THIRD VET 60 Derek Peverill was third fastest in the Vet 60 category on the St Ives 10km race finishing 128th overall from almost 600 entries with a time of 44m 24s
LADIES DO WELL IN WYCOMBE A strong performance by the ladies saw them take the female team award on the Wycombe Half Marathon with Liz Tapper leading the way in 52nd overall and third lady in 88m 08s to also be the top Bucks runner which made her the county long course champion. Lia Marshall came 115th and eighth lady in 95.35 with Charlotte Steptoe next up as 130th o/a and ninth female on 97.02 leaving tenth placed female Sophie Delderfield to be another 28 seconds back and 134th in the overall classification. From the men, Martyn Summerfield came 13th and fourth Vet 40 with 78.35 with Colin Steptoe collecting the top Vet 50 award and 30th overall on 82.57 and Alan Roberts being 127th on 96.47. In the 10km race which accompanied the main race, Helen Steptoe was 218th with a time of 61.51.
CLUB RECORD GOES AT WATFORD During an evening when several of the top British athletes were looking for Olympic qualification times, several club members were looking to get their own good performances at the Watford Open Meeting. Patrick Taylor achieved a club U.13 record with a 4m 48.0s time for the 1500m, whilst over the same distance Ed Mawdsley clocked 5.15.26. Mandy Rice continued her multi-events preparations with a 100m in 16.1s which was the best Vet 45 time of the night, and in the discus circle Sam Ridgway was second best Under 17 with a 32.76m effort with Stefano Aquilino ending up as second U.15 after his 26.75m throw.
WADDESDON RESULTS
The annual summer evening 5km race at Waddesdon proved to be another successful affair with some excellent performances. A number of club members were on the awards list with Declan Hamblin being the fastest club member in third place whilst junior James bennewith and Tommy Atkins were best in their categories as were Vets Colin Steptoe and Martyn Summerfield. From the female contingent, Rosanna Iannone was the highest placed overall and age group winners were Catherine Appleby, Rachel Card and Sue Barnes. Full results are available
here
.
WADDESDON APPRECIATION FROM JOHN GIBSON
In my capacity as the Waddesdon Manor 5K Race Director, I would like to formally record the Club's appreciation to the National Trust, Martin Nye & Co of Winslow and Apex Sports of Farnham Common for again supporting this year's extremely successful event. I would also like to thank the Race Referee, Mike Shrive, and his team of Time Recorders and Judges, Roger Kirk and his team of excellent marshals and finally Steve Stokes and Doug Smith for producing the results so efficiently and quickly.
The race was dedicated to Phil Tottle who tragically died at the Maidenhead Ten earlier this year. The Club is also organising a classic 3 Peaks Challenge on 9/10 August 2008 and sponsorship for the British Heart Foundation would be very much appreciated. Please use the link to the designated JustGiving site www.justgiving.com/voaac_3peaks_challenge
Next year's race will be on Wednesday 15 July 2009.
ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL CALL UP After an indoor call up earlier in the year, Ben Gregory has again been selected to compete for Great Britain, this time in the international outdoor combined events match at Ashford in Kent against a number of European squads.
EASTERN AT LUTON The Eastern Young Athletes League team continued its campaign with a trip to Luton where it finished in sixth place. Discus thrower Charlotte Magnall, 100m runner Joseph Warren and Will Gurton in the 800m were the only A string event winners for the depleted squad.
MEN WIN IN WELWYN In a very close fought match, the men won their latest Southern Mens League match by just half a point from Braintree AC who in turn were one point ahead of Harlow AC. Dan Smith proved to be the top performer on the day with three victories whilst Dan Barber, Declan Hamblin, Steve Stokes, Derek Turner and Mark Fallaize also had A string wins, as did the 4x400m relay squad.
TWO FIVE MILERS A couple of five mile races occupied minds during the weekend with Martyn Summerfield getting fifth overall and second Vet on the Yarnton 5 finishing with a time of 29m 03s. Alan Roberts came in as 20th Vet and 45th overall from a field in excess of 150 receiving a time of 33.51. Moving south from Oxford and Derek Peverill was competing in a similar sized field on the Didcot 5 where he finished as 38th overall and third Vet 60 in 34.30.
MIXED FORTUNES AT THE NATIONAL SCHOOLS Disappointments on Friday turned to success on Saturday for club members taking part in the English Schools Track and Field Championships in Gateshead. In their 800m heats, Jo Hunter (Senior Girls) took fifth with 2m 17.66s, Will Gurton (Junior Boys) was eighth in 2.07.65 and Catherine Appleby (Inter Girls) seventh with 2.24.23 so none qualified for the finals despite some quick times. At Senior Boys level, an off-colour Andrew Bleakley came seventh in the long jump final with a best of 6.58m and Ben Gregory was pleased with his fifth in the pole vault with a 4.50m effort after a difficult few weeks. But it was Chevaughn Sherman who took the plaudits in the Junior 100m where he came third in the first round with a 11.40s run and the following day he won the semi-final in a slower 11.47s albeit into a slight headwind. The final with the breeze behind him saw Chevaughn come a superb third overall in a time of 11.19s less than one tenth of a second behind the winner.
A COUPLE OF LINKS Links to two fund raising ventures can now be found on this site. The first covers the Three Peaks Challenge where information and the opportunity to help can be found on www.justgiving.com/voaac_3peaks_challenge. The other concerns the training of four members, Steve George, Michael Reilly, Gary Brazier and Mandy Rice who are working with Jim Rayner in preparation for the Southern Combined Events Championships at the end of September. They are raising money for a variety of charities and details of their exploits can be found on www.mustbmad.org.uk
RISBORO RAMBLINGS There were plenty of club members in the awards list on the Risborough 10km with Paul Gregory in second place overall also being the best Vet 50, the Bucks short road race champion as well being a member of the victorious team. Charlie May in third spot overall was also in the leading team (and Bucks county runner-up) as was fourth overall Reece Street who claimed the first Vet 40 award and the county bronze medal. Martyn Summerfield completed the winning team and gained the third Vet 40 prize for his efforts. Other award winners were Henry Edwardes-Evans and Charlotte Steptoe as the best Princes Risborough residents with Louise Card being the highest placed junior female. These two, plus Julia Austin came second in the female team placings. With over 20 members competing, there was also a good turn out of officiating members and thanks go to everyone who marshalled on such a wet and miserable morning.
RISBOROUGH 10Km The Princes Risborough Festival 10km race attracted an excellent entry of over 360 and produced an exciting race despite the wet and windy conditions. Results are now available here
GOOD REWARDS FROM LONG JOURNEY Many of the girls representing Aylesbury High School are club members and their training helped them to take third place overall, from 13 competing teams, in the national finals of the English Schools Track and Field Cup which took place in Hull. With points based on performance rather than placings, Tasha Cornwell did well with a 13.4s run over 100m and then a shot put of 6.30m whilst sister Charlie went slightly further with 6.81m to go with her 200m run in 29.0s. Anna Dwyer contributed with a 2m 39.2s run over 800m and then sent the javelin some 15.11m whilst Charlotte Magnall came up with a 23.29m throw with the discus. Katy Partington had a good 1500m run to finish in 5m 12.5s, she also managed a 14.41m discus throw, and Rachel McCann covered the distance in 5.29.2. The final member out was Mo Dada who ran a 28.1s 200m and then managed a 4.39m long jump.
MORE MOTA-VATION Round 3 of the Mota-Vation series was the Combe 4 in north Oxfordshire where Martyn Summerfield came 17th from the 300 strong entry in 21m 33s with Alan Roberts finishing in 84th spot and 16th Vet 40 with a time of 24.55
CLUB RECORD GOES AT WATFORD Patrick Taylor broke the club Under 13 800m record with a time of 2m 19.54s at the latest Watford Open Meeting being easily the fastest runner in that age group. Training partners Ed Mawdsley and Rory Seekins opted for the shorter distances with the former running 65.92s for 400m which was the second best U.15 time of the night, whilst the latter ran the distance in 66.74s and then finished the 200m in 30.84s; both being the fastest of the U.13 runners
MEN COME THIRD IN BEDFORD The Mens team in the Southern League took third place in their fixture at Bedford despite some leading performances from Dan Barber in the 200m, Dan Smith in the high hurdles, Charlie May over the 3000m steeplechase and Derek Turner with the hammer. Just prior to this meeting was the London Inter Club Challenge at Woodford where Dan Barber managed a wind assisted 11.39s for the 100m and then a 61.8s over 400m hurdles, whilst Gary Brazier did a 4.28m long jump as well as a discus throw of 25.84m whilst Jim Rayner completed the trio of club members competing with a 28.92m effort with the 5kg hammer and then a 30.52m discus throw with the 1kg implement.
ALAN WINS SERIES Alan Roberts completed the final Self Transcendence race in Oxford by taking eighth place overall and second Vet 40 completing the four miles in 26m 28s. The result gave him the series victory in the Vet 40 category.
ANDREW GETS MAN OF THE MATCH AWARD On a weekend with so many fixture clashes, the Under 20s fielded a depleted team, as did all the other sides, at their latest National Junior League match at the Linford Christie Stadium in west London. Man of the match was Andrew Bleakley who managed a 6.97m long jump to get him warmed up for the National Schools Championships. Other A string victories went to Frances Hodgins in the long jump, Ria Bell in the triple jump and James Cornwell in the 800m whilst Conor Eastgate won the B long jump. At the end of the day the team claimed fourth place.
THREE WINS IN ROUND THREE Round 3 of the Eastern Young Athletes League matches saw the club team take sixth place in their fixture at Watford. Patrick Taylor in the U.13 800m and Under 15s Will Gurton (1500m) and Stefano Aquilino in the hammer produced the only “A” string wins of the day.
SOME CONSOLATION After his disappointing show at the English Open Championships, Ben Gregory managed a victory in the Midland Schools Multii Events Championships in Milton Keynes where he collected enough points on the first day of competition to retain his overnight lead despite struggling for form on Day 2. His best points came in the long jump with a 6.66m jump and in the 110m hurdles where he clocked a p.b. time of 15.3s to end with a total of 5292 points, still over 500 better than his nearest challenger. Harry Dalton came fifth in the Inter Boys octathlon scoring 4094 points achieving a superb 52.6s for 400m as his best scoring event. At Inter Girls level, Taylor Parrott was the highest placed Bucks competitor and sixth overall in the heptathlon with a score of 3133 points with the first (14.0s in the 80m hurdles) and last events (2.35.9 over 800m) being her best scoring performances.
THAME 10km The annual race through the centre of Thame and out to Towersey saw Declan Hamblin head the Vale runners taking fifth place overall in 34m 03s with David Maisey coming home in 40th spot with 37.30 some three minutes ahead of Danny Wizard in the Vet 50 category who was 86th overall in 40.50. Another ten seconds and two places behind was Charlotte Steptoe with mother Helen (Vet 45 grouping) finishing 668th in 59.24. In between them came Vet 60 Derek Peverill who was 172nd overall in 44.24.
TOP BRIT IN SWITZERLAND Alan Roberts found something slightly different to do when he ran in the European Masters mountain running championships in Switzerland finishing as 30th Vet 40 runner and leading British competitor with a time of 73m 52.1s after a race covering 6.8km and ascending 957metres.
FIVE ON THE TYNE Five club members have been selected amongst the 35 strong squad from Bucks to compete in the English Schools Track and Field Championships in Gateshead. Andrew Bleakley will compete in the long jump and Ben Gregory has been selected for the pole vault, whilst Jo Hunter, Catherine Appleby and Will Gurton will all run over 800m.
NEW EVENT A SUCCESS A new event for local primary schools was the Key Stage 1 championships with several members involved in organising or helping. With four events, shot, standing long jump, sprint and relay taking place, there were plenty of budding new members showing their prowess at these events. Results can be found in the Schools Liaison section. Officials are still needed for the local primary schools championships to be held on Monday 31st June and 7th July (4.30 to 8.00pm) and for the District Schools Championships on Wednesday 2nd July (10.00 – 3.00). Anyone able to help at all or part of these events should contact Mike Wise.
OPEN PENTATHLON The Dacorum and Tring AC Open Pentathlon meeting at Hemel Hempstead saw twins Charlie and Tasha Cornwell compete against each other in the Under 15 part of the competition. Charlie had an eventful day coming second in her hurdles heat on 15.0s despite damaging her shin the the final hurdle before getting second in the shot on 6.65m and a 1.26m p.b. in the high jump when she smashed into the upright and damaged yet another limb. Despite the bandages the long jump saw her get third with 4.15m before the 800m where she was third in 2m 45s to give her a points total of 1925 for third place. Tasha had a relatively uneventful match coming fourth on 1720 points thanks to a win in the hurdles heat with 14.4s and fourth in shot followed by a 1.14m high jump. Second place in the long jump (4.24m) followed before Tasha achieved a best ever 2m 54s over 800m.
SCHOOLS INTER COUNTIES After their performances at the county schools championships, several members were given the chance of competing for Bucks Schools at the Southern Inter County Schools match at Kingston. With five counties fielding teams, the Inter Girls were represented by Catherine Appleby who was third in the A string 800m with a 2m 23.01s whilst Gemma Collis took a similar placing in the triple jump with 10.12m and B string places going to Sarah Short (first long jump – 4.91m) and Taylor Parrott (third in the high jump on 1.46m). In the Junior Girls competition, Charlotte Magnall was third B in the discus with 22.32m and Zoe Collis also took third B with a 1.34m high jump The Junior Boys saw Will Gurton take second place over 800m with 2.06.01 and Tommy Atkins finish as fifth A (4.33.36) and Dan Gurton third B (4.50.83) in the 1500m and Karl Goodman was fifth B in the 200m in 26.78s. Sam Ridgway led the Inter Boys with fourth in the hammer on 40.19m, as well as a non scoring 26.90 in the discus where Jack Benson was fifth B with 31.65m, having been one place higher in the shot (10.81m). Michael Bergson claimed fifth A in the high jump with a clearance of 1.69m leaving Harry Dalton in the 200m (4th B – 24.47s) to complete the line-up.
GOOD TIMES IN WINDY CONDITIONS Coach Harry Czapski and two members of his squad were the only representatives at the latest Watford Open Meeting; both competing in the 1500m where Patrick Taylor was the fastest Under 13 on the blustery night recording a time of 4m 53.73s and Rory Seekins finished in 5.08.97 as the fourth fastest in that age group. Rory also competed in the javelin where he threw 23.11m.
