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Trans Gran Canaria

In 2003, the first Trans Gran Canaria event was staged. The 125 km race takes place every year, crossing the beautiful island of Gran Canaria from Las Canteras in the north, through the mountainous interior of the island and finishing at Maspalomas in the south.

Since then, the race has expanded to five distances, between 12 km and the Classic 125 km.

Representing AVR in this years’ Marathon distance (45 km) on Friday 24th February was Ragnhild Kordt Richards. This was the third time that Ragnhild has competed in the Trans Gran Canaria. The marathon event started in the rain in the mountain village of Tejada.

With nearly 2000 m of ascent and 3000 m of descent, it is no walk in the park; and route changes have made the route harder compared with previous years.

After passing through amazing scenery all day, Ragnhild reached the finish line and a beautiful sunset in Maspalomas in 9:14:28 as 4th female V60.

Ragnhild said that the organisation was superb and it was fantastic to run with some of the world’s top ultra runners. She is now enjoying a few days’ well deserved holiday!

 

parkrun roundup

45 AVR members took part in Seaton parkrun this weekend. Ellie Dominey was the first female to cross the line and Eleanor Wood topped the age-graded rankings. Additionally, Yossi Maclure, Susan Chambers and Jayne Tumber ran PBs.

Winchester 10 km

The superb Winchester 10 km celebrated its 40th anniversary on Sunday 19th Feb. The undulating 1-lap course starts outside the Winchester Guildhall by the King Alfred statue. It proceeds out of the city centre and through the villages of Kingsworthy and Headbourne Worthy before heading back towards Winchester and finishing at the North Walls Recreation Centre.

Facing the early start of 08:30, Cliff Marriott took part in the race and finished in 54:23. It was a good race and was highly recommended.


Roundup from parkrun

A good 31 AVR members took to the esplanade for parkrun on Saturday. Joel Seward crossed the line third in 18:16, Susan Chambers ran a PB in 29:08, and Ron Seward topped the age-graded ranking with 77.67%.

Karen Eyre was running at Killerton, third female across the line, Cliff Marriott also ran Winchester parkrun, Carol Austin continued her tour down under at Bathurst, while Craig Tiley was at Exeter Riverside, Carolyn Nation was at Haldon Forest, and Ellie and Matthew Dominey were at The Great Field, where Ellie was first female finisher 

PBs at Exeter Half

Exeter Half Marathon is a fabulous, traffic-free route, along the footpaths and cycle paths along the Exe and the canal.

The race is organised by the City Community Trust and took place on both Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th, with different cut-offs to accommodate a wide range of runners.

The flat course is ideal for those heading for a half marathon PB, and AVR saw success on Saturday, with Angela Kerr, Matt Frost and Mark Spraggs flying the flag against a strong field.



Matt finished 17th in 1:21:59, a PB by 1 minute 20 seconds and Mark also hit a new PB of1:44:32!

Ange finished in 2:07:18, first in her age category.


A great race all round, bravo folks!

Cardiff Winter Warmer

In other half marathon news, Tim Sibley travelled to Cardiff on Saturday to take part in the Winter Warmer Half Marathon in Bute Park. Tim was pleased to finish in 37th place in 1:36:35 and 3rd V50.

Grizzly training

With three weeks to go, one or two of you were out on Sunday getting in those last training sessions for the Grizzly!


   

Watch the intrepid runners set off in this video.

Looks like the training is going well!

parkrun roundup

There were 33 AVR members at Seaton parkrun this weekend. Haydn Boehm, Jase Potter, Paul Johns, Yossi Maclure, Roberta Wadsworth and Emma Sampson all ran PBs. Additionally, Ron Seward took the top age-graded position.

Cliff Marriot and Pam Goddard were running at Weymouth; Carol Austin was at Cronulla, Australia; Ian Smith at Hermanus, South Africa; and Ellie and Matthew Dominey were at Melksham where Ellie took first female finisher. 

Photos from Mark Spraggs, Matt Frost, Pam Goddard and Kathryn Thompson.