Waveney Valley Athletic Club members have taken part in many of the regions events recently> including the popular 5k parkrun races. Members find these races, held every Saturday locally at Lowestoft, Gorleston and Fritton Lake, provide an ideal opportunity to gauge their current fitness and to attempt new personal best times.
There were PB’s achieved during July at the parkruns by Sam Jacks 19:14, Francis Guildea 28:31, Beth Bell 28:40, Gill Johnson 30:17, Jane Spendlove 35:47, Laura Head 31:12, Matt Baldry 20:46, Andy Ayers 24:21, Lily Collins 24:54, Cheryl Goymer 25:34, Claire Parfrey 31:39, Angie Jeffs 38:47, Jayne Richardson 27:58 and Peter Rogers 20:36. New members are Laura Quantrill 22:48, Sue Woolnough 27:38,
Amie Ogilvie 36:33, Lee Roth 29:59, Laura Oliver 35:02 and Emma Platt 34:04.
At the Ipswich Twilight 10k on Aug 5, Jayne Richardson ran another best time, recording 58:43. At the same event, Mike Illingsworth clocked 45:37 and new member Graham Jackson 1.04:18. At the Worstead 5 mile race, Stuart Smith finished in a time of 43.58.
On Sunday, the Run Norwich 10k was held which attracted an entry of more than 4,000 runners. Waveney Valley had two dozen members competing. Their times were: Liam Nudd
43:54, Kyle Bowles 44:31, Matt Baldry 44:56, Paul Brown 46:03, Bob Milner 46:05, new member Daren Maeer 48:34, Chris Pitman 53:00, Mark Smith 53:01, Louise Adamson 53:49, Lindsay Howlett 55:31, new member Chris Mills 55:48, Alan Varle 56:43, Cheryl Goymer 58:44, new member Stuart Brown
1.00:34, Paul Peek 1.03:50, Sarah Phillips 1.03:50, Beth Bell 1.05:11, Jo Fisk 1.05:12, Suzy Knights 1.05:13, James Gooch 1.07:59, Michaela Gooch 1.07:59, Amanda Scarff 1.13:58, Gavin Hamilton 1.14:59, Donna Milner 1.20:29 and Laura Head 1.21:37.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club entered two teams of six runners in the Ekiden relays at Woodbridge
on July 17 and achieved a remarkable victory in the mixed team category. The event has been organised by Ipswich Jaffa running club for more than 20 years over a multi terrain
course but it was the first time Waveney Valley had taken part. The race has its origins in Japan and the marathon distance of 26.2 miles is covered by six runners in relay legs of 1×7.2km, 3x 5km and 2x 10km. There were 178 teams entered overall with 72 in the mixed race which must have a minimum
of two female runners. Waveney’s team 1 had road race captain Chris Pimlott on leg 1 and he finished the 7.2k in 27:52. Next was new member Dylan Neeve who ran the 5k second leg in 19.02. Rose Nicholson took over for the 10k third leg and her time of 38:34 proved to be the second fastest on the
day by a female. Karim Ouaddane put in a very solid run on the 5k fourth leg with a time was 18:30, the fastest vet 50+ time on the day. Matt Jeffries then recorded 34:09 for his 10k fifth leg, bringing the team into the lead as Sam Jacks was tagged for the 5k final leg. She coped very well with
the pressure of maintaining the lead and finished in a personal best 19:33, securing a hard-earned first place for the team. The overall time of 2.37:44 was a course record for a mixed team and they were fifth fastest of all of the 178 teams.
Waveney’s team 2 also put in a good performance to finish 23rd in the mixed race. New member Tim Moore 7.2k in 31:12, Catherine Earl 5k 32:10, Daniel Harris 10k 44:05, Jayne Richardson 5k 29:55, Tim Earl 10k 44:52 and Steve Gibbs 5k 24:12.

Displaying her willingness to tackle the toughest of events, ex Royal Navy seamanship specialist and mum of five Lisa Joyce, ventured to Oxfordshire to take part in the Dixons Carphone ‘ Race to the Stones’ event. Described by the organisers as the UK’s biggest ultra on Britain’s oldest
road, there was a choice of distances of 50km or 100km along the ‘ Mighty Ridgeway ‘. Unsurprisingly Lisa took on the longer distance and running solo, whilst many other competitors ran in groups, she completed the race in 17 hours and 30 minutes. She was placed 530th out of 956 athletes and 43rd from 119 in the vet 40+ age category.

