Haven’t seen anyone write a report on this race but include the results below to stimulate some creativity from our runners! However hadn’t noticed Cat had written a report on FB! I include it here for our non-FB members! Cat writes:
I awoke early this morning, with the prospect of the Four Villages Half Marathon on my mind. Having had a very late night and not much sleep, I was feeling surprisingly sprightly and thankful it’s “dry January”!
However, the weather was not so dry as I arrived in Helsby. It was pouring down when I lowered my car window to be told by a race marshal that all of the official parking was full. “You can take your chances in Tesco” he said. So I parked in Tesco car park as far away from the store as possible and put a pleasant little note in the windscreen saying that I’d be doing a “big” shop afterwards. I’m sure any wardens in Helsby are nicer than Wilmslow and Alderley Edge, so it was worth a try.
As the race organisers say “It wouldn’t be Helsby without a weather wobble”. The rain had cleared by the time we were gathering at the start. There was a good Wilmslow turnout and we had the routine pre-race chat. It reminds me of going into exams at school. “I haven’t done any revision. I’m sure to fail”. In our case it’s “I haven’t done any long runs”. “I’m just going to jog round”. “It’s just a Sunday morning run”. “I’m not going to kill myself”. The worrying thing was that it was all true in my case. I gave up hoping for miracles in running a long time ago, if you haven’t put in the effort, it doesn’t happen.
After the first few metres, I didn’t see any of the team again during the race, so I can only report on their super results. For me, it’s a great route, with lots of undulations and at my pace, lots of opportunity to chat! Having said that, the first few miles were eerily quiet and we all pounded through the lanes. I think it was the dank weather. Almost all of the way around I was keeping pace with a gentleman who looked like he was running in a black suit and shoes, much to the amusement of anyone who passed. It was actually rather old fashioned running kit and a City haircut to match. Of course, I got chatting and he was a jolly nice chap! With my recent learning curve on running shoes, I had to offer some advice 😀.
I fuelled my way through the miles with caffeine and gels and sailed along at my steady pace on a sugar high. I’m sure it’s only just legal! The last two miles were almost a joy, as they’re pretty much downhill all the way. I had to come within 2 hours or it wouldn’t have been funny and I came in on 1.53.28. As my school appraisal would often say, “she’d do better if she applied herself”.
Resolutions for next time:
Eat less cake
Go to Thursday training
Thanks Cat!
Nice to See Steve and Huma running again. A PB for Nicola! Close to PBs for Sharon, Oliver and Tim.
Great runs for Malcolm and our record breaking ladies: Sharon and Nicky.
Category winners Sharon and Cat.
Results below:
| Gun Pos | Time | Club | Chip | Chip Pos | Gender | Cat | Pos | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01:06:38 | Mohammed | Abu-Rezeq | 01:06:38 | 1 | Male | MSEN | 1 | |
| 35 | 01:18:08 | Kirsty | Longley | Liverpool Penbroke Sefton Harriers | 01:18:08 | 35 | Female | V40 | 1 |
| 69 | 01:21:23 | Malcolm | Fowler | Wilmslow RC | 01:21:19 | 69 | Male | V55 | 2 |
| 103 | 01:23:56 | Sharon | Johnstone | Wilmslow RC | 01:23:49 | 107 | Female | V45 | 1 |
| 217 | 01:30:23 | Tim | Billington | Wilmslow RC | 01:29:49 | 214 | Male | V55 | 9 |
| 250 | 01:31:44 | Mike | Hill | Wilmslow RC | 01:31:34 | 252 | Male | V50 | 22 |
| 318 | 01:34:37 | Paul | Norris | Wilmslow RC | 01:34:01 | 314 | Male | V60 | 7 |
| 384 | 01:37:01 | Paul | Garnett | Wilmslow RC | 01:36:25 | 382 | Male | V55 | 19 |
| 486 | 01:40:28 | Oliver | Johnstone | Wilmslow RC | 01:39:48 | 494 | Male | V45 | 77 |
| 510 | 01:41:23 | Nicky | Mowat | Wilmslow RC | 01:40:48 | 517 | Female | V60 | 3 |
| 517 | 01:41:48 | Zoe | Eyre | Wilmslow RC | 01:41:13 | 528 | Female | V40 | 16 |
| 720 | 01:47:24 | Nicola | Coppock | Wilmslow RC | 01:47:21 | 773 | Female | V35 | 24 |
| 791 | 01:49:16 | Huma | Rahman | Wilmslow RC | 01:49:12 | 830 | Female | V50 | 8 |
| 866 | 01:51:42 | Steve | Russell | Wilmslow RC | 01:51:13 | 906 | Male | V60 | 21 |
| 955 | 01:54:07 | Catriona | Marshall | Wilmslow RC | 01:53:28 | 990 | Female | V50 | 1 |
| 1632 | Finishers |