Almosts' Christmas period achievements

Lepha McCartan took on the Maverick Camp Endeavour, a 10,000 foot, 30 mile trail run in Chamonix France. Amongst rocky descents, alpine forests,  beautiful landscapes, and Mt Blanc towering in every angle of the run. McCartan completed this phenomenal run over 3 days: Day 1: 9 miles, Day 2: 13.4 miles and Day 3: 8.5miles.

Following the footsteps of Vikings and Romans, Hayley Woolnough and Deborah Elliott completed the Race to the Stones 50km trail run, an event along the oldest path in Britain, from the Chilterns to the mystical North Wessex Downs. Woolnough and Elliott completed this stunning run in 10 hrs 11 mins.

The Snowdonia trail marathon was run by Ingrid Harris, Mike Kennedy and Allan Green. Harris was  awarded third place prize in her the V50-V59 age category.

Robert Dalton-Harris ran his 250th parkrun in Cheltenham on Saturday, with Peter Mitchener achieving 1st in age group at 21:54, with personal bests achieved by Jo Foster, Nicole Hope, Lynne Macedo and Chaweewan Hartley. At Gloucester North parkrun Helen Youde was 2nd overall and 1st Lady, Chris McMahon was the second Almost Athlete home, achieving 3rd in age group. Parkrun tourists saw Peter Morris at Exeter Riverside parkrun achieving a personal best of 19:59 and Robert Ford the Black park country parkrun, Slough, achieving 24:17.

This Saturday saw the annual Cotswold Way Relay event which started from Chipping Campden in the early morning and finished in the evening at Bath Abbey.  The race comprises ten stages of varying length and undulation in which teams from different running clubs compete, and this year’s event was run under particularly hot and gruelling conditions.

Almost Athletes fielded a total of 60 runners in 6 teams, together with other members who manned water stations along the route. The Club was delighted when their ladies team – "Almost our girls" - secured fourth place overall. The ladies team consisted of Amber Bullingham, Michelle Balchin, Amy Sheer, Stacey Osmond, Helena Youde, Hattie Jenkins, Hester Coggin, Helen Fursman, Miranda Foster and Katy Gaze.

As well as the excellent team result, both Helena Youde and Hattie Jenkins took second places in their stage of the race, whilst Martin Foster was 11th in leg 2.

The Almost mixed team – "Almost winning aren’t we" – took a very well deserved 17th place out of a strong field of 66, and consisted of Oliver Bell, Martin Foster, Ingrid Harris, Richard Birth, Mike Kennedy, Catherine Daly, Dave Rogers, Kirstie Hallan, Danny Caroll and Matt Polson.

The numbers of Almosts taking part in the Cheltenham parkrun were lower this weekend, largely because so many members were taking part in the CWR on the same day. Nevertheless, two Almosts were amongst the first finishers – Matthew Pickman was 19th with a time of 19:53 whilst Prash Sripathi was 23rd in 20:10.  There were also two new PBs with Simon Gomersall completing in 28:01, and Lynne Macedo in 30:18.

Parkrun tourists included Kate Freeman, Janine Bennett and Claire Gallagher who all ran in the Witney event, and Iris Mayo who was first in her age category at the Cirencester parkrun.  Peter Morris took part in the Penrhyn castle parkrun in North Wales, and came in at 21:40.

Other events that Almosts took part in this weekend included Endure 24 in Leeds in which Peter Mitchener ran 35 miles out of the 140 total as part of the "Worst Pace Scenario" team.  Allan Green completed yet another marathon – Rachel’s Ranscombe Ramble – in 6:08, and Ingrid Harris took to her bike to cycle 32 miles in the very hilly Tour d’Ilmington.  Donna Evans also cycled 80 miles in the GE charity ride from Cheltenham to the National Memorial Arboretum.

The Frampton 10km race took place on the evening of Monday 2nd and also enjoyed a good turnout of Almosts, together with some outstanding results.

Karen Galpin was first in her age category with a time of 47:09 and David Lawrence was third in his group with 56:38. The Ladies Team of Michelle Balchin, Amber Bullingham and Jeanette Gullick took 2nd place overall.

Josh Hand was the first Almost home and in 11th position with a great time of 37:47, followed by Richard Birch in 40:17, Matt Polson in 40:39, Matt Proome in 41:49, Matthew Hickman in 42:32, Andrew Ford in 42:37 and Simon Jarvis in 43:10.

Despite the heat a further 29 Almosts completed the race in less than one hour, whilst Sue Monaghan, Charlotte Jamieson, Jayne Adams and Claire Hawes claimed four of the top ten places in their age category.