deserves. Andrew Wood possibly had a PB too and Charlie Berry definitely did as it was his first Half Marathon.

If Andrew didn’t get a PB at Swindon it’s almost certainly because he did the Black Mountains Fell Race the day before with David Mackie. 17ish miles, 5,000 feet of climb is going to leave your legs a bit wobbly for the day afterwards. I’m unsure if they ran together but they finished 80 seconds apart at just under 4 hours.

This weekend also saw the Cotswold Way Century, 102 miles of hills from Chipping Campden to Bath. After 3 of us had a DNF last year, Dan Harman became the 4^th consecutive one, when he retired at the 70 mile Wotton checkpoint. He was ready to go but after running and walking on one leg for about 35 miles, the medics made it known that he really should stop there. A valiant effort and it was great for him to visit Tammy and Carl Zalek at the Tormarton checkpoint and still get a bacon roll.

Pride was restored for CRC by Mike Lang shortly after Dan’s retirement when he finished in a fantastic time of 21:40:46. He was aiming to go under 23 hours to beat the course record for a vet 50 and achieved it easily, making it the second course record held by a CRC runner at the Cotswold Way Century along with the overall course record…

…for a surname beginning with Z!

Current score: Corsham Running Club 6 Cotswold Way Century 4

And finally, with the nights rapidly drawing in and as we all get the headtorches and hi-viz out from the back of the drawer, it does mean that we’re back to the full moon runs and last week we started with a new route from the Northey Arms. It started off with some natural light but it very much finished in darkness with woods along the way. So make sure your headtorch has new batteries or is fully charged and join us next month for a group run under the full moon.

Elton John once sang that Saturday Night’s alright for Fighting, but if you ask our runners then Saturday afternoon is a great time for a 10K race. We had 14 members taking part in the Westonbirt Arboretum 100^th anniversary run. Leading the way was Dave Townsend who got a PB with a first ever time under 45 minutes. Also gaining a PB was Danny Parker, who’s not too far from the 45 minute barrier himself. Kathryn Roynon’s children took part in the fun run, with one winning his age category and the other being 2^nd.

Mark Cortaville was at the Bristol Half Marathon this weekend and while it gets derided as a dull route (out and back along the Portway), it’s definitely a flat course as Mark got a PB. And unlike Mark’s normal races, I’ve got a photo to attach here as one of his friends took a photo of him.

We had 6 runners doing varying distances at the Purbeck Running Festival in Swanage. We had 1 person doing the 10K, 2 people doing the marathon and 3 people doing the 16 miles. The 16 miles was one of those charming ones where the prescribed distance did not quite match the actual distance, being much closer to 17 miles. Looking at the times, it doesn’t appear to be a PB course at any distance but the weather was fantastic for a run around the seaside and the mayor was an ex-resident of Corsham so some great photo opportunities.

Another busy week and yet more of our runners are pushing themselves to greater heights.

Sadly, the summer evenings are drawing in which means that it was the last Lacock Relay of the year and that means it was the handicap. If you’ve posted a time in the 3 previous events during the summer then you can do the handicap, starting off in reverse order with the idea that almost everyone will finish very close to each other (there were only 5 minutes between first and last) and the winner will be the person who has improved the most over the summer. David Mackie posted a quicker time than Jon Morrell on the night but Jon finished 4^th and Dave finished 44^th as Jon started earlier and Dave couldn’t catch him. They both finished higher than their starting position.

This weekend saw the final chance for people to either post a parkrun time or improve their parkrun time and 12 people took the chance to do so. We had 2 at Kingsway (Gloucestershire) including Michael Luff doing his 100th parkrun, 3 at Southwick, 4 at Chippenham, 1 at Delamere (Cheshire), 1 at Pomphrey Hill (Bristol) and Brain Atkins went all out to try and set a good time by picking the best parkrun he could find locally at Severn Bridge. It starts in Wales and goes across the bridge, crossing the border into England before turning round and heading back to Wales. I assume it is flat, it is wide for overtaking and it is concrete so easier for speed. It worked as he did set his fastest time.

