Following a 2 year break in races. the Reading half marathon returned to the streets attracting thousands of runners. The route takes runners on a tour of central Reading and boasts incredible crowd support. The race ends on the track at Reading’s Madjeski stadium for an incredible grandstand finish.
Reading half marathon have currently only released provisional times. Here’s a sneak peak of the results:
Mark Garrett – 1:25:54
Elliot Gardiner – 1:55:24 (A 3 min PB!)
Alan Powderhill – 1:56:17
Paul Robertson – 1:57:05
Quite a flat course with only a few inclines and an epic finish line in the Madejski stadium! Awesome atmosphere at the Biggest race I’ve done so far, loved all the live music especially the live bands and the choir! The only problem was the live music speeding our pace up every time we ran past so hard to keep slowing down once it was out of earshot! 😂
Elliot Gardiner
Guy Fawkes 5 Mile
This popular Autumnal race is fast and flat, taking runners on a 1 lap route around the country roads of Tewkesbury. The run crosses the M5 twice with the village of Fiddington in between, and most importantly, there was free cake for runners at the end!
Nia Glover – 33:40 (4th Lady Overall and 1st in Glos. AAA age category!)
David Witnall – 33:41
Sharon Smith – 36:58 (New PB, 1st LV70 + 1st in Glos. AAA age category!)
Sharon’s time also puts her 1st LV70 in the UK for a 5 mile race!
Andy Poole – 37:15
Paul Coates – 38:30
Steve Sandercock – 40:11
Paul Beaumont – 41:21
Sarah Page – 41:25
Martin ‘Ted’ Pitts – 41:35
Liz Hilcup – 41:48 (1st in Glos. AAA age category!)
Anne Gardiner – 41:56
Kirsty Pitts – 43:59
Linda Edwards – 44:44
Cathy Steer – 47:57
Vanessa Poole – 48:48
RSE also came 6th overall in the team event, with Nia, Dave, Sharon, Paul C and Steve completing the team!
Round 1 of the Gloucestershire cross country league took place in Cirencester Park, a new venue for the championship. The route was tough, with steep hills, mud and even more mud. The team spirit shone through though, with a lot of RSE members taking part – the XC is always a great event to support and cheer fellow members along.
Nia Glover – 34:27
Rosie Hartland – 36:16
Elaine Chapman – 38:47
Jo Wood – 39:15
Sharon Smith – 39:26 (1st F LV70)
Fran Penny – 39:31
Paul Beaumont – 40:17 (3rd M LV70)
Carol Sworn – 42:47
Vanessa Poole – 52:40
Linda Edwards – 52:41
Kate Potter – 54:18 (3rd F LV70)
In places it was walking only because the mud was so deep!
Sharon Smith
Well done to everyone who ran!
A note from Dave Witnall, Club Captain:
Well done everyone who turned up to the first event and gave it their best – it was tough conditions but that’s what makes Cross country unique. We have another taster session on the 14th November, and the next Gloucestershire XC event is held at Wotton Park on the 12th December – although this race is slightly undulating over open fields, there are less hills than Cirencester Park. There’s still the possibility of very muddy patches and a wade through very large puddles! In the meantime, if you have any questions, worries or just want to debrief how Saturday was for you, please feel free to approach me at club.
Run Upcote
Described as one of the most beautiful races in Gloucestershire, this 5 mile race crosses a mix of bridleway and trail paths. Held at Upcote Farm near Withington, the route boasts some stunning Cotswold views. There was a fantastic turnout of RSE members, with 10 club runners taking on the muddy trails!
