THIS MONTH'S NEWS Most weeks Ian Humphreys submits a full report to our local papers , the Central Somerset Gazette and the Western Gazette, who always give us a good write up and this will give you results, times and P.B.'s often quicker than we are able to type them in ! News more than 2 months old can be found at  ARCHIVED NEWS           This week's training thought  Citius, Altius, Fortius  Faster, Higher, Stronger (the Olympic motto) AUGUST 2008 19th August Personal Bests have now been updated as at the 14th August . Please check yours at PERSONAL BESTS , and  also look at the POWER OF10 rankings to see where you are in relation to the rest of the South West , or even nationally !   So far no medals for British athletes on the Track at the Olympics  although we have had tremendous success in some of the other sports like cycling and sailing. Hopefully this will change today , Wednesday when we are in a couple of finals.   Birthday congratulations for George Biddulph, on the 25th and Ed Holt on the 29th. Have a good day ! 14th August The usual crop of PB's from the BMC meet at Exeter on the 29th July due to the high level of competition (and the use of pacemakers ) . Best was probably Dan Layton with 4.05 90 in the 1500m but other PB's for Tom Day,Kurtis Gibson,Rose Penfold and last but not least, Ian Humphreys !  These and other recent PB's will be updated shortly. The next Exeter Open and BMC meet is on the Tuesday 26th August . Full results can be found at http://britishmilersclub.com/bmcstorydisplay.aspx?   THREE  PB's from Matt Norton at the National Junior League meet on the 27th July in the 100m, Discus and Triple Jump ! Full details at www.bristolandwestac.org.uk     Thanks to Ianfor a report on the recent SOUTH WEST INTER COUNTIES  match .Nine of the 17  MAC athletes came away from Exeter with medals, three of which were gold. Last night's Yeovilton 5K saw Mendip runners take the first 4 Male Junior spots. Nathan Young was 3rd in 15.59 with brother Kieran in a massive PB of 18.24 just edging out Tim Attwell in 18.30. Ashley Martin ran steadily for his 19.06, Blake Parkinson ( in a Langport vest ! ) made his debut at the distance with 20.25 ahead of Rob Martin, who had a PB  of 20.38 and Ian Humphreys with 20.48.  First lady home was Rebekah Randell of our sister club Bristol and West AC. Full results at  www.yeoviltownrrc.com/   The Langport 10K and Fun Run takes place on Sunday 24th August and is always a good race for MAC athletes and supporters .You can enter via http://www.langportrunners.co.uk/html/battle_of_sedgemoor.html or even on the day but get there early as dozens of others will be queuing up !   Best of luck to any of our athletes taking part in the Team Bath Open or the Dennett Trophy meeting this weekend.   Next week's birthdays include Harrison Gray, 20th, Cerys Rumley, 21st, Wendy Sellar, 22nd and Hazel Attwell on the 23rd. 9th August Well , we are underway in Beijing and if the standard of competition matches the opening ceremony we should be in for a good couple of weeks. For those of you who can't get enough , play the latest Olympic Game at  http://www.miniclip.com/games/china-2008/en/   " But is having a bad day an excuse to quit when it’s not going to plan?"  Read about Doug Hall's experience of hitting the wall and walking a half marathon at the 70.3 Antwerp Triathlon !  http://www.votwo.co.uk/votwo2007/community/news-item.php?start=0&offset=&item=130   Birthdays coming up for Owen Ricketts on the 17th and Denise Hoogesteger on the 18th. Congratulations !   Best of Luck to all athletes ( and coaches) taking part in this week's Star Track at Millfield. We hope the weather is kind to us and that everyone has a great time!   Yeovilton 5K is round again this Wednesday ,13th, and there is the Team Bath Open and also the Dennett Trophy meetings both next weekend on the 17th. 5th August Apologies,apologies, apologies............. I forgot some very important birthdays ! Belated congratulations to Grace James, Maya Robinson, Susan Sobanska and Harriet Burr all on the 1st August. Also to Matt Parsons on the 2nd and to Dominic Henry on the 3rd. Sorry !    I am in time for the following - Oliver Biddle and Phoebe Kelly both on the 6th , Sue Reece on the 9th and Tom Sellar on the 10th ! Have a good day, young and not so young !   Nearly there for the Olympics - opening ceremony on Friday on BBC1 starting at 12.45 . The time differences will mean we see very little live but hope you enjoy your viewing and Team GB can come back with loads of medals !   JULY 2008 31st July A bit of advance notice here - the Street 5K race  on December 10th will be the Somerset Road Race Championships for 2008. Put it in your diaries now ! A great run and a Personal Best for Rebecca Carver at the U13 Inter Counties match. In the 1500m she achieved a new mark of 5.17.40 Nearly there for the Olympics - starts 08.08.08 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 27th July The following is  a pat on the back from the B & W website http://www.bristolandwestac.org.uk/  to all athletes who took part in the NYAL series .   