THREE MILES, THIRD PLACE On another of the Self Transcendence Races in Cutteslowe Park in Oxford, Alan Roberts took third place and best Vet 40 over the three miles distance finishing in 18m 46s.
CHANGE OF VENUE Welwyn Garden City is now the venue for the Southern Mens League match on Saturday 12 July
RIDGEWAY RECORD After the victory on the 2007 Ridgeway Relays, a slightly stronger team, was looking to repeat the victory, which it did in fine style, and also claimed the course record. The 87 miles from Ivinghoe to Marlborough took the ten strong team 9 hours 30m 58s which was over 41 minutes faster than the second placed team and some 5m 50s better than the previous record. Reece Street did the first leg and led at the change over with Liz Tapper completing Leg 2 still in the lead and from then on the result was not in much doubt thanks to good efforts from Paul Gregory, Rosanna Iannone, Martyn Summerfield , Andrew Rolt, Charlie May, Richard Taylor, David Maisey and finally Declan Hamblin. Thanks go to Henry Edwardes-Evans for organising the venture and Pat Card for driving and the team would like to dedicate the victory and record to Phil Tottle.
JO DOES WELL AT CRYSTAL PALACE The South of England Under 20 and Senior Championships at Crystal Palace attracted a huge number of entries including four entered under the Vale of Aylesbury banner. Jo Hunter took second place in her 800m semi final with a 2m 17.19 before going two seconds faster in the final where her time of 2.15.14 earned her third place. Andrew Bleakley was the other U.20 on show taking seventh place in the long jump final with a 6.65m jump. At senior level, Dan Barber took seventh in his 400m heat with a time of 52.35s and Lucy Hodgins was third in the high jump after a leap of 1.65m
MIXING WITH THE ELITE IN WATFORD The BMC Nike Elite meeting at Watford saw some of the top runners in the country aiming to get Olympic qualifying times whilst others were looking to get fast times on the excellent track. Mark Fallaize returned to form with a superb 800m in 1m 55.56s coming second in his race and 11th fastest of all the Under 23s on show. Over the 1500m distance Rosanna Iannone clocked 4.41.37 as 11th quickest senior women behind some of the best athletes from around the world.
OXFORDSHIRE SCHOOLS VICTORY With younger sister Charlotte performing well at the Bucks event, Zoe Magnall went even better by taking first place in the discus and second in the shot with personal bests of 27.65m and 7.77m respectively in the intermediate section of the Oxfordshire Schools Championships.
WARGRAVE 10km With many other members running along the Ridgeway, Derek Peverill was the sole member out on the Wargrave 10km where he finished as fourth Vet 60 and 94th overall from an entry of over 500 in a time of 43m 58s.
A QUINTET OF SCHOOLS SUCCESSES Just five club members received the accolade of Bucks Schools Champion after the 2008 championships were held in High Wycombe. The girl jumpers in the Intermediate age group came to the fore with Sarah Short and Gemma Collis winning long and triple jump respectively, whilst the junior boys saw titles go to Will Gurton in the 800m (having won the 1500m title last year), Tommy Atkins over 1500m and Stefano Aquilino who won the discus. Competing as a guest entry was Zoe Collis who recorded the best high jump in the Junior Girls competition with a 1.46m clearance.
HELP WANTED With the Waddesdon Manor 5km race on Wednesday 16 July rapidly approaching, marshals are required to make the event a success. Any offers would be gladly welcomed by Roger Kirk at kirk_roger@yahoo.co.uk
STAR:TRACK Dates for the summer Star:Track coaching schemes, this year with an Olympic flavour, for 8 to 13 year olds have now been announced. The first one will run from Monday 28 to Thursday 31 July and the second one from Monday 11 to Thursday 14 August. Details will shortly be available in local schools or they can be had from Mike Wise
WHERE WERE THE UNDER 17 ATHLETES? The second Eastern Young Athletes League fixture at Hemel Hempstead saw the club take sixth place although with a better turn out of Under 17 athletes so much more could have been achieved. Nevertheless it was pleasing to see plenty of Under 13s competing in both scoring and non-scoring events.
MEN COME THIRD IN COLCHESTER The Senior Men continued their Southern Mens League fixtures with a trip to Colchester where they took third place in a match that was reduced to just three clubs with the non appearance of the Chelmsford team.
RECENT ROAD RESULTS Paul Gregory has had a successful time recently firstly running for Bucks in the Inter Counties 10km which was the Coventry Northbrook race where he finished ninth overall and top veteran in a time of 33m 02s. Liz Tapper was also competing for the county where she finished 76th overalland tenth senior lady in 39.33. Paul was again the leading Vet 50 and fifth overall on the Dorney Dash 10km, around the rowing course in Windsor, being credited with a time of 33.44. Mick O’Connor came 51st and 6th Vet 50 from the 900 strong field in 39.10. Alan Roberts competed on the Otmoor Half Marathon where he came 48th from a field of well over 300 in a time of 96.56. In the second race of the Motavation series held at Bletchingdon, Martyn Summerfield completed the four and a bit miles in 23.36 for 19th overall, with Alan Roberts coming 71st from 300 starters in 26.58
GOOD 800m TIMES IN WATFORD Members of the group coached by Harry Czapski fared particularly well in their 800m races at the latest Watford Open meeting with both Rory Seekins on 2m 34.33s and Patrick Taylor with an Under 13 club record 2.20.79 achieving personal bests whilst Ed Mawdsley (2.32.89) and James Cornwell on 2.09.92 were close to their best times. Also running over the distance were Rosanna Iannone with the second fastest senior lady time of 2.17.14 and Amanda Rice with the best Vet 45 performance on the night of 2.46.31 having previously run the 100m in 16.10s. Completing the line up was Sam Ridgway in the hammer where he threw 38.33m as the fourth placed Under 17 thrower.
THREE MILES OF SELF TRANSCEDENCE One of the shorter Self Transcendence races consisted of three laps of one mile each in Cutteslow Park, Oxford where Alan Roberts came seventh overall and second Vet 40 in a time of 19m 14s which consisted of lap times of 6.05, 6.34 and 6.35
INNOVATION IN M.K. Another innovative event run by Marshall Milton Keynes AC is a 100 mile track walk in 24 hours where those completing the event are admitted to the Centurion Brotherhood. It starts at midday on Saturday 16 August and costs £30 to enter. Details are on the MMKAC website.
BEN IN BRUM Ben Gregory had a mixed weekend at the English Under 20 Combined Events Championships in Birmingham, finally finishing in third place overall with a total of 6472 points. During Day 1 he performed well in long jump (6.67m) and shot (11.85m) to finish in fourth place and after dropping another place after the hurdles at the start of Day 2, he pulled up to third with strong efforts in discus (35.76m) and javelin (45.20m) as well as being easily the best in pole vault (4.35m).
REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS FOR HARRY By dint of his getting a medal in the recent Bucks Championships Harry Dalton was invited to compete for the county at the Bedford International Games in the Under 17 100m. With sixth position in his heat he just failed to get a place in the final recording a time of 12.21s.
TEAM COMES THIRD ON THE HILL The club squad took third place in the team standings on the annual Coombe Hill race with David Maisey being best of the Vale runners in seventh place on 26m 06s, some 43 seconds ahead of tenth placed Frank Rooney. Nick Taylor on 27.47 claimed 16th position with Alan Roberts making up the team coming 38th with 30.36. Heather Fallaize finished in 80th spot overall and 6th lady, with a time of 34.19.
CORBY 5 Alan Roberts competed in another round of the East Midlands Grand Prix series when he finished 83rd overall and 20th Vet 40, from almost 300 starters, on the Corby 5 recording a time of 33m 12s.
HORRIBLE CONDITIONS IN BEDFORD The Bank Holiday weather conditions made life difficult for all three members who were appearing in the CAU Inter Counties Championships in Bedford with Ben Gregory clearing just 4.10m in the pole vault for equal fourth place before making for Hemel Hempstead and the drier conditions for the National Junior League match. Lucy Hodgins took sixth place and fourth Under 23 in the high jump managing 1.60m in the unfavourable conditions, whilst Rosanna Iannone took fifth place in her 800m heat with a time of 2.19.65 which saw her just miss out on the final.
MASTERS OF THE TRACK Both Andy Rolt and Alan Roberts were competing in the British Masters 10000m Championships at Oxford where they came sixth and seventh respectively in the Over 40 race; Andy with a time of 37m 22.82s and Alan recording 40.25.60.
GOOD EFFORTS IN SOUTHERN CHAMPIONSHIPS The long trip down to Ashford in Kent proved worthwhile for some junior members with Catherine Appleby competing in the Under 17 800m at the South of England Championships. In her heat she gained a personal best time of 2m.19.52s to qualify as a fastest loser before taking eighth place in the final with 2.21.19. Also within that age group was Gemma Collis who came 11th in the triple jump with a best leap of 9.80m. Will Gurton qualifed for the Under 15 Boys 800m final as a fastest loser coming third in heat with 2.09.68 before going faster and getting a p.b. on his way to fifth in the final stopping the clock on 2.07.67. Another personal best setter and qualifier was Tommy Atkins in the 1500m where he managed a 4.29.48 to be fifth in the heat before getting 11th in the final on 4.32.96
UNDER 20 TEAM COMES SECOND
The National Junior League team of Under 20s held its home match at Hemel Hempstead and took second place behind reading, but ahead of four others namely Milton Keynes, Wycombe, Thames Valley and NWC Herts. On a day when the number of competitors was as poor as the weather, there were wins for Ben Gregory, Andy Bleakley and Adam Waind from the men plus Louise Card and Gemma Murphy for the women, whilst Jo Hunter and Rachel Card were victorious in both their A string races.
A big thank you goes from Chairman Graham Gorman, to all the officials and helpers from the club who helped make it a successful day.
Andrew Bleakley in action at Hemel - photos courtesy Gary Mitchell
BUCKS SCHOOLS COMBINED EVENTS Tasha and Charlie Cornwell were competing against one another in the junior pentathlon at the Bucks Schools Multi Events meeting in Milton Keynes. With identical scores after their 1.16m high jumps, Tasha gained the advantage with her 14.8s run over the 75m hurdles and was still just ahead despite Charlie’s 6.19m shot put. The latter went ahead with her 4.05m long jump and also had a slight advantage running the 800m in 2.52.4. At the end of the competition Charlie was seventh with 1685 points with Tasha finishing tenth on 1601. The only other member out was Harry Dalton in the intermediate heptathon where he came second with 3169 points getting the top placings in the competition in both long jump (5.90m) and 400m with 53.9s.
DECLAN ON TOP AT CROUCH END Competing for his other club, London Heathside, Declan Hamblin was the convincing winner by almost a minute of the Crouch End 10km race as he finished in 34m 15s to head the 200 strong field.
WEDNESDAY IN WATFORD (AND BEDFORD) Ed Mawdsley and Rory Seekins were the sole junior athletes competing at the latest Watford open where they both competed in the same 1500m race. Ed finished in 5m 13.89s as the sixth fastest Under 15 on the night, whilst Rory was the second fastest Under 13 finishing in 5.17.96. From the seniors, Jim Rayner competed as the only Vet 60 in the 100m finishing in a creditable 15.83s with Amanda Rice being the best Vet 45 in the 400m getting a time of 74.78s. Meanwhile in Bedford, Alan Roberts was competing on the Bedford 6 mile road race where he finished as 14th Vet 40 and 74th overall, from a field of over 250, in a time of 39m 07s.
TUESDAY AT CHARNDON As usual there was a decent turn out of members for the annual 5km race at Charndon with just over 200 runners contesting the race. Paul Gregory was again the top Vale runner taking fourth place and best Vet 50 with a time of 16m 09s followed 24 seconds later by Charlie May in ninth spot with Martyn Summerfield being another 12 seconds back in 11th place and third Vet 40. Andrew Rolt was fifth Vet 40 and 19th overall in 17.18 whilst Phillippa Prescott was the second lady and 29th o/a in 17.46 five seconds ahead of Frank Rooney in 31st place. Rosanna Iannone finished in 18.20 as 51st overall and fourth senior lady ahead of Mark Fallaize in 19.24 (72nd overall), Ian Thompson with 19.37 (79th o/a and 21st Vet 40) and George Knowles another place and two seconds back. Adam Johnson was 94th in 20.11 with Nick Brown on 20.14 for 96th and 26th Vet 40 and the 11th senior lady slot and 116th place went to Charlotte Steptoe in 21.22. Closely behind were Julia Austin (118th in 21.25 as fifth Vet 35) and Ian Tarvit on the same time as 119th and 17th Vet 50) with Rachel and Louise Card taking 121st (21.31) and 130th (21.52) places respectively and Heather Fallaize in close contention on 22.19 as sixth Vet 45 and 137th overall. More ladies followed with Donna Lee (161st in 23.44), Jane Dwyer (174th on 24.50) and Julie Madry (175th also on 24.50 being 13th, 17th and 18th in the Vet 35 category with Helen Steptoe coming 191st on 27.07 as 14th Vet 45, whilst a pair of Vet 55s in Jennifer Benjamin (29.26) and Pat Card (32.35) finished in 201st and 207th places as fifth and seventh in their groups.
PRESTWOOD 10km The narrow, undulating lanes of the Chilterns attracted three members for the running of the annual Prestwood 10km race where Charlotte Steptoe claimed 16th overall and second lady with a creditable time of 41m 57s just eight seconds better than Alan Roberts who was one place behind her and fifth in the Vet 40 category. Less than a minute behind on 42.59 was Paul Marsh who was 23rd overall and eighth best Vet 40 runner.
THANKS FROM FRANK FOR THE 2008 MARATHON ..... Frank Rooney would like to thank everyone who sponsored him on his London Marathon run which helped him to raise £306.55 for the Breadline Africa charity.
.... AND FOR THE 2009 ONE
The following has just arrived from the organisers: If you are a man or woman who wishes to run in the 2009 race and who has achieved a performance that equals or is faster than the standards listed below, then write to us at the address below giving proof of performance i.e. a photocopy of the results (which must have been achieved in 2007 or 2008) and proof of your age i.e. a photocopy of your driving licence or passport.
| MEN 18 - 40 | 2:45:00-3:00:00 | WOMEN 18 - 49 | 3:15:00 -3:45:00 |
| MEN 41 - 59 | sub 3:15:00 | WOMEN 50 - 54 | sub 4:00:00 |
| MEN 60 - 64 | sub 3:30:00 | WOMEN 55 - 59 | sub 4:15:00 |
| MEN 65 - 69 | sub 4:00:00 | WOMEN 60 - 64 | sub 4:30:00 |
| MEN 70+ | sub 5:00:00 | WOMEN 65 - 69 | sub 5:30:00 |
| WOMEN 70+ | sub 6:30:00 |
The closing date for receipt of letters applying for a Good For Age entry form is 22 August 2008. If your performance is accepted by our scrutinisers you will be sent a GFA entry form. All forms will be dispatched from the London Marathon office by 29 August. If you have not received your form by this date you must call the London Marathon office on 0207 902 0200. The completed GFA form and payment must arrive at the London Marathon office no later than 5 September 2008. We do strongly recommend you send it registered post.
