On Sunday, Waveney Valley AC took nine senior and five junior teams to the Ekiden relay races, which was organised by Ipswich Jaffa RC at Woodbridge School. The event was a sell-out with 200 teams entered and staged on what turned out to be yet another very hot weekend this summer.

The event has its origins in Japan and the marathon distance of 26.2 miles is covered by six runners in each team in relay legs, consisting of 1 x 7.2k, 2 x 10k and 3 x 5k in the senior race. The juniors had four runners in a team, covering legs of 1.1 miles. It is one of the most popular events in the region, with all of the competing club’s gazebos providing a colourful display.

Award winners for Waveney Valley were Samantha Lines, who was fastest female over the 5k distance with her time of 18:21, and the club’s Over 60’s team ‘ Waveney Silver Surfers ‘ ( Robin Jones, Patricia Tuttle, David Mower, Dave Martindale, Bill Kingaby and Stuart Smith ) who retained the title they won last year, in a time of 3-34:44. Other senior results: Mens Open – 35 teams – 13th Waveney Turkey Trotters 2-53:49, 24th Waveney Blue Beach 3-10:49, 35th Waveney Cods Wallop 4-27:54. Ladies Open – 16 teams – 14th Waveney Stardust 4-17:15. Mixed Mens/Ladies – 80 teams – 5th Waveney Seagulls 2-42:54, 16th Waveney Speedboats 3-18:04, 64th Waveney Third Crossing 3-57:36, 71st Waveney Scores 4-08:42.

Matt Jeffries was second fastest over the 10k distance with 33:50 and in the Juniors George Browne was 4th fastest with 6:01 in the 12+ age group. His second lap for the second team team was 12th fastest with Joel Burgess 15th. Josh Smith was 7th fastest in the 11+ age group with 6:45 and Lewis Barnes just behind with 6:53.

At the Wroxham 5k race 3, Sam Lines achieved one of her best performances by finishing first lady trophy winner in a personal best 17:35. She was 23rd overall from more than 600 athletes. Chris Pimlott finished 30th in 17:49 and Steve Carruthers 64th in a personal best 18:49. Three club members competed in the Lord Mayors 5k race at Norwich. Jim Burgess was 53rd in 17:47, Chris Pimlott 81st in 18:19 and Tim Earl 183rd in 20:29…End

Four members of Waveney Valley AC completed energy sapping ultra marathons recently, at events in Sussex and closer to home in North Norfolk. James Cousins took part in the Race to the King 53.5 miles event which started at Arundel and finished at Winchester, near the burial ground of some of England’s first Kings. Most of the race took place over the hilly terrain of the South Downs and James crossed the finish line in a time of 13-57:48, raising money for his favourite charity Tommy’s, which funds research to save babies lives.

Bob Milner, Patricia Tuttle and Lisa Wilson competed in the Norfolk 100k, which started with a loop around Castle Acre then followed the Peddars Way to Holme-Next-the-Sea. The route then followed the coastal path to the finish at Sheringham. Bob completed the race in 14-41:34 with Pat and Lisa deciding to stay together, reaching the finish line in 15-55.54 for Pat and 15-55:55 for Lisa.

A dozen club members competed in the Humpty Dumpty 10k race, organised by Great Yarmouth & District AC in hot conditions at Freethorpe. An uphill climb, leading out of Reedham at about the half way point, made it even tougher for the competitors battling the hot weather. Results: 41 Chris Pimlott 39:02, 43 Mark Thompson 39:07, 48 Steve Carruthers 39:32, 197 Bill Kingaby 47:04 ( 3rd prize M65+ age category ), 222 Becky Langford 47:54, 235 Ian Hawkes 48:40, 380 John Skelly 53:47 PB, 393 Louise Harrod 54:22, 479 Phil Hazell 59:22, 484 Gavin Hamilton 59:26, 512 Grainne Purvis 1-01:05, 558 Alan Varle 1-03:34. There were 682 finishers.