Other results: Bungay 10k race 3, July 20; 17 Lloyd Scriven 42:01, 23 Peter Rogers 42:59, 27 Bob Milner 44:03, 35 Steve Carruthers 45:40, 46 David Mower 47:16, 66 Steve Gibbs 50:19, 69 Duncan Carter 50:30, 94 Jay Butcher 54:35, 105 Cheryl Goymer 57:19, 115 Chris Bradford 59:39, 118 Beth Bell
1.00:11 personal best, 120 Suzy Knights 1.00:17, 122 Jo Fisk 1.00:27 and 124 new member Francis Guildea 1.00:31 debut 10k, 150 finished. Wroxham 5k race 2, July 21 – rescheduled from June 15(Roads and HQ flooded ) – 113 Kyle Bowles 19:57 and 161 Bill Kingaby 21:23, 434 finished.

Members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club have been competing in many of Norfolk and Suffolk’s road race events over the last couple of weeks. Ten runners from the club took part in race two of the Bungay Summer 10k series in cool, windy conditions, very similar to race one a few weeks earlier.
Steve Carruthers recorded a personal best time of 41:50 to finish 18th from an entry of around 140 athletes. Bob Milner was next to finish for Waveney in 30th in a time of 43:24. Bill Kingaby was 34th in 44:19 with Matt Baldry 41st in 45:02. Rebecca Harris finished 89th in 52:42, Jay Butcher 97th in 53:32, Cheryl Goymer 105th in 55:24 and Jo Fisk 107th in 56:08. Jo’s daughter Beth Bell, who joined the club recently, finished 119th in 1.02:57, almost three minutes quicker than in her debut at the distance three days earlier at the Humpty Dumpty 10k. Unfortunately Ray Knights sustained an injury during the race and was unable to finish.
On July 2, three members competed in the Lord Mayors 5k in Norwich, a popular event which precedes the Lord Mayors Show and always guarantees a high calibre entry. Matt Jeffries finished 13th in 15:54, Rose Nicholson recorded a personal best time of 17:58 to finish 67th and Chris Pimlott was 79th in 18:20, his best 5k time for seven years. The following day, at the Newmarket 10k, Rose was back in action and was first lady to finish in a time of 37:32. She finished 7th overall from a field of 217 runners.
At the third Wroxham 5k in the summer series on July 6, an event which incorporated the Norfolk 5k championships, Matt Jeffries produced a very good performance to run a personal best 15:49, finishing 4th out of 447 runners. Chris Pimlott was 52nd in 18:13, Kyle Bowles 108th in 19:31 and Tim Earl 109th in 19:33.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club’s Matt Jeffries achieved a notable success on Sunday by winning the Humpty Dumpty 10k road race held at Freethorpe, near Reedham, adding to victories earlier in the year at the Bungay Marathon and race 2 of the Great Yarmouth 5 mile series.
From the start, Matt was joined at the front of the race by Carl Goose of Bure Valley Harriers and the two were neck and neck until the final kilometre when Matt broke away to win the race in a personal best time of 32:37. He was also presented with the trophy as 10k champion of Norfolk, the county of his birth.
There were 17 Waveney Valley A.C. members competing in the event from a very large entry of more than 500 runners. Though there were fewer personal best times recorded by club members than has been the case thus far this year, there were age category trophies awarded to Karim Ouaddane for second M50-54 and Bill Kingaby third M60-64. Making their debut appearances for the club were Beth Bell and Claire Green.
WVAC results: 1 Matt Jeffries 32:37, 28 Karim Ouaddane 38:29, 55 Kyle Bowles 40:58, 71 Liam Nudd 42:17, 79 Paul Wright 42:37, 96 Mike Quantrill 43:33, 110 Bob Milner 44:24, 121 Bill Kingaby 44:46, 129 Wayne Freeman 45:21, 187 Ray Knights 48:34, 192 Alan Fairs 48:53, 338 Lisa Joyce 54:03,
370 Jo Fisk 56:45, 371 Cheryl Goymer 56:45, 463 Beth Bell 1.05:32, 465 Claire Green 1.05:33 and 505 Donna Milner 1.15:59.
The Fritton Cross Country Half Marathon on Saturday also saw a victory for Waveney as Chris Bradford finished first with Tim Earl third from 37 competitors. The race was staged over the familiar muddy cross country course which included two laps of the lake.
This month has seen more new members competing in the 5k parkruns. They are Beth Bell 31:27, Denise Bjorck 38:36, Kim Coutts 38:37, Chris Pitman 22:12, Amanda Scarff 30:55, Andy Ayers 26:20, Finlay Drake 33:45, Sarah James 34:06, Hannah Wood 35:56, Claire Green 32:26 and Claire Parfrey 32;20. There were personal bests recorded by Gill Johnson 30:28, Mike Quantrill 20:37, Lily Collins 24:57, Vicky Wood 25:37, Cheryl Goymer 25:40, Liam Nudd 19:33, Matt Jeffries 15:52 and Mike Illingsworth 21:56.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club runners travelled to Ditchingham on a cool, blustery evening to compete in race one of the Bungay 10k summer series.
This summer’s training programme has been going very well for many of the club members and once again there were new best times recorded despite the windy conditions. From a field of 127 athletes, Lloyd Scriven led his clubmates home,
finishing 14th in a personal best 39:44 with Bob Milner next in 20th in 42:25.
Steve Carruthers was 23rd in 42:35, Mike Quantrill 27th in a personal best 43:18 and Bill Kingaby 34th in 44:36. Ray Knights and Jay Butcher were competing in their
first 10k races and finished 54th in 48:11 and 81st in 53:04 respectively. Cheryl Goymer was 90th, achieving a new best time of 53:51, with a personal best also for Jo Fisk in 97th
with a time of 55:26.
At the Vitality London 10k, in the event which acts as the British 10k championships, Bob and Donna Milner and Graham Jackson competed for Waveney Valley. Bob has steadily improved his times since he joined the club last summer and he crossed the finish line in London in a personal best 40:26, around seven minutes faster than his first 10k twelve months ago. Graham in his first race for club ran 1.11:30 Donna recorded a time of 1.15:37. This popular event had more than 1,000 runners taking part.
At the Mike Groves 10k, which was staged on the former RAF Coltishall base, Bob Milner was in action again, finishing 31st from a field of 317 competitors, in a time of 40:36,
with Matt Baldry 86th in 44:20.
Anyone wishing to enquire about Waveney Valley A.C’s training programme, including for beginners, please contact Alan Fairs for Lowestoft 07879 545477, Richard Aukland for
Beccles 07906 094578 or Michaela Gooch for juniors 07941 423244.

