A TALE OF TWO RACES AT NOTLEY AND LANDSEER PARK

It has certainly been the tale of two races in the first 2 Cross Countries to the season this year.                              

At Notley Park the writing seemed written on the wall when Geoff Tomlinson was unable to start due to a niggling calf problem and during the race Beccy McCorquodale had to pull out with an injury as Bentley struggled to make headway in a particularly strong field of teams.                          

First finisher for the club men in 23rd was Martyn Pattison with a fine effort and Jeff Wharton behind him a very fine 27th.  Fred Bees had his usual good run working through the field with 52nd but unfortunately despite good efforts from our 4 runners to follow they took their toll against the others however Mark Ross ran bravely for a 97th, a good run after injuries himself and Andrew Owen with a fine debut run was  105th leaving those to make the qualifiers left Jon Bolton with a well fought 125th and Brian Telford with a good effort for 130th. This sadly put the men in last place although be it by only 15 points.          

The Ladies fought back for the club though with fine runs and Michelle Van Looy came home first for the club with 13th ahead of Lucy Westcott in 17th place. Kim Chatting in her first run in Cross Country finished the Ladies tally with 31st to give a score of 61 which gave the Ladies 6th position behind Ipswich Jaffa.                          

Our combined score of 620 gave us 620 points for 10th position just 12 points behind Haverhil. This gave us a 5 point gap between us and Harwich who were 5th so we  had to put it down to a frustrating day despite such good efforts and hope for better another day.   

At Landseer Park we saw a dramatic change of fortunes for the club. Recent weather left favourable conditions through most of the race. A much stronger team for Gt Bentley turned out this time and did the club proud in finishing 5th overall – with a close run thing on whether all the scoring men broke the top 50 positions.                   

Peter Pearce led home in 8th, Geoff Tomlinson 22, Jon Nears 24, Martyn Pattison 36, Jeff Wharton 38, Clive Jones 50, and Andy Kearton 53 being the scorers. The depth of talent also showed in Rick Van Looy 54, Matt Anderson 68 and Fred Bees in 73 – a bottleneck after about 1 mile not helping Fred who likes to start slow – it meant many rivals who start faster getting too far ahead .

Andrew Owen 109, Danny Caldfield 116, Brian Covey 139, Brian Telford 148, Jon Bolton 155, Frank Gardiner 161, John McKay 170, Larry Wise 174 and Peter Reeve 186 were the other finishers. For the women Michelle Van Looy was 12, Nikki Bennet, despite injury was 33, Kim Chatting 37, Joanne McKay 44, Sue McKay 64 and Rita Page 76.

The club clawed back 2 points on the deficit from the previous event against nearest rivals, Harwich.  So we now move on ever hopeful of continuing the good run to slip of the bottom of Pool A.

Here is a list of finishers and the tables after 2 races.  

NOTLEY PARK GBRC FINISHERS         MEN                                                          

Martyn Pattison  23                                                                                      Jeff Wharton  27                                                                                          Fred Bees  52                                                                                              Mark Ross  97                                                                                          Andrew Owen  105                                                                                        Jon Bolton  125                                                                                             Brian Telford  130                                                                                         Frank Gardiner  140                                                                                 Stephen Cartwright  149                                                                             John McKay  161                                                                                                Larry Wise  165                                                                                            Dean King  170                                                                                            Keith Porter  174   

LADIES                                                    

Michelle Van Looy  13                                                                                  Lucy Westcott  17                                                                                           Kim Chatting  31                                                                                           Paula Bolton  36                                                                                           Nikki Bennett  37                                                                                           Indi Allen  58                                                                                              Barbara Law  59                                                                                           Sue McKay  65

OVERALL POSITIONS                         

Springfield Striders  174  12 pts.                                                             Colchester Harriers  175  11 pts.                                                             Ipswich Jaffa  207  10 pts.                                                                     Colchester & Tendring  251  9 pts.                                                          Harwich Runners  258  8 pts.                                                                  Witham Running Club  429  7 pts.                                                              Halstead Road Runners  459  6 pts.                                                             Grange Farm Trotters  528  5 pts.                                                              Haverhill   608  4 pts.                                                                              GBRC  620  3 pts.                                                      Tiptree Roadrunners  622  2 pts.                                                                  Hadleigh and Mid-Essex   683  1 pt.

