Category Archives: Uncategorized

Marrakech Marathon

This week we are celebrating the winners of our club awards, but one club member was missing, with a very good excuse, as Phil Southworth was racing the Marrakech Marathon!

More than 14,000 runners from all over the world headed to Morocco for the event, a race famed for its beautiful scenery – think alleys of palm trees! The single lap course follows the flat road through the city, to the side of the city’s 12th-century ramparts and through the Menara gardens.

Congratulations to Phil who completed the course in a brilliant time of 4:19:49!

There were more hills than I was expecting, and it was difficult to decide what to wear as it started in 4C, and ended in 12C!

Phil Southworth

parkruns

Wotton parkrun

• Linda Edwards – 31:41

Cirencester parkrun

• Dylan Boreham – 22:04
• Ben Chapman – 23:56
• Daniel Drayton – 24:03
• Andy Sworn – 27:08
• Elaine Chapman – 29:23
• Carol Sworn – 29:24
• Maria Yates – 29:28
• Sylvia Warman – 35:13

Tetbury Goods Shed parkrun

• Darren Jenner – 23:54
• Felicity Crotty – 32:14

RSE Awards Evening!

After a year of racing, cheering and support, it was time to celebrate at the annual RSE awards evening. The club crowned the winners of the RSE race championship in short stuff, endurance and overall specialisms, as well as announced the winners of the Most Improved and Rochelle Ravenscroft Runner’s Runner awards! It was a fantastic evening hosted at club HQ, Somewhere Else, with food from Asha’s Kitchen and a draw to raise money for the club charity, Cirencester Opportunity group (well done for winning the draw, Maria!).

A huge thank you to Nadine Brown and Tracey Pitts, who organised the celebrations and awards, Sarah Page for organising the charity draw, David Witnall, Elaine Chapman and Kevin Joynes-Creed for presenting, and to Pauline Tilbury, whose speech perfectly summed up the amazing achievements of the club in a surprisingly busy running year! Thank you also to Somewhere Else (and Sampo!) for the fantastic food and allowing us to (once again) take over the bar.

Here are your 2022 winners:

• Most Improved – Alan Powderhill
• Rochelle Ravenscroft Runner’s Runner Award – Caroline Joynes-Creed

Endurance Men’s

• 1st – David Witnall
• 2nd – Mark Garrett
• 3rd – Phil Southworth

Endurance Women’s

• 1st – Elaine Chapman
• 2nd – Ellie Witnall
• 3rd – Sarah Page

Short Stuff Women’s

• 1st – Nia Glover
• 2nd – Ellie Witnall
• 3rd – Elaine Chapman

Short Stuff Men’s

• 1st – Mark Garrett
• 2nd – David Witnall
• 3rd – Phil Southworth

Overall Men’s Championship

• 1st – David Witnall
• 2nd – Mark Garrett
• 3rd – Phil Southworth

Overall Women’s Championship

• 1st – Ellie Witnall
• 2nd – Elaine Chapman

Save the Date!

Dates to add to your diary:

• Sunday 11th June 2023: Fairford 10k

If you would like a run or race included in the club report, don’t forget to message Ellie Witnall by 5pm each Sunday!

La Rochelle Marathon

Tipped as the second largest marathon in France, the La Rochelle Marathon offers runners a chance to see 26.2 miles of the west coast, crossing through the city to the historical port areas. The route features 2-laps of flat terrain, and is supported by lively crowds and bands every 2km.

Linda Edwards and Sarah Page ran in RSE colours, finishing in fantastic times!

• Sarah Page – 4.25.10
• Linda Edwards – 4.44.42

Flat course doing a figure of eight round the harbour and town- fantastic views of the town as we went round the harbour. Well organised and plenty of marshals.
Good crowds all along the course giving us loads of support, ten bands which were great and kept us entertained. The shouts of allez, allez were very encouraging!
Cathy gave us fantastic support , popping up three times round the course, so nice to see a friendly face.
Great goodies- a rose, 6 oysters, hot chocolate and a snazzy running jacket which we will be modelling at club soon.

Sarah Page

Wilmslow festive 10k

The start of the festive season has begun! This popular Christmas-themed race starts in the town centre of Wilmslow before following a one lap course on scenic country roads, and then finishing on Mobberley Road/Sandy Lane. The first 5k is described as ‘lightening quick’, whilst the end half of the race features just one hill.

Running for RSE was Felicity Crotty, who completed the course in a brilliant time of 1:08:58!

We had nice weather and lots of festive outfits!

Felicity Crotty

AVR Half Marathon

This friendly, local half marathon has a great race atmosphere and festival feel. The course starts in Edington and then heads out to the beautiful villages of Steeple Ashton and Great Hinton. Expect undulating (hilly) countryside paths and a well supported race finish.

