February 2010
The First Race of the 2010 Road
Race season took place at Alsager this weekend in the form
of The Alsager 5 mile road race. This event is always well
supported and a number of Trentham Runners were taking part.
Rather disappointingly there has been no race report sent in
to the website from anyone either watching or taking part.
Not being there myself I can only say that first home for
Trentham was Paul Gibbings in a time of 27:44 which gave him
3rd place in the V45 category. First Lady home was Sarah
Johnson in a time of 30:18 and 13th Lady in a very strong
field.
The Trentham Running Club Fell Running Section (That's Dale Colclough) headed down to Shropshire for a two day event. Dale has kindly sent in this two part report:
Day 1:
Day 1 - Saturday 6th Feb - The Titterstone Clee - 2.1/2
miles straight up the Clee and back.
Day 2 Sunday 7th Feb - Long Mynd Valleys - 11.1/2 miles the
toughest last 4 miles of any race I have ever done…
In order to count in the overall competition you have to
complete both races.
The Titterstone Clee - A lung burtsing rush to the summit
which is a boulder stroon moon scape is followed by an ankle
breaking flat out decent back down the rocks before running
the last mile across a bracken covered bog. I took a poor
line following three other runners on the way back but
managed to out sprint two of them on the road section to the
finish ( The Track sessions must be coming in handy )
Day 1 - First Vet 50 - so a good chance of the overall V50
prize if all goes well tomorrow - Report to follow
Day 2:
Sunday race
the Longmynd Valleys is renowned on the fell running circuit
as being one of the toughest races of the year. Runners
travel from all over the country to take part. The course is
designed to get harder as the race progresses and the last
4.1/2 miles of the 11mile race includes three huge climbs
out of steep sided valleys. 300 runners toed the start line
in Cardingmill valley
This was my fifth consecutive attempt at the race and I had
learned from past experience to take it easy early on. To
add to the difficulties heavy cloud shrouded the hills which
made for extra care in navigating between the 7 check
points. My legs were still tired from Saturday and for the
first four miles I struggled to get going, but then as the
race progressed I felt stronger and went on to finish just
outside my PB for the coarse. I managed to fight off the
second V50 runner by 25 seconds a similar margin to
yesterday so picked up my second race win of the weekend and
the series prize to go with them.
Note that I ran both races in my Trentham vest and entered
under our club name - Trentham RC ( Fell section ) - Is any
one else going to take up the gauntlet and take to the fells
in Trentham colours. I know Mel is going to have a go , any
one else interested. Take a look at the results and pics on
Mercia’s Fell runners site
HERE!
Congratulations on your great win Dale and thanks for the report. I will try and join you in the fells myself this year as I love it too, but injuries have prevented this so far!
Birmingham & Midland
Cross Country (race4)
The final races in the Men's Birmingham League and the Ladies Midland League cross country races took place at the weekend where both events came together at Aston. The Men were going for promotion to division 2 for the first time in years in a very competitive league and the ladies were gunning for top spot in the Vets and were also looking at a top 10 finish overall in the open!
Del Salt sent in this report on the Ladies race:
Trentham Ladies
Veteran Team Crowned Midland Ladies Cross Country League
Champions 2009/10
The final race of the Midland Ladies League took place at
Aston University playing fields last weekend, and Trentham
ladies saved the best till last with all team members having
their best run of the league. Over a very dry and undulating
course, Sarah Johnson and Jo Donnelly had absolute stormers
to finish 11th and 17th respectively, and with Adela Salt in
32nd, the team scored just 60 points in the open team
competition. This meant the team moved up to 6th overall
behind some of the higher profile clubs including
Birchfield, Tipton, Birmingham and Loughborough Unis.
However, it was the Trentham ladies veteran team that had
the most to celebrate as they were crowned Midland Ladies
Cross Country League Champions for 2009/10. Leading by just
2 points after the previous 3 races, the team had everything
to go for, and with Jo and Del having already improved on
their previous positions, it was down to Lou to see how many
points she could claw back. Showing that the extra training
over the past couple of weeks had paid off, Lou finished in
a superb 91st position giving the vets team a combined score
of just 140 points on the day, and winning the Veteran Team
title by a whopping 45 points over Halesowen - well done
ladies!
