Ashton Court and Little Stoke parkruns – Saturday 1st February 2014

Some new early morning visitors were in evidence at Ashton Court on Saturday. Bristol University OTC was in residence. They caused a bit of consternation when a couple of them were seen carrying targets towards the hill under the course. “Make sure you aim low” was the offered advice.

There was a further incident when a number of runners delayed by a faulty ticket machine. “You should have parked outside the gate at the bottom of the hill” was the helpful advice this time.

Eventually the run started with a total of 252 runners present including twenty-nine from Bristol & West. Unusually there were some PBs this week. There were five in total by Timothy Jones, Anna Skinner, James Hamman, Robert Colman and Lizzi Elton–Walters. These included notable improvements of fifty-five seconds by Timothy Jones, and almost two minutes by Anna Skinner.  Four of the PBs were recorded by runners who had recorded less than ten runs.

As the regulars will appreciate it gets harder to improve on times, the more runs you complete. Therefore the selection committee has decided to award the Performance of the Week to Lizzi Elton –Walters for a PB on her thirty-sixth appearance at Ashton Court.

There were first places in the Age Categories for Simon Smith, Steven Swan, Matt Potton, Pete Mountain, Sarah Everitt, Henrietta Anstey and Jennifer Owsley.

There was also an encouraging debut from Alexi Reynolds who will surely improve her time in the future.

For what is believed to be the first time, Little Stoke had more runners than Ashton Court; 262 in total. Fifteen were from Bristol & West.

The outstanding performance there was by Becky James finishing with a twenty-nine second PB and as first lady. Others PBs were recorded by Mark Burley, Richard Cranswick, Susan Campbell and Angie Hobbs.

Roger Brocklesby Reports