Running for RSE was Kevin Joynes-Creed, who completed the race in a great time of 1:57:17, a new course PB!

The AVR Wiltshire Half is one of my favourite Half Marathons. Positioned nicely at the end of November it’s perfect for one last blow out before the Christmas break. Despite the rather ‘bumpy’ route the scenery is great and the support & organisation from The Avon Valley Runners is second to none. On the back of little to no recent training I’m pretty happy with a course PB and a sub 2hr finish for my last ‘competitive’ half of the year 🥳

Eynsham 10k

The Eynsham 10k is a fast, flat two lap 10k course around the Oxfordshire village, making it a popular course for PB-seekers. The race is organised by Eynsham roadrunners and as part of the Oxfordshire County Championship, attracts a lot of club runners.

Completing the course for RSE and running great times were Kirsty Pitts and Ted Pitts!

• Kirsty Pitts – 54:00
• Ted Pitts – 55:38

A flat, 2 lap course around the pretty town of Eynsham. This race was part of Oxfordshire County championship with over 565 runners. It was great to see Liz Hulcup there cheering us along 👍

Kirsty Pitts

parkruns

Cheltenham parkrun

• Sharon Smith – 24:49

Cirencester parkrun

• David Witnall – 20:50
• Jon Campbell – 23:03
• Ben Chapman – 23:20
• Daniel Drayton – 23:39
• Phil Newman – 25:12
• Steve Sandercock – 25:56
• Paul Coates – 26:26
• Kevin Joynes-Creed – 27:04
• Vicki Mason – 27:12
• Nadine Brown – 27:30
• Marie Yates – 29:30
• Sue Navin – 29:30
• Gemma Wright (and daughter, Libby) – 33:06
• Sylvia Warman – 35:38

King George V Playing Field parkrun, Cheltenham

• Paul Beaumont – 26:31

Horspath parkrun

• Phil Southworth – 24:58 – 150th parkrun!

As well as volunteering and acting as occasional director at Cirencester parkrun, Phil has run over 67 parkruns across the UK, often after cycling many miles to the event! Congratulations Phil!

Witney parkrun

• Liz Hulcup – 28:39

Save the Date!

Dates to add to your diary:

• Saturday 28th January 2023: Annual RSE Awards evening
• Sunday 11th June 2023: Fairford 10k

If you would like a run or race included in the club report, don’t forget to message Ellie Witnall by 5pm Sunday each week 

Cotswold Waterpark 10k

This new race in the heart of the Cotswold Water Park is all in aid of the Cotswold Lakes Trust, a charity dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of the Cotswold Water Park. The course takes place at Cleveland Lakes Nature Reserve in Ashton Keynes, and is described as ‘flat as a pancake’, making it ideal for beginners and PB seekers.

• Ollie Hazel – 44:16 – 2nd MV40!
• Jess James – 54:51
• Zoe Markham-Lee – 58:10
• Louise Hayes – 1:05:17
• Sylvia Warman – 1:10:30 – New PB!

It was a lovely sunny morning for a run around the lake 😊

Louise Hayes

Lush sunny morning with Shouty Dave from DB Max screaming at us to keep us running!

Zoe Markham-Lee

Excellent running everyone!

Eindhoven Half Marathon

The ASML Marathon Eindhoven is a 2-day event in the province of North Brabant, featuring both a marathon and half marathon for runners to take part in. The races incorporate the famous highlights of the city, including the Markt, Catharinaplein, Stratumseind and Geldropseweg. With a flat and wide course, the half marathon is a popular choice, and the race boasts great support from spectators.

Taking part for RSE was Phil Southworth, who completed the half marathon course in a brilliant time of 2:03:52!

parkruns

Hanley parkrun

• Sue Navin – 31:07

Cirencester parkrun

• Jon Campbell – 22:05
• Daniel Drayton – 23:30
• Anne Gardiner – 26:50
• Cathy Steer – 29:04
• Maria Yates – 29:10
• Linda Edwards – 29:28
• Caroline Joynes-Creed – 31:29
• Kevin Joynes-Creed – 32:02

Witney parkrun

• Taryn Hancock – 30:43

Hogmoor Inclosure parkrun

• Darren Jenner – 27:36
• Felicity Crotty – 36:42

Karpendonkse Plas parkrun

• Phil Southworth – 25:26

Save the Date!

Other dates to add to your diary:

• Wednesday 9th November, 8pm: Ice Ultra Talk / Q&A Session with Sampo
• Saturday 28th January 2023: Annual RSE Awards evening

If you would like a run or race included in the club report, don’t forget to message Ellie Witnall by 5pm Sunday each week