Jess Gibbon wins Gold at SEAA XC, while U20W take silver

Jess Gibbon made club history by being the first Reading AC winner of the women’s senior title in the SEAA cross country championships at Parliament Hill yesterday. She had a clear 20s lead by the finish, as she lead the field of almost 700 runners home.

The U20W team who struck silver were lead home by Georgia Hayes in 4th despite a fall, Kirsty Walker finishing strong in 7th, Abi Hancock in 33rd and Herminie Walker in 50th. Every place counted as they were only 1 point ahead of 3rd place Shaftesbury Barnet.

The club had a great turnout across all the races, with 7th places for the U15G and U17W teams and 9th place for the Senior Women’s team.

County Sportshall medals for Reading Athletes

Our U13’s were in action in the indoor County Sportshall championships at Egham yesterday. Our top Girls’ team were winners by 25 points and were ably supported by our other 2 teams finishing in 5th and 9th place.

Our one U13 Boys’ team did very well and were placed 3rd in a close match.

In the individual all rounder competition, Charlotte Ashby came 3rd and Kahlon Nneke was 2nd!

Well done everyone who took part in a great afternoon of Sportshall athletics!!

Further photos of all the action can be found here:  

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/phxkg15ybqvs326/AAD0VUkPlOs5GxFrjXj9nFIEa?dl=0

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all our athletes, coaches, volunteers and parents a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

There is no training at palmer Park this week or next Tuesday. We will be back to normal on 2 Jan, when work begins for the summer season ahead and all the dedication to training in the cold, torrential rain and wind pays off.

Medals for Reading AC athletes at the Southern Indoor Combined Events

Seven Reading AC athletes competed at the South of England Combined Events Championships at Lee Valley Athletics Centre on the 14th and 15th December.

Day one saw the start of the Heptathlon for Kevin Cranmer and Joe Frew who competed in the senior men and U17 age groups respectively. Unfortunately, Sammy Ball was still recovering from a recent injury he picked up whilst representing England at the Home Country Schools Combined Events, so he could not join them although he spectated trackside.

Both athletes started well as they ran PBs in the 60m and progressed well through the day with Joe getting another PB in the high jump at the end of the day.

Day one also saw the U17 women’s and U15 boys’ pentathlons. Georgina Ashby and Hollie Cranmer were both returning after long periods off the track and so were very nervous about their first pentathlon of this age group. Both Hollie and Georgina performed amazingly well overcoming hurdles that have caused them problems in the past to put together great scores for them to use as targets for their next competition. 

Hal Rust-D'eye competed in the U15 boys pentathlon. This was Hal's first indoor pentathlon but you wouldn't have guessed it as he stormed through the field securing the silver medal in the final event, 800m, with an impressive PB to add to the 3 others he attained in the 60mH, long jump and high jump.  Hal’s high jump was arguably the highlight of the day.  Clearing 1.47 m, Hal jumped 20cm higher than his previous best.

Day two saw the conclusion of the heptathlons and the U15 girls’ pentathlon. Charlotte Ashby, Charlotte Bigmore and Annie Jonkers all represented Reading AC in their first ever U15 pentathlon.   All three girls started the day perfectly with PBs in the 60mH. The PB tally continued to grow for all three with both Charlottes attaining PBs in the high jump and the shot put.  Notwithstanding the shot is heavier than the previous age group, the girls still managed to beat their previous best distances. 

Annie jumped big PBs in the long jump,  just short of the 5m ‘milestone’ and it will surely not be long before that mark is reached. Annie finished the day with a huge twelve second PB in the 800m bringing her up to 6th in the overall competition standings in a very large field of athletes.

For Kevin and Joe, the second day again started well with Kevin hurdling just 0.06 seconds off his PB in the hurdles and Joe running the fastest time for his competition of 8.60 seconds.
In the pole vault again Kevin only marginally missed out on a PB with 3.53m and Joe vaulting an amazing 2.53m in his first ever competition in that discipline.

