The boys (and girls) of summer...

Castle Bolton trail race & Harrogate town centre 10km (30-07-06)

The "Castle Bolton" a popular, hilly and, on this occasion, sunny trial race featured four Acorn-ites.

Well done to Suzy Grindley, Dave Elliot, Phil Paxman and Andy Normandale who were 138th, 106th, 55th & 7th (2nd M40) respectively.

Further congratulations to Pam Blundell who completed her first 10km race at the Harrogate Town Centre race. A creditable 65-01 is a great marker from which to "kick-on"... fabulouso, well done!!

Gold at Golden Acre (26-07-06)

Acorn raised a couple of teams for their return to the Golden Acre Park (north Leeds) relays this Wednesday evening.

Once again pitted against a useful Pudsey & Bramley trio (see Danesfield Relay below), another exciting race was in order at the sharp end.

New boy Mark Metcalfe produced an awesome opening leg (15-28) to put the lads 2nd early doors (just behind P&B).

Captain Raynes (15-58) lost 50s to the best of the P&B three but dug deep to keep the boys in the hunt.

Despite nearly a minutes deficit to overcome, a clearly in-form Andy Hilton (13-57) shattered his own course record to bring the team home 1st with 30s to spare. Wahey!

What started as a ladies team but ended as a mixed team also took 1st place.

Becky Penty was the fastest female on the night and opened with a highly impressive leg of 16-32 for starters.

Marathon legend Dawn Gibbs ran an excellent 18-04 which (though we didn't realise it at the time} kept us in the hunt for the mixed title.

Replacing Lara Gibbs, who was unlucky enough to turn her ankle in the warm up, the enthusiastic newcomer Mark Metcalfe stepped into the breach to round off with a 16-21. Good team spirit there!

The combo took the mixed title against rivals featuring two chaps... extra credit!

Well done to all involved and cheers to Abbey Runners for putting on another good little event!!

Marshalling at Stillington (18-07-06)

Just to say a big "thankyou" to everybody who attended the Summer League Handicap at Stillington on this Tuesday. It was a brand new course, so plenty of opportunities for problems but aside from the "sun being too low" (we'll try and have a word for next year) the event went without a hitch.

Loads of people turned out which was great to see and you all deserve a handshake and a pat on the back! An extra "cheers" to the lads from Easingwold Running Club who put on a drinks station at halfway... I know the runners really appreciated it!

The presentation afterwards was good fun. Nice to see regular trips to the podium by Acorn runners!!

No hiccup at Eccup (16-07-06)

Good work by Andrew Nesom at the Eccup 10 miler on Sunday. This Abbey runners promoted always attracts a class field - no surprise then that AN graced it with his presence.

Can't have been too many hills since Andy reports enjoying the run, which saw him finish 21st overall in 61-47 (good enough for 4th Yorkshire Vet). Nice one!!

Feelin the heat - Ingleborough Mountain Race (15-07-06)

Nothing better than on one of the warmest weekends of the year so far than to run up and down a baking hot hill side...

Partaking of the fun, sporting the red vest, were:

Andy H - 10th - after a tense, slow descent...
Andy N - 24th - held his own, up and down!
Mike R - 33rd - "the hardest thing he's ever done"
Pete A - 77th - being the business!
Pete H - 116th - injured half way down, battled to finish!
Mike H - 154th - super vet, still got it!

Well done to all the chaps, apparently these were the toughest conditions in years.

Fell fun at Gribdale Gallop (11-07-06)

A quality evening of fell running was enjoyed by a few of the Acorn-ites at the latest of the North York Moors Summer Fell Series. There are some cracking photos on www.nym.ac if you want a flavour...

The running was quality to boot, with Andy Hilton declining to fall over/get lost/run out of gas and hence post a convincing two-and-a-half minute victory.

The mighty vest was well represented further down the field with Andy Normandale running well for 6th. "Road captain" (he's not convinced by this fell running lark) Mike Raynes produced a fine 8th place finish and Pete Atkinson had a great run for 38th.

Special thanks to the chap at the Thirsk ESSO garage who stayed open a bit longer than normal to sell the boys a few litres of deisel to get them home.... Andy H's attempts to run on as little fuel as possible taken a bit far.


Danesfield Relay... nearly! (05-07-06)

Not content with having done the 10km the night before Raynes & Hilton plus a fresh Normandale popped across to Chevin Park, Otley to take part in the Danesfield Fell Relay (3x3 miles, 500ft).

Not keen on the fells, Captain Raynes turned in a creditable 4th place on leg one in 19-24. Handing over the Normandale, a further place was gained with a 19-47 leg. Hilton closed all but 3secs of the 1min plus gap to bring the lads home 2nd to a solid Pudsey & Bramley Vets outfit. The consolation of a course record (17-30) for Hilton plus lots of beer for the boys made for a pretty good evening. Nice one.

Another Summer League Series sorted (04-07-06)

Tempus fugit. No sooner does it seem to have started that the Summer League came to a (hot & sticky) climax at Wistow on Tuesday evening. Although it's a potential PB course, most runners agreed the heat did little to help promote fast times. Still, beats the torrential rain of the previous year!!

Paul Goble confirmed his return to form by taking the overall senior mens title for the first time since 2002. Great work by that man!!

Jeff Coulson wrapped up the M50 title after a dominant display across the race series. He was followed in second place by John Booth. The vets showing how it's done.

For the ladies, Karen Wood and Jo Ellerton just could not be separated in the F35 catagory. In a tug-o-war esque contest over the series where each vied for supremacy, it was perhaps for the best that things ended up all square.... anyone for a run-off??

