LATEST NEWS
November 23rd 2010
Sunday November 21st saw the first Cannock Rotary Club 10K road race take place. Three intrepid Oak Park Pacer’s were among the 194 athletes who completed the tough, undulating, and challenging course, which started from the Marquis Drive Visitor Centre. First Pacer to cross the line was Ian wood, in 18th overall position, and 2nd in his age group with a time of 40.43. Just under a minute separated him from his running mate Neil Stretton, who finished in 23rd overall position but First in his age group with a time of 41.55. Martin Gwillam AKA the Aldridge Arrow made up the trio from the Brownhills based running club, and finished in 183rd place with a time of 70.46. After the race Ian told Martin that he had won the prize for the first over 60. Finding this hard to believe, Martin approached the adjudicators for clarification. Using his skills learned as a postman for the Manor Hospital, the Arrow diagnosed the hand writing and quickly pointed out their error. That’s No 116, not 114 he said, It’s a long time since I could achieve a time like that. Well done to all three, who represented the club on such a trying course.
November 3rd 2010.
Two club members where among the 578 runners who completed the 26.2 mile. Leicester Marathon on October 11th 2010. First home for the club in 212nd place was Clive Houseman in a time of 3 hrs 50. David Ryder, was the other Pacer, who with a time of 4 hrs 34, finished in 432nd place, and added another name to his long list of completed International Marathons. Well done to both runners.
Sunday October 24th 2010, was the day of the EDF Birmingham Half Marathon. Three Oak Park Pacer’s were among the 15000 entries in the race, which was started by Mo Far. First Pacer to cross the finishing line was Harry Williams in a time of 01-38, followed by Lee Stretch in 01-39. The third member of the Oak Park contingent Richard Matthews, completed the13.1 mile course in 01-48. Well done to them all, for achieving such respectable finish times.
October 1st 2010
Sunday September 26th was the date of the 28th annual Walsall 10K run. Starting and finishing in the Arboretum, the race covers both road and off-road sections. Four Oak Park members tackling this challenging event, were among the 311 official finishers. First to cross the finishing line for Oak Park was Ian Wood with a time of 41-21 putting him in 27th position. Less than a minute separated him from his regular running mate Neil Stretton, who finished in 29th place with a time of, 42-10. Third Pacer home was Richard Matthews, finishing in 86th position with a time of 47-50. Taking the Rear Gunners position for the Pacer’s, was Martin, the Aldridge Arrow Gwillam. Martin who started in pole position with running No 1, finished with a time of 70-26, putting him in 300th place overall. Less than a month from retiring from the Manor Hospital, the Arrow put aside his Pacer’s vest and ran in the NHS Colours for this event. Well done to all of them for supporting this local race.
September 15th 2010
September 5th was the date of the Wolverhampton Marathon. Two Oak Park runners were among the 289 finishers who completed the 26.2 miles around Wolverhampton. First home for Oak Park was Harry Williams, in a time of 3.57, putting him in 142nd place overall, but 4th in his age category. Crossing the line in 166th overall place was Richard Matthews, with a time of 4.10 putting him in an age related place of 22. Well Done to both runners.
The Lichfield 10K took place on Sunday September the 12th, and 825 runners completed the annual run, including three members from Oak Park Pacers. Harry Williams came in first for the Pacers in 135th place, with a time of 45.08. The second Pacer home was Richard Matthews, in 195th position with a time of 47.17. An impressive performance by both runners, having completed the Wolverhampton Marathon, only a week previously. The third entry for Oak Park was the Aldridge Arrow, Martin Gwillam, who crossed the line in 68th place, leaving 86 runners in his wake. Well done to all members.
July 11th 2010
Only Two Pacer’s were brave enough to tackle the annual Gate Gallop in Tamworth. Shortened to an undulating 10K from the seven plus miles the new course was virtually all off-road. The taxing route took in many variations of terrain including wooded sections and the occasional ploughed field.
First Pacer to complete the ankle twisting circuit was Oak Park’s current Harrier of the year Geoff Farmer in 19th position with a time of 44.33. Last years Summer Handicap winner Martin Gwillam also completed the race, finishing in 245th place with a time of 84.18
Well done to both athletes for competing on one of the hottest days of the year.
June 22nd 2010
The club welcomes Matthew Biddle from West Heath in Birmingham who has recently joined our small band of runners.
Matthew has shown an interest in running for the club in the Cross Country League.
