Waveney Valley Athletic Club members Bill Kingaby and Alan Richardson took part in the Freethorpe 10 mile road race last Sunday and both won trophies for finishing in the top three in their age groups.
The event was originally planned for January but was cancelled due to the snow. Two months on and the rescheduled race was spared the snow and ice but the bitterly cold east wind still posed a real challenge for the 168 runners.
Kingaby finished in 40th position overall and second in the M60-64 age group in a time of 1:12.48 and Richardson 125th – third in the M65-69 age group – in 1:27.02.
At the mainly off-road Fritton Half Marathon, four members of Waveney Valley competed. Jon Comyn was 22nd in 1:46.54, Ailsa MacDonald 60th in 2:01.49, David Pimlott 85th – first in the 60+ age group – in 2:12.13 and Anna Outlaw 91st in 2:15.25. There was a total of 117 finishers.
Recent 5k parkrun results: Gorleston March 2, Jon Comyn 13th 20:29; March 9, Mark Nussey 11th 21:16; March 16, Tamsin Desborough 47th 25:37. Fritton Lake February 23, Jon Comyn 3rd 21:48; March 2, Dominic Oliver 1st 17:48; March 23, Jon Comyn 1st 22:01.

Three Waveney valley runners ran the Silverstone Half marathon. This half takes place on the Grand Prix circuit. The weather was cold and was windy particularly around the outer circuit. Mark Nussey achieved an excellent 4 minute PB in a time of 1hr 37 mins, with an overall place of 585 out of over 6,000 runners. Paula Lambert in a time of 1hr 54 minutes, overall place 2012 and David PImlott in a time of 2hr 4 minutes overall place 3421.

The Tarpley 10 mile road race, organised by Bury Pacers, was staged recently and was the first race in this years Suffolk Grand Prix series. The race, which was accompanied by a 20 mile event, started at Beyton Middle School and the course took in a number of villages south of the main A14 between Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.
Competing for Waveney Valley Athletic Club was Bill Kingaby who made a very good start to the series by finishing first in the Mens 60-64 age group. Out of 208 competitors he was placed 58th overall in a time of 1-11.32.
At the prize presentation, the awards were also presented to last years overall series winners with Kingaby the victor in his age group.

With the recent improvement in the weather following the snow and freezing conditions affecting fixtures in January, members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club have returned to a full competition diary this month.
At the Saturday morning 5k parkruns at Gorleston, Jon Comyn ran a time of 21:44 for 10th place on February 2nd then recorded a personal best 20:38 ( 11th ) on February 16th. Tamsin Desborough finished 34th in a time of 24:02 on February 9th then a week later was 51st in 23:42.
At Fritton Lake on February 2nd Warren Hytch finished 3rd in 25:29 and on the 16th was placed 7th in 25:17. On the 9th, Dominic Oliver won the event in a time of 18:27 and Jon Comyn was 5th in 23:06.
One of Waveney Valley A.C’s newest members, Denise Goldspink, competed in the Brighton Half Marathon last Sunday and was pleased with her time of 2.28:59, an improvement by nearly half an hour on her only previous race over the distance.

Apart from the Suffolk Cross Country league, club members have managed to keep active competitively by taking part in the Gorleston and Fritton Lake 5k parkruns held every Saturday morning. At Gorleston, when the cliff paths were too icy, organisers introduced course ‘B’ and staged the event on the beach.
Recent WVAC parkrun results- Gorleston, December 29: 17 Wayne Freeman 22:54, 56 Kaly Gooch 28:01. January 5: Wayne Freeman 22:03, Tamsin Desborough 24:48. January 12: 21 Wayne Freeman 22:09, 40 Tamsin Desborough 24:16. Fritton Lake, January 5: 2 Jon Comyn 22:39, 6 Warren Hytch 26:07. January 19: 1 Jon Comyn 24:26.

