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Bourton-on-the-Water 10Km - 28th February

As always, Bourton's 10km road race produces exciting news for the Tewkesbury AC press office. The 2010 event lived up to expectations with some colourful exploits over a re-measured course; this after the previous years distances were claimed to be short of 10km! This years course was defiantly not less than exactly 10,000m and that meant that some runners actually ran quicker but were given slower finishing times simply due to running the extra distance.
 
Whichever way, Carol Cowley blasted away the competition to take Tewkesbury’s best prize of 1st V55 category. An incredible achievement as she shows no signs of ever slowing down. Also in the prizes, and for the first time in many attempts at Bourton, was Jon Mansfield. He claimed the 2nd V40 prize as he led the club home.

The days great performances came in a number of shapes; one of the clubs youngest members, Simon Waters smashed his personal best (Pb) by a huge margin. Likewise, husband and wife Gwyn and Anne Williams both made incredible improvements on their Pb’s.
 
Magnificent sub 40 minute runs by in-form Ed Bishop and Nigel Tillott stood out. Tillott’s sub 40 was especially poignant with family close to heart.
 
Dan Webb and Roddy Gosden starred in an exciting finish line sprint - in which Gosden upset the form book by out-sprinting Webb - quite possibly the first time Webb has been beaten in a sprint finish!
 
Mungo Park followed in just behind Gosden and Webb. Park recording a great time of 41.15 mins as he crossed the finish line.
 
Jon Rawlings took on his first run since a calf injury on New Years Day. Still finishing in a reasonable time, he found the going tough and looks forward to regaining run fitness. Fellow triathlete, Leigh Bichard had a successful run. Boosting his confidence greatly with a fine performance as he too looks forward to stepping-up.
 
Dave Lane surprised with an adroit performance. Clear of injuries, he recorded a decent time.
 
Good to see Ali Parker crossing the finish line comfortably in 50 minutes. He led Anne Williams home who, in turn, just lead Sharon Pates-Cook. Pates-Cook however, had reason to celebrate as she shaved another three seconds of her Pb.
 
36:01 Jon Mansfield
37:05 Simon Waters
39:37 Ed Bishop
39:57 Nigel Tillott
40:43 Roddy Gosden
40:44 Daniel Webb
41:15 Mungo Park
41:55 Gwyn Williams
42:58 Jon Rawlings
44:02 Dave Lane
44:45 Carol Cowley
46:30 Leigh Bichard
50:55 Alistair Parker
51:15 Anne Williams
51:39 Sharon Pates-Cook

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Winter 5 Mile - Sandhurst

The snow was melting, the blue skies were...well blue, and a small field of about 40 runners turned up to the annual Severn AC winter 5 Mile race at Sandhurst.

Tewkesbury AC made up a huge 10% of the runners (4 of Us) this included Daniel Webb, Husband and Wife Duo Paul & Karen Mason, and following his return from warmer climates Adrian Lavery.

It was Webb who set off the strongest as he was joined and pushed all the way by his Mothers better half, Malcolm a Gateshead Harrier of the last 30 odd years had travelled down from Sunderland to compete and was dissapointed, not only to be beaten by Webb, but also to miss out on the V50 prize by a mere 4 seconds.

Webb managed to finish first for Tewkesbury in a pleasing run of 32:42, followed closely by the first of the Masons (Paul), Paul had been running with the returning Lavery for the first 3.5 miles, but Pauls increasing speed helped him pull away in the latter stages of the race to finish strongly in 34:15 and take the V45 Prize.

Just 21 Seconds behind Paul Mason, Lavery came home in 34:36. This is a good result due to the fact that there is a lack of Fun Run's in Afghanistan where Avery has been posted for the last 9 Months (good to see you back safe and well Adrian).

Bringing home the Tewkesbury Contingent was the Second of the Masons, Karen finished in a very good 48:45, if she keeps up her training and runnning, the Hanidicapp Title may well be on the cards.

14 Daniel Webb 32:42
18 Paul Mason 34:15 (First V45)
20 Adrian lavery 34:36
36 Karen Mason 48:45

16 Malcolm Thirlaway 32:56 (Second V50)

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Weston Tough Ten

After a not so long drive down to the Coast at Weston, the 13 Tewkesbury runners turned up to find beutiful blue skies and very little breeze.

