November 2009 News
Flying Fox 10
The First Race of November was the last race in the NSRRA calender and the penultimate race in the Trentham Road Race Championship so it attracted a large field of runners despite the appaling conditions.
2 reports have surfaced from the deep puddles so far first one is from deb Thomas who had a fantastic race to come 2nd Lady. Great to see Debbie getting back to somewhere near her best after the injury problems she has had. Here is Deb's report:
The Flying Fox 10 miler took place on a
very, very windy morning this year and despite the heavy rain
which was around first thing, by the time the race kicked off it
had ceased and we were left with intermittent sunshine and high
winds. There was a good turnout from the club, as the results
will reveal, and we also managed to nab some prizes!
For those who haven’t done the race before, it’s a very
undulating course and when it has been raining, involves massive
puddles; which we found out this time around! Without meaning to
do injustice to the gents who all had brilliant results despite
having to fight the G-force winds, the top results came from the
ladies with Sarah Johnson claiming first place and myself coming
in at second, though a very long 5 mins behind…!
Well done to everyone who took part as it was a testing course
and the weather made it far more difficult – I for one got blown
back up a steep descent (!) and was getting slapped across the
face by leaves blowing about!
Well done Deb and Sarah and the next report is from Paul Burslem who was running a little cagily in his new white plimsoles:
On
Sunday we did the Flying Fox race to finish the NSRRA season
off,
The weather forcast said it was going to be wet and windy,and
bloody hell
they got it spot on!! Driving to the race it was chucking it
down,but as it neared race time it
had gone off,
The race started and within half a mile the road was flooded and
some of us
ran over the grass at the sideI had nice white shoes. I ran the
first couple of miles with Mick Haire of Boalloy, but after that
he started to pull away,thought to myself "not my day"
After around 4 miles the road was flooded all the way across[no
running
round this!!] Straight through sobbing about my shoes!! We then
had to run over a railway bridge and the wind just stopped you
dead, At the 5 mile mark there is a bad climb to get the blood
pumping, but least you got a drink at the top, Ahead I could see
a couple of runners about half a mile ahead and focused on them,
I had a lad from Aldridge RC to help for a couple of miles till
I dropped him.
At the 8 mile point there was a nice hill for me to attack and
try and get
to the two runners ahead, I did start to catch them but not
quick enough, with
one mile to go it must have been 10 seconds to John Walker at
the rear of the two and I just couldn't get any closer,
I crossed the line in 1.04 something,
Star performer for Trentham was Sarah, with a great win and Debs
in 2nd.
Stan Winterton was first over 60s.
And Well done to Steve Burrows for doing the race after
competing in the
National x country relays
Well done to all those of you who took part!
Results for the Race can be found here!
Ian Yates and his Twin Brother recently took part in the National Cross Country Relays at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield. Ian and his brother (who hasn't been seen since) sent us this report:
For the first time to my memory,
Trentham sent a team to the National Cross-Country Relays.
These are held at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield; this is the
venue every year, and it’s only about an hour’s drive away
from the club. For the men, it’s a four man team – but we
only had 3 due to various injuries. The rules for the
competition state that no runner can run twice, but rather
than field an incomplete team, I would run a second leg
under the guise of Dan Clowes. Paul Gibbings and Paul
Burslem completed the team.
With the help of directions from an ex-runner behind the
tills in Halfords, we eventually made it to the park, with
just ten minutes left to register a team. Paul G was doing
the 1st
leg, I was doing the 2nd
and 4th,
and Paul B the 3rd.
As we walked to the tent area, we noticed how un-muddy the
youngsters were during their race – so it wasn’t going to be
a typically muddy slog type of course (like that for the
National Cross Country in London this year). We didn’t take
a tent ourselves, so we happily accepted Staffs Moorlands’
kind offer to share theirs.
The course itself was a two-laps
for each runner – 5K in total. It was undulating
throughout, the only flat coming at the end of each lap.
However, none of the hills were too tough or too long.
There were small sections of mud, but it was firm mud, well
ground in, and therefore not slippy. Effectively, it was a
run over mainly firm grass-land – nothing to scare even the
most determined road runner.
In amongst some of the best runners in the country, Paul G
finished his lap in 102nd
position, with a time of 18:11. I managed to gain 9 places
in my first lap, taking us up to 93rd,
in a time of 18:08. Paul B finished in 19:31, now down to
98th
position, before I brought us home in 18:21 in 95th
place. Our overall time was 1 hour 14 mins 12 secs. 151
teams completed the race.
