2024 News
News items for 2024 will appear below they become available. Links to prior years will appear immediately below, as we migrate information from our old site to our current one.
Our Echo Reports
We are always looking for news, results and race stories for our weekly Echo report. Please tell us about your experiences, results, personal best times achieved, worst nightmare races etc by emailing almostathletes@hotmail.com – if you don’t tell us about it, we can’t report it. We can’t guarantee that all information supplied will go in as the Echo has full editorial control, but we will do our best.
Beginnings of the Spring Race Season, a 250th Parkrun and More
Race Report for 9 April by Dave Nelson
It was another busy weekend for Almost Athletes as the spring race season began to get into gear with various events, both near and far.
In a very hot Prague, Kevin Keegan ran his 4th in the “Super Halfs” series, leaving him with only two more to do to complete the set. In roughly 26 degree heat in the Czech capital, Kevin completed the course in 2:59:35. Closer to home, three club members took part in the London Landmarks Half, with Coralie Pearson (2:14:26), Corinne Cooper (2:23:05) and Rachel Nolan (2:29:58) all putting up strong performances.
Another half marathon runner was Ingrid Harris, who completed the Brabazon Half in Patchway, Bristol, who battled through illness to finish in 1:55:48, in the process taking first place in her age category. Going longer this week was Shaun Carr, who finished the Brighton Marathon in 4:37:11; and of course Shaun wasn’t the only one running 26.2 miles – marathon man Allan Green completed a very windy and hilly Southampton Marathon in 4:57:04. Our final running racer this week was Claire Hawes, who did an extremely muddy Powderham Castle 5 Mile race, finishing in 1:13:12 despite losing her shoe in the mud twice! Mixing his disciplines though was Phil Jeyes, who took part in the Halesowen Triathlon, finishing in 1:47:33.
Away from races, as always there was the usual large turnout of club members at various parkruns both locally and further afield. Oliver Bell completed the “parkrun alphabet”, a challenge consisting of running a parkrun starting with each letter of the alphabet other than X, at the Zielony Jar event in Krakow, Poland. Soon to join him in the “alphabeteer” club is Piotr Michalski, who ran at the Yarborough Leisure Centre event in his 200th overall parkrun, leaving him with just a Z to collect. Perhaps a trip to Krakow for Piotr soon as well!
At Cheltenham, there was an official milestone for Vincent Cowling, who completed his 250th run; and an unofficial one for Peter Mitchener, who completed his 300th run, also volunteering by pacing 23 minutes. Peter was joined in pacing by Elliot Jordan, Steven Wood, Sarah Wood, Paul Jones, and Forrest Wheeler; while a number of Almosts volunteered in other roles. Without volunteers parkrun wouldn’t happen, so we would like to encourage everyone to help out if they can, even just once in a while as it is a huge help and is very appreciated by event teams!
There were age category first places for Cathy Booth at Pollok, Glasgow; Julia Whittaker at Harrow; Catherine Williams at Worcester; Felicity Read at Cheltenham; Joanne Johnson at Swansea Bay; Rosemary Hubbard at Prospect; Neil Tring at Aberbeeg; and Jamie Courtenay at Sandhurst Memorial.
Other parkrun tourism was undertaken by club members at Kingsway; Leamington; Oxford; Highbury Fields; Lincoln; Eden Project; Malahide, Dublin; Woodley; Newent; Osterley; Lanhydrock; Blandford; Barry Island; Ludlow; Gloucester City; Clevedon Salthouse Fields; Chipping Norton School; Beacon; Ganger Farm; and Blaise Castle. Lastly, a mention for Nichola Sanderson, whose son completed his first junior parkrun (along with mum!) in Stratford-upon-Avon on Sunday, finishing in 12:37. A future member of the purple army!
The photos are of Claire Hawes at Powderham Castle, Shaun Carr at Brighton and Kevin Keegan at Prague.