The 1000m brought their competition to an end with Kevin again just missing out on a PB by less than a second with a time of 3.03. Another first for Joe saw a time of 3 minutes exactly to secure the bronze medal for the championship.

Congratulations to all the athletes.

Report by Mike Dyer

2019 Berkshire Cross Country - Silvers and Bronzes for Reading AC Boys

There were medals for Reading's lads in all the age groups on Sunday in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships, with an individual silver, two team silvers and a team bronze. The tough undulating and waterlogged course at Ashenbury Park in Woodley was compensated for somewhat by the gloriously sunny weather, but nevertheless it proved a severe test for all the competitors.

In the U15 boys 4km race Ollie Craggs was soon among the leading group, and although forced to let the leader go after halfway he continued to run strongly, finishing in a clear second place in a time of 13.33. Ollie was backed up well by Oli Snoxall, whose decisive finishing burst took him into sixth in 14.05, and by Edward Lewis, whose determined running gave him ninth, recording 14.42. In a very close team competition Reading's total of 17 meant they lost to Windsor by a single point, while finishing ahead of Bracknell by the same margin. Meanwhile Adam Methven's ankle problem unfortunately prevented him finishing.

For the U17s in their 6km race, Mattie Raynor was prominent in the early stages, running in the leading group of four, but eventually had to give ground. Nevertheless he hung on well to finish fourth in 21.24, while Reading's other scorers were Alfie McClennon in an excellent seventh place with 21.51 and Laurie Baker with a good effort for ninth in 22.12, with Reading's total of 20 giving them second place behind Windsor. Reading's non-scoring runners also did well, with Aryan Gupta in 12th with 23.05, Rohan Brooks 14th in 23.23 and Isaac Mileham 17th in 30.42.

Maddox Gillas and Samuel Lindsey-Halls were among the early leaders in the U13 boys 3km race, but in the second half of the race it was Maddox who proved the stronger, as he finished fourth in 10.46, with Samuel holding on well for eighth place in 11.10. The scoring team was completed by Josh Smith in 12th, with a fine run for a time of 11.44, and Reading's total of 24 gave the team third place. Jacob Sheikh and Tommy Elson both ran well, finishing close together in 15th and 16th with times of 11.59 and 12.02 respectively, but both Billy Newman and George Bundy had the misfortune to have to drop out with twisted ankles.

Report by Keith Whyte.

Latest Blog post from Tokyo 2020 hopeful, Jonny Davies

Blog 2- November

Hey guys! Hope everyone is enjoying the winter grind and still remembers what the sun looks like! In this blog I give a summary of the month as well as describe my current training schedule.

November has been a big month of training for me where I headed out to the French Pyrenees for 3 weeks of altitude training (from the 30/10- 20/11). Upon returning to the UK I competed in my first Cross Country race in 2 years at the Liverpool Cross Challenge alongside a number of fellow club mates. From this performance, as well as the summer track season, I was selected for the Mixed Relay at the European Cross Country Champs in Lisbon for Great Britain on the 8th of December, which I am incredibly proud and excited for!   

Altitude training is now commonplace among British endurance athletes with various groups going out from the UK each year. Font Romeu is a popular destination due to cheap flights, accessibility and abundance of good running (including a freshly laid track). I went out on camp for a few reasons; running and living at altitude stimulates the production of red blood cells which is beneficial for endurance running. Additionally, being away on camp creates a unique opportunity to focus on your training without the normal distractions you get back at home. These factors culminated in it being an ideal time for me to kick-start my winter and start laying the foundations for next summer’s track season.

