City of Salisbury Athletics and Running Club

Three City of Salisbury club runners made good marathon debuts in the New Forest 26.2 mile event, Joe Cornwall stopping the clock in a promising 3hours 54min.16sec. He was closely followed by Lee Syrett with 3.35.59, and then came Rachel Bala in 5.33.07.

Ruth Thom took on the challenge of what is claimed to be one of the toughest triathlons in the world, the Ironman Wales, completing an open water swim and a 112mile bike ride before running a full marathon in 3hours 54min to finish fifth in her age category.

Among the massed ranks of 40,000 starters in the Great North Run from Newcastle to South Shields along the Tyne, Richard Larcombe came out best of a trio of Salisbury runners with a time of 1hour 38min 04sec. Craig Weatherburn was not far behind in 1.39.27 and Ali Theobald completed the set in 2.26.32.
In the Andover trail half marathon, Reece Ingram took a well-earned third place with a run of 1.33.52 and Norbert Weber clocked 2.28.36.

Chrissy Gorham completed the full marathon distance in 5.14.48, and then came Jane Knight 5.52.16 and Di Cross 5.52.17.
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A sizeable contingent of 35 City of Salisbury runners opened the new season in the Hampshire road race league, contested by athletes from across the south, at a warm and humid Overton 5mile where they took four notable fourths.

Stuart Holloway showed he has lost none of his zest during the summer month, crossing the line in fourth place in a good 26min 41sec to lead the club home.

Supervet Mike Brewster was fourth in his 50+ age group and fourth counter in the club’s men’s A team with a speedy 30.55, the other top team spots going to Richard Davidson (29.48) and Lee Syrett (30.52).

In the women’s race, Ruth Thom took a well-earned fourth place overall and second place in her 35+ age group with 31.30. She was supported in the A team by Sarah Brewster’s 37.27 and Marie Shone’s 40.36.

The men’s B team were given a strong start by James Hassan with 31.32, and he was followed by the close-packing trio of James Mills 32.17, Angus Paton 32.32 and Craig Weatherburn 33.35.

The women’s B team comprised Alison Scott 41.26, Rebecca Lockwood 43.38 and Rachel Bala 43.55.

Other Salisbury finishers were: Joe Cornwall 34.07, Mike White 34.24, Richard Larcombe 34.26, John Duffy 34.49, Phil Perry 35.29, Jon Kershaw 35.33, Marc Hankins 36.15, Craig Murphy 36.22, Nick Hudson 36.25, Steve Mitchell 37.02, Stuart Robertson 37.21 and Barry Vincent 41.13.

Then came Colin Warrington 42.08, Jane Whiteley 43.46, David Smith 45.23, Jackie Hassan 48.14, Richard Bidmead 50.21, Helen Carlton 51.08, Lesley Brown 52.05, Denise von Roretz 52.19 and Colin Martin 57.47.

Next fixture in the series is the Solent half marathon on Sept 23rd.
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Still celebrating their amazing victory in the Southern Athletics League – winning all five of the south-west region matches – and promotion to Division 2 for 2019, City of Salisbury Athletics & Running Club (CoSARC) were out competing again this week at the Watford Harriers Open Graded Meeting in Hertfordshire. Two prominent members of the team, Alex Mundell and Richard Davidson, both achieved personal bests (PBs) in the 1500 metres. Richard won his race in a time of 4:40.57 while Alex finished in fifth place in hers in a time of 4:37.16.

The club also seized victory in the Hullavington 10k on 19th August, the seventh event in the Wiltshire Road Race League 2018 and the Wiltshire County Championship race at this distance, with Sian Thomas landing the women’s race in 39:30, well ahead of the second-placed runner. The club’s Eddie O’Gorman was the club’s highest placed male finisher, crossing the line in 38:10, 13th overall.

Once again, a sizeable cohort of CoSARC runners headed to Dorset to support the latest White Star Running (WSR) trail races over the Bank Holiday weekend. On the Saturday, Elizabeth Roberts completed the marathon in 5:20:13 and Christine Gorham in 5:36:30. Jacqueline Chlebowski and Anne Norman ran the half marathon together, finishing in 2:49:29 and 2:49:31, respectively. Chris Maple finished 10th in the 10k in 49:05; he was followed home by Michael Boardman in 51:25 (16th).

