Arena 80 ac club records for 2018 reviewed

15/12/2018
We like to review the club records at the end of the year to see if there have been any changes or improvements. 2018 has yet again proved to be another stella year for Arena 80 athletes with yet more records broken and improvements made a plenty.
We’ll review each category as we go along so let’s begin with the men’s 5k. For so long this category seemed motionless that was until 2016 when the records finally came to life. Although no new entries this year, the big news is that Richard ‘road runner’ Clayton finally took pole position and toppled Richard Burgee-Gamble by moving up from 2nd place to 1st with his superb time of 16.04. Richard did go sub 16 only to find that the course was deemed short but he went again 2 weeks later at Goodwood to finally take the top place. The 3rd, 4th and 5th places are so tight with only 4 seconds between them so a tight line could make all the difference in a race.
5K Men
1 Richard Clayton Goodwood 2018 16m 04s
2 Richard Burgess-Gamble SM Kings Head Canter 2013 16m 14s
3 Joe Ashley SM Hove Park 2016 16m 25s
4 Al Silvester SM Hove Park 2016 16m 27s
5 Jim Roberts SM Hove Park TT 2008 16m 29s

The women’s 5k has always been a really tough challenge with some incredible times set in years gone by. The last change was back in 2014 when Emily Proto made it into the top 5. It will need a very special run to gain entry to this club. Looking at the top place here and Caroline Hoyte would sit in 4th place in the men’s category, so good was her time.
5K Women No Change
1 Caroline Hoyte O35 Hyde Park 2010 16m 26s
2 Fiona Clark SW Birmingham 2008 16m 58s
3 Julie Briggs O35 Hove Park TT 2008 17m 31s
4 Sophie Coleman SW Hyde Park 2007 17m 43s
5 Emily Proto SW Hove Park TT 2014 17m 44s

The men’s 10k records and it was Richard ‘beep beep’ Clayton who made the jump going from 3rd to 1st place with his race at Chichester to record a new leading time of 33.21. He pushes Al Silvester down one place after an injury struck year for Al but I’m sure we’ll see Al fighting back for 2019. Lovely to see father and son in the table with Tim just edging out Mats for 4th and 5th places.
10K Men
1 Richard Clayton SM Chichester 2018 33m 21s 
2 Al Silvester SM Phoenix 2016 33m 54s
3 Richard Burgess-Gamble SM Newick 2010 33m 59s
4 Tim Gedin SM Brighton 2010 34m 09s
5 Mats Gedin O40 Brighton 2005 34m 13s

The women’s 10k records have always been long standing records but there was an improvement made to these. It came from Emily Proto who took a surprised PB at the Brighton Marathon 10k. Emily hadn’t set herself a time for this race so when she crossed the line and saw her time she was shocked, surprised and over the moon. Her time of 36.25 beat her previous best of 36.32 set back in 2015. She stays in 5th place to cement her place.
10K Women No Change
1 Caroline Hoyte O35 Chichester 2008 33m 27s
2 Lynn Williams SW Brooks 1998 34m 28s
3 Fiona Clark SW Brighton 2009 34m 44s
4 Julie Briggs O35 Chichester 2011 35m 57s
5 Emily Proto SW Brighton Marathon 2018 36m 25s

The men’s 10 miler records have really been pushed over the last few years and year on year the times are just getting better and better. There seems to be one race that dominates the records and that comes from the Bright10 race. 2018 again was no exception and provided to new entries including the fastest club record ever. Richard ‘zoom zoom’ Clayton was at it again to finally overtake Caroline Hoyte’s 1998 record of 56.40 as he took the line in 55.15. It was a phenomenal run as he beat the previous men’s time of 57.21 by a huge 2 mins and 6 seconds. So good was this run that it earned him the prestigious Bill Mulholland road race trophy for 2018.
There was also a new entry in 5th place by the man who has also had an unprecedented year. Winner of the most improved athlete of the year at the club awards night; it is of course Aled Anderson. Aled’s time of 58.48 was almost 3 minutes quicker than his previous best set in 2017. A much deserved entry into the club records and along with his 2nd place in the men’s SGP fixtures this has certainly been a vintage year for Aled.
10 Miles Men
1 Richard Clayton SM Bright10 2018 55m 15s 
2 Al Silvester SM Bright10 2016 57m 21s
3 Gary McKivett SM Oldbury10 2016 57m 40s
4 James Dicks SM Bright10 2017 58m 42s
5 Aled Anderson SM Bright10 2018 58m 48s 