LANDSEER PARK GBRC FINISHERS    

MEN         

Peter Pearce  8                                                                                            Geoff Tomlinson  22                                                                                  Jonathan Nears  24                                                                                  Martyn Pattison  36                                                                                      Jeff Wharton  38                                                                                       Clive Jones  50                                                                                          Andy Kearton  53                                                                                          Rik Van Looy  54                                                                                           Matt Anderson  68                                                                                      Fred Bees  73                                                                                              Andrew Owen  109                                                                                        Danny Caldfield  116                                                                                     Steve Covey  137                                                                                        Brian Telford  148                                                                                         Jon Bolton  155                                                                                             Frank Gardiner  161                                                                                    John McKay  170                                                                                            Larry Wise  174                                                                                         Shaun Leek  179                                                                                            Peter Reeve  186    

LADIES                                                    

Michelle Van Looy  12                                                                                   Nikki Bennett  33                                                                                          Kim Chatting  37                                                                                       Joanne McKay  44                                                                                           Sue McKay  64                                                                                               Rita Page  76

OVERALL POSITIONS                           

Colchester Harriers  113  12 pts.                                                                   Ipswich Jaffa  169  11 pts.                                                                         Colchester & Tendring  222  10 pts.                                                             Springfield Striders  252  9 pts.                                             GBRC  313  8 pts.                                                     Halstead Road Runners  392  7 pts.                                                         Harwich Runners  414  6 pts.                                                                     Tiptree Roadrunners   549  5 pts.                                                             Grange Farm Trotters  630  4 pts.                                                         Hadleigh/ Mid-Essex C.  737  3 pts.                                                         Witham Running Club  759  2 pts.                                                         Haverhill  1210  1 pt.

POOL A                                                   

Colchester Harriers  24 pts.                                                                     Ipswich Jaffa  21 pts.                                                                                 Springfield Striders  20 pts.                                                                 Colchester & Tendring AC  19 pts.                                                                 Harwich Runners  14 pts.                                                 GBRC                11 pts

TRIATHLON NEWS— CAMBRIDGE, BLACWATER & CLACTON TRIS AND IPSWICH DUATHLON

Triathlons and multi-sport events are starting to take the club by storm recently. Many run for other clubs in this as we do not specialize however runners can compete under the clubs name and a few are making inroads in this direction.                                              

At the Cambridge Triathlon in August  as a 53-12 competitor Michelle van Looy came 5th in her age category with 2-31-31 comprising of 37-34 swim, 1-07-32 bike and 46-25 run.                   

Also as a 53-12 Graham Sheward won his age category with a time of 2-38-26 comprising of 33-25 swim, 1-10-11 bike and 54-40 run.                                   

At the Clacton Triathlon 8 runners connected with the club ran.                   

In the full race which is 1500m swim,40km bike and 10km run Matt Anderson came home 73rd running for H30 with 34-11 swim, 1-11-51 bike and 43-23 run for 2-29-13.

7th Lady was Michelle Van Looy as 53-12 with 33-12 swim, 1-10-00 bike and 48-10 run making 2-31-27.

Graham Sheward as 53-12 did a 35-28 swim, 1-12-42 bike and 52-01 run for 2-40-21.

Lindsay Horton  running as GBRC  did a 37-37 swim, 1-24-55 bike and 50-29 run for 2-53-01.

Brian Telford running as GBRC did a 38-33 swim, 1-24-29 bike and 1-08-11 run for 3-11-17 and Barbara Law as GBRC  had a 48-57 swim, 1-25-57 bike and 58-31 run for 3-13-19.                                                         

In the novices which is half the distances there was John Gwillim running as 53-12 doing a 17-28 swim, 55-44 bike and 24-15 run for 1-37-27 and Paul Blackwell running as GBRC did a 19-53 swim, 1-00-57 bike and 25-38 run for 1-46-28.                                                    

At the Blackwater tri  there is a novices and a sprint category. In the novice category Kim Chatting was 9th overall with a 4-47 swim, 28-39 bike and 15-09 run for a 48-35 combined time.                                 

