Runners of the Month, First Half of 2018

Welcome to our Runners of the Month for May and our first worthy winner is Daniel Reeves. Dan is a dedicated and hardworking athlete who puts an incredible amount of grit & determination into his training & racing. He is always cheerful & very supportive of his club team-mates at events and regularly turns out to support the Almosts even at races he is not able to compete in. He has recorded some notable PB performances of late too. At Tewkesbury Half by over 27 minutes and at Berkeley 10k. Dan is a dedicated Parkrunner too & has truly mastered the Cheltenham course. Well done Dan & keep up the good work.

Rob is our second, well deserved Runner of the Month for May. Rob is a keen and enthusiastic runner and has not let his visual impairdness hold him back or restrict him in his efforts to better his performances. He ran 4 half marathons last year at Swindon, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud as well as numerous 10Ks and he is only a handful of runs away from 50 parkruns and the glory of the red T-Shirt. Rob is a great club supporter and always wears his vest with pride when he competes. Mention should also be made of Rob’s guide runners, especially Mark Medland who is in the photo with Rob above & has supported Rob all the way in his endeavours. Well done Rob

Our final Runner of the Month this May is Dave. He is truly flying at the moment but it is all down to his hard work & cranking out the big miles, his Strava feed is highly impressive! His dedication has paid off with a new marathon PB at Stratford Upon Avon two weeks again in a brilliant 3:11, which he then followed up in the heat of Liverpool this weekend with an equally brilliant 1:30 for the half. Dave goes about his running exploits in a very quiet manner but is a great clubman supporting his colleagues & encouraging them to do their best too. He is a pretty mean cyclist too, even when he’s forgotten his “clip-ins”! Well done Dave, tip-top running ….

Welcome to Runner of the Month for April. Our first worthy winner is Lorraine Taylor. Having got her half time under 2 hours with a 1.55 at Stroud in October, Lorraine has been training very hard and has stepped up her distances to begin competing at the daunting 20mile distance. At the Berkeley 20 she recorded an excellent 3hrs 15mins but within 2 weeks at the Gloucester 20 with its notorious 3 laps and “that hill”, she took her time down to a brilliant 3.02. Very impressive indeed. Lorraine is a brilliant supporter too of her club team-mates, cheering them on at races and events. Well done Lorraine!

Our second Runner of the Month is Rich Walklate. Rich goes about his running very quietly but regularly turns in some amazing performances. At the Manchester Marathon on Sunday he stormed to a new marathon PB of 3hrs 3mins, a massive 22 minute improvement on his previous best. Far from the tarmac of Manchester, some may not be aware too that Rich “conquered” the Everest Marathon last year, a marvellous achievement. Rich gives a lot back to the running community too where at Cheltenham parkrun he is a valued member of the core team and with Almosts he has established a regular off-roading community throughout the winter where he has been solely responsible for the UK’s sales spike of head-torches. Good work Rich.

Our first Runner of the Month for February is Catherine Daly. Cat has been a very consistent runner over her time with Almosts & really enjoys her racing & training, supporting her fellow club mates with lots of encouragement and smiles. We particularly recognise Cat as our ROTM for her recent brilliant run of a string of PBs. She achieved this first at the very tough 20mile distance at Bramley, taking down dad Mike in the closing stages. Then in Torremolinos, no mean feat to get a PB on that weekend! she knocked 5 minutes off her previous best to hit the 1.50 mark for the half marathon. Then at parkrun she turned in 23.36 last weekend. Great stuff Cat and keep up the good work, ….and beating your dad.

Our first Runner of the Month for February is Catherine Daly. Cat has been a very consistent runner over her time with Almosts & really enjoys her racing & training, supporting her fellow club mates with lots of encouragement and smiles. We particularly recognise Cat as our ROTM for her recent brilliant run of a string of PBs. She achieved this first at the very tough 20mile distance at Bramley, taking down dad Mike in the closing stages. Then in Torremolinos, no mean feat to get a PB on that weekend! she knocked 5 minutes off her previous best to hit the 1.50 mark for the half marathon. Then at parkrun she turned in 23.36 last weekend. Great stuff Cat and keep up the good work, ….and beating your dad.

Our second Runner of the Month is Martin Thomas. Martin is a great support to the club & no mean runner. He is always one to put his hand up and offer his help at club races and events as well as marshalling stints when other organisers have appealed for help. He is a great help as Leg Captain on the Cotswold Way and is an excellent photographer too of his club mates at many races. At the end of January, Martin took on the challenge of the 40-mile Wychavon Way race & completed with a handful of colleagues in a shade under 8 hours. An amazing feat on a largely off-road and self-navigation course. His dedicated training & recces of the course no doubt paid off.  Keep it up Martin with your endeavours for 2018…