Craig Rumble came 2^nd in the Conquest of Avalon, just 2 minutes behind the winner. A 30 mile route from Ham Hill Country Park near Yeovil following the Leland Trail and the Land’s End Trail to Glastonbury and as an added bonus with 2 miles to go, the race does take in the climb to Glastonbury Tor and back down again. I’m sure it was worth the climb and battling the tourists for the views from the top.

We had 4 runners at the Flying Monk Malmesbury 10K. Some excellent performances and none more so than Charlie Berry. Who smashed his previous PB of 1:03 by finishing in just under 55 minutes.

One of the runners at Malmesbury, Jo Motto, wasn’t finished for the weekend and along with Gill Parham-Mott and Edd Stone did the Beat the Bore race on Sunday morning. This is a pretty unique event as it is a race against nature. The Bore is a natural phenomenon of a tidal surge along the river severn, although unlike the tide, it has an element of unpredictability as to exactly when it will arrive. Apparently, the noise of the approaching bore is quite an event itself. The race is roughly 8 miles and if you finish before the bore arrives, your medal has a green ribbon and if the bore beats you it is a white ribbon.

Andrew Wood spent another weekend playing on some mountains as he did the Peak District 33. His aim was to finish in under 8 hours and despite running closer to 36 miles (he claims it was the course and not his navigation) he finished in 7:52. He’s getting quite good at this mountain stuff.

Annika Davidson and Lucy Bright had quite an adventure doing the Cotswold Trail Half Marathon. Annika found her legs from last weeks ultra when she came across the big blinking (That’s what I’m assuming b***ard means) hills at miles 7 and 11. Along with some waiting at stiles and losing a shoe in a bog, it definitely isn’t a PB course but a beautiful outing and a great run from both of our Corsham ladies.

And away from races we had our penultimate away run of the summer and it was a new one (I think) at Bremhill, near Calne. Thanks to Stewart Unsworth for organising the route, keeping us on top of the hill so we could enjoy the views without being too out of breath. The route also took in a handy place to grab a group photo. Our final away run of the summer is this Thursday (5^th September) from the Quarryman’s Arms at the slightly earlier time of 18:45 so please join us there and for a drink afterwards, there’s a reason most of our away runs finish at a pub you know.

It was a tough weekend with temperatures reaching 30 but we had a good number of runners battling on.

First up, we have to start with Danny Parker and Annika Davidson at the Green Man Ultra, a 45 mile self navigated loop of Bristol. Two excellent performances with both completing their longest ever runs. Annika had only run 18 previously.

Dave Mackie did the Brecon Beacons Fell Race, around 4,500 feet of climbing in almost 20 miles. I’m sure the heat made it easier.

The Hibles ran the Severn Bridge Half Marathon on Sunday morning. Definitely no shade on the bridge. John finished before dad Stephen.

Lucy Bright did the Avebury Trust 10K and Michael Freegard ran 5K at the Fowey Fun Run.

And of course, we had our collected efforts at parkrun this weekend. A record (possibly) 8 events had 18 runners. 1 at Kingsway (Gloucestershire), 2 at Forest of Dean, 1 at Bath Skyline, 1 at Southwick, 6 at Chippenham, 1 at Brockenhurst (New Forest), 1 at Colby (in the deep depths of South Wales) and 5 in Melksham.

You have one final Saturday this month to improve or post a parkrun time. Doesn’t matter where, just do one.

After a couple of fallow weeks we’ve been back racing again this week.

The big event of course was the 3rd Hilly Helmet Challenge (and congratulations to Jane Tunnicliffe and Dave Mackie on their hat-trick badge). There were 20 representatives from Corsham in attendance in a variety of helmets. John Wilmott led the way in 30:01 (close but not quite).

It was a great night for Brain Tumour Support as there was an estimated £4,000 raised.

The evening before Dave Mackie had been our sole representative at the final Heddington 5k of the summer and unlike John at the Hilly Helmet, Dave managed to get 1 second the right side as he finished in 19:59.

