2010 ROAD RUNNERS NEWS

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Hampshire Road Race League

Lordshill

The Lordshill 10 mile was the 4th race of the current Hampshire Road Race League season, a race that has been held since 1990. This popular event in the race calendar has built a reputation as a well-organised and friendly race for runners of all abilities. The fairly flat and fast route runs through Nursling and then North towards Romsey to loop around the Broadlands Estate before making their way back to the finishing post at Lordshill via the Nursling Industrial Estate. Over 430 runners competed on the day with Andover ACs road runners out in full force.

The ladies had a full team out. With 3 to count, Sally Biles was Andover’s first lady home. Sally continues to improve, coping well with the course she crossed the line in 102nd placed female overall, 25th Vet45, in a time of 1:27:00.Sally’s team mates Sandra Blowers and Tina Trotter were not far behind. Sandra was 7th Vet 55 (111th placed female) with a time of 1:28:40, and Tina 30th vet 45 (115th placed female) in 1:30:19. This result places The A team at the top of Division 3.

The men had two complete teams. Mark Curtis had a fantastic run clocking 1:00:53. Mark was 33rd male to cross the line and was 9th Vet 40. Seasoned performer Dougie Brisco was next man home. Dougie was 6th placed Vet 50 (46th overall) in 1:02:27. Pete Mitchell took the 3rd A team spot in a time of 1:03:41 (56th) with Chris Berntsen in his first 10 mile race bringing the A team home (67th 1:04:50) despite picking up a stress fracture of the foot at the mile 3 point meaning he is now out for the rest of the year. The B team of: Robert Cliffe, Martin Welsh, Kelvin Mason and Mathew Orchard also competed well to complete a highly successful day.

Also making a welcome return to the sport following a year’s break was local athlete Phill Berntsen. Phill was competing for Winchester AC, but remains second claim to Andover AC so still has close links to the club. Despite limited training and, like his brother, never having run this distance before, Phill showed what a class act he is by being competitive from the gun and establishing himself with the leading group. With 3 miles to go he was in a group of athletes in who were all fighting for the bronze position, he kicked hard from this point to easily secure the 3rd spot in a time of 54:40.

Presentation Evening

Andover ACs Annual Presentation evening, aimed at celebrating the successes over the year and thanking the sponsors: Sharpp Property Services, Testway Transform, JB Motors, Portway MOT, F G Precision Engineering, Control Technigue Dynamics and Graham & Co took place on Friday. Their special guest was Tony Hadley (no not that one). Tony is the National Coach Mentor in speed for England athletics and England’s coach for the 2010 Commonwealth Games 400m and 4x400m relay.

The main award of the evening, the Athletes’ male and female athlete, voted for by club members went to James Folkes and Grace Paterson. These two athletes truly deserve this accolade, rising to the top at the end of such a successful year from all areas of the club.

Fazal & Petty Wood Winter Awards given for an outstanding season went to Lauren Marlow and Chris Neil. Lauren in recognition of her busy indoor season achieving personal bests (PB) in the 60m and especially the 60m hurdles where she is ranked high nationally. She also represented Hampshire in the Regional Sportshall Final in the high jump, shot putt and sprint. And Chris for his breakthrough season, with many County call ups and winning the National Independent Schools Cross Country title on the Friday in Rugby then traveling to Leeds to compete the next day in the English Cross Country Championships.

Sumner Summer Awards given for an outstanding season went to James Folkes and Claire Paterson. James has secured PBs this year in 60m,100m, 200m, 400m, javelin and the hammer. He was also a double HAA silver medalist in the 100m and 200m, the clubs only senior track and field county medalist. Claire reached the English Schools Track final for the 200m, was double county champion in both the 100m and 200m (HAA Champs and HSAA Champs), secured PBs in the 100m, 200m and 400m and was also part of numerous club record breaking relay teams.

Banning Winter Award - The selectors were unable to decide on an individual winner this year so awarded it to all 4 lads; Tom Bennett, Alex Rudge, Chris Neil and Chris Berntsen who were selected to compete for Hampshire at this year’s English Schools Cross Country, where the Hampshire Team won the main accolade of the day, “overall male team”.

Quadkids Award this year went to Holly Mills and Gabriel Williams. Holly finished ranked 2nd in the individual overall results out of 125 girls. Along the way she broke 4 club records. Her long jump distance ranks her 11th in the country. And Gabriel was the best overall competitor from the boys team with many high results. The whole team was congratulated.

Youngsters Trophy, given to under 11s boy and girl went to Lewis Reed and Nnenna Evans. The “Young Stars” shields are awarded in recognition of a boy and a girl who show a positive attitude to their training and always give their best

Appleby Colts/Minors (U13s) Trophy was awarded to Nicco Hunt and Emma Jones. Nicco won the Wiltshire Schools championships this year in the 70m hurdles and is ranked15th in the UK over the 75m hurdles. Emma started her career with the club sprinting and jumping and has recently shown that she is becoming a very talented middle distance athlete, one to watch.