A Busy Easter Period for Almosts
Race Report for 1 April by Natalie Pluck
Many Almost Athletes made good use of the two extra days off this Easter Bank holiday, starting with the club’s traditional Good Friday event. As always, this was well attended with many club members coming along to walk or run a variety of distances both on road and trail giving a welcome opportunity to socialise along the way.
There was a large turn out for the club at Gloucester 10k and Half Marathon and several members came away with category placings to their name across both distances. Over the half marathon distance, Alice Tredgett proved once again that she is going from strength to strength coming overall first female and winning the Senior Women’s category with a time of 1:22:12, almost 4 minutes ahead of the next lady in the race. Karen Galpin was first in her category of V60 (female) with an impressive personal best of 1:49:01, closely followed by Ingrid Harris (1:49:37). Sarah Wallbridge was the 4th V60 lady across the line with a time of 1:56:45. Both Karen and Alice’s time are new club records for the half marathon distance in their respective age categories, with Karen improving on the club record she previously set herself. There are plenty of other members who had a good morning in Gloucester, with Jeanette Gullick coming home as the first V55 (female) in 1:40:32 and Ian Coggin running a strong time of 1:44:11 closely followed by James Fyrne (1:45:53). Amy Broomhall finished in 1:47:54, coming 8th out of 55 runners in the V35 (female) category. Other members running were Victoria Willoughby (1:56:45), Alison Hume (1:57:21), Ivana Wilson (1:57:53), Tristan Motteram (2:15:58), Vicki James (2:41:26), Mark James (2:41:26) and Dave Nelson (2:42:41). Lynne Poulston was not content with running just 13.1 miles in 2:35:08 so added an extra 5 miles to make up her long training run ahead of the London marathon in a few weeks time.
For runners choosing the shorter 10k distance, there was no less success. Steve Axford was the first Almost Athlete to finish, coming 3rd in the V45 category with a time of 43:26. Sue Low and Sue Sturgeon finished together to come joint 3rd for the V65 (female) category with a time of 1:07:07. Declan Walker finished 21st out of 155 runners in the Senior Male category with a very respectable time of 43:49. Graeme Stopp (54:45), Clare Bone (56:08), Steve Phelps (1:00:30), Melanie Methven (1:06:47) and Steve Yarnold (1:04:06) also enjoyed the 10k run in the very welcome sunny weather.
Before running the Gloucester half marathon on Sunday, Ingrid Harris ran the Westonbirt Easter Half coming first in her age category in 1:52:00. Julie Averiss ran the 10k distance in 1:15:46.
It wouldn’t be a Saturday without parkrun and this Easter weekend was no different. Several members took the opportunity on this long Bank Holiday to travel a bit further afield with Neil Tring and Lorraine Taylor visiting Queens’s parkrun in Belfast. Neil came first in his age category with a time of 22:45. Lorraine finishing in 29:18. David Davey was also on the Emerald Isle, running at Sligo parkrun and finishing in a time of 25:32. Up in Scotland David Nelson ran Oriam parkrun in Edinburgh finishing in 38:00. Kate Bestwick ran her 223rd parkrun at Fleetwood Promenade, which was also their 223rd event. She ran her fastest time of the year in 36:13. Nearly 40 Almost Athletes attended Pittville Park to run Cheltenham parkrun. Other events attended this week included Tamworth Castle Grounds (Ellie Haile, 26:37), Trentham Gardens (Rich Smith, 27:33), University Parks (Victoria Kennedy, 33:31 and Mike Kennedy, 44:53) and Storeys Field (Robert Foord, 20:30).