May 8th 2010
Two members of Oak Park recently tackled the 26.6 miles around the English capital city, courtesy of Virgin the organisers of this well attended annual get together. This years event being the 30th London marathon gave no problems to both of the clubs experienced athletes who came home in very respectful times. First to finish for the club was Ian Wood in 3 hours and 2 minutes in 1259th place overall but in 143rd place in his age group. David Ryder came in with a time of 3 hours and 29 minutes with an age related place of 824th and 4307th overall finishing position. David was lucky to have made the start having been stranded in Dubai when all air traffic was grounded by the Icelandic Volcano eruption. Well done to both of them.
January 28th 2010
Twelve members attended the 2010 AGM which was held on Tuesday January 26th at Brownhills Community School
There were no new nominations for committee, so the previous committee was re elected to serve for the coming year. Chairman Rex Tomlinson, Secretary Godfrey Hucker, Treasurer Rex Tomlinson, Committee members Steve Green, Martin Gwillam and Ian Wood.
It was agreed at the meeting, to keep the annual membership subscriptions at £15.00 per adult and £7.50 for juniors and senior citizens which includes affiliation and registration to England athletics, who are the governing body for track and field athletics, Nationwide.
New members of any age will be very welcome to join our small but friendly club.
November 4th 2009
The Club entry number for the Virgin London Marathon 2010 as been awarded to David Ryder. Who, being the only athlete to have his application rejected, satisfied Oak Park Pacer’s Club ruling in the matter. We all wish him well in the event.
27th October 2009
For the results of the Cross Country event at Senneleys Park see the Cross Country page.
Whilst Rex ( with Clipboard ) and his team of 6 athletes were at Senneleys Park on Saturday 24th October 2009, two hardy Pacer’s were amongst the 1357 runners who tackled the 26.2 miles strenuous run in the mountains of Snowdonia. For David Ryder ( a member of the elite 100 marathon Club ) a marathon event is second nature and crossed the line in 4hrs 26min putting him in 792nd position. Also on this day Craig Strong proved his worth and living up to his name completed the tough course in 5hrs 4mins. Well done to both athletes for an impressive performance on such a demanding terrain. The last runner to finish on the day crossed the line in 7hrs 36 mins with the mountain range proving too tough for 32 runners who failed to complete the course.
19th October 2009
On October the 11th Ian Wood and Neil Stretton put another half marathon under their belts with the Congleton Half. First to cross the line for the Pacers in a time of 1-26-27 was Ian in 40th position overall, and 5th in his age group. Less than 2 minutes behind him, was his running mate Neil in 65th position and 4th in his age category. An impressive performance for both runners in a field of 536 runners.
Another runner competing on the same day was Harry Williams who entered the Leicester Marathon. Harry put in an excellent performance, taking the Pacers colours over the line in 281st position with a time of 3-44. A total of 702 runners finished the gruelling 26.2 mile event.
10th October 2009
Please take note that due to the School being CLOSED on TUESDAY 13th OCTOBER., there will NOT be a club run. This is for one week only.
23rd September 2009
On Sunday September 20th 2009, Ian Wood and Neil Stretton took on the challenging St Thomas 7. The venue for this event was the extremely hilly terrain of Upper Tean near Uttoxeter. Ian crossed the line in 15th position with a time of 47.23, which earned him 3rd place in his age group. Treading on his heels was Neil, with only one second behind Ian, in 16th position. Neil who was not only first in his own age group, finished before all the runners in the younger group below his. For this intrepid performance he was presented with a bottle of wine. Well done to both runners for putting in excellent timings in such a gruelling event.
18th September 2009
Final placings for the 2009 Summer Handicap.
Monthly Winners
May Alan Roberts
June Ian Wood
July Joe Melvin
August Harry Williams
Overall Results
First Martin Gwillam with 10 points
Runners up Les Rainbow & Ian Wood with 11 points
Fastest Time Ian Wood at 36.28
Trophies will be presented in the near future at the Brownhills Comp
Congratulations to them and thanks to all who entered the races.
16th September 2009
Martin Gwillam was the only Pacer to enter the annual Lichfield 10K road race. With 777 athletes completing the course, Martin came home in 700th position. No proper times were stated on the result sheet down loaded from the web site.
Goodrich 10k 108 runners crossed the finishing line in the 2009 Goodrich 10K race. This event was another race in the North Staffs series, Ian Wood took the Pacer’s vest over the line in 32nd position in an impressive time of 40.53.
Another North Staffs Series event, is the Ipstone 5. Both Ian Wood and Neil Stretton competed in this event with the following results. First home for the Pacer’s was Ian Wood in 28th position with a time of 34.40. Hot on his heels was Neil who came in at 29th place only 6 secs behind.
September the 6th was the day for the Wolverhampton Marathon & half marathon. Ian Wood represented Oak Park in the gruelling 26.2 mile event, with an impressive performance, when he finished FIFTH in his age group. Three hundred runners completed the course with Ian being the 20th athlete overall to cross the line, in a time of 3.05.