Foord Plaque, awarded to the Under 15 age group, went to Matt Chant and Holly Eaton. Having just returned from injury Matt achieved the English Schools qualifying time, becoming both the Hampshire Schools champion and Independent Schools National champion over 100m. Holly is a very good technical runner, the longer the sprint the better her performances, an athlete that everyone will be watching in the future.

Road Runners Points Trophy - Matt Lane and Sheila Oldacre (points are given for running races plus bonuses for PBs).

Viking Direct Trophy -Sergio Hunt, as an under 15 he has shown that he has great potential over the long jump consistently achieving results over 5 metres.

Control Techniques Trophy - Christian Boughton is fearsome with a javelin in his hand. He won the Wiltshire County Championships, came 2nd in the South West Inter Counties and was narrowly beaten into 3rd at the Hampshire Schools. Consistently throwing over 40 metres he claimed a new club record.

Banning Rose Bowl - Alice Boughton, in recognition of a busy and successful day at the Andover Young Athletes Meeting.

Other awards: Southern Women’s and Mens League - Danni Horner and James Whiteman, Banning Shield - James Folkes, Phil Young Trophy - Chris Berntsen, Rob Ward Trophy (Marathon result), Martin Welsh, Jean Taylor Trophy - John Goulding and Sandra Horner, Derek Jarvis Cup Hampshire Road Race Award - Matt Lane, Chairmans Award - Ian Oldacre, Hampshire X-C League - Mark Neil, Wessex T&F League - Charlie Williams, Williamson Trophy - John Goulding, Clarendon Trophy - Angela Harwood, Runaround Trophy - Sam Deery, Hannington Troph - Joseph Hannan,Chris Boyd Rose Bowl - Jackie Jones.

There were also 28 club records broken over the year, by 24 individual athletes: Nnenna Evans, Holly Mills, James Folkes, Andre Diurno, Adam Ricketts, Nicco Hunt, Sergio Hunt, Matt Chant, Christian Boughton, Jamie Barry, Lauren Marlow, Ellora Milsom, Christie Woodford, Grace Paterson, Grace Paterson, Luke Holman, Jack Templeman, Sam Deery, Claire Paterson, Danni Horner, Jordan Twigg, Dan Grinham, Chris Adams, Adam Harwood and Hayley Coney.

National Road Relays

Sutton Colefield

Last weekend saw the 2010 ERRA National 6 Stage Road Relays at Sutton Park in Sutton Colefield and, after qualifying three weeks ago at the Southern Road Relays, the Under 17 mens ‘dream team’ of Chris Neil, Tom Bennett and Alex Rudge were the only Andover AC team to qualify for this prestigious event.

The Championships are held every year at Sutton Park, and involve the best club teams from all over the country. The race involves a three stage relay around the tarmac footpaths of Sutton Park, a beautiful and extremely hilly 3.9k course, with tough hills throughout the course including one to the finish of each lap.

It was a sunny, crisp day with no wind so we all knew the times would be quick. With a change in the racing order Chris Neil went first, with the starting line its usual only wide enough for 12 men he just placed himself in the pack and waited for the gun. Avoiding any trips at the start he then spent the race systematically picking off the runners coming home in 14th place with a time of 12min 22secs exhausted he handed over to Tom Bennett.

Tom set off quickly with a runner immediately ahead to chase giving him that impetus to get his pace going from the start. He also worked hard all the way round picking off runners to come home in 9th, at this point just ahead of local Hampshire rivals Aldershot, his time of 12min 14secs was the fastest Andover runner of the day, demonstrating that he is bang on form. This time was a massive 32 seconds faster than last year.

Alex Rudge had the hard job of being the last runner with two rivals on his heels he had to be very aware on both those runners in front and behind. He paced his race to perfection coming home in a solid time of 12min 23secs (27 seconds faster than his time last year), but even better, he made up two more places bringing the team home in a delightful 9th place overall (7th English team home), an improvement over last year by 7 places. This result once again demonstrates the strength of this young local team.

South of England Road Relay Championships

Aldershot

The Andover AC men hit the road in Aldershot at Rushmore Arena for the South of England Road Relay Championships held over the Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday saw the under 17 men's team of Tom Bennett, Alex Rudge, Chris Neil and Dan Grinham, who are in the right frame of mind for another great season, hit the road first in the 3851m per lap relay race. Tom set the pace on the first leg, really mixing it with the leaders setting a very fast time of 12:20 which was the 16th fastest time of the day. This superb time saw Tom hand over in 10th place to Chris for the second leg. Chris took up the challenge and steadily picked up 4 more places (in a time of 12:43) to hand over to Alex, who really dug deep to keep the momentum going with a solid run of 12:35 maintaining the 6th placed position. Last man Dan felt the pressure as he has had lots of injuries this summer, he need not have worried as he kept pace with the leading group and with one of the best sprint finishes seen for a long time holding off the opposition to bring the team home in 8th place overall. Dans time of 13:50 meant the team had an overall time of 51:28. This result indicates that this under 17 mens team have the makings of a great road and cross country season ahead of them.

