Signing off.....................

It's been a good year and a half for this blog, but it's time for the club at last to have a proper website. The new link is here, so get clicking..............
Thanks to all the contributors for their excellent race reports and pictures, especially Jon, who has provided more content than the rest of us put together. Most of all, however, thanks to those of you whose athletic endeavours have provided us all with the inspiration to get out and run.

The Beacon 10km - 2nd September 2007

Five Tewkesbury AC members turned out for the Beacon race staged at Haresfield. The main focus was on Nigel Tillott who was on target to smash the 40 minute mark. So far, it's remained elusive to him after recording times of 40.10 and 40.03 just a couple of weeks prior. Tillott ran well but a sub 40 minute 10km run remains elusive for now as he crossed the line in 40.14 Agonisingly close however, on a fairly undulating course it's a great time.
Club mate Angie Sadler recorded a time several minutes off her best, best explained by the huge ultra-distance challenges she has been tackling this year. Yet testament to her ability, she scooped the 1st prize in her category.
Carol Cowley leads the county in her age category these days and just missed out by seconds on a another trophy. Club Captain Cathy Dudfield is going through the process of finding herfeet again after ten weeks out with a broken foot. She took just 50 minutesto complete the course. The fifth runner home for the club was Mick Morris who finished in good shape.

Nigel Tillott - 40.14 mins
Angie Sadler - 42.31
Carol Cowley - 47.00
Cathy Dudfield - 50.22
Mick Morris - 54.50

Arlingham Passage 4.4m Race, 27/08/07

Tewkesbury AC runners baked in pleasing Bank Holiday weather during the 14th annual staging of the Arlingham Passage run. Set in the delightful village on the River Severn estuary, the main attraction was the club captain’s return to competitive running. Cathy Dudfield chose the relatively easy course to start her come-back after breaking her foot back in spring. The London Marathon heroine came through the 4.4 mile test successfully and displayed her fine form and splendid technique with ease to record of time of 35 minutes. Her efforts won her a category prize to compound her joy.

Club mate Stuart Bucham performed well after suffering stomach discomfort in his last race although during this race he developed a back pain near the finish.

Rob Jordan ran perfectly to beat fellow Tewkesbury runner Barry O’Driscoll while Jon Mansfield recorded nearly two minutes slower than his previous course time to lose out to the winners.

5th Jon Mansfield 25.55 mins

17th Stuart Bucham 28.49

27th Rob Jordan 31.58

28th Barry O’Driscoll 32.12

37th Cathy Dudfield 35.20

Frampton 10km. Tuesday 22nd August 2007

The popular Frampton Cyder race has finally taken place. Organising club Stroud AC needed to rearrange the fixture due to this summer's adverse weather and chose a fine Tuesday evening. Half a dozen Tewkesbury AC runners were fortunate enough to get a starting place in the regular sell-out event.
Of the Tewkesbury contingent one performance stood out - Stuart Dudfield hacked almost one minute off his personal best (Pb) for the 10km distance. Far from Pb form, the Glos Policeman had been indulging in cross-training of late, sacrificing run sessions for the swimming pool and regular cycling rides. Dudfield's running had clearly benefitted as surprised supporters looked on as the 41 minutes mark was smashed when he crossed the finish line in 40.30 minutes.
In contrast, Nigel Tillott had been targeting a 10km Pb for two years, with the emphasis on breaking the 40-minute mark. It was agony for Tillott as he recorded a new Pb however, a 40.03 finish time means his challenge continues to the next race.
Carol Cowley was left a little agonized too as the talented veteran runner just missed out on claiming first place in her V50 category. The gap from her rival was just 16 seconds. At the front of the race, Jon Mansfield came in first for Tewkesbury in 16th position while Stuart Bucham had an indifferent experience as stomach cramps effected his efforts. Rob Jordan completed the team with a fine run which included a jaw-dropping sprint finish.

