Road Running News

Wayne and Kelly leave the rest in their wake

30 January 2012

CoNAC-ers Wayne Lincoln and Kelly Rushton were worthy winners of the Reedham 10m road race on Sunday.  Wayne clocked 55min 06sec while Kelly recorded 63mins 18secs.  Please click here for full results.

Annual Road Running Dinner & Presentation Evening

16 January 2012

During the annual Road Running Dinner at the Last Wine Bar on Saturday evening, the winners of the CoNAC Road Running Awards for 2011 were announced:

* Female Road Runner of the Year - Ellie Matthews
* Male Road Runner of the Year - Stu Huntington
* Most Improved Female Road Runner - Julia Parsley
* Most Improved Male Road Runner - Stephen Church
* Annual Endeavour Award - Female - Katy Walters
* Annual Endeavour Award - Male - Mark Walters
* Special Merit Award - Female - Jane Clarke
* Special Merit Award - Male - Les Bowgen

Congratulations to all our winners and many thanks to Sally Withey for organising another great evening.

Ash & Stu make their intentions clear ...

5 January 2012

CoNAC athletes were determined not to let the seasonal festivities encroach too much into their competitive programme.  Ashley Harrell and Stuart Huntington travelled to Clitheroe, Lancashire on the day after Boxing Day to take part in the Ribble Valley 10k.  This race has a reputation for producing fast times and so it proved to be.  Harrell, in his own words, felt a bit sluggish but still posted a new personal best time of 30min 18secs when finishing in 11th position. Huntington was not far behind and also clocked a new personal best time when crossing the line in 30min 45secs to place 20th. In the club's history only Guy Amos has recorded a faster 10k time so Harrell and Huntington will be looking to rewrite the CoNAC record books in the not too distant future!

For others on Boxing Day their race destination was nearby Bungay. Competing in the Groggy Doggy 5 mile cross country race, Olivia Walwyn-Bush, Ruth Senior and Ruth Proctor filled the first three places in the Ladies race while James Senior took the Men's race in comfortable fashion.

On New Year's Eve super veteran Jane Clarke and Ellie Matthews contested the Ely 10k to good effect. Jane in the Over 50 category is currently proving impossible to beat when winning in a time of 38min 34secs. Ellie, timed at 37min 54secs and placing 4th lady overall was a little disappointed with her performance as she fell short of creating a new personal best by just three seconds!

A trio of the Club's field event specialists were also in competitive mood travelling to Ipswich on New Year's Eve to participate in the Winter Wonderwhirl throws competition. Callum Brown and Michael Painter both produced winning performances in their respective Under 20 6km hammer events; Brown recorded a fine effort of 66m 39cms while Painter moved his hammer out to 64m 73cms.

Olivia Walwyn-Bush made it a festive double when comfortably winning the Wymondham 10k held on New Year's Day. Her time of 36min 05secs helped the Club's senior ladies - Walwyn-Bush, Ellie Mathews and Nicky Alford - to take the team title. The Club's ladies scored a notable double when Louise Wilkinson, Sabina Spence and Sue Cooke were team winners in the veteran category.

CoNAC mixes with the best at National Road Relays

17 October 2011

The Club’s endurance athletics took to the road again over the weekend when travelling to Sutton Coldfield to take part in the National Senior and Young Athletes Road Relay Championships being held over the demanding course at Sutton Park.

It was the turn of the club’s senior athletes on Saturday to try to make their mark with the Ladies toeing the line first for their 4 stage relay over 4.3km legs. In a race in which 72 teams completed Iona Lake, Ellie Matthews, super veteran Jane Clarke and Olivia Bush mirrored their position of last year when finishing in an admirable ninth place.

For the senior men who failed to complete last year it was a step in the right direction when the six man squad of Stuart Huntington, Ashley Harrell (who handed over in a high 18th place), Carl Goose, Josh Entwistle, Wayne Lincoln and Damian Rogers each racing over 5.8km finished in an above mid-table position of 35th.

Sunday saw the club’s younger athletes trying to make their mark nationally. All age categories raced over legs of 3861m and each team consisted of three. The Under 13 Boys team of Alfie Linstead, Falko Rosbergen and Luke Spear worked their socks off to finish in a pleasing 14th position. Time is on their side and for sure they will improve on this performance.

For the Under 15 Girls team Megan Soanes produced a solid performance and was ably backed up by Megan Bird and Alice Cheverton to cross the line in 16th place. It was a tough call for the Under 15 Boys team. Despite their best efforts Ashley Waterson, Jamie Finch and Adam Davison had to settle for a finishing position of 25th.

The Under 17 Girls team of Tasha Potgieter, Emily Hoogkamer and Anna Hoogkamer produced a very pleasing result when crossing the finishing line in 12th place. Expectations for the Under 17 Boys team were high but sadly on this occasion did not materialise when Sean Watson, Scott Greeves and Tom Hook finished in a modest 11th position.

In three weeks time the club travel to Mansfield to take part in the National Cross Country Relays and will look to improve on the past weekend’s performances. It will be a case of can do better, will do better and must do better, if the club is to make its mark nationally!

Five CoNAC places in 2012 VLM awarded

17 October 2011

The lucky recipients of our five guaranteed places in next year's Virgin London Marathon are Sarah Ambrose, Sue Cooke, Vince Ellis, Julia Parsley and John Walshaw - good luck with your training!

Promising displays from CoNAC juniors at Aldershot

26 September 2011

Club members made the long haul to Aldershot at the weekend to compete in the annual Southern Road Relay Championships.   While the teams returned without a medal there were some promising performances from the club’s younger athletes.   The Under 13 Boys team racing over 3km legs finished in 7th position from a starting line up of 45 teams.  Alfie Linstead, Joshua Shorrock, Lewis Chalcroft and Luke Spear made up the successful quartet with Linstead’s time of 10mins 52secs being the 9th fastest on the day.  However, Spear went even faster when recording a superb 10mins 25secs, a time that placed him third fastest leg on the day

The Under 15 Girls squad of Megan Soames , Megan Bird and Alice Cheverton racing over 3km legs went one better than the boys when finishing in a very creditable 6th place.  Also racing over 3km legs Ashley Waterson was lead off leg for the Under 15 Boys team and was backed up by Jamie Finch, Bruce Beckett and Adam Davison to finish mid-table in 18th position

28 teams toed the start line for the Under 17 Girls relay contested over 3km legs.  Tasha Potgeiter, Emily Hoogkamer and Hannah Wright made up the team that finished in an excellent 6th position. While the Under 17 Boys team of Tom Hook, Scott Greeves, Bradley Stansbury and Callum Russell racing over 3.9km legs finished in a modest 15th position it was Hook who made his mark when handing the baton over in second place after the first leg and recording the third fastest time of the day with 11mins 54secs.

The only team required to qualify for the National finals being staged in Sutton Coldfield in three weeks time was the Senior Men’s team.  This they accomplished with a degree of ease despite not being at full strength when finishing in 12th place from the 68 starting teams.  Luke Allen, Ashley Harrell, Stuart Huntington, Nick Earl, Wayne Lincoln and Carl Goose made up the qualifying squad who each raced over 6km.  Star performance came from Ashley Harrell who recorded a time of 18mins 08secs, the eighth fastest on the day.  Hopefully the team will be at full strength for the final which will be a real test of the club’s ability to compete at a national level. 

CoNAC's ladies set new course record at 25th RNR

18 September 2011

Congratulations to all three CoNAC teams who raced in this weekend's Round Norfolk Relay. In the 25th anniversary event the CoNAC ladies team broke their own course record and both our open and masters teams finished second in their respective categories.

And a huge "thank you" goes to everyone who worked on the CoNAC Support Crews over the weekend to help make it all possible.

Please click here to view the full results on the race website.

CoNAC's annual Road Running BBQ

6 August 2011

This year's CoNAC Road Running BBQ was another great success, with many thanks to Jude & Hugh McGill for hosting the event once again and to Hannah Baker and Sarah Ambrose for sorting out the puddings!  We enjoyed a splendid spread in lovely surroundings with great company - thanks all!!

Date for your diaries - CoNAC's annual Road Running Dinner & Presentation Evening - Saturday 14 January 2012 at the Last Wine Bar & Restaurant, 76 St George's Street, Norwich, NR3 1AB.

Mixed fortunes for CoNAC at Ekiden Relays

17 July 2011

The blustery weather was not the only challenge for the three CoNAC teams at this year's Ipswich Jaffa Ekiden Relays.  Here's the story of the day through the eyes of team manager Granville Courtnell ...

Men's open team - An awful start to the day for our men's senior team, hearing at the last minute that they would be travelling short of three team members. However puffing out their chests they decided to carry on and simply run two stages each of the required 6 stages to complete the distance of 26.2 miles / 42.2k. A fantastic time 2hrs 26mins 13secs by the three man squad of Ben Stratton, Stuart Huntington and James Senior gave them the 3rd fastest time on the day, only 4.5 minutes behind the winning team from our Suffolk rivals Ipswich Harriers. Unfortunately it was simply a training run for our young men as one of the race rules is to field 6 separate individual runners for the 6 stages of the relay, so no prizes were awarded - but a wink and a thumbs up for a job well done from the rest of the CoNAC crew lifted their shoulders. Shame that third prize was awarded to a team whose 6 members ran 6mins 46secs slower.

Ladies open team - Ellie Matthews took them out on stage 1 (7.2k) and soon built up a lead ahead of rest of the the ladies field. The team continued to dominate through Tracy Curl 5k (20mins 21secs) and Ruth Senior 10k (37mins 48secs). The following 5k leg  saw Louise Wilkinson (21mins 14secs) having to battle with Ipswich Jaffa's GB international Helen Decker who made inroads into the CoNAC ladies lead. But that battle continued at the change-over as Nicky Alford showing great determination on her 10k leg, taking back the lead with a timely 41mins 03secs to hand over a sizeable lead to super vet Jane Clarke. Jane was never going to be one with her foot "off" the gas and she continued to apply the pressure delivering a final 5k stage of 19mins 21secs to post a team time of 2hrs 47mins 32secs - a winning margin of 5mins 40secs ahead of the 2nd placed ladies team from hosts Ipswich Jaffa.  Ellie also picked up a fastest stage prize for her win on stage 1 in 27mins 45 secs.

Men's veteran team - The inevitable one or two changes in the week leading up to race day saw a final vets team pulling out a great performance. New signing Goy Roper took out stage 1 and came home in second place on this 7.2k lap (27mins 39secs giving the team a good platform to build from. Throughout the morning the team battled hard with those around them – Stephen Church seeing the benefits of recent speed work on his 5k (21mins 13secs); Andy Jones, good to see him back fit and racing 10k (35mins 46secs); Nigel Hodge putting his racing bike to one side this weekend for the 5k stage 4 (19mins 26secs); Neil Davison laying down a good 10k with 38mins 51secs and Chris Langton also seeing the results of recent speed work completing the last 5k stage in 18mins 22secs. A very creditable time of 2hrs 41mins 17secs gave the team 2nd place, only 43 seconds short of 1st prize – well done guys.

A "Managers" view - it's so refreshing to see all the eligible girls at CoNAC coming together at races when asked, no matter what. I hope the men will take a lead from this - there are honours out being handed to the opposition, just waiting for your collective talent to take.

Gemma Steel sets new course record at Lord Mayor's 5k

9 July 2011

In near perfect conditions, Charnwood AC's Gemma Steel stormed round the Lord Mayor's 5k in Norwich city centre to seize victory with a new course record of 15mins 59secs.  Steel knocked a clear 24 seconds off club mate Tara Krzywicki's previous best time of 16mins 23secs as she held off a determined challenge from Justina Heslop (Clapham Chasers) who returned 16mins 05secs.  Steel pocketed £500 for the win and a further £250 for setting a new course record while Heslop was £300 better off for her efforts. Third place and £100 went to Natalie Harvey (South London Harriers) with an encouraging 16mins 26secs, showing that she's now moving in the right direction following the recent birth of her first child.

Please click here for the full results listing and photos.

In the men's race, Ethiopian Tewodros Shiferaw (Birchfield Harriers) set off at a furious pace to open up a lead of 150 metres in front of a packed audience around the two-lap course.  He was chased by a trio of athletes from Bedford & County AC with Mark Draper coming closest but by the end Shiferaw had done enough for the £500 first prize, crossing the line in an impressive 14mins 26secs.  Draper was second on 14mins 35secs and Neilson Hall third at 14mins 40secs, just a stride ahead of last year's winner Darren Deed who returned 14mins 41secs.  A record entry of 126 returned a best-ever finish of 100 athletes with five more missing the ten minute deadline at the half-way point.

More success for CoNAC ladies

30 May 2011

The Club’s ladies are certainly making their mark in endurance events, home and abroad. The team of Hollie Rowland, Dani Nimmock, Ellie Matthews, Jane Clarke and Emma Sharples lined up alongside Paula Radcliffe at the start of the BUPA London 10k road race held on Sunday. The race took place over part of the Olympic 2012 Marathon course and proved to be a happy hunting ground for Hollie Rowland. Running her fastest ever 10k when timed at an impressive 33mins 58secs she finished in a splendid fifth place not far behind world record holder Radcliffe. Hollie is currently only working part-time and was therefore as pleased as punch to receive a £600 cheque for her efforts.

Dani Nimmock was disappointed with her 35th finishing position and time of 37mins 48secs but for sure will do better in the future. Rookie Ellie Matthews continues to impress, once again producing a personal best time of 38mins 02secs when crossing the line in 40th place. Just two seconds adrift was the club’s super veteran Jane Clarke, clocking 38mins 04secs to take first place in the Ladies Over 50 category and Emma Sharples was 57th in 39mins 48secs. Rowland, Nimmock & Matthews were rewarded with a third place finish picking up the UK Championship team bronze medals plus a cheque for £750.

