2010 ROAD RUNNERS NEWS

Don’t forget to keep updated on the clubs fundraising activities by visiting the fundraising page

Thruxton 5K

Four of Andover ACs road runners were competing locally during the week at the penultimate Thruxton 5k series held at Thruxton race circuit. A relatively flat circuit but always windy, so not an easy course. Chris Berntsen quickly established himself up in the leading pack eventually finishing 3rd in a great time of 17min 26s just 13 seconds behind the winner. Mark Curtiss was 2nd Andover man home, 8th overall in a time of 18min 39s, with Martin Welsh and Ian Oldacre in 12th (19min 54s) and 20th (23min 07s) respectively.

Five and Five = 10.... Alton 10 and 10 Andover runners competed in the penultimate Hampshire Road Race League meeting. It may have been May but it felt more like December.... it was cold with rain in the air.

The athletes were readied and set off, cheered on in the first mile by a reasonable scattering of supporters, including photographer for the day Matt Lane recovering from an operation so not running for once.

Dougie Brisco soon shed the coldness to come home 1st for the club in 1:02:24, followed home a few minutes later by Pete Mitchell making his debut in club colours for a time of 1:06:00, then there was another small gap before Rob Cliffe and Martin Welsh came across the line for the A team, in 1:08:24 and 1:09:28 respectively. Followed home by the V70 Hampshire Champion John Goulding who retains his crown for the 5th time, to complete a fantastic achievement. The Men’s A team came 2nd on the day in Division 2 and stay 3rd overall. There was no change with the Men’s B team in B Division 1.

The ladies turned out in force and produced their first win in Division 3 this year, keeping them in 3rd overall in the division. Emma Dunham was the first over the line in a time of 1:15:13 to top a very strong run, Sally Biles and Sandra Blowers were next to cross the line for Andover AC in 1:29:52 and 1:30:36 to complete the A team, with Amanda Lambert and Shelia Oldacre bringing the B team home who stay in 9th in the B Division 2, with times of 1:35:28 and 1:38:05.

It was then time to get clothes on and get some warm coffee and dive into the cars for warmth....

Marathon Madness from Andover AC

Over the last two weekends nine members of Andover AC have taken part in a marathon, not just the Virgin London Marathon, but also the inaugural Brighton Marathon and the well established Shakespeare Marathon.

On the 18th Apr two brave individuals travelled to Brighton for their marathon, this is a new event and attracted nearly 8000 runners, which is exceptional for a first time event.

This was Jon Greenhalgh’s first marathon and put massive amounts of training into the race with various personal bests (PBs) on route in other races, and he nailed the Brighton Marathon too. His aim was 3 hours 45 mins, which he smashed despite having some knee trouble on the day, crossing the line in an excellent time of 3:33:54 well inside his original target. Also at Brighton was Shelia Oldacre, Shelia has done several marathons in the past and knows what to expect. Training was a little hampered by a few niggles / injuries early on, but she was soon building up the miles and races. Shelia crossed the line in 4:49:03.

On to the 25th April Martin Welsh travelled to Warwickshire for the Shakespeare Marathon. This is a popular alternative to the London Marathon and in good dry warm conditions Martin set about taming the 2 lap course, Martin has been training hard for this event and like Jon has set many PBs on route to this monumental effort. Martin was able to smash his previous best by 12 minutes to cross the line in 3:33:42.

On the same day was the small affair of the newly sponsored Virgin London Marathon where six runners from Andover took part. All of the athletes have put in monstrous amounts of training whether it was their 1st or 10th marathon. The weather was not too kind with a strong breeze and rain at the start, which meant for humid conditions later in the race. Dougie Brisco had the best result of the day coming home in a tremendous 9th place in his age category, but just missing out on going sub 3 hours with a time of 3:00:57. Chris Dewey also had a very good race to get in under target time of 3:15, crossing the line in 3:12:20. John Byrne was next from Andover AC to cross the line John has raised considerable funds for Naomi House in running this marathon and crossed the line in a well deserved 4:22:58. Now it was time for the ladies - Amanda Lambert produce a fine display of running to finish in 4:30:18, with Joan White not to far behind in 4:51:01. Completing the line up for the marathon madness was Sandra Horner who battled through the marathon training and came out with a great time of 5:20:09.