On the same day three more Pacer’s tackled the Wolverhampton Half. First pacer home was Neil Stretton, crossing the line in 49th position, with a time of 1.29, putting him FIRST in his age group. Also coming FIRST in his age group was Harry Williams who put in a time of 1.35 to finish in 105th overall. Only 5 minutes later the third pacer, Richard Matthews, completed the trio of athletes achievements, with a time of 1.40 putting him in 209th place out of 1174 runners who completed the 13.1 mile course. A Great day for Oak Park.
WELL DONE TO ALL
24 August 2009
Next Tuesday September the 1st, being Bank Holiday weekend means that the School will not be open. The club will therefore meet at Oak Park recreation Centre on that evening for a 7-00 o’clock run along old turf
July 19th 2009
Three Oak Park Pacers were among the 289 finishers in the two lap race around Chasewater organised by Chase ”> pre=”">Harriers on Sunday July 19th. First Pacer over the finishing line in 33rd position was Neil Stretton in a time of 41.56 which put him firstin his age group. Second Pacer to finish was Godfrey Hucker taking 265th place in a time of 67.00, followed by Martin Gwillam 20 seconds later in 266th position.
July 15th 2009
After a heavy thunderstorm the 3rd race in the summer handicap got underway. At 7-00 prompt, Martin set off on the 5.9 mile trek around ”the lake ”, followed by the rest of the runners at staggered intervals. First to cross the finish line was Joe Melvin, followed by Harry Williams, with Steve Green taking 3rd place. The rest of the 12 starters all arrived back within a couple of minutes making Rex happy that once again he had calculated the correct starting times. Rex then dashed home to update his spread sheet and circulated a copy via E mail to all members who have computer access. Final race in the series will be on September the 1st.
Sunday July 12th was the day that the North Staffs held the latest race in their 2009 series. This event was the Cheadle 4 and once again Neil Stretton and Ian Wood entered the event with excellent results. Out off a field of 214 runners, Ian Wood took the Pacers vest over the finish line in 28th position with a time of 25.54 and 7th in his age group. Closely followed by Neil who in 26.58 came home in 45th position and 3rd in his age group. Well done to both athletes on what I believe to be a very hilly course.
June 26th 2009
All runners who intend competing in the Virgin London Marathon 2010 please note that ballot entries are now closed. All runners who have applied will now their fate by October. The only way of entering now is to contact a Charity and run on their behalf with the number they provide.
June 24th 2009
The latest race in the North Staffs League took place on Sunday 24th June
Once again Ian Wood and Neil Stretton took part with excellent results.
Ian came in 40th position overall and 8th position in his age group with a time of 38:32. giving him a personal best in this distance.
Following closely behind, Neil finished in 40:17 putting him in 63rd position overall and second in his age group.
Well done to both runners for a sterling performance in such extremely hot conditions.
JUNE 18th 2009
Dont forget the challenging but enjoyable Gate Gallop (even Rex as put this under his belt) on June 28th in Tamworth. See the 2005 team entry in the photo gallery accessed via the list to the right of this page.
All details are on Peel Road Runners Web Site which is reached via the link in the BLOGROLL section on the right hand side of this page
JUNE 10th 2009
Congratulations to the ” Sub Aqua ” runners who braved the heavy rain and floods to compete during the first weekend in June.
Ian Wood and Neil Stretton entered the Westbridge 5 Miler on Saturday June 6th in the North Staffs Series
Ian finished in 34th position with a time of 31.37 and Neil was first home in his age category in 49th place with a time of 32.46.
Also competing over the weekend were Richard Matthews, and Harry Williams who were the only two Pacers to compete in the annual Aldridge 10K. First home for Oak Park was Harry in 103rd position, with a time of 44.52, followed by Richard who finished in 141st position out of a field of 463 starters with a time of 46.53.
Well done to all of them for turning out in such atrocious conditions.
Another rainy Tuesday June 9th saw the second race in the ” Summer” Handicap race around the lake. Despite the wet conditions the event was well supported by the members. Martin started at 7-00 with the remaining runners leaving at varying staggered intervals depending on their previous achievements. First home was Ian Wood, followed closely by Clive Howseman, and immediately behind in third position was Richard ( still wet from Sunday) Matthews. All runners finished within one or two minutes which pleased Rex who had worked out the starting times. Last months winner Alan Roberts limped home in last position due to pulling a muscle during the race.
Next Race July 14th lets hope for dry weather
First Handicap race May 19th Results
First Alan Roberts
2nd Martin Gwillam
3rd Ian Wood
Ten runners entered Thanks to all who took part
Next race June 9th 2009