National Young Athletes League Promotion back to the Premier Division achieved! We have seen many outstanding individual performances including personal bests. These were part of the overall team performance. It was the whole team which secured promotion - athletes and their coaches, managers, officials and all other Club volunteers before and on the days of matches. Every individual who made a contribution can feel proud of this achievement. I include our colleagues in Mendip AC. On behalf of the Management Committee I send congratulations and thanks to you all. Mike Adams, Honorary Secretary     First places for Rebecca Carver in the 2K Fun Run and for Dominic Henry in the main 6K event at the Westbury sub Mendip Three Peaks races ! Fuller report to come........   Check out  http://www.ukathletics.net/ where they are currently covering the GB Team for the Olympics, reports and results from this weekend's London Grand Prix and McCain's Chips new sponsorship of NYAL  !   For all the information regarding the Olympics and all the other sports go to http://www.olympics.org.uk/beijing2008/ .Did you know the name of GB's mascot for the Olympics ? No, neither did I ...........   Another new website that I've never seen before is the UK Schools Games one at http://www.ukschoolgames.com/index.php which this year is being hosted at Bath University on the 30th and 31st August . No details of local representatives yet - hopefully we will have somebody from the area involved. Busy week for Birthdays - Rob Colgan and Nancy Lunnon on the 29th, Nicky Cummings on the 30th and Robin Callender and Adele Martin on the 31st ! Congratulations and best wishes to you all ! 23rd July    Are your committee setting up a business in their spare time ?..............   An interesting new website just started up is www.beatyourpb.com . It covers multi sports connected with triathlon but it has lots of stuff specifically for running. It is bright ,colourful and looks good. 22nd July Successes for the joint Bristol & West / MAC team at the NYAL match at Yate on Sunday ensured promotion to the Premier Division. Best performance was probably Matt Norton's 50.12 in the Hammer giving him a PB and new MAC Club record. Full report at NYAL YATE 20thJULY  and full results at http://natyal.co.uk/results/yal%20results%202008/midlands/RD5/M1W-Rd5-Yate.pdf.   Whilst all that was going on , Doug Hall was taking second place in the Plymouth Olympic triathlon, only surrendering the lead in the last mile....needs more speed work...   This Saturday MAC is organising an off-road event as part of the Westbury-sub-Mendip church fete. There are two races, one of about four miles for the over 13's, with the other a shorter fun run for under 15's. The races start at 2.30pm, with registration on the day at the fete (opposite the village post office) from 1.30pm.   PB's at the Yate meeting for Kurtis Gibson, Dan Barker, Tom Day, Alice Watkins and two for Matt Norton. Congratulations ! 19th July (ii) Just like the weekend papers ...twice as much as usual Just arrived  are the results of the recent Junior Inter Area championships between Mendip ,Yeovil and Langport, where there were PB's for MAC athletes Ellie Norris, Agnes Dromgoole, Annie McConnell, Maddie Williams, Louise Cowling, Erin Martin, Jamil Carse and especially Mark Bailey's 2.28.50 for the 800m which according to www.powerof10.info   is the best time this year for an Under 11 in the UK ! You can find the full results at http://www.mendipjuniorathletics.org.uk/results/mo08/interarea2008.pdf   We now have full results of last Thursday's Open meeting and these can be found at MAC OPEN 17thJULY . I will deal with all the PB's and updates in due course but another fine run by Jamil Carse in the 800m - 2.32.20 which puts him 2nd Under 11 in the UK rankings , only behind MAC 's Mark Bailey !   Personal Bests from the MAC OPEN 17thJULY for Minty Martin, Lizzie Hecks, Dan Robinson, Rob Colgan, Dan Wright, Dan Barker, Olivia Lovelock, Ben Millar and Charlotte Scriven . Those with 2 PB's were James Clamp, Jamil Carse, George Biddulph and Paddy Paxton and there were three for Grant McConnell ! Well Done to you all !   Athletics on TV coming up includes the Stockholm Grand Prix on 22nd, Eurosport 6 p.m., and the London Grand Prix on 25th / 26th on BBC.   PB's at the Mendip Mini Olympics for Alex Williams, Joseph Engledow and Dan Solway. Congratulations !   All the PB's have now been updated and can be checked at PERSONAL BESTS . Please look at yours and let me know if any are incorrect. 