It is is deep regret that we are having to cancel tomorrow’s running of the Dursley Dozen.
Athlete, marshal, spectator safety is of upmost importance for us and with the Met office weather forecast and warnings being upgraded this morning from a yellow to an amber status we cannot take any risks we are unable to mitigate against. If you didn’t know, probably 90% of the route is directly within the woods so the chance of flying debris, or worse, branches or whole trees falling is now quite high, more so given the super-saturated nature of the ground.
We will see if it is possible to run the event later in the year (late autumn) after all the main races you guys are likely to have booked, are completed and we will communicate this and the details in due course over the next few weeks.
If you have any major concerns now and ahead of our further communications then please email; Dursleyrunningclub@gmail.com
All ability club members welcome, start and finish from the rugby club, hot food to finish. 12, 6 and 3 mile options, 9am start. Please complete registration form to let us know you’re coming and order food: Another Dozen Form
Please note that the heavy rain will mean that we are unable to train on the Rugby Club field. There was no take up for trail running in the woods on this occasion so we have cancelled this session.
Saturday 31st 9.30-11.30am at the Dursley Rugby Club
Come and find out what the 2019-20 DRC Juniors calendar has to offer for junior athletes.
Some fun activities for the juniors to try and an opportunity to question the coaches. Also hear what our development plans consist of and how we plan to spend our funds. Cake and coffee available too.
We will also be more than happy to talk about how you could help us run and develop the Junior Section.
Like running? Want to add another element? Local orienteering event – Saturday 15th June in Bristol at the University of West of England (UWE) and Sunday 16th June in Thornbury:
An amazing 17 Dursley Running Club athletes had entered the VLM marathon this year. The excitement was steadily building all week, with the entrants hoping that the weather would calm down after the scorching Easter Bank Holiday weekend. Many weeks of training taking place just to get on the start line, and for some the process had not been smooth with Caroline Jones and Joe Ball both having disrupted training schedules. This year has seen a range of training groups and sessions so many were turning up with a good base, even if for some it would be their first Marathon. First timers included Ball, Martin Bragg, Dominique Pemberton, Emma Keating, Matt Turner, Becky Whatling and Eileen Hieron, a few had dipped their toe in before: Jones, Andy Kilby, Ian Roberts Stuart Gwilliam and Karen Eadon , with seasoned marathoners in the shape of Damian Lai, Neil Parry, Neil Hodgson and Mark Brasier.
Once gathered at the start the runners were greeted with a cool April day, albeit with blustery winds, the temperature was 10 degrees cooler than in 2018, and the impact of this was clear as many elite athletes ran personal bests. Eliud Kipchoge yet again showed his class running the second quickest Marathon time in history with a time of 02:02:38 breaking the course record along the way Bridget Kosgei ran the fastest ever second half of marathon to win the women’s race. Of the British runners Mo Farah was fifth and Callum Hawkins took two minutes off his personal best to finish in the top ten, proving that one bad race/marathon can be put right! Charlotte Purdue ran 2:25.38 to finish tenth and become the third fastest British women in history, behind only Paula Radcliffe and Yama Yamauchi. So for the Dursley athletes looking for a good time it looked like it was all to play for.
Parry led team DRC in the initial miles hitting the first 5K 21:46, with Gwilliam ahead of, Hodgson and Brasier, first time marathoner Bragg went through 5K in 23:44 giving him an estimated finish time of 3:20. Lai Dwas though 5k in 25:48. Parry’s pace started to drop back a bit after his fierce start, whilst Gwilliam was warming to his task, his second 5K seven seconds quicker. It took a while for the remaining DRC athletes to get over the start line. The first 5K are downhill and so it is notoriously difficult not to run a bit quick over the initial miles, only Gwilliam, Hodgson and Brasier managed to rein themselves in. Emma Keating and Dominique Pemberton were running side by side from the off and there would with hardly be a second to split them for the next 26 miles.
After the fast first 5k most of the DRC athletes reined back in and set a steady pace over the next 10 to 15k. By Half Marathon stage DRC had 9 runners under two hours with Parry and Gwilliam around 95 minutes. The trio of Neil Hodgson, Martin Bragg and Mark Brasier not far behind. Damo led Andy Kilby Paul Breen and Joe Ball over the half way-mark in 01:50, 01:52, 1:55 and 01;57.
Mark Brasier had been starting to slow over consecutive 5k splits before halfway, it looked like he was in for a hard day at the office. Turner was next over halfway in 2:16 and then a host of DRC came over close to 02:30, Jones, Keating, Pemberton with Hieron not far off the pace at 02:40 FV75 veteran Hieron had been keeping her pace very steady around the 8 min/km pace, ,as were Keating, and Pemberton who had settled into a c.7:20/km pace from 10k. Perhaps the model of consistency was Hodgson running between 04:43 and 04:51 up until the last 10k. He was not running at his fastest and as a result commented “A truly enjoyable run!! Loved it!!” At the sharp end for DRC Gwilliam was speeding up from 04:28 per km to 4:25 and then really pushing on running 4:13 from 35 to 40k and putting in a finishing effort at 04:11 pace, a consummate piece of distance running to complete the course in an excellent time of 03:06:53. Behind him Parry was pretty consistent, slipping back to 04:55 for the last 2k but he had done all the hard work by then and finished in super time of 03:14:19. Hodgson came home in a very respectable 03:25:22. Bragg was running one of the runs of the season in his marathon debut, his first 25k was run at an incredibly consistent pace, and when he started to slow he kept everything under control to finish in an brilliant 03:27:21, 68th M60-64. DRC spectator Margaret Johnson commented that “he looked the picture of concentration”.