Good for Age, Flora London Marathon, PO Box 3460. London SE1 0YA
THREE PEAKS CHALLENGE After an initial meeting, plans are well in hand of the Three Peaks Challenge which will take place over the weekend of 9/10 August. The group will travel northwards on the day before the event and will return following the ascent of Snowden. A maximum of twelve people, irrespective of ability, will be able to take part, with the aim of the challenge being to raise £3000 for the British Heart Foundation in memory of Phil Tottle. Further information on the challenge are available from Richard Taylor on richard.taylor@nexuscommunity.org
BETTY WILLETT MEMORIAL RACE Derek Peverill took the second Vet 60 placing and 34th overall on the Betty Willett 10km race in Luton covering the distance in 45m 38s, whilst Paul March claimed 28th place overall in 44.14 as 9th Vet 40. Keeping it in the family, Ben Marsh won the fun run ahead of some 15 other competitors.
FRIDAY NIGHT IN BLISWORTH Alan Roberts spent Friday evening in Blisworth competing on their annual 5km race where he finished 45th overall and 8th in the Vet 40 category with a time of 20m 11s.
RACE FOR LIFE John Gibson, in his capacity as Waddesdon Race for Life Co-ordinator, would like to thank everyone from the club who helped in any way to make the 2008 event so successful. Members were involved in a variety of activities including course setting-up, road closure management, car parking, crowd control and general marshalling.
CHINNOR AND MARLOW The Icknield Way Half Marathon based in Chinnor saw Alan Roberts come out top of the trio from the Vale finishing in 27th place on 103m 28s with Roger Kirk getting 44th spot with 109.48 and John Gibson three places back with a time of 111.15. In the 10km section of the race, Helen Steptoe finished in 111th place in 61.30. The action moved to Marlow the following day where Paul Gregory came fifth overall and top Vet 50 on the five mile race in 26.51 with Martyn Summerfield coming 17th and second Vet 40 in a time of 28.14
BUCKS CHAMPIONSHIPS The tally of gold medals for club entrants at the Bucks County Championships was fifteen with the Under 20 contingent getting the most through Ben Gregory (who equalled the Championship Best Performance in the pole vault), Frank Rooney, Alex MacDonald, Adam Waind, Alex Rose and Andrew Bleakley with senior golds going to Dan Barber, Phillippa Prescott and Rosanna Iannone. Sam Ridgway took wins in both shot and discus, whilst his fellow thrower Stef Aquilino also gained a CBP in the hammer. William Herd and Karl Goodman managed to win their sprints, and Gemma Collis took the triple jump title, which left a fine performance from Patrick Taylor in the U.13 1500m to complete the tally.
WARM NIGHT IN WATFORD Sisters Zoe and Gemma Collis competed in the triple jump at the latest Watford Open meeting with Gemma being the best U17 after a 9.63m effort and Zoe taking the U15 honours after an 8.07m jump and was also the leading U15 with her discus throw of 15.93m. Sam Ridgway was third best U17 in that event managing a 25.80m throw. In the BMC part of the event Rosanna Iannone clocked 4m 40.96s in the 1500 A race.
FAST PACE AT SILVERSTONE Martyn Summerfield was the only club member competing on the Silverstone 10km race where he gained a personal best time for the distance of 34m 35s, finishing 19th overall from a field of over 1000 runners.
BRITISH UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS Lucy Hodgins competing for Cardiff took seventh place in the high jump at the British University Championships in Bedford with a leap of 1.65m whilst Matt George in Brunel colours took a similar placing with a 58.25m effort in the javelin
BANK HOLIDAY IN CHESHAM ..... The annual Pednor 5 meeting saw the Vale women come second in the team standings thanks to Lia Marshall in 8th place on 34m 55s ahead of Julia Austin who was one place behind and top Vet 35 on 35.31 with Rachel Card finishing 12th and first junior on 36.30. The men had to be content with fourth in the team category being led home by Andy Rolt in 8th spot and second Vet 40 on 29.48 with Henry Edwardes-Evans taking 11th with 29.57, Nick Taylor 13th on 30.37. Richard Taylor was next up in 34.55 (51st o/a) followed by Alan Roberts with 35.28 (60th), James Benjamin (62nd on 35.44) and Steve Benjamin in 77th with 37.19. Prior to the race was the Pednor 5 walk where Alan Roberts came 10th overall, top Vet 40 and fourth best Bucks walker with a time of 53.26 and by competing in both events he claimed third place in the Pednor Challenge.
.....AND AT THORNBOROUGH Bank Holiday morning saw three members running the Thornborough 10 with Ian Thompson coming out best in fifth place and third Vet in a time of 67.10 whilst Paul Marsh claimed 11th spot (5th Vet) with 71.57 and Alan Roberts on the first of his three races during the day came 14th overall and 8th Vet in 73.17.
MEN START IN WALTHAMSTOW The senior men started their league season with a trip to north London and the first events of the day saw pole vault victories for both Ben Gregory and Derek Turner before Dan Smith continued the trend with a superb run in the 400m hurdles; the first of his four victories during the day. Dan Barber also fared well with two wins and just missed out in two more events. From the four teams competing, the Vale took a promising third place although very close behind the second place and were not a million miles away from the winners.
POOR TURN OUT AS UNDER 20 CAMPAIGN BEGINS After the promising number of competitors out in recent years, new team manager Jamie Johnson was disappointed that there were not more juniors competing at the first round of the National Junior League at High Wycombe. Andrew Bleakley was the best long jumper of the day, whilst from the women Jo Hunter (200m and 400m), Gemma Murphy (100m) and Frances Hodgins (long jump) were all victorious as the team managed fifth place.
DEREK AND THE DAFFODILS Derek Peverill took an excellent 56th place and was probably top Vet 60 on the 1000 strong Great Daffodil Run at Kelmarsh in Northants where he completed the 10km course in exactly 46 minutes. The Great Western 5 over a multi-terrain course saw him manage 55th place in 36m 17s; again with a leading place in the Vet 60 category.
THURSDAY AT CHARLTON A four mile race at Charlton on Otmoor on a Thursday evening attracted Paul Gregory who finished fifth overall and top Vet 50 in 21m 32s with Martyn Summerfield taking 18th place from the field of over 350 in a time of 22.30 and Alan Roberts coming home in 100th spot in 26.15
TOP OF THE CLASS AT MILLFIELD Ben Gregory won the Under 20 decathlon at the Multi Events meeting at Millfield School in Somerset with a score of 6649 points; the total coming from ten consistent scores rather than anything too spectacular. Nevertheless he managed a personal best in the 1500m and a wind assisted one with 11.7s over 100m.
EASTERN OPENER AT LEE VALLEY The first match of the Eastern Young Athletes League saw a young squad competing on the superb Lee Valley track in north London. Although the girls made up a greater proportion of the team, it was the boys with more “A” string victories as Partick Taylor won the U.13 1500m race with Will Gurton taking the 800m and Stefano Aquilino the discus for the Under 15s. Charlotte Smith won the U.17 discus albeit just 10cm ahead of Zoe Magnall who was the “B” string winner. In addition there were plenty of personal bests particularly from the middle distance runners and from the jumpers.
GOOD TURN OUT AT WATFORD A final opportunity to get some competition before the start of the league season encouraged a number of members to compete at the second Watford Open Meeting of the year. Ed Mawdsley was busy in the U.15 category in 100m (14.22s), 200m (28.61) and 400m with a 61.88 time. Dan Barber led the sprinters with an 11.79 time over 100m and then managed to best senior time of the night over 200m with 23.55 and there was a close battle in the 100m with Adam Waind finishing one hundredth of a second faster that Jay Doublet in 12.08. The veterans were out in force with Jim Rayner being the top Vet 60 in the javelin with 26.15m whilst Steve George led the Vet 50s with 27.70m just ahead of Gary Brazier (who also ran a 100m in 14.57s) on 25.89m. Michael Reilly was the second Vet 40 over 400m in 71.02 and also clocked 14.20 for the 100m. Over 800m Catherine Appleby managed a 2.22.56 with Anna Madry doing a 2.35.48 with the 1500m races seeing Tommy Atkins fastest of the club runners on 4.34.27 with James Ferguson on 43.45.20, Charlie Mead with 4.52.61 and Louise Card on 5.02.76.
TRACK ETIQUETTE
Members are reminded of the rules regarding track discipline and etiquette particularly on training nights. With more people coming to the club as the weather improves, it is vital that members comply with the rules which can be found on the notice board in the club hut. A little thought may save you getting hit by a javelin or hammer or upsetting a sprinter.
ALDBURY CROSS COUNTRY After 5.3 miles of multi-terrain running around Aldbury and Tring, John Gibson was the best Vale performer with 82nd place in 43m 33s with Derek Peverill just five seconds behind in 84th spot.
JUST DUSAN WITH THE JAVELIN Dusan Lonc was the sole member out at the Jav Fest meeting in Milton Keynes where he came 8th in the senior mens competition recording 38.27m which was his only legitimate throw.
FLITWICK 10km Alan Roberts led the club contingent home in the Flitwick 10km road race with 135th place (38th Vet 40) from over 850 entries finishing in 42m 39s. Sharon Maisey was another six minutes back on 48.44 to be 9th Vet 35 and 335th overall, whilst Sam Ridgway was 401st in 50.34 and fourth in the Under 17 category.
WADDESDON DETAILS NOW AVAILABLE
Details of the the Waddesdon Manor Evening 5km road race can now be found in Upcoming Events. The event will start from the front of the manor at 7.30pm on Wednesday 16 July and will use the regular out and back route. With entries limited to 350, an early entry is advised. More information here
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STAR:TRACK
The Easter holiday Star:Track scheme attracted over 30 participants for the four day course and proved very popular despite some cold weather. Although several of those taking part are already club members, quite a few others have already been along to club training sessions.
Further Star:Track schemes will be held during the summer starting on Mondays 28 July and 11 August.
LONDON MARATHON SUCCESSES The Flora London Marathon saw some superb efforts from club members with Colin Steptoe again being the highest placed coming 315th overall and top of his age category with a time of 2h 45m 10s. Also having a storming run was Mick O Connor who came 1328th and 66th in his veteran grouping finishing just 3m 40s past the three hour mark. Frank Rooney was in close contention coming second in the Male 18 class and 1433rd overall with a superb time of 3.05.24 whilst Charlotte Steptoe who was 65th female and 15th in her age grouping with a time of 3.12.46. London regular Alan Roberts finished in 6140th place (1220th in his vet class) on 3.42.55 and completing the club runners and the Steptoe family trio was Helen Steptoe in 5.50.43 with 9353rd overall and 557th in her class.
GOOD TURN OUT FOR THE FIRST WATFORD OPEN The first evening event in the Watford Open series attracted a number of members who needed a good early season run out. Gary Brazier and Steve George continued their decathlon preparations by running 100m (14.51s and 15.48s respectively) and long jumping 3.67m and 3.55m before the performances were reversed in the shot with Steve getting 9.97m and Gary 9.21m with the 6kg shots. Jim Rayner put the 5kg some 8.36m before recording a 3.43m long jump. The only other sprinter out was Tasha Cornwell who ran a 14.30s 100m before sister Charlie managed her 800m in 2.46.77 and brother James ran well for a time of 2.08.49. There were some highly promising times amongst the 800m runners with Patrick Taylor getting a 2.24.24, which was not far off the U.13 club record, Edward Mawdsley a 2.28.34 and Rory Seekins managing 2.35.82, plus a 3.67m long jump, and from the senior ranks Mark Fallaize stopped the clock at 2.05.72 and Steve Hutson recorded 2.09.17. Rosanna Iannone was the second lady in the 3000m (Phillippa Prescott was the fastest) with a time of 10.32.11
BEDFORD OPEN With the demise of recent meetings, another chance for an event is the Bedford Open on Saturday 19 April. There are events for Under 11s through to seniors and details can be found under www.biggleswadeac.org.uk Hurry, as entries close very soon.
DECLAN AND DAVID IN DECENT FORM Just prior to their good runs in the relays at Aldershot, Declan Hamblin had taken 24th place from a field well in excess of 200 on the Victoria Park 5 in North London with a time of 27m 40s as well as taking a fine third overall (27.56) from a similar sized field on the London Heathside 5, whilst David Maisey was out on the Paddock Wood Half Marathon where he came 36th overall from a huge 1700 strong entry to finish with a time of 80.04
SOUTHERN RELAYS A team of twelve senior men from the club competed in the Southern 12 Stage Relays at Aldershot coming home in 32nd place overall. The runners alternated between legs of 8km and 5km with Declan Hamblin (28m 52s) being fastest of the long run with Charlie May on 14m 39s being quickest on the shorter leg. The team was: Declan Hamblin (28.52), Richard Taylor (15.50), Martyn Summerfield (30.22), Charlie May (14.49), David Maisey (35.13), James Ferguson (15.19), Frank Rooney (32.52), Ian Thompson (16.42), Mick O Connor (33.39), Paul Marsh (18.26), Henry Edwardes-Evans (32.34) and Alan Roberts (16.45).
OPENS CANCELLED BECAUSE OF SNOW Heavy overnight snow caused the cancellation of two events which younger runners had entered, with both the Crystal Palace and Watford Opens were called off for safety reasons.
SANDY 10 After ten miles of running in the Bedfordshire countryside, Alan Roberts finished the Sandy 10 in 76th overall and 32nd Vet 40 with a time of 70m 14s.
THROWS OPEN Sam Ridgway got his field season going at the Ilford Open Throws Meeting where competing in the Under 17 category he took third places in both hammer (33.33m) and discus (29.62m) as well as a fourth in the shot with an 8.69m effort.