In the sprint race the Van Looys dominated with Richard Van Looy 2nd overall with 7-35 swim, 35-23 bike and 24-12 run for a total 1-07-10 and Michelle won the Ladies race with 9-12 swim, 43-17 bike and 26-46 run for 1-19-15.                                                       

Finally in the Ipswich Duathlon Michelle Van Looy was 2nd Lady with a 20-47 first run, 44-13 bike and a 22-16 second run for 1-27-16

GREAT BENTLEY RUNS AT SNOWDONIA AND THE FENLAND 10

5 GBRC runners traveled to the Snowdonia Marathon. This is a very hilly event only for the toughest.                                            

Barbara Law completed the course in a Club Gold Standard time of 4-20-27, taking the 1st over 60 award.                                     

John Gwillim showed some good form to tuck in under 4 hours finishing in 3-56.                                                         

Lindsay Horton also showed some real stamina to finish in 4-14-20.                                         

Other finishers were  Paul Blackwell 4-20-57 and Keith Scrivener 5-10-59.

3 GBRC runners were also competing in the Fenland 10 near Wisbeach.                        

Fred Bees our top over 60s runner took the over 60 title with a Diamond Standard performance with 1-01-45.     

Geoff Tomlinson has struggled recently with a calf injury but he still managed a fine Silver Standard run of 1-00-46 to also take the over 40s Bronze.           

Mark Ross in his first 10 in over a year achieved a Club Bronze Standard with  1-11-42.         

BENTLEY WIN TEAM PRIZE AT TIPTREE

Another favourite of the club is the Tiptree 5 & 10 at the Beckenham Business Centre.                                         

This is a flat 1 or 2 lap course which twists and turns but should be good for a fast time. 13 runners from the club took part in the 5 mile race and 11 were in the 10.                                   

Overall a red letter day was had by the club. In the 5 mile race we won the team prize thanks to Peter Pearce, Jonathan Nears and Jeff Wharton. On top of thet we had 1 diamond, 6 Gold, 5 Silver and 6 Bronze Standard performances from our runners.              

In the 5 first home for the club was Peter Pearce with an overall 5th place and a Gold Standard time of 28-20. Following that a Silver Performance by Kevin Jeffries who was 10th overall with 29-43 and on 29-52 with another Silver Standard Performance was Jeff Wharton making a superb team winning performance.                            

Following on from these was Rik Van Looy who had a Bronze time of 32-05 ahead of a Gold Performance from Lucy Westcott running home in 34-12.  

Continuing the fine list of Club Standards was Lindsay Horton with a Silver Performance of 38-26 with Tom Geddes behind her with 38-30 enough to earn a Club Bronze.                      

John McKay ran well for a time of 39-10 just ahead of Sally Cable with a Club Silver time of 39-39 who was in turn followed by Sue McKay with a fine Gold Standard Performance with 43-54.                                                            

To finish the Bentley runners for the 5 we had Martin Whitmill out with Robert Gowans. Both came home in a time of 49-32.                       

You may have thought that was pretty impressive, but the 10 mile effort was equally impressive.                                                 

First home in the 2-lapper was Clive Jones who appears to be on fire at the moment with a fine Gold Standard time of 1-04-44 with Kevin Jeffries achieving Club Silver with 1-05-11 and Michelle Van Looy earning herself a Club Bronze with 1-11-59.                                                   

Paul Blackwell continues his improvement with a fine 1-19-14 followed by Frank Gardiner who achieved a Club Bronze with 1-20-15. Following on from Frank we had a Diamond Standard time from Barbara Law who was using the event to prepare for the Snowdonia Marathon and managed a time of 1-23-45.                                                  

Larry Wise strengthened his hold on the Club Handicap Series with another greatly improved time of  1-24-10 ahead of his main rival for the trophy Lyn Foster who achieved Club Gold with 1-24-50.                               

Keith Porter’s form is now well on track as he ran past the line in 1-28-18 and 2 minutes behind was his wife Caroline who had a Bronze Standard with 1-30-26.              

Finally and also a Bronze Standard was Michael Sommerlad who even in his seventies can run a 10 mile race in 1-41-17. Something to be proud of Michael.         

FINE RUN BY ANDY IN FELIXTOWE HALF MARATHON

On 3rd October 10 runners from GBRC  took part in the Felixtowe Half Marathon. This is a fairly tricky course which can be tough on a windy day. However with 4 Bronze and 2 Silver Standard runs the club put on a fine performance.                     

It’s nice to hear somebody different leading the Club home and Andy Cable had a fine Bronze Standard run of 1-37-14 a well deserved leading run.                               

Paul Blackwell is showing great potential and worked hard for a run just about 8 minute pace with 1-45-24 just ahead of Paul Foster who also ran a very fine 1-46-52.                                

