Mad Hatter 5 mile trail race, Wednesday 13th May.
A new 5-mile trail race organised by Belle Vue Racers. Stockport, the location between Tesco and the M60. If that does not sound promising, then it is misleading. Once you get into Reddish Vale you could be out in the country. An excellent winding, undulating two-lap figure of 8.
I met Damian on the bridge; I’d done one and a half miles, he had done two and a half, we were travelling in opposite directions. He was already out on his own and won with something to spare on a day when Wilmslow provided both quality and quantity; Barry was 2nd., Jonathan 4th.,Jim 6th.,Allan 11th.and Graham 19th.
Diane was not only first lady but 8th. overall. Louisa was our second lady and the race’s 6th.,then Diane Bygrave, Janine and Huma.
Matt took the League 2 60-points from Steve, Louisa, Craig, Paul and Janine.
Aron was League 3 winner followed by Christian, Diane, Tony, Andy, Geoff, Huma and Amy.
Midweek, local means a big turn-out, 41, 11 of us from League 4. So an enjoyable evening out but, for me, no prospects of points. My rivals of last year were soon up the road; Jon (winner at Knype Pool and Cloud 9), triumphed over Bernard (winner at Llandudno, Crewe and Radcliffe). James (had his best race of 2015), Sally (winner at Buxworth), Gail (winner at Trafford and Bluebell) then Clare, Kate and Colin. I was with Carolyn and Sue over the first mile, Carolyn moved ahead, Sue slipped behind. At 1.5 miles Rachael and Gavin came past me. Rachael moved ahead but I had ambitions on both Carolyn and Gavin as I picked-up on the second lap but never did enough to mount a challenge. Great to see Carolyn back close to where she should be and Gavin shaking off his injury problem.
Rachael again won League 5 by some distance but Simon, through pure consistency, may top the table. Janet produced a better performance, perhaps she’s stopped pining to be back at work, Julie continues to work her way back race by race and Belinda, given moral support by Andy, edged-out Trevor.
Ian