On the Scottish Boarders at Broughton, the club’s fell running specialist Olivia Walwyn was testing herself in the UK Inter Counties Fell Running Championships held over a testing 10.5km course that included climbs to 700m. Always with the leaders Olivia, on this occasion representing her adopted county Cheshire, broke away over the final 2km to secure a comfortable victory by 46 seconds from runner-up Tracey Brindley of Central Scotland.

Stateside in Eugene, Oregon, Ruth Senior has certainly found her feet. Competing in the NCAA West Division Regional Track & Field Championships she stormed round the 10000m in 33mins 33.23secs, a huge personal best that places her third on the UK 2011 ranking list. Her time of 15mins 48secs for 5000m currently places her at the top of the 2011 UK ranking list.

Trowse 10k - 421 smiling faces

24 April 2011

Many congratulations to everyone who took part in the 7th edition of the Trowse 10k this morning and a big "thank you" to the dozens of race staff on duty to help make it all possible.

At the front, Nick Earl (City of Norwich AC) retained the title he won for the first time last year with 32mins 51secs while the first lady home was Sian Slade from Birchfield Harriers in 39mins 49secs. A total of 421 runners completed the testing two-lap course in particulary warm conditions.

Please click here for the full results and photos.

Spring marathons - part two (part one was last Sunday)

17 April 2011

And many congratulations to the nine mighty CoNAC-ers who completed today's Virgin London Marathon - here are their results:

* Darryl Davis 3hrs 02mins 58secs (pb)
* Chris Langton 3hrs 12mins 57secs (pb)
* Kevin Revell 3hrs 33mins 36secs
* Vince Ellis 3hrs 39mins 12secs
* Sarah Adcock 3hrs 42mins 12secs (pb)
* Tanya Harrison 3hrs 44mins 41secs (pb)
* John Burton 3hrs 47mins 11secs
* David Hart 3hrs 51mins 58secs (pb)
* Peter Warren 5hrs 07mins 02secs

You'll probably have spotted that Kevin Revell ran both Paris last Sunday and London today. Oh, and all the way from Paris to London in the week in between. That's an extraordinary effort, Mr Revell - truly well done - please click here to read all about it.

Spring marathons - part one (part two next Sunday)

10 April 2011

Congratulations to the eight brave CoNAC-ers who took on the marathon distance today - here are their results:

* Albie Von Gordon (Bungay) 3hrs 02mins 54secs (pb)
* Iain Robertson (Paris) 3hrs 05mins 51secs
* Kevin Revell (Paris) 3hrs 30mins 06secs
* Steven Guy (Bungay) 3hrs 32mins 54secs (pb)
* Vincent Coustham (Paris, ooh la la - where else?!) 3hrs 55mins 58secs (pb)
* Brian Warden (Brighton) 4hrs 09mins 56secs
* Brendan Wilson (Brighton) 4hrs 36mins 45secs
* David Mackay (Brighton) 5hrs 12mins 57secs

National Road Relays - CoNAC ladies deliver again

9 April 2011

Having finished in a very creditable third place in the South of England 6 Stage Road Relay recently, the Club’s senior ladies team travelled to Sutton Coldfield on today for the National final fully in the knowledge that the competition would be considerably tougher.

And so it proved to be but the team were absolutely delighted to produce a super result. Dani Nimmock took the lead off leg recording 17min 22sec for her stint over the first stage of 2.995 miles. Iona Lake, runner up in the English Schools Senior Girls Cross Country Championship, took on the second leg and brought the team up seven places to 15th when posting a time of 17min 57secs. Next away was Hollie Rowland who produced a fantastic run timed at 16min 31secs, to bring time into a totally unexpected 1st place. Fourth leg runner Ellie Matthews, a rookie with great potential, held onto 4th place by the end of her run when recording a time of 18min 36secs. Nicky Alford posted a gutsy time of 18min 58secs handing over to super-veteran Jane Clarke in 5th place for the glory leg. Despite her best efforts and a time of 18min 07secs Jane was not able to close down the leading runners and at the end of a terrific team effort they had to settle for fifth place, the best ever placing by the club in this National final.

For the senior men it was a bad day at the office! Racing over 12 stages opening leg athlete Tommy Carroll suffered a serious calf strain but bravely managed to hobble home in 56th position only seven positions from the back of the field. From that point the rest of the team were playing catch-up and to their great credit they stuck to their task and managed by the end of the race to secure 39th position. To make the National final is very pleasing; however the team’s expectation, while not challenging for medals, was to have been placed much further up the field. There's always next year.....

Please click here to view the full results.

Southern Road Relays - well done CoNAC!!

27 March 2011

Once again the ladies of the Club made their presence felt within athletic circles. The senior team were competing in the South of England 6 Stage Road Relay Championship held over 5.5km legs around the Open University Campus, Milton Keynes. Confident that they could feature on the rostrum Iona Lake (20min 45secs) got the team off to a steady start handing over in 12th position. The improving Kelly Rushton (20.20) gained three places handing over to cross-country international Hollie Rowland who stormed round the course in 18.49, the third fastest overall on the day, to put the team in the gold medal position at the halfway point.

For debutant Ellie Matthews (21.28) maintaining the lead position was not possible but to her great credit she dug deep passing the baton over to evergreen Jane Clarke in 4th place. Jane (20.27) fresh from her recent gold medal winning performance at the European Veterans Indoor Track Championships bit the bullet to put the team into the bronze medal position. The glory leg was in the hands of Dani Nimmock (20.10) who displayed grim determination to ensure that the medal position was not relinquished. This she duly did when keeping the mighty Belgrave Harriers at bay.

At the same time further north in the Wilmslow Half Marathon, club member Olivia Walwyn was also making her presence felt with a splendid run. Still fairly new to the half marathon distance she recorded an excellent personal best time of 76min 40secs. From a field of over 2500 she was second lady to finish and was rewarded with a sizable cheque. Additionally the race incorporated the England Athletics Half Marathon Championship so she was delighted to receive the competition silver medal. For sure, her performance has now put her in line for an international vest over the distance.

Back in Milton Keynes the senior men’s team competing over 12 stages, six long (7.9km) and six short (5.5km) legs had set their stall out to qualify for the National final that is to be held on the 9th April over the testing Sutton Park course, Sutton Coldfield. This they duly did with a degree of comfort when finishing in a very respectable 12th place. The hard working team members recorded the following times. Tommy Carroll (25min 10secs) Rick Ward (17.20) Carl Goose (25.37) Steve Cannell (17.30) Martyn Bath (27.44) Daniel Mann (19.15) Nick Earl (26.02) Damian Rogers (18.43) Josh Entwistle (26.23) Frazer Heasman (19.23) Wayne Lincoln (26.28) Jordan Ali (17.56).

Please click here to view the full results.

Beginners' Running Programme starts Monday 28 March

19 March 2011

Our next Beginners' Running Programme kicks off at the Sportspark on Monday 28 March at 6.15pm for 6.30pm and anybody who wants to start running from scratch will be very welcome.

This programme is designed to get absolute beginners up & running so that - by the end of the seventh week - they should be able to run 5k in around 30 minutes without stopping. For all you ladies, that'll be just in time for this year's Race for Life at the Norfolk Showground on 14 & 15 May. And for all you guys, you'll be just as welcome to join in and get yourselves going from a standing start. Please click here for a copy of the schedule.

There's no weekly charge for taking part in the programme, just the normal 60p admission fee to the Sportspark. We meet at the top of the main stairs on the first floor balcony overlooking the Reception area. Please wear suitable footwear and a light coloured top - something reflective is best.

On the first evening we'll describe how our programme works, then we'll have a quick stretch and be off outside for the first session which is "run a minute, walk a minute - repeat ten times". Each Monday, experienced members of City of Norwich AC will be on hand to guide & advise and there are also two "homework" sessions per week to be completed in your own time as the programme builds up.

If anyone has any questions or queries beforehand, please call Richard Polley on 07767 205922.

Smiles all round at 26th City of Norwich Half Marathon

14 March 2011

The sun shone down on the assesmbled field as the 26th City of Norwich Half Marathon finally got underway following the postponement on its original date back in November.

There were return wins for defending champions Ian Kimpton from Lincoln Wellington AC and Sarah Stradling (Colchester Harriers AC). Ian recorded 1hr 8mins 23secs while Sarah was timed at 1hr 18mins 55secs.

Afterwards, race director Hugh McGill declared himself very satisfied with the day's events. "It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves out there" he said "and our grateful thanks go to all the volunteers who turned out to help make today's race such a resounding success."

Please click here for the full results.

City of Norwich Half Marathon now sold out!

18 January 2011

Registration for the 26th City of Norwich Half Marathon closed today when the last of the 3,250 regular places was sold.

However, our official race charity Macmillan Cancer Support has a further 25 places on offer - please visit the race website to download an application form. The closing date for applications for these places is Friday 11 February 2011 at 2pm.

Winners of Road Running Awards for 2010 announced

17 January 2011

It was another sell-out at The Last Wine Bar & Restaurant on Saturday evening for CoNAC's annual road running dinner and presentation evening. The winners of the awards for 2010 were:

Road Runner of the Year - senior female, Emma Sharples; senior male, Nick Earl; veteran female, Jane Clarke; veteran male, John Walshaw

Most Improved - senior female, Hannah Baker; senior male, Adam Bamford; veteran female, Janet Higgins; veteran male, Alex Ward

Coordinator Richard Polley thanked everyone who had supported the road running activities of the club throughout the year, particulary at relay events and the club's own races, and acknowledged the considerable efforts of the CoNAC Road Running Committee over the last twelve months.

A special vote of thanks went to Granville Courtnell & Hugh McGill for their sterling work as race directors and to Sally Withey for organising the evening.

City of Norwich Half Marathon beaten by ice & snow

28 November 2010

With great regret we have been forced to postpone the 26th City of Norwich Half Marathon due to the severe weather conditions. The course was covered in packed snow and sheet ice in many places and completely unfit for racing.

We hope to reschedule this event in the New Year and further details will appear on the race website when confirmed. In the meantime, please retain your race pack with race number and timing chip safely – you will need these to take part in the rearranged event.

We apologise for any inconvenience this postponement may have caused you.

Drama and disappointment at National Road Relays

17 October 2010

It was an important weekend for the Club’s athletes who travelled to the Midlands to compete in the National Road Relay Championships staged over an undulating course in a traffic free Sutton Park.

As expected the competition was of the highest order and it was the Senior Ladies who on Saturday opened the club’s campaign. Racing over four stages each of 4.5km; Olivia Walwyn contested the opening stage completing her stint in 15min 04secs to hand over to Dani Nimmock in a high 12th position. Giving chase Nimmock worked her way through the field to 4th position when recording a time of 15min 00. Iona Lake, recovering from illness was not able to produce the form of which she is capable when clocking 16min 31secs. Handing over in 7th place to Claire Pring, back to competition after a long lay-off, she brought the team home in a respectable 9th place when clocking 15min 57secs.

Bad luck struck with a vengeance for the Senior Men’s "A" team in their 6-stage relay each stage covering 5.8km. Lead off man Carl Goose racing just outside the top ten, two kilometres from the handover point, tore a calf muscle and was unable to complete his lap. Second leg runner Ashley Harrell was oblivious to the drama taking place out on the course. After consultation with the Race Referee he was allowed to proceed although the team’s inclusion was somewhat academic as they could not be included in the final result. To his credit Harrell recorded a fast 17min 36secs followed by Stuart Huntington 18min 28secs, Tommy Carroll 18min 17secs, James Senior 19min 41secs and Jordan Ali 19min 31secs. It was a very disappointing end to what should have been a successful day for the team. Meanwhile, the CoNAC "B" team enjoyed the atmosphere of a top quality event when cruising home in 69th position with James Jackson recording the fastest stage of 19mins 54secs.

The junior section of the club took centre stage on Sunday with the Under 13 Boys team posting the club’s best performance when finishing in a pleasing 7th place. Racing over 3.9km Jamie Finch recorded 14min 33secs, Adam Davison 15min 21secs and Ashley Waterson brought the club home in fast 13min 27secs, the 6th fastest leg recorded on the day. Megan Bird, Ashleigh Bunn and Ellena White racing over the same distance found the competition tough going but to their credit they stuck to the task to finish in 41st position.

59 teams started the Under 15 Girls 3 stage relay with Alice Cheverton (14min 54secs) taking the lead off leg to hand over to Katie Stratton (16min 27secs). Megan Soames on the final leg recorded 15min 03secs that secured a 21st finishing position for the team. For the Under 15 Boys Scott Greeves displayed fine form when posting a time of 12min 44secs for his 3.9km stint, the ninth fastest on the day, handing over to Daryl Broughton in 5th place. Despite his best efforts Broughton (14min 55secs) lost ground before passing the baton onto Callum Russell (14min 02secs) who secured an above mid-table 24th place finish.

Nastassja Potgeiter (15min 09secs), Mabel Beckett (15min 30secs) and Juliet Broster (15min 07secs) made up the Under 17 Girls team again racing over 3.9km also recorded an above mid-table when crossing the line in 19th place. It was a disappointment that the Under 17 Boys failed to complete a team with only Tom Hook (13min 03secs) and Jack Harrison (13min 57secs) available for selection. With the National Cross Country soon to be contested it is hoped that a full squad will be on hand.

Revised arrangements for road running from the Sportspark

28 September 2010

With immediate effect the Sportspark has prohibited road running as an activity which may be undertaken from the facility, with the exception of recognised road running sessions organised by City of Norwich AC and the UEA Athletic Club.