Equally tight was the Ladies Team Overall where the lead our girls amassed before the last race was just enough to fend off a strong Knavesmire offensive. The two teams shared the overall for the first time in recent memory.

For the Mens Team Overall Captain Raynes rolled out his big guns in order to secure the title having only had a one point advantage over Knavesmire going into Wistow. This tactic resulted in an 18 point cushion with which Acorn took top spot.

For the record, on the night the top three places were taken by Acorn. Andy Hilton came down off the hills to take victory in 32-12 from Hywel Care (32-23) and Paul Goble (33-44). Also counting were Piren White (8th @ 34-49), Captain Raynes (9th @ 35-01) and Steve Simpson (14th @ 36-57).

The female counters were Karen Wood, Jo Ellerton, Joanne Hunt, Suzy Grindley, Angela Peace & Susanna Dale.

Finally congratulations to all those who competed either in one, a few, most or all. It was great to see so many happy Acorn faces getting stuck in!!!

The Stillington Handicap is on July 18th, details on Future Stuff. Both runners and marshals would be welcome with pie and peas after...... there is a purpose to this whole thing you see!!


Fell Report - Whorlton Run (20-06-06)

While many stuck to the roads around the Bishop Wilton on this Tuesday evening, the Acorn vest was spotted further afield - Swainby to be exact.

Donning the vest, Sarah Tunstall came home first female - more whisky for Sarah's drinks cabinet then. Mike Hetherton once again took the M60 first place and Andy Normandale finished a very creditable 4th place overall. Strong is the force with these ones. Nice work!!


Summer League Summary... the stories so far (to 20-06-06)

Sorry it has taken so long to update all those avid readers out there. Hopefully, you've been keeping tabs via the www.ukresults.net website.

At the time of writing, the series competitions are hotting up. The Senior Women's team sees Acorn in a strong position whereas the Senior Men's team is still battling with the best of Knavesmire for the local bragging rights.

Individually, Paul Goble appears to have sewn up the Mens title for the first time since 2002. Consistency across the races plus a defining and storming win at Tadcaster seemed to have secured glory...

Jo Ellerton and Karen Wood are scrapping for the F35 title, Jo just pushing ahead at Bishop Wilton with Selby still to come. Great stuff...

Jeff Coulson has nearly wrapped up the M50 catagory with a string of 1st places, just infront of John Booth.

Aside from Paul's Tadcaster win, Hywel Care took the Easingwold win in hot & humid conditions & Andy Hilton won at Bishop Wilton in opposite conditions. Welldone!

Selby still to come, hopefully a string of PBs for me to report.... good luck!

Hilton breaks 5km road record! (18-06-06)

Andy Hilton reduced the Acorn 5km road record to below 15 minutes for the first time with a little belter at the AAA Road champs at 5km. Hilton's 14m59s was good enough for 21st overall.

At the same race, Hywel Care (himself a sub-15 min runner on the track) ran well for 31st with 15m13s. Well done lads!


Wheldrake 10km - a good club event, thanks! (17-06-06)

Thanks to everybody who helped at the Wheldrake 10km on this Saturday. A special mention goes to Stuart Thomas who put together a fantastic event, even the weather turned out for us.

Feedback for the event was excellent as it has been for the past occasions, the only complaint being that it was a bit hot... Below are a selection of comments:

"Great atmosphere - races are combined with the village 'Family Fun Day' - and a scenic, flat course. Shame about the heat this year, otherwise definite PB potential. Excellent organisation - will be running this one again."

"Very fast race, a PB for me! Lovely flat course and very well marshalled. The only problem was the heat which was oppresive. This was probably due to the 2:15 pm start time."

"Really good race - well organised - good route."

We had a good turn out with marshalls, thanks to everyone who took time out of their weekend to help us out.

A bit of race news... (May 06)

With the onset of the Summer League, the Acorn vest hasn't left the region too often recently. However, a few intrepid souls did do so recently.

These lads took on the Leeds Half Marathon on 8th May 2006, good effort:
* Andrew Nesom 1:20:23
* Colin Utterson 1:32:40
* Andy Heppell 2:28:13
* Robert West 2:28:13 (a dead heat!!)

On the same weekend, club sceretary Paul Richardson turned out in Halifax for the Bluebell Trail 10. One of the toughest 10 milers in the north, Paul's time of 1:34:40 is creditable - good work.

Thanks for the help - Yorkshire Vets @ Heslington (07-05-06)

A quick thankyou to everybody who helped with the organisation of the Vets race on the Outgang, Heslington common. All the competitors seemed to have a fun if muddy time. Well done to Andy Normandale and Steve Mummary from Acorn who braved the sludge!!

Hob Moor Relay (03-05-06)

Thanks all those that partook of the fun on Hob Moor on Wednesday evening. Extra thanks to all those that helped marshall, provide timings and ensure sultry conditions were available.

All the statistics are on Dave Pavers website(link above) for the numerical side of the story.

Everyone I spoke to had a great time and those that stayed for the food (thanks Paul's brother) witnessed the drama of the raffle (did everyone win a prize - there were loads!!) and celebrated the clubman and merit league winners.

Merit League
This years winner was once again Howard Winzar, defending his title with typical tenacity. The podium places were:

Gold - H Winzar
Silver - S Spruyt
Bronze - S Thomas

Battle has already commenced as the key protagonists cast envious eyes over Howard's prize.... Game on.