Brecon Athletic Club’s endurance athletes have had a busy time contesting in both road running events and cross-country, with notable performances from club members across various age groups, writes Derek Osborne.
Five of the clubs road runners contested the Eryri (Snowdonia) marathon with ‘youngster’ Jessie Davies the first to finish in a very impressive 3.41.54 . More impressively, this was Jessie’s marathon debut and she chose one of the hardest of these races to begin with. Less than 20 minutes behind and second in the F55 category was Jessie’s mother Annabel Harford in a brilliant time of 3.56.28. Close behind Annabel was Naomi Law in 4.03.12. Cara Perfrement showed that she had recovered from recent injuries with a strong 4.26.10 showing while Chris O’Brien was also pleased with his 4.41.52 - that allegedly included a stop for a cup of tea and sandwich.
On the back of strong performances in the first two Gwent Cross Country League fixtures, Brecon athletes were selected to compete for East Wales in the Welsh Inter Regional Cross Country Champs at Newtown. Most successful was Annabel Harford who took a bronze medal in the F55 category and was part of the East Wales winning team. Naomi Law finished ahead of Annabel, but, being near the top end of the F45 category, she didn’t quite make it into a scoring position for the winning East team in this category.
In the senior men's race there were good performances from Mike Holloway in 36th, Andy May in 58th and Manny Trailor in 69th. Andy was the first East Wales M45 finisher and picked up team bronze as East finished third.
Emily Peltor was another medallist as she was the fourth East finisher in the U17 girls race and helped East to finish second overall - an excellent result for Emily. Brother Alex ran well in the U17 boys race finishing 26th but unfortunately there wasn’t the strength in depth for East to get onto the team podium. In the same race, U20 Toby Bennett ran solidly and was the 11th U20 finisher but with East unable to complete a full scoring team the medals went elsewhere. Both boys can be happy with their individual performances though.
U15 Gracie Jackson (50th) had a good run in her first race at this level. Gracie is constantly improving as she gains experience and specific fitness. Likewise U13s Hari Bevan (66th) and Cassidy Jones (62nd) also ran very well in what were fast competitive races and their first experience at this event.
Last weekend saw a small team head to Bristol for the third round of the JHC Gwent Cross Country League. A soft, but not boggy surface, with a hard track section in the woods made conditions suitable for fast racing.
After two fixtures, the senior ladies' team was struggling to hold on to their newfound division 1 status and without usual top-placer Jessie Davies this was going to be a challenge. Naomi Law stepped up to the plate with a very good 100th place out of the 302 finishers. Naomi was also 24th out of the 153 F45 competitors in the race. Tracking Naomi and only 40-50m behind was club chair Annabel Harford who achieved a triple Nelson in 111th and was fifth out of 72 F55 athletes and is now third overall in this category. Bev Tucker and Kathryn Powell provided great support in this age group and the club's F55 team is now up to sixth place out of more than 50 teams who have competed this winter. To complete the results, F45 Cara Perfrement had one of her best recent races at 151st and Carys Ricketts continued her comeback after many years with an excellent 247th place. Despite being weakened at the top end, the ladies moved up to 10th overall in division 1 - one place above the relegation zone.
The men's team are normally looking at a bleak relegation battle at this stage of the season so eighth place out of the 12 in division 2 is something of a luxury. As a warning shot though, a significantly weakened team was beaten this time by two of the clubs below them so at least one more good performance from the two fixtures in the New Year is needed to avoid any last minute demotion. Mike Holloway once again led the way for the blue army with a fine 94th out of 429. Just over a minute behind in 131st was very consistent Manny Trailor while in 242nd and M60 was another very consistent and reliable performer in Peter Sowerby. With Evan Price-Davies returning to fitness in 340 and Derek Osborne only having a distant memory of fitness in 390th, the tail end didn’t score as highly as might have been the case.
In the combined U17/20 races, Toby Bennett (10th U20) and Alex Peltor (21st U17) ran well and were in mid-race positions but both looked a little jaded after their recent race schedules. U17 Emily Peltor was 17th and mixing it with some very good runners in a highly competitive age group.
U15 Gracie Jackson (55th) again ran strongly and is gaining speed endurance with every outing. U13 Cassidy Jones was a little optimistic at the start but got into a good position mid-race and held on for a pleasing result of 62nd out of 86.
Last but definitely not least the two U11 girls who often later become the supporters club for the older age groups. Chloe Marlow Jones (59th) and Evie McMillan (64th) both ran very well in what is always a fast and furious race. This was Chloe’s first race at this level while Evie has made big strides already this season.
A group of the adult runners will contest the Hereford and Borders League this Sunday while the next fixture for all will be the Welsh Cross Country Champs in late January. Meanwhile, for those who like to compete indoors, the brief indoor season has just started.