The Sunday saw the Veteran and Senior men out in force, the first time they have had a team in both events for many years. Team Captain, Matt Lane, was really pleased with the turnout although was a bit disappointed not to be running himself due to a recent injury. Dougie Brisco was first off on the lead leg of the 4 x 6k Veterans race. Dougie is a seasoned performer and has steadily been returning to form after taking it easy over the last year. The race involves two 3k laps for each leg of the relay. Dougie’s solid time of 22:53 saw him hand over to Tim Bennett in 40th place. Tim managed to maintain this position with his time of 24:54, just dropping one place when handing over to Chris Dewey. Chris tore up the road pulling back 7 places piping Dougies time by 4 seconds to record 22:49 handing over to Mark Curtis for the final lap. The gauntlet having been laid down by Chris, Mark set about his task with absolute determination, also over taking 7 more runners to bring the Andover AC Veteran team home in a highly creditable 27th place overall and in a personal time of 22:24 (20th placed Over 40s team). Mark Neil also competed with a time of 25:16 as part of an incomplete team.

The final race of the day involved the senior men: Pete Mitchell, Martin Welsh, Jon Greenhalgh, Chris Adams, Chris Berntsen and Gavin Whatley, with Mathew Orchard and Mark Curtis (who as part of his training ran another 6k leg in the afternoon!). Pete started the proceedings and although his time of 22:40 was a good one, many of these runners can complete the course in sub 20 minutes, with the fastest of the day going sub 18 minutes! Pete handed over to their 2nd runner Martin Welsh in 78th place. Martins time of 24:23 saw him gain 3 places and then Jon Greenhalgh pulled back 5 more (23:45) handing over to the first of the two youngest members of the team, Chris Adams. Unfortunately, Chris had a bit of a mishap at the beginning of the handover which resulted in a 30 second delay, however he still managed to pull back another 5 places handing over to Chris Berntsen in 65th place in a time of 24:52. Chris set a blistering pace completing the course in 20:34, as a result he managed to claw back a further 2 places handing over to the final team member Gavin Whatley who also pulled back two more places (24:55) finally taking the team over the finishing line in 61st place. Mathew Orchard and Mark Curtis times were 26:36 and 23:18 respectively.

Victory 5 - Impressive start gets better for Andover AC

Andover AC’s road running teams continued their fine start to the Hampshire Road Race League in the 2nd race of the season at Victory 5.

With what may be a record turnout (certainly in the last 5 years) 23 racers represented Andover AC on a blustery day in Portsmouth on Sunday 19th September. As a result out of the 4 teams, 3 are in 1st place in their league, the other is in 2nd… The men’s A + B teams are both 1st in Division 2 and B division 2 respectively. The ladies A team are 1st in Div 3 and 2nd in the B division. All 4 teams came 2nd on the day to consolidate these positions in the league.

3 of the men claimed sub 30 minute times, Chris Berntsen 27:54 – 18th, Mark Curtis 29:24 – 45th and Richard Jansen 29:32 – 49th with Pete Mitchell in 82nd in 30:38, they were followed home by good runs from, Rob Cliffe 86th, Dougie Brisco 98th, Martin Welsh 138th, Matt Lane 152nd, Tim Bennett 159th, Kelvin Mason 204th, Mathew Orchard 246th, Ian Oldacre 248th and John Goulding 287th.

The ladies not be out done were in fine form, with Emma Dunham being the 43rd lady cross the line in 35:05, with Fay Wyatt 36:48 – 60th and Sally Biles 39:10 – 80th, again well supported by Caroline Bennett 100th, Jo Samways 106th, Sandra Blowers 121st, Tina Trotter 131st, Joan White 134th, Sandra Horner 166th and Sally Vant 206th.

A great day for all concerned at Andover AC and a great team ethos is rising with the blue and white stripped vests in abundance……

The next race is the Solent Half on 10 October 2010, which will be online entries only and no entries on the day so enter now to avoid disappointment.

75 years young and still breaking records

John Goulding has been running for more years that he, or anyone else for that matter, can remember. He was also a keen footballer in his day and spent 28 years as a local football referee.

Having turned 75 this year, his wife Jill pointed out that there were quite a few opportunities for him despite having passed what some would consider a milestone dictating a future that was more likely to have a nice comfy chair and a warm fluffy blanket for his legs.

