Current venues

Monday 20th May

Tuesday 21st May
6.50pm Cheltenham Racecourse. Park at North Car Park

Wednesday 22nd May
7pm Off-road and on-road 5m- Lower Witcombe

Thursday 23rd May
9:30am Norwood - click for details.
7:00pm Prince of Wales Track

Saturday 25th May
Cleeve Golf Club, 9am See Facebook to confirm

Notices

AA Membership for 2019/20

New and Renewing members - Click here

Facebook

Almost Athletes is a members only closed group

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

<< < Page 2 of 139 > >>

Almosts head to Newport for marathon and 10k

The iconic Newport marathon in South Wales proved a happy hunting ground for many Almost Athletes this week. First home for the club in an excellent new PB time was Martin Foster in 3:04. Following on were Robert Dalton Morris in 3:38, Neil Tring in 3:44 also a new PB, Steve Taylor in his marathon debut in 4:04, Lorraine Taylor in 4:13, Thomas Wood in 4:16, Dave Elliott in 4:23 and Tony Heap in 4:27. Mark Willicott was 4-hour pacer for the event & was home in 3:55 despite a failed watch & having to run “on feel”, much to the delight of his running entourage.

At the Newport 10K, Alison Hume ran 51:47 and Rob Rennell 72:09.

Amy Sheer was home in a blistering new PB at the Southampton marathon in 3:30 for 8th lady overall and 3rd in her category. Allan Green was also the same marathon in 4:49, meanwhile Leslie Cottle took 1:56 in the half marathon for 3rd place in her category.

At the Winchcombe cross trail marathon Dave Rogers was home in 4:37, Ingrid Harris in 4:26, her 150th marathon, and Mariel Chretien in 6:07 for 3rd in her category.

Kathy & Paul Haig ran the Dark Side Marathon in Reading.

In this week’s Waitrose 10, the Almost Athletes team secured a highly respectable scoring of 8.

Christopher Benjamin ran the Milton Keynes half Marathon in 2:02.

Martin Thomas ran the ONM lite race at Cannock Chase in 8:24, a 2-day self-navigational event across 39 miles.

Natalie Jayne & Sam Wizard got new PBs at the Milton Keynes Rocket 5k in 24:56 and 23:40 respectively.

Jamie & Adrian Courtenay ran the Bristol 10K in 44:38 & 63:09 respectively, as well as Helen McGuire in 58:47. Steve Phelps scored anew PB of 43:38 & David Pilling ran 46:09.

Nick Simon completed the Bollington 3 peaks fell race in 1:03.
In Wings for Life World run, Prash Sripathi covered 27.9k, Lou Tring 10.9k and Iris Mayo 8.8k.

At parkrun Ollie Nolan notched up his 100th run in Gloucester, Jeanette Gullick was 1st lady overall home in Cheltenham in a new PB of 21:14 and Lou Bryan also got a PB at Cheltenham in 23:16.

Hannah Brown was 4th in her category at the Wilmslow triathlon with a 400m swim, 24k bike & 6k run in 1:43.

Glenda Gill was first in her age category at the Tewkesbury Sprint triathlon.

Over 30 Almosts run London Marathon

A large group of Almost Athletes travelled to the capital to join over forty-thousand other people running the London Marathon. Many had fundraised and donned charity vests as they took part in the highlight of the UK running calendar. Josh Hand was in incredible form, racing home in well under three hours, with a personal best time 2:50. Matt Barnes followed in 3:00, then Hattie Jenkins, first female Almost, in 3.14. Paul Winkle ran 3.20, and Kevin Field finished in 3:33. Miranda Foster gained a PB with 3:37 and Michelle Balchin was close behind with 3:39.
Representing the club’s places were Natalie Greening (4:06), Mark Lyes (4:14), Clare Hearing (4:21) and Suzy Hills (4:32). Richard Knightley ran his first marathon in 4:26. It was VI runner Jayne Murphy’s first London Marathon and she finished in 5:33 along with her guide Mark Eavers. In addition to training for the marathon, Murphy successfully campaigned for organisers to change their medal policy, and Eavers became one of the first guide runners to receive a London Marathon finisher medal.
Also running were Mike Daly 3:44, Helen Fursman 3:52, Karen Galpin 3:55, Ceri Schofield 3:55, Ali Shaikh 4:20, Allan Green, 4:20, Dave McGrath 4:24, Caroline Clarke-Williams 4:27, Laura Curtis 4:39, Maisie Markham 4:40, Maddie Page 4:47, Deb Cartlidge 4:50, Katie Sworn 4:53, Sharmila Door 5:07, Bill Jones 5:14, Oliver Clarkin 5:26, Nicole Hope 5:30 and Mark Pelling 6:10.
In Cheltenham, one year after runners participated in 3.7 mile ‘Finish for Matt’ events to remember Matt Campbell, who sadly died running the 2018 London Marathon, a group of Almosts gathered to repeat the run, marking the distance from the finish at which he collapsed.
Elsewhere, Shaun Carr ran Corsham 10K in 39.32, placing 33rd in a field of 1020 runners. Sarah Carr and Melvyn Harris both finished in 1:04. Martyn Fisher took part in Childerley 10k train race near Cambridge, finishing in 51:12, his best time in years.
Catherine Daly ran Stratford upon Avon Half Marathon in 1:50. Dave Nelson warmed up at Victoria parkrun, Glasgow, before running a PB time of 2:24 at the Great Stirling Run Half Marathon.
Mark Willicott completed 53 miles of the West Highland Way in 11:06 at the challenging Highland Fling Ultra. In Wales, Dave Rogers and Martin Thomas ran the hilly Gilwern Grunt, finishing the 8 mile course in 1:18 and 1:19 respectively.
At Cheltenham parkrun, Matt Polson was 5th finisher in 19:30, closely followed by Phillip Jukes in 6th place with 19:32. Jeanette Gullick was 2nd lady in 21.45, and Jo Foster 9th in 23:47. Lesley Cottle was 3rd lady at Gloucester North in 25:13 while Ben Taylor was 4th at Newent in 21:05. At Gloucester City, Hester Coggin and Patricia Peever finished as top 10 ladies with 23:54 and 26:07 respectively.
There was parkrun tourism for Sue Monaghan at Oxford, Jeff Tibbles at Worcester, and Robert Foord at Upton Court. Rachel Fargher and Malc Smith ran at Brockenhurst Park, Rich Smith ran at Keswick, Martyn Fisher at Millennium Country parkrun, and Dave Chittock at Woolacombe Dunes. Danny Carroll was at Severn Bridge, and Mike Bryce at Burnham and Highbridge.