Jim Burgess achieved another personal best run this year when he led his Waveney club mates home in race two of the Bungay summer 10k series. He finished third out of 221 runners in a time of 36:47. Other Waveney Valley results: 35 Neil Gooch 42:39, 42 Stuart Spurgeon 43:35 PB, 49 Chris Strange 44:38 PB, 73 Robin Jones 47:05 PB, 81 Daniel Critoph 48:14 PB, 113 Jon Andrews 52:21, 148 Lisa Stewart 56:36, 149 Cheryl Goymer 56:39, 152 Alison Cooper 57:09, 158 Tina Winney 57:56, 163 Demelza Hammond 58:31, 201 Rachel Maydom 1-08:40.

There were 826 finishers at last Saturday’s Holkham 10k. Waveney results: 37 Ricci Wilson 44:00, 46 Antony Croucher 44:59, 56 Colin Galer 45:30, 475 Natalie Brown 1-01:34, 488 Louise Adamson 1-01:58, 496 Rachel Finch 1-03:01, 566 Debbie Foster 1-06:03, 570 Alan Varle 1-05:47, 661 Sarah James 1-10:35 and 718 Donna Milner 1-13:54.

Members of Waveney Valley AC recorded commendable performances in regional road races recently, with many making big improvements on their fastest times. At race one of the Bungay 10k summer series, Jim Burgess set a new personal best, finishing 5th in a time of 37:53. Matt Baldry was next for Waveney, in 41st in 43:21. In 62nd was Stuart Spurgeon in 44:47, who had an excellent race to knock almost three minutes off his previous best 10k time. Bill Kingaby finished 80th in 46:51, Chris Strange 84th in 47:37 and Daniel Critoph 94th in a personal best 48:32. Jon Andrews was 134th in 53:11, Cheryl Goymer 143rd in 53:34 PB, new member Alison Cooper 156th in 56:54, Phil Hazell 158th in 57:09, James Gooch 185th in 1-01:16 and Amy Holmes 193rd in 1-02:56. Jim Burgess (M45+) and Bill Kingaby (M65+) won their age categories.

At the Framlingham Friday 5-mile event, Demelza Hammond finished 357th in 48:00 while Alan Varle and Louise Adamson travelled to Leicestershire to compete in the Market Harborough festival races. Alan was awarded first prize in the M70+ age category in the 10k race, finishing in a time of 1-03:24 and Louise, affected by recent injuries, recorded 33:08 in the 5k event.

At the Mike Groves 10k, organised by Coltishall Jaguars, more than half of Waveney Valley’s members ran personal best times on the former RAF Coltishall air base. There were 488 competitors with Mike Quantrill first for Waveney, finishing in 54th in a new best time of 41:02. He achieved his first Diamond age-graded performance. On a successful day for Waveney’s athletes, remaining results were:- 114 David Mower 44:43, 124 Ian Hawkes 45:21 PB, 158 Phil Acton 47:26 PB, 228 Dave Catchpole 51:53 PB, 288 Odette Goldsmith 54:40, 289 Grainne Purvis 54:41 PB, 392 new member Diane Burton 1-00:54, 408 Rachael Finch 1-02:19 PB, 409 Debbie Foster 1-02:23 PB, 415 Sarah James 1-02:36 PB, 437 Dee Acton 1-04:28 and 449 Angela Mower 1-06:45.

The 2017-2018 Suffolk Winter Cross Country League awards night was held at the weekend with Waveney Valley AC hosting the event this year at the Lowestoft & Yarmouth Rugby Club.

18 team’s competed in the league with Waveney Valley taking top honours in the men’s A, B and C team’s. However, they just failed to retain the combined men and women’s title by one point, losing out to Bury Pacers. Waveney’s B and C team’s finished top of their combined leagues.

Seven members received trophies in their age categorie’s. Dominic Oliver was the senior men’s winner, Bill Kingaby was 1st M65+, Lisa Knights 2nd F45+, David Mower 2nd M60+, Ann Millett 3rd F60+, Jim Burgess 3rd senior man and Alan Varle 3rd M70+. Team captain Chris Pimlott received the men’s team trophies.

