With the Christmas / New Year bash at Alderley the previous night , there was still some serious racing to be done the following afternoon……Round four of the "Manchester XC League".
As the season reaches its climax , with now only Wythenshawe Park remaining ( Saturday 7th February) , final placings and medals are being decided.
Directly after the final race at Wythenshawe , the League are combining the presentation ceremony with a Hot Pot supper and licenced bar in the 400 year old hall within the park. We have 18 tickets reserved : no need to purchase individually . We can get more and based on the turnout today with suppporters , we may need to! £2.00 per head …..start saving now!
By my counting we had 27 racing today with Nickys daughter also running making 28. Awesome !
Suggested placings below are race guesstimates .
Thanks also to Simon Fenton ( quizmaster of some note) and Ian Gilliver for supporting .
If I have forgotten anyone , my apologies . Results should be available at http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2009/index.htm within 24 hours.
First away were the ladies and straight out to the front were Clare and Vicky.By the time the runners returned for the end of the first lap , Vicky had edged ahead and it stayed that way.
Great runs , Vicky second and Clare third.
Giving great support were Sally Gilliver (11th) and Clare Hawkes (20th)….We had our first four home , but needed all of the team to be pushing back our competitors counters …..and that they did so well.
Captain Kate was next home , followed by Penny and Angela .
Making sure we pressed home the advantage of our first four counters , we then had Julie , Louisa and Nicky who was nursing her daughter through the course .
Great running by everyone and such a delight to see so many Wilmslow vests on show.
Bang on 2.30 , the men were away and at one point we had a Wilmslow 123 : Fowler / Halman / Pendrill. Positions ebbed and flowed as the testing hills kicked in but by the close we still had three in the top ten. Malcolm 3rd ,Mike 5th and Jim 10th.
Rob was mid teens , Tom early 20's and Trevor Morris early 30's. Our first six were in .
Again we needed everyone to play their part and again we got just that .
Phil Smith on a welcome visit came in next with Mike Cooper delivering his typical gutsy display .
Exact placings I am unsure , but we had one for the archives …..Mick Fairs prince of the tarmac , muddies his legs and does XC ! Pleasure to have you with us Mick.
Gareth , Mick , Rob Gilbert ,Ian , Geoff and Don were all bunched close together.
Gavin was next home and Roy made a welcome appearance . At midnight last night Roy was a spectator but by middday he was an athlete ….well done Roy.
Trevor completed the Wilmslow team numbers.
Great results and great runs by all : The results will be very interesting when they are out .
Next Saturday is Cheshire Cross Country Championships at Winsford : men are defending champions.
Nick.
Cross Country results are already online if you follow the link from Nick’s article. I also understand Damian won the Delamere Dash 6 mile trail race today. Perhaps we can talk him into the Wythenshawe Dash 6 mile trail race around Wythenshawe Park on 7th February?
Amazing results – especially from the ladies winning the team event. Clare & Vicki are also 1 and 2 in the ladies league.
Wilmswash!