Nine personal best times were recorded by members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club at the third and final race in this years Great Yarmouth promenade 5-mile series. Though most of the club’s leading athletes were unavailable for the final race, almost two dozen existing and new members formed part of a 278 strong field of runners.
Bob Milner, Matt Baldry, Jason Browne, Mike Illingsworth, Duncan Carter, Vicky Wood, Lisa Wilson, Tracie Ashford and Zoe Caston achieved pb’s, while Ray Knights made his debut appearance for the club. Mike Quantrill completed the course with his daughter Bethany, who was running a 5-mile race for the first time.
Harriet Lyman was awarded the first place trophy again in the Junior Girls 15-17 age category to complete a well deserved set of three for the series.
WVAC results- 39 Kyle Bowles 31:51, 60 Bob Milner 32:55pb,62 Harriet Lyman 33:05, 69 Steve Carruthers 33:25, 88 Matt Baldry 34:27pb, 94 Jason Browne 34:38pb, 98 Bill Kingaby 35:01, 104 Mike Illingsworth 35.31pb, 131 Ray Knights 36:50, 145 Steve Gibbs 37:46, 154 Duncan Carter 38:25pb, 174 Rebecca Harris 39:47, 185 Becky Langford 39:49, 213 Vicky Wood 42:51pb, 229 Lisa Wilson 44:08pb, 245 Tracie Ashford 46:25pb, 252 Mike Quantrill 46:45, 259 Zoe Caston 48:10pb and 260 Sarah Phillips 48:11.
Two evenings later, Bill Kingaby was the lone club entrant in the Framlingham ‘ Friday Five ‘ and finished 85th from 304 runners in a time of 34:54.
At Saturday’s Lowestoft 5k parkrun, there were personal bests for Ray Knights 22:33 and Laura Head 31:40 while at the Gorleston parkrun Angie Jeffs ran a new best of 39:32 and Bob Milner 18:57. New member Liam Nudd ran a time of 19:34

More than 100 members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club celebrated at the club’s combined 20th anniversary party and awards ceremony which took place recently.