19th July The latest edition of E-Inspire is out now ,  to get on the mailing list , check out http://www.ukathletics.net/fans/e-inspire-june-2008/   A new date has been fixed for the rescheduled Shepton Mallet 10K , 5K and Fun Runs. This will now be on the 19th October. See 2008 CALENDAR for future events.   Don't forget , if you haven't booked up for Star Track yet, places are going fast ! Go to STAR TRACK 2008 for further details.   One birthday this week for Ross Meldrum on the 23rd. Congratulations and have great day !   Details of the Langport 10K and Fun Run on the 24th August  are available at http://www.langportrunners.co.uk/html/battle_of_sedgemoor.html   This has been a good week for Junior athletics with the Inter Area, the rescheduled Mendip Mini Olympics and our own Open Meet all on successive days. Should have some times and PB's for you shortly....   What did I say...report and results on the Mini Olympics  at http://www.mendipjuniorathletics.org.uk/ . Wells Central won the Lower School competition, but were pipped by a couple of points in the Upper School section by Hugh Sexey. Horrington took the Small Schools trophy. 16th July A report from Ian following last weekend's National Schools can be found  at ENGLISH SCHOOLS T & F . Full results can be found at the English Schools athletics site http://www.esaa.net . Another good meeting at the other end of the scale was the Somerset Junior schools Inter Area contest at Millfield with the highlight being another tussle between Mark Bailey and Jamil Carse in the 800m with both slashing seconds off their PB's and heading up the national rankings. I should have full results shortly.............. Tuesday evening also saw the Club's BBQ and Swim at Greenbank. A great evening again although there could have been more there.........  Birthday wishes to Tom Flynn and Dan Preston , both on the 19th. Congratulations! 12th July Limited success for Somerset at the National Schools championships and no luck for our own MAC athletes. Dominic Henry was unlucky to only finish third in a slow heat and not make his final though Nathan Young did where the final was slower than the heat ! Nathan was 6th in a very cautious race finishing in 4.07.19. This race was actually shown on Sky and it was interesting to watch all the runners looking for Nathan, rather than just the lead runner !   Aoife Thorogood posted 4.56.47, some way off her PB and  was eliminated at the heat stage and our sole field athlete, Matt Norton, threw 44.09 in the Hammer but finished down the order. Well done to you all and we hope you enjoyed the experience !   I have now updated PERSONAL BESTS  from the SWAL match at Exeter last week . There were new ones for Lauren Hayman, Alice Watkins, PaddyPaxton, Mark Bailey, Ben Millar, Shane Williams, Penny Guess, Maya Robinson, Dan Robinson, Kieran Young, Kathy Williams, SteveNjie and two each for Josh Timmins and Dan Wright ! Full results can be found at http://www.cornwallac.org.uk/402_306.php Best of Luck to all those involved in the Junior Schools Inter Area championships at Millfield on Tuesday - starts at 4.45  p.m. Later on that evening is our own MAC Barbecue and Swim at Greenbank Pool starting at 7 p.m. Tickets £3  - this is great fun !  Please note there will be no training that night . Belated Birthday Greetings for Ella-Rose Bazley-Jackson and Fraser Wedgewood whose birthdays were on the 11th ! Sorry I missed you. 11th July A wet and windy Yeovilton 5K saw Doug Hall home in 9th place in 17.01 with Tim Attwell taking 19th place and 1st Junior in 18.33. Ashley Martin was 2nd Junior with 18.57 with Dad, Rob further back with 21.04. Frank and Hazel Attwell clocked 26.27 and 26.47 respectively.   Further to the Olympic trials on BBC TV at 4.45 p.m. those of you who have SKY can tune in to the English Schools championships from Gateshead ( Sky Sports 2 at 2 p.m. ). There is extensive coverage so we may get to see some of our own athletes ! 8th July (ii) Thanks to Ian for a full report on  SWAL EXETER 3rd JULY . As you will read , whilst individual performances were excellent , with several PB's and 1st places, we do not get enough members turning out and it seems inevitable that we will return to Division 2 next year.............   Performance of the day was Mark Bailey whose time of 5.07.70 for the 1500m is almost certainly the best for an Under 11 in the UK ! Other PB's for Tom Day, Dan Robinson, Tom Derrick, Dan Wright and Steve Njie though there will no doubt be others when I get the full results.   Best of Luck to our MAC athletes, Aoife Thorogood, Dominic Henry, Nathan Young and Matt Norton , who are representing their County at the English Schools championships at Gateshead this weekend. 8th July At the Crewkerne Tri Rob was 15th overall, with Neil at 58th and Clare at 74th !  Full results at http://www.tri247.com/results_5486.html with the children's results at http://www.tri247.com/results_5487.html Well done !   