Situated at the heart of Britain's oldest recorded town is the home of Colchester and Tendring Athletics Club.  We take pride in the level of coaching we provide our athletes and the dedication of the many volunteers behind the scenes.  Our younger athletes are encouraged with training programmes that include elements of all disciplines through fun activities.  As they progress through the club to U13's and upwards, the training is more focussed on specific events with tailored training programmes.  Please visit this web site regularly for information on forthcoming matches, results and news.

Ian Kelly, Chair

We as a club are surprised that Colchester Harriers continue to wholly blame our club for the collapse of any merger talks, may we remind them that it was them that pulled out of these talks not us.

As with any merger talks, there will be many obstacles to overcome and some can take longer than others to reach an agreement, there was never any set time to conclude these talks or though many hoped it could be finalised by the start of the athletic season in April of that year.

Our club decided, when informed about a merger, to put the future of the club in the hands of an elected party, this party it was agreed, wouldn’t include anyone on the then current committee or chairperson at that time. Unfortunately there remained discussions outside of these meetings and when these issues came to light, our club stated that these had not been agreed within the elected party for our club.

Colchester & Tendring pass no blame on any individual from either club for the demise of these talks as we all were trying to gain the best deal for our respective clubs and any blame from the Harriers on individuals is totally unjustified and inappropriate. We would clarify that it was the Harriers that walked away from the table not us.

Over the past year I have personally tried to contact the Harriers to re-open talks but until recently no answer came my way. In December the two clubs had agreed to work closer together in the future to try to overcome any animosity that may still exist.

Our club's decision to enter the Southern Athletics League was made purely an athletic one as it would benefit our members and allow them to compete at a higher level. In the past we have had a combined men’s team, although very few of Colchester & Tendring athletes took part in these meetings, we hadn’t stated that we would not continue with this league. Upon hearing of the Harriers anger that we tried to better ourselves we offered them the opportunity to jointly enter a Colchester team in this new league, an offer that was immediately turned down.

I look forward to the two clubs working together in the future in whatever means is possible and I would ask that there be no more said about meetings in the past and that we can put this saga behind us and look to the future. This matter is now closed.

As always, this Committee and it's members are committed to the development and success of athletes in the Colchester and Tendring area and will always endeavour to do so. I would however, like to wish Colchester Harriers well in all their endeavours in the future.

Regards

Ian Kelly
Chair
Colchester & Tendring ac

There will be NO training on Monday 23rd January at the Garrison Gym due to the hall being booked out for another Boxing Match.  Apologies.  Back to normal the following week.

Sunday 15th January saw two under 20's compete in the south of England indoor championships held at Lee Valley. Lisa Crowhurst, in her first outing at 800m Run a exellent race to finish 3rd and collected the bronze medal in 2:28 in a race full of seasoned middle distance athletes. Plenty more to come from the former sprinter in 2012. Michael Porter also stepping up to the under 20's ran well in the 400m finishing just off his pb in his first race of the indoor season.

In the final Essex League Cross Country event in the series of 5 at Epping on Saturday 14th Colchester and Tendring U17 Mens squad finishing  the season on a high coming 2nd to maintain their 2nd overall in the League, led by the inform Dean Frost  who had his best race to date to finish 6th in 22m.58s. excellent team packing by Joe Gibbon  9th – 23m.35s; George Jones 10th – 23m. 36s.; James Thompson 12th – 24m. and Ollie Gifford 13th 24m.08s.      Joe Alexander though not competing in this race was overall 2nd in his age group.   In the majority of races on the day numbers were once again down overall;  in the U13 Girls Jess Riches did well 8th in 10m55s. with the reliable Georgie Sturgeon 17th –11m28s.     U13 Boys Evan Chess 11th – 11m.58s.      U15 Girls Kate Frost 30th – 15m.56s.    Senior Women Diane Woolar 54th – 32m.14s.    Senior Men Tom Gifford 5lst – 30m36s., Gary Riches 62nd – 31m.12s and Kevin Frost 90th – 33m.50s.   This Saturday morning sees a number of CAT’s athletes involved in the Essex Schools Cross Country Championships at Hyland Park Chelmsford.  Report and Picture by John Hyland.

Colchester and Tendring Athlete Club members competed in the 4th race in the 53-12 Cross Country League hosted by Hadliegh Hares. David Gibbon was the first to show for the black vests. Gibbon ran a very determined race round the very tough five mile hilly course to finish in an excellent 2nd place while Kevin Frost finished 99th.  In the ladies race Sian Gifford had a good run to finish 15th and Diane Wooller was 42nd. There were some excellent performances from the younger CATs in the much shorter junior race. William Page had a good run to come 3rd in the U13 Boys race, Ami Fosker was 2nd for the U17 Girls and Georgina Spurgeon 3rd in the U13 Girls. Fine runs also came from nine year olds Molly Buizer and Esme Sheldrake both running their first Cross Country.
Report by John Hyland
Photos by Warren Page
PLEASE CLICK ON PICTURES TO VIEW LARGER IMAGES

At the Essex Cross Country Championships at Basildon on Saturday the CAT’s youngsters had a reasonably good turn out though in general there were depleted teams in the majority of the younger sections right across the County which is a concern for the future of the sport, a star run for the Colchester and Tendring came in the U15 Boys where Jordon Rowe produced a superb run to win a Silver Medal  2nd in 15m.22s, William Deasey was a fine 17th in 17m.09s; Under 13 Boys – Max Williams gained valuable experience finishing 15th – 15m.54s. with good support coming from Jack Mabbutt 21st – 17m.08m .     The U15 Girls CAT’s had the satisfaction of having a full team led by the consistent Ami Fosker 24th – 20m.04s followed by Charlotte Kew 36th – 20m49s,  Sian Hicks 39th – 21m.18s. Katie Frost 45th – 21m.34s and Hannah Banks 5lst – 22m.22s. The team finished 8th. Under 13 Girls there were promising runs from Jessica Richards 20th – 16m.05 and Georgioa Sturgeon 25th – 16m.39s.    U17 Women – Lisa Crowhurst dug deep 22nd – 23m.17s., whilst in the U17 Men Dean Frost gave an excellent account of himself 8th – 17m.53s. good support coming from George Jones 11th – 18m.18s and Joe Gibbon 23rd – 19m.51s.    Senior Men – Gary Riches being the only CAT’s Senior 89th – 48m10s.
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As we enter an exciting year of 2012, TSFA is pleased to announce 4th edition of Newham Classic 10K Run 2012.
Entry is now open for Newham Classic 10K Run 2012 which will be held on 15th April at West Ham Park, Stratford, London at 9:00am.
Mark the date in your calendar and start running today. If getting fit and healthy is one of your new year's resolution then Newham Classic 10K run is the perfect event for you.

It’s that time of year again to vote for the Howard Williams Trophy for the “Best Road Race in Essex”.
You can use whatever means you wish to decide your votes.   Complete and return the voting form by January 23 2012 to Dave Staines at wnstnann@aol.com Presentation of the trophy will take place at the Essex 20 Miles on March 4 2012