Muddy Good Fun for Almost Athletes at Eastnor and Pendock
Race Report for 17 March by Alison Hume
This week saw the largest contingent of Almost Athletes representing the club at the Magnificent Eastnor Castle 7, a trail race organised by Ledbury and District Harriers in the grounds of Eastnor Castle and the third race in the club’s offroad race series. First home for the club in fifth place overall and first in MV40 category was Nick Lewis, who conquered the very wet and muddy conditions underfoot to finish in 49:46. Also placing top three in their respective age categories were John Johnson (57:24, 3rd MV40); Joanne Johnson (62:34, 3rd FV40) and Charlotte Jamieson (86:57, 3rd FV60). Neil Tring also placed third in the MV60 age category (63:24), just one day after picking up another first in age category at Chadderton Hall parkrun.
Also on the hunt for race series points were: Jamie Baron (58:02); Jonathan Shuman (58:52); Peter Mitchener (61:27); Tim Perkins (64:28); Graeme Stopp (65:42); David Garnett (73:34); Hollie Galvin – who was delighted to match her time from last year’s race in significantly more challenging conditions (79:05) – a fast improving Adrian Courtenay (81:21); Adele Steptoe (82:43); Rich Smith (85:27); Catherine Mason (86:03) and Bob Spawton (86:33).
Similarly muddy and slippery offroad conditions were encountered at the Pendock Spring Chicken 10k, where Ingrid Harris missed out by seconds on winning her age category (55:08). Julie Averiss (82:23) and Coralie Pearson (83:07) also completed the challenging course, while Ray Pearson took on the 5k race (44:05).
Going longer and muddier still were two of the club’s offroad queens: Natalie Greening, who tackled 15 miles of mud and floodwater over 2,000 feet of ascent at The Big Cheese offroad fell race in Cheddar, Somerset (3:58:33) and Lesley Cottle, who conquered in excess of 3,000 feet of ascent at the fabled 20-mile Grizzly – The Good, The Bad and The Grizzly – in Seaton, Devon (5:09:58).
Not content with mud alone, Glenda Gill, Claire Hawes, Steve and Helen Yarnold added water to the mix at the second race in the Tewkesbury Winter aquathlon series, Claire placing second in her age category and Steve placing third in his.
With marathon training in full swing for some club members, many took to the roads to measure their progress. Mike Johnstone shone at the Milton Keynes Festival of Running 20-mile race, crossing the line in in 36th place in 2:09:32. Not only was this a new personal best but Mike also set a new MV45 club record, knocking some five minutes off the previous record held by Rich Birch, which had stood for five years to the day.
Also in Milton Keynes, multi marathoner Allan Green completed day three of the Enigma Week at the Knees seven marathons in seven days challenge – nine laps of Willen Lakeside Park – in 5:12:27 and followed it up a few days later with another strong performance at the Great Welsh marathon in Carmarthenshire (4:45:44).
A quartet of Almost Athletes represented the club at Bath half marathon: Nathan Newton (1:37:09); Steve Phelps (1:49:42); Catherine Williams (1:50:11) and David Chittock (1:54:57), while Sue Sturgeon flew the flag as the sole member running at Liverpool half marathon. This was Sue’s first ever half marathon and she battled through to complete it in 3:02:30. Rose Hubbard (1:44:02); Neil Taylor (1:45:40) and Janine Bennett (2:21:04) raced the Carlisle half marathon, the latter two the day after taking part in Jesmond Dene parkrun.
This week’s half marathon overseas action was marked by hugely contrasting weather conditions – cold and windy at the Rock and Roll Washington DC event, which saw Ian Poole put in a strong performance to finish in 1:41:16. Meanwhile Karla Cleverley did well to complete the EDP Lisbon half marathon, the opening race in the 2024 SuperHalfs season, in uncomfortably hot conditions (3:32:58).
Almost Athletes participated in many different parkruns around the country again this week. Elliot Jordan was third across the line at Evesham parkrun and Chris McMahon clocked his fastest parkrun of the year at Gloucester City. Further afield Sue Low and Brian Maggs visited Cannon Hill, Birmingham; Kate Bestwick took on a hilly parkrun in Barnsley and Leah Maddiss broke off from her long-distance Hadrian’s Wall walk to take in Jesmond Dene parkrun, another hilly parkrun in Newcastle upon Tyne. Piotr Michalski visited Victoria Dock, which leaves him with just two letters of the parkrun alphabet to bag, to complete his parkrun alphabet challenge.