Frank Gardiner is clawing his way back to form and ran well for a time of 1-51-10, but he has to give way to three fine Ladies performances following on from him. First was Susanna Barker with a Silver Standard time of 1-52-17, second was a Bronze Standard run for Becky McCorquodale who again looks a tremendous prospect with 1-52-17 also. Sally Cable was not to be outdone by her husband and ran a super 1-54-42 good enough for a Club Silver.                                  

Keith got his revenge over Caroline with 1-56-20, but Carolines 1-56-24 was good enough for a Bronze Standard and Lyn Foster also ran a Club Bronze Performance with a time of 1-58-46.

ANDREW DISCOVERS HIS BEST FORM FOR DISCOVERY 10

On 2nd October Andrew Owen took part in the Discovery 10 at Harwich.  This event has changed from a 10km event to a 5 & 10 mile race.

It has a big field of runners from Holland every year but with it being on a Saturday many runners from the club could not make it.                      

Andrew however was a good representative for the club and ran a fine 1-19-32.

MARTYN, JEFF & JONATHAN BATTLE IT OUT AT DEDHAM

On a hilly course at Dedham for their annual 10km event 14 runners comprising of  11 men and 3 ladies from GBRC lined up and put on a great performance.                                       

There was a 3 way tussle for the first runner home making 3 runners from the club in the first 20. In 11th place overall Martyn Pattison won the battle for supremacy with 37-29 with Jeff Wharton 13th overall with 37-29 and Jonathan Nears the third runner in 16th with 37-54 all silver award standard.                    Andrew Owen is steadily improving at the club and run a fine bronze level time of 43-56. Another bronze standard was achieved by Andrew Littlemore with 48-12.                 

Coming in first for the Ladies was Sally Cable who sprinted to beat her husband Andrew for a time of 49-26. Andrew finished in 49-30.  Larry Wise has not only come back last year from heart surgery but he is now improving steadily in his times and ran a fantastic 50-46 just ahead of another husband and wife team of Caroline and Keith Porter and once more the fairer sex won the battle  with Caroline running 51-24 to Keith’s 52-12.                   

Michael Sommerlad one of our oldest members has been away over the summer but returned with a fine 59-14 ahead of Martin Whitmill running with two young runners he brought along to experience the race. Young Samantha Maddox came home first with a time of 1-04-24 followed by Robert Gowans with 1-04-32 and Martin himself 1-04-37.

30 FROM GBRC COMPETE AT LANGHAM 10KM

The Langham 10km on 19th September has always been popular with the Club and no less than 30 runners from GBRC lined up at the start on a flat but some would say rather straight course.                     

Jeff Wharton was the top runner on the day for the club with a Silver Standard time of 37-46. Behind him also with Silver Standards were Clive Jones and Kevin Jeffries who had a close battle with Clive beating Kevin by just 5 seconds with 39-01 to Kevin's 39-06.

There was also two runners achieving Bronze Standards for the Men with Andy Cable running 42-54 and Carl Fenton-Jones running 43-31.      

The first lady home with a Silver Standard to boot was Beccy McCorquodale with a fine time of 45-15 just ahead of Andy Cable on 45-20.                                            

Next came a steam of runners from the club home. Philip Wood and Jon Bolton were very close at the line and Phillip beat Jon to the line with 47-25 to 47-26.                 

Three other runners ran below 48 minutes with Paul Foster 47-43, Frank Gardiner 47-55 and Paul Blackwell 47-57.                   

There were two more runners under 49 minutes with Tom Geddes 48-24 and Andrew Littlemore 48-35 and in under 50 minutes were Ray Baggs in 49-15 and Peter Howden 49-44.                                                          

Just outside 50 minutes were Stewart Baggs with 50-01 and Susie Barker with a Bronze Standard 50-02 and just over the 51 minute mark was Lyn Foster with a Silver Standard 51-06 and Larry Wise 51-08.                                                                    

In a time of 51-33 was Gerry Borely  and at 53-01 was Caroline Porter just ahead of Keith Porter finishing in 53-40.            

There were 2 more runners under the hour mark, Naomi Seabourne finishing in 55-38 and Steve Harnett donning a new streamlined look completing the course in 59-32.                                          

Martin Whitmill brought two runners with him for the event and he led them in with 1-03-23 ahead of Sandra Maddox 1-05-59 and Robert Gowans in 1-06-02. Ray Pipe concluded those from GBRC and finished in 1-22-51. A superb turnout.

