Cumbria Cross Country League - Penrith

Keswick AC dominated the opening counter of the Cumbria Cross Country League at Cockermouth in early October and there was another successful showing at the second event that took place in Penrith over the weekend.

The weather was fair and the underfoot conditions soft as the senior men and senior women ran an identical course of 7.3km on the fields surrounding Hunter Hall School. The course was an ideal Cross Country route, mixing fast flat running with short and sharp hills.

Keswick’s Russell Maddams completed his second win in two outings, adding victory at Penrith to his success at Cockermouth. Russell had a comfortable win, completing the race in 27:16, over a minute ahead of his closest rival John French of Eden Runners. Joining Russell high up the field in Keswick colours were David Birch (3rd, 29:13) and Josh Hebson (4th, 29:44), the trio taking home the team prize for the Club.

There was some keen competition in the women’s race and the Keswick ladies replicated the success of the men by securing a hard-fought victory over a strong Eden Runners side. Trudy Beetham (2nd, 36:03), Helen Winskill (5th, 38:30) and Kim Clark (7th, 41:24) put in excellent runs to ensure a second team prize for Keswick Athletic Club.

The race also incorporated the Cumbria Cross Country Veteran Championship and a number of category wins were taken by Keswick members. Along with their contributions to team triumph, Russell (MV35), Trudy (FV35), David (MV40) and Kim (MV50) also took victory in their respective age categories. To round off a successful day for Keswick, Club coach Duncan Overton was a different class in the MV60 group, over five minutes clear of the next veteran over 60.

Full Results: http://www.ukresults.net/2011/cumbriaxc10a.html

Photos: http://www.edenrunners.co.uk/webphotos/penrith%20xc2011/index.html

Derwentwater 10 - Sunday 6th November 2011

Only a week to go to the closing date for DW10. Although there will be a limited number of entries on the day it would be very helpful if you are going to run to enter in advance HERE . As we will be using the latest in chip timing systems, numbers are to be collected at the school on race day. Please note that numbers must NOT be folded in any way and must be attached at each corner with pins. This is important for the chips to work.
85% of entries received so far have been online which has saved me a lot of work!. Many of those who have sent in paper entries have included SAE, some only A5, what is the point of that??!. These can be collected along with the numbers.
If you are not running but are willing to help, please contact Steve at : steve@adk.co.uk

KAC AGM

Keswick AC's AGM with be on Tuesday 29 November at 8pm in the bar of The Theatre by the Lake (doors open from 7.30pm). All members welcome. If you would like to submit any proposals as items for the agenda, or proposals for Committee Members, please get these (duly seconded) to the Club Secretary (Quentin Merritt) at KAC-Sec@keswick-ac.org.uk by 14 November.

Fauja Singh becomes oldest marathon runner

Something for us all to aspire to when what little speed we possess has finally deserted us:

A 100-year-old Briton has become the world's oldest marathon runner after finishing a race in Canada.

UKA Fell + Hill Running Relay Championship 2011

On Saturday 15th October the 23rd UKA British Fell and Hill Relay Championship took place at Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales. Bingley Harriers were excellent hosts and put on a superb event, even organising some unseasonably warm and sunny weather.


Keswick AC entered three teams of six runners -open, O/40, and ladies- all of whom should be commended for putting in such effort as they did to represent the club well at this prestigious and competitive event.


The standard of racing at this event is testament to the prestige attached to a win here, and amongst the athletic clubs from England, Wales and Scotland that entered teams there were some very talented male and female athletes.

It was a pleasure to be involved, and I will look forward to being a part of next years event rumoured to be in the hills of Shropshire, hosted by Mercia Fell Runners.

Full results from Saturday including individual leg splits here, and a set of photographs here.

Main picture courtesy of Andy Holden © 2011. Keswick AC team photo courtesy of Rob Wynne.

Kielder Marathon 9/10/11

A report from somebody who didn't catch the bus!!! This is the second year for the event, the brain child of Steve Cram. Crammy was on hand himself working hard as a marshal (opting not to compete this year). I thought this was a great event and given the fact it is only a 2 hour drive from the north lakes I reckon it should be on a few more club members tick lists! Perfect underfoot, billed as off-road but the track is superb and road shoes are fine. This is a very hilly route which seemed to frighten the daylights out of many, but I guess living in the lakes prepares you better than most. The day was very damp and I still can't say I have seen kielder water itself! but I reckon on a clear day this would be a spectacular place to run. Having never run a marathon before (or even a half for that matter) I was a little daunted by the task ahead, my training hadn't gone well due to a busy life and injuries but all that was forgotten about as soon as the gun fired. The experience of running in a big event with large crowds of support and the atmosphere has certainly given me the marathon bug! I posted 3.31 and finished 76th out of nearly 1200 runners which has encouraged me to take this long distance stuff a bit more serious and actually train for it!Local lad Ricky Lightfoot won in 2.35, only 2 others posted sub 3 hours which is testament to the difficult course. If you are looking for a marathon type event and like me prefer to run amongst scenery with trail under foot then this could be the one for you!

Marathon runner hands back medal after taking shortcut

But he still didn't beat Ricky Lightfoot!