BRACKNELL YOUNG ATHLETES OPEN In most years the Bracknell Open Meeting attracts a host of club members, but this time just three braved the cold and wet conditions. Rory Seekins ran well to be second in the Under 13 600m with 1m 51.5 as well as getting sixth in the long jump with 3.65m. Charlotte Magnall took second in both discus and shot as an Under 15 recording 23.75m for the discus and a 7.51m put, whilst sister Zoe managed sixth place in the U.17 discus with a 25.58m effort.
POPULAR FORMAT PRODUCES PLENTY OF WINNERS A new eight race format for the Aylesbury Primary Schools Cross Country Championships at Wing proved popular with athletes as six of the races were won by club members. In the small schools section there was success for the Alder family with both Erin and Bradley being victorious as was Rebecca Rodnight. From the larger schools Siobhan Mottram and Kieran Lindars came out on top as did Orie Amadi who fought off a tremendous challenge from Alice Hassall. Also with top three finishers were Sarah Ireland, Sophie Field and Natalie Thompson. Results can be found in the Schools Liaison section.
BRITISH MASTERS
Alan Roberts competed in the British Masters Cross Country Championships near Banbury and finished 35th in the Over 40 group covering the 8km course in 38m 49s. In the Over 70 category Peter Thomas claimed 11th place with a time of 36.39.
PHIL TOTTLE
It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Phil Tottle who passed away after collapsing at the end of the Maidenhead 10 on Good Friday. He never regained consciousness and died peacefully after the life support equipment was turned off. Phil had been a member of the club for over ten years and had competed in road and cross country races with considerable success. He regular achieved top ten finishes in county championship races and after becoming a Vet 40 he was a regular winner of that category on both road and over the country. TRACK SEASON STARTS IN WELWYN BUT NOT ABINGDON
Early season track meetings start around Easter and the Herts Phoenix one at Welwyn Garden City attracted three members with Will Gurton having a superb 800m to come second in 2m 15.4s with brother Dan close behind coming fifth in 2.21.0. Tommy Atkins competed in the 1500m race coming fourth on 4.51.7 The Radley Open meeting was cancelled at short notice due to the bad weather conditions, but not before several members had made their way to Abingdon in anticipation of their first competition of the season.
MAIDENHEAD TEN
Members efforts on the Maidenhead 10 were overshadowed by the collapse of Phil Tottle, but for what they are worth Paul Gregory took fourth place and leading Vet from some 1200 runners in a time of 55m 27s with Reece Street getting round in 57.58 for 23rd spot and Martyn Summerfield not far behind in 35th place on 59.37; the trio managing second place in the club team competition. Colin Steptoe was third Vet 50 and 48th overall stopping the clocks on 60.47 whilst James Ferguson was the best Under 20 athlete on 62.15 in 63rd place. Second best Under 20 was Frank Rooney on 66.08 (120th o/a) just 18 seconds up on Charlotte Steptoe – her time of 66.26 being the fourth best from the senior ladies. Derek Peverill claimed 335th overall on 75.19 as fifth Vet 60 with fellow veteran Roger Kirk ending up in 595th place on 84.03. They were split by Sharon Maisey who came home in 432nd place on 78.49.
EASTER IN FRANCE
Alan Roberts spent the Easter period in Clermont Ferrand where he was competing in the World Masters Championships. The World Cross Country championships saw him finish as 28th Over 40 and second Brit after an eight km. run which he managed in 33m 24s. Another second British performance came in the indoor 3000m race where he came 12th in the B final and 28th overall in 11.38.05. A day or so later it was the World Half Marathon where he came 63rd in his Over 40 category in 90.08 which again was the second best performance by a British athlete.
RISBOROUGH FESTIVAL
Once again the club will be promoting and playing the major part in the organisation of the annual Risborough Festival 10km road race on Sunday 6 July. More details and the entry form can be found in the Upcoming Events section.
BATH HALF
Mick O Connor continued his London Marathon preparations with a creditable 280th place overall from 15000 starters on the Bath Half Marathon with a time of 85m 06s
INTER COUNTIES CROSS COUNTRY
The ten members competing in Bucks colours at the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships in Nottingham came up against some very talented opposition from throughout the country with two of them, Phillippa Prescott and Katy Partington being the leading county runners in their events – the former also coming 76th senior women overall, and the latter being 101st at Under 13 level. Declan Hamblin was second Bucks and 143rd overall for the senior men whilst for the junior men Nick Day came 174th and fourth Bucks. Second from the county contingent came Louise Card, who was 98th junior woman, and in the age group below (Under 17) Catherine Appleby finished 168th. There were three members in the U.15 Boys event with Will Gurton coming 154th, Tommy Atkins 186th and Dan Gurton 223rd overall to be third, fourth and fifth Bucks competitors respectively as they brought the county squad into 26th place in the team standings. Rachel McCann completed the Vale line-up with 242nd place and 7th Bucks runner in the U.13 Girls competition.
IRONBRIDGE HALF MARATHON
Both Danny Wizard and Ian Thompson competed on a tough half marathon at Ironbridge with much of the second half of the race being uphill. Ian finished 28th and fourth Vet 45 from the 550 strong field in a time of 89m 09s whilst Danny was a further three places back and third Vet 50 in 89.40.
NATIONAL SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY
After their performances at county schools level, some nine members were selected for the Bucks teams to travel to Liverpool for the national schools cross country. Will Gurton was second best Bucks athlete in the Junior Boys race coming 107th overall, some thirty places ahead of Tommy Atkins as fourth Bucks with Dan Gurton (6th Bucks) being 267th as the team finished in 29th place. Katy Partington was the only representative in the Junior Girls race coming 184th overall and sixth best from the county although her team did finish in 12th place from the 44 competing. There were no members in the Inter Boys team and just Catherine Appleby in the equivalent girls race where she finished 177th and fourth in the county and at senior level Louise Card came 141st from the 309 finishers with sister Rachel being 224th as they were fourth and sixth best from Bucks helping the team to 19th spot. Both James Ferguson and James Cornwell were in the senior squad as they came 294th (5th Bucks) and 309th (6th Bucks) respectively.
RUNNING ROUND SILVERSTONE
The Half Marathon race round the Silverstone circuit attracted almost 5000 runners with just one, Alan Roberts, entered under the Vale banner. He finished in 90m 26s to be 210th overall and 27th in the Vet 40 category.
FINCHLEY 20
A popular event as a final race before the London marathon is the Finchley 20 in north London where Charlotte Steptoe came 85th overall, from a field of around 500, and fourth senior woman in 2h 20m 47s.
HALTON RELAYS
The primary schools relays at Halton saw the club put on another succeesful event which attracted a total of 44 entries from schools in both Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The winning team in both the boys and girls sections were from Elangeni School in Amersham with Wendover coming second in the girls event; their team including four members, Eliza Taswell-Fryer, Sophie Bennewith, Orie Amadi and Siobhan Mottram. The organising team would like to thank all marshals and helpers for their efforts in arranging this event. Full results can be found in the Club Development section.
BEN COMES SIXTH IN PARIS
Competing in a British vest for the first time, Ben Gregory had a promising debut taking sixth place overall and third best British competitor in the Under 20 and Under 23 Combined Events match in Paris. His 60m sprint took 7.60s before reaching a p.b. in the long jump with 6.74m and then getting another best in the shot with 12.67m; the leading British performance on the day. A high jump of 1.80m also provided Ben with another best before starting Day 2 with an 8.70s time for the 60m hurdles. A nervous attempt at pole vault saw him just clear 4.30m leaving him with a 1000m run round the 180m indoor track which he managed in 2.53.13 which was again the top effort from a British competitor. His final points total was 4956 which ensured the team took second place behind the French and well clear of the Spanish.
A WEEKEND OF HALF MARATHONS
With three local half marathons on the calendar for the weekend the score was Reading 0, Berkhamsted 0, Milton Keynes 4 with the four members taking part in the 2100 strong field for the Nike MK Half. Martyn Summerfield came a creditable 21st on 77m 49s with Reece Street being three places behind (and sixth vet 40) on 78.28. Charlotte Steptoe got round in 88.57 for 125th overall and third senior woman whilst Alan Roberts was 31st in the Vet 40 category and 170th o/a with 91.11. Although no members did the main Berkhamsted race, Frank Rooney took third place in the five mile event and was also the top Under 20 runner finishing the course in 29.13 with Derek Peverill being on 36.12 as 22nd finisher and top Vet 60.
FIRST AIDERS WANTED
The club needs people to take responsibility for first aid on training nights. Anyone who is interested should contact Graham Gorman on 01296 420818 and training can be given if necessary.
A MESSAGE FROM THE RETIRING CHAIRMAN
I would like to thank the Club's members for the engraved mats base,
whisky glasses and single malt presented to me after the 2008 AGM which
are very much appreciated. THE A.G.M. MARKS THE END OF AN ERA
A ten year reign as Chairman came to an end at the Annual General Meeting with John Gibson stepping down from the post, although he will still be involved with organising some of the club road races. His tremendous efforts were acknowledged with a presentation made by Club President Vic Phillips. Graham Gorman takes over the chairmanship with a number of urgent challenges to face particularly in terms of membership, coaching and communications. NOT OVERDOING IT
Under instructions not to overdo things before his international appearance, Ben Gregory came up with a couple of steady performances at the English Indoor Under 20 Championships in Birmingham. He finished sixth in his 60m hurdles heat in 8.66s and then took eighth place in the pole vault final with a 4.50m effort. The only other entry from the club for these prestigious championships for U.15, U.17 and U.20 age groups was Andrew Bleakley who did not start.
WINSLOW 10km
There were some good performances from club members amongst the 250 starters on the Winslow Charity 10km race with Andy Rolt taking fifth overall and second Vet 40 in a time of 36m 44s with Phil Tottle finishing 15 seconds behind him in sixth place (third Vet 40). Fourth Vet 40 and eighth overall was Henry Edwardes-Evans in 37.39 with Frank Rooney just missing out on a top ten placing; his 11th overall took 38.34. Alan Roberts, fresh from the National Cross Country came 26th in 41.32 whilst Derek Peverill claimed a Vet 60 victory and 52nd o/a in 45.19. Sharon Maisey was third in the female Vet 35 class in 62ns place, with Leah Chadbone coming home in 55.37 for 136th place.
JUST ONE AT THE NATIONALS
Alan Roberts was the only member competing at Alton Towers in the National Cross Country Championships where he finished in 941st spot from over 1300 starters in the senior race covering the 12km course in 48m 36s. From a local perspective, congratulations also to Chiltern AC as their Under 13 Boys took third place in the team standings.
A CHANCE TO EARN SOME MONEY
The club has been asked to coach and select the Aylesbury athletics team to take part in the Bucks Youth Games in June. There will be sessions for Year 7 pupils on Tuesdays for four weeks starting on 29 April (4.00 to 5.30pm) on our track and for Year 5 and 6 pupils on Wednesdays for five weeks beginning on 30 April at the same time and same place. Anyone interested in coaching needs to contact Mike Wise as soon as possible.
SPORTSHALL REGIONAL FINALS
A group of young athletes formed part of the Bucks Under 13 team which travelled to Portsmouth to take part in the regional finals of the UK Sporthall Athletics Championships. Patrick Taylor was the only boys from the club and his event was the standing long jump where he recorded a best of 1.85m helping the team to fifth place overall. The girls team also took fifth place as Charlotte Magnall was third best in the shot with 8.37m whilst it was a close thing between Natalie and Sophie Thompson in the speed bounce with Natalie managing 69 to her sister’s 68. Most of the other members were jumping with Sarah Ireland being 8th in the vertical jump on 42cm, Tasha Cornwell (5.74m)and Anna Dwyer (5.40m) coming 7th and 10th respectively in the standing triple jump with Charlie Cornwell (4th) on 2.08m and Rebecca Rodnight (9th) with 2.00m in the standing long jump. On the longer races Tasha came sixth in the two lapper, Sophie and Natalie both 9th in the four lap race and Anna a creditable third in the long six lap event.
The fifth placed Under 15 team included Zoe Magnall and Taylor Parrott; the former being a superb third in the shot (9.02m) and fifth in the vertical jump with 52cm to go with 13th in the two lap run, whilst Taylor came tenth in her four lap race and then 11th in both the shot (6.45m) and standing long jump (2.02m).
ROSANNA IS LEADING LADY AT HARDWICK
With some 250 brave souls competing on the Hardwick Cross Country with its infamous crossing of the stream, Rosanna Iannone came away with the top ladies award and 38th overall in a time of 41.12s for the six mile course. Ahead of her were Andy Rolt in ninth place overall and fourth Vet 40 in 36.23, Mick O’Connor in 39.06 as fourth Vet 50 (23rd overall) and James Ferguson who was 32nd in 40.38. Alan Roberts finished in 61st spot on 43.45 whilst Sam Ridgway ended up 105th in 47.31.
FOUR WINNERS AT HALTON
The final Halton primary schools race of the winter saw Bradley Alder keep his unbeaten four year record having won all 16 races at the venue. Also keeping up the family tradition was sister Erin who claimed another victory in the Year 4 race with other winners on the day being Alice Wright and Orie Amadi in Years 5 and 6 respectively. Other top ranking runners in the Year 6 events were Kieran Lindars in second and Sophie Bennewith in fourth whilst Jamie Mottram, Nick Dean and William Davison were just outside the top ten. Adam Kellett, Max Smith, Ellese Blackman and Sophie McCann all had leading places in the Year 5 races with Elliot Saunders and Andrew Bowen also featuring, whilst in the younger age group Siobham Mottram, Eliza Taswell-Fryer and Ellie Picillo were all leading performers in the girls race with Olivia Dickson not far behind. For the boys Tommy Mottram, Daniel Lindars and William Ralston all managed top twelve spots. Once again Courtney Blackman appears to be the only Year 3 member running and she again did well for seventh place.
FRANK ON THE BREADLINE
Frank Rooney is probably the youngest club member to compete on the Flora London Marathon and apart from competing on the event he is also looking for sponsorship for the Breadline Africa charity. This charity helps deprived communities in Africa by bringing nutrition, health, education and opportunities that mean hope for a better future. Anyone able to help with the sponsorship should speak to either Frank, Lesley or Steve Rooney at the club or on 01296 436793.
