More than just a running club
We are pleased to announce that the Dursley Running Club 2019 Walk 2 Run programme is open for registration. Places are limited so please register early to avoid disappointment. Register here >>
For further information please check out our dedicated Walk 2 Run web page here >> or email Damian Lai here: drcwalk2run@gmail.com
Ever decreasing circles on Wednesday made for some great pacing control training, some tough 400m loops. On Saturday cross country training included some more progressive Kenyan Hill with Obstacles training. Great stuff.
Olive Jones represented DRC at the Sportshall League. One more Sportshall League event to go this year (date to be confirmed either 9th/16th Dec, to be at Cheltenham Sports Centre).
A good number already signed up for the Indoor Athletics due to start in January, link here >> to register if interested in this.
The U21 Winter Running Programme starts next week too, aimed at developing young adult endurance running ability. Follow this RunTogether link to find out more and register for this programme: link >>
Next Saturday is the KLB School Cross Country racing, so no cross country training, but some warm up drills and haring for our older juniors from 9.30am.
We are pleased to announce that the Berkeley 10k will be held on the 13th May 2019.
Part of the Gloucestershire AAA, The Berkeley 10k is a fast flat 10k on a RunBritain license. Based on quiet roads with good facilities and chip timing. Every finisher gets a drink from the bar and there are prizes for first three men and first three women, as well as the usual five year veteran age categories. In addition there are team prizes for best four men’s and three women’s teams.
Wednesday was our indoor athletics Sportshall League special. Huge thanks to Elliot from the Cheltenham Harriers travelling down, bringing all the equipment and showing us some of the league events. We had 24 Juniors there and I think they had a great time.
Saturday was both the KLB Cross Country races and the 1st Sportshall League event.
We had 6 Juniors haring and they did a great job in encouraging those younger Juniors around the course. A couple of top performances to mention by name; Bill Smith 2nd place in the yr5/6 boys race and Holly Clarke 4th in the yr3/4 girls race. Well done to all Juniors who took part, from first to last a huge effort well deserving of applause.
In the Sportshall League Olive Jones and Sophie Keevil put in a great performance for the first ever DRC U11 girls team! And Charlie Jones represented the U13 boys for DRC, fabulous. Well done, I’m looking forward to the 24th Nov for our return visit, hopefully with a much bigger team!
Watch this space for our U21s running programme due to start soon (Tuesday evenings). Cross country training 9.30am at the rugby club next Saturday.
The first in the Gloucestershire AAA Cross Country Series saw 31 DRC athletes competing from first timers at junior (George Pitts) and senior level(Rachel Brown, Julie Gowing Jo Feans Martin Bragg & Mark Owen to veterans such as Kevin Jackson & Trevor Lewis who returned to the fray after a few years away. One of the essences of cross country is that each race is totally different, even on the same course, weather & ground conditions adding to the variables of the athletes’ fitness & preparation. Glos AAA had changed the course with a small loop added for some with a long steady climb through the woods for all, the changes made for an interesting & very runnable course. As Storm Callum headed towards the UK, the runners were greeted with very strong winds & a warm day, with car thermometers showing 22 degrees at the time of the Junior races. The wooded section was very humid. For the juniors who have not raced that often judging their effort over this tough course with the conditions was a big ask & they did fantastically well, most importantly they were smiling at the end.