The recognised sessions for CoNAC members take place on Monday, Tuesday & Thursday evenings (start 6.30pm) and on Sunday mornings (start 8.30am). At all of these sessions, CoNAC members must obtain a Sportspark road running band from the CoNAC officer who is leading the group. Please click here for full details of these new arrangements.

The Sportspark has introduced these new arrangements in response to the rather disappointing behaviour of non-CoNAC members who, in recent months, have actively avoided paying the required fees when using the Sportspark as a base for their road running. The Sportspark has confirmed that, in future, anyone found road running from the facility other than as part of a recognised session must expect sanctions to be applied to them. So, be warned!

Two teams through to National 6 Stage Road Relay final

26 September 2010

Still smarting from their defeat in the Round Norfolk Relay last weekend, the club’s senior athletes dusted themselves down in preparation for a crack at the first major road race of the season, the South of England 6 Stage Relay held on Sunday in Aldershot.

With 70 teams toeing the start line the competition was fierce; happily the club’s squads were equal to the task. For the “A” team lead off man Ashley Harrell put in a solid performance when posting a time of 18min 54secs for the first 6km leg, handing over the baton to Stuart Huntington, who last weekend, racing over the half-marathon distance in the Great North Run broke the 70 minute barrier for the first time. Huntington displayed no signs of fatigue when recording 18min 40secs to bring the team through to seventh place. Tommy Carroll took over the baton to maintain the team’s high position covering the two-lap course in 18min 59secs.

On leg four Carl Goose came of age when posting a time 18min 32secs, the team’s fastest on the day and good enough to bring the team up to a splendid fifth place. Youngster Jordan Ali in his first senior team appearance found the going tough but dug in deep to record 20min 09sec. Losing a little ground he handed over in eighth place to Rick Ward for the final leg. Ward’s time of 19min 45secs maintained the team’s high position to the line thus equalling the club’s previous best performance of 2007.

An added bonus is that the club’s “B” team of Jonny Quint, Damian Rogers, James Jackson, Ben Stratton, James Senior and Steve Cannell also made it to the final when taking the last qualifying place when finishing 25th overall. Both teams will now take their place in the National 6 Stage final in Birmingham on 16 October.

The club’s junior section competing on Saturday at the same venue will have gained much from their experience in the big time. The best result came in the Under 15 Girls relay over three legs in which they finished a pleasing 11th from a strong line-up of 55 teams. The club’s trio was made up of Alice Cheverton, Katie Stratton and Megan Soames. Juliet Broster, Mabel Beckett and Nastassia Potgieter made up the Under 17 Girls trio that achieved a mid-table finish when crossing the line in 16th place. The Under 15 Boys team finished in 19th position from a starting line-up of 50 teams. Scott Greeves produced an excellent run over his 3km leg when achieving a time of 9min 51secs and was ably backed by Bradley Stansbury and Callum Russell. It proved to be a tough call for the Under 13 Girls team of Megan Bird, Ashleigh Bunn and Ellena White. They managed a 45th finishing place from a field of 65 completing teams.

Young Ashley Waterson may prove to be the club’s next Mitch Goose. Sadly the Under 13 Boys team failed to complete a team but Waterson proved what a talent he is when scotching round his 2.3km leg in 10min 21secs, the fastest time recorded on the day by an Under 13 athlete. Jamie Finch, 11min 12secs and Adam Davison, 11min 28secs both had super runs so it was disappointing that the club missed out on fielding the required quartet.

A breakthrough performance for Stuart at the Great North Run

19 September 2010

21-year old Stuart Huntington posted a breakthrough performance at the Great North Run today. In only his third outing over the half marathon distance, Huntington ran a well-judged race to break the 70 minute barrier for the first time, stopping the clock at 69mins 54secs in 31st position.

Will cracks the four minute mile on quayside at Newcastle

18 September 2010

Will Smith earned victory in the Junior Great North Wheelchair Race in Newcastle earlier today with a splendid effort. He won the race held over a one mile course on the quayside in a personal best time of 3mins 46secs, improving his personal best by a massive 33 seconds in the process.

Another memorable RNR weekend for CoNAC

18 & 19 September 2010

Congratulations and many thanks to everyone who turned out over the weekend to represent CoNAC in yet another memorable Round Norfolk Relay.

All three CoNAC teams performed with great spirit and pride and were a credit to the club. Our Support Crews put in the hours round the clock to keep the show on the road yet again; and the CoNAC-ers who manned the changeovers at Lessingham and Horsey were efficiency personified.

That's not to say that the weekend was completely free of hiccups but overall it was a really good club performance so well done and thank you to each and every CoNAC-er who played a part.

For the record, our club team finished in 8th place overall (4th club team), our masters team was 12th (2nd masters team) and our open team was 32nd (12th open team) in a field of 54 teams.

Individually, there were impressive stage wins for Iona Lake (stage 3), Carl Goose (stage 5), Robert Cheverton (stage 7), Emma Sharples (stage 8) and Andy Jones (stage 14). Emma's effort was ranked as the Best Senior Female Performance while Robert won the Kelly Holmes Trophy for the most Outstanding Performance of the weekend with a mighty age-graded rating of 86.99%. Please click here to visit the race website and view the results.

Hollie & Ruth wear England vests in style

11 July 2010

CoNAC's Hollie Rowland and Ruth Senior both had good runs at the England Athletics 5k Road Race Championships at Blackburn this morning, held within the Pennine Lancashire 5k.

Representing England in a home international match within the main race, Hollie finished 6th overall with a spirited 16mins 46secs with Ruth in close attendance at 16mins 54secs for 8th place.

Deed & Purdue take the honours in sweltering Lord Mayor's 5k

10 July 2010

Darren Deed from Bedford & County AC finally took the £500 first prize in the Lord Mayor's 5k City Centre Classic road race on Saturday evening after three near misses in previous years.

After placing fifth in 2007 with 15mins 04secs, Deed improved to 2nd in 2008 with 15mins 03secs and was third last year with 14mins 50secs. So his victory this year was a reward for persistence and application as the 32-year old broke away from the rest of the field at the beginning of the second lap to win by over 100m, stopping the clock on 14mins 50secs. Second place went to last year's runner up Craig Hopkins (Swansea Harriers) on 15mins 08secs, just ahead of Edinburgh AC's Neil Renault on 15mins 09secs and Phil Hinch (Tipton Harriers) with 15mins 10secs.

The battle for the ladies first prize of £500 produced the best race this event has seen in its 15 year history with the first three all breaking 17 minutes. The winner was 19 year old Charlotte Purdue from Aldershot, Farnham & District AC with an impressive 16mins 31secs, ahead of Gemma Steel (Charnwood AC) on 16mins 47secs and Sophie Morris from Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow AC on with 16mins 51secs.

Afterwards, race director Granville Courtnell from City of Norwich AC praised the efforts of the runners in the sweltering heat. "The conditions today were the toughest we've ever had for this race so full credit to everyone who completed the course. And well done to Darren Deed for finally coming out on top after three years of going so close".

Please click here for results and photos.

Ruth & Hollie selected for England in 5k home international

1 July 2010

Our congratulations go to Ruth Senior and Hollie Rowland who have both been selected to represent England in the home international being staged within the England Athletics 5k Road Championships at Blackburn on 11 July.

We wish them both the very best of luck. It's just a shame that these call-ups will now rob us of the chance of seeing both take part in our own Lord Mayor's 5k City Centre Classic the day before!

Success on the roads in local events

27 June 2010

The club’s roadrunners made a huge impact on the second in the three race Wroxham 5km Road Race series when scooping nearly all the major honours. Nicky Alford was first lady to cross the line in 19min 22ses while on this occasion Nick Earl had to be content with the runners-up spot in the seniors men’s race when recording a time 15min 36secs. Damian Rogers was delighted to finish in third spot when clocking 16min 01secs. For the Veterans 40/44 Neil Davison displayed good form to win the category in 16min 26secs while Tom Hook took the junior honours in time off 17min 05secs.

Tessa Pike led the ladies 50/54 home in a time 25min 43secs and Linda Farrow took the honours for the ladies 60+ in a time of 30min 54secs. Not to be outdone our Juniors Ladies Emily Hoogkamer finished first across the line in 19min 30secs and Hazel Wilson was pleased to finish third in a time of 22min 22secs.

All the team prizes came the way of the club. Nick Earl, Damian Rogers, Wayne Utting and Josh Entwistle took the senior men’s title. Neil Davison, Robert Cheverton, John Walshaw and Nigel Hodge topped the Veterans table while Nicky Alford, Emily Hoogkamer and Hazel Wilson were clear winners for the Ladies. Finally Tessa Pike, Gillian Loughlin and Sue Cooke were delighted to receive the accolades for the Veteran Ladies.

Sunday’s Humpty Dumpty 10km was our "Race of the Month" for June with Nick Earl storming home to victory in a time of 33min 41secs. Luke Allen was second in 34min 30secs while veteran superstar Neil Davison came home in third spot timed at 34min 56secs. Dani Nimmock was won the ladies race in 37min 58secs. Our next Race of the Month is the Worstead 5m on 23 July - please visit www.nnbr.co.uk for entry details.

Last year's bronze turns to silver for Jane, Louise & Tessa

15 May 2010

Having secured third place at last year's British Masters Road Relay Championships, our F45 trio of Jane Clarke, Louise Wilkinson and Tessa Pike went one better in Sutton Park today to grab the silver medals and finish just ten seconds adrift of winners Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC. Jane also ran the fastest lap of the day, covering the three mile distance on the opening stage in 17mins 40secs.

Meanwhile, CoNAC's M40 team showed a nine-place improvement on last year's performance to secure 15th place in their eight stage race with pacy contributions from Andy Jones (15mins 27secs), Wayne Lincoln (15mins 31secs), Neil Davison (15mins 49secs) and Robert Cheverton (16mins 47secs). Please click here to view the full results.

Great Yarmouth 5m - Race of the Month for April

28 April 2010

Twenty four CoNAC-ers enjoyed decent conditions at this evening's five miler organised by Great Yarmouth Road Runners. Nick Earl led the red & gold home in the runner-up position with 26mins 00secs, Wayne Utting was our second man home on 27mins 04 secs and our next finisher was Stephen Balfe with 28mins 43secs.

Emma Sharples showed a clean pair of heels to the rest of the ladies field to win in 30mins 39secs; and other CoNAC times included Robert Cheverton 28.49, Johnny Lee 30.03, Tom Crawshaw 30.14, John Walshaw 30.19, Andy Bunn 30.39, Jane Clarke 31.08, Nicky Alford 32.16, Chris Langton 32,27, Chris Turner 32.34, Mark Gotts 33.32, Steve Bird 34.03, Paul Woodyatt 34.54, Vincent Coustham 35.12, Matt Frary 35.35, Stephen Church 35.56, Gillian Loughlin 37.11, Hannah Baker 38.05, Richard Polley 38.06, Adam Parker 39.57 & Linda Farrow 45.28.

CoNAC's next Race of the Month is the Alex Moore Memorial Relay on Sunday 30 May - please click here for full details.

Young CoNAC-ers soak up the Mini London Marathon atmosphere

26 April 2010

Five young CoNAC-ers represented the East at yesterday's Mini London Marathon. Held on the last 2.65 miles of the famous London Marathon course, this event gives the stars of tomorrow an opportunity to savour the big-time atmosphere as they race from the start at Old Billingsgate along the Embankment, through Westminster Square and past Buckingham Palace to the finish line on The Mall.

Marcella Aris ran 18.59 to finish 33rd in the girls 13-14 race and Iona Lake finished an impressive 10th in the girls 15-17 event with 17.27.

For the boys, Ashley Waterson was 14th in the 11-12 race with 17.51, Scott Greeves placed 25th in the 13-14 event with 16.57 and Damian Rogers recorded 15.17 for 55th place in the 15-17 race.

Wayne Lincoln tops the pile of CoNAC's spring marathon-ers

25 April 2010

CoNAC members have been busy during the spring marathon season with plenty of personal best performances to report.

First up was Vincent Coustham who returned to his roots to tackle the Paris Marathon on 11 April. This was Vincent's first attempt at the marathon distance and he can be very pleased with his time of 4.09.15.

Then last weekend Richard Brooks and John Gostling took part in the inaugural Brighton Marathon. This was an excellent first staging by the city of Brighton in testing conditions - aka far too warm! - and greatly enjoyed by Richard with 3.37.44 (pb) and John on 4.11.22.

And then earlier today, the 30th London Marathon produced its own unique blend of delight and heartache. First CoNAC-er home was Wayne Lincoln who belied his 43 years with a very impressive 2.30.08 for 62nd overall. Next in was Neil Davison on 2.39.01 and Kevin Revell with 3.06.40; followed by Vince Ellis 3.31.27, Steven Guy 3.51.32 (pb), David Lubbock 4.12.18, Brian Warden 4.15.35, Sue Cooke 4.21.29 (pb), Brendan Wilson 4.24.21 (pb), Beres Ward 4.31.26 (pb), Sally Withey 4.42.44 (pb), Peter Warren 5.00.41 and Simon Burdett 5.04.50. And the official CoNAC cheering crew also had another great day out; well done everyone!

Nick Earl & Amy Whitehead win at sell-out Trowse 10k

4 April 2010

Perfect conditions greeted a sell-out entry for the sixth annual Trowse 10k road race at the Norfolk Ski Club earlier today. Nick Earl (City of Norwich AC) and Amy Whitehead from Sale Harriers Manchester both earned comfortable victories as a record 424 runners completed the course.