There was plenty of support from family and friends as well as the Local residents who turned out in there hundreds to cheers on the athletes.

The race started on the sand just along from the newly refurbished Grand Pier, after a quick lap to get planty of the yellow stuff in your trainers and up the back of your legs, the runners headed out of Weston, up some stone steps before a liitle bit of undualting road followed by the start of the climb through the woods.

It was quite evident from the quickly dissapearing Tillott, that he was the one to beat on the day, but alas nobody did. Webb tried to hang on, but started to suffer from this tatic as he was forced to wlak up the first climb through the trees, Sadler seeing the oppertunity gave an 'encouraging' pat on his back as she passed him. this was how the top three for tewkesbury were to finish.

Steve Andersons tatics were almost perfect, and would have suceeded if it hadn't been for the slighlty shorter course this year, Anderson had pulled away from Mungo, and had Webb in his sights, Webb thought Mungo was the next Tewkesbury athlete behind him and thought he had third place in the bag, little did he know Anderson was closing fast and if the course was another 1/4 mile longer Anderson would of pipped him to the line.

Behing Park was a rare appearance of Ian Baker, Baker seemed to take this race in his stride, and I am sure quicker times will follow if he keeps up his training. Paul Mason led home the Husband and Wife team, followed by a quick trio of Tewkesbury stars, Cowlet, Lee and Buchan were within 30 seconds of each other, the suprisinf absentee from this trio was Rob Jordan who finished with a disspaointing time following a string of fantastic performances, Jordan put this down to the 'Squits' (technical term). Mike Younger also had a pleasing run with Karen Mason providing a trademark sprint finish which had the anouncer in stunned admoration and the runners around her aghast at the turn of speed.

In Short - Fantastic Run, Beautiful Day, Great Organistation.

67 01:06:12 Nigel Tillott
96 01:08:28 Angie Sadler
127 01:10:20 Daniel Webb
131 01:10:34 Steve Anderson
173 01:12:23 Mungo Park
221 01:14:24 Ian Baker
277 01:16:08 Paul Mason
310 01:17:23 Carol Cowley (Ladies V50 Winner)
324 01:17:44 Debbie Lee
329 01:17:51 Stuart Buchan
401 01:20:08 Michael Younger
491 01:22:48 Robert Jordan
995 01:51:03 Karen Mason

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May Hill Massacre

A 'different' run awaited the 11 members of Tewkesbury AC at the annual May Hill massacre.

The start consisted of a liitle bit of Tarmac, followed by 800 feet of climbing before hitting the summit of May Hill 2.5 miles into the race..........

Some excellent descents and some VERY thick Mud/Clay/Puddles up to your kness followed, before finishing back where we started 1 hour ish later.

Jon Mansified made light work of the course finishing in a not bad time of 1 hour 1 min, Simon Waters is gaining exoerience and learning to pace himself, and this showed in an excellent time, Mansfield better keep an eye on the young gun. Ed Bishop got the better of his collegue Lockyer with a storming run to finish a full 40 seconds ahead. Angie Sadler again showed the others how it is done, with another fantastic run. Paul Mason looked strong all the way around the course, with Debbie Lee finishing just 5 Minutes behind after she had been told to rest, (don't want to see what she gets up to when she is not resting), Daniel Webb had a disspaointing afternoon with a slow but steady run through the mud and clay. He could put this down to the fact he ran the XC the day before at Pitville, but unfortunatley so did most of those finishing ahead of him.

Carol Cowley finished 1 Minute behind Webb after being within a few feet at one point in the race, (Webb was oblivious to this), Teresa Roberts had a pleasing run, well she had a smile on her face at the end, and Phillip Howells who Jogged from home to the start with 2 minutes to spare, finished in a good time, and then jogged home, a small 38 miles for the Veteran runner (white jacket anyone?)