For most, the awards were for annual achievements including most improved runner and age standards but for one long-serving member, it was an award for his unbroken and loyal 46 years’ service to athletics in the Waveney area.
In November 1970, Brian Boardley, with three like-minded running friends, formed Lowestoft AC. Brian had been a notable athlete in London with a best time of 53:12 for 10 miles but retired from competition through knee
injury seven years after moving to Lowestoft in 1969.
A qualified coach and race timekeeper, Brian was very much involved in the merger between Lowestoft AC and Beccles AC in the spring of 1996 with the new club being called Waveney Valley Athletic Club. He had served as club chairman for Lowestoft AC and has since for Waveney Valley AC.
He received the Chairman’s Lifetime Achievement Award from club chairman Alan Fairs.

On the racing scene, nineteen members competed in race one of the Great Yarmouth Promenade 5 mile series. Top honours went to Lee Cook for a splendid fourth place, and Harriet Lyman who has eased very comfortably up to the five mile distance from 5k’s, winning the Junior Girls 15-17 age group trophy in style.
WVAC results- 4 Lee Cook 27:28, 35 Lloyd Scriven 31:15, 36 Tim Earl 31:20, 41 Sebastian Lakes 31:49, 58 Harriet Lyman 33:10, 75 Bill Kingaby 34:46, 83 Matt Baldry 35:15, 94 new member Grant Rix 36:15, 95 David Mower 36:21, 128 Steve Gibbs 38:10, 156 Becky Langford 39:44, 172 Jay Butcher 41:18, 187 Cheryl Goymer 42:50, 189 Stuart Smith 42:52, 197 Stephanie Pimlott 43:23, 200 Sarah Phillips 43:36, 212 Jo Fisk 44:47, 228 Tracie Ashford 47:43 and 238 new member Zoe Caston 49:33.
On Sunday, five members took part in the Dereham 10-mile road race in very hot and sunny weather. Becky Langford seemed to cope best with the conditions, finishing in yet another personal best time. But the rest of the team found the going very tough in the heat.
Kyle Bowles was competing in his first official 10-mile race but was down on his training times while Mike Quantrill and Jo Fiske were below their recent form. Bill Kingaby was more than ten minutes slower than his previous ‘ ten-miler ‘ back in February, but still managed to win the third place trophy in his age group. When he was called up to receive it however, he was clearly overheard saying it was a miracle. Results- 57 Kyle Bowles 1-13.49, 130 Bill Kingaby 1-22.50, 132 Becky Langford 1-23.02pb, 138 Mike Quantrill 1-23.51 and 279 Jo Fiske 1-46.57. Almost 350 runners took part.
It was a race where all of the competitors truly earned their ribboned medals as they crossed the finish line.

