THORNBURY Running Club member Arthur Renshaw has qualified to wear Great Britain colours.

He has been selected to compete for the country at the European Duathlon Championships in Madrid next year, following his performance at the muddy and windy Althorp Standard Distance Duathlon, where he came third in his age category.

This is a fitting reward for his many years of dedication to the sport, and he can now look forward to a winter of hard training.

Another Thornbury runner, Neil Roff, completed four marathons in October; one each week.

For many, the recovery time after a 26-mile race is more than a week so to repeat the distance seven days later and then do so twice more requires stamina and determination.

Roff began his October Quest on the first Sunday of the month at Chester with a run on a good course in 4:01:14.

The following Sunday he was at the Plusnet Yorkshire Marathon in York, finishing in 4:13:40.

The Abingdon marathon is always a sell-out, popular for those seeking a personal best time, and here Roff's time was 4:26:57, whilst he completed the fourth event in 4:33:48 at Leicester.

David Palmer was back and running at the Pomphrey Hill park run in 26:57, almost two minutes quicker than his time last week in Derby.

His wife Anne Palmer had her first taste of the parkrun experience, finishing in 32:59.

Andrew Darton returned to Montacute House, a tough course, which he finished in 19:58, while at Little Stoke Kevin Arnold ran 21:15 with Malcolm Carr gradually getting quicker and completing in 25:26.

Meanwhile, wife Karen Carr ran below 27 minutes for the first time since March, and at 26:38 is within sight of her personal best.

Thomas Darton took part in the Little Stoke Junior parkrun on Sunday, finishing well in 9:32.

On Saturday afternoon, the second race in the Gloucester Cross Country League was held at Malvern Common in ridiculously kind weather for the first day of November.

It is a true cross country with rough grass, hills, streams and a boggy section, and a serious test for those more familiar with running on roads and athletics tracks.

Again, the ladies could only manage the bare minimum for a team with Ros Rowland coming in first for the club in 32nd place (32:36), third in the Vet50 category.

Nicky Davies, carrying an injury, ran well to finish 47th in 34:26 while Judy Mills completed the team, 103rd in 40:43, convinced that she had performed better than last time out.

In the men's race, three laps of the course compared with two for the ladies.

Ash Hodgetts had another storming run to finish in 30th position in a field of 221 in 38:15.

Andi Davies, third in the MV45 category, took 39:29 and was 52nd, followed by Rob Hopkins, strong as ever, 73rd in 41:25.

Mike Willis was second MV60 and 101st in 43:02, with Paul Thomas 154th in 47:10 and Nick Langridge 166th in 48:39 completing the men's team.

Also running were Jerry Clothier (205th; 54:23), Pete Mainstone (210th; 56:13) and Anthony Yates (220th; 59:56).

Both Davies offspring were competing in the youth races.

Luke, still 13 but now competing in the U15 section, was second in the race which combined U15 and U17 boys, only beaten by 12 seconds by a runner in the higher age category.

Heidi ran in the U17 girls, a race combined with the U15s, and was a clear winner, over a minute ahead of the next competitor in her class.

Entries are now open for the popular Riverbank Rollick on January 18.

This race, organised by Thornbury Running Club, is about nine miles in length, mostly off-road, starting and finishing in the Mundy Playing Fields, with a scenic section along the bank of the Severn.

The race is always a sell-out and full details along with all other club information can be found at thornburyrunningclub.co.uk