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!
It is not normal to mention virtual races on race reports but there are sometimes exceptions to the rules.
Cotswold Way Relay
The Cotswold Way Relay would have been in it’s 28th year this year and would have taken place on Saturday 4th July. Due to the Coronavirus the event this year was cancelled. For those not aware of this event, the Cotswold Way is split into 10 legs. Each leg is run by a member of a team of 10 with the total running time of the team being the final team result.
Hope 24
Hope 24 is a special event located on a private estate in Plympton. The event would have taken place over Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July however this was also cancelled this year. This event provides a friendly atmosphere for runners to get together and challenge themselves to achieve their own targets. Based on a 5-mile trail course in this stunning estate, the event was open to solo runners or teams of 2-8, over a 24 hour period.
As you will see these events would have taken place on the same day this year. This would have caused a few issues as both events are well supported by RSE with some runners taking part in both events as they are normally held on different days.
One of our members was planning to take place in both events. This would have meant completing their leg of the Cotswold Way, driving down to Plympton and then taking part in Hope 24 at the same time as celebrating their birthday. To get over the disappointment of missing out on that Nadine Brown decided she would run 100k starting at 6am on Saturday 4th. She completed this distance at 10,45 pm. A great effort Nadine, well done.
Two other runners who were planning on taking part in Hope 24 decided they would run as far as they could between 12pm on Saturday and 12pm on Sunday which is the time Hope 24 takes place.
Gareth Roberts chose a 6 mile route from his home address and managed to complete 83 miles.
Elaine Chapman chose a variety of routes around Cirencester and although her aim was to complete 40 miles (a number which had nothing to do with age at all!!!!) managed to complete 65 miles.
A fantastic effort from both of you.
Dave Witnall also decided to do a virtual Hope 24 running mainly as support for Elaine and Gareth and completed 55 miles. Great effort Dave.
One of the great things about this weekend was the amount of support that was provided by members of the club to Elaine, Gareth and Nadine. I know they were all thankful and it made what is a very difficult challenge a little bit easier. Gareth will need to run another 83 miles just to run off the calories he will consume when he tries to finish the cakes that were donated to him.
Well done to all our runners who completed the first of the coaches challenges! A great start with lots of runners completing the challenge. The first challenge was to run at least 3 x 5km’s in the week. You could also count longer runs.
In no particular order, well done to:
Elaine Chapman, Ben Chapman, Kevin Joynes-Creed, Caroline Joynes-Creed, Mark Manley, George Rackley, Tim Wainwright, Amanda Ball, Jo Wood, Sharon Smith, Caroline Terry, Pauline Tilbury, Sarah Page, Cheri Edwards, Sarah Reynolds, Elliot Gardiner, Liz Farooq, Kirsty Pitts, Felicity Crotty, Andy Masser, Becca Wilson, Nadine Brown, Vicki Mason, Nia Glover, Elizabeth Anderson, Laura Lucking, Martin Sherriff, Zoe M, Carol Sworn, Ellie Taylor, Ollie Hazel, David Witnall, Rosie Oates, Gareth Roberts, Linda Edwards, Tom Razanan,
The first race of the RSE Short stuff specialist championship was at the Chilly 10km in Castle Coombe. As well as being chilly, it was also windy and rainy. Tough conditions didn’t stop our runners with 7 Men and 7 ladies competing. Some fantastic performances also saw RSE picking up the Men’s and Ladies team prizes.
Men’s competition
What a fantastic start! First through the finish line for the men was 2019 Club champion Dave Witnall. But he was closely followed, by not just one, not two but three of our club runners! Mark Garrett, Tom Razanan and Mark Manley all finished within 3 seconds of each other. It’s going be an exciting competition!
Results so far:
Dave Witnall – 10 points
Mark Garrett – 9 points
Tom Razanan – 8 points
Ladies Competition
First lady through the finish line was Nia Glover in her first club race. Nia also smashed her PB by 2 minutes to pick up the 10 points. Rosie Oates had an eventful race! Starting at the back and nearly missing the start, she fought her way from the back to be second lady for the 9 points. Elaine Chapman picked up the 8 points as third lady.
Results so far:
Nia Glover – 10 points
Rosie Oates – 9 points
Elaine Chapman – 8 points
Great start to the 2020 racing season. Fab running by all. Our next short race will be the Highworth 5 in April.