11 Jon Mansfield 01:01:49
31 Simon Waters 01:05:19
43 Ed Bishop 01:07:22
52 Paul Lockyer 01:08:05
75 Angie Sadler 01:10:49
121 Paul Mason 01:14:47
176 Debbie Lee 01:19:13
211 Daniel Webb 01:22:19
226 Carol Cowley 01:23:21
252 Teresa Roberts 01:25:10
325 Phillip Howells 01:32:59

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News from the World of Howells

Gloucester Marathon

Did not take part in the Linda Franks of course, but not sure if you picked up that I was the sole Tewkesbury AC representative same day in the Gloucester marathon? Upheld club honour to finish respectably in 4-08-18 and record my 93rd marathon/ultra finish. Hoping to go under 4 hours, but as you know it is a tough-ish course and ran pretty well, including a negative split, so have to satisfied with that – finished very strong which was even better.

Sleepwalker Night race

Also very ancient now I know, but again don’t think you ever got a report from the extraordinary Sleepwalker Night Race that five members of TAC ran on 28th November? It is an infamous 20 mile off-road night race, starting at 6pm and travelling up into the hills and reservoirs above Talybont-on-Usk in S Wales. Angie, Mich, Ian, Alistair  and myself lined up at the shivering start with the 150 or so other nutters, I mean adventurers, in really appalling conditions - cold and pouring down with rain with the prospect of wind, snow and cloud on top of the hills. With good headlights essential, it soon became clear this was not to be an ‘ordinary’ event (if long distance off-road night running can ever be ordinary?) since within minutes we were running uphill on tracks that were literally like streams with inches of cold running water to slosh through. Descents were probably even worse, being very slippy on rock and mud strewn surfaces. Before half way the organisers played their joker, sending us through a section of a mile or so of what can only be described as swamp, with mud and water well over the knee and waist deep in places.

At about 12 miles the course turned up hill for what was probably the most demanding part of the course, up a very rocky stream bed on which most fell at least once in mud and slush, and as we climbed it got colder and colder, the cloud made visibility (and therefore navigation to follow the route) no more than feet ahead – oh, and yes, it was also very windy and snowing, with probably half an inch or so and extremely cold – I was shivering uncontrollably with four layers of clothing. The descent back to the finish was some sort of relief although again in stream-like paths. I finished with the last group of 5 in 5h 13mi(for just 20 miles!) having still not fully recovered from the Kalahari ultra a few weeks earlier (and what a contrast in temperatures!). Angie ran her usual strong race to finish in about 4.20 I believe, Mich and Ian were something after 4h 30m and Alistair a little while after. One for the memory banks but not one for a quick repetition!

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Linda Franks 4.2 Miler

Tewkesbury AC's first serious race of 2010 attracted a healthy collection of club runners. Putting their new year fitness to the test, two dozen athletes made the short trip to Cheltenham and, as always, enjoyed the hospitality of the ‘Almost Athletes’ popular event.

Grabbing the headlines for Tewkesbury was Vice-Captain Elly Smith; not only surprising on-lookers with her pace, she toasted those who were expecting and were expected to out run her. Smith's flying start to 2010 is testament to her dedication over the festive period and she deserved her eureka moment. Her display sends out a warming to club mates that she's moving on up!

One of those losing out to the VC was Gillian Bourton. However, Bourton had a great run also. Getting the better of her loyal training partner, Jackie Arnett and still keeping a safe distance ahead of Wes Reid who tried the course for the first time.
Now improving with every race she finishes, Fran Osborne flew around the two lap course to record a smashing time. Finishing with Osborne, new member Dave Lane used this run to test his fitness after being hampered with an injury.

With just 95 days until her Marathon debut, Clare Bayley finally got her running into gear; Bayley silenced her critics with a fine performance and especially looking comfortable over the later stages.

Eyes too were on Rob Jordan. His running has gone up a level recently and there was much anticipation as to how he would perform and, more excitingly, who would be the next club member he steps ahead of. As it so happened, his run was rapid - even breaking the 30 minute mark for the first time but his club mates escaped his advances - in particular, Dan Webb who, in the end lead Jordan comfortably and even had enough energy left to catch Angie Sadler along the finishing straight. Sadler claimed 3rd place female over a distance she would normally run ten times over.