Dave did the Coppett Hill fell race on Saturday where he was joined by Susan, Annika Davidson and Susan’s brother Keith.

And on Sunday Dave did a 4th race of the week* at the black Mountains Fell Race, this time with Debra Kearsey (the metronome runner) and Andrew Wood.

Correction: This was merely a recce, the actual race is 21st September. Entries are still open if anyone wants to join them.

*No wonder he didn’t join the 32 mile Cotswold Way run overnight on Friday.

Jo Gill was spotted doing the two tunnels marathon in Bath by Alison Graham, Stewart Unsworth, Becky Townsend, Helen Ashworth and John Ashworth who were all marshalling.

And of course, we’ve still got the parkrun championship races, this week with 4 at Chippenham, 1 at Kingsway (Gloucestershire), 2 at Southwick Country Park, 4 at Melksham, 1 at Cirencester, 1 at Bath Skyline and the chief (Biggsy) wins the exotic parkrun this week with an attendance at Haverfordwest in Wales.

Remember there are 2 more Saturdays in August to do a parkrun (or improve your time) to count for the club championship. Please remember to check the Member Results to ensure I’ve got your parkrun result.

And finally, Dave Mackie’s undoubted ability to predict the weather was in evidence again as between the torrential rain of Wednesday and the even worse conditions on Friday, we had our Bowood away run in glorious sunshine on the Thursday.

It’s been another quiet week for us, with only one racer.

We did have runners at parkruns, 2 at Kingsway (Gloucestershire), 3 at Southwick, 4 at Chippenham, and 1 each at Hilly Fields (SE. London), Melksham, Penistone (S. Yorks) and Tetbury.

Laura Midwinter had a great weekend doing 3 10k runs in 3 days at the Tri Island Summer Saunter Series in Barrow, Cumbria. The summer part didn’t really happen with rain, wind and very little sun but it didn’t stop Laura having three fantastic results.

Day 1 Friday was the Dockside Drama, where Laura came 2nd overall and 1st female.

Day 2 Saturday was the Roa Island Ruckus, this time Laura was 5th overall and 2nd female.

Day 3 Sunday was the Sowerby Adventure and Laura saved the best for last, 1st lady and 1st overall.

Congratulations Laura on a great weekend of racing.

It’s lucky we’ve got the ‘any parkrun in August’ counts for the club championship as otherwise it would be a sparse weekly review this week.

In fact the only non parkrun appears to be Mark Cortaville’s appearance at the Westonbirt House Summer 10K. He had a great performance though and picked up the prize for 3rd vet 50.

So on to the parkruns. We had 15 people at 6 different events. Chippenham saw the most with 8 people there, but it was good to see people at Kingsway (Gloucestershire), Guildford, Bath Skyline and Melksham, where Laura Midwinter was first lady.

But perhaps most impressively, Kathryn Roynon took in Vejen parkrun in Denmark on her way home from holiday. Hoping to see a fee more overseas events in the remaining 4 Saturdays.

If you did a parkrun and don’t see it listed then please let me know.

CONGRATULATIONS to our latest batch of beginners, who completed their graduation at Chippenham parkrun on Saturday. Between them and our regular members, we had 31 of us.

Many of us were sporting bright tutus as it was the annual Lucy Jillings run for Pancreatic Cancer and lots of money was raised for charity too.

The Mackies (and Willow), used the last day of their holiday to take on the Seaview 17. A 17 mile run from Lynmouth to Minehead. A great way to spend time on holiday and most importantly, a great food table at the end. Well done to all 3 of you.

Becky Townsend, Helen and John Ashworth, made the relatively short journey to Bath for the Bath Running Festival Long Half Marathon. Clocking in at just over 16 miles and with trails, hills and heat, it could be the toughest half marathon in the country. They look happy to have finished.

Doing an actual half marathon, Chris Hutton did the Afan Forest Half Marathon, finishing 12th overall.

Thursday saw another away run, as the club decamped to Marshfield. Again, the weather was beautiful (we have been lucky this summer) and the photos were fantastic.