Thirteen members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club ran in the London Marathon:-
Lisa Knights 7th marathon, 4th London. Has run a marathon each year since her first in 2010. Raised money for Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Time of 3-32.07. Hasalready entered next years Brighton Marathon.
James Cousins his 6th London Marathon. Raised money for Tommy’s, the baby charity. Recorded a personal best 3-20.23.
Lisa Joyce her first marathon. Said she enjoyed the atmosphere, high-fiving kids and hugging friends. Has raised £700 since February when she learned she was accepted into the SSAFA charity. Time of 4-50.09.
Paul Peek his first marathon, having taking up running just last year. Together with Paul Harrod, raised more than £2,300 for EACH. The two Pauls started at different points
at different times but met at 22 miles and finished together. Paul Peek’s time was 4-03.04. Paul Harrod finished in a personal best 4-09.06.
David Goosey joined Waveney Valley A.C. three years ago to improve his fitness. Running his first marathon, he raised money for Make-A-Wish Foundation. His time 4-15.39.
Rose Nicholson – Her third marathon and second London. Ran a personal best 2-48.16 and is now 22nd in the ladies UK rankings for this year.
Other times for Waveney Valley A.C. members were – Emily Robbins 3-19.34, Caren Elvin 4-29.35, Alan Richardson 5-16.26, Jayne Richardson 5-21.32, Sharni McDonald 5-27.45
and Samantha Catchpole 6-37.57.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club’s mens and ladies team scored a notable double success at the Lowestoft 5 mile prom dash on April 3 as they both won first team prizes.
82 runners completed the race with Mike Quantrill 9th in 34:42, Bob Milner 12th in 35:24 and Matt Baldry 22nd in 36:57 the mens team victors and Jay Butcher 45th in 41:46, Suzy Knights 51st in 42:30 and Jo Fisk 57th in 44:22 the winning ladies trio. Also competing for Waveney Valley were Paul Brown 23rd in 36:58, Rob Knights 24th in 37:01, Cheryl Goymer 58th in 44:31, Lisa Wilson 59th in 44:32 and Tracie Ashford 66th in 47:11.
At the Wymondham 20 mile race, also April 3, new member Lee Cook finished a very impressive 4th from a field of 279. A regular on the regional road running scene, he completed the course in a time of 2-01.18. Karim Ouaddane joined the club at the start of the winter cross country season and has become a popular member in club training sessions and races. His recent target had been the Paris Marathon but was then unable to travel so the Wymondham race became a timely alternative. He finished 18th in 2-13.47, knocking eight minutes off his course pb. Long-standing member Alan Richardson was 183rd in 3-11.31.
Three members took part in the recent Trowse 10k. James Cousins was placed 41st in 41:15, Matt Baldry 137th in 47:37 and Jo Fisk 337th in 57:11.

Waveney Valley Athletic Club members toasted success after a busy weekend with top honours going to Matt Jeffries for a highly impressive victory in the Bungay Marathon. Matt, in his debut marathon, completed the tough hilly two lap race in a time of 2-39:30. He also broke the course record, which was set five years ago, by more than three minutes. As the race incorporated the Suffolk County Half Marathon Championships, he was also presented with the winners’ county championship medal. Bob Milner, also running a marathon for the first time, finished a very praiseworthy 44th in a time of 3-33:09. There were 168 runners taking part.
In the Bungay Half Marathon there were 522 competitors with Waveney Valley entering a dozen members. Lee Cook led his team home in third place in a time of 1-15:33. Karim Ouaddane was 16th in a personal best 1-25:44 with a pb also for Chris Pimlott in 18th in 1-26:27. Tim Earl finished in 23rd in 1-27:16, Lloyd Scriven 42nd in 1-32:18 and Sam Jacks, in her debut half marathon was 71st in 1-37:41.
Bill Kingaby finished in 79th place in 1-39:13 and first in the M60-64 age category and won the county title also in the category. Mark Smith was 102nd in 1-42:11, David Mower 138th – 2nd in M60-64 category – in 1-45:44 and Michael Illingworth 153rd in 1-47:29. Stuart Smith recorded a pb time of 2-00:11 in 292nd and Laura Cotton was 293rd in 2-00:18.
In the 10k event Matt Baldry was 25th 46:26, Kyle Bowles 35th 48:06, Alan Richardson 51st 51:19 pb, Philip Worlledge 57th 51:48, Jo Fisk 85th 56:19, Sarah Phillips 98th 57:01
and Jayne Richardson 117th 59:26 pb.
On the same day, three members competed in the Brighton Marathon. Wayne Freeman recorded a time of 3-52:14, Becky Langford 3-53.37 – a personal best by 30 minutes and JoeMayne 4-47:35.
The weekend celebrations had started on the Friday evening with the prize presentation for the Suffolk Winter Cross Country Series at Framlingham Sports Hall. Top awards went to Rose Nicholson and Matt Jeffries who won the league titles. Harriet Lyman was first in the Girls 15-17 age category with 3rd place trophies for Sam Jacks in the Ladies Seniors and Bill Kingaby in the Mens 60-64 categories.