END OF TERM REPORT
The final standings in the Chiltern League Cross Country series showed two individual winners after the five rounds with Tim Jones taking the Vet 50 title and Helen Bennewith being the leading Vet 45. Apart from them, other members mentioned in the overall charts, where the best four scores count, are: INDOOR QUADRATHON
An indoor quadrathon at the NIA in Birmingham was attempted by five junior athletes from the club with considerable success. The four events, shot, high jump, long jump and 60m, gave the girls their first taste of indoor athletics. Rebecca Rodnight was the best performer in the shot with a 4.89m effort with Sarah Ireland (4.63) and Hannah Elliott (4.52) not far behind. Sarah and Hannah both cleared 1.20m in the high jump with Julie Desmette on 1.17m and an under par (having competed in the Wing cross country the day before) Alice Hassall with 1.14m. Rebecca came out best in the long jump with 3.63m just ahead of Julie on 3.50 and less than half a second covered all five over the 60m sprint with Sarah getting the fastest time of 9.37s.
WOKINGHAM HALF MARATHON
Alan Roberts and Roger Kirk, both regular competitors on the Wokingham Half Marathon, were the only members amongst the 2000 strong entry on this years event. Alan finished in 384th place in 91m 05s with Roger coming home in 977th spot in 107.39
MUDDY END TO CHILTERN LEAGUE CAMPAIGN
The final round of the Chiltern Cross Country League took place over the hills and through the mud of Wing and even if the support from some of the younger age groups did not reach the heights of the last few years, there were still some decent performances. Orie Amadi and Bradley Alder claimed top ten positions in their Under 11 events with Tommy Atkins continuing his recent good form with sixth in the U.15 race and Catherine Appleby, also sixth, being the leading Under 17 runner. At senior level, Helen Bennewith and Tim Jones collected victories in their respective categories whilst a storming run from Liz Tapper brought her a fine third place in the senior women’s race.
INTERNATIONAL SELECTION NOW CONFIRMED
An embargo on the news over the last couple of weeks has meant we have been unable to publicise the fact that Ben Gregory has been chosen to represent Great Britain and Northern Ireland in an international combined events match in Paris at the beginning of March. Ben is one of four Under 20 men from the country who will be competing against France and Spain and his selection comes after his success in the recent Sheffield combined events championships.
MASTERFUL TEAM WIN
The Over 50 race at the South of England Masters Championships in Ruislip saw the club team of Paul Gregory, Tim Jones and Colin Steptoe come away with a superb victory. Paul led the squad home with fifth place overall in 35m 08s just 28 seconds up on Tim who came sixth. Colin recorded 19th overall and 4th Vet 55 in 37.52. John Gibson also completed the race taking 109th position in 45.10. In the Over 40 race, Alan Roberts finished in 98th place in 42.12 as the only club member in that category.
CELTIC CUP
Ben Gregory competed for Wales in the Celtic Cup Indoor Athletics match in Cardiff where he took fourth place overall with a clearance of 4.40m, only being beaten by one other Under 20 athlete plus a couple of seniors, one of them just beating him on countback.
TRIO FINISH WATFORD HALF MARATHON
Amongst the 2000 entries on the Watford Half Marathon were three from the Vale with Dan Wizard coming out best in 143rd place (6th Vet 50) on 88m 03s. Alan Roberts finished in 278th spot and 66th Vet 40 on 93.57 whilst Derek Peverill claimed the fifth Vet 60 place and 579th overall in 101.30
SO CLOSE TO THE GOLDS
A gold medal at the Bucks Schools Cross Country Championships at Hughenden eluded members although there were some near things with Tommy Atkins, Patrick Taylor managing to get silver medals and Rachel McCann taking a bronze. Nevertheless the day proved a success for the Aylesbury High School girls who won all four team titles on offer with eight club members playing their part in the school’s triumph.
SPORTSHALL SELECTION
Following the recent trials, a number of club members have been selected for the Buckinghamshire team to compete in the regional finals of the Norwich Union Sporthall National competition. In the U.13 category those invited to compete in Portsmouth are: Tasha and Charlie Cornwell, Natalie and Sophie Thompson, Rebecca Rodnight, Anna Dwyer, Sarah Ireland, Rachel McCann and Charlotte Magnall with Patrick Taylor being the only U.13 boy selected, whilst at Under 15 level we have Zoe Magnall, Taylor Parrott, Dan and Will Gurton and Tommy Atkins.
WELSH WINNER
With a clearance of 1.65m Lucy Hodgins claimed the Senior Welsh Indoor High Jump title in the Welsh Indoor Centre in Cardiff with a leap some 5cm better than her nearest challenger. JUST ONE ON THE SOUTHERN
Whilst the club managed to get ten athletes last year to compete in the South of England Cross Country Championships in the depths of Norfolk, there was just one runner this time for the relatively easy trip to Parliament HIll Fields in North London for the largest event in the southern cross country calendar. Not surprisingly, that one member was Alan Roberts who finished in 690th place in a time of 73m 28s.
DEREK AND FRED
From an entry of almost a thousand runners, Derek Peverill was the only club member competing on the Fred Hughes 10 in St. Albans where he finished 326th overall and 7th Vet 60 with a time of 77m 34s.
WENDOVER MULTI TERRAIN
The annual race of around five miles through Wendover Woods attracted an entry of 300 with Martyn Summerfield being the best Vale runner in eighth place in 31m 52s and under the rules of the event he was also second Vet. James Ferguson was almost two minutes behind in 17th position with 33.51 whilst Mick O'Connor got round in 36.04 for 30th place and sixth Super Vet! Completing the quartet was Ian Thompson with 36.44 for the 36th spot and 9th Vet.
SILVERS TO JO AND LUCY AT SOUTHERN INDOORS
The South of England Indoor Championships at the Lee Valley facility saw a few members in competition with Jo Hunter leading the way with second place in her Under 20 800m heat in 2m 23.96s before going even faster in the final to come away with a superb second place in 2.17.35 only being beaten by a girl she had headed off in the semi final. Lucy Hodgins also took a second place in her U.20 high jump where she recorded a 1.70m best. Andrew Bleakley came fourth in the long jump final with a 6.58m leap having missed out on a 60m final after he finished fourth in the heat with 7.42s. Steve Hutson made a return to competition with a sixth place in his senior 800m heat in 2.09.95. In one of the final events of the championships, Rosanna Iannone managed a fourth place in the senior 1500m with a time of 4.47.83. FOUR WINS AT HALTON
Bradley and Erin Alder were amongst the winners at the latest local primary schools cross country competition at Halton with Bradley getting his third consecutive victory in the Year 6 race with Kieren Lindars finishing well in fifth with Jamie Mottram and Nicholas Dean just outside the top ten. Erin collected her first victory of the series winning in great style with Siobham Mottram going well in third. The Year 6 girls race again saw members dominate with Orie Amadi, Natalie Thompson and Sophie Bennewith claiming the leading three places with Jasmine Bernard, Julie Desmette, Emily Partington and Sophie Field all being close behind. Alice Wright again dominated the Year 5 race with another fine run, whilst the rapidly improving Ethan Luck was the top member in the Year 4 event managing fifth pace.
ON THE VERGE OF INTERNATIONAL SELECTION
After leading the England Under 20 Combined Events Championships in Sheffield after the first day, Ben Gregory eventually finished in fourth place overall which puts him in line for selection for the British team for a forthcoming international match in Paris. On the first day of the event Ben picked himself up from 11th place after the 60m to lead after four events thanks to the top performance in pole vault and some decent efforts in long jump and shot. On Day 2 Ben still led after a slightly disappointing 60m hurdles, but a 1.71m high jump dropped him to fifth before recovering with a 2m 49.27 effort over 1000m. Matt George, on his way to another club, hence entered as Unattached, finished in 17th place in the senior heptathlon at the same meeting.
GOOD EFFORTS FROM DEPLETED SQUAD
A badly depleted squad meant that eighth place overall was the best the club could muster on Round 4 of the Chiltern Cross Country League in Slough. Nevertheless there were some excellent runs with Catherine Appleby and Liz Tapper continuing their good form with third place in their respective races whilst Helen Bennewith was the second best Vet 45 runner. Tim Jones was the top Vet 50 and down at Under 11 level, Bradley Alder had a storming run to finish fourth with the only other top ten finish going to Patrick Taylor in the U.13 race.
SOUTHERN INDOOR COMBINED EVENTS
In the Junior Men section of the SEAA Indoor Combined Events Championships at the Lee Valley Indoor Centre, Ben Gregory took third place with 3389 points from the five events with his highest score coming in the 60m hurdles.
LONDON MARATHON ENTRIES
The club entries for the London Marathon on 13th April have been awarded to Mick O’Connor, Alan Roberts and Frank Rooney.
THANKS TO ALL HELPERS
With the club taking on the major part of the organisation for the county cross country championships, the Bucks AA would like to thank everyone who helped in any way to make the event so successful. Particular mentions go to Colin Steptoe and John Gibson for their efforts in arranging the course, to Roger Kirk for organising a superb team of marshals and to John Appleby for managing the catering team..
BUCKS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Four individual and two team gold medals were gained by club members at the Bucks and Beds Cross Country Championships held at Halton. Katy Partington was the only junior to claim a gold as she won the Under 13 Girls race, whilst the others came thanks to Phillippa Prescott as the leading senior woman, Helen Bennewith who was the top Vet 45 athlete and Tim Jones who took the honours in the Vet 50 race. The senior women won a team gold through Phillippa Prescott, Rosanna Iannone and Liz Tapper who were the first three over the line in their race whilst the veteran men, Tim Jones, Phil Tottle, Andy Rolt and Colin Steptoe, were clear winners in their category. The only other juniors to get medals were Catherine Appleby as second Under 17 and James Ferguson as third Under 20.
2008 A YEAR OF CHALLENGES
As the club enters the New Year it faces a number of challenges particularly in terms of reversing a decline in membership and then getting our members to compete for the club in both cross country as well as in track and field. So for this summer we will have the Under 20 team still competing in the National Junior League, whilst the younger athletes have withdrawn from the National Young Athletes League in favour of the Eastern YAL, and the future of the men’s team in the Southern League remains uncertain. NEW YEARS EVE IN ELY
On his first event for over two months, Derek Peverill completed 2007 coming home as fifth Vet 60 on the Ely New Years Eve 10km in a time of 45m 23s
BOXING DAY RACES
The annual Boxing Day races through the town centre provided another exciting race with the winner, Oliver Howton coming from Swansea Harriers who was ten seconds clear of his nearest challenger. Club members who fared particularly well were Andy Rolt who collected the Kirk Clifford Trophy as the leading club member, and Rosanna Iannone who was again presented with the Ruth Allcock Trophy as the top Vale of Aylesbury female. Other award winners from the club were Rachel Card as leading U.17, Tommy Atkins as the best Under 15 and Grahame Boosey as the top placed Vet 60 .With the senior race having another excellent entry, the junior race was not so well supported, although Will Gurton and Katy Partington won their respective categories. Results are now Here MORE PRIMARY SUCCESSES
The second primary schools cross country of the Halton series saw Many of the familiar faces take the leading places with Alice Hassall claim another Year 6 victory just ahead of Orie Amadi and Sophie Bennewith with other top ten placings going to Sophie and Natalie Thompson, Sophie Field and Emily Partington, whilst a little further back came Beth Wheeler, Rachel Dawe and Zoe Collin and Shannon Blackman. In the Year 5 event, Alice Wright was again victorious just ahead of Marguerite Pope whilst Niamh Holmes came home in sixth spot and Olivia Fox and Sophie McCann were just outside the top ten. Another year down and Erin Alder was the best placed club member taking third place with Eliza Taswell-Fryer, Ellie Picillo, Sadie Fewster and Siobhan Mottram not far behind. Courtney Blackman appears to be the only member in the Year 4 event where she finished in 14th spot. Although there were fewer boys out, Bradley Alder was again the winner of the Year 6 race but things were more competitive in the Year 5 event with Max Smith and Adam Kellett enjoying top ten finishes with Ethan Luck, Elliot Saunders and William Davison in close contention. Finally, the Year 4s saw Daniel Lindars take eighth place just in front of William Ralston and Tommy Mottram.
BEDFORD AND BICESTER
The popular Bedford Half Marathon attracted over 1200 entries with Mick O’Connor just outside the top hundred as he finished 102nd and tenth Vet 45 in 87m 36s with Ian Thompson being just 19 seconds behind him in 107th place coming home as12th in that Vet 45 class. Charlotte Steptoe was 13th best senior woman and 193rd overall as she finished the course in 92.07. Meanwhile in Bicester, the Andy Reading 10km race had a full entry of almost 450 athletes and Alan Roberts finished in 94th spot and 21st Vet 40 on 43.13.
SPORTS HALL
With the county Under 11 sports hall athletics competition being held in Aylesbury the club managed, at last, to field a team, which finished seventh in the overall standings. The all girls squad of Sophie Dickerson, Aisha Northeast, Sophie McCann, Alice Wright, Clodagh Matthews and Niamh Holmes all competed strongly in a variety of events including throws, jumps and runs.
BEN LEADS TEAM TO VICTORY
Ben Gregory led the English team to victory in the schools international pentathlon match in Glasgow where he was third overall and best of the English team on 3492 points with his top scores coming from the 60m hurdles and long jump
SOUTHERN INTER-COUNTIES
A number of members got the call up to represent Bucks in the Southern Inter Counties Cross Country Championships over the hills and mud of Parliament Hill in North London and combined with the horrible weather it made for a difficult day. On his county debut, Patrick Taylor was 52nd overall and sixth best Bucks runner in the Under 13s helping the team to third place. At Under 15 Tommy Atkins appears to have come fifth Bucks and 61st with Josh Duforest being 72nd as the team managed tenth place. Richard Taylor was third best Bucks runner in the Under 23 race, coming home 25th overall as the county side took fifth place. Rachel Card and Catherine Appleby were fourth and fifth respectively from the county as they ended up almost together in positions 51 and 52, the team finishing ninth, and at senior level Lia Marshall got home in 39th place and third Bucks. In the Under 20 Women, Louise Card came third in the county and 22nd overall with the county finishing in fifth spot. Perhaps the best performance of then day came from Katy Partington who was the top Bucks athlete with 16th overall in the U.13 girls event with Rachel McCann getting 54th and third county runner although a lack of athletes meant they only managed ninth in the team standings.
AWARDS PRESENTATION NIGHT
Around 100 members and friends attended the annual awards presentation night at the ex-Services Club in Aylesbury where international 800m athlete James McIlroy answered questions and presented an array of trophies. The list of award winners can be found here CHRISTMAS IS COMING
The Santa 5km road race in Marlow attracted some 200 appropriately dressed runners with Alan Roberts, in his santa outfit, coming eighth overall in a time of 20m 46s.