Steve Burrowes was also competing, but for Kendal. Steve ran the race in 21.36.
Thanks for the report Ian, and Ian also adds: The 3 of us that went thoroughly enjoyed the race, and the atmosphere. Next year we hope to go again, this time with a full team (two would be great). If the ladies are interested, it’s 3 ladies for a team, over a distance of 3K each.
results can be found here!
Parkhall Cross Country (NSCCL race2)
The second race of the North Staffs Cross Country League took place at Parkhall Hills at the weekend, the race being organised by our club. Many thanks to those of you not running and running who helped out and helped make it a very successful event.
In the Men's race we were all treated to some class cross country running as GB international athlete Chris Davies won the Men's race for Telford Harriers in a time of 33:10, a full 2 and a half minutes in front of the next runner and he wasn't even sweating.
For Trentham first finisher was Ian Yates in 14th followed by Paul Gibbings in 37th. The other counters for Trentham in the Men's event were Paul Burslem (48), Dale Colclough (75), Dan Clowes (82) & Paul Thomas (97) which gave Trentham a creditable 4th place overall. Pete Caci, Steve Burrows, Ken Bloor, Alan Lewis, Gerry Calvert and Malcolm Rushton also ran. A mention must go to the unfortunate Jason Thomas, who was having a storming run ahead of Paul Gibbings when a nasty fall twisted his ankle at the start of the second lap. After speaking to him afterwards he told me he was having "the race of his life" to that point, so it really was unfortunate. Hope you recover soon Jason!
In the Ladies race there were again some great performances. Jayne Dickens led the team home in 5th position followed by Jo Donnely in 7th. Jo put in a really impressive performance on the day and looked strong throughout. The other counters were Sarah Johnson (11) and Del Salt (14). This was enough to give Trentham 1st prize by a long way, well ahead of Newcastle A.C. in second. Other finishers for Trentham were Vicky Ison (19), Deb Thomas (21), Lynne Callaghan (23), Hayley Cook (40), Kerry Widdowson (42), Rose Wilson (58), Eva Berrill (66), Louise Clowes (76) and Naomi Owen (84). All these runners did there part by taking vital points from the competitors, so well done to you all on contributing to a great weekend racing for the Green of Trentham RC.
Results can be found on the Cross Country Page
Jayne Dickens, not content with leading the team home in cross country at Park Hall, decided to go and take part in the Roaches 15 fell race, and dragged Sarah Johnson along too. Here is Jayne's report:
On
Saturday, at 8pm, Sarah and I decided we’d do the
Roaches 15 the following day. I sold it to her telling
her of the beautiful countryside and manageable
‘undulations’, poor Sarah, she was in for a big shock.
She told Dale, Gaz and me that the nearest she’d got to
a fell race was Apedale last year (with a proud smile on
her face may I add), let’s say the rest is history. I
did warn her of the knee high slurry, mud and the river
crossing but didn’t tell her that the course record for
the women was only 2.20 for 15 miles until we got in the
car. I’m sure she calls it “The Peaks monster” now, and
yes I did my fair share of screaming too, running down
the treacherous craggy hills and falling into a bog up
to my waist and having to get pulled out!!
I did want to take it easy, but Gaz kept using his
electric prodder on me at frequent intervals (the
Pictures show my pain). I was planning to just jog
around with Sarah after our torturous , stomach
sickening XC session the day before but got persuaded to
go for it and I managed to get 4th overall
and 1st Vet so I am proud of that for a road
runner. I do Love the variety of terrain, the
breathtaking scenery and the friendliness in this fell
run and yes, it is tough but is quite exciting too.
Sarah is made of strong stuff and completed her first
proper long distance fell run in an excellent time,
especially since it was undertaken in her ‘road
trainers’ which she told me she was going to promptly
‘chuck’ after we got back because of all the cow s..t on
them!! J
Dale Colclough did himself proud coming in ahead of us
all with the 2nd lady. The gap between her
and first lady was huge as we had the best UK fell
runner with us that day, Karen Davison. The fitness of
these people cannot be underestimated and yet they and
their races don’t get much coverage by the local papers.
Hopefully not to put anyone off with its 3,700 ft of climbing we proudly finished it around the 3 hr mark, give or take 15 mins, £3.50 to enter, Free coffee and tea afterwards in the cosy Meerbrook village hall. All good stuff on a cold Autumn day.
