Saturday 8th January 2011
We are the Champions again !!!
Photo : Don
Full results : http://www.spectrumstriders.org.uk/our-races/cheshire-xc-results
Mud , mud and more mud .........it was certainly tough going . Tents were blown away but both the strength of Wilmslow and our new gazebo held firm .
The ladies were down to a straight four but came away with third vets team , fourth overall and vets individual medals for Nicki and Sharon .
For those men who had not done a lap to warm up , we were warned of what to expect from our interpid ladies .....myself included ......And it was worse than told .....Fields of mud and a stretch covering fifty yards of ankle deep water .......Welcome to cross-country, but if anything it made it more fun and the teamship more evident .
We have only won the Cheshires once before and that was also at Forest Park in 2008 . We had an excellent turn out , the support of the ladies who had already finished and Nina , Paul and Dave .
Throughout the race Dave kept telling me that it was close between us and Vale Royal and I was ahead of their last counter . Malcolm gave me the same news as I entered the finishing straight ......err mud bath!
As we huddled in the gazebo , snippets of news filtered back from the officials and the results were produced in quick time : As the headline says "We are the Champions again !!!".
In addition to winning the senior men , we won first and second vets teams and a mass of vets category inividual medals......Too many to remember individually , so for fear of forgetting anyone and to use the words of Tony " You know who you were !!!".
Full results are above but the roll of honour :
Ladies :
23rd Diane Bygrave.......despite a time penalty (enquiries to Diane)
28th Sharon Jones
29th Steff Sperring
Men :
6th Malcolm Fowler
15th Graham MacNeill
17th Jim Pendrill
18th Tom Mcgaff
22nd Stuart Parrott
28th Ray Eagle
31st Trevor Morris
32nd Mark Bale
51st Ian Smallwood
57th Nick Bishop
65th Mike Cooper
66th Peter Stock
82nd Andy Watts
95th Gavin Mendham
116th Don Bullough
118th Chris Cannon
128th Trevor Faulkner
DNF James Wheeler, due to injury.
We hope to have the trophy in the club for Tuesday , congratulations to runners and thanks to our spectators .
Nick.
WELL DONE EVERYONE, WHAT FANTASTIC RESULTS :)
(sounded like an horrific course too!!!)
Posted by: Gail Hill | January 09, 2011 at 15:05
Horrific - No!
Although I have to admit it was a tad damp in places!
Posted by: Malcolm Fowler | January 09, 2011 at 20:09
It was a great course. Little bits of mud, soft going everywhere, and water no deeper than a foot. It even had some small hills. Just the sort of course that runners with our training should relish!
Trevor
Posted by: Trevor Faulkner | January 09, 2011 at 20:17
But Trevor you missed out the thorns that left several people quite red in the legs; the numerous early baths (of mud); and also several drop-outs before the end of the second lap!
But how few under 35s!
For some strange reason I enjoyed it and I can't work out why.
Posted by: ray | January 09, 2011 at 20:39
Perhaps, because you won a Gold medal, and along with Tom (and the fist V60) beat the first V50s by several minutes!!
Posted by: Don | January 09, 2011 at 20:54
Well , I must have run a different course than Malc and Trevor , there wasn't one easy step in the whole lap and we had to do five . Lapped by the eventual winner before I had completed my second lap and most of the Wilmslow team before my forth , how tempting it was to have drifted into the finishing funnel at the end of the forth lap . Thanks for your encouragement Don it was much needed in the latter stages .
Tougher than thr Hell Runner . Did I enjoy it , yes .
Posted by: Chris | January 10, 2011 at 08:16
Hello.
The Leeds Half Marathon has opened. (Sun 8th May). I've ran it for the last two years and enjoyed the run followed by the customary pub crawl round the city after wards. It has a few hills but nothing we haven't experienced before.
Edx
Posted by: Edward Hickling | January 19, 2011 at 11:24