My training at the moment is geared towards volume and base work. This means a lot of time on my feet working the sub-maximal zones, trying to improve my aerobic threshold. During November I was running around 80 miles per week. While I want to move this on to around 90-100, 80 was enough to gain the aerobic benefit I needed. Mileage is an important factor in endurance running but is by no means the only aspect and it’s always a compromise between training benefit and injury risk. A lot of the supplementary training I am doing right now is centred on reducing this risk. I will use a foam roller for around 20 minutes per day as well as going through a mobility routine both before and after every run/session. I am also doing Strength and Conditioning (S&C) twice a week which has a dual purpose of building power and strengthening weaker areas. On top of this I always have a full rest day in a week to relieve the load on my body. For a bit of further insight, below is a summary of a week’s training I undertook in Font Romeu: 

I returned to the UK on the 20th of November and raced the Liverpool Cross Challenge 3 days later. I finished 13th which I was reasonably happy with. I felt a little race rusty having not raced this season but I really enjoyed being back out on the mud and mixing it again. Gaining the GB vest for Lisbon was a huge boost and I can’t wait to represent my country again!

I am looking forward to cracking on with some more base work through December before starting to gear up for a few indoor races in the New Year.

Thanks for reading!

JD

TRAINING WEEK COMMENCING 4th NOVEMBER

Monday- AM easy 7 miles, PM easy 5.5 miles

Tuesday- AM track session (10x600m, 2 mile tempo), PM easy 4.5 miles

Wednesday- AM easy 10 miles, PM S&C

Thursday- Rest

Friday- Tempo/hill session (5 min tempo, 5 x (30, 45, 60 second hills), 5 min tempo), PM- easy 5 miles

Saturday- AM easy-steady 16 miles, PM S&C

Sunday- AM easy 9 miles, PM easy 4.5 miles

(82 miles)

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Reading AC Boys Perform Admirably at the National Cross Country Relays

Reading's U15 boys finished in a very good ninth place in difficult conditions at the National Cross Country Relay Championships at Mansfield on Saturday 2 November 2019, with our U13 boys securing a highly respectable 19th position and the injury-hit U17 men coming 58th.

Although the morning's heavy rain had eased somewhat by the time the U15 3x2km race got under way, Reading's strong team were undaunted by the challenging Mansfield course which had been made more difficult by stretches of mud churned up by previous races. A peculiarity of the Mansfield course is that because the starting point is different from the handover position the first stage is some 40 metres shorter than the other two, probably worth eight seconds or so. Ollie Craggs coped well with the jostling on the start line, and proceeded to run an excellent first leg in finishing 16th in a time of 7.00. Oli Snoxall then managed to gain four places with a good 7.21 clocking, and Chris Parker with a fast 7.13 on the final stage took Reading to a fine ninth place at the finish, only 25 seconds behind the winners. For Reading's B team, Aidan Marshall opened with a good 7.53 effort for 86th place, and Adam Methven's determined 8.06 on stage two took the team up to 64th before Adam Tivey's gutsy 8.39 gained another two places for a finishing position of 62nd.

The U13s in their 3x2km race earlier over the same course ran bravely in what was probably the worst of the weather. Samuel Lindsey-Halls competed well on the first stage to finish 27th in a time of 7.31, and Josh Smith hung on doggedly to 28th place, recording 8.10. Maddox Gillas's excellent effort of 7.38 then brought Reading through to a very good 19th place at the finish. For Reading's incomplete B team Jacob Sheikh ran well on the opening stage, recording 8.08 for 67th place, and George Godfrey's resolute running with a time of 8.55 left the team in 72nd place at the end of stage two.

Reading's U17 squad was hit by injury and unavailability, but Mattie Raynor competed well on the opening stage of their 3x3km race with a 10.10 clocking for 48th place, before Laurie Baker's determined 11.10 and Rohan Brooks's encouraging 11.22 gave the team a final position of 58th. Meanwhile inexperienced Isaac Mileham ran the opening stage for an incomplete B team, finishing 103rd in 13.00.

Report by Keith Whyte
Photos by Russell Gillas, Hannah Lindsey-Halls and Jon Snoxall.