Please click here to view the race video, full results and photographs. Next year's race is scheduled for Easter Sunday, 24 April - start 9.30am.

March's Race of the Month - Olivia takes County 10k title

28 March 2010

CoNAC's Olivia Walwyn blitzed the rest of the ladies' field in the Spring 10k at Frettenham to comfortably win the Norfolk County 10k Championship. She placed sixth overall in an impressive time of 35mins 53secs.

The event - hosted by Coltishall Jaguars - was CoNAC's second "Race of the Month" this year and 17 club members turned out on what could be a very fast course given favourable conditions.

Andy Jones was the first CoNAC-er home when placing third (first M40-49) in 34.47; and other red & gold performances included Mark Gotts 40.22; Nicky Alford 41.27; Vincent Coustham 43.15; Matt Frary 44.16; Stephen Church 45.13; Brendan Wilson 46.54; Gillian Loughlin 47.35; Sue Cooke 47.44; Les Pegg 48.40; Emilie Knight 49.17; Laura Mahoney 50.28; Angela Man 51.28; Janet Higgins 52.15; Chris Turner 56.01 and Emily Blakesley 58.52.

CoNAC's next Race of the Month takes place at Great Yarmouth over 5 miles on 28 April - please click here for full details.

CoNAC rises to fourth at SEAA 12 Stage Road Relay

21 March 2010

A tremendous team performance earlier today at the Open University in Milton Keynes saw CoNAC return a best-ever fourth place in the Saucony-sponsored SEAA 12 Stage Road Relay.

The OU campus and surrounds provided a fast flat course with alternate laps of 7.9km and 5.5km. Lead off man Luke Allen displayed much improved form when recording 25min 24secs for his long-leg stint to hand over well up the field in 15th position. An impressive 17min 17secs over the first short-leg run was posted by veteran Guy Amos who brought the team up to 6th place when handing over to fellow veteran Wayne Lincoln, who gained a further place when recording 25min 58sec over his long-leg run.

Long serving club member Jonny Quint over the next short-leg run gained further ground bringing the team into 4th place when posting a time of 18min 01sec. Then Nick Earl, carrying a niggling injury, stoically stuck to the task to record 26min 25secs for his 7.9km run but lost a couple of positions.

Steve Cannell (18min 29secs) brought the team back up to 5th place over his short leg before handing over to Mitch Goose. In recording the third fastest long leg time of the day, 24min 08secs, Goose massively closed the gap on the leaders but still handed over to Wayne Utting in 5th position. Utting’s short-leg time of 18min 13sec retained the “status quo” and it was Ashley Harrell (24min 35secs) over his long-leg effort who was able to pick up a place to hand over to “rookie” James Jackson in 4th position who managed a creditable 17min 53 for his short leg effort that maintained the club’s high position.

800m track athlete Carl Goose then displayed his newfound stamina base when producing a pleasing time of 25min 13secs over the final long-leg stretch that consolidated the club’s high position. And it was left to Tommy Carroll to bring the team home with a final leg time of 16min 52sec, one of the fasted recorded on the day and ensuring that the club completed the relay in their best-ever finishing position of 4th place on 4hrs 18mins 28secs.

Newham & Essex Beagles, boosted by fine stages from Mo Farah and Moumin Geele, took the gold in a new course record time of 4hrs 07mins 04secs, defending champions Belgrave Harriers were second on 4hrs 12mins 43secs and Aldershot, Farnham & District AC filled the bronze medal position with 4hrs 16mis 41secs.

Afterwards, the CoNAC team was officially disqualified on account of an administrative technicality but that decision does not mask an excellent team performance. Please click here to view the full results.

February's Race of the Month - Great East 20k and 10k

21 February 2010

Congratulations - or should that be commiserations? - to everyone who braved the elements at Bungay this morning in CoNAC's first "Race of the Month" when competitors faced quite the worst running conditions in living memory. Clearly no-one had alerted the weathermen as we faced rain, hail, sleet, snow, driving wind, ice - we had it all in barrowloads and buckets full. But no matter; we'd all paid our entry fees so nothing would deter us!

Neil Davison showed the way home in the 20k with an impressive win for the second year in succession and Andy Jones was a close third while in the 10k our best finisher was Nigel Hodge in fourth place. Here are all the CoNAC finishing times:

20k - Neil Davison 1.10.56; Andy Jones 1.12.46; Darryl Davis 1.22.18; David Hart 1.26.42; Chris Turner 1.27.42; Richard Brooks 1.35.26; Steven Guy 1.41.04; Brendan Wilson 1.41.18; Sue Cooke 1.41.26; Vincent Coustham 1.42.10; Hannah Baker 1.42.43; Richard Polley 1.42.43; Beres Ward 1.44.35; John Gostling 1.45.29; Sally Withey 1.45.29; Peter Warren 1.53.19; Emily Blakesley 2.07.15

10k - Nigel Hodge 39.46; Stephen Church 45.46

Our next Race of the Month is the Spring 10k at Frettenham on 28 March and dates for the rest of the year are: 28 April - Great Yarmouth 5m; 30 May - Alex Moore Relay; 27 June - Humpty Dumpty 10k; 23 July - Worstead 5m; 29 August - Ipswich Half Marathon; 10 October - Great Eastern Half Marathon (Peterborough). Please click here to view the full fixture list.

CoNAC's Annual Road Running Dinner & Awards Evening

16 January 2010

It was a sell-out at The Last Wine Bar & Restaurant for CoNAC's annual road running dinner & awards evening. The winners of the 2009 awards were announced by Richard Polley, CoNAC's Road Running Coordinator:

Road Runner of the Year - senior male, Andrew Hennessy; senior female, Hollie Rowland; veteran male, Neil Davison; veteran female, Jane Clarke

Most Improved - senior female, Hannah Baker; veteran male David Hart; veteran female, Sue Cooke

Granville Courtnell & Andrew Hennessy presented the awards. Many thanks go to Sally Withey for all her hard work behind the scenes to ensure that a very good time was had by everyone who attended.

25th City of Norwich Half Marathon is hailed as "best ever"

29 November 2009

There was a record turn-out at the Norfolk Showground earlier today for the 25th City of Norwich Half Marathon. After a torrential downpour had stopped just before the gun, the sun came out and a beautiful double rainbow graced the skies as 2,233 runners completed the improved two-lap course.

England international Sarah Stradling (Colchester Harriers AC) repeated her 2007 win as she stormed away from the rest of the ladies to earn a cheque for £250 with 78mins 20secs and Ian Kimpton from Lincoln Wellington AC also won £250 for his efforts when taking the mens' title on 68mins 51secs.

Later, three runners were disqualified for breaching the race rules - two for running in transferred race numbers and a third for wearing headphones while racing.

Please click here to visit the race website for a full results listing courtesy of HS Sports Ltd and to view the extensive range of official photographs taken by MarathonFoto.

Delight at National Road Relays as senior ladies win bronze

18 & 19 October 2009

In their best-ever performance at the National Road Relays on Saturday, CoNAC's senior ladies snatched bronze medals at the end of a thrilling race. Dani Nimmock, Rachael Stringer and Hollie Rowland all ran brilliantly on the first three stages to set up Barbara Parker for the final lap. And the GB international didn't disappoint, moving smoothly up from sixth to fourth place before taking third in the final 400m to claim the bronze medals in front of an appreciative crowd. It is heartening to note that all four athletes have come through the junior ranks of the club and it was very pleasing to see them secure their first set of national team medals at senior level.

Saturday also saw the senior men's 6 stage relay take place. The club's young team set out to improve on their showing in the Southern qualifying event. A national championship event is always a tough encounter and so it proved to be with the team battling hard to finish in a best-ever 21st position. The squad of Luke Allen, Carl Goose, Mitch Goose, Stuart Huntington, Ashley Harrell and Tommie Carroll felt that perhaps they should have finished in the top twenty and hopefully with further experience behind them this will be the aim for next year. Mitch Goose 17min 20secs and Ashley Harrell 17min 32secs impressed and were the team’s quickest over the 5.8km lap. The CoNAC "B" team also produced a best-ever result at these championships with a very respectable 49th place.

Sunday was the day for the club’s juniors to test themselves over the three stage course with each leg being 3.8km. The best result came in the Under 17 Girls where Iona Lake, Esme Salmon and Juliet Broster teamed up to finish in a very pleasing 10th position. The best individual performance came in the Under 13 Girls Relay in which Alice Cheverton took the lead off leg and handing over in third place. Megan Bird and Natalie Flintham worked their socks off to hang to a finishing spot of 15th.

The Under 15 Girls team of Mabel Beckett, Rachel Rathjen and Emily Hoogkamer finished 20th from the 60 competing teams. The Under 15 Boys team of Scott Greeves, Callum Russell and Sean Watson managed at mid-table 25th place finish while the Under 17 Boys squad made up with Tom Francis, Ben Stratton and Callum McLaren also managed a mid-table finish when place 26th. Adam King, Tom Carr and Adam Davison found the going tough in the Under 13 Boys category when finishing in 34th position.

Bidwell & Hendrey on target at Melbourne Marathon

11 October 2009

Ex-pat CoNAC-ers Matthew Bidwell and Neil Hendrey both performed with great credit in Australia's largest marathon, the St George Melbourne Marathon which finishes inside the iconic "MCG" - that's the Melbourne Cricket Ground to you and me.

Bidwell posted a six minute improvement on his good showing in London back in April to record 2hrs 34mins 49sec; while Hendrey can feel well-satisfied with his 2hrs 53mins 47secs. Well done chaps!

Tough competition at South of England Road Relays

26 & 27 September 2009

The South of England Road Relay Championships were staged at Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot over Saturday and Sunday which meant a very long round trip for the competing City of Norwich AC athletes. The majority of the premier clubs in the South sent teams to take part in this, the first major road relay championship of the autumn. The event, which covers all age groups, proved to be a tough testing ground for the club.

The best result of the weekend came from the Senior Ladies. Competing on Saturday over 4 legs of 3.8km the squad of Dani Nimmock, Kelly Rushton, Claire Pring and Hollie Rowland put their best feet forward to finish in an admirable 4th place. Great credit must go to Kelly Rushton and Claire Pring who filled the gaps left by the non-availability of Olympian Barbara Parker and Great Britain fell running international Olivia Walwyn. Hollie’s time of 13min 04secs for her stretch was the ninth fastest recorded on the day.

It must be said that the Senior Men’s team competing on Sunday were a little disappointing. Without the inspiration of Mitch Goose, laid low with a chest infection, the team failed to sparkle and had to be content with a 16th place finish. The consolation for the six-man squad, who each ran 6km was that they still qualified for the national final that will be staged in Sutton Coldfield in three weeks time. The “B” team crossed the line in 26th position to squeeze themselves into the final and provide an end of the day bonus for the club.

Alice Cheverton led off the Under 13 Girls team, each of the three athletes running 2.3km. Fifty-three teams toed the line at the start, with Alice right there in the mix; so much so that she handed over to Megan Bird in 4th place. Both Megan and Ashley Bunn worked hard and did very well to hang onto a finishing position of 17th overall. The Under 15 Girls team of Mabel Beckett, Emily Hoogkamer and Anna Hoogkamer each running over 3km all produced sound performances to finish in a pleasing 12th position. It was a mid-table finish of 17th for the Under 17 Girls team of Esme Salmon, Grace Bird and Iona Lake who clocked her squad's fastest time of 10min 59secs for her 3km leg.

Sean Watson, Aaron Pitt, Ben Savage and Scott Greeves made up the 15 Boys team also competing over 3km. All produced sub-11min runs that once more gave the club a mid-table finish of 17th. The Under 17 Boys produced a 15th place finish in a race in which 43 teams completed. Jack Harrison, Ben Stratton, Callum McLaren and Tom Francis made up the quartet who raced over 3.8km. It was Tom Francis who was the team’s fastest on the day when recording 12min 56secs for his stint.

Before the National Finals there is much hard training to be done if the club are to make their mark, as the competition at Sutton Coldfield will be right out of the top drawer.

CoNAC wins club and ladies titles at 23rd Round Norfolk Relay

20 September 2009

After 193 miles of racing round the county boundary, we secured two titles and just missed out on a third as this weekend's Round Norfolk Relay delivered another roller-coaster of excitement and emotion.

In almost perfect conditions all day Saturday and through the night into Sunday morning, the four CoNAC squads battled with 51 other teams in a sell-out field. We retained the club team title when finishing in third place overall on a time of 21hrs 31mins 21secs, behind overall winners Norwich Road Runners (open class) and second placed Ely Runners (also open class).

We were also delighted to retain our title in the ladies class with 25hrs 27mins 20secs, over three quarters of an hour ahead our our closest rivals. Our masters team ran well to record 23hrs 32mins 48secs when finishing just three minutes behind class winners Riverside Runners. And our open team was just pleased to finish following a default penalty on stage 14 after Graham Smith's wife went into labour and he needed to be somewhere else rather than running 8.8 miles in the middle of the night!

Impressive stage wins were posted by ten CoNAC-ers: Jane Clarke - stage 2, Hunstanton to Burnham Overy, 14.06 miles; Lorraine Marshall - stage 5, Salthouse to Cromer, 8.61 miles; Adam Thomas and Dani Nimmock - both stage 6, Cromer to Mundesley, 7.86 miles; Albie von Gordon - stage 7, Mundesley to Lessingham, 9.24 miles; Emma Coombs - stage 8, Lessingham to Horsey, 7.52 miles; Andrew Hennessy - stage 9, Horsey to Great Yarmouth, 11.30 miles; Hollie Rowland - stage 13, Thetford to Feltwell, 13.25 miles; Martyn Bath - stage 15, Wissington to Downham Market, 7.2 miles; and Claire Pring - stage 16, Downham Market to Stowbridge, 5.49 miles. Hollie's performance also earned her the Richard Nerurkar Trophy for the best overall performance by a junior athlete.