All the above have trained hard, with other club mates helping them out on the way. If this has inspired you to get fit for next years ‘London’ Marathon or if you want help with your training, or just want to get fitter and run with others on the road and trails, please come and try out Andover AC (contact mfel68@hotmail.com for more details of where to meet and times).

Hampshire Road Race League - Eastleigh

An excellent turnout from Andover AC for the B&Q Eastleigh 10k, part of the Hampshire Road Race League, which also incorporated the Inter Area 10K championships, meaning there were some very high quality athletes on show and over 1500 in the race.

Youth and Veterans (Vets) from Andover AC combined very nicely for this local fast 10K demonstrating one of athletics strengths as a sport – young and the not so young - can compete as part of a team in the same event, all contributing to the whole and enjoying the experience.

As a result, this was the strongest team Andover AC had fielded all season and it paid off with exceptional results, meaning that the A team stay in 3rd place overall in Division 2 after coming 3rd on the day. The A team made up nicely of Youth and Vets, Tom Bennett U17 was 1st home for the club in an outstanding time of 34:56 to cross the line in 91st, closely followed by  Vet, Ricky Jansen on his debut for the club in 35:14, just 5 places behind. Another Junior in Chris Berntsen came in 133rd in 36:52 with Dougie Brisco in the unusual position of 4th in the A team in 37:37 and 161st place.

The B team had its best performance of the year mainly down to the fact of a very strong A team, meaning club regular Matt Lane brought the B team home in 9th place with a time of 38:11 in 181st. Martin Welsh then continued his good form with a great Personal Best in 40:52 to finish in 289th, followed home by Tim Bennett 42:35 (340th), Kelvin Mason 45:49 (544th) and the oldest member of the club John Goulding, in his 70s and still going strong, crossing the line in a time of 48:14 (654th) . The B team remain in 15th place in B Division 2.

The ladies also had a great day out with another Bennett topping the list and bringing the club home for a truly family flavour to the day. Caroline came across the line in 51:46 in 867th place, followed home by Margret Smith in 53:04 (953rd) and Sandra Blowers in 55:22 (1089). The ladies team struck 2nd on the day in Division 3 and stay in 3rd place in the league.

Salisbury 10K

March 7th 2010, a beautiful but freezing day dawns for 9 Andover Athletes. The City of Salisbury was bathed in glorious sun, but the temperature was a little on the cold side.... this did not stop the Andover athletes from some cool running, with a strong looking line up for the A and B teams.

The evergreen Dougie held of a spirited attack from new club member Mark Curtis, who swapped places several times, before Dougie got the measure and came home 7 seconds ahead of Mark in 1:02:10 and 17 (Pos 67 and 74) respectively. This represented Marks 2nd fastest time at the distance, a feat also achieved by Matt Lane, despite waiting on surgery for a groin injury still achieved a very good time of 1:04:19 (Pos 97). Martin Welsh went one better with a new PB and first time under 70 minutes with a storming effort of 1:08:43 (Pos 162) who overtook Rob Cliffe in the last 300m, Rob bring the B team home in 1:09:11 in 163rd place. Chris Oliver made a debut in the HRRL with a great time of 1:14:16, followed home by Kelvin Mason 1:16:53 and John Goulding 1:18:40.

The A team came 3rd in Div 2 on the day and stay 3rd overall in the league, whilst the B team came in 12th on the day in B Division 1 and lay in 15th Overall.

Sally Biles was the only lady for Andover AC coming home in a new best of 1:29:46, there was no score for the laties team, but they stay in 3rd place in Division 3.

