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Crewkerne a cracker for AVR!

AVRs had a very successful Sunday in Crewkerne with individual and team prizes secured.  With a 10k and 5k option on offer there was a good turn-out of AVRs for the event with both races starting and finishing in the market town.  Mostly on road and definitely undulating the route takes runners out to Clinton St George and back through the pretty village of Merriott to Crewkerne.

The 10k was won by Alex Coombs after a great battle with Wayne Loveridge of Chard Road Runners.  First AVR home and third overall was Matt Clist in an impressive 35:19 followed by Matt Hewer in fifth in 39:26 and first M40.  With Lee Moran eighth and second M40 in 41:01 and Rupert Pady, 18th and third M50 in 44:00, the AVR men also scooped first team prize.

AVR women were just as successful with Karen Eyre first F45 in 47:10; Eleanor Wood first F55 in 48:38 and Jacqui Stokes, third F35 in 48:54  also taking the first female team award.

The prizes were presented by the Mayor of Crewkerne and representative from the sponsor, Everys.  In the 5k, Simon Dimmock was third in 20:09.  Full results for both races here 

The race is included in this year’s AVR club challenge which is now hotting up as we reach the halfway point of the year.

Seaton parkrun and beyond

Another super sunny Saturday for parkrun saw Simon Dimmock celebrate his 250th event and Sam Tooze achieve her 100 milestone.  First female was Debbie Whiston in 20:01 and third on age grade with 80%.  Third finisher was Harry McMahon in 17:47.  There were PBs for Andy Peters in 28:12, Rachel Hiscock in 29:48, Shirley Goy in 37:26 and Fran Cohen in 46:33.

Further afield Carol Austin chalked up her ninth parkrun country by completing Tampere parkrun in Finland; Lee Brooker ran Dolgellau parkrun in Wales; Sam Miller and Bec Davey did the beautiful Woolacombe Downs parkrun; James Ashforth took part in Richmond parkrun while Jon and Gill Day enjoyed Five Arches in Somerset.

A French Grizzly!

On Saturday, Patrick Devine-Wright ran the Maxi race around the lake in Annecy, France with almost 100k distance and over 5000m of ascent and descent. The going was exceptionally muddy after recent rain , and he described it as a very long mountainous Grizzly at times! He took 14 hours and 25 minutes to complete the course and was 283rd overall out of more than 2000 competitors and third M50.

Seaton parkrun and elsewhere

On another sunny Saturday almost 350 parkrunners enjoyed the pebbles of Seaton parkrun with a visitor from Worcester, Josh Carr just pipping AVR’s Matt Clist, 16:51, Ritchie Durrant, 17:01 and Joel Seward, 17:31, for first finisher spot.  Matt Clist also clinching second on age-grade with 84.7%.  There were PBs for Matt Frost, 18:18, Ann-Louise Childe, 28:47, Helen Boehm, 33:43 and Shirley Goy 37:49.

Further afield, Carol Austin ran her fifth Haga parkrun prior to working at the Stockholm Diamond League; Pam Goddard took part in Land’s End parkrun; Rob Collier and Sam Halls completed Chichester parkrun; Jon Day and Paul Johns enjoyed the scenic Bolberry Down parkrun near Salcombe while Debbie Whiston was first female finisher at Plym Valley parkrun in 21:04.

Masterful from AVR’s M45s

At Mallory Park Racing Circuit on Saturday, AVR’s M45 team came a very impressive fifth place in the British Masters Open Road Relay Championships with Matt Clist, Matt Hewer, Ryan Snell and Duncan Staddon running a 3 mile leg each.  A total of 26 teams took part with just Mansfield Harriers, Leeds City AC, Salford Harriers AC and Peterborough & Nene AC ahead of AVR.

Matt Clist ran the fourth fastest leg overall in just 16.00. This is a great effort from the team and for our club as there were some big names individuals and clubs taking part.

 

Run Exe Relays

On Friday evening AVR fielded seven relay teams in this year’s Run Exe Relays, organized by City Runs, taking place along the River Exe starting from Exwick playing fields. Some 83 teams participated from across the south west. 