Sharon Smith – 51:35
Cheri Edwards – 54:27
Liz Hilcup – 58:51
Kirsty Pitts – 59:40
Janet Daniels – 1:04:26
Vicki Mason – 1:05:15
Caroline Joynes-Creed – 1:06:01
Kevin Joynes-Creed – 1:06:01
Becca Wilson – 1:10:19
Kate Potter – 1:10:27
Great local trail race with stunning local scenery. Hills – one called “Bastard Hill”, woods, fields and a herd of deer jumped out in front of me – truly in the country. Loved every minute of it. Yes, really! So lucky with the weather as the sun shone 😊
Becca Wilson
A fantastic trail race near Withington the route took us around fields, through woods and along trails with plenty of mud and puddles along the way. Loads of fun! 😀 At the beginning of the race one of the signs had blown away and there were no marshal’s so everyone ended up doing an extra half a mile 🤣
Kirsty Pitts
Upcote is a challenging 5 mile trail with what feels like far more uphill than down. The wet & muddy conditions combined with a mistake from the front runners resulting in an additional kilometre made today’s race quite a bit more challenging than it needed to be. Overall, I’d say it’s a great race and as it’s only 20 mins up the road, it’s well worth the trip and highly recommended for next year…
Kevin Joynes-Creed
Upcote didn’t disappoint. Torrential rain welcomed us, a shedload of mud and hills, plus a surprise extra circuit of the field making the distance well over 5 miles!
Sharon Smith
Chester Zoo 10k
An interesting and unique opportunity for runners is Chester Zoo 10k, where entrants can spot rhinos and giraffes as they run through the famous park. The scenic route takes in the surrounding countryside before finishing back in the centre of the park.
Running for RSE was Felicity Crotty, who finished in a brilliant time of 59:40!
We saw some camels on the way out and finished with a trip into the zoo!
Felicity Crotty
Westonbirt House 10k
On the bucket list for runners in Gloucestershire is the Westonbirt 10k, a beautiful race through the grounds and surrounding area of Westonbirt House. The course is mixed terrain, finishing directly in front of the historic Victorian building. Anne Gardiner and Libby Butler ran for RSE!
Anne Gardiner – 54:17
Libby Butler – 58:33
A beautiful course with some definite ‘undulations ‘ and very muddy sections in the grounds. I really appreciated having the pacers and remembered other RSE members’ warning about the steps at the finish line!
Anne Gardiner
It’s a beautiful course, and first time I’ve run 10k without stopping this year so better than comfortable!
Libby Butler
Brilliant running both of you!
Westonbirt House Half Marathon
Alongside the 10k option, Westonbirt House also hosted a half marathon, following a similar course. This event takes runners on 2 laps of the Tetbury countryside. After running 2 half marathons and a marathon last week, RSE’s Zoe Markham-Lee crossed the finish line with another new PB under her belt!
Zoe Markham-Lee – 2:02:42
Heavens opened at the start of the race and midway. I think the rain and the wine made me run faster!
Zoe Markham-Lee
Zoe also completed a 250k challenge for the month. Incredible running, Zoe!!
Parkruns
Cirencester Parkrun
Andy Sworn – 25:24
Michael Bagot – 25:14
Steve Sandercock – 26:09 – 1st in age group!
Kevin Joynes-Creed – 28:22
Caroline Joynes-Creed – 31:47 (A new course PB!)
Elaine Chapman – 35:31
Vicki Mason – 36:17
Tetbury Parkrun
Linda Edwards – 28:26
Taryn Hancock – 29:22
Cathy Steer – 29:29
Berkley Green Parkrun
Mark Garrett – 19:22
Parkrun result not mentioned? It may be that you’re not listed as Running Somewhere Else in the parkrun results online. For information on how to change/add RSE as your listed club, click here.
Halloween Fun Run
This week also saw the return of the Halloween fun run, a spooky event that saw club members dressing up in their scariest costumes and running around Cirencester, much to the amusement of the locals! This year, club members Phil Scoble and Ollie Hazel gave a haunting tour, recounting ghost stories of the Cirencester buildings. A social at Somewhere Else followed, with fantastic food, a charity contest and great company.
A huge thank you to Phil and Ollie, as well as Linda Edwards and Nadine Brown for organising, and Sarah Page for the charity contest!
After a break in 2020 due to Covid, the RSE Club Championship is back for 2021. We are sure we speak for many in saying that it has been fantastic to be back racing in the yellow vest.
We had a delay in starting this year whilst awaiting the lifting of restrictions. We also wanted to ensure the safety of our runners, before starting the championship again.
This year, we have returned to the old format, and will not have the 2 sub-categories (endurance expert, short stuff specialists) – there will be 12 races, best 7 results count.