U11 Girls were led in by Holly Clark, all ran controlled races, with Ruby Heath doing well to pick herself up & finish after a tumble in the woods the U11G being DRCs only full Junior team. George Pitts really enjoyed his fisrt XC outing and finished really strongly. In the U13 girls race Lucy Holdsworth was determined to run well, having felt disappointed with her run at Old Down last year. Another controlled run saw her in ninth place for most of the race, and she managed to hold off a strong s challenge in the last 30 metres. James Durden ran in the U17/U20 race, a challenging range of runners for a 16 year old. He found the woods very warm and increasingly tough but he stuck at his task and also managed a strong finish. The cross country will stand him and all the other juniors (hopefully some seniors) in good stead for next summers track events. After the Juniors racing finished the Senior woman, U20/U17L and male vets over 65 were next up. Robyn Jackson(Waite) led the DRC charge with Margaret Jackson returning to competitive running after a long lay with a stress fracture pushing hard on the first lap. A posse of DRC women followed the leading two with as the race started including Rachel Brown, Tara Truman, Rachel Brown, Shona Darley, Julie Gowing, Erica Fuller, with Eileen Hieron and Jo Fearns doing the sweeping. The thorn between these roses was Trevor Lewis, participatingin the M65 plus event. It was great to see Trevor one of the club stalwarts, Dozen Race Director, sub 3 hour marathoner competing again, after a seven year gap apparently! Robyn held on (see parkrun report) for an impressive 8th position, sharpening herself up for the SW Inter Counties 10K road relays where she is representing the County! Margaret also held on after her quick start to place and impressive 2nd in category, her layoff clearly not affecting her competitive spirit too much. Rachel Brown had a great debut, just 3 and half minutes behind Margaret, and I am confident That this gap is going to reduce over the course of the series, perhaps not at the next one as Rachel as has a marathon in between times! She posted ”I ran my first cross country race today. I’m not going to lie, I found it hard. I was quite nervous at the start, lots of fast looking runners. I’d done a warm up lap so knew what to expect of the course. I felt ok on the first lap; the second lap I started to feel it; and by the third lap I struggled up the climb but recovered enough to finish strong”. In fact, Rachel said afterwards that it was the hardest thing she had ever done, and that’s XC for you, constantly adjusting your effort over testing terrain in a competitive environment. Key points from her post are the necessity to walk/run the course and that the nature of courses will tire you out, more so than on a road run where it is much easier to measure effort. With the rest of the women’s team plugging away DRC Woman’s A team were 13th and the Women’s Masters team 9th , great efforts by all, and a salutary lesson about how every run counts at cross country. An email to Glos AAA re the need for F70 and F75 categories needed. The final race of the afternoon was the senior males. A gain a good turnout form DRC although a few senior men were missing, which was likely to impact on the team result. Paul Hockings, James Everett and Mike Brown led the way for DRC disappearing off in the distance with Andy Truswell leading Dave Durden astray with quick start, whilst Tony Freer just keeping a watching brief, another DRC quintet of Kevin Jackson, Dave Wood, Martin Bragg, Nigel Sankey and Jon Tudor. Paul Hockings showed his class, finishing 18th and 3rd in category about a minute and a quarter ahead of James Everett, who admitted that his current preparation of a Coastal Marathon meant he was not a sharp as he would have liked. Mike Brown was another 2 minutes back and disappointed with his run, typical runner! Although he was pleased to be ahead of James for a bit!
