Spring in Chippenham
Tewkesbury Running Club headed to the Wiltshire town of Chippenham for what can be described as the biggest, almost spontaneous, club away-day!
Starting from a seedling idea on the club’s WhatsApp group, the Chippenham Spring 10-mile event attracted rapid interest and entries from TRC with 25 runners on the start list.
Inspired by Alan Whitby’s double race weekend in 2023, where he ran the Chippenham Parkrun and the 10-mile race during the same visit, Hannah Moon did the same; starting with a frosty –3 degree Saturday Parkrun, she was familiar with the Monkton Park start/finish. On a less frosty but very cold Sunday 10am start for the 10m, Moon continued her come-back from her ruptured achilles with another impressive personal best (PB) of 1:22 hr:min, her 4th PB of 2025!
Following Moon, as Tewkesbury’s second lady, came Sheena Moseley. With her slippery Pittville XC experiences behind, Moseley really got to grips with the Wiltshire terrain to finish in 1:35.
Jackie Layton timed 1:36 and was delighted with her best 10 mile ever! In fact, during the race she clocked 5km and 10k distance PBs. Layton has really been turning heads with her impressive exploits, and she clearly shined again in Chippenham.
Without a cloud in the blue sky, the sunshine was incredible, and the incredible performances continued with Della Matley less than 5 seconds behind Layton. Matley is a Saturday morning club regular, and it was great to see her ‘on tour’ with Tewkesbury.
With a descending last mile into Monkton Park to follow the river to the finishing funnel, Emma Boote and Tracy Tailford ran together with wide smiles (once the finish was in sight). From a field of almost 650 runners, Boote and Tailford finished in 505th and 506th places – although their times of 1:42 were identical. Boote claimed her 10m PB.
Club Run Leader Linda Younger headed for the finish line with spectacular style – running alongside Samantha Robinson. Robinson had been running the ‘Run Around Europe’ challenge with 10,806 miles completed since 2020! A remarkable achievement and it was a real treat for onlookers to see her finish in Chippenham – celebrations continued after the race with a pop-up party.
Club secretary, Claire Gent completed the TRC lady's contingent with a 1:44 exactly 2 minutes after the RAE pair.
Also running the Chippenham Parkrun the day before, Jon Mansfield made a weekend of it by arriving on Friday. After finishing January’s Boddington 10m race just seconds outside of the club’s V50 record, Mansfield had another crack at the challenge. Although the Chippenham course was somewhat more demanding than Boddington with steeper climbs and treacherous muddy off-road sections, he sailed through comfortably in 1:03 to set a new club record. Mansfield was also victorious in the V50 category with 1st place.
London Marathon bound Clive Sentance ran a great race. Sentance has a running CV with a 16:33 minute 5km from his peak, so it’s good to see him running strongly again with a 1:10 finish time.
Lisbon ½ marathon bound Tony Foy ran as a sharpener for his Portuguese adventure the following weekend. Foy ran the first 5 miles with Sentance for company but slipped back 3 minutes by the end – not quite over his recent virus, however, a few more days recovery and he should be back in business.
Finishing impressively in 1:17, Oliver Reichelt was another who could not resist the lure of the Chippenham outing. Becoming a regular at events this year, Oli is certainly looking like a good ½ marathon runner.
Smooth running Ian Smith graced along the course that had suffered from flooding as recent as the previous weekend. Smith timed 1:17 too.
Newly crowned ‘Improver of the Year’ Dean Hodges gave the best example of himself with an excellent performance – he has put his 2024 Spanish ½ marathon PB of 1:54 at risk with his Wiltshire 10 miles in 1:23!
Onlookers were shocked when David Aguirre was seen running along the banks of the (Bristol) Avon towards the finish line – initial thoughts were that Aguirre had found a short-cut. However, he had a great race, and his legs had done him proud with 1:27.
Club coach Mike Younger found good form to finish in 1:34, and 4th in his V70 category. Younger had been suffering from stomach issues, and he did well to just start on the day.
Just seconds behind the coach, Ian Caley entered Monkton Park. Caley has drifted out of the running scene recently. He’ll certainly build on his 10-mile performance as his moves onto his next race.
New member Steve Lee showed he can perform. His 1:34 was just seconds behind his TRC peers. Lee looks like a runner to watch in 2025.
Even newer member (joining just the day before the race), James Finlay found his feet quickly with an impressive 1:34. Parts of the course were still flooded and some of the off-road sections were quite a shocking introduction for the keenest of runners.
Tom Lee just edged Cameron Pay as the sun shone down on a glorious day in the park.
Completing the TRC Wiltshire gathering was Pete Davies in 1:47. Like many, Davies enjoyed the final mile after the demanding first mile climbing up from the river valley.
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