David Mower achieved an excellent performance at the Barcelona Marathon recently, knocking more than five minutes off his previous fastest time to record a personal best 3-47.23 in his fourth marathon.
David’s impresssive run adds to the sizeable list of p.b’s he has attained in recent years over a number of different distances. His son Chris, who lives and works in Bury St Edmunds and is a member of Bury Pacers, added to the family success story by running a time of 2-58.56 in the same race, also a personal best.
At the Broadland Half Marathon on March 13, five club members were in action. Mike Quantrill finished 79th out of 378 finishers in a time of 1-36.43. Rob Knights was 227th in 1-58.28, Alan Richardson 231st in 1-58.52, Suzy Knights 279th in a personal best 2-06.26 and Cheryl Goymer 317th in 2-13.03.
Five members also competed in the Colchester Half Marathon. Almost 2,500 runners took part with Lloyd Scriven having a very strong run to finish 47th in 1-24.58. Caren Elvin and Peter Andrews recorded a time of 1-54.03, finishing in 1,015th and 1,016th. Nina Hopson-Pope was 1,735th in 2-10.28 and Philip Worlledge 1,841th in 2-12.46.
Bob Milner took part in the Silverstone Half Marathon in Northamptonshire and completed the race in a time of 1-39.45 and on March 20 Kyle Bowles finished in 28th place from almost 300 competitors at the Mad March Hare 10k at Coltishall in a time of 40:55.
At the Lowestoft parkruns, there were personal best times recorded during March by Thomas Spurgeon 22:46, Vladimir Laptikhovsky 23:46, Sarah Phillips 26:29, Gerard Gibson 28:07, Wayne O’Neill 30:37, Tracie Ashford 27:47, Cheryl Goymer 26:46, Lisa Wilson 27:13, Bob Milner 20:51, Matt Baldry 22:13, Nathan Littlejohns 23:28, Jay Butcher 24:30 and Laura Head 33:51. Making their debut at the event for the club were Daniel Harris 19:34, Samuel McDonald 31:05, Rachel Hogg 34:23, Katherine Moore 30:42 and Taela Hodds 34:07.

Fifteen members of Waveney Valley Athletic Club travelled to Beyton, near Bury St Edmunds on Sunday to compete in either the Tarpley 20 or 10 mile road races organised by Bury Pacers. Most club members tackled the longer distance, providing the opportunity to build race stamina and fitness for forthcoming spring marathons.
286 runners completed the 20 mile race with Lisa Knights first for the club, finishing 99th in a time of 2-40.05. Becky Langford was next in 150th in 2-52.44, around 40 minutes quicker than her time at last years race due to injuries from a fall off her bicycle. Wayne Freeman, trying to shrug off a calf injury before a marathon next month, was 155th in 2-53.05. Joe Mayne, Paul Peek and new member Lindsay Howlett chose to stay as a group to give each other encouragement and finished together with times of 3-02.34 for Joe and Paul and 3-02.35 for Lindsay. Lisa Joyce was 207th in 3-09.32, three and a half minutes quicker than her time last year. Patricia Tuttle and David Goosey also started and finished together, in 224th and 225th in 3-13.58 as did Jayne and Alan Richardson in 280th and 281st in 3-45.53. For some of the club members, it was their longest road race to date.
There were 305 runners in the 10 mile event with Waveney Valley’s four representatives all finishing in the top half of the field. Bill Kingaby, on his 64th birthday, finished 51st – 2nd in age category – in 1-12.17. Matt Baldry was 73rd in a personal best 1-17.50. David Mower was 112th in 1-22.53 and Paul Harrod 115th in 1-23.02.
Becky Langford, Wayne Freeman, Joe Mayne will be taking part in the Brighton Marathon on April 17 and David Mower in the Barcelona Marathon later this month. Tim Earl ventured to Woodford Green in Essex on Sunday to compete in the Roding Valley Half Marathon. From a field of 571 runners, he finished in 46th place in a time of 1-28.17.
On February 21, Rose Nicholson was placed 165th in a high calibre field of well over 2,000 in the Wokingham Half Marathon in Surrey. Her time was 1-21.47, her fastest for five years.