Current venues

Monday 23rd Apr
7pm Beginners Prince of Wales Track

Tuesday 24th Apr
7pm Cheltenham Racecourse

Wednesday 25th April
7pm Witcombe Woods, Brockworth Please click HERE for safety info.

Thursday 26th Apr
9:30am The Norwood
7pm Prince of Wales Track session

Saturday
Cleeve Golf Club, 9am

Notices

Linda Franks 5 - results

Final results for the Linda Franks 5 mile

AA Events

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New & Renewing members please sign up here.

Almost Athletes Marathon Challenge

The AA Road Race Series (see http://www.almostathletes.co.uk/road_race_series_2011.html ) has a marathon option. Since many members put a huge amount of work preparing for a marathon each year it seems right that this effort should be recognised. However it is clearly unfair to specify a particular marathon in the same manner as the shorter races, so that a new set of rules must be devised. The idea is that (almost) any marathon time achieved during year will be recorded a being achieved in a single event open to all members. Points will be assigned when the results of all the marathon runs are known.

These rules are still being finalised, and may need some further adjustments throughout the year. However the basic framework is as follows:

In principle, all marathons which are open public events and whose results can be readily verified are eligible. The AA Committee retain the right to exclude any events which are not easy to verify or could give an unfair advantage. The event may be longer than 26.2 miles but not shorter. As a guide the 100 Marathon club (see http://www.100marathonclub.org.uk/ ) publishes a list of marathons that meet its criteria. Any member contemplating a marathon not on that list, with a view to this challenge, is advised to contact the club Committee at the earliest opportunity to consider its eligibility.
The marathon must be run between the inclusive dates of 1st January and 30th November of the current year.
The AA Member is strongly encouraged to wear the club top but allowance will be made for overriding circumstances such as when running for a charity who provide their own top, and in inclement weather conditions when further clothing such as a jacket is required.
The AA Member is responsible for promptly reporting the details of their achievement including date, event, time and method of verification (e.g. web page reference) to the Road Race series organiser - currently Steve Adams. Time should be 'chip time' if available, otherwise gun time.
Only one marathon time for each member will count. But if a member runs more than one marathon in the period and the subsequent time is better than the previous best, the member should report the new time. This process can be repeated any number of times.
Members will be divided into the same age and gender groups as for the rest of the Road Race series.
At the end of the period (30th November), the members in each age + gender group will be ordered on time and points awarded in the same manner as for the other races in the Road Race series.

The AA Committee are reponsible for ensuring this operates in a fair and transparent manner. They are empowered to modify and override the rules if necessary to ensure natural justice is maintained.

Explantory Notes and comments

It is appreciated that some marathons are 'easier' in terms of terrain, actual distance, weather conditions etc. It is the member's responsibility to choose one or more events that are suitable for achieving a good time.
If the event is an ultra marathon, but the organisers also publish a properly measured marathon time, this time might be allowed (subject to AA Committee approval) for the purposes of this challenge, otherwise the finishing time of the event must be used.
The aim of the challenge is to encourage members to undertake a marathon. It is recognised that many will enter popular events such as Brighton or London, but other events including those more local such as Worcester and Stratford upon Avon, as well as those overseas should all be included.
Marathons with an off-road or multi-terrain element are also eligible, but achieving a quick time is likely to be more difficult.
It is hoped to 'adopt' a relatively local marathon that a number of members can jointly train for. This is not part of the formal structure at present but members are invited to make suggestions.

Latest News

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Almosts running over Easter weekend

The Easter weekend got under way with the Almost Athletes running the Westonbirt 10k race, with Rebecca Waugh 1st Almost Athlete in at 51:50, Gareth Wilkes 2nd at 53:18, Kate Freeman 3rd 53:28, Nicky Woodman 1:04, Kate Plummer 1:04:47, Iris Mayo 1:08, Jakia Hussain 1:15, Rachel Fargher 1:23, and visually impaired runner Rob Rennell with guide Danny Carroll 1:28.

In Stanley Park, Chippenham, Lynne Macedo and Paul Haig completed a 10 mile race, with Haig achieving 1:14, and Macedo 1:51, for her first ever 10 mile race.

Jeanette Gullick attended the Easter Family run, in Wychwood Village in aid of raising money for cancer.