Glos AAA Cross Country Series Race 1 The clusters of DRC runners behinds stayed together although there was some shifting of positions and Kevin was able to move away from his chasers. After too quick a first lap Dave Durden decided to ease off for the next two laps to save himself for the fourth ascent, howver this strategy went out the window with Tony and Andy Truswell closing in on him, providing an incentive to work a bit harder, and he managed to hold them both off in the final. Making his debut for DRC at XC Martin Bragg was an excllent 4th in category just in front of Dave Wood who must still have his Cotswold Century in his legs! As the images above show some very strong finishes by DRC, Andy Kilby showing off his famous sprint and Nigel showing how sharp his elbows are. He did apologise afterwards. However a key point about cross country is not making it easy for the runners behnind you to get past! The images also show that the runners gave their all, nothing left after crossing the line. A great afternnoon’s competition for DRC and the numbers out from young to old reflect the values of our our club, inclusivity encouragment and friendliness and the efforts in particular of our junior coaching team. And the big plus, Kevin’s chocolate biscuits afterwards! Plenty still do do to encourage more participation but progress is being made and I am sure the chocolate biscuits will assist! We will need to ensure we have hand for DRC Juniors as well! Results Juniors U11G:Holly Clark,31st, 12:30; Jess Poskett,39th ,13:25; Lila Heath, 41st ,13:42; Ruby Heath,43rd ,14:08; Team Result: Dursley U11G, 9th (111). U13G: Lucy Holdsworth , 9th,14:23 Male U11: George , Pitts , 52nd , U11B, , 12:50 Male U20/U17: James , Durden , 21st , MU17, 16th, 00:36:11 Seniors Senior Woman; Robyn Jackson , 8th , SenW, 6th, 30:10; Margaret Johnson , 37th , F50, 2nd, 33:59; Rachel Brown , 79th , F45, 11th , 37:33; Tara Truman , 86th , F45, 12th, 38:50; Erica Fuller , 97th , F45, 15th, 39:41;Shona Darley , 113th , F40, 14th, 42:12; Julie Gowing , 114th , F35, 11th, 42:17; Jo Fearns , 131st , F40, 16th, 51:27; Elieen Hieron , 132nd , F65+, 4th, 51:33; Team Results: DRC SenW A, , 13th (124); DRC SenW B, , 27th (296) ; DRC SenW C, , 31st (377) , DRC FV A, , 9th , (202); DRC FV B, , 17th (324) Senior Men: Paul Hocking , 18th , M40, 3rd , 38:50; James Everett, 31st , SemM, 25th, 40:35 Mike Brown , 46th , SenM, 33rd, 42:40; David Durden , 92nd, M50, 11th, 45:11; Tony Freer, 93rd , M50, 12th, 45:16; Andrew Truswell , 98th , SenM, 52nd, 45:27; Kevin Jackson , 137th , M55, 8th, 47:52; Martin Bragg, 141st , M60 , 4th, 48:09; Dave Wood , 142nd, M50, 23rd, 48:13; Jon Tudor , 147th , SenM, 63rd, 48:35; Nigel Sankey , 152nd , SenM, 65th, 49:24; Mark Owen , 201st , SenM, 78th, 58:32; Paul Lewington, 204th, M60+ 8th, 01:02:13. Team Results DRC SenM A 9th (378 points); DRC SenM B, 20th (920); DRC MV 8th (340) Male Vet. 65+ : Trevor Lewis , 94th , M70, 1st, 39:25:00
Next fixture Race 2 Saturday November 3rd 2018 Charlton Park, Malmesbury
As you can see Hannah Osbourne is one happy camper. Travelling North to complete the Leicester Marathon. Hannah has only been training for two years and completed he first marathon, London, in 05:13. Leicester was her fourth marathon. She posted “It was torrential rain and was soaking from the moment I started, a nice route but finished on a one mile hill!! I got a massive PB of 3h 59mins bang on!!”, congratulations Hannah!
Garry Strickland ran the above Half raising money for the International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network His posted prior to the event “Anything you can do to help the Plight of Seafarers would be appreciated. Please bear in mind than the majority of all global trade moves by water, just have a look at your worldly possessions to see where they originate!” All in a good cause Garry ran it in a time of 01:38:18, 1241st position and 201st MV45, I am guessing wide age range in this category! He was then off to Ronnie Scotts for some Jazz, NICE! For more info; http://seafarerswelfare.org
Nigel Burford completed his first Duathlon despite a quick parkrun the day before placed 11th and 1 st in category, so clearly his warm up worked, the results seem rather strange , very short transition and bike and very long run 2 so assuming they will be amended. Run T1 bike t2 Run2 Finsh Overall Cat Nigel Burford 10:22 11:03 43:44 01:28:16 11th 8th
Congratulations to Tony Woodridge and Alice Lewis who both successfully defended their DRC Grand Prix titles!
In the men’s league Andrew Probert secured 2nd place and was the only other man to complete all the qualifying criteria. This left us in the unexpected situation of not having 3 runners meeting the qualification criteria, however as the 3rd highest point scorer and having completed 7 of the 8 races required, more than any other competitor, Matt Read picks up a deserved 3rd place.
There was a similar situation in the women’s league. Annette Heylings picked up a comfortable 2nd place, almost matching Alice’s maximum points which would have left us in another interesting situation! More rule clarifications required for next year…!