On a very wet Sunday, several runners took part in WSR’s East Farm Frolic, which involved running as many of the 3.25 mile laps as possible/desired in 12 hours. CoSARC’s Charlotte Boardman completed 12 circuits in 7:25:02; Grace Cousins and Elizabeth Robers both did eight, equivalent to a marathon, in 5:38:18 and 5:49:39; and Christine Gorham did five in 3:44:16. Denise von Roretz completed three laps of the Dogs Only Frolic, aided by Luna, in 2:08:39.

Also over the weekend, James Ballard clocked up his 100th parkrun.

City of Salisbury athletics and running club’s track squad made sure of promotion in the Southern League when with another outstanding performance at Brighton they soared to a big win – their fifth in five matches – over nearest rivals Winchester AC and Guildford, writes John Ruskin.

Following the club’s best ever track campaign, they have secured their first promotion since the League’s launch ten years ago.

Club chairman Lee Ness said: “The club has outperformed at every level to achieve this success, against stiff opposition. It’s made all the more remarkable by the much reduced access we’ve had for training on our home track at Five Rivers this season.”

Despite holiday absences and some injuries reducing the team numbers, the club filled all 64 events on the card and netted a total of almost 40 individual wins.

Both young and old proved their worth with U17 Nia Jones coming out top in both the shot (7.34m) and discus (19.19m) and veteran Alan Munro winning the hammer and the discus.

Youngster Abbey Littlejohns won the U17 200m (28.0sec), the 100m hurdles (17.9) and the long jump (4.48m). Skye Allan resumed her track career with a win in the 100m and Andy Holme jumped a pb of 2.40m in the pole vault before winning his 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles.

Hamish Mundell took victory in the 100m (11.7), the 110m hurdles (20.0) and the 400m hurdles. Charlene Matthews won the hammer, javelin and triple Jump and Thomas Hughes the high jump, long jump and triple jump.

At Weymouth, club mainstay Stuart Holloway added swimming and cycling to his running credentials to win his age group in the south west regional triathlon championships.

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The Salisbury 5-4-3-2-1, starting at the Fire Station and held in aid of the Fire Fighters Charity, was once again well supported by City of Salisbury A&RC (CoSARC) members – both in terms of entrants and marshals, writes Di Cross.

The club was well rewarded for its support for this popular local event – a series of trail walks and runs from 5k up to 50k – with several victories: CoSARC took the team prize in the 21k, with Sarah Kemp, John Duffy and Craig Murphy all finishing in the top 30; Anne Norman won the 10k event and was the first finisher in 1:29:12; Ruth Thom won the women’s prize in the 33k – finishing 5th overall; Norbert Weber won the 21k walk with a course record of 2:38:51 – which also earnt him the prize for first in age category; John Sowray was the first M70 in the 50k, finishing in 5:55:33; and Terry Brown came back from injury to complete the 50k in 5:44:38 – second in the MV65 category.
Other notable club performances included Mike White, who was the club’s first finisher in the 50k race, crossing the line in 4:54:54, a new PB for him; James Ballard followed in 4:56:31 and Craig Weatherburn – completing his first ever 50k – in 5:06:59.

Richard Larcombe was the club’s first runner home in the marathon distance, 42k. He was 12th overall, 10th man, in 3:53:34. Phil Perry followed him in 4:09:57 and Joe Cornwall in 4:14:44. Charlotte Boardman was the club’s first woman home in 4:23:31.

Rachel Bala ran the 33k in 4:07:18, while Sarah Kemp finished the 21k run in 1:46:42, followed by Louise Sloan in 2:11:01 and Marie Shone in 2:12:58; they were followed home by Alison Scott and Helen Carlton.

Elsewhere, James Mills completed The RAT – the Roseland August Trail 100k – a challenging trail run along the South Cornwall Coastal Path, in 14:04:25.