PETE’S POST – APRIL 2023
The daffodils are out, Spring is in the air, and Cambridge and Coleridge A.C goes marching on!
It has been widely reported already, but what a fantastic day the club had at National Cross Country Championships! Victory for our U17 Ladies team (and you can see from the picture what it meant to them!), second place for our Senior Men, and third place for our U17 Men. Our best National Championship results ever!
Great results in the Frostbite League too. Second place for the team at the end of the six match series is the club’s best finishing position for a decade! Congratulations to all the runners, and to team manager Karen Cameron, on a wonderful season!
It was great to see a sea of white and blue at Cambridge half marathon. What an event, some fantastic runs, and big new P.B.’s for club members. Well done to all that ran, and to all those that supported the event in various different roles as well.
Also over the winter season, the club has had some excellent indoor performances. Serena Blackwood, competing in the U20 category, improved her 60m times from 7.85 to 7.53, took the gold medal in the South of England Championships, placed 6th in the National Championships, and made the semi-finals at the British Championships.
Adam Cross has been a C&C member for over a decade, first competing for the club as a U13. He is now in his first year as a senior, and despite now living and working in Loughborough, has remained a loyal member of the club. Adam also qualified for British Indoor Championships and ran a best of 6.83 in the 60m this winter. Amazing to think that that is just 0.38 seconds off the fastest U.K. time this year.
Leah Wagstaff got through to the final of the 60m Hurdles in England Athletics Championships in her first year as an U17, whilst David MacQueen also qualified for these Champs and set a new P.B. in the heats.
All four of these athletics began by competing as youngsters in the EAL and/or EYAL and demonstrate what can be achieved with hard work, persistence, and good coaching. Many congratulations to them.
So now we turn our thoughts to warmer weather, and the outdoor Track and Field season. Many fixtures are already on the club website so you can work with your coaches to plan your competitive season.
You will have also seen that there are vacancies for Team Managers. If you want to support the club this is a highly enjoyable and rewarding role in which to do so. You would be playing a key role in helping the athletes, helping the team, and helping the club. Please consider giving it a try.
I look forward to a great season, and hope that fine individual performances across all the events also lead to team successes this summer. For some of you it will your first season of competition in the C&C vest. I wish you all the best of luck as you set out on your C&C journey. The athletes already mentioned above show what can be achieved, be inspired by them!
Also starting soon, the Summer 5k League Series. Let’s have a good turn-out and get off to a flying start at Histon on Thursday 27th April. This is a great league, suitable for all standards, so if you are new to the club, or even new to running, you are very welcome to join the team.
Did you know that after a gap of several years, Milton Park Run is coming back? There is a trial run on Saturday 1st April. To quote the organisers, “The trial will work like parkrun except that it won’t be a parkrun, so it won’t count to your stats. This trial run still starts at 9.00am”. They would like a decent number of runners for this trial, but not too many. All being well the first return Parkrun proper will be on Saturday 15th April, it would be great to have a good crowd of C&C runners there then to welcome it back.
Finally, good luck to all of our runners at the London marathon! Have a fantastic race and a great day out!
April is going to be another exciting month for Cambridge and Coleridge A.C.!