Congratulations go to everyone who ran in the CoNAC colours and very many thanks are also due to all those who worked on our four Support Crews this year - it all helped make the 23rd Round Norfolk Relay another memorable event for the club. Please click here for all the results and photographs from this year's race.

Gelle & Krzywicki take home the loot in Lord Mayor's 5k

11 July 2009

Moumin Geele from Newham & Essex Beagles produced a commanding gun-to-tape run this evening to take the fourteenth Lord Mayor's 5k title while Tara Krzywicki went one better as she lowered Birhan Dagne's course record by four seconds to land a £250 bonus.

In front of an appreciative crowd numbering 50,000, Geele made his intentions clear from the start as Matt Gunby from Woodford Green AC, Darren Dead (Bedford & County AC) and Andrew Hennessy of Wells City Harriers all gave chase. But Geele was relentless in his pursuit of the £500 first prize on the undulating course and stretched away with every stride to win in 14.25. Craig Hopkins (Swansea Harriers) came through strongly in the closing stages to snatch second on 14.48 with Deed in third on 14.50.

Charnwood AC's Krzywicki was equally determined to put on a good show and stamped her class on the race from the first kilometre. Helen Decker (Ipswich Jaffa) chased hard throughout but could not close the gap as Krzywicki stopped the clock on 16.23. Decker took second place and £300 with 16.57 and Jennie Roberts (Colchester Harriers) earned £100 for third at 17.34.

A record 82 competitors completed the race - please click here for the full results listing.

Hollie and Jane impress over 5k

23 June 2009

Two of our leading ladies are currently flying! Hollie Rowland in Germany and Jane Clarke a little nearer to home in Horwich competed in 5km road races and produced two excellent performances.

UEA student and club member Hollie Rowland is back home in Germany for the summer and lined up against a very strong field that included Russians, Ethiopians and Kenyans in the Kassler Citylauf 5km and was delighted to be the first Brit to cross the line when finishing in 7th position. Her delight turned to joy when her official time was announced as 16min 09secs, which knocked a considerable chunk off her previous best. Hollie was very flattered when on the start line she was announced as an elite runner from England. Her performance certainly proved that to be the case!

This coming weekend Hollie will be a guest in the German T&F Championships and again will be racing over 5k. Let’s hope she can convert her impressive road time to the track!

Meanwhile, super veteran Jane Clarke travelled north to compete in the British Masters 5k Championships. Running in the Over 45 division she proved to be unstoppable when taking gold in a time of 17min 44secs, creating a new course record and beating an array of classy younger veterans. An added bonus was that she was placed second in the overall standings. Jane is now looking forward to stepping onto the track in two weeks' time when she will be competing in the 1500m and/or 5000m British Masters T&F Championships in Birmingham.

Nick and Nicky take Guy Fawkes honours

5 June 2009

Earlier this evening at Easton College it was Nick Earl (Reading AC) and Nicky Alford from City of Norwich AC who took the honours in the fourth Guy Fawkes 10k.

Earl produced a personal best 32.12 over the challenging course to win by two and a half minutes while Alford recorded 39.22 to finish comfortably ahead of Racheal Leathwood (Norwich Road Runners) on 40.00 and Dena Parfitt from North Norfolk Beach Runners with 40.22.

193 runners completed the course - please click here to view the full results listing.

Olivia Walwyn 20th in BUPA Great Manchester 10k

19 May 2009

In a field of over 28,000 runners Olivia Walwyn competed in the BUPA Great Manchester 10k on Sunday. She finished in an overall position of 88th and was placed 20th in the ladies category. The weekend’s windy conditions made life difficult for the athletes but nevertheless Olivia can be reasonably happy with her finishing time of 35min 46secs.

Bronze medals for CoNAC at National Masters Road Relays

19 May 2009

Our F45 team of Jane Clarke, Louise Wilkinson and Tessa Pike was delighted to grab a podium position in Sutton Park on Saturday as CoNAC contested the National Masters Road Relays for the first time.

Jane took on the opening stage and recorded a very fast 17.31 to lead at the first changeover, Louise kept the baton at the front during the second stage with 19.43 and it was smiles all round for the CoNAC trio as Tessa battled hard to hold on to third position at the tape with 19.32. Reading Road Runners took the gold medals on 54.06, Bristol & West AC were second on 56.36 just ten seconds ahead of CoNAC on 56.46. Jane was also rewarded with an individual silver for the second fastest stage of the day.

CoNAC's men took part in the M40 race and recorded a creditable 24th positon over eight stages. Fastest CoNAC-er of the day was Andrew Bunn with 16.57 on the opening stage. Please click here to view the full results listings.

Bidwell leads CoNAC home as capital swelters in spring sunshine

26 April 2009

On a day more suited to a trip to the beach, twenty CoNAC-ers enjoyed the fabulous atmosphere of the 29th London Marathon as record crowds packed the pavements to provide support unmatched anywhere in the world.

First home was Sydney-based Matt Bidwell, enjoying a trip home to see the folks and a fine pb on 2.41.21 to boot. Next in was Reece Wood on 2.49.39, followed by Stefan Glaysher with a welcome return to form on 2.54.57 and Kevin Revell with yet another sub-3 hour clocking on 2.58.49.

Just missing out on breaking the magical 3 hour mark were Joe Geitner (3.02.28) and Iain Robertson (3.03.16, pb); then came Sam MacGibbon on 3.14.16 (pb) and Vince Ellis at 3.22.35.

And there were lots more personal best performances served up be the rest of the CoNAC crew: Lorraine Whitmarsh 3.51.53 (pb), Lorraine Marshall 3.58.05 (pb), Tessa Jones 3.58.06, Anita Wreford 4.03.56 (pb), Matt Ellis (4.16.05), Hannah Baker 4.23.17 (pb by 36 minutes), Richard Polley 4.23.17, Brendan Wilson 4.34.54 (pb), Peter Warren 4.37.26, Sandra Lubbock 4.41.33, Simon Burdett 4.52.37 (pb) and Anna Pell 5.39.56.

Please click here for all the official results and details of how to enter the ballot for places in the 30th London Marathon, to be sponsored for the first time by Virgin Money.

Weary CoNAC finish 25th at National 12 Stage Road Relay

19 April 2009

The club's encouraging performance at the Southern 12 Stage Road Relay Championships a fortnight ago could not be matched at the national equivalent in Sutton Park yesterday. With several team members still feeling the after-effects of warm weather training in Portugal, an eventual placing just above halfway was probably about right on the day.

Best individual showing was Mitch Goose's 14min 25secs on the first short stage which helped the team climb nineteen places to 26th position. And that was where we stayed, give or take a few places, until Mikey Beamish rounded things off to bring CoNAC home in 25th place as 62 teams completed the course.

At the front, Belgrave Harriers dominated from early on to win by over five minutes from Newham and Essex Beagles in second place and Tipton Harriers just shading Shettlestone Harriers in an exciting sprint finish for the bronze medals. Please click here to view the full results listing.

Helen Decker sets new Trowse 10k course record

12 April 2009

Ideal conditions greeted the runners this morning for the fifth Trowse 10k and no-one took greater advantage than England international Helen Decker.

From the gun the Ipswich Jaffa flyer roared away from the rest of the women's field to hold her form throughout and stop the clock at 35.39, nine seconds inside Amy Waterlow's previous best time for the testing two lap course. Up front, Andrew Hennessy (Wells City Harriers) and Reading AC's Nick Earl ran side by side for the majority of the race before Hennessy eased away on the second lap to win in 33.09 to Earl's 33.26.

A record 438 runners registered for this paper-less race which featured online entries only and all race numbers being collected on the day.

Provisional results have now been published; please click here to view the full listing. Race photos are also now ready; please visit Event Photography to check out how you looked this morning.

Our next road race promotion is the Guy Fawkes 10k at Easton College on Friday 5 June, start 7pm - please click here to read all about it and enter online now.

CoNAC qualify for National 12 Road Relay Championships in style with best-ever finish

5 April 2009

A decisive surge by Ashley Harrell and Tommy Carroll over the last two stages lifted CoNAC to a best-ever 8th place in the SEAA 12 Stage Road Relay Championships at Milton Keynes today.

After classy contributions from Mitch Goose (2nd fastest on the day over the short stage) and Stu Huntington early on, some solid showings in the middle order set the scene for Harrell to pull back three places on the penultimate stage before Carroll picked off a further four teams with a flying last lap.

Further down the field, Norwich Road Runners waved the Norfolk flag in 33rd position while local rivals Norfolk Gazelles placed 39th - please click here for the full results. CoNAC now goes forward to the National 12 Stage Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park on 18 April.

The red & gold stripes are out across the country

15 March 2009

Neil Davison finished just outside the medals in the Broadland Half Marathon when placing fourth. However he can be pleased that he helped lay the foundation for the club’s senior men’s team victory being ably backed by Iain Robertson and Brian Warden. Not to be outdone the Veteran Ladies team took the top podium place with Sarah Knights (first F40-44), Angela Man and Beres Ward making up the scoring trio.

Further afield Jane Clarke was pounding round the Bath Half Marathon to great effect to take the F45 prize with a degree of comfort and at the same time recording a new personal best of 81min 23secs.

The red & gold stripes also made an appearance in the Trafford 10km donned by Olivia Walywn and Carl Goose. Carl having “bombed” out in the 1500m semi-finals of British Universities Indoor Championships, to his great credit picked himself up and popped over to Manchester. He was rewarded with a new personal best 32mins 32secs, which can’t be bad for an 800/1500m athlete. Olivia Walwyn finished 6th lady in a time just shy of a new personal best 34.55. As Olivia said it was good to see the CoNAC stripes making their mark in the North.

Neil Davison takes his second win of the month

15 February 2009

Neil Davison followed up his first place in the inaugural Reedham 10m a fortnight ago with a comfortable win in today's Great East 20k. Davison recorded 70mins 16secs to come home over two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Iain Robertson placed 4th in 73mins 38secs while Andy Bunn crossed the line in 75mins 57secs to finish in 10th position. Jane Clarke was second lady overall and first veteran lady to finish in a very respectable 80mins 13secs.

Olivia and Ashley both set new personal bests over 10k

8 February 2009

Olivia Walywn is proving not only an extremely good fell and cross-country athlete but also more than capable of producing excellent performances on the road.

Now based in Cheshire, Olivia - the 2008 winner of the City of Norwich Half Marathon - competed in Sunday's Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k. Following on from her recent strong run in the South of England cross-country championships she stormed round the "undulating" course to finish first lady across the line. In the mixed race she was headed by only 10 men and was delighted to record a superb time of 34min 53sec, a new personal best. As an added bonus Olivia collected a cheque for £100 having created a new course record.

Ashley Harrell, along with many hundreds of athletes made a fruitless journey to Aberdeen to compete in Saturday's British University Cross-Country Championships, only to find that at the eleventh hour the organisers had cancelled the event. A Saturday evening flight back to Heathrow gave him the opportunity to compete in the Saucony 10k road race held in Esher on Sunday. His efforts were rewarded with a fine second place and a new personal best of 31min 38secs. In the same race Jonny Quint finished in 12th place when recording 34min 56sec and one place behind was Andy Walpole who completed in 35min 05secs.

Ruth Senior sets new course record at Boxing Day Road Relay

26 December 2008

Twelve teams enjoyed this annual bit of festive fun in Eaton Park this morning as Ruth Senior sliced ten seconds off the course record to set a new mark at 11mins 00sec. Please click here for all the results.

Annual Road Running Dinner & Awards Evening

6 December 2008

Mackintosh’s Canteen in Chapelfield was the new venue for CoNAC’s Road Running Dinner this year and it turned out to be an excellent setting. After a tasty three course meal had been demolished, CoNAC’s Road Running Coordinator Richard Polley briefly reviewed the year’s highlights before club chairman Clive Poyner presented awards to the following winners:

Road Runner of the Year - senior male, Neil Davison; senior female, Olivia Walwyn; veteran male, Guy Amos; veteran female, Jane Clarke.

Most Improved - senior male, Steven Guy; senior female, Ellie Matthews; veteran female, Julia Brooks.

RNR Endeavour Awards - open team, John Gostling; masters' team, Paul Woodyatt; women's team, Ruth Proctor; club class team, Guy Amos.

Thanks were proposed to CoNAC’s road race management teams headed up by Granville Courtnell and Hugh McGill; and to CoNAC’s Road Running Committee for all their hard work behind the scenes throughout the year.

Amsterdam Success for Guy Amos

19 October 2008

Super veteran Guy Amos popped over to Amsterdam at the weekend to compete in the world famous half marathon. Over 8,000 competitors finished the race and for Guy his rigorous training over the past few months paid dividends when he finished in a superb 4th place in a time of 71min 23sec.

Andy Walpole clocked 78min 28sec, Andy Bunn 84min 09sec and Peter Tuttle 86min 06sec. Over the full marathon distance, Kevin Revell went under three hours yet again with 2hr 57min 51sec while Stefan Glaysher recorded 3hr 02min 29sec.

A Weekend that ended with a silver lining

19 October 2008

The scenic Sutton Park, Birmingham hosted the National Road Relay Championships over the past weekend in which club teams gave a very promising account of themselves.

