Vale Royal AC Runners

A gentle reminder to those who haven't paid Northerns and Cheshire entries + to those who haven't renewed their memberships yet!  Please pay up!   PLEASE! 

CHESHIRE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE ON SATURDAY @  Reaseheath College in Nantwich.  Details.

7 February:   Ten Vale Royal athletes out for the Alsager 5.  A high standard field as usual with 7 runners inside 24 minutes!  The best conditions for several years saw some good times with Zach Cross being the quickest on the day - although Graham pushed him close! Tom Armstrong gets this years "unlucky" prize (Dave Gough won this prize last year!).   Maggie Fenn was the quickest of our ladies although Mary was not far behind!  No doubt the start was as crazy as usual?

Sonya Young was 1st LV55 at the Central Lancashire Half Marathon with a fine run.  Paul Lloyd was back racing on the road and was so close to that sub 1:30 barrier:

John Carroll and Iain Stanton were out racing too at the popular Radcliffe 10 mile trail race near Bolton:

6 February:  A small turn out for the last match of the North Wales Cross Country League on the tough Oswestry course.  Our veteran stalwarts were there however:  Colin and Carole competing strongly and John, Pauline and Bernie there to support!  Tom had a best ever finish for 13th place and in so doing secured the MV45 category for the season and finishing 11th in the overall league.  David Jury also ran very well for a highest finish of the season. ....what would he do if he got some consistent training?!   Colin and Carole were both quicker than last year and looked in good form.  Pics in the gallery (a lot of pics of not many runners!)

30 January:  The final round of the Manchester XC League at Wythenshaw:  Stu Doyle's form over cross-country was demonstrated by his superb 9th place.  Colin and Carole were both out competing and showing the rest of us what we should be doing with our Saturdays! 

CLUB SUCCESSES AT THE NORTHERN CROSS-COUNTRY: 

23 January: There was a large turn-out for the Northern XC Championships on the testing course in Witton Park in Blackburn.  With the Vale Royal AC flags flying , the Juniors had an fantastic day with 2 team golds (Girls U20 and U17) and 2 team silvers (U20 and GU15) as well as 2 individual bronze medals (R Craigie and M Sheen)!  In the senior races, there were some fantastic efforts in the very high standard fields!  The course was rough, muddy and very hilly ensuring that everyone was exhausted at the finish! Full results for seniors and juniors are listed below!  Pics in the gallery.

17 January:  Graham Miles had a terrific run in the superbly organised McCain Cross Challenge in Cardiff.  In the Masters race Graham ran an even paced race finishing in 7th place.  Andrew was a promising 43rd in the U17 race.

17 January:  Finally a respite from the bad weather - with perfect racing conditions at the Four Villages Half Marathon in Helsby.  There was a good turn out for the club with some excellent performances.  Stu Doyle was 10th overall and we had an age category winner with Sonya Young winning the LV55!  Maggie Fenn was 3rd LV35.  Rob was delighted with his PB as was Scott.  The results below are chip times: 

It with deep sadness that we heard the news of Ken Moss's death from cancer last week.  Ken had many friends in the club.    Ken was a superb runner, a great competitor and a big loss for the sport in the region. 

Cross-country Fixtures for Jan/Feb: 

13 January:  Former member Steve Wilkinson is looking for sponsorship for a 100k treadmill challenge to raise money for an excellent cause.  Please sponsor Steve here.  www.justgiving.com/tomandstevetreadmillultra

3 January 2010:  A fantastic win for Steve Caldwell in the Delamere Dash Trail Race.  Steve was delighted with his first ever race victory in the icy conditions.  Well done Steve!  There were nearly 300 runners in the race so this is a superb performance!  Results.

There were 3 senior athletes out for Vale Royal at the penultimate round of the Manchester XC League at Woodbank Park in Stockport.  In very cold but sunny conditions, Kate Spilsbury was an excellent 15th in the ladies race while Graham Miles had a top 40 finish and Pete Maher finished just outside the top 100.  Andrew Miles was an excellent 7th in the U17 race.

27 December:  At the Ribble Valley 10k, Iain Stanton had an excellent run in the very large and very high standard field......

.....and in the Chester Round the Walls Race Barry Chamber made his regular appearance with a fine run in the cold conditions:

26 December:  Not many folk out racing this Christmas, but Rob Olliver found a cracking race in the snow - the Otley Chevin Chase.  The 7-mile off-road course was very wintry but suited Rob's newly found off road skills as he finished well up in the 825 strong field.

13 December:  Stevie Stockton was a fabulous 10th in the European XC Championships.  Stevie was fourth counter in the victorious British team - just pipping Steph Twell!  Results.  Well done Stevie!

At the new Tatton Pud Plod 10k event, Ed Crowther turned in a strong performance to win the race (although not wearing his club colours!).   John Carroll recommends the race for next year.   Steve Caldwell ran well considering he ran XC the day before!

Pauline Davies had an excellent run at the Great Langdale 10k in Cumbria.  Pauline was more than two minutes quicker than last year and was 1st LV55.  John also ran and was pleased to finish without injury but accepting that he's not in top form yet!

At the Stockport 10, Colin Rathbone put his previous days efforts behind him as he finished 2nd V65.  John Todd was 8th MV45 and Gemma Barnett 14th lady.

Mike Harrington and Iain Wedge made the long journey south to find a fast half marathon - only to find out the first nine miles of the Bedford Half Marathon were all uphill (I assume the rest was downhill!). 

NORTH STAFFS XC LEAGUE - FINAL MATCH:

12 December:  The final match at the North Staffs League was on the tough course at Westwood High.  The senior men's team was out in force and managed to ensure promotion into Division One with a season best team performance (this was despite some seasonal bugs and other ailments affecting most of the team)!   James Griffiths was the highest finisher in the race with a superb run for 10th place.   Andy Clews started fast but faded to 13th place - however this was still good enough to win the junior league and to finish a brilliant 2nd (tbc) in the senior league.  Photos in the gallery and full results awaited.  In the U17 race Andrew Miles was an excellent 5th (which would have been higher if he hadn't run the 1st hill like a sprint rep!).

6 December:  At the Helena Tipping 10k, the verdict was still out on whether this is a fast or slow course, but there were some strong performances from the club.  Stu Doyle was 4th overall and 1st MV35 and Maggie Fenn was 2nd LV35.

Nicky Archer ran an excellent race in the Las Vegas Marathon, finishing 6th Elite Lady.  After an early morning 6:15am start, Nicky finished in 2 hours 42 minutes.  Nicky had reached the halfway point in 1:19.  No doubt Nicky would have like to have dipped under 2:40 (we await comment!) but this is still an impressive performance and a massive PB!  Well done Nic!  (*Blog just added*).  Dave "Stat-man" Gough has pointed out this is the 10th best performance by a British Athlete this year!

A great night at the W'OSCARS (hangover this morning!).  BIG thanks to Bernie and Goffy for organising it.  The prize winners were:  Tennis Ball Challenge:  BERNIE JONES!  Most Improved Athlete:  HELEN SMITH and JO MOLYNEAUX.  Performance of the Year:  ANDY GIBBS .  Member of the Year: TOM ANNABLE.  Here's a reminder of the nominations. Thanks also to Marcus (and The Terrace) for supplying the cakes, to the Club Committee for agreeing to make a financial donation to support the event and to Tesco for providing the raffle prizes.

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