Elieen Hieron also ran one of the outstanding runs of the day placing 5th in the F75 -79 category and displayed great control of her pace over the 26 miles. In fact nearly all the DRC athletes managed to maintain a steady pace over the course, and where they could not pick up the pace they controlled their deceleration as best they could. Finishing close to the 3:50 mark were Breen, Brasier and Lai. Ball finshed his first marathon in 04:14 just under 6 minutes ahead of Kilby. Jones and Matt Turner were next to finish. Keating and Pemberton continued their successful partnership, they had passed Roberts along the way and held their pace very well to complete the course in 05:18:54, Roberts held on to finish in 05:33; Hieron completed her amazing effort behind him with a time of 05:40:07.
Karen Eadon and Becky Whatling completing DRC incredible effort on the day. In terms of fundraising club members have raised in excess of 15K for a variety of charities and probably more, With Pemberton leading the way with over £4000 for Clic Sargent and Lai, Whatling, Eadon, Kilby and Kate Sackett all raising over £2K for the British Lung Foundation, Longfield Trust, The Childrens Trust and Scope, with other club members raising money for Linc Linc The Leukemia And Intensive Chemotherpay Fund, Dementia Revolution and Frontline Children.
Also running on the Sunday were Charlie Taylor who completed the Forest Warrior (Result tbc)
Hannah Osbourne Shakespeare Half Marathon 87th 01:59:14 (Chip), Quentin Somerset, The Shakespeare Marathon 495th 04:55:13 (chip) Matt Strezeckli the Dusseldorf Marathon 04:18:38,Kate Browning the Bath Beat Marathon, on Saturday, 27.99 miles in 05:24:57 (Strava) followed by Pewsey Ultra 35:21 miles in 07:26:46 on Sunday. Rachel Brown and Kevin Brockway took part in the Sea to Summit Marathon and Half, a very Hilly off road marathon. There was 6200 feet of climbing which meant some very steep tricky descents. Brown finished in 7 hours and Brockway finished in 8 hours 8 minutes. Kevin Jackson placed 4th senior veteran male; at the Frecnhay 10K. Result: K Jackson 57th, 44:33 (4th SenVM). Richard Pitts completed the Burnham on Sea Super Sprint, . 250m swim 10k bike 2.5k run. Pitts was 7th overall and 1st in 50-59 AG Swim T1 Bike T2 Run 4.15 0:78 18:59 0:51 11:57
Parkrun
21 parkrunners under the DRC flag this Saturday, Matt Rogers only 36 seconds ahead of Garry Strickland at Wotton to claim DRC’s fastest time of the weekend. Alice was back at Wotton notching up 79.% on Age Grade, with Paul Lee closest with 70.5% at Stonehouse. Three PBs: Tel Cother, Sarah Newall and Richard Hensman.
Twenty-two DRC athletes were on the start line of DB Max’s inaugural Westonbirt Easter Half Marathon and 10K event.
Conditions were far from ideal, it being very warm, and the course is rolling, but this did not stop a host of great performances, topped off by Paul Hocking who won the Half in just under 80 minutes. Kevin Jackson was next home for the team in 30th position overall and 4th M50, with Shane Bond third to finish for the club. Clare Troy was first DRC woman home in just over two hours. Rach Goatman ran with Damian Lai enjoying his recovery run after a great run at the Brighton Marathon last weekend, the pair completing the course in 02:43, with Sarah Willcox just behind them and Sam Stevens finishing up for DRC in the half with a time of 02:54:20, a great effort.
There were more super performances in the 10K with Dan Lygo leading the team in, placing 8th overall and 2nd M40, Jacky Gilmour next to finish in 55:44 placings 3rd F60, with Andrew Eades and Caroline Harper-Easthope crossing the line together, although Harper-Easthope’s chip time put her eight seconds ahead! Eileen Heron continued her “warm up” for London placing 2nd F70 in a time of seventy-five minutes.
Easter Saturday saw 44 DRC parkrunners in action, with Junior Jake Mathews running a PB and the quickest DRC time of the weekend in 21:06 with an impressive age category percentage of 70.46, just three scored higher, Paul Lee at Stonehouse, 23;19 and 73%, Alice Lewis at Churchfield Farm, 25:28, 76.18% and Graeme Hawkins, Stonehouse, 22:32 and 79.2%. Annette Heylings was a first timer at Severn Bridge and happy to come away as first F60 and with negative splits. There were plenty of personal bests as well, Catherine Faye, Julie Davies, Julia Dawson, Mim Chapman Paul Lee, Clare Troy and Adrian Carter.