CHILTERN LEAGUE GETS TO HALFWAY STAGE
The third of this winter’s five Chiltern Cross Country League matches took place around the football pitches of Stockwood Park in Luton and again it was Rosanna Iannone who put in the highest place performance from the club as sixth best senior woman with Will Gurton managing seventh overall in the Under 15 event and a couple of leading veteran efforts from Helen Bennewith as top Vet 45 athlete and Tim Jones who came third in the Vet 50 classification. Despite coming only sixth on the day, the club remains fourth in the overall league table.
ENGLISH SCHOOLS CUP FINAL
Four members represented Aylesbury High School at the national finals of the English Schools Cross Country Cup over a short, but muddy course in St Albans. Katy Partington led the team home taking a fine 13th place overall with Rachel McCann and Anna Dwyer being 61st and 72nd respectively and Charlie Cornwell getting 92nd spot. Once again Tasha Cornwell was on hand as a non-running reserve as the team took tenth place in the junior girls overall standings and Alex Loose from the Intermediate Girls team, that just missed out on qualification for the final, was the team photographer.
MATT COLLECTS SPORTS COUNCIL AWARD
Matt George rounded off a fine 2007 by winning the adult male title presented by the Aylesbury Vale Sports Council in recognition of his tremendous efforts throughout the year.
EYNSHAM 10km
The popular Maylarch Eynsham 10km attracted a field of almost 600 runners and Alan Roberts came home in 86th place overall, and 25th Vet 40, in a time of 40m 12s
SIX ON WOLVERTON FIVE
Six members competed on the cold and windy trip round Willen Lake in Milton Keynes on the Wolverton 5. Martyn Summerfield led the way with 32nd place on 28m 19s ahead of Frank Rooney who was sixth best Under 20 and 65th overall on 30.09 with Rosanna Iannone a couple of minutes back in 108th place on 32.23 as ninth senior lady. Julia Austin was second in the Vet 40 class and 184th overall in 36.01 whilst Heather Fallaize was sixth in the Vet 45 ranks coming home in 37.53 in 213th place ahead of Jayne Littlejohn as 273rd o/a and sixth best Vet 40 with her time of 41.44
BUCKS, BERKS AND OXON CROSS COUNTRY
The Bucks, Berks and Oxon Cross Country Championships on Newbury racecourse attracted just Alan Roberts from the club and he took 70th place from well over a hundred starters with a time of 38m 57s.
HERBERTS HOLE CHALLENGE
The annual Herberts Hole Challenge in Chesham attracted some 350 athletes with David Maisey being the best Vale runner in ninth place on 42m 47s, albeit just five seconds ahead of tenth placed Phil Tottle who was also the second best Vet 40. Ian Thompson came 30th and sixth Vet 40 in 46.01 with Alan Roberts claiming 51st place and 17th Vet 40 with 49.02 Vet 50 runner Ian Tarvit ended up in 73rd spot and 13th in his age category in 51.23 with the squad getting fourth place in the team standings.
AUTUMN CHALLENGE
The Autumn Challenge Cross Country race in Cassiobury Park, Watford saw Alan Roberts come home in 29th overall and 11th Vet 40 in a time of 37m 30s.
AYLESBURY HIGH SCHOOL TRIUMPH
A team of girls from Aylesbury High School, many being club members, won their way to the national finals of the English Schools Cross Country Cup following a fine win at the Eastern finals in Daventry. Over a short, but hilly course, Katy Partington led the way with a superb third place ahead of Rachel McCann in 13th with Charlie Cornwell finishing in 20th spot and Anna Dwyer coming 25th. With Tasha Cornwell as reserve, the team move on to the final in St Albans in early December.
CHILTERN LEAGUE CONSOLIDATION
The second Chiltern Cross Country League match used the hills and mud of Shotover near Oxford and a depleted team, particularly with many girls absent on school athletics duties, managed to take third place overall. Leading positions from the females came from Alice Hassall with seventh in the U.11 girls and from Liz Tapper who was sixth senior, although both were eclipsed by another Vet 45 victory for Helen Bennewith. Declan Hamblin was again the leading man in 14th with Tim Jones taking third Vet 50 whilst Will Gurton in the U.15 was the only other top ten finisher.
PRIMARY SCHOOLS AT HALTON
The season of primary schools cross country runs at Halton saw some well supported races and promising results from club members. In the Year 6 girls race, Alice Hassall managed a fine win ahead of Orie Amadi in second, Sophie Bennewith coming fourth ahead of Emily Partington and the Thompson twins, Natalie and Sophie. Another Sophie (this time Thompson) came 11th with Bethany Wheeler just behind and both Rachel Dawe and Shannon Blackman not far behind. In the equivalent boys race Bradley Alder, complete with broken arm, came out on top with Kieren Lindars a strong second and Jamie Mottram just outside the top ten. Adam Kellett was the best placed club member in the Year 5 event; his second place being just ahead of Ben Williamson, William Rawlston and Max Smith with Elliott Saunders and Ethan Luck both in close contention and William Davison a few more seconds adrift. Alice Wright had a storming run to win the Year 5 Girls event, and in Year 4, Erin Alder, Siobham Mottram and Eliza Taswell-Fryer were second, third and fourth respectively with Ellie Piccillo and Sadie Fewster also in the top ten and Olivia Dickson taking 26th spot. To round off a promising day, Courtney Blackman came fourth in the Year 3 event.
MARLOW HALF MARATHON
Although there were just two official Vale entries amongst the 1000 strong list for the Marlow Half Marathon, a late entry from David Maisey completed the contingent from the club. David finished a strong tenth overall in 1h 21m 39s with Alan Roberts claiming 166th place and 55th Vet 40 in a time of 1.40.02 whilst Roger Kirk was the fourth best Vet 60 and 312th overall in 1.46.52.
RICKY RUN
Surprisingly, Alan Roberts was the only representative on the Ricky Run – a 9 mile race on the Herts/Bucks border. From a field of over 500 he came 49th overall and 28th Vet 40.
CANDLEFORD AT A CANTER
The Ladies only 10km race, the Candleford Canter, saw Heather Fallaize claim an excellent 23rd place overall and fifth in the Vet 45 category in 49m 24s in blustery conditions around Bicester. Terry Gadsby finished in 69.13 to come 99th o/a and 32nd in the Vet 45 class.
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS WITH HEATHER
Talking of Heather Fallaize, her Wednesday evening group for less experienced runners continues to grow in popularity and anyone else wanting to have a gentle run out should turn up at the club hut for a 7.00pm start.
STROUD HALF MARATHON
Amongst the 1500 entries on the Stroud Half Marathon were five Vale athletes with Declan Hamblin being the best finishing tenth overall in 74m 57s with Martyn Summerfield also going well to be 20th in 77.38. David Maisey claimed 33rd place on 79.34 with Andy Rolt taking 58th position (81.31) being 18th Vet 40. Ian Thompson was credited with 123rd place and 10th Vet 45 after his 86.12 effort. The team were also very close to victory with their second position being just two places from the outright win.
AMPTHILL TROPHY
Paul Gregory and Alan Roberts were the only representatives on the Ampthill Trophy Cross Country meeting held over the hills and parks of the Bedfordshire town. Paul was second overall and best Vet 50 by a very long way, in 29m 27s, with Alan coming 85th (20th Vet 40) in a time of 37.55.
PAUL LEADS OVER RIDGEWAY
Paul Gregory was a convincing winner by some 93 seconds on the annual Ridgeway Run covering the 15km around Aldbury in 56m 26s. David Maisey took ninth spot in 62.10 ahead of Terry Rooney in 21st (64.51), Frank Rooney who was 32nd in 67.14 and Danny Wizard who finished 39th in 68.17. Lia Marshall was fourth best female and 44th finishing in 68.55 with Richard Taylor getting an identical time. Mick O Connor (69.54) took 52nd place ahead of Paul Marsh on 72.59 (77th) and Alan Roberts who came 130th on 76.47. Vet 60 runner Derek Peverill finished 182nd in 80.33 with Vet 70 athlete Peter Thomas completing the course in 368th place on 94.29 ahead of another hundred younger runners. Although shown as Unattached on the results, Ian Thompson was credited with 41st place in 68.26.
CHILTERN LEAGUE OPENER
The Chiltern Cross Country League got off to its usual start with races round Cassiobury Park in Watford with a good turn out of members as usually happens for the first event of the winter. Highest placed finisher was Liz Tapper with fourth in the senior ladies event with Rosanna Iannone claiming ninth position, whilst Helen Bennewith finished as the highest placed Vet 45 as they helped the ladies squad to third place in the team standings. The only other top ten finisher was Orie Amadi with sixth in the Under 11 Girls. Overall the club team finished in fifth place.
TRIO ON THE SOUTH COAST
Three members were amongst the Bucks team on the Chichester Priory 10km race; an event which counted towards the South of England Inter Counties Championship. Paul Gregory had a superb run to be the top Vet 50 athlete finishing in 67th place overall in 32m 48s and also being the leading Bucks runner as the county team finished tenth. Liz Tapper was the best Bucks runner with the county team being eighth, as 48th fastest lady (204th overall) in 38.30 with Charlotte Steptoe coming home in 258th spot in 40.24 as 58th senior lady. Altogether there were over 1100 competitors in the race.
GREAT PERFORMANCES ON GREAT NORTH RUN
Two members made the top 500 finishers on the Great North Run with Andrew Rolt getting from Newcastle to South Shields in 81m 53s for 226th place and Mick O Connor being 437th exactly five minutes further back on 86.53.
ENGLISH SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CUP
The local heat of the ESCC Cup was held in Wendover and saw a number of club members competing strongly in their school colours. The four race programme started with the Junior Girls where Katy Partington pulled off an excellent victory with her fellow Aylesbury High School runners, Anna Dwyer, Rachel McCann and Charlie Cornwell taking fifth, sixth and ninth places respectively, whilst Dana Littlejohn running for Waddesdon claimed 39th spot. The Junior Boys race had numerous ex-members filling the leading places and both Elliot Collin and Thomas Riding doing well, as did Alex Loose and Fiona Skeggs in the Inter Girls. The final event had Will Gurton and Charlie Mead contest the lead for much of the race before they had to settle for second and third places with Liam Bateman, Karl Goodman and Sam Ridgway also having good runs. With the good news being that several local schools have progressed to the next round, the bad news is that, as usual, this regional round takes place on the same day as the second Chiltern League fixture.
THREE COMBINED EVENTS GOLDS
Brothers Chris and Matthew George were the top Bucks performers at the Berks, Bucks, Herts Middlesex and Open Combined Events Championships held in Milton Keynes with Chris being the leading senior decathlete and fourth overall with a points total of 5271 after the two day event with the 400m and 800m being his top points scorers. Meanwhile Matt was competing in the junior decathlon and apart from winning the county title he was also the highest overall points scorer with 6521 with the high hurdles, shot and 400m being the main contributors to that total. Ben Gregory could also be pleased with his efforts taking third overall and second Bucks in the same event, although he was still eligible to compete in a younger competition. He amassed 6196 points with a pole vault of 4.40m being his best earner.
Another county gold medal came in the Under 15 pentathlon where Taylor Parrott was fourth overall with a 2462 total thanks to her high jump and 400m, although her lowest score in the shot was a personal best. Alex Ballantine had a superb 800m to bring her up to 14th overall and fifth best Bucks athlete finishing on 1962 points.
FRANK WINS COUNTY 10000m MEDAL
During the Combined Events competition the Bucks 10000m track championship was held with three members managing to complete the 25 laps of the track in Milton Keynes. Frank Rooney was the top Under 20 in the race and therefore collected the county gold medal after a run of 35m 46.3s, whilst Steve Rooney took 12th overall and second Bucks Vet 40 in 38.57.3 with Alan Roberts being third county Vet 40 and 16th overall with a time of 40.57.3
JUNIOR TEAMS AT ALDERSHOT
With no senior teams out, it was left to the juniors to uphold club honours at the Aldershot Road Relays with two Under 13 girls, an Under 15 boys and an incomplete U.17 women team. The younger girls fared well with the A team of Anna Dwyer (9m 27s) and Rachel McCann (9.31) getting them off to a good start before a storming effort from Katy Partington in 8.52 (15th fastest individual run of the day) pulled them to 14th place from the 48 finishing teams. The B squad saw Sophie Card lead off with 11.13 before a 9.52 from Charlie Cornwell and a 10.03 from Louise Lightfoot saw them home in 40th spot. The U.15 boys came 13th out of 37 finishers with some consistent times from lead runner Will Gurton on 10.23 before Charlie Mead with 10.34, Tommy Atkins on 10.38 and finally Dan Gurton with 11.02. Unfortunately, the Under 17 Women ended up one athlete short with Rachel Card managing a 12.59 and Catherine Appleby 12.27 on their individual efforts.
ANOTHER VICTORY FOR PAUL
Paul Gregory continued his fine season with another victory – this time on the Leighton Buzzard 10 where he had a 30 second advantage over his nearest challenger. His time of 54m 31s also saw him easily the best Vet 50 runner by a margin of around six minutes. Just missing out on the top female prize was Charlotte Steptoe who was only three seconds behind the leading lady ending up 44th overall in 66.19. Sandwiched between them was Phil Tottle in 12th place on 60.32 which was good enough for second vet 40. Ian Tarvit completed the quartet in 119th place (21st Vet 50) on 75.15.
UP THE AUSTRIAN HILLS
The World Masters Mountain Championships used the Muttersberg Mountains in Austria where Alan Roberts finished 133rd and eighth best British runner with a time of 71m 25.4s for the 9.2km race of which some 8km was uphill. At least the descent was by cable car.
OPENS COME TO A CLOSE
The final Watford Midweek Open meeting saw Chris Smith as the only representative from the club as he was third best Under 17 with a time of 11.93s over 100m and then went one place better with second U.17 in the 200m stopping the clock at 24.65s
MARATHON EFFORT IN ITALY
Alan Roberts competed in the World Masters Marathon Championships in Riccione in Italy and despite the intense heat along the Adriatic Coast he came home as fourth British runner and 121st in the Vet 40 category in a time, which disappointed him, of 3h 59m 28s.