On Saturday it was the turn of the senior athletes. The Ladies team competing over four stages included Olympian Barbara Parker who produced a super run to hand over in the lead to Ruth Senior who ran splendidly to keep the club in the top two. Olivia Walwyn kept us in the medal hunt when handing to Hollie Rowland in third place for the final leg. Drama ensued from hereon. With the chasing pack bearing down on her with a mere 400m to go the team was still in third spot. Sadly, the after effects of an extremely heavy cold took their toll on Hollie and despite her best endeavours could not maintain her position over the final few metres and the team slipped back to 7th place. The disappointment on missing out on a podium place was to a small degree masked by the fact this was the best ever finishing place achieved by the club's senior ladies team.

Meanwhile, the Ladies "B" team of Dani Nimmock, Claire Forbes, Nicky Alford and Jane Clarke battled every inch of the way to finish 21st position in a race in which 100 team toed the line at the start.

In the Senior Men's race it was a case "Boys against Men". The team of six, the majority still racing in the junior ranks apart from seasoned campaigner Jonny Quint gave a creditable account of themselves when finishing just above mid-table in 32nd position.

Sunday saw the younger age groups battling for championships medals in what proved to be a day dominated by the impressive Aldershot Farnham & District AC teams who continue to impress year after year. In the final relay of the thrilling weekend the City club’s Under 17 Boys team, 11th last year, were determined to challenge the Aldershot dominance. Sam Cheverton produced a super opening leg to hand over to Tom Crawshaw who proceeded to move the three-man team up from ninth to fourth and within striking distance of the race leaders. The scene for the final leg was set to produce a super finish and so it proved to be. James Jackson closed down on the leading duo, locked on and commenced to turn the screw over the final 800m. Aldershot’s Jonny Hay would not be shaken off and on the uphill finish finally broke Jackson’s resolve to snatch victory. It was nevertheless a wonderful performance from the club's team who can be justifiably proud of their silver medals.

Such is the strength in depth of the club the squad of Oliver Maskell, James Senior and Tom Francis were the first “B” team to cross the line in 17th place. The “C” team of Joel Taylor, Damian Rogers and Micah Rogers finished in 41st position.

The Under 13 Boys team of Bradley Stansbury, Daryl Broughton and Scott Greeves promise great things for the future when producing an excellent performance to finish in 9th place. Tom Hook, Jack Harrison and Martin Ramsey teamed up for the Under 15 Boys to finish in 40th position while for the Under 15 Girls Esme Salmon, Hazel Wilson and Juliet Broster produced a mid-table 35th place finish.

For the Under 13 Girls there was a new kid on the block: Alice Cheverton, sister to team silver medallist Sam – watch this space as they say, she could well follow in big brother’s footsteps in the years ahead.

Lincoln leads the way for CoNAC at the Great Eastern Run

12 October 2008

The fast flat race track that is the Great Eastern Run provided four personal bests for CoNAC-ers at the weekend. 42 year old Wayne Lincoln showed his class with 69min 55sec for a stylish seventh place overall, Steven Guy overcame an upset stomach to record 1hr 34min 53sec, Sally Withey knocked 12 minutes off her previous mark when running 1hr 44min 09sec and Hannah Baker also reduced her personal best by 12 minutes to return 1hr 54min 10secs.

No medals this time but Senior Ladies & U17 boys impress at SEAA Road Relays

27 & 28 September 2008

Club members picked a tough assignment over the weekend when they made their way down to Hampshire to compete in the South of England Road Relay Championships staged in the Rushmoor Arena Aldershot.

The club’s teams were hopeful of improving their tally of two team bronze medals won last year but despite their best efforts it was not to be the case. The Under 17 Boys squad of James Jackson, Tom Crawshaw, Oliver Maskell and James Senior at one point looked to be set to take silver but sadly over the final leg slipped away to finish fourth, the same position they finished in 2007. James Jackson’s time of 12min 04sec was the seventh fastest recorded time on the day. The “B” team of Sam Cheverton, Tom Francis, Damian Rogers and brother Micah finished in a mid table position in 18th position. Sam Cheverton’s competitive edge never fails to surprise. His time of 12min 26secs placed him fifteenth fastest leg overall.

Due to belated university commitments Ruth Senior was not able to make the Senior Ladies team so Carley Rose bravely stepped in to good effect. Dani Nimmock, Hollie Rowland back from Germany, and Claire Forbes completed the squad who were pleased to record the club’s best-ever finish in this event when crossing the line in a commendable fifth place.

With an average age of just 19½ years the Senior Men’s team of Ashley Harrell, Mitch Goose, Stuart Huntington, Rick Ward, Luke Allen and Carl Goose battled well throughout the six-stage race. At the mid-point they were in third place and - while disappointed to fall away in the second half - their final placing of tenth was a comfortable qualifier for the National Road Relays in four weeks time. Ashley Harrell was delighted to record the team’s fastest leg recorded at 18min 27secs, a time that displays a pleasing improvement of almost a minute over his performance of last year.

There was a disappointing turn-out form the younger end of the club with only two teams completing, the Under 15 Girls and 13 Boys. Esme Salmon, Hazel Wilson and Juliet Broster for the Under 15 Girls finished in a creditable seventeenth place in a race that 61 teams completed. The Under 13 Boys team of Darryl Broughton, Bradley Stansbury, Scott Greeves and Adam King found the going tough when crossing the line in nineteenth place. However, Scott was delighted to record 10min 35secs for his stint that was the fourth fastest overall time of the day.

CoNAC returns best-ever team results at Round Norfolk Relay

22 September 2008

The perfect weather of the 22nd Round Norfolk Relay heralded City of Norwich AC’s best-ever team return with three category wins, third place in a fourth and a new course record for the CoNAC ladies.

Following a build-up that was fraught with more problems behind the scenes than anyone could imagine, four complete CoNAC teams joined 44 others in the annual pilgrimage round the county boundary. With favourable conditions and much firm application, the CoNAC effort unfolded all the way around the race route as athletes gave of their all in the name of their club. The club ethic of road relays was there for all to see as the CoNAC teams, aided superbly by their respective Support Crews, each produced dominant performances throughout the race. CoNAC won the club class, the masters category and the ladies race, while the CoNAC open team was third in their category. On top of that, nine CoNAC male and nine CoNAC female stage wins were backed up by a superb new course record for the CoNAC ladies who knocked almost 22 minutes off the previous record set by Norwich Road Runners last year.

When all the results were finally analysed, CoNAC had also picked up three individual age-graded best performance trophies - Guy Amos was the best male master (stage 4 - 85.77%), Stu Huntington was the best male junior (stage 7 - 83.59%) and Hollie Rowland was the best female junior (stage 17 - 79.86%).

All in all this was CoNAC’s best-ever result at the Round Norfolk Relay and a fitting reward to the months of preparation and last-minute endeavour that culminated in a wonderful weekend for the club. Please visit www.roundnorfolkrelay.com for all the results listings and much more. We will be adding some of our own photograghs to the Gallery on this site in the next few days.

Goose and Ward break the four minute barrier

27 August 2008

City of Norwich AC can now boast two sub four-minute milers within its rank albeit with a difference. Endurance athletes Mitch Goose and Rick Ward were invited to participate in the Mizuno Mile Series staged mid-week in Belfast in the grounds of Stormont. The measured mile started from the front of the Parliament building taking in the downhill drive to finish at the ornate main gates to the estate.

In a classy field both Goose and Ward were always in the main pack shoulder to shoulder with more senior athletes. However, over the final quarter of the race Ward lost a little ground on his fellow competitors but Goose was still very much in the mix battling for first place. Sadly it was not to be, as over the final 100 yards he was out-kicked and had to settle for a close order third place. His bonus for his magnificent efforts was a time of 3min 56sec. Ward stuck to his guns to finish highly placed in fifth when recording a time of 3min 59secs. Not at all bad for the two nineteen year olds!

Ruth Senior, still on the comeback trail after injury, was the club’s sole representative in the Ladies Invitation Mile and mixed it at the front of the field until the final quarter when the change of pace found her wanting. Nevertheless she hung on to finish in a creditable fifth position when recording a swift 4min 38secs.

Jones & Dagne scoop the loot at Lord Mayor's 5k City Centre Classic

5 July 2008

Seven men battled at the head of the Lord Mayor's 5k City Centre Classic road race on Saturday evening before Belgrave Harriers' Simon Jones finally edged home ahead of Darren Deed (Bedford & County AC) to grab the £500 first prize.

Jones (pictured here afterwards with UK road running legend Paul Evans) has an enviable record at this event - second in 2005 and third in each of the last two years - and this time he was always in contention as a leading group of seven men broke away from the rest of the field. As Adrian Mussett (Colchester Harriers), Matt Gunby (Woodford Green) and Rob Joy (Notts AC) forced the pace on the first of two laps, Jones sat in patiently with Deed alongside Andrew Hennessy (Wells City Harriers) and Craig Hopkins from Swansea Harriers. And as the group moved past half-way it was Deed who pressed on, taking Jones and Hennessy with him.

At the 4k mark, Deed strode out further with Jones in his shadow but it was Hennessy who now looked most comfortable. Then, with 400m to go, Jones moved alongside Deed and quickened to open a slight advantage which he held to the line to win in 15.02. Deed was timed at 15.03 as Hennessy faded to third on 15.07

The ladies race was more clear cut, with previous three time winner Birhan Dagne (Belgrave Harriers) scoring a comfortable victory on 17.02 to claim the winner's £500 prize. Ipswich Jaffa’s Helen Decker was well-pleased with her first appearance at this event with second place in 17.33 and Sarah Stradling (Colchester Harriers) followed up her victory at last year's City of Norwich Half Marathon with third place on 17.52.

Super success at GEAR for CoNAC’s women ...

4 May 2008

CoNAC’s women’s team dominated the Great East Anglia Run staged over a traffic-free 10k course through King’s Lynn’s town centre on Sunday. Currently based in Cheshire, the race gave GB International Olivia Walwyn an opportunity to race on home soil. In the sultry conditions Olivia was soon into her stride and was never headed throughout the race cruising to a comfortable victory in 36min 08secs. Nicky Alford finished strongly in 5th place when posting a time of 39min 04secs. Amy Dungar was 6th lady to cross the line in 40min 36secs while veteran Louise Wilkinson made up the scoring four with a time of 41min 46secs that placed her 9th lady. With just 21 points on the board the announcement of a team victory was a mere formality. Please click here for the full results.

Ashley Harrell was the first junior athlete to cross the line when finishing in 4th position overall. Ashley had expected and hoped to produce better time than 32min 57secs but put his below par performance down to a troublesome back. Veteran Andy Bunn posted a solid performance when recording 37min 02secs to finish in 32nd place. Mark Gotts was placed 100th in a time of 41min 51secs and Peter Warren timed at 51min 30secs finished in 468th position. Nearly 1,700 competitors completed the race.

Best-ever CoNAC at National Road Relays

26 April 2008

CoNAC’s senior teams excelled themselves at the National Road Relays in Sutton Park with two best-ever performances. The men’s team competed over 12 stages - 6 long stages of 5.38 miles and 6 short stages of 2.995 miles - while the women tackled 6 short stages.

In the men’s race some determined running and hard chasing was evident across the team. After Adam Thomas had placed the team handily at the first changeover in 27th position with 28.04, the direction of travel was upwards until we found our level in the mid teens. Mitch Goose 14.30 (18), Ashley Harrell 27.34 (12), Rick Ward 15.14 (14), Stu Huntington 28.08 (14) and Carl Goose 15.34 took the team to 15th place at halfway. Then James O’Neill 30.39 (16), Martyn Bath 16.32 (18), Neil Davison 29.38 (18), Tommy Salmon 15.32 (18), Wayne Lincoln 28.53 (15) and Adam Lewis 16.54 took care of the second half to finish in 16th position in a combined time of 4.27.12, the club’s fastest time for this classic event. Leeds City AC took the gold with Notts AC shading Belgrave Harriers for the runner’s up berth.

The CoNAC women also had much to be proud of. Olivia Walwyn 17.00 (9) & Ruth Senior 17.05 (2) combined to take the red & gold into the lead briefly during the second stage, before Emma Coombs 18.17 (5), Rose Waterman 19.56 (14), Claire Forbes 17.59 (10) and Dani Nimmock 17.14 (8) brought the baton home in 1.47.31 to match the men’s performance with a best-ever showing. Aldershot, Farnham & District AC were comfortable winners with Chester Le Street AC second and Winchester & District AC third. Please click here to view the full results listings from both races.

Lines scales new heights at Ironman South Africa

13 April 2008

While mere mortals were tackling the London Marathon on Sunday, Rob Lines was in Port Elizabeth for Ironman South Africa. Most runners find that a marathon on its own is quite a challenge, but Lines decided that a 2.4m swim followed by 112 miles on the bike would be the perfect warm-up for a full marathon to complete the classic Ironman distance.

And all went very well - Rob set personal best performances at all three disciplines with 1.00.15 for the swim, 5.40.25 for the bike and 4.15.16 for the marathon to give an overall personal best return of 11.12.25 (phew!). Please click here to read a full account of Rob’s adventure in his own words.

Neil Davison & Rose Waterman lead CoNAC home at Flora London Marathon

13 April 2008

After last year’s sweltering conditions, the weather was much kinder today for the 28th London Marathon. With Guy Amos being forced to abandon around the 20 mile mark with a recurrence of a foot injury, it was Neil Davison who led seventeen CoNAC-ers to the finish in the Mall.