There was also an Almost Athlete presence at Ashton Court, Bolberry Down, Cheltenham, Cirencester, Clevedon Salthouse Fields, Didcot, Gladstone, Harcourt Hill, Marlborough Common, Newent, Oak Hill, Oaklands, Peel, Pontypool, Sandhurst Memorial, Stratford upon Avon, Tawd Valley, Tetbury Goods Shed, Thornbury and Wolverhampton.
Below is a selection of photos.
Parkrun Tourism and Much More.
Race Report for 4 March by Nicole Hope
It was another busy weekend for the Almost Athletes, running in local, national and international races. On Saturday, Peter Mitchener, Elliot Jordan, Paul Jones and Forrest Wheeler volunteered as pacers at Cheltenham parkrun. Rachael Nolan and Coralie Pearson travelled to Poznan parkrun in Poland, whilst Alison and Rob Hume ran at a wet and windy Groe parkrun in Builth Wells. Neil Tring finished first in age category at Leamington parkrun, and Janine Bennett completed the 5km distance at Cwmbran parkrun. Victoria and Mike Kennedy ran at Arrow Valley parkrun, and Joanne Johnson completed Porthcawl parkrun. Almosts were also represented at Lydney parkrun, Mole Valley parkrun and Severn Valley Country parkrun to name a few! In Wales, and in some testing weather conditions, a small group of Almosts completed the Rhayader Round The Lakes race. Over the 10km distance, Sheila Chatterley finished in 01:03:29 to finish 2nd in age category and Sam McGrath finished in 01:05:48 to secure 3rd in age category. Running in the 30km distance, Jeanette Gullick was the first Almost home in a time of 02:43:22, followed by Dave McGrath (02:52:39) and Steve Taylor (02:55:32). Sarah Wallbridge completed the race in 03:11:19 (3rd in age category). Great running all!
On Sunday, Clive Baker completed the Newport half marathon, in support of CALM, in a time of 01:48:51, whilst in Cambridge half marathon, Matt John gained a personal best time of 01:44:05. Claire Hawes ran the Bradleys Exmouth 10km in 01:08:33, with Almost Athlete Lesley Cottle volunteering as a marshal on the same event. Slightly further afield, and in a warmer climate, Matt Barnes was the first Almost Athlete across the line in Cyprus marathon in a time of 03:20:30. Fi Barnes completed the distance in 04:06:43 and Mark Willicott in 04:09:25. Marathon man Allan Green was also running in the Cyprus marathon, and finished in 04:36 which earnt him a 2nd in age category trophy. Well done all!
Slightly closer to home, and in cooler conditions, a trio of Almosts completed the Ashton 5km. Christine Harley (28:29), Pauline Bargus (28:32) and Chaweewan Hartley (28:39) ran the race set in Ashton-under-Hill. Another weekend of great running by the Almost Athletes.
Records and PBs Shattered at Bourton.
Race Report for 26 February by Dave Nelson
A busy week for Almost Athletes saw the ever-popular Bourton Roadrunners 10k be the main event for the club. The race saw an amazing 38 club members compete, and some fantastic results were achieved.
Leading the club home was Alice Tredgett, continuing her incredible recent form to finish as 4th lady in 37:11; smashing both her 10k PB and the senior ladies’ club record for the distance. Also achieving the PB and club record double was Patricia Dendy, taking over 2 minutes off her PB to achieve her first ever sub-40 finish. Pat finished in 39:58, achieving the new LV40 record, and coming third in her age category in the process. Karen Galpin then made it a trifecta of new club records, finishing in 48:27 to set the new LV60 mark. Some fabulous running from the ladies!