SERIES WIN FOR PAUL
The final four mile race of the Motivation road series in Oxford saw Paul Gregory take ninth place overall in a time of 21m 29s and this was good enough to see him clinch the Vet 50 series title after the five rounds. In the final event Martyn Summerfield came 16th in 22.20 with Alan Roberts finishing 81st on 25.52
FRANK ON FORM
Frank Rooney has come good on two recent races with 15th overall in 18m 41s on the Heatbeat 5km in Milton Keynes to go with being second best junior (33rd o/a)on the Headington 10km in 38.44. Father Steve also competed on both events with 30th (8th Vet 40) in 19.34 on the Heartbeat and 56th (9th Vet 40) with 40.57. Also running amongst the 350 strong field at Headington were Alan Roberts who was 12th Vet 40 and 78th overall in 42.54 whilst Derek Peverill finished 154th (8th Vet 60) in 47.53
AMERSHAM FIVE
Paul Gregory claimed a convincing victory in the Amersham 5, which is an interesting mixture of roads and tracks around Hervines Park in Amersham, with a time of 27m 32s and was the best Vet 50 by some five minutes. Frank Rooney took 15th place in the mens race and finished fourth junior in 30.49 with dad Steve getting 33rd and 11th Vet 40 just over two minutes back in 33.01. Sharon Maisey was the only female competing under the Vale banner and she managed a creditable 15th (8th Vet 35) in 40.03.
SECOND PLACE NATIONALLY
With four personal bests on day one, Ben Gregory finally ended second overall in the octathlon at the English Schools Multi-events Championships in Exeter with a score of 5423 points which was the eighth highest points total in the history of the event, and smashed the club record he achieved a few months previously. Following this success Ben has been selected to join the national multi-events training squad during the winter months. JUST CHRIS AT WATFORD
With the Watford evening open meetings drawing to a close, Chris smith was the only member out at the latest one being second best Under 17 in the 100m with a 11.91s effort and following it up as third in the 200m in 24.25s
CHARLOTTE AND BEN WIN TWICE AT WOKING
Eight members travelled to Woking for their end of season open meeting which saw Ben Gregory managed a winning double with a long jump of 6.37m and a club record 4.60m effort in the pole vault to go with his 49.49m javelin throw which was the third best of the day. In the same age category James Benjamin took second in the 800m with a time of 2.07.36 and James Gibson achieved 12.02s and 24.48s for his sprints. Sam Ridgway came fifth in the U.15 shot final with a 9.55m put whilst at Under 13 Joseph Warren won his 100m heat in 14.57s before finishing eighth in the final (14.91) and also reached the 200m final where he came fifth in 30.86 having been second in his heat with 30.54. To complete a good day Joe also managed 17.03 for the 80m hurdles. Charlotte Magnall continued her fine season with wins in both discus with a superb 24.71m effort and in the shot (7.73m) and Aimee Gibson took fifth place in the 100m final with 14.52s having been four hundredths of a second faster in coming third in her heat. Taylor Parrott claimed fifth in the high jump with 1.45m, sixth with 7.77m in the shot before coming 11th in the long jump final with a 4.25m leap.
INTER COUNTIES SUCCESSES
Four members, Sarah Dyson, Sam Ridgway, Frances Hodgins and Matt George, were selected to compete for Bucks in the Under 15 and Under 20 Southern Inter Counties match at Barnet Copthall with Matt getting to compete in four events with his best result being second in the U.20 javelin with a 54.13m throw with sixth in the shot (13.32m) and high jump (1.75m) to go with a fourth in the 110m hurdles with a 15.11s effort. Frances was tenth in the high jump with 1.55m, losing some five places on countback so the Bucks Under 20s came 11th from the 19 counties involved. At Under 15 level Bucks was 12th despite a great effort from Sam, to get fifth in the discus with a club record 34.37m throw, and from Sarah who qualified in the 75m hurdles with a time of 12.57s and came seventh in the final in 12.58.
ANOTHER ACCOLADE FOR BEN
Yet another accolade has come the way of Ben Gregory as he recently received the quarterly Bucks Herald sports achievement award following his successes over the past few months. The presentation was held at the Bucks Herald offices when he received a trophy and a cash prize.
UK SCHOOL GAMES – ANOTHER SILVER MEDAL
Ben Gregory claimed another second place when, as captain of the South East team, he competed in the pole vault at the UK Schools Games in Coventry. He was just 10cm behind the winner with a clearance of 4.45m and finished ahead of ten other competitors. After two days of athletics, his South East team were clear winners of the competition.
GOOD PERFORMANCES AT WATFORD OPEN
As the Watford Open series comes towards the end of the season, several members were out with Chris Smith getting back to form with 12.06s being the second best Under 17 100m run of the night before managing 25.27s to win his 200m race. Katy Partington was fifth fastest U.13 girl over 800m with a time of 2.40.51 and in the discus Charlotte Magnall was the leading Under 13 with a throw of 21.70m with Sam Ridgway being second best Under 15 with a 30.32m effort.
SECOND IN THE COUNTRY
Despite holding the lead with one event to go, Ben Gregory could not quite manage to get the victory in the national Under 17 Decathlon Championships in Stoke on Trent and had to be content with a silver medal position. Over a miserable weekend when it either drizzled or poured the whole time, Ben put together a series of personal best performances to be third overnight and gradually made his way into the lead before finishing some 100 points behind the winner with a total score of 6439 points.
BLISWORTH AND BURNHAM
Friday night saw Alan Roberts complete the Blisworth 5 in 59th place and 12th Vet 40 in a time of 32m 25s before completing a quiet weekend by his standards as the only club representative on the Burnham Beeches Half Marathon where he came 163rd, and 49th Vet 40, from an entry of almost 1000, which also made him the leading vet in the Southern Counties Vets Championship.
BUSY WEEKEND FOR CAROLYN
Her last weekend on British soil for some time saw Carolyn Boosey tackle a 3000m race at a BMC meeting in Manchester on Saturday evening (coming ninth in 10m 10.26s) before getting back to compete on the Bearbrook 10km race where she was the best female runner finishing almost four minutes ahead of the second best senior woman. Soon afterwards it was time to get packed as she is off to U.S.A. where she will be studying for a couple of years in New Mexico. Good luck to Carolyn and hopefully we will be able to let you know how things are progressing there.
CLOSE FINISHES ON BEARBROOK 10km
Phil Tottle (6th Vet 40) and David Maisey (11th senior) were separated by just three seconds at the end of an exciting Bearbrook 10km race as they finished in 16th and 17th places respectively on 36m 28s and 36.31. However they were both half a minute down on Martyn Summerfield who was the best of the Vale runners on the day with 12th place overall and 7th senior in 35.58. Probably the performance of the day was set by Carolyn Boosey who was the leading lady finisher and 26th overall in 37.22 who was within 30 seconds of the female course record. Lia Marshall (second senior lady) and Nick Taylor (27th Vet 40) finished together in 70th and 71st places on 41.30 with Grahame Boosey being next up in 44.40 for 120th place and third Vet 60.
Two more vet 60s completed the line up with Derek Peverill being 208th in 49.01 and Peter Thomas coming home in 272nd with 53.33 as sixth and 12th in that age category.
ANOTHER TITLE FOR THE COLLECTION
Ben Gregory added the English Under 17 pole vault title to the growing list of championship wins when he won with a 4.50m clearance at the championships in Sheffield, narrowly missing out on a record 4.60m vault. Also in competition was Catherine Hawkes who took second place in her 100m heat with 12.24s before gaining fourth place in the final with 12.33s. Third place in her 200m heat in 25.44s was almost, but not quite fast enough, for her to make the final.
STARTRACK ENJOYS A BRILLIANT WEEK
The final Norwich Union Star:Track course of the summer was held in superb weather which contrasted with the rain and flood problems of the previous course. Well over 20 children enjoyed four days of athletic events and coaching with many already attending the club or wanting to join in the near future. Local organizer Mike Wise would like to thank all those who helped on the recent courses, namely Dan Barber, Sarah Short, John Childs, Ben and Lorraine Gregory, Jamie Johnson, Zoe Magnall and Andrew Bleakley.
ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL SELECTION
Matt George moved up from eleventh at the end of Day 1 to finish in eighth place as he competed for the UK team in the Junior Decathlon at an international match in the south of France. Finishing as the second Brit in the four-man team, Matt scored 6446 points and claimed personal bests on both days with an 11.69s run over 100m and a pole vault of 3.70m. The British team eventually came third behind France and Switzerland.
RUNNING IN THE SWISS ALPS
John Gibson completed the Swiss Alpine Marathon (K28) in a time of 3h 16m 38s finishing 155th overall out of 301 and 8th in his age category. SAM GETS CLUB RECORD AT WATFORD
Towards the end of a superb season, Sam Ridgway achieved a club record in the Under 15 hammer when he threw 32.25m at the latest Watford Open Meeting on his way to second place in his age group. Also out were Dan Barber with an 11.84s run over 100m and Carolyn Boosey who was third senior woman in the 1500m in a time of 4.37.12.
RIA IN FORM AT EASTERN FINALE
The last Eastern Young Athletes League match of the season saw Ria Bell back to form and fitness with wins in both the triple jump (10.28m) and Shot (8.89m). Others to come close to winning included Charlotte Magnall in the shot, Adam Waind in the 400m, Anna Madry and Will Gurton over 800m as well as Sam Ridgway in a couple of throws with Steph Aquilino not far behind and claiming B string victories in discus and javelin.. At the end of the day, the team came sixth.
LUTON 10km
Over a course he described as a bit lumpy, David Maisey took 11th place on the Luton 10km race with a time of 36m 57s.
SOUTH OF ENGLAND COMBINED EVENTS
Two members travelled to Bedford for the SEAA Combined Events Championships with Chris George taking fourth place in the senior decathlon and Frances Hodgins getting sixth in the Under 20 heptathlon. Chris held seventh place at the end of the first day, but thanks to good efforts in discus, javelin and 1500m hauled himself up to fourth with 5556 points. Frances was consistent rather than spectacular getting her best points in high jump and hurdles and finishing with a total of 3569.
OLD HOOKY
Hook Norton is better known for its decent beer rather than its road running, although the Hooky 6 is becoming a popular event on the calendar. Alan Roberts managed 95th place from some 260 starters covering the six miles in 44m 56s.
FINAL MATCH BUT BEST POSITION
The Southern Mens League team achieved their best placing of the season in their final match at Hemel Hempstead with a fourth place overall, although it was not enough to avoid them being bottom of the division. There was one race win on the day with Andrew Rolt winning the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 11.06.8 despite some good efforts from the youngsters in the 400m with Mark Fallaize coming second with 50.6 and Dan Barber winning the B string on 52.2.
MORE MOTAVATION
Round 4 of the Mota-Vation race series was the Chipping Norton four miler where Paul Gregory took sixth place from the 230 starters with a time of 22m 28s with Martyn Summerfield being another 69 seconds back in 17th spot. Alan Roberts completed the trio of club members finishing in 74th place on 27.26.
FINAL JUNIOR LEAGUE MATCH
Traditionally the final National Junior League fixture is a difficult one as it falls in the school holidays and this year saw the usual low turn out from all teams competing in the fixture at Milton Keynes. Matt George was in good form with wins in thee events (hurdles, discus and shot) with Jamie Johnson in the pole vault coming away with the only other win from the men. From the ladies, Lucy Hodgins had high jump and hurdles victories with Freya Hawkins coming out on top in the discus and together with Jenny Bantham and Frances Hodgins they also came out on top in the 4x400m relay. Third place on the day was enough for the team to secure second spot in the overall standings.
FOUR IN COUNTY REPRESENTATIVE SIDE
The four members competing for Bucks in the South of England Under 13 Inter Counties match at Kingston were given plenty of work to do by the team managers as they each ended up competing in more events than originally selected for. With some 14 counties sending teams the competition was fierce and Tasha Cornwell came third in her 70m hurdles in 12.93s as well as sixth in the 100m in 14.95 then seventh in the 200 on 30.11. Just one hundredth of a second slower was twin sister Charlie who ran the B race, coming fourth, before getting a 2.44.46 over 800m and then a 3.80m high jump. Charlotte Magnall was third in the shot just missing second place by a centimeter and then getting a good fifth in the discus with 22.81m. With a depleted team, the girls team came 13th overall, and it was a similar story with the boys who could only muster a handful of athletes with Ross Bunsell being the only representative from the Vale. He took fifth place in his 100m (14.8) and seventh in the 200m with 30.47s
THURSDAY NIGHT AT COMBE
Combe near Oxford was the venue for the rearranged four mile race in the Mota-vation Summer series where Martyn Summerfield came 13th overall in 22m 02s and Alan Roberts was 59th in 25.17
STARTRACK OVERCOMES THE PROBLEMS
Thanks to co operation from the staff at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, the first of the four day summer Star Track courses proved to be very successful despite the track being unavailable because of suspected contamination. Almost 30 children enjoyed a range of athletics activities in the sports hall and a number of them achieved the Gold standard. Another course on the track is scheduled for 7 to 10 August and some places are still available.
M.K. HALF MARATHON
From a field approaching 1200 runners, Ian Thompson was the best of the trio from the club finishing in 36th place overall on 86m 22s with Mick O’Connor getting round in 90.32 for 74th spot followed by Alan Roberts with a time of 99.44 as the 197th finisher.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN BEDFORD AND WATFORD
Carolyn Boosey was the highest placed senior lady when she finished 14th overall on the Doug Anderson Memorial 5km in Bedford in a time of 17m 43s. Some 121 seconds behind was Alan Roberts who was 45th overall and fifth best Male Vet 40 in 19.44. Meanwhile in Watford Dan Barber was competing over both 100m and 200m at the open meeting finishing with times of 11.57s and 23.54.
SOLIHULL GRAND PRIX MEETING
Running in the BMC Nike Grand Prix in Solihull, Carolyn Boosey finished 12th in a strong field with a time of 9m 49.43s
ANOTHER RECOUNT LEADS TO SECOND PLACE
Another recount of the results of the final NYAL match of the season at Banbury now shows the Vale team to be in second place. With a good turn out of Under 13s and Under 15s, it was disappointing to have so few Under 17s making an appearance.
Nevertheless there were many excellent performances during the day culminating in Tasha Cornwell getting the Athlete of the Day award for her club record 19.9s run over 150m with Catherine Hawkes being the only other Grade 1 performer of the day. Amongst the Grade 2s were James Doublet (100m), Ben Gregory (discus and javelin), Sam Ridgway (discus), Sarah Short (100m and long jump and very nearly in the 800m – yes 800m as well), Alice Austin in the 150m, Sarah Dyson (75m hurdles) and Charlotte Magnall in the shot.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
With all the bad weather around, Ben Gregory seemed to have more trouble in getting to the venue in South Wales than he did in winning the pole vault with a 4.20m effort. Following his win at the National Schools Championships, he was competing for England Schools against national schools teams from the other home nations.