Longtown Llanthony Loop and Stockton-on-Tees Tri
The previous weekend Tony Wooldridge was the sole DRC entrant at the Longtown Llanthony Loop fell race. The event is run over a 13.6 km course with 792 metres ascent, (8.5 miles and 2600 feet). He reported that “I had a glorious day in the Black Mountains on Saturday – There was a high quality field for the fell race since it was part of the Welsh fell running championships this year (with)114 finishers’. He finished in 1:25:40 and was 2nd in the MV60 category, some six and a half minutes faster than his 2018 time. This was an excellent performance from Wooldridge. Another solo DRC performer that weekend was Richard Pitts who travelled up to Stockton-On-Tees in search of an ITU World Championship qualifying time. Pitts felt that his race “went well although it was both chilly and windy”, he described it as a good venue, with closed roads, and the bike was draft legal. Distances were 5k, 20k, 2.5k he completed the first run in 20:08 spending 01:42 in transition 1, he completed the bike course in 34:27, with 02:37 in T2, finishing the second run in 11:37. This performance placed him 9th in his in the J Vet 3 category ina total time of 01:07:33, the race was a Qualifier for ITU World Championships next year when he moves up an age group.
Mark Sprigings produced the most outstanding performance of the weekend in Paris. Fresh off a massive half marathon PB at Reading a few weeks back, Mark had set his sights for around 3:05, with a view to a sub 3 attempt at Berlin later in the year. In Mark’s words: The plan was to run a controlled 3:05 but felt so good after just the 1st mile I thought I’m going to go for it!
Couldn’t believe my luck when everything was still going well at halfway..then still at 20 miles and through all the way to the finish! Mark crossed the line in an incredible 2:55:43, a massive 20 minute PB and an impressive 863rd out of approximately 60000 runners.
Great Welsh Marathon
Tony Freer, Jon Tudor, Jadie Cotterell and Fran Amigoni headed to the Llanelli for the Great Welsh. Jon reports: Strong winds and chilly conditions greeted the 4 DRC runners at the start. The first half of lap 1 was fairly easy going with the wind behind us. Tony set off strong averaging 8mm pacing with myself Fran and Jadie sticking together at 8.30mm. After the first turn point, Tony continued to maintain his pace staying just ahead of the 3.30 pacer. The route brought us back through Festival Fields and took us along the beach path to Berry Port and the next turn point. We then headed back to Festive Fields to start lap 2. Tony continued to maintain his pace but Jon Tudor started to close the gap averaging 8.20mm.
Fran and Jadie continued their phenomenal performance sticking together like a well gelled unit. After the turn point at mile 18 the wind got brutal severely slowing all of us. The game of attrition had begun. The wind continued to hamper us all the way up to the final turn point at Berry Port before mercifully weakening.
All that remained was to complete the final 2 miles thus completing one of the most brutal marathons I have ever done.
Results: Tony Freer 3:37:15, Jonathan Tudor 3:45:15 (PB), Francesca Amigoni and Jadie Cotterell 3:49:56 (both PBs)
Brighton Marathon
Damian Lai was the sole DRC representative on the start line for the Brighton Marathon. Damian reports: Brighton was a fantastic race, the crowd support in places was awesome, I couldn’t hear myself think!
My name was being shouted all the way round and this really spurred me on! The temperature was perfect and after a frosty morning it was 4 degrees when we started but the sun was shining so it felt warm. I loved the race there were a few short hills but I just pushed up the hills. A stiff Easterly breeze in the last 5 miles did not stop Damian posting a 5 minute PB.
Result: Damian Lai, 3:44:32 1804th
Chedworth Roman Trail
11 DRC runners lined up for the Chedworth Roman Trail Race. Dave Saunders reports: It was a very hilly course and also included a ‘river crossing’ at 5 miles with water up to our knees. At least there wasn’t a great deal of mud but the wind was strong and very cold.
Results: Alice Lewis 153rd (LV60/02) 1:30:52 Andrew Kilby 170th (MV60/07) 1:33:34 Nicola Christopher 174th (SL/11) 1:33:43 David Saunders 215th (MV70+/01) 1:37:42 Darren Smith 319th (SM/60) 1:48:46 Zoe Fowler 331st (LV40/35) 1:49:22 Rachel Cook 332nd (SL/39) 1:49:22 AndrewFerguson 345th (MV40/90) 1:51:02 Julie Froggatt 411th (LV50/41) 1:58:58 Claire Searle 412th (LV50/42) 1:58:58 Carly Heath 427th (SL/53) 2:02:00 Clair Norman 428th (SL/54) 2:02:00
Parkrun
There was just shy of 30 parkrunners for DRC this weekend. Fastest time of the weekend was Kris Rymer at Stonehouse in 21:29 with the best Age Grading being Graeme Hawkins with 78% at Kingsway.