Well done to everyone.

SUPERVET FRED CLUB CHAMPION AT GRUNTY FEN

On 12th September the Club Championship Half Marathon event The Grunty Fen in Cambridgeshire took place and 5 Men and 2 Ladies from GBRC took part.                                       

The first runner home with a superb Diamond Standard Club Performance and Club Champion was our Supervet 60 runner Fred Bees who made it round the course with a time of 1-25-02 and a fine 40th place overall.

Paul Blackwell was next home from the Club with 1-46-20 ahead of Paul Foster who was vet40 Club Champion with 1-48-34.          

The two Ladies from the Club racing had a close duel for supremacy with  Barbara Law just winning the day as Ladies Champion with a Club Diamond Standard time of 1-54-19 to Lyn’s  Bronze Standard Vet40 Championship run time of 1-56-05.                                        

Keith Scrivener was the next runner from the Club home with a Bronze Standard time of 1-57-48 and the Club vet50 Champion was Keith Porter finishing with a time of 1-59-03.

MICKEY EDWARDS HANDICAP

This years Mickey Edwards Memorial Trophy was once again a tight contest going right down to the wire. Many thanks to the 23 people who took part in the event. The 5 events went on from June to September with the extra event for those unable to complete without.

In the first event on 16th June Keith Porter was the most improved runner improving his registered time by nearly 2 minutes. Mark Ross was second and Geoff Tomlinson using the event to regain his form from a disappointing year by his standards was third.

On the  14th July Frank Gardiner and Paul Foster threw down the gauntlet with Frank running what proved to be his best time was first, Paul smashed one and a half minutes off his time also for the second position. Andrew Owen put on a fine show too and made a fine start to his career with GBRC with the third spot. On top of that the fastest time was recorded at this event by Geoff Tomlinson with 21-53.

On 4th August Paul Blackwell made his mark and was 2 minutes faster than his previous run to be first. In second Brian Telford also made a big improvement but just came short of Paul to record second place and Andrew Owen really set about a big challenge finishing third for the second event running.

On 25th August Clive Jones coming back from a calf injury made his mark and stormed round the course  with a time  of 23-52 which was only beaten by Geoff in the whole series. Beccy McCorquodale also made a big impact with her first run and was second and Larry Wise who has been training hard this year was third.

In the final event first place with over 2 minutes knocked off his time John McKay was first and he was followed in by his daughter Kim Chatting who also improved by 2 minutes for second place. In third Carl Fenton-Jones working his way back through injury ran very well for third.

The overall result had just 2 points separating the top three places with Paul Blackwell just winning at the post with 111 points to 110 points from three runners Keith Porter, Frank Gardiner and Carl Fenton-Jones who has now been runner up for 3 consecutive years and it was so close also for Andrew Owen who finished on 109.

On the right is the list of scores and times and overall results

CLIVE STROLLS HOME AT FRAMLINGHAM

On 5th September 6 runners from the club took part in the undulating Framlingham 10km. 

Making a very good account of himself was Clive Jones who ran a very good Bronze Standard time of 41-37 with Rebecca McCorquodale staking a good account for the Ladies with a Silver Standard time of  47-35.

Andrew Owen a recent new recruit to the Club had a fine time of 49-35 with Paul Foster behind him with 51-05.

Lyn Foster was our second Lady home running in to clock 53-47 and to cap a fine day Jenni Lace paced round the course for a time of 1-17-48.

PETER AND JONATHAN ARE 5TH AT MERSEA 5 & 10

The Mersea Island Lions 5 & 10 is always popular with the Club and there were 12 entries for the 5 and 13 entries for the 10 lined up running for GBRC.                                              

Jonathan Nears is getting better race by race and he was first club runner home and 5th overall with a Bronze Standard time of 31-30. Also with a time to Club Bronze was Clive Jones who ran a time of 32-43.                                              

The Ladies were also not going to be outdone with top performances and Beccy McCorquodale is improving at a fast rate and achieved Club Silver with 36-14 and also with a Club Silver Performance was Nikki Bennett recording a time of 37-53.                                                               

Jon Bolton was close behind our two top Ladies running a time of 37-57 and Graham Sheward behind him also had a Club Silver run of 39-04.                                              

Larry Wise was next home in 41-30 and with a close battle of the Baggs Ray seems to be threatening to take over the family mantle from his Dad by recording 42-13 to Stewarts 42-48. I am sure Stewart will be training hard for the next run.                                    