The opportunities identified were to see what running records he could break as a newly fledged 75 year old – and as those who know John well would expect, he set about this task with enthusiasm and complete determination. He started his challenge in May with the Alton 10 Mile Championships where he was 1st over 70 for the 5th consecutive year completing the course in 80 mins 26 secs. In June he set about his record breaking task by competing in the Poole 10k South West Vets Athletics Club 2010 Championships, his time of 48 mins 24 secs breaking the Over 75s Championship time and best club time by a massive 9 mins 26 secs.

Rather buoyed by his record breaking achievement, he moved on to the next race in the South West Vets Athletics Club 2010 Championships series held at Wellington in Somerset. This 10 mile course is one of the hilliest road race courses John can remember. Finishing in 89th place overall, his time of 84 mins 16 secs beat the championship best time by, wait for it, a gargantuan 45 mins 20 secs!

In August John turned his attention to the longer distance of a half marathon at the British Masters Athletic Federation Half Marathon Championships held at Burnham Beeches near Slough. Finishing third placed Over 75 to a Scot from Edinburgh John was a little disappointed with his run, saying ‘I should have finished second Over 75, but suffered a slight hamstring pull just after 11 miles, allowing an old adversary who hadn't beaten me for 2 years to pass me over the final two miles. My time of just under 2 hours was well off my best time.’ Yep that’s right he did not drop out despite his injury!

In September John took part in the Overton 5 mile reported a few weeks ago, and then over the weekend completed in the British Masters Veteran's 10k Championship at held in Wolverhampton. Here John won the Bronze medal for the over 75 years age group in a time of 51 mins 2 secs, an excellent time as it was a very demanding course. Seasoned Vet Dougie Briscoe also Joined John in the race, taking 4th in the over 55 age group in a time of 39 mins 22 secs.

In the current 2010 UK Age 75+ Rankings John is placed: 1st in the UK over 10 miles, 4th over 10k and 6th for the Half Marathon.

John is an absolute inspiration to all of us, young and not so young and is setting his stall out to try to break a few more records over the year so look out for his exploits. His story proves that you are never too old to get fit so if John has inspired you to give it a go, whatever your age why not pop up to Andover AC or get in contact via the website.

John has been a member of Andover AC for the last 25 years is running in the South Coast 10 Mile Race on the 24th October and he would like to invite local people and local companies to sponsor him in his attempt to break the South West Veterans over 75 record – proceeds in aid of the Andover AC new club extension - Sponsorship forms are available in the Clubhouse but you can also donate monies by clicking on our donations link on the website www.andover-athletic.co.uk.

2 races 1 weekend and maximum participation

Andover AC's road running teams had probably the best supported weekend to date for may a year, with 15 athletes running in the Overton 5 and 11 Athletes running at Bristol Half Marathon the following day.

At Overton both the Mens and ladies team had 2 full teams and both tasted success, with the ladies A team coming in first in the 3rd division on the day, Lead home by Emma Dunham in 36:53 with Caroline Bennett (42:39) and Jo Samways just behind (42:43) coming in 2nd and 3rd for the team. The ladies B team were 3rd in their B division on the day, with Sandra Blowers (45:07), Joan White (46:28) and Shelia Oldacre (48:00). A very good performance by both ladies team.

What the ladies could do, then so could the men, coming 2nd in Division 2 for the A team and 1st in the B Division 2. Youth supplemented the A team with 2 great runs form Chris Berntsen (28:24 - 18th) and Alex Rudge (29:23 - 32nd) followed up by Dougie Brisco (31:53) and Pete Mitchell (32:05). The B team was lead home by Rob Cliffe (32:09) followed in by Matt Lane (33:08), Tim Bennett (34:04), Kelvin Mason (40:35) and John Goulding (41:12). Again great perfomance by the mens team and all concerned on the day.

Victory 5 is the next race and the plan is the same for all 4 teams.

The following day 11 athletes made their way down to a very wet Bristol for the Bristol Half Marthon where over 11,000 runners finished,

Mark Curtis was the first Andover AC athlete to cross the line in 1:23:00, with Martin Welsh not far behind with a new PB in 1:31:31 and Gavin Whatley 1:32:33, with Matt Lane (doing his 2nd race of the weekend) in 1:36:39. Fay Wyatt was the first female for Andover with a new PB of 1:43:17, paced by Jon Greenhalgh 1:43:18. Alison on the PB trail were Mathew Orchard 1:49:28, Montina Munday, 2:09:03 and Janice Cook 2:13:16. Also competing were Sandra Horner and Sara Milsom both with the same time of 2:43:02.

Well done all.

Andover AC is always willing to see new runners of any standard, see either our website andover-athletic.co.uk or email mfel68@hotmail.com

Photos of Overton 5 are on the website.

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