For the ladies we welcome a fairly new member in terms of years at the club. Winner of the ladies Harvey Curtis Cup road races, Maisie Trafford makes an excellent debut in the ladies 10 miler records. It was set, again, at the Bright10 race as she recorded a superb time of 60.58. The ladies records have been set at such a high bar from years gone by so to make an entry at all really is impressive. Maisie takes her place at number 4.
10 Miles Women
1 Caroline Hoyte SW Sandiacre 1998 56m 40s
2 Fiona Clark SW Portsmouth 2009 58m 12s
3 Emily Proto SW Bright10 2015 59m 35s
4 Maisie Trafford SW Bright10 2018 60m 58s
5 Tracy Owen SW Hailsham 1994 61m 11s

The men’s half marathon times have really been pushed on over the last couple of years and traditionally Paddock Wood has been the place to make your mark. However it was at Worthing that Richard ‘brmm brmm’ Carter took a magnificent time of 1.14.02 to move him 3 places up the table from 5th to 2nd place. Richard actually could have gone under 1.14.00 as he still had some left in the tank but mistimed the run in. The top place is a tall order as John Schaab who set the time of 1.09.24 back in 1989 was an Australian international athlete.
Half Marathon Men
1 John Schaab SM ? 1989 1h 09m 24s
2 Richard Clayton SM Worthing 2018 1h 14m 02s
3 Al Silvester SM Paddock Wood 2017 1h 14m 05s
4 James Dicks SM Paddock Wood 2017 1h 14m 27s
5 Bill Mulholland O40 Barns Green 1986 1h 15m 00s

There have been no changes to the records this year and again the bar has been set so high but great times for all to chase. Emily Proto’s stand-out year of 2015 was the last entry to make this club record.
Half Marathon Women No Change
1 Fiona Clark SW Bath 2010 1h 15m 50s
2 Caroline Hoyte O35 Hastings 2009 1h 16m 57s
3 Eva Isaacs O35 Stockholm 1990 1h 18m 34s
4 Emily Proto SW Cardiff 2015 1h 18m 43s
5 Dianna Hepplewhite SW ? 1992 1h 19m 57s

There have been no entries to the men’s marathon records this year with Gary McKivett being the last entry to grace these records. 1st place of 2.17.17 is held by another international athlete, that being Jan Swenson who ran for Sweden. There are some outstanding times amongst them and who will be the next entry to make their mark here? Could 2019 finally be the year to have a break through? It’s a tough order.
Marathon Men No Change
1 Jan Swenson SM London 1989 2h 17m 17s
2 Gary McKivett SM London 2016 2h 36m 41s
3 Bob Shannon O40 London 1999 2h 37m 27s
4 Richard Burgess-Gamble SM Amsterdam 2012 2h 37m 36s
5 Mats Gedin O40 London 2006 2h 37m 49s

There are no new entries for the ladies either and the last time there was a new inclusion then we have to go back to 2010 when Fiona Clark ran herself in with 2.48.25, The leading time of 2.42.23 is yet another international athlete by the name of Eva Isaacs who also ran for Sweden. There really are some cracking times for our ladies past and looks to be one of the toughest records club to be a part of.
Marathon Women No Change
1 Eva Isaacs O35 Berlin 1986 2h 42m 23s
2 Fiona Clark SW Florence 2010 2h 48m 25s
3 Jane Gardner O35 ? 1993 2h 51m 42s
4 Lesley Barratt SW ? 1985 2h 52m 00s
5 Julie Briggs O35 London 2005 2h 52m 45s

We now move on to the parkrun records and these always bring up many improvements. This has been especially more so this year as Al Silvester’s very successful parkrun series for 2018 got more of our members together which really helped to push on the club records on as well as creating so many new PB’s.
At the Brighton and Hove parkrun there have been no changes in either the times or the age grading records for the men. Looking at those times though and there are only 13 seconds between 1st and 5th place and with one decent on form run, it could change everything.
Parkrun Records
Brighton & Hove parkrun Men No Change
1 Joe Ashley 2016 16m 25s
2 Al Silvester 2016 16m 27s
3 Jim Roberts 2008 16m 29s
4 Timmy Gedin 2011 16m 32s
5 Richard Clayton 2016 16m 38s