Ian Polley was home in 45-41 and running her best run for a while Rita Page finished the course in 50-21 ahead of Ray Pipe running a time of 59-27 which must have pleased him too.                                

In the 10 mile event taking on a second lap of the course the runners from the club has a  large collection of Club Award performances.                                                           

First home for the Club and once again 5th place overall with a Club Gold Standard performance was Peter Pearce with 58-49 ahead of Martyn Patterson recording a Club Silver Standard with 1-04-47.                                           

Continuing on 2 Bronze Standard runs were recorded by Andrew Cable 1-12-44 and Andrew Littlemore 1-17-57 and Lindsay Horton did her bit for theLadies with a Club Gold performance of 1-18-40.                                      

Paul Blackwell was the first of 3 runners in around the 1-20 mark. Paul recorded 1-19-42, Kim Chatting 1-20-32 and John McKay whose 1-20-40 was good enough for another Bronze Standard in his category                                                                

Paul Foster followed these with 1-23-00 and Lyn Foster recorded a Club Silver running time of 1-25-37 ahead of Keith Scrivener who finished in 1-26-23 which again a Club Bronze for his age group.  Following on from them were the final 2 runners. Paul Spinks ran home in a time of 1-32-22 and although final Club runner it still was no small run for Sue McKay who achieved a Club Silver Performance in her category of 1-33-06.                                               

With  2 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze level runs you must agree a fine performance from the club.

JON LEADS THE WAY IN THE WIBBLY-WOBBLY

The ever popular Wibbly-wobbly Log Jog at Brandon took place on 6th August. The delightful multi-terrain through the Thetford Forest saw 5 from the Club this year.                                

Leading them home was Jon Bolton improving steadily this year. He clocked a pleasing 37-42 ahead of Paul Blackwelll who completed the course in 39-57.                

Martin Whitmill brought two guests with him to the event and Adam Wishall just took Martin at the line with 53-54 to Martins 54-04. Jenny Tatum left them to battle it out finishing in 1-00-15

LADIES VETS TEAM WINS FOR THIRD TIME AT EKIDEN RELAYS

One of the Clubs favourite annual events is the Ekiden Relays  at Woodbridge School hosted by Ipswich Jaffa. The event was more overcast than of recent years but still somewhat humid and GBRC fielded  4 men's teams and a Ladies Vet Team for the event.                                  

Bentleys A side was with some more unusual names than we have been used to in recent years however somw useful new faces ran well for the club with them reaching 7th in the Open Category and 9th overall.

Matt Anderson had the anchor leg and ran 7.2km in 29-35. Martyn Pattison ran a fine 19-08 for his 5km stage handing to Jeff Wharton who completed 10km in 39-36.

A new recruit Kevin Jeffries ran a fine debut relay run with a 5km time of 19-33 with our experienced campaigner Peter Pearce running the second 10km leg in 36-35.

Finally Jonathan Nears another recent addition to the team ran the fastest of the leg doing 5km in a time of 18-37. 

The Bentley B Team had a couple of spare Jaffa runners but  started with Brian Telford on the 7.2km leg in in 34-15. Neil Dable of Jaffa ran the first 5km leg in 21-06 with Frank Gardiner working hard for the first 10km leg with a time of 54-00.

Paul Brooks was the second Jaffa runner and ran his 5km leg in 23-16 which was followed by Jon Bolton in the second 10km stage running in for a time of 47-54. Carl Fenton-Jones the clubs veritable youngster completed the team with a fine 5km final stage time of 21-33.

The C team had to be switched around and Gail Pryke kindly ran the anchor leg  to qualify the team at the finish .

The first runner was Michelle Van Looy who had a fine run with a 7.2km time of 32-10 winning the trophy for fastest Lady runner on the first leg and with Becky McCorquodale running a superb 5km stage in 23-16 the Ladies were a formidable team.

Larry Wise ran a fine 54-12 for 10km followed by Andrew Littlemore on the second 5km running the two laps in 23-31. Dean King took over the vacant 10km run despite being a little short of training for that distance but paced himself steadily for a 10km time of 49-37.                                                     

The D Team was started on the 7.2km leg by Kim Chatting who ran 36-53 to pass on to her father John McKay who ran a fine 5km stage in 24-07.