A special mention should also go to Debbie Thomas who has
also raced in the league this year and improved today to
finish in 54th position, whilst Jill Phillips, who is just
getting back in to racing, finished a creditable 118th.
It's the first time that Trentham Ladies have competed in
the Midland League so to win the veteran team title and to
finish 6th in the open competition is a credit to the ladies
that have raced. Hopefully next year we'll get more of our
ladies out there, reclaim the veteran title AND get a podium
position in the open team competition. Well done and thank
you to all!
Thanks for the report Del.
In the Men's race I'm still waiting for a report from team captain Dan Clowes, but what I can tell you is that Trentham did enough to finish in second place and gain promotion to div2, The first time that we've been there for a while after finishing 2nd overall in Division three this season. Going into the final race in 2nd place and looking certain of promotion the team certainly didn't let up and saw Ian Yates lead the way home in 6th place. Jason Thomas 10th, Paul Gibbings 13th, Dale Colclough 25th, Paul Burslem 30th & Dan Clowes 51st were the other counters. Sam Newton took valuable points off the other teams by finishing 64th. Well done guys and congratulations on your promotion to division 2 where we can all look forward to competing against Tom Humphreys again next year!!!!
The Gold Medal winning Ladies Vets Team
As far as I am aware there was only one Trentham Runner brave enough to compete in the Knypersley Pools Race this weekend with Malcolm Rushton turning out in the snow drifts and ice to race. Malcolm has kindly sent in this report:
Looked
out of the window first thing to see 100mm of snow
outside so thought race would be called off, but
checked on Biddulph RC web site where a message at
9.15AM said it was still on.
Thought Ryan’s bound to go after his 3rd
place last year so I made the effort to go, after
all its for the Dougie Mac. When the car was sliding
down the bank from Chell roundabout I did have
second thoughts!
Arriving at registration one of the only familiar
faces was Ken Rushton helping out. There was no wind
in the valley, and considering the conditions it
felt quite warm. We were started off by the Town
Crier ringing his bell so a small group of hardy
runners set off and as usual I ran too fast at first
and was knackered at the top of the first climb
after a few hundred metres. It’s a lovely course, as
shown on the photos on Bryan Dale’s web site, more
undulating than I thought it would be and included a
couple of stiff climbs. Coming back down to the
reservoir you could stride out across the fields
hoping to avoid any rabbit holes under the snow.
At the finish we were greeted by the Lord Mayor and
presented with a mug and free hot drinks ,
tomato or chicken soup, bread rolls and flapjacks,
the only thing missing was a carvery lunch. There
was a nice friendly atmosphere, and I was happy to
finish 43rd, but hang on there were only
55 finishers! Pity more money wasn’t raised
considering the effort put in by the club.
Congratulations Malcolm, I know it's a bit tough in places after doing it myself last year. Shame it was hit by severe weather again (2nd year running) as last year they had to change the course due to terrible icy conditions underfoot around the resevoir. Keep up the excellent running Malcolm. Here's the results. (click here)
Whilst most of us were looking
through the curtains on Sunday morning and cursing the snow
for curtailing our races and training runs for the weekend
new Trentham Member Danny Bowman was down in Sussex for the
Beacon Half Marathon in Brighton. He has kindly sent us in
this report:
I'm pretty new to
Trentham RC, but this weekend I packed my skimpy green vest
and "oh so short" shorts and headed down to Brighton to take
part in the Sussex Beacon half marathon. I was hoping for a
morning of sun, sea and hopefully new PB. All hopes of
anything resembling good times at the seaside quickly
disappeared as the temperature didn't venture above 3
degrees and the wind and rain battered me like a yob who's
kebab I'd just stepped on. Though it was so so cold, and I
was as wet as an incontinent snowman's electric blanket, I
was determined to beat my half marathon PB of 1:43:34. After
a lengthy countdown, the starting horn sounded and...
nothing. 30 seconds later we were shuffling along and I was
trying to battle my way through the crowds to get a bit of
space and get a quick couple of early miles in. There were
recommended time starting areas, but as I clawed my way past
a fat bloke dressed as a penguin, I realised these were
largely redundant.