Haughley Park, Stowmarket was the venue for the third fixture in the Suffolk Winter Cross Country League.
After their excellent start to the cross country season, Waveney Valley Athletic Club unfortunately were down on numbers for this fixture and for the previous race in December at Woodbridge, which resulted in the combined men’s and ladies A team moving down the league to eighth place overall. Despite the overall team slipping down the league, there were some very fine individual performances from the squad in both of the races, with several runners winning their age categories.
It was an extremely cold day at Haughley and the ground conditions proved to be awkward, with a mixture of hard frozen areas, but some muddy areas for runners to contend with over the 2-lap 8km course.
Carl Prewer was back to good form, finishing in fourth place overall, clocking 32:51 and in doing so, achieved his hat trick of victories in the V40 category.
Dominic Oliver who took first place overall at Woodbridge, and despite a below par performance at Stowmarket, still managed to clock a very creditable time of 33:38 to secure 7th place overall and 3rd in the U20 age group.
Bill Kingaby continues to dominate his age group V60; he recorded his third win, in clocking 42:16 in 94th position. Other notable performances, David Mower is obviously benefitting from his training for the London Marathon as he continues to improve in crossing the line in 137th place in a respectable time of 45:54. The men’s A team are now in 8th place overall.
In the ladies section, Catherine Rickett who was side lined with a foot injury at Woodbridge, put in a strong performance at Stowmarket in taking 48th place overall and 1st in her age group. Ann Millett and Tamsin Desborough put in much improved performances in finishing in 140th and 141st positions respectively. The ladies teams respectable placing’s, ensured they maintained their third place in the league.
Results from Stowmarket:
4th Carl Prewer 32:51
7th Dominic Oliver 33:38
48th Catherine Rickett 39:13
49th Chris Pimlott 39:19
94th Bill Kingaby 42:16
110th Alan Bradley 43:21
137th David Mower 45:54
140th Ann Millett 46:02
141st Tamsin Desborough 46:04
158th Sarah Bradley 47:15
161st Tony Millett 47:26
215th Stuart Smith 55:19
233rd Angela Mower 62:15

Fairly mild, dry and sunny conditions greeted a near record field of competitors at the annual turkey trot 10 mile road race,
The weather was in stark contrast to last years icy conditions and also the 2010 event when the freeze was so bad the race was called off for safety reasons.
The race , which was staged at Beccles, had 207 runners including wheelchair entrant Peter Downing, a regular on the regional road racing scene. The route took runners past Ringsfield Corner, through Ilketshall St Andrew and back to Sir John Leman High School via the village of Ringsfield. All finishers received Christmas puddings.
The overall race winner was Robert Reason of Harwich Runners who, by the half way mark, had established a lead of around 100 metres from Piers Arnold of City of Norwich A.C. and Gavin Davis of Ipswich Jaffa. At the finishing line, Reason clocked 55:24, just over a minute ahead of Arnold, 56:26, with Davis third in 56:40. First lady to finish was Marie Shirley of Colchester Harriers in a time of 1.04:25.
The first three men and three women to finish received Christmas vouchers, also the first in each veteran age group. The winning teams of Ipswich Jaffa ( Mens ) and St. Edmunds Pacers ( Womens ) also received prizes. Age group winners:- M40 Andy Jones, Conac 57:41; W40 Sarah Vick, Saxons 1.17:03; M45 Neil Shearer, Conac 1.00:42; W45 Claire Hoblyn, St. Edmund Pacers 1.14:26; M50 Mark Rutter, Harwich R. 1.02:44; W50 Jenny Sheahan, U/A 1.20:11; M55 Clive Purbrook, U/A 1.12:45; W55 Penny Edwards, Norwich R.R. 1.13:46; M60 Peter Edmunds, U/A 1.16:57; W60 Elspeth Knott, Harwich R. 1.18:27; M65 Ron McCullough, Ipswich Jaffa 1.08:33; W65 Judy Potter, Bungay Black Dog 1.30:26.
The finishing places and times of the host club, Waveney Valley:- 36 Chris Pimlott 1.06:36; 93 Wayne Freeman 1.17:04; 94 Lisa Knights 1.17:13; 101 David Mower 1.18:36; 134 Emma Locker 1.24:49; 177 Stuart Smith 1.34:27; 203 Tracy Mayne 1.49:14.
The race organisers thanked everybody who helped out on the day, from Mike Sharman and Peter Wicks for setting up the course, the marshals, timekeepers, caterers, through to Gary Finch who compiled the results. There was special thanks to Mike Sharman who donated £250 towards the running costs of the race, in memory of his grandfather Jim Wyatt, a former member of Waveney Valley A.C.

