IT WAS a fantastic weekend for Cirencester’s female runners who became the first winners in 30 years from the town of a prestigious county race.

The Guy Fawkes five miles hosted by Tewkesbury AC - the final race in the Gloucestershire AAA County Road Race Series - took place on Sunday.

Recent mild weather resulted in a thankfully dry and familiar mostly flat course, after last year’s flooding and emergency use of an out-and-back alternative course.

With various medal positions up for grabs, Cirencester AC Ladies Team emerged as double Champions – winning not only the Veteran but also the prestigious Open Team Competition, seeing off all other affiliated clubs in the county, including the much larger Stroud AC who came 2nd.

Cirencester’s other club, Running Somewhere Else, placed 3rd in both competitions, marking a great weekend for the town’s female runners.

It was the first time in the 30-year plus history of the Glos AAA series that a team from Cirencester AC has won the competition.

Team captain Kate Jacobs narrowly missed out on winning the individual open championship, finishing 2nd with team-mate Charlotte Wilton 4th fastest lady in the county in 2024.

The full team who contributed to this brilliant result included, in order of number of races run was :- Charlotte Wilton, Kate Jacobs, Rachel Ranger, Kate Kilby, Ruth Fulford, Corinne Clark, Jo Musk, Wendy Jones, Harrie Siebenaller-Weir and Joyce Matthews.

As well as the team and open competitions, the “older” runners compete over a series of distances throughout the year, in 5-year age groups.

Pending official ratification, Cirencester AC members are believed to have won the following individual age-group medals, which will be presented in a formal award ceremony in January 2025.

2nd LV35 Corinne Clark, 1st LV45 Kate Jacobs, 2nd LV45 Charlotte Wilton, 2nd LV50 Rachel Ranger, 3rd MV50 James Widdowson, 2nd MV60 Brian Harris and 1st LV75 Ruth Fulford.

Finally, there were multiple individual age group prizes on the day for the race itself - Kate Jacobs LV45, Karen Higuera LV60, Brian Harris MV60, Ruth Fulford, LV75+, and Gordon Jones MV75+.

Finish times were as follows :- 35 Kate Jacobs, 30.26 – 7th lady / 1st FV45 45, Alex Banks 31.12 69, Jo Musk 33.09 72 , Brian Harris 33.27 – 1st V60 76 Charlotte Wilton 33.37 87, Corinne Clark 34.37 90 Natasha Pauck 34.40 143 Karen Higuera 37.59 – 1st FV60 161 Rachel Ranger 39.00 214, Gordon Jones 42.04 – 1st V75 353 Rachel Jones 51.19 375 Ruth Fulford 53.09 – 1st FV75