AVR’s men’s M40 team of Aaron Rawlins, Lee Moran, Haydn Boehm and Rich Hardy took first place in 1:01:06 with Rich Hardy pipping Matt Frost, the final runner of the M18-39 team right on the line. Both the M60 and F60 teams were second in category.

 There were also some notable individual performances for AVR from Rich Hardy fastest M40 13:25;  Andy West fastest M65 16:42; Jeremy Norcombe 2nd M65 17:53; Ron Seward fastest M70 17:27;  Kevin Feeney 3rd M70 20:35;  Carol Austin 3rd F60 19:31; Ann Coston 2nd F55 19:42 and Melanie Bolden 3rd F55 20:12.

Full results here. 

 

Wet in Manchester – for a change!

Angela Kerr and Adele Girdwood travelled to Manchester at the weekend to run in A J Bell Great Manchester Run Half Marathon.  This fast, flattish race starts and finishes in Manchester city centre and goes past both football stadiums on a weekend which also saw both United and City celebrating in one way or another. The weather was stereotypical Manchester with rain although the heaviest came after half marathon.  

 Angela was running for England Masters after qualifying last year and finished in 2:01:51 and was ninth F65. Carol Austin, who had also qualified for the Masters, had to withdraw due to injury.  

Adele finished in 1:56:13 and was 11th F60. Around 30,000 took part including the shorter 10k option. 

 

Great West Run Half marathon

This undulating race took place on Sunday and followed closed roads through Exeter city centre and adjacent countryside. Six AVRs took part. Matt Hewer finished 29th and 3rd M45 in a very impressive 1:21:20 and now awaits to see if this will be sufficient for an England call-up! Patrick Rosello  finished in1:37:03; James Hawker in 1:45:30; Ian Apps in 2:03:06; Dan Clist in 2:08:48; and Kathryn Thompson 2:46:42.

 

Egdon Easy 10k

Darrell Farley and Ron Seward went over to Weymouth for the Egdon Easy 10k on Saturday evening.  The flat course was made up of a short loop, followed by two longer loops around Lodmore reservoir on a mixture of tarmac and gravel paths. Darrell finished in 47:30 and 98th place, a brilliant time given he had completed Seaton parkrun earlier in the day. Ron rocked up in 48:03 and 105th position, snaffling the M70 trophy, despite wondering whether Friday night’s relays were really the best preparation!

328 completed the run, with Robert Wood of Basingstoke finishing first in 33:20.

 

Victorious at the Taunton Trail Half 

On Sunday in warm and muggy weather, four AVRs ran the Taunton trail half marathon which is a very scenic route along the canal and River Tone. The route was mainly gravel footpath with an off road section at mile nine. Kerry Board was first female, 16th overall in 1:41:12, Dawn Carrah first vet 60 in 1:58:54, Cory Schultze 1:59:08, and Rachel Hiscock 2:21:14. Alison Hayward completed the 10k in 1:08:36.

 

Bank Holiday Time Trial

Finally a sunny bank holiday for this club-organised event with 47 AVRs completing the time trial 10k and three completing  5k.   AVR also welcomed a visitor from Sweden who  ran the 10k. The run took place in good conditions and finished on a very sunny seafront. Matt Clist was first finisher in 35:12, 2nd Rich Hardy and 3rd David Cull. First female was Debbie Whiston in 41:00, 2nd Jacqui Stokes and 3rd Eleanor Wood.  These results will go into the big data mix towards the Club’s annual champs. 

Full results here. 

 

Seaton parkrun and elsewhere

Another sunny Saturday saw more than 300 take part in Seaton parkrun including many tourists.  First finisher this week was Joel Seward in 17:10 and Harry McMahon was third in 17:57. First female home was Debbie Whiston in 20:28 and she was third on age grade 78.34%.  First on age grade was Eleanor Wood in 23:35, 89.96%. Shirley Goy enjoyed yet another PB in 37:57.

 Bec Davey completed Bushy Park parkrun to complete the “Where it all started” challenge. Tony Smith & Sam Miller ran Krakow parkrun plus their daughter, Molly, who finished first and smashed the female course record in 17:10!