There are 3 races left for the season, Eastleigh 10K, Alton 10M and Netley 10K, all support is welcome running or not.

Results....

67th D Brisco 1:02:10

74th M Curtis 1:02:17

97th M Lane 1:04:19

162nd M Welsh 1:08:43

163rd R Cliffe 1:09:11

274th C Oliver 1:14:16

314th K Mason 1:16:35

343rd John Goulding 1:18:40

523rd S Biles 1:29:46

Road Runners Round Up

The Ryde 10 mile - A small affair for Andover’s bravest, this race is normally either into a biting wind or in a downpour like a monsoon.... well for the 4 hardy souls that made it across the water it was to be a day that was near perfection for the weather, just a tad on the cold side.

This was the first Hampshire Road Race League race of the year after the Stubbington 10k was cancelled due to snow earlier in the year, so there were some eager runners wanting to race.

Ryde, is a hard course with 3 large hills on route. But that didn't stop Dougie Brisco holding off Matt Lane for 1st Andover athlete home. Dougie crossing the line in 1:04:53 in 48th place, a good time considering he had stitch from mile one. Matt Lane tried to take advantage, but ran out of miles and time, crossing the line 16 seconds after Dougie in 50th place in 1:05:07. Rob Cliffe was press-ganged into running to make up the team and didn't let them down either with a strong run to finish just under 71 mins in 104th place. Making up the A team was John Goulding who ran 1:22:27 to finish in 233rd, but more importantly 1st V70 home. 334 runners completed the course.

The road runners were also out the following week at the Bramley 20. Well it was as we have all now come to expect – cold! Andover AC had five runners competing, including a debut run in Club Colours from Mark Curtis.

Bramley 20 mile race is also part of the Hampshire Road Race League and is a good spring marathon training, with all five runners preparing for marathons later in the year. Dougie, and Matt both doing the London Marathon, Martin doing the Shakespeare Marathon, Jon the inguinal Brighton Marathon and Mark has just entered Halstead Marathon.

The highly talented veteran Dougie Brisco brought the team home in 2:18:59 in 125th place, Followed by a great debut performance by Mark Curtis in a personal best (PB) time of 2:22:26 in 163rd place, then Matt Lane in 2:24:01 also with a PB in 178th place and Martin Welsh completing the A team with another PB in 2:34:34 in 288th place. Jon Greenhalgh also posted a great PB of 2:37:03 (317th place).

As there are so many non Hampshire runners, the league took some sorting, but with the following positions in the race for the HRRL results, 38th, 44th, 48th, 79th, and 85th, with the first 4 to count, meaning the Andover AC A team scored a total of 209 points for the day to take 2nd place in the Mens division 2. This result means they are now in 3rd place overall in the league. An excellent result.

Ryde 10m 07 Feb 2010

A small affair for Andover’s bravest, this race is normally either into a biting wind or in a downpour like a monsoon.... well for the 4 hardy suls that made it across the water it was to be a day that was near perfection for the weather, just a tad on the cold side.

This was the first HRRL race of the year after Stubbington 10k was cancelled due to snow earlier in the year, so there were some eager runners wanting to race.

Ryde, is a hard course with 3 large hills on route, but that didn't stop Dougie Brisco holding off Matt Lane for 1st Andover athlete home. Dougie crossing the line in 1:04:53 in 48th place, a good time considering he had a stich from mile 1. Matt Lane tried to take advantage, but ran out of miles and time, Matt crossing the line 16 seconds after Dougie in 50th place in 1:05:07. Rob Cliffe was press-ganged into running to make up the team and didn't let them down either with a strong run to finish just under 71 mins in 104th place. making up the A team was John Goulding who ran 1:22:27 to finish in 233rd, but more importantly 1st V70. There were 334 runners in total.

Unfortunately we had no ladies racing.

The team on the day for the results (Ryde race only not HRRL came 18th with the 1st 3 to count) HRRL team position to follow later when known.

To read road runner news reports from 2009 - Click here