A record turn-out of 48 members took part in race two of the Great Yarmouth 5-mile promenade series. A strong south-easterly breeze affected fast times but the in form Jim Burgess still equalled his best time of 29:22, finishing a strong 9th from a field of 531. Members achieving personal bests were: Chris Strange 37:02, Daniel Critoph 38:01, Dave Catchpole 42:49, Lauren Finch 45:56, Demelza Hammond 46:29, Rachael Finch 46:46, Gavin Hamilton 46:57, Debbie Foster 48:17, Sarah James 48:52, Caroline Clamp 49:11, Tara Carroll 50:04, Kim Stone 51:01, Lorraine Barker 53:01 and Paul Hierons 1.02:05.

Mark Thompson was first WVAC to finish in the Dereham 10m event. He was placed 30th out of 384 athletes in 1.03:51. Leon Neeve was 78th in a PB 1.08:56 and Mike Quantrill 89th in 1.10:07, also a PB. David Mower was 192nd in 1.18:06, Demelza Hammond 377th in 1.34:29 (PB), Grainne Purvis 378th in 1.34:32, Vicky Wood 383rd in 1.35:14 and Camilla Darling 408th in 1.39:07.

At the Bury to Clare Challenge, runners competed over an 18 and a half mile cross country course in aid of St. Nicholas Hospice Care. Malcolm Huggins finished 41st in 2.53:06, Stephanie Pimlott was 79th in 3.10:07 and Stephanie’s dad Stuart Smith was 99th in 3.22:20 and 3rd in his age category.

Club coaches Michaela and James Gooch competed in their debut triathlon’s on Saturday. The event was the Stradbroke Triathlon and included a 160 metre swim, 17k bike ride and 3k run. Michaela finished 84th in a time of 1.06:57 and James 86th in 1.07:32. In other events, Samantha Lines finished 45th out of 554 runners in the Wroxham 5k series (race one) in a time of 18:11 and Phil Hazell, a veteran of many decades of road racing, clocked 1.02:28 in very hot conditions at the Breckland 10k.

40 members of Waveney Valley A.C. converged on Gt Yarmouth seafront for race one of this year’s 5-mile Promenade Series. More than 500 athletes took part in the event and the highest placed WVAC runner was Jim Burgess who finished 13th in a personal best 29:22. Leon Neeve was 61st in 32:44, Bob Milner 112th in 34:50, Darrel Roberts 114th in 34:55 and Mike Illingsworth in a pb 35:25. Other club times:- Colin Galer 35:49, Alex Chalmers-Wilkes 36:14, Bill Kingaby 36:45, Ian Hawkes 37:15, Nicole Goffin 37:32, Daniel Critoph 38:03 pb, Susannah Close 38:00, Sonny Neeve 39:18, Daniella Liffen 41:48 pb, Paul Peek 41:16, Jon Andrews 42:10, Louise Harrod 42:50, Dave Catchpole 43:48, Tina Winney 43:40 pb, Steve Betts 44:24 pb, Natalie Brown 44:39, Lisa Cone 46:18, Demelza Hammond 46:30 pb, Donna Milner 47:09 pb, Lauren Finch 47:21, Debbie Foster 49:40, Emma Branch 49:51, Sarah James 50:09 pb, Caroline Clamp 50:12, Tara Carroll 50:47, Angelene Ayers 50:50, Rachael Finch 50:58, Alison Barnard 50:59, Simon Cross 51:38, Samantha Paolantonio 51:44, Rachel Calver 51:50, Kim Stone 54:16 pb, Lorraine Barker 54:32, Jenny Green 58:14.

On a very hot Bank Holiday weekend, club members raced in distances ranging from 5k to the marathon. At the GEAR Kings Lynn 10k, Ricci Wilson finished 101st in 41:59, Mike Quantrill 134th in 43:09 and Ian Hawkes 314th in a personal best 47:22. Just under 2,500 runners competed.

