December 2004

Williams On The Melbourne Road Friday, December 17 2004
Welsh International athlete Mark Williams continued to stride towards his goal of Commonwealth Games selection with another impressive victory at Birchfield Open 10km Walk - his ninth consecutive victory.
  The Tamworth AC walker made a steady start over the opening 500m before making a decisive break from the field. He went onto win in a fast time of 46.20mins over the difficult park circuit.
  Team-mate John Culsaw Jnr again improved on his personal best time over the distance to claim third place in 59:11mins, showing some great potential for next season. John Culshaw Snr produced a determined effort to take 12th place in a time of 1:10.45hrs.
  Ann Ashton produced her best performance to date in the women's 5km event, taking fifth place in new personal best time of 33.34mins - knocking an incredible 90secs off her previous best time.Dannielle Webb battled bravely to come home in 38.37mins to take ninth spot.
  A trio of personal bests from Tamworth's youngest athletes rounded off another successful meeting for the club.
  In the 1km event, victory was claimed by Sam Webb in a 5.36mins, eight seconds quicker than his previous best. Michaela Webb took third place in 6:03mins to beat her previous best, with her sister, and the Tamworth's youngest race walker, Lauren Webb in fourth in her personal best time of 6.49mins.The three youngsters not only produced personal best times on the day but walked very well in this difficult technical event.
Posted by:chris
Tamworth Two Star at Home Countries International Friday, December 17 2004

