International Snowdon Race

Shrewsbury AC were well represented in the presigious International SnowdonRace held on 26th July.
The club can boast another International in the ranks as Ian Hughes wore the Welsh vest for the first time after recently making the selection for the squad. Hughesy ran the 10mile course
in 83mins 37secs, finishing 38th overall competitor. Congratulations to Ian for the call up!


Next Club runner home Juanda Castillo in 41st with Mercias Andy Yapp five places behind.
Kev Francis returned home in 87mins, edging out club captain and defending m50 winner Graham Jones who finished 2nd in his category this time around.

Full report to follow from the guys who were there, for now here are the times for the SAC runners & selected others.

38th Ian Hughes - 83m 37s
41st Juanda Castillo - 84m 09s
46th Andy Yapp, Mercia - 85m 29s
53rd Kevin Francis - 87mins
65th Graham Jones - 88m 48s
114th Andy Lewis - 95m 43s
Anna Barlett - 98m 20s
190th Leo Murray - 104m 08s
302nd Eddie Austrums, Mercia - 117m 17s
341st Gordon Trevor - 128m 22s

Tenby 10k - 27th July 2008

Further afield Dom Kirby competed in the Tenby 10k in Pembrokeshire looking to bounce back from his Packwood struggles. An extremley hot day, with another hilly route proved a great test for all competitors, a number of which were holiday makers.
Familiar faces from Telford AC & Telford Harriers were represented as was South Cheshire AC, Neil Jones currently competing against club senior Kev Francis in the NSSRA series.
The race was won by Justin Chaston, a 3 time Olympian in the 3000metre steeplechase at the Atlanta, Sydney & Athens Olympics.
Jusin led from start to finish, leading his brother Matt who finished 2nd. The family success didnt end there though, with Stacey Chatson first woman in 38m 44s.
Kirby recorded a respectable time of 37m 57s to complete the course in 18th position overall, 30seconds and 4places behind the Cheshire runner.

Packwood 10k - July 18th 2008

Packwood 10k - July 18th 2008

The 3rd race in the OO Pentarathon Series saw a first win for a Shrewsbury AC runner in this years series, with Michael James coasting to victory in 33m 14secs over the hilly course, a full 2minutes clear of his nearest rival.
Also claiming a prize was Steve Hatton who claimed 3rd in M45 category as the second club runner back, leading Ashley Grey home in 12th & 13th respectively.
Dominic Kirby struggled in after a decent start, just getting home under the 40minute mark. Nick Jones & Grant Lloyd ran strongly and will be happy with their positions of 21st & 23rd.

Next race in the series is the Gobowen 5miler on August 1st. (Friday)

1st - 33.14 - Michael James

12th - 38.13 - Stephen Hatton
13th - 39.01 - Ashley Grey
16th - 39.52 - Dominic Kirby
21st - 41.02 - Nick Jones
23rd - 41.06 - Grant Lloyd
36th - 43.28 - Duncan Rose
64th - 48.17 - Daniel Fleetwood

Ironbridge 4 - Club results

Ironbridge 4 - 2/7/08

Five SAC athletes competed in the 4th leg of the Telford AC Sexarathon Series in Ironbridge. On a tough and slightly longer than advertised course Mikey James marked his return to the roads with a fine performance finishing in 3rd. 2nd clubman home was Steve Waters in 23rd place, with Steve Hatton 3 places behind and 2nd V45 on the night. Ben Nash put in a solid run to come 91st and Brian Williams finished 5th V65 in 194th place.

3 Mikey James 22.36
23 Steve Waters 25.47
26 Steve Hatton V45 25.56
91 Ben Nash 30.16
194 Brian Williams V65 38.11

Mad Jack's Five - Race Details

Shrewsbury Athletic Club, in partnership with The National Trust at Attingham Park are proud to announce a new multi terrain race to the local calendar:

Sponsored by Rybrook BMW Shrewsbury, the 'Mad Jack's Five' is to be held on Sunday 9th November 2008 at Attingham Park on the outskirts of Shrewsbury.

Start time is 11am prompt.
5mile multi terrain race.
Entries on the day only, £7.

More info will be posted shortly, in the meantime see below point of contact details for any queries.

The contact for the race is:
Andy Lewis, 88 Meole Rise, Shrewsbury SY3 9JE (01743 245253)
e-mail: shrews2008-madjack5@yahoo.co.uk

Midland League- 5th July 2008

Shrewsbury struggled into 5th place at Worcester with brave efforts in blustery and challenging conditions. With a couple of noticeable absentees and two injuries on the day made it difficult to score the points we did last month.
A few promises though-good to see Emma, Hannah and Naomi together on track.
Tom Noakes won the Javelin with 50.04m- well done Tom, (Jason came 1st B too)
Jason won Pole Vault with Peter 1st B.
Again two firsts in the Discus Simon and Jason.
Also a sprint Hurdles First Place Double -Andrew 110m and 100m Amanda.
Overall League
1 Solihull 15 points

2 Worcester 13

3 Stratford 12

4 Cannock 10

5 Shrews 7

6 Leicester 6
The final meeting is at Telford on SUNDAY 3rd August.

Road Round up - June 2008

SAC Road Running Report June 2008

Shrewsbury Athletic Club's successes over the summer fells look set to be repeated on the road race scene, now that a number of road race series are under way. After the initial races, the trio of Kevin Francis, Tim Smith and Steve Hatton have emerged as top club performers, each in turn leading the county town squad home in the different races in three main road race series, namely the Telford Sexarathon, the Oswestry Pentarathon and the North Staffs Road Runners Association series.