At the sharp end of the race, Jon Mansfield found it tough. Mansfield lost seconds on last year’s time and to make matters worse, was caught and passed by the leading lady. His only consolation was holding off fast flowing Simon Waters. Waters performed well proving he is finding his form after a woeful autumn. Waters in-turn crossed the finish line ahead of Paul Lockyer - another runner who, on his day is hard to out run.
Just outside the front-enders, a wave of Tewkesbury runners were trading places and leading the charge down the finish decent it was Nigel Tillott. Tillott’s performance was at its best and so needed to be as Ed Bishop was on his tail. Tillott recorded his best ever time on the course. Bishop had taken a brief hiatus from racing while he concentrated his efforts on Rowing. He certainly hit the ground running with a great time through the Reddings.
Another of Tewkesbury’s improving talents is Steve Anderson. He didn’t disappoint with a top run and a moot as to his best performance to date.
Mungo Park and Paul Mason both seemed equally relaxed at their work although Park did feel it near the end.
Proving to be a competitive age-grouper, Mike Younger impressed again. Just losing out in the end to the ensured performing Steve Wiggall. Club Sectary Wiggall experienced the rare feeling of leading Club Treasurer Carol Cowley on the day. Cowley clearly not at her best for this one however, we all know form is temporary and talent is permanent so expect the veteran star the shine again.
Super-vet Mike Ward raced to his normal high standard blazing ahead of runners over 50 yrs younger.
Popular runners Jude Rodriguez and Karen Mason saw a lot of each other during the race but it wasn’t until the last 100 yards that things got tasty; Mason produced a powerful sprint which scattered the crowds and would have surely left Usain Bolt pondering.

11 24:42:00 Jon Mansfield
18 25:10:00 Simon Waters
25 26:08:00 Paul Lockyer
27 26:10:00 Nigel Tillott
30 26:29:00 Ed Bishop
33 26:58:00 Steve Anderson
36 27:23:00 Daniel Webb
37 27:24:00 Angie Sadler
45 27:47:00 Mungo Park
50 27:58:00 Rob Jordan
54 28:38:00 Paul Mason
61 29:39:00 David Lane
62 29:42:00 Fran Osbourne
68 30:01:00 Steve Wiggall
82 30:56:00 Michael Younger
84 31:12:00 Carol Cowley
130 37:07:00 Mike Ward
140 38:57:00 Elly Smith
144 39:49:00 Jude Rodrigues
145 39:52:00 Karen Mason
146 39:55:00 Gill Bourton
158 41:12:00 Jackie Arnett
167 43:57:00 Wesley Reid

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Gloucester New Years Day Five

Tewkesbury AC were prize winners at the Pilot Inn five mile race. Clive Sentence took the top prize in the Veteran 40 Male category. Nigel Tillott took the V45 winnings and Fran Osbourne scooped the V40 ladies prize with another improved performance timing under 36 minutes.
Debbie Lee featured in her first road race for many months and with a time of 37 minutes, she's looking forward to returning to her best in the run-up to her London Marathon debut.
 
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Hereford New Years Day 10km

There were very much mixed fortunes for the four Tewkesbury runners at Hereford. Steve Anderson, Jon Mansfield, Dan Webb and Jon Rawlings line-up outside the 'Boat House', excited about tackling a new course which promised some undulations. The exception being Anderson who raced the event the previous year. It didn't take long for the other three to start to feel 'hoodwinked' as the course transpired to be hilly throughout - 720 feet of ascending to be precise!
The four runners soon became two pairs as the two Jon's fought. The ascents knocked Mansfield off his stride and by 9km, Rawlings had the better of his club mate by 500m. On the final short-sharp rise disaster struck for Tewkesbury's front runner as his calf muscle 'pulled' and ended his race. Having to hobble over the finish line gave ample time for Mansfield to lead the club home.
A little further back, Webb felt the presence of in-form Anderson. With patchy ice and strong morning sun, Anderson kept sight of course novice Webb from a safe distance of several yards. Another potential upset was on the cards until Webb upped his effort to keep the gap - it was very close in the end - just 3 seconds! Nevertheless, Anderson's performance was outstanding.
 
 
14th Jon Mansfield 37.57 minutes
15th Jon Rawlings 38.15
57th Daniel Webb 42.59
58th Steve Anderson 43.02
 
239 finishers.