Dunham Massey 5k – report, results below

Club Series, race 7
Thursday May 24th.

Dunham is an old favourite, it appears on both my 2004 and 2005 mugs.

It being the Thursday before the bank holiday weekend, we might have anticipated cold, wet and windy conditions but no, most of the complaints were about the heat and dust. The best way to avoid the dust is to get to the front, although giving it time to settle worked for some of us.

Damien (who was the winner last year) and Matt were there, but running not racing, we missed them but the two additional points were a compensation. Chris was on dog duty, Alan on Rex duty, whilst Nick was cradling a stop-watch – no lack of support, which is always an encouragement.

Diane was again the star, first female, eclipsing a host of younger rivals.

Andrew at 16th. was the first Wilmslow runner home, and, if my reading of the provisional results list is correct, was edged-out by a mere 6 seconds from winning the M45 prize. Rob was 22nd., Jim 29th., Graham 49th., with James, racing again after a long absence, on his shoulder. Mike another, whose running has been plagued by injuries, was 50th.

Janine, our second lady, was the race’s first F45, with Louisa eight second behind. Nicola and Jan completely a thinner than usual Wilmslow female presence.

Paul Garnett is making a habit of being first League Two runner. Janine was second with Gareth five seconds behind Louisa. Did not talk to Mark but he seems to have had an off day.

Some people suffer a down after the weeks of grinding-out the miles of marathon training but it seems to have put a spring in Colin’s step. He was, again, the League Three winner. Alan was second, cruelly beating Nicola by one second and coming-in ahead of perennial rival John. Jan’s result looks below par.

The profile of League Four was unusual, and will probably be, forever, unique, an average age of 74. Peter and Roy were both having their first race of 2018 and both, despite that, ran well. Simon, who is in excellent form, cannot, with his eye problem, handle off-road with confidence, so the back straight was a problem. With Catherine, the dominant League Four runner, away, Ian, relishing his status as one of the younger runners, was able to pick-up his first 60 points. There seems to have been a somewhat mature tone to the race as a whole, Ian being first of a surprisingly large shuffle of over 70 year olds.