Aside from those record-breaking exploits, a whole host of other Almosts achieved new 10k PBs at Bourton. Steve Axford (38:55), Johnny Rea (39:47), Richard Knightley (43:39), and Steven Wood (44:58) all set new highs for themselves. Meanwhile, Lesley Cottle won the LV65 age category in 55:40, while Sue Low was third in the same category in 1:07:38. Finally, making a very welcome return to racing after being badly ill was Mark Stojanov, who marked his final appearance in purple for a while by coming home in 1:23:05.
Also running were Josh Hand, Katie Coleman, Jonathan Shuman, Declan Walker, John Johnson, Joanne Johnson, James Fyrne, Michael Smith, Duncan Eeles, Mark Wreford-Bush, Neil Tring, Timothy Perkins, Amy Broomhall, Peter Mitchener, Hayley Woolnough, Alison Hume, Carl Methven, Carole Doherty, Deb Cartlidge, Jane Russell, Adele Steptoe, Bob Spawton, Felicity Read, Heather Smith, Helen Motteram, Glenda Gill, Melanie Methven, and Sue Sturgeon.
Away from Bourton, there were some excellent performances elsewhere. In London, Ursula Bowd set a new 10k PB at the Winter Run, finishing in 56:55. Also competing were father and daughter duo Simon and Lauren Morgan, finishing in 52:38 and 54:11 respectively; as well as Josh Hepplewhite (50:51) and Clare Bone (57:10).
In Bath, the regular Two Tunnels event was held. Phil Brewer competed in the 5k event, setting a new PB of 28:00; while Forrest Wheeler (1:19:11) and Jeff Tibbles (1:18:21) took part over the 10k distance. As always, marathon man Allan Green continued to amaze us all, completing the 26.2 mile distance twice this week; firstly running the Badger Challenge Marathon in 5:51, then following that up with the very challenging and, unsurprisingly, muddy Big Mud Marathon in 6:44.
Claire Hawes, Steve Yarnold and Helen Yarnold all took part in the first race of the Tewkesbury Tri Club Aquathlon series. Claire finished 1st in her age group, while Steve finished 2nd in his.
In warmer climes, Elliot Jordan completed the Torrevieja Half Marathon in Spain in a fantastic time of 1:32. Furthest travelled, however, was Karla Cleverley, who ran a half marathon in Christchurch, New Zealand in 3:29 – a result she was delighted with given the heat, carrying an injury, and not having trained!
Away from racing, there was, as always, excellent club representation at parkruns near and far. Simon Lewis ran his first event in club colours at The Great Field parkrun in Poundbury, Dorchester. There were age category wins for Rita Crane (course PB) at Kingsway; Matt Polson at Wilmslow; Catherine Williams (course PB) and Jeanette Gullick at Mallards Pike; Brian Maggs at Ganger Farm; Dave Nelson at Whitekirk Hill; Sarah Wood at Cheltenham; and Alistair Mathew at Woolacombe Dunes. There were also age category placings for Hester Coggin at Kingsway; Steven Adams at Newent; Sharon Hadad at Rogiet; Julie Averiss at Aberbeeg; Graeme Stopp and Carl Methven at Mallards Pike (both course PBs); Robert Foord at Berkeley Green; Hamish Adamson at Aston Hall; and Christine Harker, Cathy Booth, and Peter Morris at Cheltenham.
Members also ran at Cardiff, Grovelands, Dudley, Bath Skyline, Bournemouth, Pontypridd, Gloucester City, Clevedon Salthouse Fields, Sandhurst Memorial, and Five Arches.
Another superb week of running from the club – well done everyone!
Below is a selection of photos.
Another Busy Week for Almosts…
Race Report for 18 February by Josh Hands.