So as in the men’s league, it has been decided as the 3rd highest point scorer (just) and having run an equal number of races to anyone else, Eileen Hieron matches last years result with another well earned 3rd place. Well done to Julie Froggatt who just misses out for the 2nd year running, this time injury getting in the way.
Well done and thank you to everyone who took part. Final tables can be found here >>>
Prize giving will be at the next Tuesday night social on Tuesday 20th November.
As for the 2019 series, we’ve made the decision to start the series from January 2019. This gives us more time to take on board feedback we’ve received on the series, and will also align with next years planned end of year awards evening. So the series will finish with the Stroud Half Marathon 2019 rather than starting with it. More info and race list to follow very soon.
Another chilly night of running on the Wednesday, followed by some great running at the AAA Cross Country on Saturday. It is that time of year when the gloves are out for running, we all get a bit wetter and often muddier but running ability really improves.
I am advised that it is the KLB school cross country next Saturday, so our younger juniors will have the opportunity to run there, and our older juniors get the chance to Hare. Back to cross country training sessions on the 17th.
BIG reminder this week, Wednesday no road running training session, instead a one off special Indoor SPORTSHALL athletics taster session at Hamfields. I will bring along some sign up sheets and if you enjoy the session and would like to do more then we could see if we have enough to put forward a team for the league. The league is for U11s, U13s and U15s but all welcome to the taster session as it’s all good Athletics training.
Have a great week!
It was the last running session on the rugby field for the Wednesday Juniors, just too dark in the evenings now. Future sessions will now be running focussed, still starting from the club house, but out in the local residential areas. Please wear hi-viz (bright clothing with plenty of reflective material) and if you have them lights (Head torch/ankle lights etc.). And just a reminder these sessions are for our yr7+ juniors, sessions led by Dave.
Saturday cross country training was foggy but fun. We focussed on core stability with a few strengthening exercises and our extended obstacle course.
Just a reminder; subs are due if you haven’t yet paid and completed the form.
And finally we are looking to organise some more winter road running sessions for our older juniors (12-20yrs). These sessions would be more like our adult running sessions, and are aimed at supporting juniors who look to build their endurance running and/or transition to the adult sessions (which they can do from the age of 16yrs with coach assessment). We have two options for these sessions; Tuesday evenings alongside the adult sessions or Thursday evenings. Please let me know if you (your junior) would be interested and when you would prefer to run.
Three DRC Runners lined up for the 9th MBNA Chester Marathon. James Price running his first Marathon, Ben Cardinale and Andrew Kirby. The conditions were ideal for Marathon running with a slight breeze and the temperature just 9oC at the start James Price whose training had been seriously dented by work commitments, went out with the 3.15 pace group; but after being tripped during the 4th mile he decided to push in front of the main group to give him more space. From this position he worked with a small group and started to progressively increase their pace and move their way through the field. At mile 16 James eased back the pace to ensure that he was able to get back safely he continued stongly, moving through the field. At mile 23 James started to lose a bit of pace when he came to the second to last climb he rallied b
ut then struggled on the climb at mile 25 and wasn’t able to recapture his pace from earlier in the day in the final mile. James finished first DRC in a time of 3.13.25, an absolutely brilliant performance given his disrupted training and the fact it was his first ever marathon. Ben Cardinale, who has a background in long distances triathlon, was hoping for a time in between 3.30 and 3.45, but was concerned as had not had the level of training that she would of liked going into a Marathon. She went out strong at 3.30 pace leading from the front, at the half way point she was still feeling strong and felt that she could achieve a sub 3.30 time if she worked hard. She pushed hard & got to the 20-mile mark with the 3.30 time in sight. She was fully aware of how tough the last 10k was going to be but she gritted her teeth & attacked the hill sections with vigour which put her in a fantastic position. Ben pushed hard over the last mile & was able to finish in an amazing 3.28.54.
Both James and Ben paced their runs very well, with possibly Ben pipping James on this score with 10K splits of 49:52, 49:25, 48:32 and 49:38, also coming 23rd in her category! Behind these two young guns Andy Kilby was running at Chester with Kate Sackett from Ciren AC. Being “old Skool” Andy started hard and held on finshing in 04:14, with Kate doing the same
just quicker, Andy wasn’t in a position to use his famous sprint finish in this instance! Results: James Price 03.13:25, 403rd (105th SenM), Ben Cardinale 03.28:54 717th (23rd FV35); Andy Kilby 04.17:41 1879th, 46th MV60.
