PETE’S POST – FEBRUARY 2023
Only one month into the New Year and already plenty of exciting news to report.
Firstly though, just to catch up with the end of 2022, and it was great to see Alex Melloy and Chris Darling taking the top two place in the News Years Eve 10k at Ely. Well done as well to Mary Twitchett who, also at Ely, won her age group, and achieved a WAVA score of over 90%!
January of course, begins with the Cambridgeshire Cross Country County Championships. What a day for C&C! In terms of team results, as a club we almost swept the board:
U13 Boys – 1st & 3rd, U13 Girls – 1st, U15 Boys – 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th (5 out of the first 7 home were from C&C!). U15 Girls – 1st and 2nd (Our athletes filled 6 out of the top 7 places!), U17M – 1st and 2nd (taking the first 4 places, and 6 out of the top 7!), U17W – 1st and 2nd (taking ALL of the top 5 places!), S.M – 2nd, and S.W. – 1st and 2nd.
Amazing results! Well done to every C&C athlete that ran, even if you weren’t one of the top runners, there’s no doubt that you would have spared-on those nearer the front, that’s the great thing about competing as a team. I hope that you all had a fantastic day, you certainly helped to get the year off to a flying start, and you did the club proud! Well done too, to all the coaches.
It’s so great to know that the club has so much young athletic talent coming through for the future. Keep it going, there’s a lifetime of joyful running ahead of you if you look after yourselves.
As an example of this, Stef Godfrey recently competed in the Farnborough Half Marathon. The race was an England Masters Team qualifier. In freezing conditions, Stef ran 1:31, well inside the qualifying time of 1:45. She also needed to come in the top 3 in her Age Group (W55) and is just awaiting confirmation of this. Once ratified, Stef will become yet another of our Masters Ladies to qualify for the National Team. It’s wonderful to see again how the club is so strong across all age groups.
Congratulations also to Jack Gray, who got an England call up to compete for his country in Belgium, and had what he described as a “Solid run” (= absolutely amazing to most of us!)
Another inspirational story for C&C came with a double triumph at the Brass Monkey half marathon on 15th January. This popular half marathon acts as a qualifying event for England representation in the veteran categories and framerunner Esther Loukin hit her target time spot on, finishing in 1:45.57. She was welcomed at the finish by Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson and Dr Ian Thompson (Chair of the British Wheelchair Racing Association).
The celebration was not only for Esther’s performance in the event, but because in the recent past the rules of athletics would not have allowed Esther to take part. C&C argued for a change in the rules which discriminated against the inclusion of disabled athletes. Esther, and Neil Costello (our Club President) used their combined contacts and knowledge of equality legislation and the decision-making structures in athletics to push for change. This was supported by England Athletics and the rule book now reflects the changes. Tanni and Esther then persuaded the Brass Monkey to open up their event! Esther was the first wheelchair athlete or framerunner to take part in the event under the new improved rules. Brass Monkey is keen to help more road races do the same – they found it wasn’t hard and was good for everyone. Now that it’s possible, watch out for more members of the C&C disability group doing their thing on the roads….
Next, here is an early “Heads up” regarding the Club’s own event, the Cambourne 10k, to be held on Sunday 2nd April. There are several ways that you can help the club with this. Firstly, encourage people to enter! It would be brilliant if we can achieve a really good number of entries. Every entry helps to cover the event costs, provide funds for local charities, and supports the club. Secondly, please answer any calls to support the event in the lead-up, and on the day, if you possibly can. We have a brilliant team of organisers, but help is always needed and welcomed. Thirdly, run it yourself! It would be great to see lots of C&C vests out there on the day. If you haven’t run a 10k yet, why not target this one to be your first? There’s also a Fun Run alongside the 10k. For full information, here is the event link: https://bit.ly/3hk0Jhl
The Cambourne 10k is really important day for the club, so let’s all do what we can to ensure that it is a great success once again.
Finally, you will have seen that the club has put out a call for more volunteers to become Trained Officials. Thank you to those that have responded. if you feel that you could help in this vital area please get in touch. Our track meets cannot function without adequate numbers of officials. full training is given at the Club’s expense. If you are interested, or just want to find out more, please contact: [email protected]
Thank you.
Have a great month, very best of luck with your training and competing!