Athletics
Local runners star in Winter Series

RACES two and three of the five race Threshold Events 10k Winter Series took place at their Ilmington home either side of Christmas and featured a sackful of impressive performances from Stratford AC athletes.

Race two saw a superb display of running by Stratford AC’s Dani Rasgauski who was 6th in 43-55 and first woman to finish.

Dani is really progressing and making a name for herself with her consistently high quality performances over a range of distances and this hilly road course presented no problems for her.

The first Stratford AC man home was James Deacon (7th, 44-07), closely followed by Ewan Gibb (9th, 45-12) and Steve Baker (12th, 45-38) who also ran very tenacious races.

David Smyth (18th, 47-10) is a big fan of hill running and likes nothing more than a test of stamina on a Sunday morning.

Lisa Dallison (23rd, 50-16) and Allan Coldicott (28th, 51-20) are never far apart in races but on this day Lisa had just too much strength in her legs to afford Allan the chance of sneaking past late on.

Roger Wilson (30th, 51-47) ran a fantastic race, as always, and is riding on the crest of a wave this winter.

Sarah Odell (34th, 52-25) keeps producing gutsy displays despite some recent bad luck with injuries.

Andy Turner (40th, 57-01) may have gone off a little too fast but as his stamina is improving all the time he was able to hang in there at the business end of the race.

Steph Howles (51st, 1-00.07), John Butler (66th, 1-07.05) and Rose Morris (70th, 1-11.22) completed the excellent set of performances in a race which was won by Terry Conway of Ambleside AC in 37-50.

The runners competing in race three could not have wished for better running conditions; dry underfoot, no wind and just a slight chill in the air which arrived just as the starting hooter sounded.

Richard Dobedoe (5th, 39-25) is including plenty of speedwork in his training and, although speed is not the first thing one associates with this tough race, this the training appears to have breathed new life into him and he was ecstatic with this run.

Possibly the chirpiest club member, Malcolm Bowyer (12th 42-42) is always on hand with a joke before and after races, but he took this event seriously, ran fantastically well and heads into 2012 in red-hot form.

There was a rare outing in the Winter Series for Emma Bexson (29th, 45-50) but she came through it with flying colours.

Emma had sharpened her speed by competing in a Christmas Eve Parkrun and she appeared to be in good form in this race of double the distance and much more testing terrain.

David Smyth (31st, 46-02) ran more than a minute quicker than in race two and had clearly spent Christmas avoiding eating and drinking too much in a bid to make his mark.

Steve Kirk (33rd, 46-53) said beforehand that he was just happy to be taking part and posting a good time was not important to him. The fact he was so close on David’s heels is testimony to the fabulous form he is currently enjoying.

Paul Hawkins (42nd, 48-52) looked like he had certainly given everything but his grimace as he crossed the line turned into a smile when he saw his time.

Andy Brown (44th, 49-21) showed a great turn of foot up the short finishing straight and was closely followed by Iain Dyche (49th, 49-51).

Allan Coldicott (53rd, 50-28) is listed first in the official race results but the fast finishing David Jones (54th, 50-28) looked to have crossed the line first in cheeky fashion as Allan took in the picturesque surroundings and let him through.

If a race requires a strong will and plenty of stamina, Pete Hill (57th 50.52) is the man to call. Pete always runs a consistent pace and in trademark style he had enough left for a sprint finish.

Phil Marshall (60th, 51.35) will have been highly satisfied with his time and Larry Coltman (88th, 57.18) can run all day if required, so a 10k was a little on the short side.

There were also some fine performances from Maureen Birch (106th, 1.00.46), Rose Morris (124th, 1.05.12),John Butler (132nd, 1.11.10) and SimonWhitehead (134th, 1.12.04) crossed the line with a big grin on his face.

First of the 140 runners to finish was Phil Gould of Kenilworth Runners in 36.35. First woman was Karen Thorp in 40.19.

The next race in the Winter Series is at the same venue on Sunday, January 22.