It was a great turnout at the Warwick Tri with at least 20 finishers from DRC Tri. Fran Amigoni 
was a very proud DRCTriathlete today finishing 4 th woman overall and 1st in her category and it was all pretty close with just two and half minutes separating her from third place! And she wasn’t far off being quickest DRC triathlete overall. It was also a close race between the DRC men, with Paul Breen and Luke Russell battling it out. Paul just edging it by 4 seconds, with Luke working very hard over the run to almost pull it back. There were other close run placings a 6 second gap between Teresa Walton and Annette Heylings of just 6 seconds and 9 seconds between Karen Eadon and jo Lewis. Currently Chris Young results 
are missing, with start list alphabetical by surname he was almost the last person off so maybe the timer had gone home for him. As ever lots of smiles both during and after the event.
Results Women: Fran Amigoni 01:06:37 4th; Sue Peachy 01:18:08, 44th; Hannah Osborne 01:23:35 77th; Sandra Lewis 01:23:51, 80th; Michelle Ball 01:26:31, 89th; Jess Lewis 01:31:45 124th; Teresa Walton 01:32:20, 127th; Annette Heylings 01:32:26, 129th; Karen Eaden 01:38:16, 147th; Jo Lewis 01:38:25, 148th; Liz McConnell 01:42:52, 158th .
Men Paul Breen 01:06:26, 32nd; Luke Russell 01:06:30, 33rd, Andrew Oborne 01:11:12, 78th , Richard Lewis, 01:14:51, 120th; Julian Peachey, 01:15:33; Ian Fendt, 01:17:26 153rd; Kevin Brockway 01:17:48, 159th; Terry Cother, 01:30:13, 253rd ,
Mark Sprigings had a little a warm up for the Obstacle Course Racing World 
Championships in two weeks’ time. He posted: “Today just a little warm up ready for the real deal in 2 weeks’ time! Was great to wear and compete in my United Kingdom top for the first time and bump into a few other representing the country at the World Champs. Decent result today, and had I not stopped on the final obstacle at the top of a 9ft wall for a photo opportunity and wave to my kids I would’ve won the event! Mark S said this hi under no illusion that the “worlds are going to be a whole different ball game!” Well done Mark!
12 DRC athletes completed the Cardiff Half, with Nick Fennell leading the team home in ju
st under 01:49, with Pete Dunn hard on his heels and Hugh Poppy hard on his! Liz Fairall was first DRC woman in a smidgen over 2 hours with training partner Nicki Squire running a big PB behind her. Rebecca Halford ran her first ever half and posted: this was the biggest challenge that I’ve set myself so far. The pain set in between miles 6-11 and I ache all over! I am so proud to have completed it in 2hrs 48mins.
Massive thank you to everyone who supported me and especially Mum and Dad who came all the way to support me. Also my amazing running buddy Cara who I lost at mile 11!” Not all runners results are up so no official result yet for Louise Beck but she got Sam Stevens and herself to the finish, Well done both!
Results:
Nick Fennell, 01:48:45, 4353rd; Pete Dunn, 01:51:09, 5416th;
Hugh Poppy , 01:53:17, 5617th; Lucy Fairall, 02:00:16, 6809th;
Nicki Squire , 02:02:03, 7184th;Steve Barnes , 02:26:41, 12745th;
Sarah Willcox, 02:31:47, 14211th; Leigh Allen, 02:36:32, 14914th;
Katie Reynolds, 02:36:34, 14922nd; Rebecca Halford, 02:48:45, 16642nd;
Cara Zoglowek, 02:54:19, 17105th; Sam Stevens 03:11:51, 18,132nd;
Louise Beck TBC
12 tough trail miles, 10th Feb 2019, great fun. It’s the 30th anniversary of this signature event.
Follow the link to register: Dursley Dozen 2019 >>