In the world of parkrun, Sarah Wood ran a season best at Arrow Valley in 22:30, and Neil Tring cruised to a 23:05 at Brunswick Park; both were first in their respective age categories. Strong running! Piotr Michalski is getting closer to completing the parkrun ‘alphabet’ challenge, and picked up a ‘J’ at Jersey parkrun, St Albans. Meanwhile, kicking off an action-packed day of running in Pittville Park, Cheltenham parkrun celebrated its 11th birthday, ably directed by Club Chairman, Pete Mitchener. Edward Briggs was first home for the club in 20:44.
The Gloucestershire Cross Country League came to a head with the season finale taking place in Pittville Park. 35 Almost Athletes donned the beloved purple and yellow and took on mud, hills, twists and no less than three river crossings! Mike Johnstone was first home for the club in 38:34. Top five age category finishes in the men’s race were claimed by Nick Lewis, Dave McGrath, Adrian Courtenay and Neil Tring. Leading the club’s women home was Alice Tredgett in 28:14 as sixth senior lady. Patricia Dendy followed closely behind and was third LV40. Further top five age category placings were achieved by Isobel Atkin, Victoria Willoughby, Ingrid Harris and Charlotte Jamieson. Well done to everyone who helped contribute to such a special atmosphere in the park. Almost Athletes held on to the crown of ‘best tent in the league’!
With the cross-country series now concluded, we are delighted for Patricia Dendy who was crowned series bronze medallist in her category – very well done.
A classic on the local racing scene, Dursley Dozen was wet and slippery like never before! A 12 mile route with nearly 2000ft of ascent, it was great to see seven club members successfully completing this challenging event. Alistair Matthew was first home for the club in 1:42 and 21st overall. Olga Goffin was third in the FV35-39 and Ingrid Harris second FV60-64.
In events beyond Gloucestershire, Dan Magovern completed the Birmingham Running Festival half marathon in a cracking time of 2:03. And before the weekend was even upon us, Ingrid Harris and Allan Green headed towards Windsor Castle for the Jubilee River Trail Marathon; Ingrid finished second lady. Whilst for Allan it was a mere warm up for another marathon on Sunday(!), completing the Saturn S Run marathon in 5:30.
Our 2024 Linda Franks Race… And more besides
Storm Isha provided many runners with a welcome speed boost this Sunday as they attended the ever popular Linda Franks 5 mile race. Organised by Almost Athlete stalwart Phil Jeyes and well supported by volunteers from the club, the 5 mile road race around Up Hatherly is a staple in many club members’ race calendar. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, it is the first in the club’s road race series as well as the Gloucestershire Amateur Athletics Association race series so was well attended. Funds raised at the post race cake table will be donated to Heidi’s Heroes, a Cheltenham based charity.
As the weather stayed kind during the morning many club members achieved personal best times over the distance. A trip from Manchester was well worth the effort for Matt Polson who was the first male Almost home in 30:06. Alice Tredgett was hot on his heels, following just 19 seconds later to come home as first female Almost in 30:25 as well as third senior lady. Alice’s time was a staggering 2 minutes quicker than her previous personal best over this distance. Patricia Dendy (32:38) won her age group with a personal best beating her previous time by 1 minute. Alice and Patricia were joined by Amy Sheer to take the women’s first team prize.
Other notable performances on Sunday morning were from Mark James, who achieved a personal best of 42:37. Dave Nelson completed the 5 miles in 49:33 which is his third fastest time over the distance, with a 2:30 minute post COVID personal best and an incredible 4:30 improvement on his efforts last year. Neil Tring was second in his age category with a time of 36:31. Hayley Woolnough came 3rd in her age category with a time of 39:42, Dave McGrath came fifth in his age category in 33:28 and Cathy Booth came third in her age category coming home in 47:13. Overall 83 club members ran and many others supported on the day, marshalling, manning water stations or providing encouragement to runners.
Further afield, Tony Heap completed Farnborough half marathon as part of his training for his upcoming spring marathon. Despite challenging conditions, he completed the course in 2:08:50, setting him good stead for his upcoming longer distance.