Age grading No Change
1 Charlton Rudwick – 85.46%
2 Paul Gasson – 84.14%
3 Joe Ashley – 81.68%
4 Paul Arscott – 81.66%
5 Dan Vaughan – 80.89%

For the ladies we can say well done to Tara ‘phenomenal year’ Shanahan. Tara really has excelled this year so how fitting it was to see Tara, in her last club race of the year, take a PB to take a time of 18.08 beating her previous best by 14 seconds which consolidates her 4th place.
Brighton & Hove parkrun Women
1 Caroline Hoyte 2009 16m 43s
2 Julie Briggs 2008 17m 31s
3 Emily Proto 2014 17m 44s
4 Tara Shanahan 2018 18m 08s
5 Louise Vallier 2011 18m 23s

Along with that time also come an age grading improvement as Tara also moves up one place to 3rd with her age grading of 90.26% and just sitting behind two of Arena’s finest Chris Naylor and Caroline Hoyte. 
Age grading
1 Caroline Hoyte – 90.63%
2 Chris Naylor – 90.36%
3 Tara Shanahan – 90.26%
4 Caroline Wood – 89.71%
5 Louise Vallier – 88.20%

It proved very fruitful for many at Preston Park way back in February where we managed to get a new entry and two improvements for the men. Moving up two places to top place goes to Richard ‘still more to come’ Clayton. Richard took his time down from 16.45 to 16.29 to start what was going to be a big year for him. Timmy Gedin who always looks like a threat to any club records stays in 2nd place but improves his own time of 16.35 down to 16.32 and still one heck of a time. The always reliable Anthony Snelling and 3rd overall in the Super Series races makes a new entry in 4th place with his time of 16.48. Looking at the top 3 places and you can see that there are only 5 seconds between them all, ooh so close. There’s a who’s who of current Arena athletes right there.
Preston Park parkrun Men
1 Richard Clayton 2018 16m 29s
2 Timmy Gedin 2018 16m 32s
3 Alan Silvester 2016 16m 34s
4 Anthony Snelling 2018 16m 48s
5 Joe Ashley 2016 16m 53s

The age grading also got a look in with Marc Steene moving up one place to 2nd as he moves hi sage grading on from 80.24% to 80.36%.
Age grading
1 Paul Gasson – 82.90%
2 Marc Steene – 80.86%
3 Paul Arscott – 80.35%
4 Alan Silvester – 80.08%
5 Dan Vaughan – 80.06% 

It really wouldn’t be right to not see Tara Shanahan’s name here but here she is as she moves up one place to 4th to improve her time of 18.43 down to 18.19. Now there’s a team with those top 5.
Preston Park parkrun Women
1 Caroline Hoyte 2017 17m 42s
2 Emily Proto 2014 17m 53s
3 Julie Briggs 2014 18m 01s
4 Tara Shanahan 2018 18m 19s
4 Maisie Trafford 2017 18m 43s

In the age grading we have one new entry and one climber. With Tara’s 18.19 time it also gives her the age grading of 89.35% and a new entry in 5th place. Nicky ‘globe trotter’ Yeates is a climber of one place to 3rd as she improves on her 87.96% to now sit with 89.47%.
Age grading
1 Chris Naylor- 91.10%
2 Caroline Hoyte – 90.58%
3 Nicky Yeates – 89.47%
3 Caroline Wood – 89.41%
4 Tara Shanahan – 89.35% 

On to the Hove Prom parkrun and we have two improvers here. Improving on his 1st place already is Richard ‘anyone heard of him’ Clayton who moved his PB time from 16.22 to a magnificent 16.01 and surely the sub 16 is going to happen for him. The other improver to his time but same position goes to Anthony Snelling who smashed his PB here going from 17.11 down to 16.39, what a PB that was!
Hove Promenade parkrun Men
1 Richard Clayton 2018 16m 01s
2 Timmy Gedin 2016 16m 28s
3 Luan Huynh 2016 16m 29s
4 Al Silvester 2016 16m 34s
5 Anthony Snelling 2018 16m 39s 