At the Gorleston Cliffs parkrun last Saturday, Tracy Mayne achieved a personal best time of 29:26 which knocked more than two minutes off her previous best for the distance and gave her a bronze standard for her age for the first time. Wayne Freeman recorded a time of 21:53, also a personal best and Jon Comyn finished in 21:14, his best time of the year so far.

Four members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club joined more than 2,000 other competitors at the Norwich Half Marathon staged recently. On a day when energy sapping strong winds provided runners with an arduous challenge, Waveney’s quartet still managed to put in very satisfying performances.
David Mower recorded a personal best time of 1:47.34 as did Ailsa MacDonald who crossed the finish line in a new best time of 1:48.17. Joe Mayne, running his first half marathon, was not far behind, finishing in 1:50.10 and Lisa Knights, battling a cold as well as the elements, clocked 1:51.46.
Gorleston parkrun results November 24:- 26 Wayne Freeman 22:40, 33 Tamsin Desborough 23:35. December 1:- 11 Jon Comyn 21:18, 23 Wayne Freeman 22:17, 30 Tamsin Desborough 23:40. Fritton parkrun results November 24:- 1 Dominic Oliver 16:50, 4 Jon Comyn 21:22.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club members Tim Earl and Bill Kingaby took part in the Hadleigh 10 mile road race last Sunday, the final event in this years Suffolk Grand Prix series.
After the relentless rain and strong winds of the previous 24 hours, race organisers Hadleigh Hares A.C. did a good job of clearing most of the branches and surface water from the race route. The winds had barely eased though by the time of the race and, coupled with the testing hilly course, runners soon realised they were in for a tough race.
Earl completed the event in 67th place, from a field of 262, in a time of 1:11.22. Kingaby was 82nd in 1:12.58 and was the trophy winner for first in his age group. Presentations for the county Grand Prix champions, with Kingaby finishing top in the M60-64 age group, will be held at a later date.
Southwold 10k results for club members on November 18:- 47th Lee Cousens 41:49, 69th Seamus Wrigley 43:13, 115th Paul Harrod 45:46, 136th Wayne Freeman 46:55, 202nd Ailsa MacDonald 48:29, 392nd David Pimlott 55:56, 479th Shelley Haverson 59:15.

Waveney Valley member Mark Nussey took part in the first ever Spartan Beast race in this country at Brands Hatch. This is a 20k tough race , starting on the track and going out into the countryside. 50 plus obstacles, including water obstacles, tractor tyre flips, rope climbs, barbed wire crawls, ice pits, wall climbs. Mark finished in under 2 hrs 15 minutes.
Results of Gorleston Cliffs parkrun Saturday November 10:- 16th Paul Harrod 21:55, 23rd Wayne Freeman 22:48, 37th Tamsin Desborough 23.38 PB. Fritton Lake parkrun:- 1st Dominic Oliver 18:09, 3rd Jon Comyn 22.39.

Five members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club competed in the Great East Run 20k on a very cold day with persistant rain.
The course took the runners round the pleasant country roads and villages south of Bungay known as the ‘saints’ but the weather conditions were so bad that competitors were forced to concentrate more on the race and less on the view of the countryside. The soup provided for runners as they finished was certainly welcome.
Tim Earl was first to finish for Waveney Valley in 38th place in a time of 1-27.01. Bill Kingaby finished 63rd in 1-31.12 and was awarded first prize in his age group. New member Lisa Knights was placed 111th in 1-39.37 and was delighted to mark her debut for the club by receiving the award for third place in her age group.
Joe and Tracy Mayne have tackled several different distance events on the road this year and have now added the 20k to their race CV. Joe finished 134th in 1-42.57 and Tracy 235th in 2-23.34.