22nd May 2005
The 9.30am start was a bit harsh but it was a nice bright day with a cooling breeze as we lined up at the start on the Old Dee Bridge. Despite the name the race spends little time in Chester itself and we quickly headed out down nice flat rural lanes rather like the Wilmslow course.
Mike and the rest of the lead group were out of sight by mile 5 as we laboured around the lollipop end of the out and back course. Heading back towards Chester there was still a long line of runners on the outward half creating a contra-flow of mutual encouragement. Entering Chester we took a series of odd turns through a school, round the houses and back into the city. I’d lost sight of the guys in front and was beginning to wonder if I was just lost when finally the race course came into view below. I could see the finish and the big clock showed a very encouraging time. But unfortunately we’d only just passed 12 miles so there followed a further loop along the river and back before entering the final straight to the finish.
The Wilmslow highlights included the usual great run and PB for Mike Halman and an excellent time for Tracy in her first half.
3 Michael Halman 1:10:35
9 Rob Downs V40 1 1:16:11
53 Ray Noble 1:22:54
181 Michael Cooper V40 44 1:31:34
416 Trevor Morris V40 79 1:39:38
444 Tracy Alderson L 37 1:40:30
531 Sean Barry 1:42:49
658 Sally Maddock L 70 1:45:55
1952 finishers
Winning time: 1:09:05
Mens Team 4th
Full results at http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2005/chester.htm