Another week , another race : This time it was the ‘Pie and Peas five’ as ‘Team Wilmslow’ rolled into town. In truth it should be the ‘Pie , Peas or Beans five ‘ but in terms of marketing it does not have quite the same effect ! Twenty seven runners but this time Vale Royal were on their home ground and were ready and waiting.
Just out of Northwich and through the picturesque village of Davenham , the race was based at the hub of the village, the Red Lion.In the bar Peter Watson was predicting trouble ‘the locals wont like us taking over , its that kind of pub’ .
A mass of blue and yellow at the start as in addition to a strong Wilmslow presence, Vale Royal were out in force.General view after the race was that this was a good run, with a course mainly off road along country paths with a longer stretch by the river before climbing quickly up hill before turning for home and a final push to the finish on road. Having raced here before anxious runners asked me if it was as hilly as the Gun Run ( happy to explain that mid Cheshire was not ) and how many stiles were there ?(answered a number but uncertain of precise figure).
The good thing about the race was that with a number of straight stretches that you could see the race unfolding ahead of you ( Mike you miss out on this part of the race )but with some 90′ turns that a discreet look over the shoulder was also possible.The race was most certainly well contested at the front with Rob,Jim and Stuart looking like finishing in that order(after Mike) but all changed in a sprint finish and nine seconds seperated the three, final positions below.
Mike finished second and debate raged afterwards if expats now resident in Hong Kong should be allowed to race if likely to win !!
Good to see Bill Heaton back racing and finishing well, also Mike Cooper moving up the order.
Both men and womens ‘A’ teams came second behind Vale Royal .The great thing with such a strong turn out was that everyone made vital contributions as the men also had teams at ‘E’ level finishing 22nd and ahead of Helsby ‘B’. Altough the ladies had seven runners , four were needed to field two teams but well done Kate , Julie and Sue.
A good night for prizes particularly as winners received cash in a brown envelope.Mixed reviews on the pie front but a bit of stodge never did any harm occasionally.
Well done everyone , another great performance.Some fantastic battles throughout, the updated results from Graham will be eagerly awaited . I think Graham is on holiday so just be patient !
2nd Mike Halman 27.11
9th Jim Pendrill 28.53
11th Stuart Parrott 1st M40 29.00
12th Rob Downs 29.02
17th Nick Bishop 1st M45 29.46
18th Bill Heaton 30.02
28th Ray Noble 31.14
32nd Mick Fairs 1st M55 31.23
34th Tony Hulme 31.42
37th Mike Cooper 32.04
42nd Ian Smallwood 32.32
47th Steve Smith 32.57
50th Jane Clark 1st F35 33.03
66th Kate Ayres 1st F45 34.09
72nd Steve Russell 34.42
94th Paul Ayres 36.28
102nd Don Bullough 37.06
105th Sean Barry 37.19
116th Sally Maddock 38.00
127th Tracy Alderson 38.50
128th Kate Sutton 38.54
132nd Peter Watson 39.17
135th Roy Pownall 39.34
142nd Julie Lucas 40.10
155th Sue Wright 40.48
161st Stephen Feber 41.34
191st Trevor Faulkner 44.35
236 finishers.
Nick.
Pie & Peas – V45 Club Record?
It has been reported that while waiting to pick up his well earned V45 brown envelope Nick Bishop managed to consume 4 pies – while this may not be his PB surely it is surely a club record for this event.
Rob