Welcome to December’s newsletter, we hope that you had a lovely festive period and spent some quality time with family and friends. Normally December is a quiet month but in true Bentley style we bucked that trend!
The month opened with the Essex Vets Cross Country held at Writtle, this event is for 40+ age group, congratulations to Doug McGillivray, Charlie Keitch, Craig Mitchell and Mike Vincent who finished 27th, 37th, 40th and 64th respectively in the 40-49 age category. Dave Allen was the sole runner in the 50+ race and finished in 56th place. Respectable running in a highly competitive field.
Further afield in much more sunnier conditions Chris Warren finished the Lanzarote half marathon in 1:31:09, a spy in the camp tells me he might have experienced some liquid sunshine!!
December the 3rd saw the Great Bentley Annual Awards, congratulations to all winners, well deserved for those amazing performances throughout the year
| Category | Winner |
| Male Runner Of The Year | Paul Davison |
| Male Vet | Charlie Keitch |
| Most Improved Male | Minesh Patel |
| Male Newcomer | Doug McGillivray |
| Geoff Day Male | Mark Jasper |
| I Trailed them All Male | Charlie Keitch and Chris Warren |
| Best Performance – Male | Paul Davison – 7 marathons in 7 days |
| Club person of the year | Tomasz Komorowski |
Also congratulations to the following runners who will be representing the club at our own half marathon on 5th February 2023: Ben Myhill, Jon Mann, Alan Johnson, Michael Simmons, Pacien Andrews, Fraser Lewis, David Allen and Donny Day. Hope the training is going well!
Sunday 4th December saw our post Awards evening run and breakfast where our chairman took off his clothes again, sorry I meant cooked us breakfast with the support of some brave volunteers! Thank you, Paul.
December also saw some interesting weather conditions, snow, ice and sub-zero temperatures which wiped out the running calendar. The majority of Parkruns across the country were cancelled but in true Bentley style we ventured out and did some training sessions at Hilly Fields and Bentley Hall. A huge thank you to the coaching team for the sessions they have put on this year, they are greatly appreciated, and I know that a lot of work is put into these behind the scenes.
A bit of weather didn’t stop John Booty and Khan taking part in the British Sleddog Sports Federation Championship series at Thetford Forest. The course is 5.2km and the times are combined over the 2 days, congratulations John on a combined time of 39:58. That’s set the benchmark for other members!
In other events Adam Robey took 1st place in the 5-mile distance in the Winter Wobble, for those unfamiliar with this event it starts at Ye Olde Albion pub in Rowhedge with a glass of mulled wine before running to The Black Buoy in Wivenhoe via a ‘water station’ that contains a Snowball or shot before returning! If this is your type of event, please look out for The Summer Stumble. Rob Dyer and Paul Davison took part in the ‘Twas the run before Christmas’ event along with their respective other halves, couples who run together stay together! Martin Owen hit a milestone 150th parkrun this month, he returned to Colchester Castle Park to complete his milestone in 24:44. Tomasz Komorowska also completed his 50th parkrun volunteer, amazing achievement both. December has seen a number of tourist Parkruns, Richard Moor ventured to York (20:11), Paul Davsion celebrated his 50th birthday at Alton Water (22:02), Dave Jones headed to Colchester Castle Park and for his efforts secured a new PB (28:00) and Martin Owen took a trip to Fulham Palace (24:58), well done to all.
The ‘2 Pauls’ (Hollidge and Davison) took part in Let it Stow with a few other members of the club, a scenic half marathon route around the Suffolk countryside starting in Stowmarket. I believe that Phil Presland was also there providing much needed encouragement in interesting conditions!
A few members also hit the trails of Wivenhoe for a festive 5km
The 21st December saw the return of the annual Fish & Chip run, a gentle run around the village of Great Bentley before tucking into dinner in the village hall. Thank you to Marion for organising this and I believe this year was a record attendance!
Post-Christmas also saw 2 events in the calendar organised by our very own Craig Mitchell, Runners v Riders took place on Boxing Day and great see some Bentley Blue vests out there. This was closely followed by Layer Twixmas Trail on 27th December, again several Bentley representatives. Note to self I must remember these events are taking place rather than sitting on the sofa demolishing the chocolate mountain.
Future events
Essex Championship Cross Country on 7th January at Gloucester Park, Basildon.
Interclub GBRC v Harwich 10-mile race on 8th January at Great Bromley. If you can’t run, then please come along and marshal, please email Tomasz on tomaszko81@gmail.com. What a better way to support your fellow club members.
Runner of the month
After much deliberation this month we had 2 nominations for runner of the month, but we couldn’t separate them, so we have broken with tradition and have 2 runners of the month for December. First up is:
Peter Benton
Peter spent several weeks out with an injury and has slowly been building up fitness in the last 3 months and this has paid dividends as he is improving week on week. Peter puts in 100% at every session and takes onboard the feedback given and incorporates this into his training. Only questionable thing is his driving as he almost run me over in Wix Lane a few weeks ago, still considering if this was intentional or not!
Next up is:
Craig Mitchell
A man who needs no introduction, Craig has put in some great performances this month particularly in cross country. Craig also carries out the bootcamp sessions on the last Wednesday of every month in the village hall, these are great sessions and highly attended with amazing feedback from the members and a must for those us who need to improve their core strength! Craig also has his own events company and when he knew that the Runners v Riders event was due to be scrapped, he stepped up and added this event to his portfolio.
Congratulations to both runners of the month and when I asked both what type of music do elves like best, it was a unanimous response of Wrap!
As we all reflect on the year gone by and all our personal and collective achievements lets consider what the new year brings to you, this will depend on what you bring to the new year! Wishing you and your families all the best for 2023.
Fraser, Rob and Paul
Great Bentley Running Club 