Milton Keynes was the setting for a busy weekend of races with a 5k warm-up event on Sunday, followed by the main event of a half marathon and marathon on Bank Holiday Monday. 5k results:- Sarah Norman 23:17, Matt Baldry 23:17, Angelene Ayers 29:52, Andy Ayers 29:53. There were over 2,000 competitors in the marathon with Waveney’s Karim Ouaddane finishing 73rd in 3.20:51, Andy Ayers 246th in 3.47:45, Matt Baldry 848th in 4.34:20 and Sarah Norman 944th in 4.41:17. In the half marathon, Beth Stephens ran a time of 2.34:55.

In East Sussex, Lisa Wilson took part in the Three Forts Challenge, a 27-mile event over the picturesque South Downs. She completed the tough course in 6.25:57

Thirteen members of Waveney Valley A.C. took part in Sunday’s London Marathon. More than 40,000 runners faced the record hot temperatures for the event, and over 38,000 crossed the finish line. Waveney’s athletes all completed the race safely and returned home in good spirits.

Ross Lambert ran a very high standard time of 2.38:28 and was just outside the top 100 finisher’s. He improved on his previous time, at New York in November, by just over a minute. After just 8 week’s training following injury and illness, Samantha Lines produced a fantastic personal best time of 3.09:12.

The race times of Steve Carruthers have got faster in recent month’s over several distances, and his time on Sunday of 3.20:04 was another good performance. Mark Thompson was the club’s next finisher, with a time of 3.30:02. Becky Langford, running in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, finished in 3.37:48, just three minutes outside her best time.

Lisa Knights recorded a time of 3.42:25, raising funds for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Matt Jeffries has endured several months of injury, but the enthusiastic club member still made it to the start line. He ran with Samantha Lines until the 20-mile mark but was then hampered by his injury and slowed down. For most of the latter stages of the race, he assisted a struggling competitor and crossed the finish line, with Tina, in 3.52:12, more than an hour outside his best. Matt has previously won a marathon, but on Sunday he won huge respect and a new friend.

David Mower was competing in his fourth London Marathon and crossed the line this year in 4.36:14. Tim Moore was next in 4.48:06. Tim’s ‘negative split’ was interesting, running the first half in a steady 2.51, then the 2nd half in a much speedier 1.57. Grainne Purvis, raising money for Sence, was running in her 2nd ‘London’ and achieved a new PB of 5.03:25.

Daren Coulter, in his debut marathon, finished in 5.20:38 and raised £1,000 for Access Community Trust. Gavin Hamilton crossed the line in 6.07:54 and Amie Ogilvie, in her debut also, recorded a time of 6.38:48. She raised a terrific sum of £2,600 for Spinal Research after her husband Kev was injured by an IED blast whilst serving in Afghanistan in 2012 and is paralysed from the waist down. Prospective new member Rain Crowson, who started training with the club recently, finished in 6.28:31.

Haverhill XC

Waveney Valley Athletic Club seniors just narrowly missed out on retaining their Suffolk Winter Cross Country League Combined Ladies and Men’s team title, only one point separated Waveney and St. Edmund Pacers. Despite winning the final fixture at Haverhill, Waveney’s A team total over the six races amounted to 18752 points, against Pacers total of 18753.

Waveney was successful in defending their Men’s team title, finishing top with a massive 15684 points. The B and C combined ladies and men’s teams finished first in their sections.
Seven members won individual series trophies in their age groups: Lisa Knights 2nd F45+, Ann Millett 3rd F60+, Dominic Oliver 1st Senior Male, Jim Burgess 3rd M40+, David Mower 2nd VM60+, Bill Kingaby 1st V65+ and Alan Varle 3rd VM70+.

Waveney had twenty-five seniors competing at Haverhill, and once again Dominic Oliver was first home for the club finishing in second place with his swift time of 29:01. Dominic has finished in the top 4 in five races of the series, which secured him the senior men’s individual title. Jim Burgess posted 31:30 in 15th place was second in his age group V40+. Dylan Neeve clocked 32:38 in 23rd place not far behind was the youngest member of the senior squad Josh Barnard who finished a very creditable 25th with his time of 33:02. Steve Barber recorded his highest finishing position in the series crossing the line in 30th place with his time of 33:39. Leon Bernasconi and Tim Earl both finished in the top sixty with Leon recording 34:58 in 45th place and Tim 35:55 in 54th place. The men’s A team total on the day was 2638, which retained them the men’s series-winning shield.