Here are the results. For full report click on 'Latest Reports'.  Nathan Woodward…2nd…60mH (9.00sec),LJ (5.56m),200m(25.1sec), Shot (9.85m), 800m(2.03.86sec)….3029pts.    Meghan Beesley…..2nd…60mH (9.08sec), LJ (5.23m),HJ (1.51m), Shot (8.63m), 800m (2.26.87sec)………3321pts.
Posted by:Admin
Farrell and King Climb Reebok X Country Rankings Friday, December 10 2004
Tamworth AC runners Craig Farrell and Simon King travelled to Liverpool on Saturday to take part in the fourth round of the Reebok Cross Country series, incorporating the Liverpool and North West Championships.
  Both athletes had excellent races against boys from across Britain. Farrell finished in ninth place in the under-13 boys event and Simon came home in 22nd in the under-15s' event.
  Farrell's result moved him to eighth in the Reebok rankings, which is the unofficial national rankings for cross country, and King is now in 40th position.They will be looking to climb further up the rankings at the next event in Belfast on January 8.
  The cross country county championships for all ages from 12 years upwards will be held on Saturday, January 15 in Sandwell Valley.
For further information about cross country training and competition at Tamworth Athletic Club, call John or Colin on 01827 260897 or email tamworthac@aol.com .
Posted by:chris
Four Series Titles For Race Walkers Friday, December 10 2004
Tamworth AC's race walkers secured four series titles at the third and final Winter League meeting on home soil.
  Mark Williams, Sheila Owen, and Sam Webb all secured their respective titles in style with victories in their final league races, with Williams winning over both 5km and 10km distances.
  Welsh international Williams set the ball rolling for Tamworth in the men's 10km event, taking first place in an impressive 47.21mins.
  Leading from the start, the Tamworth walker opened up a comfortable lead to claim his third consecutive win over the distance and secure the first series victory for the home club.
  Mark Culshaw came home in seventh place in a time of 57.17mins, taking a highly respectable fifth place in the series.
  John Culshaw Jnr produced an excellent walk to claim tenth spot after moving up from the 5km discipline to 10km, finishing in a time of 59.43mins.
  John Culshaw Snr brought the team home with a time of 1:10:36hrs in 22nd place to see the home club into second place on the day as well as the series in the men's team event.
  Sheila Owen continued the Tamworth success with a fine victory in the women's 10km event, winning the race in a new personal best time of 58.16mins.
  Leading from start to finish, this was her third win of the series and was enough to take the title.
 Tamworth's youngest athlete at the meeting, Lauren Webb, continued her improvement when she finished second in the girls' under-11s 1km event in a new personal best time of 6.52mins.
  The home club's next victory was to come from another promising youngster in the boys' under-13s 2km event. Sam Webb achieved what his club mates had done previously and led from start to finish, winning in a time of 12.27mins to clinch the series.
 The day proved to be tougher going for another of the Webb having to battle hard to complete the very difficult Tamworth course but she came through strong in the closing stages to take third place.
  There were another two brave performances by Tamworth athletes in the women's 5km race from Daniella Webb and Ann Ashton.
  The Tamworth pair walked extremely well in difficult conditions. Daniella finished eighth in a time of 35.13mins, just ahead of Ann in ninth place in a time of 35.40mins.
  Tamworth's final victory of the day came from Williams, who won the men's 5km race with his third series victory over the distance, in a time of 23.54mins.
  Williams' victory gave him a clean sweep of six race wins in the Winter League season, the first time this has been achieved in its 59-year history and only the second time that an athlete had won both 5km and 10km titles in the same series - the only previous time this happened was in 2001 by Williams.
  He was presented with the impressive Wilkinson Sword Trophy, awarded jointly by the Midland Area Athletics Association and Midland Race Walking Association as part of their annual awards for the Midlands Most Improved Race Walker of 2004.
Posted by:chris
Birmingham Cross Country League-December Friday, December 10 2004
A Depleted Tamworth men's team ran superbly at the second Birmingham Cross Country League meeting of the season to stay in the division.
  The team was severely hit by injuries and work commitments but performed heroics to complete the race.
  Leading the way was Phil Clamp who ran an extremely solid race to finish in sixth position and was pleased with his performance.
  "There is still a lot of hard work to do over Christmas and January is a busy month with three consecutive races," he said."I hope to get stronger and faster within the next six weeks.I would like to get one more race in before Christmas."
  Paul Tasker was a doubt on the morning of the race with a swollen ankle but he ran one of his best races for many years and finished 25th, with Howard Bush consolidating the team's position in 34th.
  Mark Wapplington was another athlete who shouldn't have been competing as he had only just had a tooth extracted but he didn't want to let the team down and came 73rd.
  John Culshaw Jnr was due to compete in a race walking competition on Sunday yet he still turned out for the club and finished 108th.
  Colin Pleass and John Culshaw Snr were the final two athletes for the club and, despite advancing years and diminishing light, they completed the course in 139th and 140th respectively.
  The team is in eighth place in the league and given a high turn-out from the club in the final two fixtures in January and February, still have a chance of promotion.
  For the first time in three years, the club had two entrants in the ladies' race in Jacqui Jarvis and triathlete Karen Smith.
  Both athletes are used to longer road races and complained that the distance of 4.5 miles was too much of a sprint for them.
  Both Jacqui and Karen had competed in the Hartshill Heartbreaker ten mile the previous weekend.
  The race is one of the most difficult cross country events to be held locally and this year the steep hills, embankments, quarries and farmyards were made even more treacherous because of the heavy rain that had fallen in the previous week.
  For most of the race, they were running through mud that came above their calves.
  Any ladies who would like to join Jacqui and Karen in the next race in January or who would like to train at Tamworth AC should call John on 01827 260897.
  Training sessions for men and women take place from 7-8pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights, with Wednesday night training set aside specifically for road runners.
Posted by:chris
Junior X Country Competition Coming Up Soon Sunday, December 5 2004
The next junior competition is the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League meeting on Sunday, December 12. Call Colin or John on 01827 260897 for further details.
Posted by:chris
Capital Show From Runners Sunday, December 5 2004
Three Tamworth AC junior athletes travelled to Parliament Hill in London to take part in the combined third Reebok Cross Country race and the London Championships after the West Midlands Young Athletes race was cancelled.
  On a bitterly cold day, they all acquitted themselves well on what is arguably the toughest cross country course to be used in a championship.
  Simon King took part in the under-15s boys' event and finished in 50th position in a very competitive field while team-mate Laura Lewis was 39th in the under-13 girls' competition and is making steady improvements with every race.
  Once again, Craig Farrell had the best result of the day, completing the course in 23rd, less than one minute behind the winner. This puts Craig 16th overall in the Reebok rankings which include athletes from all over Great Britain.
  Further details on cross country training and competition are available from Tom or John at the club on 01827 260897.
Posted by:chris
Title Holder Off to a Flier Sunday, December 5 2004
Talented Tamworth AC athlete Meghan Beesley  remains on course to successfully defend her under-15s title in the Birmingham Sportshall League.
  The highly-rated all-rounder has already opened up a 95 point lead over Akilah Coleman after two rounds of this year's competition and is ahead of Birchfield Harriers athlete Jade Surman.
  Fellow Tamworth AC athlete Rebecca Findlay is ranked eighth in the same performance table.
  The Tamworth AC boys team is currently top of the overall league, while the girls sit in third position.
Posted by:chris
Road Runners Sunday, December 5 2004
The club is hosting road running sessions on Wednesday nights. Athletes can do their own sessions knowing that the distances are accurate and they are never more than 200m from the clubhouse.
The sessions, open to anyone over 16, run between 7-9pm and cost £3.
For further details call Kevin Wood on 01827 260897 or email tamworthac@aol.com
Posted by:chris
'Beer We Go' - Town Runners Hit Holland Sunday, December 5 2004

A Group of Veteran Tamworth Athletic Club road runners went Dutch recently to compete in the annual Amsterdam 10km.
The six runners, whose combined ages totalled over 340, were accompanied by non-competing team manager Roy Meadows.
But running wasn't the only thing on their minds as the race was preceded by a visit to the Heineken Brewery.
Competing in her first overseas race, newcomer to the sport Marie Wood gave Trevor Stevenson a good run for his money, completing the course in 1:10.44hrs, just four minutes behind Trevor and six minutes ahead of fellow runners Pat Wileman and Barbara Graham.
Kevin Wood was the first Tamworth AC runner to finish in 817th place in a respectable time of 50.40mins, a minute behind his previous year's time.
Arthur Turner, the original plodder, was expecting to make his own personal record and finish last. He tried valiantly but finished in 2928 position with four others behind him.
Apparently he was on schedule for this epic first when he suddenly realised that if he didn't get a move on he would miss the team bus back to the hotel and he didn't fancy the walk.
Posted by:chris
New Cross Country Reception Squad Thursday, December 2 2004
The Marlborough Way Athletic Stadium will be the venue for a new winter cross country Starter Squad run by Tamworth Athletic Club for boys and girls.
Young athletes, between the ages of nine-13 are welcome to attend the coaching sessions between 5.30-6.30pm on Thursday evenings and running until the end of March 2005.
For full details go to the Reports page.
Posted by:chris