Anyhoo. about 2 miles in, the runners (6100 no less) spread
out a bit and I began to pick up pace, though it was still
so bitterly cold that I couldn't feel my hands and my
clothes were so wet that as I ran, I made the sound of
somebody throwing sardines into a large bowl of rice
pudding.
I got to 10 miles in 1:18 (an unnofficial PB don't you know)
and realised that I might be able to duck under 1:43 if I
got a wriggle on, so I did just that. The rain grew heavier
and the temperature flirted with the zero degree mark, but I
powered on, making a ridiculous slopping noise, water
squirting out of my trainers with every step. The finish
line eventually appeared from out of the gloom, and I
sloshed across the line in a new PB time of 1:41:49! I then
proceeded to nearly pass out due to the cold before wrapping
myself up in a tinfoil blanket, then wandered into the
sunset looking like a camp cyberman.
Also, I'm not aware of any other Trentham runners doing this
one, so I imagine I was the first (and last) Trentham runner
over the line. Yay!
Thanks for the Report Daniel and
congratulations on your new PB. It must be all the quality
training you have been putting in lately, well done!
You can find the results
here!
This year's National XC championships took place at Roundhay Park in Leeds and Trentham managed to take a full men's team and 2 ladies along to take part. One of the Ladies (Del) has sent us this report:
This year
Trentham RC were let loose on the streets of Leeds where,
shockingly, these so called athletes danced the night away
until 4.30am!!! Thankfully the hard work had already been
done on Saturday afternoon, where 7 gents, 2 ladies and 2
supporters were at Roundhay Park in Leeds to take part in
the English National Cross Country Championships.
Sarah Johnson was our only youngster taking part, and in a
field of around about 100 runners, she had a super run to
finish in 26th place. Unfortunately Sarah's race was in the
morning so she didn't have the vocal support of Team
Trentham, but she still did the club proud - well done
matey!
Next to master the rather muddy and hilly course was Adela
Salt who was our sole representative in the ladies race. Del
had an ok run to finish 154th out of nearly 600 runners and
would have been content with that had it not been for a
couple of runners from Stoke and Macclesfield sprinting past
her in the finishing straight (grrrr - it wouldn't have
happened in a 100km race!!)
The gents team had an excellent turn-out with no less than 7
agreeing to don their Trentham vests and tackle the 12km
course. Ian Yates was the first Trentham runner past the
finish line, whilst behind him it was a cat and mouse game
between Jason Thomas and Male Runner of the Year Paul
Gibbings. Seizing his opportunity, Jase made a surge for the
line, getting past Paul in the closing stages, and had a
certain smug grin on his face for the remainder of the
weekend (not really, but he was chuffed with result!) Dale
Colclough was next to finish, looking calm and relaxed all
the way round, and he was followed by team captain Dan
Clowes. Meanwhile, Adam sorry don't know your surname wore
his brand new Trentham vest and rather trendy and posh new
spikes for his first outing for the club. Looking relaxed
and confident all the way, Adam made steady progress through
the field, and I think it's safe to say he enjoyed it .
Bringing up the rear was Paul Thomas whose main aim was just
to get round and true to his word he finished the race
without making any fuss. On that basis, the gents team
finished 56th team out of 117 - a fantastic achievement when
you consider the exceptional quality of the men's field -
well done guys!
And finally, we have to give a mention to the "Donut Queen"
Debbie Thomas. Unfortunately Debs couldn't participate due
to one thing and another but still headed up north to give
her tremendous support to her team mates. Thanks for the
shouts Deb, and the embarrassing photos, the yummy donuts
(which Jase decided he wanted to juggle with but failed
miserably!), and for keeping us company over the weekend and
having LOTS to smile about ;-)
Thanks also to Dan Clowes for driving us all there and back,
and to Ian Yates for arranging the accommodation and sorting
out a meal for us on the Saturday night.
Next year we are back at Alton Towers for the nationals, so
watch out Leek or Cheadle (doesn't quite have the same ring
does it?!)
Thanks for the report
Del
Full results can be found on the
English Cross Country website.
