Gloucestershire 5K Championships
1st August 2019
A perfect summers evening awaited the runners as the county road race circuit descended on the Beacon Inn in the lovely village of Haresfield, just south of Gloucester.
A large field of 202 runners amassed on the start line of this 'Beyondthelimitations' promotion, which doubled up as the County 5K championships. Tewkesbury Running Club provided a good number of runners for this event, with 9 black and gold stripe vests ready for the start.
Jon Mansfield has shown in training that he is coming back in great shape and with a handy 1st mile covered in 5mins 33secs, Jon set himself up for a great race. With the tough 2nd uphill mile tackled, Jon covered the rest of the course well, as he crossed the line in 18mins 32secs… tantalisingly close to the Gold Medal for the County 5K V55 … only 2 seconds away!
Simon Meadows went into the race debating his current form, but was delighted with his performance as he produced a confidence pleasing time of 18mins 44secs over a testing 5K course.
Shona Crombie-Hicks has been in great form all summer and although not her best distance, was still looking forward to racing the best of the county ladies. Shona set off at a great pace and put up a time of 18mins 56secs… a top 20 National V45 5K time this year… to come in as 2nd Lady. A very creditable performance considering the winning Lady was 34 years younger than her!
Simon Crilley having not raced a road 5K before and admitted to never being so nervous before, put up one of the club’s best performances of the night. On a course that is not usual for a personal best, Simon shattered his previous parkrun record and surprised all that was watching by storming home in a cracking time of 19mins 14secs… a faster time surely awaits on a more conventional course!
Stuart Baker, who has recently re-joined Tewkesbury Running Club showed what a talent he has by running in not far behind Simon in a time of 19mins 28secs. Stuart provided the crowd that lined the finish with great entertainment as he just outsprinted a younger rival in the last 100 metres!
Nigel Tillott made a rare appearance over the short and sharp 5K distance, but a return to his former village of residence sparked an interest in the race for Nigel. Once the shock of the pace of the 5K race was absorbed, Club chairman Nigel put in a battling time of 20mins 31secs on this tough course.
Sharon Lockley continues to improve each race this year and again performed with great mettle. Any nerves Sharon had before the 5K race were soon put to bed as she ran an excellent race, with her first sub-25 minute time of 24mins 51secs, recording a big PB time!
Vicky Earls took the challenge of the race full on and put in an impressive 1st mile time of 8mins 12secs. This fast first mile placed her far higher up the field than she expected and this helped her to run in with a personally satisfying time of 29mins 6 secs.
Mike Ward finished the race with the awaiting TRC crowd, timing an impressive 34mins 55secs as 2nd V80.
