CIRENCESTER AC and TRIATHLON CLUB

Stroud Half Marathon, 13.1 miles, roads

CIRENCESTER AC won the team event at the important Stroud Half despite suffering a blow when Chris Illman had to pull out early.

Dave Bell picked up the gauntlet to finish fourth on a blustery Sunday, just missing a hat-trick of half-marathon PBs.

He was ably supported by a back-to-form Bill Leggate, who finished ninth, triathlete Steve Yates, who set a new CAC MV45 record in 13th, and Simon Campbell in 16th.

Mark Sysum, in 29th, was in close support and it was good to see Trudy Compton back into running and finishing with four club-mates.

Results – 1, Andy Greenleaf (Serpentine RC), 1:09.07; 4, Dave Bell 1:11.58; 9, Bill Leggate 1:17.57; 13 Steve Yates 1:19.12; 16, Simon Campbell 1:19.46; 29, Mark Sysum 1:22.45; 171, Howard Ewan 1:35.00; 283, Constant Fischer 1:40.58; 403, Rupert Chesmore 1:46.14; 409, Trudy Compton 1:46.18; 471, James Widdowson 1:48.59. 1,130 finished.

Beachy Head Marathon, 26.2 miles, multi-terrain.

THE weather was kind as the runners set off into the South Downs National Park on an extremely challenging but beautiful course. Richard Hurdle (3:31.07) led home the Ciren squad with a sterling 25th place and Martin Neill (3:57.02) had a strong run.

Martin Croucher, newly returned from the Chicago Marathon, ran with Jill Hadland but the terrain caught out both Dan Wood and David Moss.

Results – 1, Stephan Wenk (Maidstone Harriers) 2:55.38; 25, Richard Hurdle 3:31.07; 128, Martin Neill 3:57.02; 744, Martin Croucher 5:02.43; 745, Jill Hadland 5:02.44, 762, Daniel Wood 5:04.12; 1,031, David Moss 5:40.12. 1,653 finished.

Great South Run, Portsmouth, 10miles roads

TERRY RANGER (1:19.14) had a good run to finish ahead of Trevor James (1:28.52), both coming in the top third of the 16,029 runners. Belaynesh Olira won in 52.40.

Swindon Parkrun, 5km park trails

IONEL IANCU ran a solid 20.51 and Gordon Jones won his new MV65 age category; Barbara Thomas was second FV55. Andy Powell was pacemaker as daughter Kirsten ran a PB of 28.02.

Results – 1, Richard Kowenicki (Thames Hare and Hounds) 16.18; 20, Ionel Iancu 20.51; 28, Gordon Jones 21.40; 138, Barbara Thomas 26.17; 174, Kirsten Powell 28.07; 175, Andy Powell 28.08; 300, Jenny Brewin 34.44. 379 finished.

Chicago Marathon, 26.2 miles

MARTIN CROUCHER has a penchant for running long distances in interesting places and he took his time to take in the sights and sounds of the Windy City in America’s autumnal Midwest.

He didn’t break any records with a time of 4:04.12 and he finished in 13,696th place out of more than 40,000 runners. The winner from Kenya was Eliud Kipchoge (2:04.11).

Melbourne Marathon

CHRIS GOLDIE has run a few marathons and while visiting his son in Australia they raced in a planned 'head-to-head'.

Son Duncan, in his first marathon, won the battle by around half an hour. The race was run on a baking spring day and Chris’s time was 4:41.53 and he finished 5,017th from more than 6,400. The winner was Dominic Ondoro (2:11.30) of the USA.

Swindon Parkrun, 5km trails

GORDON JONES (22.11), back from a half-marathon in Wales, clocked up a 60-64 age-group second while Parkrun regular Barbara Thomas (25.48) went one better with an age-group win.

Gordon finished 38th and Barbara 114th out of 318 finishers. The winner was Gavin Wedlake (17.51) of Highworth RC.