16th Jon Mansfield 36.29
62nd Nigel Tillott 40.03
67th Stuart Dudfield 40.30
108th Stuart Buchan 43.02
167th Carol Cowley 46.11
173th Rob Jordan 46.24

County Track & Field Championships

Thanks to Rob Jordan's persuasive phone manner, four of Tewkesbury's fastest and most elite athletes (Rob, Steve, Clive S, Barry) took on the might of some of Gloucester's skinniest teenagers in the 4 x 100 m relay. The venue was the Olympic standard track at Blackbridge, home to some of Gloucestershire's most blood thirsty mosquitos. (I ended up with at least seven bites - none of which is currently less than 1cm in diameter...........)

Despite the advantage of being on the inside and the opportunity to pursue the Gloucester girls in the next lane, we were unable to actually catch any of the other teams. However, the baton was passed flawlessly and we finished in a respectable 58.5 seconds, earning us a county bronze!!

To celebrate, Barry and Clive entered the track 10K, where they were joined by Phil. Lap counting issues meant that Barry and Phil's times (and distances!) are somewhat uncertain, but Clive clocked 4th place in 38:27, earning a bronze medal as third MV40. Phil then ran the mile in a fraction over 7 minutes, as well as a leg in the 4 x 400 relay.

BODDINGTON 50KM

Gloucestershire's No1 ranked ultra-distance runner, Tewkesbury AC's Angie Sadler smashed the 4 hour mark in the Boddington 50km ultra-run. The Treddington based star of the 'long distance' headed a team of three Tewkesbury runners. Adrian Lavery clocked 4hrs 12 minutes, while Phillip Howells ran astonishingly as the veteran 60 year old timed 4hrs 33 minutes. Both mentally and physically demanding, the run consisted of a 14 lap circuit around the Gloucestershire village of Boddington. It was Sadler's
third appearance at the event and she placed 6th in the female race and 16th
overall.

GLOS 5KM CHAMPS - HARDWICK, GLOS

Four Tewkesbury stalwarts competed in the rescheduled County 5km Road Champs - rescheduled twice and finally staged at the Pilot Inn after the published Whitehorse venue suffered from renewed flooding on the course.It also incorporated a rescheduled County Road series event following the cancellation of the Bugatti 10k.
Rob Jordan, the 'youngster' of the team was first to finish, but not far ahead of the other three team members, all of whom were 'super-vets' over 60. Congratulations go especially to Mike Ward, who was the first O70 in the race and is the new County O70 5km Champ.

Times were:
Rob Jordan 22-01
Phillip Howells 22-50
Mike Ward 23-58
Mick Morris 24-13

Cranham Boundary Chase 5.8, 12/08/07

Hot, hilly, but no flood water anywhere, as I headed out to this delightful race that always is a tester owing to an almost complete lack of flat bits apart from the second mile.
Lack of quality training showed as I was passed by 5 others on the final incline, but I was overall reasonably pleased with a time of 38:30 .
Former member Andy Hawkins also took part, but despite beating me claimed it was one of his worst performances ever...........

White Horse 5km - 19th July 2007

Severn AC's monthly 5km event drew another high class field. With a plethora of students on the start line, Tewkesbury's best runners had to work hard to stay within the top 30 as the leading 20 runners ran through the first mile marker in under five minutes. Included in Tewkesbury AC's team of five was Luke Anthony, the Gloucester RFC physio ran confidently throughout and was rewarded by breaking the 17 minute mark. Anthony paced himself in a colourful group containing Welsh international Cath Dugdale who, took the ladies victory. Following his team mate, came Jon Mansfield just 7 seconds behind.
Amanda Martin crossed the finish with an 8 second advantage over Rob Jordan. Martin ran a 'seasons best' to finish 8th female and collected a well earned prize for a top performance in her new veteran category. Phillip Howells had a fine run to record 4th place in a competitive V60 race. Howells is setting himself up for this weekend in which he will run both the Boddington 50km AND Bourton Mile challenge!!

28th Luke Anthony 16.59
31st Jon Mansfield 17.06
75th Amanda Martin 21.09
76th Rob Jordan 21.17
98th Phillip Howells 22.45