39 year old Davison (pictured at 17 miles) ran a controlled race to record a personal best time of 2.35.37, closely followed by Andy Jones with a first time 2.38.14. And Rose Waterman was rewarded with a 3.16.43 that paid testament to the benefits of cross training. Other CoNAC times to hand include Kevin Revell 3.00.19; Joe Geitner 3.00.55; Vince Ellis 3.12.00; John Burton 3.29.30; Paul Britt 3.31.14; Jade Johnstone 3.39.23; Denis Freeman 3.47.49, Graham Collins 3.54.42; Wayne Crowe 4.00.03; Julia Brooks 4.02.56; Sandra Lubbock 4.31.55; Kate Quentin-Hicks 4.46.11; Roger Bilsby 5.20.16 & Anton Wimmer 5.25.01. If your time has been omitted, please click here and we will update this page accordingly.

The ballot for places in next year’s FLM has now opened and all CoNAC-ers interested in taking part on 26 April 2009 should enter on-line without delay. Please click here to visit the official London Marathon website; and please make sure that you enter your club name as “City of Norwich AC”- not CoNAC or City of Norwich or Norwich AC or anything like that.

Comfortable CoNAC qualify for National 12 Stage Road Relay Championship

6 April 2008

On a day that started with three inches of snow, City of Norwich AC performed well at the Southern 12 Stage Road Relay Championship on Sunday to secure a comfortable qualification to the National 12 Stage in three weeks time.

At the sharp end, Belgrave Harriers battled with hosts Aldershot, Farnham & District AC before Belgrave prevailed for their sixth SEAA 12 Stage title in seven years, with Woodford Green taking the bronze medals. The CoNAC colours rose to third place on three occasions before settling to a more realistic tenth place at the final reckoning.

Fastest CoNAC-er on the short leg was Mitch Goose who returned a sprightly 12.49 for 4.2k on stage 2 (4th fastest overall). Ashley Harrell was timed at 13.06 (9th fastest overall) on stage 6 and Rick Ward posted 13.21 (14th fastest overall) on stage 4. Adam Thomas was the pick of the CoNAC bunch with 27.00 over 8.4k on the opening stage, with good back-up from Stu Huntington (27.49) and Carl Goose (28.19). Please click here for full results.

CoNAC now goes forward to the National 12 Stage at Sutton Park on 26 April when they will be joined by the CoNAC women’s team who will race over 6 stages.

Dani Nimmock makes further strides ahead

30 March 2008

On Sunday 17-year-old Dani Nimmock took a step nearer to breaking 36 minutes for 10k. With almost 3,500 competitors turning out for the Lincoln Jackson Building Centre 10k this race started and finished adjacent to the impressive Lincoln Cathedral and ensured that it concluded with an uphill finish.

Dani’s sterling effort over the tough course was rewarded with an overall finishing position of 39th and 3rd Lady to cross the finishing line. It was a determined Dani who battled all the way with a sub 36minute time looking to be within her grasp but sadly, on this occasion it was not to be. However, missing out by the narrowest of margins she recorded 36min 01secs, which for Dani despite her disappointment was a new personal best time for the distance.

Thomas & Roberts share the spoils at Trowse 10k

23 March 2008

Despite a heavy snowfall which started just 25 minutes before the gun, the fourth edition of the Norwich Union Trowse 10k was a great success this morning. Adam Thomas & Jennie Roberts both earned £75 as race winners - please click here to visit the race page and read all about it.

Amos leads home solid CoNAC showing at Great East 20k

17 February 2008

Guy Amos took time out from his London Marathon preparations to record an impressive win at the Great East 20k at Bungay. Settling quickly into his stride from the gun, 44 year old Amos drew on the strength he has developed since turning his attention to the marathon to stop the clock at 1.06 18. Amos was followed home by Neil Davison in third place (1.09.02) with Andy Jones a close fourth on 1.09.56. Stefan Glaysher took the M45 runner-up prize with 1.15.19 and Debbie Green was second in the F35 category on 1.37.44.

Many other good CoNAC performances were also recorded on a perfect day for distance running - please click here for the full results listing.

Paul Woodyatt goes ultra

17 February 2008

Veteran athlete Paul Woodyatt nipped over to Kenilworth, Warwickshire last Sunday to compete in the Draycote Water 35 - that’s 35 miles not 35 kilometres! This race was first held in 2004 and is staged within the Draycote Water Country Park on an almost traffic free multi-lap course. On a super day for racing, the weather being crisp and sunny, Paul produced a great run that reduced his personal best for the event by eight minutes when recording 4hrs 35mins 27secs. As an added bonus Paul went through the 50km mark in 4hrs 02mins 22secs; an improvement of 7mins 30secs on his previous best for the distance.

Paul states that he hopes to be back in training on Tuesday evening albeit a little bit leg weary!

Nimmock & Harrell fastest at Boxing Day Road Relay

26 December 2007

Seventeen teams enjoyed beautiful conditions on Wednesday morning at City of Norwich AC’s traditional Boxing Day Road Relay.

Teams of four were drawn from the hat before the event, with each runner completing a stage of 3,334m over two laps of Eaton Park. Leading the way early on were Hazza’s Harriers (Ashley Harrell, Louise Appleby, Harry Knowles & Kevin Hardingham) with Team Awesome (James Senior, Ruth Proctor, Danny Rogers & Mikey Beamish) in close attendance. Meanwhile, The Spice Girls (Dale Hurren, Carley Rose, Steve Balfe & Jon Quint) were rising fast and by the end of the third stage they sat handily placed in third position. And when the fury of the final stage had unfolded, it was The Spice Girls who prevailed on 47mins 17secs thanks to Quint’s final effort of 10.54. Team Awesome took the runner’s-up berth on 47.47 and Hazza’s Harriers had placed third with 48.42.

On an individual basis, there were several very promising performances. Third best was Carl Goose with 10.16 on stage 3 while Rick Ward clocked 10.12 on the final stage. But fastest man on the day was Ashley Harrell with a particularly encouraging 10.07 that places him fifth on the all-time list for this event. In the ladies’ standings, Ruth Senior equalled her own course record on the first stage with 11.13 but had to concede her individual crown to Dani Nimmock who set a splendid new mark with 11.10, also on the first stage.

When all the sums had been done, £270 was raised to support the work of The Clare School. Please click here for full results.

Annual Road Running Dinner & Awards Evening

8 December 2007

It was a sell-out at the Unthank Arms on Saturday evening when 60 CoNAC-ers gathered for our Annual Road Running Dinner & Awards Evening. After an excellent meal we enjoyed a light-hearted quiz and then a prize draw before the annual Awards were handed out. And this year's winners were:

Road Runner of the Year - senior male, Tommy Salmon; senior female, Rose Waterman; veteran male, Wayne Lincoln; veteran female, Lynn Emmett.

Most Improved - senior male, Mark Collinson; senior female, Sophie Croft; veteran male, Stefan Glaysher; veteran female, Sally Withey.

RNR Endeavour Awards - open team, Brian Warden; masters' team, Les Bowgen; women's team, Tessa Jones; club class team, Richard Polley.

Many, many thanks go to Marie Money for making all the arrangements - it was just a super evening, some said the best one we've done to date..... please click here to see a couple of photo from the evening.

City of Norwich Half Marathon – what a scorcher!!

2 December 2007

Following the decision to move our largest road race from its traditional June date to the first Sunday in December, we’d hoped to match last year’s entry of 971. So we were absolutely swept away when we processed 2,291 entries for this year’s event, but the weather was less than kind to us. Clear skies early on gave way to dark storm clouds and then the heavens opened as start time beckoned. A road traffic accident on the approach roads prompted a 10 minute delay in the race start but everyone got away together before the hail & sleet set in.

That said, the feedback from (almost) everyone was very positive and those who did have a gripe seemed to forget that we can’t control either the weather or the traffic on the nearby A47.

And it was a delight to welcome back previous two-time race winner Adrian Mussett (Colchester Harriers) who just shaded Andrew Hennessy from Wells City Harriers for the first prize of £250. In the women’s race, Sarah Stradling from Colchester & Tendring AC picked up the same amount - please click here for the full results.

No medals this time around but some praiseworthy performances

24 October 2007

The National Road Relay Championships staged in Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield were on the weekend’s agenda for the City of Norwich A.C. athletes. The senior athletes took centre stage on Saturday putting themselves up against the best in the land.

Eighty teams toed the line in the ladies race with the City club quartet mixing it from the start. Dani Nimmock, Olivia Walwyn, Ruth Proctor and 800m-track specialist Rachel Stringer made up the squad that produced the club’s fastest ever combined time over the testing course to finish in a very creditable 17th place overall, an improvement of six places over their 2006 performance.

Belgrave Harriers, Leeds City, Newham & Essex Beagles, to name but three of the UK’s top clubs contested the men’s six-stage race in which near to 100 teams started. Placed 29th last year the City club’s squad, which included four junior athletes, were in determined mood to emulate that performance. Tommy Salmon was lead off man followed by Mitch Goose, Stuart Huntington, Ashley Harrell and Rick Ward. It was left to veteran athlete Wayne Lincoln to bring the team home in a pleasing 25th place.

Sunday saw the Under 17 Ladies team produce the best result of the weekend for the City club when they finished in 6th place, one better than achieved in 2006. Rosie Betts, who is yet to hit her best form, ran the opening leg followed by Samantha Jacks with Claire Pring bringing the team home. Claire’s time of 13min 42sec for the 3.9km leg was the overall sixth fastest recorded by an Under 17 Lady.

Connor Darby ran the first leg for the Under 17 Boys team followed by Tom Crawshaw with the closing leg run by James Jackson who brought the team home in 11th place. All team members are first year Under 17 Boys so next year they will still be competing in the same race. It would be more than pleasing if they were able to knock off a figure “1” from this year’s result!

Iona Lake, Esme Salmon and Juliette Brewster formed the Under 15 Girls team who were placed 27th overall while Tom Kelly, Matthew Ramsey and Mark Gotts teamed up to finish 47th in the Under 15 Boys race.

Early November will see the City club continue their quest for top-flight honours when they travel to Mansfield to compete in the National Cross-Country Relays.

Chichester 10k road race has a silver lining

9 October 2007

For many City of Norwich athletes it was a home and away weekend. Hampshire was the destination for the senior members who were on a dual mission representing both club and county in the Chichester Priory 10k. The prestigious road race included within its remit the UK, AAA’s and Southern Counties championship plus the Inter County match.

Tommy Salmon (30min 28secs), Mitch Goose (31min 10secs), Ashley Harrell (32min 30secs) and veteran athlete Wayne Lincoln (32min 36secs) produced a fine team effort to take silver in the Southern Counties championship behind the mighty Belgrave Harriers. The trio of Tommy Salmon, Mitch Goose and Craig Hopkins (32min 11secs) were placed highly in the UK championship section finishing in a very respectable 6th position while in the AAA’s championship that position was replicated with Ashley Harrell included in the squad.

In the Inter County match Tommy Salmon, Mitch Goose and Ashley Harrell in their duel role helped Norfolk to a pleasing sixth place. For the Ladies Jess Brooks (39min 05secs) and Jo Gapp (41min 39secs) were part of the county team that finish in ninth place overall.

Olivia confirms her class on the trails

9 October 2007

Back up in the north, primary school teacher Olivia Walwyn was again confirming that she is a force to be reckoned with when taking the spoils in the Coniston Trail Race. The 15km race, described by the organisers as taking place in the most dramatic scenery in the Lake District, proved to be a happy hunting ground for Olivia when she crossed the line in 12th place but most importantly she was the first lady to finish. Her reward apart from a splendid time of 61min 47secs was a monetary prize of £300.00. While she is still very much a City of Norwich athlete on this occasion she was competing for Altrincham A.C. her adopted club while in the north.

Olivia stars in Half Marathon success

3 October 2007

Since moving to the North West, City of Norwich athlete Olivia Walwyn has certainly made her mark on the Fell and Mountain running scene and has already gained international status for both England and Great Britain in those disciplines. Quite an achievement for a girl from the flat terrain of Norfolk!

Now holding down a teaching post in Macclesfield, Olivia continues to put her best foot when running on the road. At the weekend she competed in the Macclesfield ½ Marathon in which she created a new ladies course record when crossing the line in a fast 78min 45secs. With only six men ahead of her she finished in a high seventh place in a race that 668 competitors finished.

For her it was a personal best performance and the best time ever recorded by a City of Norwich lady athlete.

Club’s Under 13 Boys Southern Road Relay team hit the medal trail

2 October 2007

City of Norwich endurance athletes were out in force over the weekend supporting their club at the Southern Road Relays at the Rushmoor Arena, Aldershot. Pride of place over the two-days of racing must go to the “novice” Under 13 Boys quartet who against all the odds managed to fill the bronze medal position.

Lead off leg for the squad was Tom Hook who produced a super run to hand over in first place to Alex Lubbock who stuck to his guns to pass the baton on to Darryl Broughton in sixth spot. Digging deep Darryl almost maintained position for Scott Grieves to take over for the final leg. A wonderful run from Scott brought the team through from seventh position into a bronze medal winning third place. It was a great team effort from the boys and comforting to know that the future of endurance running in the club appears to be in safe hands.

The Under 17 Girls team felt the pressure to match the boys’ achievement and duly delivered. Leading off Samantha Jacks produced a solid performance when handing over to Rosie Betts in twelve spot who pulled back three places for Claire Pring to go to work over the final leg. Never one to shirk a challenge Claire proceeded to claw back the field and to the delight of her team mates crossed the line in third place for the club’s second set of medals.

In the latter stages of the Under 17 Boys 4 stage relay it looked as if the club would make it a third set of bronze medals. Sadly, despite the best efforts of Connor Darby, James Jackson, Joel Taylor and Tom Crawshaw at the end of a very competitive race they had to settle for fourth place. It was pleasing to note however, that all four young men are at the lower end of the age group and will be able to compete again as a quartet next year when they must look to strike gold.

