Wednesday April 4th.
Those who moaned about a pleasant summer's day at the Wilmslow Half will have to be more careful what they wish for. The sleet had stopped, but there was a bitter wind, the gritter lorries were on the M56 as we drove home. Richard Hiron adds "An hour before, Chris, Janet, Huma, Carolyn and I sat in the car opposite the Dodomobile, also full, seriously questioning if we had any real intention of getting out and racing!"
I ran the Spring 5 a couple of years ago, the only Wilmslow runner. 2012 saw 44 of us, such is the pulling power of the Series. The early races, however, are something of a false war as you feel out who are going to be this year's rivals.
I write without, as far as I can see, any official results having been published and therefore no Series league tables. If you feel my reports sometimes owe more to enthusiasm that accuracy, this may set a new high. I intend to follow-up with positions, times and category positions when they become available/I can find them.
Three races, a different winner each time and none of them called Damian. Graham MacNeil was followed by Jim, Trevor, Tom and Mike.
Katy, who's made an unbelievable start to the season, was first Wilmslow lady and followed by Louisa with her best run since she joined the club. Kate just edged-out Christine with Janine just behind them.
James took the 60 points in Division 2 ahead of Allan, Graham Taylor, Simon Bolton, Paul Garnett and Jarrod.
Katy is looking badly misplaced in Division 3. She was followed by Andy, a superb run, then Louisa. Only 12 seconds separated Kate, Christine, Paul Norris, Peter Bream and Janine.
Amanda says on Facebook that she did the first 2 miles in 6:45, which would be a new world record, perhaps she means at 6:45 pace which would itself be pretty good. She says she then suffered a "big drop" but I think that's simply a reflection of the downhill out, uphill back nature of the course.
Richard, who's in re-hab, "Just in case Chris fails to mention it, he got a rather tremendous PB last night, by two and half minutes. It's certainly very competitive in this area of the field and I witnessed some really great racing last night. There was some early shoulder barging with John P, then we set sights on Sally P. In the last mile just as Sally was in touching distance, Chris decided he needed to re-tie his shoe lace. John caught up, but we managed to shake him off again, take Sally, though she fought back on the finish straight, but just keep ahead. I stepped out just before the line to let Sally take the point."
In the first mile, four of those I had beaten at Wilmslow were ahead. Some interesting tussles to come, I thought. But Chris, Sally, John and Owen simply ran away and left me. I did have Huma. We had talked before Wilmslow, both knowing she would melt. Now she was in her vest, whilst I'd been, unkindly, compared to Nanook of the North. As in the past, we pushed and pulled one another to better times. And also Simon. I never actually saw Simon but his image loomed into view each time I feared my pace had dropped.
Simon went into the race leading Divsion 4. Could the automatic promotion place be his 70th. year? On Spring 5 form, however, Sally may be the one to beat, the potential that was there a couple of pregnancies ago has re-emerged. Julie's running really well, she was December Runner of the Month, and did you notice, in the newsletter, her split for the final third of Wilmslow?
A series of other injuries means Rod still doesn't know if his pace-maker and associated drugs place a permanent ceiling on future times. His approach of setting realistic targets and not being intimidated by past performances must be right. However expecting him to come to terms with a more debilitating long-term problem, a fondness for food, may be a bridge too far. He got under 40 minutes.
Nina's marathon training is really showing in her fitness and, Richard again, "Carolyn ran a steady race, got her time objective and the last mile was her fastest." That last mile was good, it's uphill; I always work on the first two being the quickest and mile 4 the slowest. The irrepressible former 'Miss January' took her marathon pace for a 5-mile run and Martin shepherded them all home.
Early League Leaders :-
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Ladies
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2
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3
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4
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Jim Pendrill
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Kate Sutton
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Allan McCormick
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Kate Sutton
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Simon Fenton
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Tom McGaff
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Christine Geraghty
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Simon Bolton
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Christine Geraghty
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Huma Rahman
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Mike Hill
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Huma Rahman
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Paul Garnett
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John Porteous
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Julie Lucas
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Allan McCormick
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Julie Lucas
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Paul Norris
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Chris Cannon
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Carolyn Hirons
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Paul Garnett
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Carolyn Hirons
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Richard Hirons
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Katy Green
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Trevor Faulkner
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Simon Bolton
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Diane McVey
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Diane McVey
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Andrew Dodd
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Sally Price
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Kate Sutton
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Katy Green
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Jarrod Homer
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Diane Bygrave
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Rod Coombs
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Christine Geraghty
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Louisa Harrison
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Tony Hulme
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Louisa Harrison
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Martin Wheeldon
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Paul Norris
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Diane Bygrave
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Aron Myers
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Janine Ellis
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Peter Watson
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John Porteous
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Janine Ellis
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Geoff Gilbert
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Amanda Bradbury
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Elspeth Gibson
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Chris Cannon
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Sally Price
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Jonathan Harper
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Ian Ashcroft
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Nina Birch
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Richard Hirons
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Amanda Bradbury
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James Eyre
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Steve Russell
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Janet Wyles
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Simon Fenton
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Sharon Johnstone
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Andy Watts
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Alan Turner
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Sarah Miles
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Ian