It was a weekend for exploring other parkrun venues for many on Saturday morning. Neil Tring was first in his age category at Aston Hall, Birmingham with a time of 23:43 coming twelfth in a field of 99 – with 93 other runners also being tourists to the venue due to this being its 10th event. Jason Hulance joined Neil at Aston Hall with a time of 27:55. Several other Almosts travelled to the similarly named Ashton Court in Bristol for their touristing, with Graeme Stopp (25:32), Kate Nichol (29:47), Cheryl Rodham (30:29), Felicity Read (31:13), Melanie and Carl Methven (35:17 and 35:48 respectively), Corinne Cooper (36:09), Jason Bone (39:05) and Jeff Tibbles (39:05) making the trip down the M5. Thomas Wood (26:08), Robert Dalton-Morris (26:23), Piotr Michalski (26:27), Coralie Pearson (31:57) and Ray Pearson (41:59) drove in the opposite direction north to Solihull for Brueton parkrun. As always, there was a strong turn out of Almosts at the Cheltenham and Gloucester parkruns.
A selection of photos from our 2024 Linda Franks road race.
Park Life for Almosts
With the current Gloucestershire AAAs season yet to conclude, last week was time to honour 2023 achievements. Alison Hume and Sally Mckinlay collected the Ladies Open Shield for which 17 members had contributed points while Allan Green received his age category Shield.
With the new running year only days old, parkruns provided the focus for Almosts tuning up for the greater challenges ahead. None more so than Johnny and Caroline (Caz) Rea who continued their fine recent form at the Cheltenham parkrun. Johnny recorded an overall PB in 19:15 enough to earn a 9th place male finish. Caz meanwhile completed a course PB of 28:55, a step closer to her new year sub 28 goal. Lewis Jones and Steven Wood also completed top 50 finishes in 20:36 and 21:29 respectively at the same event. Meanwhile at King George V Playing Fields Ross Greening completed a credit worthy run in 24:28 with Sarah Harford first female Almost over the line in 27:27. Over in Gloucester Catherine Williams recorded 23:58 for a 4th gender finish at Kingsway parkrun while Elliot Jordan completed the Gloucester City parkrun in 20:58 for a 12th overall finish. Across the border in Wiltshire Neil Tring came first in the MV65 category and finished 11th overall in 22:42 at the Melksham parkrun. Out of the county Sue Low collected her last letter in pursuit of the alphabet challenge at Valentines parkrun while Jason Hulance and Zakia Hussain ensured an Almost presence at the inaugural Brunswick Park parkrun in Wednesbury, West Midlands. Meanwhile in the Netherlands, Ela Antosiewicz celebrated a birthday at the Zuiderpark parkrun in The Hague with a top 50 finish in 24:58. Almost Athletes were also present at Cirencester, Blandford, Severn Bridge, Pontypool, Tetbury Goods Shed, and Peel among other places.
Among other events Kirstie Hallam (1:54), Mariel Chretien (2:05), and Glenda Gill ( 2:08) were AAs completing a 9.6 mile off road circuit for the Riverbank Rollick organised by Thornbury RC. Ryan Hardiman came home in 48:04 and 34th place in the Wye Valley and Priestfield Park night race over a 5.3 mile course for which fellow Almost member Christopher Benjamin provided tail runner services. Ingrid Harris and Allan Green travelled 100 miles at the weekend to complete an 8-lap circuit of the Thames for the Doughnut Dash at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in times of 4:13 and 5:46 respectively. It is presumed they took advantage of the confectionery treats to refuel. Finally, congratulations are due to Robert Dalton-Morris who achieved a long held wish to complete the Goggins 4x4x48 Challenge in the Maldives – dirty work but it has to be done. This required 4 miles of running every 4 hours for 2 days amounting to a hefty 48 miles. Robert cunningly applied his jetlag to cope with the hours of darkness but still had to deal with 32 degrees and 90% humidity. Well done that man.