TV coverage of UK Athletics Olympic trials can be seen on BBC TV this coming weekend starting at 4.45 p.m. on Saturday.   Last week Doug Hall took 4th in a field of 150 + in the Manic MidSummer Monster Duathlon at Castle Combe ( 2miles run,10 miles Bike,2 miles Run, 10 miles Bike, 2 miles run ! ) . His time of 1.21.38 was still some 5 minutes after the winner ! 6th July A new website http://www.spikesmag.com/ is a collaboration between UK Athletics and the IAAF which is interesting in itself, but also gives athletes and athletics fans the opportunity to sign up FREE for a new magazine "SPIKES" . Check it out - see what you think .........   A visit to the North Devon Open Meet saw PB's from Dan Barker, Rebecca Carver and two for Hayley Carver.Dan and Rebecca also gained 1st places in their Long Jump and 1500m events respectively. Johanna Carver and Alice Grosjean were also competing . Results shortly on http://www.northdevonac.co.uk/   After the wash out in May, the Westbury Sub Mendip Fete is now being held on the 26th July and will include the 3 Peaks Challenge.             Start  1.30pm. Cost £3 to club members. Entries on the day up to 1.15pm             6Km race – Min age 13 on the day 2Km Junior Run – Under 15s only. Do the Run and stay for the Fete !! Those of you on our Chairman's e-mailing list will have received details of our competition to design a new MAC T - shirt. If not go to CLUB KIT to see what we want you to do.......   Just got back from the Crewkerne AquaCentre where Tom Derrick took 1st Junior and 2nd overall in the Crewkerne Super Sprint Triathlon. Unfortunately a 'wardrobe malfunction' ( where his bike shoe was knocked off the pedal ) caused a delay in transition otherwise he would have been first ! Neil Derrick and Rob and Clare Martin also performed well in the rain a bit further back ! Results will be available shortly on http://www.zen166233.zen.co.uk/Tribor/   Running after the adults, the Crewkerne Junior Aquathon races saw younger MAC athletes in action. Jamil Carse led the Boys 9/10 from start to finish looking impressive to take 1st place. Erin Martin, in the Girls 11/12, was last out of the swim but running steadily picked  off other runners to take a well deserved 2nd place. Elder sister Adele was not troubled, again making up for a slower swim , to haul in the other girls and take 1st place in the 13/14's . Ashley Martin had too much to do, after the swim, to catch the 13/14 Boys winner, but ran steadily to take 2nd place.   Just waiting now to see how we get on at SWAL Exeter........... 2nd July Well I've just recovered from Glastonbury and Euro 2008 and before I get caught up in Wimbledon, here is a bumper edition of news............   A report on the recent NYAL match at Yate can be found at  NYAL22nd JUNE . Best performance on the day was Matt Norton's Hammer throw of 48.28 for a new PB , a new Club Record and qualification for the National English Schools !   Four Mendip athletes have been named in the county squads for the English Schools Championships - Nathan Young goes in the Inter boys 1500m, Dominic Henry in the Senior boys 800m. Aoife Thorogood will be contesting the Junior girls 1500m, and Matt Norton the Inter boys hammer.   There is a meeting organised by Team Bath A.C. at the University Track on Sunday 17th August . Some time away but this will be a good event with good competition and with medals ! Take a look at the details at ENTRY FORMS  for the timetable and fees.   There is a short report from Ian on the SOUTH WEST SCHOOLS T & F championships .   Four MAC distance runners travelled to Exeter for the British Milers Club meeting last Tuesday, and all four came away with new personal bests over the 800m distance. Nathan Young finally broke the 2 minute barrier, clocking 1:59 exactly in finishing 4th in the mens "A" race. Kurtis Gibson produced a strong finish to grab 2nd in the mens "D" race in a quick 2:07.04, while Rose Penfold also moved through with a finishing flourish to record 2:18.18 for 4th in the women's "B" race. Aiofe Thorogood produced the clubs only victory on the night, winning the women's "C" race in 2:21.71.   In other news, Sara Geary has finished 5th in the South West Schools Combined Events championships, scoring a PB 3185 points in the Heptathlon.   Birthdays coming up for Ryan Garner on the 3rd, Fraser Wall,7th, Bernie Thorogood's special one on the 8th and Hayden Young on the 9th. Many congratulations to you all!   The most important birthday is our own ! We are 5 years old on the 8th July ! Hands up all those who were here at the beginning and still going strong !   Several MAC athletes went up to the North Devon Open Meet and did well. We hope to have some results and times for you shortly............... STOP PRESS !!!!!!!!!!!!   Matt Norton threw yet another PB on Sunday at the UK Challenge "Throws Fest", recording 49.21m in the hammer. Will it be 50m soon ?   