By Rob | September 9, 2012
Due the rain back in April the first attempt to run this handicap race along part of The Greenway between Burton Green and Kenilworth had to be postponed. But finally and in ideal conditions we were able to use this route. This race is totally different from any of the others in the series, as it is off road on a “there and back” course, not the usual circular route. Although the nearest car park is about a half a mile from the start this didn’t put off 31 club members from turning out to enjoy the Sunday morning sunshine. With 2 willing marshals in place at either end of the 2.5 mile course the fifth race of the series got under way. Although the underfoot conditions were not great on the section from Burton Green towards Berkswell the runners were rewarded by having the opportunity to give Paul Bergin some abuse at the turn as he sat in his chair with the Sunday paper directing runners. After negotiating the muddy, wet course again to run past the supporters at the start/finish line the next section was better for running before turning round near the bridge over Crackley Lane and completing the run back to the finish.
First to cross the line was Christine Thomas who had a great run to finish in 44:45, over 2 minutes ahead of Luke Makins in second place in 35:06 with Wayne Broadbent coming in 3rd in 35:35. Quickest run of the day and setting the course record was Alex Keenan who completed the course in 30:03, with Justin Smith 2nd quickest in 30:50 and Andrew Lovelock 30:59 completing the fastest 3 runs of the day. There were joint winners for estimating their time, Sue Gough & Wayne Broadbent were just 6 seconds off.
With one race left in the series at Grandborough next Sunday 16th September, the winners of the handicap and road race trophy are still undecided. Although only 6 points cover the top 4 for the road race championship with 4 races to count it is possible for someone who has only completed 3 races to run at Grandborough and take the prize away from the current leader, Andrew Lovelock. The handicap championship leader Pete Haughton will need a good result at Grandborough and then hope that no one comes out of the pack to steal the trophy away.
H'cap Actual Estimate 1 Christine Thomas 48:00 44:45 46:30 2 Luke Makins 36:00 35:06 35:00 3 Wayne Broadbent 36:00 35:35 35:45 4 Chris Tait 40:30 40:22 39:45 5 Bob Torley 42:00 42:00 48:00 6 Alex Keenan 30:00 30:03 29:30 7 Alan Patrick 35:30 35:38 37:10 8 Martin Judge 35:30 35:45 36:10 9 Will Robertson 41:00 41:35 42:0010 Sue Gough 39:30 40:06 40:0011 Fiona Quinn 50:00 50:56 49:5512 Pete Haughton 36:00 36:59 34:0013 Phil Wilson 35:30 36:32 36:0014 Justin Smith 29:30 30:50 30:5015 Andy Wilkinson 30:00 31:27 29:2516 Andrew Lovelock 29:30 30:59 30:5017 Amy Frank 46:00 47:31 46:0518= Jackie Stuart 41:00 42:36 41:5018= Kyza Derby 31:00 32:36 29:2520= Ian Wilkinson 30:30 32:14 29:3020= Suresh Basra 52:00 53:44 53:0022 Fintan McSharry 39:30 41:22 39:0023 Mitch Timms 34:30 36:26 34:4124 Catherine Gough 36:00 38:36 39:00 (JL)25 Kevin Naughton 34:30 37:18 36:0026 Andy Norton 39:00 42:11 39:4027 Steve Court 34:30 37:43 38:0028 Paul Slatford 31:00 34:14 30:0029 Mike Wall 31:00 34:59 33:0030 Bernard Blundell 37:00 41:18 40:00 *31 Trevor Clark DNF
- actual moving time was 39:02, stopped three times due to cramps 🙁
The course was measured at 4.97 miles using one Garmin, though tree cover can affect the accuracy.
Results sorted by running times:
1 30:03 Alex Keenan 2 30:50 Justin Smith 3 30:59 Andrew Lovelock 4 31:27 Andy Wilkinson 5 32:14 Ian Wilkinson 6 32:36 Kyza Derby 7 34:14 Paul Slatford 8 34:59 Mike Wall 9 35:06 Luke Makins 10 35:35 Wayne Broadbent 11 35:38 Alan Patrick 12 35:45 Martin Judge 13 36:26 Mitch Timms 14 36:32 Phil Wilson 15 36:59 Pete Haughton 16 37:18 Kevin Naughton 17 37:43 Steve Court 18 38:36 Catherine Gough 19 40:06 Sue Gough 20 40:22 Chris Tait 21 41:18 Bernard Blundell 22 41:22 Fintan McSharry 23 41:35 Will Robertson 24 42:00 Bob Torley 25 42:11 Andy Norton 26 42:36 Jackie Stuart 27 44:45 Christine Thomas 28 47:31 Amy Frank 29 50:56 Fiona Quinn 30 53:44 Suresh Basra
Results and narrative provided by Richard Bagley