"A marathon runner has been forced to hand back his medal, after witnesses spotted him taking an unusual shortcut, he caught the bus to the finishing line. Rob Sloan was 20 miles into the Kielder Marathon in Northumberland when he apparently succumbed to temptation and hopped on a bus. He then hid behind a tree until other competitors came into view and rejoined the run to claim third place."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-15277618

Penrith Rotary 10K -Sun 9th October

The 2nd Penrith Rotary Club 10K, a multi terrain run over grass, farm tracks and tarmac within Lowther Park took place on Sunday. A good turn out from Keswick AC -well done to those who turned out in the gold and green.

1. John French (Eden Runners) -38:32
2. Ben Harrison (Morpeth Harriers) -39:08
3. Joe Mann (Penistone Footpath Runners) -41:06

Keswick AC:
4. Neil Cockbain -41:50
7. Dunc Frampton -42:55
9. Pez Bullen -43:24
15. John Curran -44:57
19. Rob Jones -46:09

1. Mary Ballantyne (u/a) -48:59
2. Louise Tweedale (Carlisle Tri) -51:10
3. Lindsay Walker (u/a) -52:36

Keswick AC:
6. Annabel Holmes -53:25
7. Sue Wilkinson -53:31

Langdale Horseshoe 14m/4000'

The weather wasn't as bad as feared for the last lakeland classic race of 2011, but nonetheless still challenging.

Only a few hardy Keswick runners started the race.

Carl Bell (still on top form) was the winner in 2.09.13, followed by

2. Oli Johnson 2.10.45

3. Ben Abdelnoor 2.11.34

First lady was Hazel Robinson 2.36.57

250 Lesley Malarkey 3.41.32 was first Keswick runner home (go girl) followed by

258 Siobhan Brewer 3.44.54 (after watching Lesley sprint off descending blisc0 )

340 Andrew Murray 4.40.28

full results herehttp://www.amblesideac.org.uk/Langdale_2011_results.htm

Cumbria XC League 2011 race #1: Cockermouth -Sat 8th Oct

The first fixture in the 2011-12 Cumbrian cross country calendar took place on Saturday afternoon. Over one hundred athletes from clubs across the county and from under 11 to V65 tackled the testing Cockermouth course, dampened by showery rain -fitting conditions for the opening fixture of the season.


Keswick AC was well represented and indeed, came away with the spoils in a number of categories, including individual and team wins in both the senior men's and women's races.


Well done all who took part. The next race in the Cumbria League is at Penrith a week on Saturday -October 22nd, the Mid-Lancs League getting underway the following week (October 29th) at Burnley.

Senior Men, 8400m

1. Russell Maddams (Keswick AC) -29:16
2. Jamie Luxmoore (Keswick AC) -31:23
3. Josh Hebson (Keswick AC) -31:41

Keswick AC:
5. Ian Davies -32:32
8. Lee Newton -34:08
12. Duncan Overton -35:40 (1st V60)
21. Gary Hadwin -42:29
23. Chris Clark -43:09 (3rd V60)

Senior Women, 8400m

1. Pippa Maddams (Keswick AC) -32:17
2. Trudy Beetham (Keswick AC) -38:09
3. Ruth Hetherington (Eden Runners) -39:30

Keswick AC:
4. Helen Winskill -40:02
8. Kim Clark -43:47 (1st V50)


Pictures courtesy of Phil Winskill © 2011

National Cross Country Relays - 5th November

Further to Steve's blog entry below, the national Cross Country Relays will be taking part on the 5th November in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. This is a prestigious events which attracts many of the top athletic clubs from across the country.

I'm keen to put together a Keswick side and we need four runners to field a men's team. Each leg is 5km in distance. There is also the possibility of entering a ladies team if their is sufficient interest. The deadline for entering squads is Friday so if you are interested in running please let me know ASAP. I'll sort out the logistics and will be prepared to do the driving on the day.

Full details @: http://www.englishcrosscountry.co.uk/

My contact details: iandavversdavies@googlemail.com
Home – 01946 823612
Mobile – 07789 234788

Cross Country 2011-2012 fixtures

A winter of cross country develops a great base for a summer of competition on the fell, road or track while the events are great fun too. Get the following dates in your diary.

Cumbria League

The Cumbria League kicks off tomorrow (Saturday 8th October) with the first fixture at Cockermouth. All senior races start 1.10pm, junior races at all fixtures start from 12 noon.

These races are counters for the Club X-Country Champs series.

Oct 8: Cockermouth
Oct 22: Penrith (incorporates County Vets Championships (Cumbria))
Nov 12: Maryport
Nov 26: Carlisle
Jan 7: Keswick

More info here.


Mid Lancs League

Bigger fields than Cumbria League, and gennerally a better standard of competition, well worth the extra drive.

Oct 29: Townley Park, Burnley
Nov 26: Sefton Park, Liverpool (Incorporates McCain Cross Challenge and Euro Trials)
Dec 10: Astley Park, Chorley
Jan 14: Wilson Playing Fields, Hyndburn
Feb 11: Thorncliffe, Barrow in Furness
March 3: Worden Park, Leyland

More details at http://midlancs.org.uk/


Cumbria County Championships

Dec 3: Fitz Park, Keswick

National Cross Country Relays

Nov 5: Mansfield, Notts

Details here.

Northen Championships

Jan 28: Pontefract

More details at http://www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk/

English National Championships

Feb 25: Parliment Hill, London

More details at http://www.noeaa-athletics.org.uk/

CAU Inter Counties Championships

March 10: Cofton Park, Birmingham

Details at http://www.ukcau.co.uk/

Ian Hodgson Relay

The results from today's race can be found HERE

Great victory for the ladies!!. Well done to all who ran for the club.