We have run 3 races so far – Fairford 10km time trial, Bourton mile and the Stroud Beer race.
Fairford 10km:
We eased into our championship, with a quiet time trial held at Fairford, setting people off in small waves, club captains timing the race. 8 ladies and 4 men competed.
Fairford results: Ladies top 3
Rosie Oates – 10 points
Ellie Taylor – 9 points
Sharon Smith – 8 points
Fairford results: Men’s top 3
Tom Razanan – 10 points
Mark Garrett – 9 points
Darren Jenner – 8 points
Bourton Mile
Second race was the Bourton Mile. A smaller turn-out this time (3 ladies and 4 men), but some great results, including 5 county medals!
Bourton results: Ladies top 3
Rosie Oates – 10 points
Elaine Chapman – 9 points
Felicity Crotty – 8 points
Bourton results: Men’s top 3
Mark Garrett – 10 points
David Witnall – 9 points
Ollie Hazel – 8 points
Stroud Beer race
Race 3 in the championship is a new race to the championship, a lovely race near Minchinhampton common, with just a few hills. We had a fantastic turnout on a warm summer evening – 11 ladies and 2 men!
Stroud Beer results: Ladies top 3:
Rosie Oates – 10 points
Nia Glover – 9 points
Sharon Smith – 8 points
Stroud Beer results: Men’s top 2
David Witnall – 10 points
Istvan Vegh – 9 points
Ladies overall results so far:
3 races in, and an amazing start by Rosie Oates, full 30 points! It is close between 2nd and 3rd place, with 1 point between them. Still early days though, with plenty more races still left to go!
Rosie Oates – 30 points
Sharon Smith – 16 points
Elaine Chapman – 15 points
Men’s overall results so far:
The men’s competition looks like it will be an exciting competition this year, with 2 runners currently tied for first place, but still early days, and many good runners to challenge for the top spot too.
David Witnall and Mark Garrett – both on 19 points
Darren Jenner – 15 points
Tom Razanan – 10 points
Our next club race will be the Two Tunnels half marathon near Bath.
Remember, any questions or queries about the championship, please speak to Dave or Elaine – your club captains.
This week, head coach Kevin Joynes-Creed, invited runners to complete a Fartlek session to challenge the body with various speeds. Runners needed to use their surroundings, picking landmarks to run at speed to. Well done to everyone who completed the session this week, particularly if you went out in the rain on our normal Wednesday club session night!
It’s not too late to complete the session if you fancy some fartlek-ing! Click the link left for more information on fartleks, what the session entailed and the benefits of the session.
There are only 3 Wednesdays left in February! – Why not challenge yourself to complete every effort session for the rest of the month? You could reward yourself with some pancakes at the end!
Stretching
With club sessions on hold, it’s very easy to miss a very important part of running, the post-run stretch. Most of us are guilty of skipping a stretch or getting too distracted when we first get home from a run, and without the coaches watching or reminding us, it’s very easy to forget the importance. Not only does stretching help a runner avoid injury, it also helps to improve flexibility and cool down gradually. So what stretches are best?
Here are the stretches our RSE coaches lead us through after a club session:
With legs apart, try to touch the floor
Stretch down to your left foot, and then your right foot
With 1 leg straight in front and a straight back, sit slightly on the other leg. After 10s, reach down and try to touch the toes. Switch legs.
Front leg bent, straight back leg. Switch legs.
Side lunge to the left and right
Standing on 1 leg, hold your other ankle (it’s okay to use a wall for balance)
Raise one arm over your head and lean to the side. Switch sides.
Hold your arm across your chest to stretch your shoulder. Switch arms.
Hold one arm up and place your hand in the centre of your back. With the other hand, hold your elbow.
Both arms up at a right angle and then push them back. Ease off, then repeat
Each stretch should last around 8-12 seconds and should be done after running.
If you would like more information on the benefits of each individual stretch, or are unsure on a pose, just contact a member of the coaching team.
Club Weekly Totals
*According to Strava, 07.02.2021 at 5pm
That’s more than last week! Fantastic work team RSE!