I would also recommend ‘Passing Clouds’ fell run which covers some of the Roaches course but its 9.7 miles and Paul Burslem ‘enjoyed’ that one with us. We did this 2 weeks before and laughed about how we needed big L plates on our backs after seeing how the fell runner’s descend their hills. I think I did just as much screaming on that one too!! Well there’s no point going for something boring is there??!!
Stafford Common (NSCCL race 3)
Again, no reports from the Cross Country races this weekend but another succesful Saturday afternoon for Trentham Running Club. I have heard that the Ladies race was 4.3 miles, around 1 mile further than usual, and the Men's was 7.7 miles, around 1 and a half times the usual distance. The ladies once again stole the show for Trentham.
Jayne Dickens led the way home coming 2nd only 25 seconds behind
the winner and Jo Donnelly once again had an amazing run to
finish 6th just 15 seconds behind!
Adela Salt came 8th and Sarah Johnson 14th which meant the 4
counters accumulated only 30 points to finish 1st team, a
massive 74 points ahead of the 2nd placed team.
Other runners were Deb Thomas(19), Mel Dugan(27), Kerry
Widdowson(43), Rose Wilson(48)& Louise Clowes(74). Well done to
all of you who made it a team effort and took points off the
other teams running!
In the Men's race it was nice to see Jason Thomas running again after the injury he sustained at Park Hall the week before. First over the line was Ian Yates (20th), followed by Jason in 36th. Paul Burslem(44), Paul Gibbings(53), Dan Clowes(84) & Paul Thoms(90) rounded out the 6 counters for the Men's team. Sam Newton (91), Ken Bloor (173), Alan Lewis (191), Gerry Calvert (213) & Malcolm Rushton (249) also ran in a huge men's field!
Overall the Women's team look to have it sewn up with only one race to go at Leek, and as long as there are six finishers it seems certain they will take 1st team prize. In the Men's Trentham are sitting in 4th place quite a way off 3rd and well ahead of 5th. In the Masters, the Ladies are once again well in control in the 35+ category and the men are currently lying 3rd in the 40+ age group. A good turnout at Westwood will surely see us claim some silverware once again.
for more details and results see the CROSS COUNTRY page HERE
Lynne Callaghan had a break from cross country yesterday to take part in the Preston 10 mile race on Sunday instead. Lynne has sent in this report:
I went up to run the 'Preston 10' today. I've wanted to try and get a 10 miler in all year and the last local one, The Flying Fox, was on yet another work day for me, so I had to venture further a field. Not thinking there would be any other Trentham runners there, I ditched the vest due to the cold, only to spot our very own Ken Bloor on the start line.
The race is flat and pretty urban, with 3 miles of each 5 mile loop running alongside a dual carriage way. Doesn't sound great but in actual fact it was a pretty good race. They had plenty of marshals and 2 water stations on each lap which was good AND I don't think I've ever run a race which was so exact on distance!
The weather was good but started to get a bit blustery on lap 2 but I was pleased with my time (self timed) of 1:07:44, a pb by over 2 mins. I saw Ken at the end he was only a matter of minutes behind, probably about 1:10. No goody bag to speak of just a mug, but worth a run if ever you are up that way.
Well done Lynne and to Ken and I just hope you decided to wear something else after ditching the vest.
Ever intrepid runner Dale Colclough was out on the Fells again at the weekend taking part in the 'Wrekin Wrecker' Fell race. Dale did very well continuing his recent good form and was kind enough to send in this report:
The Wrekin Wrecker - Fell Race 8 miles –
2,400ft accent and decent.
Another good hard fell race on one of our local hills the
Wrekin. This one is featured by runners world so attracts plenty
of road and trail runners.
The coarse takes you on a figure of 8 loop around the Wrekin
that reaches the summit on three occasions but all from
different directions. Its all run on steep woodland tracks so is
pretty much all run-able, but there are three very steep
descents and fell shoes was the order of the day. Having got a
real soaking prior to the start the weather gradually improved
through out the race. I set off a little fast and really felt
the first climb. I gradually got going though picking off a few
places on route. I eventually finished the race in 15th place.
so not to bad. Time around 1 hr 15 mins
As with a lot of with fell races it was excellent value for your
£5 entry fee. A great race. Bottle of beer for all finishers.
Free tea and coffee and free Sandwich’s and chips at the local
hotel afterwards.
Another one to log in the diary
Oh and by the way I decided to run this one in Trentham colours
as I reckon its about time we got the club affiliated to the
Fell section of English athletics.