The Senior Men and senior Women almost mirrored performances. The senior men’s team made up of Tommy Salmon, Mitch Goose, Carl Goose, Rick Ward, Stuart Huntington and Ashley Harrell against some very serious opposition came home in seventh place, the best finishing position the club as ever achieved in this major championship race. As an added bonus and as a result of their efforts Mitch Goose and older brother Carl plus Tommy Salmon have been selected to compete for the South of England over cross-country in Belgium early in November.

The Senior Ladies managed one place higher than their male counterparts when 800m-track specialist Rachel Stringer crossed the line in seventh place. Dani Nimmock, Jess Brooks and Sarah Knights preceded Rachel with solid performances that gave the team a four-place improvement over their 2006 finishing position.

The Under 15 Girls team of Iona Lake, Juliette Brewster and Juliette Knights all worked hard for their 16th finishing position in a race in which forty-nine competed.

21st Round Norfolk Relay better than ever

16 September 2007

CoNAC’s resources & resolve was pushed to the limit this weekend at the 21st Round Norfolk Relay when our club and masters teams won their respective classes and our women’s and open teams finished as close runners-up in their own divisions.

In what turned out to be a particularly rewarding weekend, this examination of our all-round strength & ability prompted a tremendous response from everyone who represented CoNAC. Many outstanding performances were witnessed and many heartening stories unfolded as we battled with 46 other teams along a 193.06 mile course of 17 stages around the Norfolk county boundary; and the CoNAC approach and application throughout the event prompted many admiring comments and compliments from onlookers of all persuasions.

In a race widely regarded as the best-ever RNR by those who took part, we produced a host of stage winning performances and set marks for others to aspire to across all four categories. Please go to www.roundnorfolkrelay.com for all the results and photographs from this year’s event.

Individual and team successes at final Wroxham 5k road race

28 August 2007

The final race of three in the summer series of Wroxham 5k road races took place last Wednesday evening. The conditions for the race were excellent and a number of club members took advantage of the situation to turn in some good performances.

In the ladies race Dani Nimmock battled with Olivia Walywn, back on home turf for a few days, for the top honour. At the end of an enthralling race it was Dani who came out on top crossing the line in 17min 42secs with Olivia finishing a close order second in 17min 49secs. Amy Dungar made up the trio that took the ladies team prize when finishing in 4th place in a time of 18min 41secs.

Craig Hopkins made a last minute decision to take part, a decision that paid dividends as he produced an excellent run to finish second in a time of 15min 53secs. 15 year-old Tom Crawshaw finished third and was delighted to record a time of 15min 56secs. With Andrew Walpole (16min 33secs) finishing in seventh place and James Preston (17min 03secs) making a welcome return to racing crossing the line in 14th spot the senior men’s team prize was made secure for the quartet.

800m specialist Carl Goose finished in 6th place when recording 16min 30secs but “officialdom” decreed that as he was wearing his recently acquired South of England representative vest her could not count for the team. Petty perhaps and maybe a lesson learnt!

The full list of results is available on the Norwich Road Runners website.

Olivia and Dani fly the flag Up North

21 August 2007

Olivia Walwyn, the club’s fell running international currently living in the North West and the up and coming home based Dani Nimmock both competed in the final race of the series of mile road races sponsored by Mizuno. The first race in the series was staged in Peterborough on a flat fast course; the second in Belfast on a downhill course and the final one, held in Rossendale, Lancashire was seriously UPHILL.

Their efforts proved to be well worthwhile as Olivia came home in second place in time of 6min 06secs while Dani hung on for third place and was timed at 6min 10secs.

Dani, the only club member to complete the three race series was timed for the Belfast staged downhill race at 4min 37secs, her flat time in Peterborough was 5min 06 and her time for the final race confirms that it really was UPHILL.

Well done Ladies, it was good to see the stripes well represented Up North!

Belfast joy for Mitch Goose and Dani Nimmock

9 August 2007

City of Norwich AC has produced its first four minute miler. After his below par performance, by his own high standards, in last Friday’s International Grand Prix staged at the Crystal Palace, Mitch Goose was determined to put things right as soon as possible Wednesday saw him travel to Belfast to compete in the Mizuno Elite Mile, albeit a mile with a difference! The event took place in the historic grounds of Stormont Castle and was classified as a downhill race and had attracted some top-flight senior and junior athletes.

With an impressive finishing straight in excess of ½ a mile Mitch was always up with the leading pack well into the last quarter of the race. However, senior athlete superior strength told over the final 150 yards, nevertheless Mitch hung on to finish in a terrific fifth place, the first junior to cross the line and was rewarded with a time of exactly 4 minutes and take home prize of £100.

The Ladies Elite Mile in which Dani Nimmock competed preceded Mitch’s race. Dani like Mitch was another City athlete keen to erase a poor run in the Crystal Palace Grand Prix. This she certainly did with great effect running herself into the ground to finish a close order third in a keenly contested race. Her reward for her all out effort was a super time of 4min 37secs plus she received a cheque for £250. Not a bad evening’s work for the two young athletes who this season took the senior English Schools 3000m track titles.

All smiles for Mark & Gemma

14 July 2007

It was a real family affair on the streets of Norwich on Saturday evening as Mark & Gemma Miles played out the leading roles in the 12th running of the Lord Mayor’s 5k City Centre Classic road race.

In perfect conditions before a packed audience numbering 50,000, it was Telford AC’s Chris Davies who made the early pace from defending champion Mark Miles with Tomas Abyu from Salford Harriers heading the chasing pack in third position. By the time the 2k marker was reached Davies had built up a lead of 30 metres, but this was the signal for Miles to make his move. Relentlessly closing the gap over the next two kilometres, Miles was on level terms at the 4k mark and Davies was powerless to stop the Belgrave Harrier surging past. Maintaining his form well, Miles finished strongly to record 14.34, securing his third victory in four years and the winner’s cheque of £500. Davies held on for second place and £300, and Simon Jones (Belgrave Harriers) came through to take £200 for third as Abyu faded.

In the ladies race, Gemma Miles - wife of race winner Mark - had a good first visit to Norwich with a twenty second victory over three time winner Birhan Dagne. Miles stopped the clock on 16.47 with Dagne returning 17.07. Catherine Bryson, the daughter of world famous author Bill Bryson, was a close third on 17.27.

City of Norwich AC’s Guy Amos showed his class once again to win the veteran men’s category with 15.40 ahead of Richard Powell from Bedford & County AC on 16.26.v

Afterwards, the winners were presented with their prizes by two time Olympian Paul Evans, whose course record of 14.11 set in 2000 has now stood for seven years. “This evening’s race was a real cracker” said Evans “with both Mark Miles and Chris Davies giving their all. With Gemma Miles adding the ladies title it’s been a good pay day got the Miles household. And don’t those spectators just love this event? It’s got the best atmosphere and support that I’ve experienced at any road race in the country”.

75 athletes completed the race, sponsored for the first time by Norwich Union, organised by City of Norwich AC and supported by the Norwich City Council Events Team. Please click here for results.

Wroxham 5k Road Race incorporating Norfolk County Championship

2 July 2007

Club’s teams come out on top at Wroxham

In the Wroxham 5k Road Race that incorporated the Norfolk County Championships the club secured the major honours in the Senior Men’s and Ladies races. Dani Nimmock took a break from the track to win the ladies race and was followed home in quick succession by Amy Dungar and Nicky Alford. The trio won the Open team title, the County team title and individually took gold, silver and bronze.

For the men, Adam Lewis (2nd), Luke Allen (3rd) Tom Crawshaw (7th) and Mikey Beamish (8th) keep the club’s momentum going with a comfortable team wins in the Open and County Championship categories. Overall, for the club, it was a very satisfactory day at the races!

In a race that 274 competitors completed our “adopted” athlete Andrew Hennessy representing Wells City Harriers proved to be a runner away winner crossing the line in 15min exactly. Andrew has recently taken up a post at the N&N Hospital.

Olivia gains England and GB honours

19 June 2007

To report on a Norfolk athlete attaining international status at Fell running is not an everyday occurrence. City of Norwich distance runner Olivia Walwyn, currently residing in the North West, has caused the fell running fraternity to sit up and take notice after gaining selection not only for England but also Great Britain.

After her success in the Fairfield Horseshoe race she will now represent England in the International Snowdon race that will take place on the 28th July. However, prior to that event she will don the GB vest to take part in the European Mountain Running Championships. The UPHILL race will take place in Cauterets in the Pyrenees on Sunday 8th July and will surely prove to be a stamina-sapping event.

Olivia qualified for the GB team when finishing the fourth Brit home in the 4.5mile race from Llanberis to the top of Snowdon. After her awesome effort she will now prepare for the tough races ahead and try to steer clear of injuries.

A sweltering time for twenty four CoNAC-ers in the capital

22 April 2007

CoNAC runners endured record breaking temperatures with 35,000 other competitors at the 27th London Marathon today. With the thermometer nudging 25 degrees centigrade it was not a day for fast times with even Kenyan race winner Martin Lel some two minutes off his previous best. Many found the conditions tough but the organisers responded well with extra water stations and showers dotted around the course.

Twenty four CoNAC-ers completed the race with Mark Collinson and Stefan Glaysher both breaking the coveted three hour barrier and Mike Wilkinson maintaining his “ever-present” record of completing each & every London Marathon since the event was first staged in 1981.

Here are the full CoNAC results (chip to chip) - Mark Collinson 2.52.43; Stefan Glaysher 2.55.00; Peter Tuttle 3.00.55; Paul Woodyatt 3.10.04; Darryl Davis 3.19.46; Vince Ellis 3.24.38; John Burton 3.42.51; Rachel Buller 3.40.01; Donna Armstrong 3.45.23; Dennis Freeman 3.46.00; John Gostling 3.59.48; Kate Scotter 4.02.59; Wayne Crowe 4.17.38; John Hardy 4.28.31; Debbie Bowers 4.33.39; David Aldis 4.34.54; Navin Ghosh 4.37.26; Julia Brooks 4.42.05; Hannah Baker 4.59.51; Ruth Baker 5.01.41; Richard Polley 5.04.59; Lucy Fleming 5.25.09; David Mackay 5.28.44 and Mike Wilkinson 6.53.20

Blistering conditions at Sutton Park for National Road Relays

14 April 2007

After last year’s gales & floods it couldn’t have been more different this time around as the temperature rose into the low 20’s for the National Men’s 12 Stage & Women’s 6 Stage Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park today. The CoNAC men improved on last year by three places to record 26th position at the final count while the CoNAC women posted a solid display for 14th place - please click here for the full results.

Hennessy sets new course record at Trowse 10k

8 April 2007

Andrew Hennessy from Wells City Harriers set a new course record as the Norwich Union Trowse 10k attracted a sell-out field. The picturesque two lap course proved a fitting challenge for the 321 finishers as Hennessy recorded 32.17. CoNAC favourite Wayne Lincoln (M40) was second place with an encouraging 32.46 and Chris Jones (also CoNAC) took third on 34.30 - please click here for the full results.

Another improvement for senior men at Southern Road Relays

1 April 2007

CoNAC’s senior men achieved a best-ever ninth place at the Southern Road Relay Championship at the Open University in Milton Keynes today, comfortably qualifying for the National 12 Stage in two weeks time at Sutton Park. In bright but blustery conditions the CoNAC team sported several new faces over alternate long (7,828m) and short (5,356m) stages and all acquitted themselves very well.

CoNAC’s senior women contested six short stages and can be well pleased with seventh place - please click here for the full results from both races.

Beginner’s Running Programme to start again

10 March 2007

We've decided to start our popular - and proven - Beginners' Running Programme again as the Norwich Race for Life beckons. Our six week programme for absolute beginners will start on Monday 19 March with the first evening being a gentle "run a minute, walk a minute times ten" session.

So if you know anyone - male or female - who wants to get going but is unsure how to take that first step, please ask them to come along to the Sportspark on Monday 19 March at 6.15pm ready to run at 6.30pm. We've got several of our regular Monday night-ers ready to act as chaperons to the newcomers and everyone who turns up is guaranteed a friendly welcome. The programme works - if you do the homework we give you, you'll run 5k in 30 minutes by the end of the sixth week. There's no charge for taking part, just the normal 50p to get through the turnstiles at the Sportspark. For further information, please email Granville Courtnell at granvillec@btinternet.com on 07799 697970.

Paul Evans' marathon clinic, part two

9 March 2007

Paul will be giving us the benefit of his considerable experience as he turns his attention to the things we should be doing with just under three weeks to go until the big day. Join us in the Sir Roger Bannister Room at the Sportspark starting at 8.15pm.

Club members mop up the honours in the Wymondham 10k

3 January 2007

Club members turned out in their numbers for the annual New Year’s Day Wymondham 10k Road Race and picked up all the major honours. More at home over the country and on the track 17 year old Mitch Goose, despite a bout of on route tummy trouble, proved to be a comfortable winner crossing the line in 32min 48secs Adam Lewis timed at 33min 23secs placed him a close order third behind Oxford City AC runner up Dan Merckel. A time of 34min 13secs placed Craig Hopkins fifth, which gave the trio a comfortable team victory. Wayne Lincoln headed the veteran section with a time of 33min 42secs that placed him in a praiseworthy fourth position overall.

Loughborough student Ruth Senior proved to be a convincing ladies winner when cruising to victory in 37min 30sec. 16-year-old Dani Nimmock testing herself over 10km for the first time was pleased to finish in third place in a creditable time of 39min 03secs. Hot her heels in fourth place 800m-track athlete Sarah Knights was credited with same time. Collectively the ladies proved to be the strongest team on the day by a wide margin.