Peter Howden continued on the first 10km stage finishing in 51-06 and making his first appearance at Ekiden for a while Stewart Baggs worked hard for the 2nd 5km stage time of 25-10. Stephen Cartwright ran the second 10km leg with a respectable time of 53-33 with Paul Blackwell pulling up the team 1 place ahead of Stowmarket Ladies with 24-12.

The day however went to the winning Ladies Vets team who cruised the Vets event with a team comprising of Indi Allen 36-27, Michelle Robinson 27-12, Sue McKay 51-56, Nikki Bennett 23-04, Suzanne Barker 56-43 and Rita Page 32-23. This makes 3 wins in a row for the Ladies Vets Team               

Here is a full list of the teams and times

MENS A            TOTAL TIME 2:43.04

Matt Anderson  29-35                                                                              Martyn Pattison  19-08                                                                                 Jeff Wharton  39-36                                                                                    Kevin Jeffries  19-33                                                                                    Peter Pearce  36-35                                                                                    Jonathan Nears  18-37

MENS B            TOTAL TIME 3:22.04

Brian Telford  34-15                                                                                    Neil Dable  21-06                                                                                        Frank Gardiner  54-00                                                                                 Paul Brookes  23-16                                                                                        Jon Bolton  47-54                                                                                        Carl Fenton-Jones  21-33

MENS C           TOTAL TIME 3:28.25

Michelle Van Looy  32-10                                                                                 Becky McCorquodale  23-16                                                                            Larry Wise  54-12                                                                                    Andrew Littlemore  23-31                                                                             Dean King  49-37                                                                                         Gail Pryke  38-24

MENS D           TOTAL TIME 3:35.11

Kim Chatting  36-53                                                                                    John McKay  24-07                                                                                    Peter Howden  51-06                                                                                 Stewart Baggs  25-10                                                                                Stephen Cartwright  53-33                                                                            Paul Blackwell  24-12

LADIES VETS      TOTAL TIME 3:47.45 

Indie Allen  36-27                                                                                Michelle Robinson  27-12                                                                                 Sue McKay  51-56                                                                                        Nikki Bennett  23-04                                                                                    Suzanne Barker  56-43                                                                                Rita Page  32-23

HARWICH 5KM SERIES - SUPERB SUE MCKAY IS RUNNER-UP

Continuing on from recent events in the series there were 2 more events to go in the Harwich 5km Series.               

On 29th June the club had 11 runners competing and first home for the Club was Robert Gowans with 28-45 ahead of Sue McKay having a superb run for 26-10 which is Club Gold Standard .                                              

Continuing after that was Ian Polley with 26-17 ahead of John McKay with 23-43.  Martin Whitmill was next with 31-42 followed by a Club Silver Standard performance from Jeff Wharton with 18-36.                            

Ray Baggs had a good run for 24-46 ahead of Jonathan Nears producing another Club Silver effort with 18-20 to put him between Ray’s dad Stewart who came home in 26-17.                                                  

Finally Dave Nugent ran 37-27 and Paul Blackwell 25-50.

On 20th July the final event first home from 12 runners from the club was Martin Whitmill with an improvement of just under 2 minutes with 29-46. Ray Baggs also improved well by around a minute with 23-44.  Rita Page did well here with 30-59 ahead of Ian Polley improving by 8 seconds for 25-59.                                                               

Another Gold Club Standard performance from Sue McKay improing her time to 26-00 followed  by Robert Gowans also improving to 28-22.  

Earning himself another Silver Standard run was Jeff Wharton with 18-35 an improvement of 1 second and John McKay matched his previous events time with another 23-43.    Stewart Baggs was next with 25-47 and then came two award performances. Firstly Jon Bolton ran a Bronze Level performance of 21-15 whilst Beccy McCorquodale did one better with a Club Silver Standard of 22-40. Dave Nugent finished the Bentley runners with 40-10.

In the overall series figures for the Men Jon Bolton was the highest with a fine 9th place with  311 points. John McKay  was 17th with 290 and Ian Polley and Jeff Wharton 20th and 21st respectively with 288 and 287 points.                                                          

There was only one Lady runner completing the series for the Club but Sue McKay had a superb series of runs and flew the club flag with a well deserved 2nd place.                                                       

Here is a chart of the finishing positions of the runners from the club running the qualifying events.