This coming  week we have a very important SWAL match on Sunday 6th, please make every effort to attend and undertake events you are asked to do. Apart from that, we have the South West Middle School championships on  Monday 7th, our Mendip Mini Olympics on Wednesday 9th , plus the Yeovilton 5K that same evening and then the National Schools over the weekend  of 11th / 12th !   The following week it will be our annual BBQ and swim at Greenbank Pool on the Tuesday and our own Open Meet on the Thursday................ JUNE 2008 24th June Ten MAC athletes attended the NYAL meet as part of the Bristol and West / Mendip team and helped them claim 1st place ! They came back with PB's for Matt Norton, Grant McConnell and Dan Barker for the boys. There were two PB's ( again) for a steadily improving Alice Watkins and one for Jo Callender-Wood and a new Club record for the U15 100m proving that she is over her recent injury and making up for lost time ! Full results at http://www.natyal.co.uk/results/yal%20results%202008/midlands/RD4/M1W-Rd4-Yate.pdf   22nd June First places for Nathan Young and Dominic Henry at the South West Schools events . No personal bests but  good performances also from Rose Penfold, Sara Geary, Alice Grosjean, Olly Biddulph and Dan Layton.   There were  PB's at the Somerset Schools for Kurtis Gibson, Dominic Henry, Sara Geary and Alice Grosjean with solid performances from other MAC athletes. Full results can be found at http://www.somerset-athletics.co.uk/   Masses of PB's from our recent Open Meet - too many to list as there were 41 fom 31 different athletes !  PERSONAL BESTS have been updated to include all these recent results. Please check to make sure we are correct and let me know of any corrections.   Following all this activity we have new  CLUB RECORDS set by Dominic Henry in the 800m, beating his existing time and new member Steve Njie ( how do you pronounce that ? ) in the 100m where he took Harry Isherwood's record from 2007. 19th June Still on the Olympics , but this time 2012, there is a huge 'Street Party' with live bands, in London, to celebrate the end of the Beijing Olympics and the handover to London.Free tickets from http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/london2012handoverevent/?dma_id=603     17th June A report of last Thursday's  MAC Open Meet , together with links to the results can be found at  MAC OPEN 12th JUNE . The highlight of the evening was the epic battle between Mark Bailey and Jamil Carse in the U11 800m resulting in them achieving PB's putting them 2nd and 3rd in the National Rankings !   The  Somerset Schools championships took place last weekend and there were 7 firsts from 10 MAC athletes, including Dominic Henry securing his place at the National Schools.. For a full report go to COUNTY SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS . I will update PB's for this and the Open as soon as I find time............   Doug Hall took tenth place in the UK Ironman 70.3 championships this weekend  and qualified for the World championships in Clearwater, Florida, USA later in the year ! He was racing as a PRO athlete for the first time and otherwise would have won the 18 - 24 age group. His time of 4:46:31 included a 1.29 half marathon ! Full results at http://www.tri247.com/results_4695.html    Rob Martin at the same event came in with 6:50:57 despite suffering three punctures and a thigh strain caused by football the night before !   At the other end of the scale, MAC junior members dominated the Midsomer Norton Pit Path Fun Run, with  First Girl – Rebecca Carver, First Boy – James Williams, First Primary School – Oakhill school (James Williams, Harry Davidson and Alex Williams) and First Secondary School – Whitstone (Rebecca, Hayley and Johanna Carver). Well Done ! Full results at http://www.somerac.org.uk/miners/results/PitPath.html     10th June Click here for a further report on the NYAL YEOVIL 1st JUNE . PB 's from Josh Timmins, Dan Barker, Alice Watkins,( two ), Dan Robinson ( two) and Nathan Young. Dan and Nathan's times were also MAC Club age group records ! Well Done !   6th June Best of Luck to Tom Derrick at his first national triathlon event, the Mazda Blenheim Triathlon also on Sunday morning. He will be contesting the Youth SuperSprint ( 400m swim,13K bike and 3K run) with some of the best young triathletes from all over the UK. http://www.theblenheimtriathlon.com/images/PDFs/2008RaceInfo.pdf   3rd June Welcome back after half term - hope you all had a good break ! You can find an interim report from Ian on the NYAL match at NYAL YEOVIL 1st JUNE  , where we combined with Bristol and West AC, to take first place . Unfortunately, due to problems on the NYAL website, we don't have any results yet....... .   News more than 2 months old can be found at   ARCHIVED NEWS