Current venues

Monday 15th Oct
7pm Track Session at PoW

Tuesday 16th Oct
7pm TBC ... see Facebook ...WEAR HI-VIZ + HEAD TORCH!

Wednesday 17th Oct
7pm On-road HI-VIZ, Exmouth Arms, Bath Road

Thursday 18th Oct
9:30am The Norwood
7:15pm PoW Track

Saturday
Cleeve Golf Club, 9am

Notices

AA Christmas Do

Click link to book

AA Membership - join & renew now

2018/2019 AA membership form and fees are now due - join/renew here

AA Events

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 125 > >>

Penguins run and man water station at Cheltenham Half Marathon in tribute to Rich

The main event of the weekend was undoubtedly the Cheltenham Half Marathon in which a large contingent of over 100 Almosts took part with some excellent results all round.

Josh Hand was first male Almost home in 1:22, followed by Steve Linton in 1:25 and Martin Foster with 1:26, both of whom gained new PBs.

For the ladies, Helena Youde was third female overall with a terrific time of 1:22 which placed her first in her age group, followed by Hattie Jenkins in 1:31 and Patricia Peever in 1:34.

Danny Reeves put in a great performance and was second in the wheelchair category with 1:29, whilst visually impaired runner Rob Rennell gained a new PB by finishing in 2:59. Louise Bryan ran her first ever Half Marathon in 1:55.

There were a number of other outstanding results for Almosts in the various age groups. Ingrid Harris, Karen Galpin and Karen Gomm were 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their group with times of 1:40, 1:43 and 1:49 respectively. Virginia Pawlyn was first in her group with 2:13, whilst Dale Midwinter and Jeanette Gullick were both 3rd in their groups in 1:29 (a new PB) and 1:42.

Young Almost Holly Linton came first in the Community Mile around the Racecourse with a new PB of 5mins 40secs.

Of the Almosts running in penguin costume, first home was Prash Sripathi in a time of 1:33, followed by Pete Mitchener in 1:54.

Amongst the many new PBs gained today were the following: Matthew Hickman with 1:28, Ben Stone with 1:29, Martin Thomas in 1.39, Piotr Michalski with 1:41, Andrew Wilkinson in 1:42, Joanna Wisniewska-Barreto in 1:43, Catherine Daly in 1:45, Jo Foster with 1:46, Richard Knightley in 1.51, Chris McMahon with 1:52, Sarah Carr in 2.20, Kev Fairs in 2:23, Dave Nelson in 2:25, Mark Stojanov in 2:35 and Rita Crane in 2:56.

As well as running in penguin suits, Almost Athletes manned the 10 mile water station dressed as penguins in tribute to their late colleague Rich Walklate.

Away from the Cheltenham Half, a number of Almosts competed in other events over the weekend. Claire Hawes ran the Exmouth 10km in 57:21, her fastest since early 2015, and on Saturday Allan Green took part in the Pyjamathon Marathon at Walton on Thames with a finishing time of 4:28.

Dave Chittock ran the British Heart Foundation Half Marathon at Blenheim Palace in 1:50, whilst Dave Rogers and Lepha McCartan tackled the Maverick X series Marathon in Snowdonia which had 7000 feet of climb and a distance of almost 28 miles overall. Rogers finished in 5:55 and McCartan in 6:49. Oliver Clarkin took on the shorter distance of 14.5 miles with 1300 metres elevation at the same event, and came home in 4:05.

Seven Almost ladies ran the Forest of Dean Half Marathon on Sunday with Sarah Roberts the first to finish in 1:54, followed by Hester Coggin in 1:56 and Karen Hilton in 1:58. Carole Doherty achieved 2:10, Desiree Beer 2:12, and Nikki Durnell and Wan Hartley both 2:21.

There were celebrations at Cheltenham parkrun on Saturday 29th where two Almosts – Matt Bevan and Prash Sripathi – both completed a remarkable 250th run.

On the same morning, Lynne Macedo ran her 50th parkrun and there were new PBs for Simon Evans with 23:15, Lorraine Taylor with 23.52 and Emma Wilkinson with 24.15.

Rich Smith was a parkrun tourist at the Arrow Valley event, and finished in 30:02 whilst running with a buggy.

Running in the rain

Despite the wind and heavy rain over much of the weekend there were some excellent results for Almosts in a variety of different races.

On Saturday 22nd Martyn Fisher completed the Norfolk Coast Marathon in 4:35, whilst Ingrid Harris took on the LDWA Cotswold Challenge Marathon and finished in 5:55.

Alice Harmon recorded an excellent time of 47:51 at the Loch Ness 10km race in Scotland on Sunday 23rd, whilst Mark Stojanov ran 11.5km at Hever Castle in 1:31.

Rob Rennell tackled the Great Bristol Half Marathon and completed in 3:07.

The Angels 10km race also took place on Sunday after having been postponed from April due to bad weather. The undulating course which starts at Ashleworth is part of the Gloucester AAA County Road Race series. Martin Foster was first Almost home in 40:10, followed by Richard Birch in 40:22, Neil Tring in 44:15 and Allan Green in 47:35.

Once again there was success for the Almost’s ladies team consisting of Amy Sheer, Michelle Balchin and Catherine Daly, who were second overall with times of 45:17, 46:13 and 48:58 respectively.

There were also County medals for each of the following: David Lawrence, Neil Tring, Richard Birch, Allan Green, Amy Sheer, Catherine Daly, Michelle Balchin, Lorraine Taylor and Hayley Woolnough.

At Cheltenham parkrun there was a new PB for Louise Inchley with 24:51 and Louise Bryan ran her first parkrun in 24:39.

Parkrun tourists this weekend included Pete Mitchener in Melbourne, Australia, who gained a new PB with a time of 21:10. Nat Stow ran Gloucester North for the first time in 27:14 and Kate Freeman took part in the Bakewell parkrun.