In the Sexarathon Series, Francis lead the charge at the Lilleshall 10K in 12th place and 4th Vet over 40, but it was Smith's turn at the Phoenix Flyer finishing in 14th place, then Steve Hatton shining in the Shropshire 4 mile race at Granville Park in 13th place and 1st Vet over 45. They were followed in each race by the consistent Rob Hall, returning 23rd, 26th and 21st places in the three events.

In the Oswestry Pentarathon at the Park Hall 5K Race, Smith spearheaded the team in 9th place, with Hatton 12th and 4th Vet over 45, Dominic Kirby in pursuit in 14th place and Ashley Gray, 20th.

In the North Staffs Series, at the Alsager 5 Road Race, Kevin Francis finished 106th, followed by Steve France 240th and Rob Hall 304th. At the Newcastle 7 Road Race, Smith finished 11th, Dominic Kirby 14th and Chris Wakeman 24th and 4th Vet over 45.

On the Half Marathon scene, Francis and Wakeman excelled at Stafford, with Francis finishing 31st and 5th Vet over 40 and Wakeman 72nd in a field of over 1200 runners. In the Ironbridge Half Marathon, Hatton had a fine run, finishing 14th and 2nd Vet over 45, with Ben Nash 138th and Ralph Jones 163rd in a field of 540 runners. In the Chester Shell half marathon , SAC runners competed well against a strong field on the fast course. Steve Hatton was first home for the club recording a time of 80mins 44seconds to claim 3^rd place prize in the V45 category. Dom Kirby ran a PB of 81mins 18secs to edge out Kev Francis, who claimed his prize with a 4^th in the V40’s. Chris Wakeman finished in 100^th position to earn the club a creditable 4^th place overall in the team rankings.

Further afield, Smith travelled to the Channel Islands, and successfully competed in the Guernsey Liberation Day seven mile Road Race, returning a creditable 5th place in 42/34 for the fast flat coastal course. Smith, having recently joined the veteran ranks, will look to bolster the club’s already strong veteran squad in forthcoming team events.

Telford Sexarathon Series

Lilleshall 10k Results
12 Kevin Francis 37.16 (4th Vet over 40)
21 Steve Hatton 38.25 (4th Vet over 45)
23 Rob Hall 38.32
38 Chris Wakeman 40.09
109 Ben Nash 46.06
212 Brian Williams 57.30 (3rd Vet over 65).

Phoenix Flyer Results
14 Tim Smith 17.46
18 Steve Hatton 17.58
26 Rob Hall 18.24
60 Nick Jones 20.07
78 Ben Nash 20.52

Shropshire 4 Results
13 Steve Hatton 23.02 (1st Vet over 45)
21 Rob Hall 24.22
183 Brian Williams 35.40 (3rd Vet over 65).

Oswestry Pentarathon Series

Park Hall 5K Results
9 Tim Smith 17.42
12 Steve Hatton 17.47 (4th Vet over 45)
14 Dominic Kirby 17.55
20 Ashley Gray 18.27
36 Grant Lloyd 19.44
39 Nick Jones 19.51
49 Derek Owen 20.26 (3rd Vet over 55)
51 Dan Fleetwood 20.30
132 Sheila Richards 29.36 (1st Female Vet over 55)

North Staffs Road Runners Association Series

Alsager 5 Results
106 Kevin Francis 29.20
240 Steve France 33.07
304 Rob Hall 34.55

Stafford Half Marathon Results
31 Kevin Francis 80mins 54secs (5th Vet over 40)
72 Chris Wakeman 87mins 15secs

St Michaels 10K
13 Kevin Francis 36.32 (4th Vet over 40)
19 Steve France 37.02
21 Dominic Kirby 37.06
56 Chris Wakeman 40.05 (4th Vet over 50)

Potter's Arf Marathon
24 Dominic Kirby 85mins 24s
41 Kevin Francis 87mins 32s
86 Chris Wakeman 92mins 43s

Chester Half Marathon
21 Steve Hatton 80 mins 44s (3rd Vet over 45)
25 Dominic Kirby81 mins 18s (PB)
27 Kevin Francis 81 mins 59s (4th Vet over 40)
100 Chris Wakeman 88 mins 49s

Clayton 10K
16 Kevin Francis 38.27 (4th Vet over 40)
37 Chris Wakeman 40.27