Sunday 20th July 2008
RACE 5 - St IVES DAIRY CREST 10K
The St Ives Dairy Crest 10k was the 5th race in the Grand Prix series and as expected competition is hotting up at the top of the individual challenges, especially for the men with Andrew Henessy (Wells City Harriers - 24 points) just 1 point ahead of David Dickinson (Havering 90 Joggers - 23 points).
For the Ladies challenge Tamara Jordan (Stowmarket Striders) has taken a strong lead and is at the top of the table with 32 points. Riverside Runners Ladies, Rachel Sutcliffe and Madeline Boardman, made a big impact on the GP table with their 2nd and 3rd places on the day.
Two local clubs (Cambridge & Coleridge and March AC) have powered up the rankings, and are in joint 3rd place with West Norfolk, Stowmarket Striders and Biggleswade. Cambridge & Coleridge were out in force with well over 20 runners competing.
Although the conditions were sunny, and the threat of rain held off, it was very gusty throughout the race so the time for the 1st runner home was nearly 2 minutes slower than for the GEAR 10k
The last 2 races of the series should really open up the competition as both races will attract a large field and all GP eligible athletes will be looking to secure and improve the positions built so far. The next race is the Great Eastern Run on Sunday 12th October in Peterborough.
Sunday 4th May 2008
RACE 4 - BESPAK GREAT EAST ANGLIA RUN (10K)
This is a flat, fast course and conditions for GEAR 2008 were favourable for good finishing times, with just a light head wind at some points of the course. With an excellent field of nearly 2,000 runners, and a compact city centre route, this made for an exciting race with lots of crowd support at all stages.
The 1st three men home were all eligible for the GP Series based on residence in the East region, even though they are all 1st claim for England Athletics affiliated clubs outside the region. Andrew Hennessy crossed the line in 31:10 which was 12 seconds clear of 2nd man home Darren Fowlie, who was followed 30 seconds later by Rob Joy. 4th & 5th places saw a battle to the line with Ashley Harrell (City of Norwich AC) squeezing in at 32:57, a mere 3 seconds ahead of David Dickinson (Havering 90 Joggers; 33:00).
The ladies had a clear winner with Olivia Walwyn (City of Norwich) over the line in 36:08, leaving a massive gap of nearly a minute and a half before the 2nd lady home, Nicola Rogers (Team Run Evolve; Colchester & Tendring) crossed the line in 37:30. The battle for 2nd place was very tight, with Tamara Jordan (Stowmarket Striders; winner of the Joe Cox 1/2) just 9 seconds behind in 37:39.
Sunday 20th April 2008
RACE 3 - FLITWICK 10K
The third race of the Grand Prix series - the Flitwick 10k
- took place on Sunday 20th April with Owain Matthews taking the 1st
Male place and returning Bedford & County AC to the podium, and
Tracey Ranson winning the 1st Female award for Springfield Striders.
The Flitwick 10k celebrated its 20th anniversary with a fast race
in perfect running conditions (cool with minimal wind). This race is
going from strength to strength and was at capacity on the day with
around 1,000 registered runners.
Owain Matthews completed the course in 31:57, 36 seconds faster
than fellow Bedford & County AC runner, Matthew Janes. Tracey
Ranson was 1st Lady home in 38:26 and was 45th overall, having run a
tight race against 2nd Lady Selina Staines from Dacorum & Tring AC
who was a mere 10 seconds behind Tracey.
The GP series is now starting to heat up as we move forward to the 4th race.
Sunday 23rd March 2008
RACE 2 - JOE COX HALF MARATHON
Race two of the Grand Prix series - the Joe Cox half
marathon - took place on Sunday 23rd March with William Speake and
Tamara Jordan grabbing the top positions on the day, and each
collecting a winners cheque for £200 for their efforts.
The Joe Cox 1/2 is a new race this year, replacing the Joe Cox 10,
and the organisers, Stowmarket Striders, have created an excellent,
fast course. Following a stunning rural route along country lanes
through the beautiful Suffolk countryside, the race is accurately
described as undulating (although there is a sting in its tail with a
hard hill to tackle on the home mile!).
An untimely return to winter weather meant that the course was snow
covered, although most of the roads were clear under foot by the time
the race got under way. Hats off to the marshals and officials who
braved cold and windy conditions - and of course the sun peeped out
just as the last runner crossed the finish line.
William Speake, representing Bildeston Bounders, completed the
course in 1:14:22, over 3 minutes faster than 2nd man home David Reed
from St Edmund Pacers. For the ladies Tamara Jordan from home club
Stowmarket Striders was 1st home in 1:26:31 and was 12th overall, and
she too had over 3 minutes lead on the next lady, Amanda Henry from
Sudbury Joggers.
The Joe Cox 1/2 lived up to its claim as a perfect preparation race
for the London Marathon - 3 weeks before London and ideally timed as
runners now start to taper for the marathon. Attention is now focused
on the 3rd race in the series, the Ampthill and Flitwick 10k, which is
scheduled for Sunday 20th April - a perfect "recovery" run post London!
Sunday 3rd February 2008
RACE 1 - WATFORD HALF MARATHON
James Lawler and Jo Wilkinson gave
Bedford and County an excellent start to the England Athletics East
Region Grand Prix Road Race Series on Sunday.
The first event of the seven-race
series was held within the Watford Half-marathon and the Bedford pair
both came away with maximum points.
Lawler continued his excellent start to
2008 as he built on his Fred Hughes 10 win at St Albans by winning in
70.15, while Wilkinson ran an impressive 75.46 on the hilly course.
She finished second to in-form ex-Australian international Natalie Harvey in the open race but led home those from the East.
Wilkinson, a member of the East Region
Council, now needs three more good performances in the series to become
the inaugural champion, and then she will look to make her marathon
debut. She said: "I’ve never run a marathon before but I’d like to do one this year – probably abroad, maybe Berlin or Amsterdam."
Wilkinson was delighted with her run on
what is virtually her home course as she lives in Watford. She added:
"It was very pleasing as I trained hard all last week and didn’t taper
down for the race. I thought I ran well and I finished strongly." The Essex cross-country champion will
now target the National and Inter-Counties Cross-Country Championships
and will not run the second race of the East Road Race Series – the Joe
Cox Half-marathon in Stowmarket in March but she hopes to complete
enough races to win the title.
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