In terms of the age grading results, we take in two new entries here. New in at 3 is Richard ‘are you still here’ Clayton off the back of his 16.01 time, he takes an age grading of 81.48%. New in at 4 comes from Marc Steene who had a good start to the year and got an age grading of 80.93%
Age grading
1 Paul Gasson – 83.22%
2 Dan Vaughan – 82.38%
3 Richard Clayton – 81.48%
4 Marc Steene – 80.93%
5 Kevin Lowe – 80.17%

Over to the ladies and a new entry at 3 comes from the lady who has just had the most incredible year so it’s no surprise to see the name of Tara Shanahan showing up here. This really was an incredible run she had here with her time of 18.17.
Hove Promenade parkrun Women
1 Emily Proto 2016 17m 53s
2 Caroline Hoyte 2015 17m 59s
3 Tara Shanahan 2018 18m 17s
4 Emily Hutchinson 2016 18m 31s
5 Maisie Trafford 2017 18m 47s

In the age grading results there was quite a shakeup here with 3 improvement and all making gains. Up to top spot and moving up 2 places is Caroline Wood who has had a very successful year. Caroline recorded an age grading of 91.47% to move up above Chris Naylor. Moving up one place to 3rd is Tara Shanahan which went hand in hand with her 18.17 time and gave her an age grading of 89.52%. Also moving up one place to 4th is Nicky Yeates with her age grading of 88.65%
Age grading
1 Caroline Wood – 91.47%
2 Chris Naylor – 90.92%
3 Tara Shanahan – 89.52%
4 Nicky Yeates – 88.65%
5 Caroline Hoyte – 88.32% 

Over at the Bevendean Down parkrun it brings us one new entry and one improvement. I really thought that these records would take a battering this year but I guess I shouldn’t underestimate how much tougher this course is the rest of them around us. Smashing his way in to 2nd place is Aled Anderson with a superb run of 18.39 and in 5th spot with an improvement to his time is Henry Miller who although is a non-mover still gave a very respectable 18.52.
Bevendean Down parkrun Men
1 Timmy Gedin 2016 18m 06s
2 Aled Anderson 2018 18m 39s
3 Anthony Snelling 2017 18m 45s
4 Al Silvester 2016 18m 46s
5 Henry Miller 2018 18m 52s

The age grading gave us two new entries with Dan Vaughan pole vaulting his way right over the bar and gaining top place with an age grading of 78.32%. With Henry’s improvement to his time this also helped to gain entry in to the top 5 to give him 4th spot with an age grading of 71.55%. I feel that 2019 will change these records and this will read very differently in 12 months’ time.
Age grading
1 Dan Vaughan – 73.82%
2 Paul Gasson – 72.43%
3 Jim Watson – 71.81%
4 Henry Miller – 71.55%
5 Timmy Gedin – 71.27%

How did the ladies fair? One improvement and one new entry is the story here. A non-mover but still retaining top spot is Tara Shanahan who moved her 21.12 time to 20.55 and is still queen of Bevendean. A new entry at number 4 comes from Helena Rooney with her time of 23.01 and lovely to see her making noises in the club records now.
Bevendean Down parkrun Women
1 Tara Shanahan 2018 20m 55s
2 Katherine O’Hara 2016 21m 24s
3 Caroline Wood 2016 21m 35s
4 Helena Rooney 2018 23m 01s
5 Jackie Rymell 2017 23m 55s

As for the age grading’s, we have two improvements but no movers. Caroline Wood still holds top spot, as she did in 2017 and moves her age grading time from 80.08% to 82.15% so quite a significant improvement there. Improving her age grading of 76.42% to 78.52% is Tara Shanahan who holds her 3rd place as she did in 2017.
Age grading
1 Caroline Wood – 82.15%
2 Nicky Yeates – 78.68%
3 Tara Shanahan – 78.25%
4 Jackie Rymell – 73.73%
5 Katherine O’Hara – 72.43%

Moving along the coast to Worthing parkrun and we take in two new entries here. These men’s records are quite unique as we have two lots of athletes with identical times. Now to someone with OCD these don’t sit well in keeping the records straight and uniformed so maybe a bit more effort please guys for 2019. 😛
A new entry in and straight to the top is everyone’s favourite banter bag Ales Jago. Alex had a flyer this year to record a time of 16.29 which equals James Dicks time set back in 2016 giving them both joint top placings. Another new entry comes in at equal 4th place from that man Richard ‘still more to come’ Clayton who took a time of 16.46 to match Joe Ashley’s time, subsequently there is no 2nd or 5th place here.
Worthing parkrun Men
1= James Dicks 2016 16m 29s
1= Alex Jago 2018 16m 29s
3 Al Silvester 2017 16m 37s
4 = Joe Ashley 2017 16m 46s
4 = Richard Clayton 2018 16m 46s