Any one interested in forming a Trentham RC - Fell section with
me?
Thanks for that Dale, and Well Done!!!
Christmas Pudding Race
With Christmas fast
approaching, and for those of you with shopping left to do then
you won't need reminding, it was time for the annual Christmas
Pud Race at Cheddleton.
The race is a 10K road race around the usually quiet lanes of
Cheddleton in the Staffordshire Moorlands and is organised by
our very own Stan Winterton. The race is superbly well organised
and provides one of the most friendly atmospheres I can remember
at any of our local races. The race also raises much needed
funds for Cancer Research and on top of this every finisher gets
a generous Christmas Pudding to take away with them.
For the purposes of
the report it was personally my first race back for a while
after being sidelined by injury of late. It was not the ideal
return as the hills, and especially the downhill towards the
start/finish area which had to be negotiated 3 times, are not
too forgiving on the knee joints.
After a few stretches and during a short warm up I bumped into
the winner of last year's ladies race, Jayne Dickens who was
being escorted around in a wheelchair. She was chatting with,
who was to be this year's winner, Sarah Johnson about her recent
foot operation to alleviate the pain she had been getting in her
foot. I asked Nick, the chauffeur, if he could position himself
at the bottom of the first hill with the aforementioned chair in
order to wheel me up it when the time came!
The start soon came
in the chilly cold air of late November and we were soon
climbing uphill away from the village into the narrow lanes
surrounding Cheddleton. The first lap was a taster of what was
to come and a lot of the runners seemed to be holding back
slightly at this point whilst others, maybe not aware of the
nature of the course were pushing hard from the start. It soon
settled down into some sort of order and as seems to be the norm
for where I find myself in the pack I had an ideal view of the
ladies race unfolding. I started off overtaking the ladies in
order and passed the impressive of late Jo Donnelly on the 1st
lap. During the second lap Rebecca Harrison of Cheadle dropped
off the pace and left Sarah Johnson, who was inexplicably
wearing an Ipod in ahead to head race for 1st with Nikki Nealson
of Huncote Harriers. After catching Sarah on the second lap I
told her to get her act together and push on, which she did by
immediately pulling away from me.
On the 3rd lap I was catching up slowly to a couple of other
Trentham runners, Dale and Sam. Dale was way too far ahead, but
Sam seemed a realistic target if I gave my all on the final run
in. I pushed as hard as I could, but to no avail as Sam finished
ahead of me by ten seconds. This chase though did help me just
dip under 40 minutes crossing the line in 39:57 just ahead of
Russell Williams of Cheadle who had acompanied me for most of
the race. He was gutted at just going over the 40 barrier!
The Men's race was dominated from Start to Finish by Mark Dalkins who after speaking to him afterwards felt could have been a course record on the old course. Ian Yates came a very creditable 8th and Paul Gibbings also had a great race to come 10th. A really enjoyable if painful return to racing and even though I am carrying a few extra pounds I could not have been happier with the outcome. A nice confidence booster ahead of the final few cross country races. Ryan is back! Full results can be found here and the Trentham results are below.
Well done all who took part especially those looking at the Road Race championship (Walter and Stephen) who gave their all to try and pick up as many points as possible.
| Position | Name | Time | Category |
| 8 | Ian Yates | 35:12 | M |
| 10 | Paul Gibbings | 35:29 | MV45 |
| 24 | Paul Burslem | 37:41 | MV40 |
| 33 | Rob Tabbanor | 38:43 | MV45 |
| 39 | Dale Colclough | 39:11 | MV50 |
| 41 | Sam Newton | 39:47 | SM |
| 45 | Ryan Procter | 39:57 | SM |
| 50 | Sarah Johnson | 40:15 | SL |
| 72 | Ken Bloor | 42:13 | MV45 |
| 74 | Richard Warrilow | 42:25 | SM |
| 89 | Jo Donnelly | 43:17 | LV35 |
| 118 | Stephen Burrowes | 45:22 | MV45 |
| 120 | Brian Tonks | 45:26 | MV50 |
| 143 | Alan Lewis | 46:23 | MV65 |
| 167 | Walter Mosiuk | 47:58 | MV50 |
| 172 | Gerry calvert | 48:12 | MV70 |
| 180 | Don Brookes | 48:36 | MV70 |
| 187 | Kiri Johnson | 48:51 | SL |
| 380 | Kathryn Ambrose | 61:19 | SL |
