A farewell to Jeannie and Alastair
September 15, 2011 by Simon
Giving Jeannie and Alastair a great farewell
written by Simon Barnes on behalf of all Cotswold Allrunners
It’s not often in life when you can honestly say, I don’t want you to leave, but in this instance it’s so very true.
Sadly, Jeannie and Alastair Hignell are leaving Stroud.
The reasons behind it are fully understandable.
Not as I had originally thought, that Jeannie hated hills, as she first told me as I chaperoned her up Selsley Hill on a cold Thursday evening nearly 3 years ago, in preparation for the 2008 Stroud Half Marathon.
But instead to improve Alastair’s independence and wellbeing.
As we all know Alastair has Multiple Sclerosis and moving to Brighton with the fresh sea air, flatter routes to get around and no doubt the viewing of the Ladies Brighton Beach Volleyball Club every Monday and Saturday evening will improve his wellbeing.
However, it seems like only yesterday when Jeannie turned up at Archway School the training ground of Stroud & District Athletic Club, to prepare herself for the Stroud Half Marathon, that her husband had entered her for. Every week for about 12 weeks, Alastair would be there at the sidelines, to support her!
Over the weeks more flocked to the group voluntarily, although according them it was more of an ambush. On introduction to new runners, I would always ask, “Do you run often, what is your motivation behind the Stroud Half Marathon?”.
The many responses I got, started to make me realise that perhaps Higgy’s Heroes, or should I say Alastair, was maybe encouraging members of his family, as well as the general public to take on a challenge they had no idea what it actually entailed.
Here are a few of the answers I got;
“We popped into lunch, had a glass of wine or two and when we left, we had entered a half marathon“, Aimee and Anthony Lax (now club Chairman). “I‘ve never ran before but Alastair says a half marathon isn’t far“, Angela a friend. And the best of all, “we just turned up to give the Hignells a quote for some decoration work and here we are, training to run 13.1 miles“, local Stroud painters.
I think you all get the idea of how Higgy’s Heroes started, but how can you refuse? Higgy’s Heroes, a part of the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre (MSRC) charity, who offer huge amounts of support and advice to MS sufferers and Alastair being one!
Since 2008, Higgy’s Heroes has grown and many of us at Cotswold Allrunners have supported the charity at the Stroud Half Marathon, London Marathon and other national events, for various personal reasons and this this support is essential.
So, as a thank you, On Sunday, 11th September we organised a farewell for Jeannie and Alastair at the Pavilion, Brimscombe. Well, considering it was a Sunday evening after some Cotswold Allrunners had taken on the challenge of the Woodchester Park 8mile Multi-terrain challenge only a few hours earlier, it was a great send off for them both.
The great news is, Alastair will stay on as President and Jeannie has been made an honoury member of Cotswold Allrunners, so will still play a part in Cotswold Allrunners and as promised we will keep in touch.
So here we are, time to say farewell!
On a personal level I wish them all the best for the future and thank them sincerely for their input in making Cotswold Allrunners the friendly running club it is today and on behalf of all Cotswold Allrunners a very big thank you, too.
Thank you!
Bristol 10k
May 19, 2011 by Simon
The Bristol 10k saw 4 Cotswold Allrunners, take on the challenge with 11,000 other runners on a lovely sunny day.
[private]Donna Findlay who completed the Bristol Half Marathon last September returned for this event along with three of the clubs more recent members who all work together and seem to help bring the best out in each other. They are Jackie McCormick, Jo Wheeler and Sam Welbourn.[/private]
Official results are available at
Reading Half is Personal Best
March 20, 2011 by Simon
Congratulations to all Cotswold Allrunners that took on the challenge of leaving Stroud and Nailsworth at 6am on a Sunday morning to go and run a Half Marathon in Reading
Full report and photos to follow on Tuesday 22nd March
Billis Bourton Best
Sunday the 27th February 2011 saw the th Bourton 10K Road Race. This usually a fast and furious 10K road race and part of the Gloucesteshire County Road Race Series, was won by local Nailsworth and Stroud and District Athletics Club member, Dan Robinson in 30:08mins, just a few seconds shy of the course record.
This year the race was supporting two charities in memory of club member Steve (Beaky) Wheeler. The Barn Owl Trust (Registered Charity 299835) and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust(Registered Charity 1077998).
So a cold, but still Sunday morning, saw nearly 500 runners start the Bourton-on-the-Water, a scenic ideallic Cotswold Village, 10K road race. The course includes 2 laps of the village before heading out for about 3km and then returning to a final lap.
Nicola Billis, who is currently training for the London Marathon 2011, is proving her running fitness and strength is heading ion the right direction as she slices several minutes off her previous time, to record a new personal best of 48:49mins.
For full official results http://www.bourtonroadrunners.co.uk
The Mud, The Hills and more mud ….
February 6, 2011 by Simon
The Mayhill Massacre is a tough multi-terrain race involving mud hills, more mud, more hills and what it’s really like can be told by those involved.
“A tough course but worth getting muddy trainers for the sense of achievement once you cross (stagger) the finish line”,
Briony Fern, (I love my clean trainers girl)
“All the hill training runs that we’ve done proved their worth today? A challenging but ultimately rewarding race, thoroughly enjoyable!”,
Steve Townsend, a new Massacre PB
Did you enjoy the race?
“I really enjoyed the 2011 Mayhill massacre and felt the benefits of the Sunday morning training sessions. Sure it was a hard race, particularly the second real climb before the descent and the sticky, sucking mud in the mid sections!
On checking through the results I was really proud to have been one of the representatives for the Cotswold Allrunners in this event and note that an improvement of just 5 minutes would have elevated my position about 100 places. Something to aim for next year I feel.
Thank you for all of your support especially Jennie. Much Appreciated”,
Mark Thomas, Cotswold Allrunners member and 1st time Massacre particpant
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