Locally in Cheltenham, Julie Courtenay achieved her 100th parkrun. Parkrun tourists, Daniel Reeves, Robert Foord, Kate Freeman, Kasha Price, Claire Gallagher attended the Pitcroft parkrun, Worcester. Janine Bennett attended the Seaton parkrun, Devon. Kev Friars the Rising sun parkrun, Newcastle. Andrea Hardy the Flatts Lane parkrun, Middlesborough. David Farrow the Mole Valley parkrun, near Dorking, grabbing a respectable time of 22:31.

Allan Green took part in three majors events over the Easter period, firstly with the Dinton Easter Challenge Marathon, a 6 hour timed event in Pastures Country Park, Reading, running as many 3.3 mile laps as possible, achieving 8 laps in a time of 4:41. Second event was the Darnley Challenge marathon, at the Darnley Estate, Gravesend, Kent, with self navigating loops, achieving 2 loops in 5:19. Final event for Green was the Enigma Easter series marathon at Caldecotte lake, Milton Keynes achieving 4:36.

Canalthon, Marathons half & full, parkruns and many more

After several weeks of cancellations and bad weather it was good to see that Almost Athletes members were out participating in many of the longer races scheduled for last weekend.

Jackie Slaughter tackled the arduous 75km Canalathon on Sunday 26th which follows canal paths through the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. She was thrilled to complete this event well within the time limit, and knocked 20 minutes off her previous PB for a 50km distance.

Allan Green continued to move ever closer towards his goal of 500 marathons by running the Codopoly in Telford on Wednesday in a time of 5:32, and then the QE Spring Marathon in 5:35.

Ingrid Harris took part in not one but two events over the weekend. On Saturday she finishied the Poets Path Potter trail marathon around Dymock as joint second lady, and then the Cleevewold 14 in the Cotswolds on Sunday in 2:24 where she was the first Almost lady to complete the run.

A large contingent of other Almosts took part in the Cleevewold 14 mile multi-terrain run on Sunday. Josh Hand was the first Almost to finish in 1:48, followed by Nick Lewis in 1:53, Richard Walklate in 1:55 and Prash Sripathi and Simon Jarvis both in 1:57. Also running were Danny Carroll in 2:08, Steve Taylor in 2:48, Mike Line, Karen Hilton and Dawn Carroll all in 2:58, Debbie Minett and Jeanette Gullick in 3hrs, Sarah Wallbridge and Nick Spice in 3:03, Bob Spawton in 3:08 and Mariel Chretien in 3:37.

The Gloucester 20 mile race on Sunday also had a good turnout of Almost participants, many of whom were using the race as part of their training for the forthcoming London Marathon. Both Alison Hume and Lorraine Taylor achieved new PBs with times of 2:55 and 3:02 respectively. Brian Todd completed his first 20 mile race in 3:23 and Hanna Brown ran for the first time as a member of Almost Athletes in 3:43. Richard Birch was first Almost to finish in a fast 2:20, followed by Martin Foster in 2:21, Kieran Keating in 2:35, Mike Kennedy in 2:37, Neil Tring at 2:56 and Bill Jones in 3:34.

Two Almosts – Becky Bendall and Sarah Carr - travelled to London on Sunday to compete in the London Landmarks Half Marathon. Becky completed the race in 2:05 and Sarah in 2:31. Jamie Courtenay headed down to Yeovil and ran their Half Marathon in 1:39.

Further afield, Miranda Foster took third place in her age group for the Bordeaux marathon with a time of 3:45, whilst Robert Dalton-Morris was delighted to complete the Valencia IAAF World Half Marathon in a new PB of 1:35.

Karen and John Galpin travelled to Northern Ireland and ran in the Larne Half Marathon. Karen was very pleased to finish as second in her age group with an excellent time of 1:38.

Steve Ellul achieved a new PB in Cardiff Bay 10km race with a time of 53:15, whilst Kirstie Hallam was 1st lady in Tockington Duathlon.

There were congratulations at Cheltenham parkrun for two members of Almost Athletes – Matthew Hampton and Kate Plummer – who both completed their 100th run on Saturday.

Several Almosts were parkrun tourists this weekend, including Simon Jarvis who stormed to fourth place in the hilly Eden Project parkrun in Cornwall with a great time of 18:28. Claire Gallaher and James Clay also ran at the Eden Project, whilst Natalie and Ross Greening participated in the Exmouth run.

Mark Medland took part in the muddy Wotton under Edge parkrun, and Paul Turner completed the Gloucester City event for the first time in 24:28. In the North of England Andrea Hardy ran in the Halifax parkrun.