FINAL TRANSCENDENCE
The Self Transcendence series in Oxford came to an end with a four mile race in Cutteslowe Park. The usual protagonists Alan Roberts and Ian Tarvit were out with Alan taking 8th place in 27m16s which saw him finish second in the final Vet standings, and Ian being tenth on 28.34 which meant he ended up third in the Super Vet classification.
BETTER TURN OUT AND FIFTH PLACE
The senior men took fifth place in their latest Southern League match at Watford with just Mark Fallaize (800m) and Dusan Lonc (Javelin) coming away with victories despite some decent performances from both the younger and the more experienced team members.
THANKS VERY MUCH
The Waddesdon race organizers would like to thank everyone involved in helping with the race, particularly the sponsors, Martyn, Nye and Co, Apex Sports and R.E.Train UK Ltd, the Waddesdon Manor authorities and all marshals, officials and helpers. Photos of the event can now be viewed on www.pics-4-u.co.uk
WADDESDON 5km
The bad weather relented long enough to give a glorious evening at Waddesdon Manor for the annual 5km race. Although entries were down, the competition was still fierce and the winner was Tim Wright from Banbury. Best club member was Charlie May in sixth who was also the top Under 20 whilst Lia Marshall was the best placed female from the Vale. The only other individual award winner from the club was Rachel Card as best Under 20, although both male (Charlie May, Martyn Summerfield, Richard Taylor and David Maisey) and female (Lia Marshall, Rachel Card, Catherine Appleby and Heather Fallaize) teams came away with the team awards. CHARLOTTE WINS AT EASTERN MATCH
Despite a good turn out and some decent performances from the youngsters, Charlotte Magnall was the only member to win at the latest Eastern Young Athletes League match on the revamped Milton Keynes track. Charlotte won her shot putt event, although others to come close to winning included Charlotte Smith (shot) and Sam Ridgway in both shot and discus. The team eventually finished fifth.
PAUL WINS IN WYCOMBE
Paul Gregory claimed his second race win in a week by leading the 900 strong entry home on the Wycombe Half Marathon. His time of 74m 15s was some half a minute better than his third place run last year and to complete the tally of award winners Sue Barnes was the top Vet 55 runner finishing 205th overall in 104.59. In between Phil Tottle ran well for 13th o/a and third Vet 40 in 81.49 with Charlotte Steptoe being third senior lady (78th overall) in 95.50. Alan Roberts completed the club entrants with 190th place (54th Vet 40) in 104.07 and he had been the only club entry on the previous evening coming 65th and 30th Veteran on the Yarnton 5 with a time of 34.21.
ANOTHER NATIONAL TITLE FOR BEN
In appalling conditions for pole vaulting, Ben Gregory became the national schools champion with a vault of 4.25m at the English Schools Championships in Birmingham. After a competition that lasted for several hours, Ben was well clear of the rest of the field and his success earned him the chance to compete in a forthcoming international schools match in Wales. Also competing in the Intermediate Boys category was James Benjamin who led for much of his 800m qualifier, but couldn not quite keep up his blistering early pace and finished fifth with a time of 2m 09.64s. In the Inter Girls 800m, Jo Hunter comfortably got through her first round race, finishing third in 2.20.03 and in the semi final she again came third although her faster time of 2.16.20 saw her just miss out on a final place by some three-tenths of a second. VERY CLOSE TO A PERSONAL BEST
Competing in the BMC part of the latest Watford Open meeting, Mark Fallaize took second place in his 800m race with a time of 1m 55.40s which was just 15 hundredths of a second off his personal best set in 2004
SELF TRANSCENDENCE ROUND TWO
The second round of the Self Transcendence series was a three mile race round Cutteslowe Park in Oxford where Alan Roberts took seventh place with a 19m 22s run (second Vet) and Ian Tarvit two places behind on 21.18 as third Super Vet. After the two rounds both Ian and Alan are standing second in their respective age categories. Alan, a couple of days earlier, had also come 64th (13th Vet 40) on the popular Friday evening Cranfield 5 with a time of 33.12
FANTASY FOOTBALLING
Nick Day and Steve Rooney have set up a club fantasy football league with the first three winners getting three quarters of the income and the rest going to club funds. To register talk to either Nick or Steve and let them have your fiver and your e-mail address and you will be given a code to let you join the competition. Further information can be found on www.fantasy.premierleague.com
AYLESBURY SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS
There were loads of winners from club members at the Aylesbury District Schools Championships although very few have volunteered information about their efforts. So far we know that Laura Forth managed a hurdles and high jump (1.47m) double victory and Hannah Welsh was also victorious in the hurdles, whilst Ciaran Forth (1.31m) took second place in his high jump.
From the throws group Charlotte Magnall won her discus competition with a 23.42m effort and amongst the many sprinters on view, both Sarah Short and James Doublet were victorious.
PAUL LEADS THE WAY IN PRINCES RISBOROUGH
Paul Gregory was a clear winner by over a minute from fellow club member Declan Hamblin on the Risborough Festival 10km which Vale members helped both with the organisation and with much of the marshalling. Paul managed the 10km in 33m 37s and was best Vet 50 runner with Declan on 34.45 being top senior whilst best junior was credited to Charlie May as fifthoverall in 35.53. Martyn Summerfield was just inside the top ten (9th in 36.46) whilst Henry Edwardes-Evans was just outside coming fifth Vet 40 in 37.19. The Taylor family came next in the results with Richard being 17th on 38.11 and Nick 21st (9th Vet 40) on 39.25. Ian Thompson was next Vet 40 another 17 seconds back in 24th spot ahead of Frank Rooney as second junior on 41.18. Phil Tottle came in 44th on 41.53 (19th V.40) with Alan Roberts another five places in arrears (21st Vet 40 on 42.31). Then came two Fallaizes with Mark ( 62nd on 44.13) 24 places ahead of father Clive on 46.00.
14th Vet 50 and 89th overall was recorded by John Gibson with 46.17 with Jon Dwyer coming in 213th on 65.36. RISBOROUGH FESTIVAL 10km
Click here for results.
ANOTHER EVENING WITH THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS
The second evening of the local primary schools championships again saw plenty of members coming out on top in their events. Ellese Blackman won both 600m and long jump with other victors including Alice Wright, Nathan Heggie, Ethan Jackson, Chloe Lamport in the sprints and
Orie Amadi and Marguerite Pope coming out on top in the distance events. Results can be found under Schools Liaison. With the club helping with the running of the events, the organizers would like to thank everyone from the Vale who contributed towards the success of the meetings.
JUMPSFEST
Ben Gregory and Lucy Hodgins both competed in the UK Athletics Jumpfest in Birmingham with Ben getting second in his competition with a pole vault of 4.45m and Lucy coming fifth in her high jump with a 1.65m leap.
CLOSE BEHIND READING
The Under 20 National Junior League team took another pleasing second place on the latest match of their campaign with their gap continuing to narrow behind runaway league leaders Reading. Winners from the match at Hemel Hempstead included Catherine Hawkes on her first outing with the team, Matt George with a trio of victories, Louise Card with a middle distance double, Lucy Hodgins in the high jump and the men’s 4x400m squad.
DASHING ROUND DORNEY
Colin Steptoe completed June as he started it with a Vet 50 category win. Having begun the month with 6th overall on the 10km round Whipsnade Zoo in 36m 18s, he rounded it off with 26th overall and another Vet 50 award on the Dorney Dash which went round the edge of (apparently it was so wet they could have been running in the lake) Dorney Lake, with a time of 36.21. Daughter Charlotte was also running well and ended up as fourth senior lady and 85th overall from an entry of over 900, in 39.50.
RUNNING OVER TWO MILES
An unusual road running distance but both Alan Roberts and Ian Tarvit did it round Cutteslowe Park in Oxford on the Self Transcendence Race. Alan finished fifth in 12m 24s with Ian three places behind on 13.48. Shortly before, Ian had travelled to Lancashire for the British Masters 5km race where he was 127th overall and 20th Vet 55 with a time of 21m 32s
GOOD TIMES IN BAD CONDITIONS
Jo Hunter continued her preparations for the English Schools Championships with a fine run in difficult conditions in the evening BMC meeting at Watford. She took second place in her 800m race with a time of 2m 14.04s which in addition to being her p.b. was also a new club record. Carolyn Boosey was the only other men in action where she came ninth in her 1500m race in 4.33.86 some five seconds short of her club record.
MEN COME FIFTH IN SOUTH LONDON
The senior men’s team took another fifth place in their latest SML match at Sutcliffe Park with Mike Wells being quite busy competing in seven events including a second place in the javelin (27.01m) and a couple of thirds (discus 18.45m and triple jump 10.26m). Dan Barber was also busy with a second place in the 400m (51.7s), thirds in triple and high jumps (11.34 and 1.00m respectively) together with fourth in long jump (5.39) and fifth in shot (6.25m) whilst Stephen Stokes was consistent in his throwing with second and third places (discus – 32.61, shot – 10.49m, javelin – 36.04m and hammer – 24.58m), and Ejay Williams took a succession of fifth p
To his wife Jayne, children Rachel, Simon and James, and all his family and friends, the club offers it deepest sympathies.
Some 30 members attended the funeral on 4 April and with several more acting as coffin bearers, whilst Henry Edwardes-Evans gave a very moving speech about his training partner. The club has made a donation to the British Heart Foundation in memory of Phil.
James Ferguson competing in Liverpool
Photo: courtesy Gary Mitchell
It has been a great honour to have been the Club's Chairman for the past
10 years and to have been associated with the amazing successes achieved by
our athletes, coaches and officials.
I have enjoyed the challenges of the chairmanship and wish the new
Executive Committee and the Club's Members every success in this great
sport!
I would also like to publicly record my sincere personal appreciation to
the following organisations who have supported and sponsored the Club's
athletic events during my chairmanship:
Apex Sports of Farnham Common, Brown & Lee Clifford Billings, Martin Nye &
Co, The National Trust/Waddesdon Manor, Lord Rothschild/the Waddesdon
Estate, the Commanding Officer of RAF Halton and the Bucks Athletics
Association.
Yours in sport - John
Senior men: 18th Martyn Summerfield, 19th Richard Taylor
Junior men: 12th James Ferguson, 13th Frank Rooney
Male Vet 40: 10th Phil Tottle, 16th Nick Taylor, 19th Mick O’Connor, 20th Ian Thompson,
26th Peter Bennewith, 29th Alan Roberts
Male Vet 50: 19th John Gibson
Under 15 Boys: 10th Tommy Atkins, 11th Will Gurton, 14th Dan Gurton
Under 13 Boys: 9th Patrick Taylor
Under 11 Boys: 13th Bradley Alder, 28th Ethan Pugh, 30th Ethan Luck, 31st Patrick Mawdsley, 32nd William Davison
Senior Women: 2nd Liz Tapper, 7th Rosanna Iannone, 9th Lia Marshall
Women Vet 35: 8th Julie Madry
Women Vet 45: 8th Heather Fallaize
Under 17 Women: 7th Catherine Appleby
Under 13 Girls: 38th Hannah Welsh
Under 11 Girls: 18th Sophie Bennewith
Best placed team was the Senior and Vet Ladies combined with second place, closely followed by the Under 11 Girls with a creditable third. The Senior, Junior and Veteran Men combined came fourth (as did the Veterans on their own) with the Under 15 Boys also being fourth. Other teams were Under 11 Boys – 7th, Under 13 Boys – 9th, Under 17 Men – 11th, Junior Men – 6th, Under 13 and Under 15 Girls – both 10th, Junior Ladies – 6th, Vet Ladies – 5th. The Seniors finished 4th and the Young Athletes 10th, whilst the females came 6th overall and the men 4th leaving the club team
to be classified in fifth place in the overall standings behind Milton Keynes, Harrow, Chiltern Harriers and Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow.
Photo: courtesy of Gary Mitchell
Photo: courtesy of Gary Mitchell
Nevertheless, members continue to show up well in rankings and at the end of 2007 several were in the national lists. Amongst them are Chris George at 26th in the men’s decathlon, Ben Gregory as 32nd overall and third U.17 in pole vault, 15th in his javelin age group and second best in the decathlon, whilst Matt George comes 8th best U.20 and 45th in the senior javelin rankings as well as third best nationally at U.20 decathlon with veteran runners Colin Steptoe and Paul Gregory continuing to appear in high places on road ranking lists. Of the juniors, Tasha Cornwell comes out as equal seventh in the Under 13 150m, Charlotte Magnall appears in the U.13 discus rankings at 12th with Kieran Fallan 6th in the shot, Catherine Hawkes 13th in both U.17 100m and 200m and Jo Hunter appearing at 19 in the U.17 800m lists, Lee Elliott coming 41st in the U.15 high jump and Lucy Hodgins 23rd in the U.20 high jump.
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Photos courtesy Gary Mitchell. More photos can be found on www.garymitchellphoto.com
Also competing in Exeter were Taylor Parrott in the Junior Girls pentathlon where she finished 29th on 2198 points, which was the best performance from a Bucks competitor with her best scores coming in the hurdles and high jump, whilst Freya Hawkins also ended up 29th in the Inter Girls heptathlon with 3559 points; hurdles, 200m and high jump being her best scoring events.
Ben Gregory together with the Bucks contingent at the UK School Games
John would like to thank all the club members who sponsored him for Water Aid and estimates that he has raised in the region of £1,000 which will finance two new village wells in the third world. Please e-mail John at john.gibson50@btopenworld.com if you would like to make a donation.
Click here for results
And so to the sprinters. Catherine Hawkes flew through her first round winning the 100m in 12.38s and being the third fastest athlete in the competition before suffering a disqualification in the semi-final after her second false start Sarah Short finished eighth in her 200m heat in 27.24but compensated with a terrific 4x100m relay leg which took the Bucks girls into the final with the second fastest overall time. The final itself saw six teams all finish within half a second with Sarah running a brilliant bend and her team being fifth in 49.77s
Click on image for larger version
Photo courtesy: Gary Mitchell
The women were classified separately so Liz Tapper was third overall and best senior with her time of 39.25 with Charlotte Steptoe taking fifth place on 40.42. Heather Fallaize took 45th place and 6th Vet 45 with 50.58 nine places ahead of Sue Barnes on 52.38 (third Vet 55) and Helen Steptoe got home in 66.20 for 140th place.
In the team standings, the men were again winners, thanks to the efforts of the first four members to finish, and the women took third place.