3 RUNNERS UNDER 40 MINUTES AT FELSTED

After helping in the hectic schedule of the Great Bentley 10 some 8 runners decided to compete in the Felsted 10km to relax from it all on 11th July.                                     

The event was Essex and Club Championships and also a Handicap Series event.                                

The Men’s title went to Peter Pearce who was a fine 22nd in the race with a Gold Standard time of 35-27 just ahead of Male Vet40 Champion Geoff Tomlinson in 29th and also Silver Standard 36-12.                             

Life begins at 60? Well that seems to be the saying for Fred Bees who was Male Vet60 Champion with a Diamond Standard time of 38-37.                               

Mark Ross had a good run working his way back from injury with a Bronze Standard 43-51 ahead of Paul Foster with 49-43.             

A close battle between Paul Blackwell and Lyn Foster had Paul just edging Lyn with 51-37 to Lyn’s Silver Standard  51-43. Lyn had the last laugh though picking up the Ladies Club Champion award.             

Other good runs were from Stewart Baggs who was Male Vet50 Champion with 57-35 and Ray Pipe who won the vet65 category at the club with 1-14-51.    

Also running that Sunday were Jon Bolton and Larry Wise in the Stansted 10km. This is a tricky multi-terrain course just up Jon’s street which has been popular with the club in the past. It is held every 2 years these days raising money for local and other charities.                             

Nikki reluctantly had to spectate as she was still recovering from injury but that did not stop Jon and Larry putting on a fine show for the club with Jon first home of the two with 47-25 and Larry not far behind with 54-35.                            

The following week saw Paul Blackwell and Steve Cartwright at the tricky and hilly Brentwood 10km in Brentwood.                                    

Paul Blackwell was the first one home with 52-02 and Steve was just behind with 54-38

GEOFF HOME FIRST AT HAUGHLEY PARK

13 runners from GBRC did battle in the rain at Haughley Park, Stow market for the Stow market 5 mile race on 2nd July. The course is a fairly flat Multi-Terrain of 2 laps of the park.

Geoff Tomlinson led the Club home in 24th overall to clock 31-34. After that there was a close tussle between 3 of our runners with Mark Ross just ahead with 35-40 from Jon Bolton with 36-29 and Andy Cable 37-02.                       

Leading the way home for the Ladies was Nikki Bennett with 39-59 with Steve Cartwright just a minute behind with 40-53                          

Indi Allen was second Lady home with 42-14 ahead of Keith and Caroline Porter. Keith clocking 43-56 and Caroline 44-22.                  

Following on from there was Ian Polley crossing the line in 45-02 with Paul Blackwell just behind him with 45-26. Club stalwarts Rita Page and Dave Nugent rounded off the Bentley contingent coming in pretty much together with Rita clocking 1-02-25 and Dave finishing in 1-02-28.

FRED WINS 2 AGE  GROUP CATEGORIES IN 2 WEEKS

On 27th June 3 Great Bentley runners traveled to the Willingdale 10km Road Race. 

On an undulating course Fred Bees defied his over 60 category to finish in a Club Diamond Standard time of 39-03 giving him 12th place overall in a field of some 150 runners. Bees ran his fastest 10k for some years.

Mark Ross running his first 10k this year, after a fast start came home in a creditable time of 43-40 for 36th.                                   

Geoff Tomlinson managed Silver Standard time of 36-47 to finish 4th.

On 4th July there were also 3 runners from Bentley at the Eastern Vets 10km Championship Race near Cambridge.  

The course was hard and hilly and Geoff Tomlinson took on the course in fine style to finish 3rd and 2nd in his vet40 age category in 36-56.

Also in the top 10 was Fred Bees who was also top of his vet60 age group with a time of 39-00 despite nursing a hamstring injury.                

Not to be outdone Barbara Law won her Ladies vet60 category with a fine time of 54-30. A fine effort for someone tired from weeks of hard training.

FINE RUN BY PETER AT SOUTHEND HALF

The Southend Half Marathon took place on 13th June and was a Handicap Series race and 3 runners from GBRC took part in the race.

It was won by Peter Pearce last year and although he could not win this time around he made a fine defence of the title with 9th place and a time of 1-20-23.

Also running in the race was Paul and Lyn Foster both playing their jokers in the handicap in this event. Paul Foster had a time of 1-55-39 and Lyn Foster put on a fine performance for a time of 1-57-15.