Rest of the men’s team results: 59th Leon Neeve 36:33. 64th Robert Milner 37:23. 68th Stuart Spurgeon 37:55. 82nd Matt Baldry 39:18. 84th Bill Kingaby 39:38 (1st V65+). 86th David Mower 39:41 (2nd V60+). 93rd Ian Hawkes 40:15. 102nd Robin Jones 40:37. 193rd Alan Varle (3rd V70+) 50:03.

The men’s B and C team also topped their sections in the overall team standings.

Waveney’s top finisher in the ladies section Lisa Knight posted a very creditable time of 38:36 in 76th place was 14th lady (2nd V45+) Sarah Norman clocked 41:49 in 109th place (26th Lady). Stephanie Pimlott recorded 42:40 in 122nd place (29th lady).
It was good to see Ann Millett back in action after having to drop out of the race at Bury St. Edmunds with a leg injury, she was delighted to finish the race at Haverhill in a respectable time of 44:15 in 139th place overall. Rosemary Plant was 180th in 48:17. Rachel Finch 183rd in 48:42. 201st Donna Milner 52:41. 209th Debbie Foster 54:22. 210th Alison Barnard 54:56. All these ladies scored valuable points for the club which all counted towards the combined ladies and men’s A, B and C teams finishing top of their sections.

In the junior one lap race, new member Zak Barber in his first cross country race for the club posted an impressive time of 14:51 in 22nd place, and fourth in his U: 13 age group. William Browne was also in good form, competing in the same age group; he clocked 15:35 in 28th place (7th U: 13).
Thanks to all senior and junior members who competed in the league, but special mention must go to club captain Chris Pimlott who although injured so could not compete in all of the races, was mainly instrumental in Waveney’s strong presence in the league.

A number of senior club members have competed in half marathon and 20-mile events, some as part of their preparation for spring marathons. At the Tarpley 20-mile race, there was little to separate Lisa Knights and Becky Langford and at the finish line, both achieved excellent personal bests with Lisa 105th from 325 runners in 2.38:10 and Becky 114th in 2.39:50. Chris Meadows led his teammates home in finishing 65th in 2.27:22 with Sarah Etherton-Nicoll 314th in 3.53:15.

In the Tarpley 10-mile event, which had 337 competitors, Alan Richardson finished 161st in 1.26:59 and his wife Jayne 230th in a personal best 1.36:39, almost four minutes faster than her previous best time. Amie Ogilvie was 307th in 1.55:16. David Mower competed in the Cambridge Half Marathon and recorded a time of 1.42:44 with Beth Stephens, in the same race, finishing in 2.23:20.

On Sunday, Amie Ogilvie was again in action, tackling the very hilly Dartford Half Marathon. Amie, who is raising money for Spinal Research in next months London Marathon, completed the tough course in Dartford in a time of 2.44:56.

Mindful that the club year ends on March 31, members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club have been keeping active for their age graded standards awards. Members must achieve times at three different road race distances with bronze up to platinum trophies to be awarded.

The popular 5k parkruns provide members with a weekly opportunity at one of the distances and there is never a shortage of personal bests each week. Recent pb’s have been achieved by Louise Harrod, who has improved her times steadily since joining the club two years ago. Her best is now 25:28. There have been pb’s also by Rachel Calver 31:42, Neil Gooch 21:36, Phil Acton 24:41, Tara Carroll 30:05, Chantell Warren 31:22 and Jan Piggott 38:06.

On Sunday, seven members travelled to the western outskirts of Norwich to take part in the Valentine’s 10k. From the 521 athletes that competed, the first home for WVAC was Mark Thompson who finished 17th in 37:09 then 172 Ian Hawkes 47:17, 272 Lee Roth in a personal best 52:54, 345 Louise Adamson 56:30, 364 Demelza Hammond 57:27, 402 Alan Varle 1.00:30, 473 Millie Darling 1.07:08.