After a review of the recent survey that we sent out regarding the club championship, we have taken the decision, as club captains and with the support of the committee, to cancel this year’s competition. 

With many races being postponed or cancelled due to COVID -19, the chance to have a complete and safe championship conclusion would not be possible this year.

In the coming weeks we will publish how we plan to structure the 2021 championship, so races can be booked in good time, and how members who raced in this year’s championship can use one of their championship race results as a ‘joker’ in the same event next year.

As it stands we will run the same races as this year’s championship in 2021. We added some exciting new events this year and would like to support them through to next year.  

Further to this, we will try and put on a couple of virtual or inter-club races starting in the Autumn months, in accordance to government guidelines, where small prizes will be up for grabs. More details will be announced closer to the time.

Many thanks for your understanding and for supporting the RSE Championship in the past few years. We Look forward to a good competition next year!

David Witnall and Elaine Chapman (Club Captains)

January Update

First round results are in!! Well done to everyone who competed at Cirencester parkrun, in what were challenging, muddy and cold conditions. But who said it was going to be easy!!

23 competitors took park, split into 8 groups of 3, racing head to head to head. Considering conditions were not ideal, everyone put in great efforts to try and qualify for Round 2 in February. The results are in the chart below.

The fixtures for February are as follows. Good Luck to those taking part!

The Gloucester Half Marathon on Sunday 19th January was the first race of the endurance expert championship. Starting in Quedgeley the course consisted of two laps with conditions bright overhead but icy underfoot in parts!

Ladies Competition

Four Ladies wore the RSE yellow vest with pride. Ellie Taylor came home first and took the 10 points in a time of 1:45:09. Second was Rosie Oates -9 points and then Libby Butler setting a new Pb of 2:00:53 earning 8 points with Caroline Terry taking the 7 points.

Men’s Competition

There was four men also taking part, and first home taking the 10 points was Mark Garrett in a time of 1:27:32. He was followed by David Witnall- 9 points, Andy Masser- 8 points and taking part in his first championship race with the club was Tim Wainwright- 7 points.

The next race in the Endurance expert championship is the Wiltshire 10 mile. With over 30 members entered its shaping up to be an interesting race.

The Cricklade Half Marathon on Sunday 6th October was the 7th and final race in the endurance expert championship. It also doubled up as our annual Handicap time race. Conditions on the day were bright over head but cool enough for quick times. Once again our runners did not disappoint in the PB stakes and chased down the set handicap times.

For Cricklade HM points were rewarded for improvement on a handicap time instead of position. 

Ladies Competition

In the Ladies contest there were 11 participants with Ellie Taylor taking the 10 points. Not only coming home first for the Ladies she also beat her handicap time by 36 seconds. Seven Ladies were awarded the 9 points – they were Jo Wood, Jo Beames, Sarah Reynolds, Sarah Page (5 min PB), Vicki Mason (PB), Cathy Steer (2 min PB), and Vanessa Poole. Taking 8 points and narrowly missing out on the Handicap time by 14 seconds was Kirtsy Pitts. Linda Edwards (7) and Rochelle Ravenscroft (6) took the remaining points.

This leaves the standings as

1. Ellie Taylor – 48 points
2. Rochelle Ravenscroft – 42 points
3. Kirtsy Pitts – 37 points

Men’s Competition

Ten men took on the Half Marathon – taking the 10 points was Kevin Joynes-Creed improving on his handicap time by 5 min 30 seconds and also setting a new PB. Ben Chapman (9 points) also grabbed a new PB beating his handicap time by 2 mins 32 seconds. Just 2 seconds pushed Istvan Vegh into third and the 8 points. Andy Masser (7) and Ryo Taylor (6) also beat their set times. The other points were shared between Tom Razazan (5) and PB, Gareth Roberts (5) Vic Trykush (5), Mark Garrett (4) and David Witnall (3)

This leaves the standings as

1. David Witnall – 41 points
2. Andy Masser – 37 points
3. Kevin Joynes-Creed – 35 points

Brilliant efforts by everyone. Remember, you have until the end of October to submit a Marathon time if you have completed one. Just message Elaine or me the time and the details of the event. You need to complete 5 races to qualify for the Endurance Expert Championship.

Dave Witnall – Vice Captain