There is a huge shake up in the men’s age grading records with two new entries and two improvers. Moving up one place to pole position is Paul Gasson who moves his age grading from 80.72% to 82.88%. Another improver is Dan Vaughan who also moves up one place to 2nd with a new age grading of 81.39%. We take in two new entries at 3rd and 4th places. Marc Steene is a new entry at 3 with his 80.85% and just breathing right down his neck is Joe Ashley as he arrives in with 80.82%.
Age grading
1 Paul Gasson – 82.88% moves 
2 Dan Vaughan – 81.39% moves
3 Marc Steene – 80.85%
4 Joe Ashley – 80.82% 
5 Al Silvester – 79.84%

A huge shake-up for the ladies here at Worthing with three new entries and one improvement. A superb run from young Caroline Hoyte with a time of 18.06 was enough to barge her way into 2nd place. In 3rd place is Tara Shanahan, who although improved on her time fell one place due to Caroline Hoyte’s time. Tara recorded a great 18.46 taking a fair size chunk off her previous time of 19.07. New in at number 4 comes from one of our newer and younger athletes Lucy May-Richardson who recorded a time of 19.15. Completing the top 5 is Katherine O’Hara who has also had a good solid year as she recorded a time of 19.25.
Worthing parkrun Women
1 Emily Proto 2016 17m 39s
2 Caroline Hoyte 2018 18m 06s
3 Tara Shanahan 2018 18m 46s
4 Lucy May-Richardson 2018 19m 15s
5 Katherine O‘Hara 2018 19m 25s

Needless to say with the success of the Worthing times, this also had a major impact on the age grading records with three new entries and two improvers. Holding on to top spot, as she did in 2017, is Caroline Wood who improved the age grading record from 88.76% to a whopping 91.55%. Off the back off 18.06 time, Caroline Hoyte muscled her way in to 2nd place with an age grading of 89.50%. New in at 3rd place is Nicky Yeates who always seems to pop up with something good when it counts, so with 88.85% she now takes her place here. Dropping down one place to 4th is Tara Shanahan with an age grading of 87.21% however this was actually a big improvement from her 84.74% that she set in 2017. Completing the line up in 5th place is Jenny Hughes who was a late comer to the club records due to some poor record keeping from the admin side of things but we got there in the end.
Age grading
1 Caroline Wood – 91.55%
2 Caroline Hoyte – 89.50%
3 Nicky Yeates – 88.85% 
4 Tara Shanahan – 87.21%
5 Jenny Hughes – 85.18% 

As Peacehaven was only added to the club records this year we should say congratulations to all of them as they are all new entries so big up yourselves guys, you did good.
Peacehaven parkrun Men
1 Richard Clayton 2018 17m 22s
2 Gary McKivett 2018 17m 33s
3 Aled Anderson 2018 17m 43s
4 Al Silvester 2018 18m 55s
5 Teo Van Well 2018 18m 59s

Age grading
1 Gary McKivett – 76.07%
2 Richard Clayton – 75.14%
3 Jim Watson – 74.48%
4 Trevor Day – 74.31%
5 Michael Miller – 73.01%

Peacehaven parkrun Women
1 Tara Shanahan 2018 19m 03s
2 Caroline Wood 2018 20m 24s
3 Helena Rooney 2018 20m 46s
4 Lucy May Richardson 2018 20m 49s
5 Gemma Sharp 2018 21m 52s

Age grading
1 Caroline Wood – 86.44%
2 Nicky Yeates – 85.97%
3 Tara Shanahan – 85.91%
4 Chris Naylor – 85.75%
5 Jenny Hughes – 80.07%

Looking through the results it’s clear to see that two of our athletes have dominated the changes this year that being Tara Shanahan and Richard Clayton. It’s been a superb year for these two right from beginning to end. It’s been wonderful to watch these two throughout and to see what they have achieved. We really should be thanking them for pushing these records on as they have for others now to chase. It can only make us stronger and we really can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for the club records. Some may just be out of reach but there are definitely some there for the taking so over to you guys.