Wednesday August 3rd.
26o when I left Wilmslow, hopefully it would cool for the race but the heat was clearly going to be a factor. I would start the race tied on points in the Main table with Chris and tied in League 4 with Angie. Would the temperature work in my or their favour? Perhaps neither. As the start got closer, and the Wilmslow numbers swelled, it looked as though it might all be irrelevant and, as at Forest 5, maybe none of us would be able to add to our existing total.
This was the Grand Prix and a quality race. Damian was "only" fourth and Malcolm out of the top ten at 13th. although he was 1st.M45. I've not seen the Grand Prix result but in the past Vale Royal have dominated their own race and, for us, it has been about damage limitation in the overall results across the full season of seven races.
Jim was 16th., Andrew 20th., Tom 24th. and 1st.M55, Mike 25th., Barry 31st., Graham Screawn 44th., and Rob Gilbert 45th. The top-end of the club turning-out in strength for the Men's team.
Diane McVey's debut was timely given the Ladies were missing a number of regulars for the Grand Prix. Janine was second Wilmslow lady followed by Katy, Sally, Diane Bygrave, Sarah Waite, Sue, Zoe and Sharon, doing well to be ahead of Angela. Carolyn got the better of Catriona, who avoided the dramatic collapse on the finishing line of a few years ago. Gail then Sarah Miles, good to see Elspeth back.
Mick talks about his commitments and having to miss races, but a nice short fast race and he's there, 60 points in the bag. Together with Andy and Tony, who was on grandfather duty, the golden generation have produced the winner in 7 of the last 8 races.
Behind Mick it looks to have been very interesting – perhaps the participants can give us some detail. Aron was given the decision but James the same time, Diane McVey was only 4 seconds behind them, Paul Garnett 10seconds behind Diane, with a one second gap to Andy and another one second to debutant, Allan. Six Wilmslow runners within 16 seconds. Following them only four seconds separated Jeremy, Jon and Richard.
Geoff looks to have established his dominance in League 4 and Patrick opened some breathing space between himself and Janine. Steve Russell has the potential to move higher. Andy and John are the young kids who've move up a grade this year. They were ahead of Sally and James, he is working his way back.
I felt lethargic at the beginning. Was it just me, or was it the heat, did everyone feel that way? There's nothing worse than finishing a race feeling you really didn't try hard enough, a waste of an evening. Lethargy instantly evaporated when Simon overtook me after the first mile. I fought my way back but by the time he passed me for the tenth time it was total commitment; two old buggers flogging their bollocks off. We passed Sarah, still clearly not race fit despite an excellent Forest 5, and Sue, now getting her Series together after a slow start in the aftermath of her marathon. Driving each other on, we started to close on Chris and Diane. Chris moved away but I passed Di on the field. As I was catching her, her running looked tired but she, too, wasn't for giving me an easy time and by the bend was back in front. My calculation was that the point we were fighting for was a precious one, it would make me the leading Ashcroft in League 4, I had a second go at Diane. A laboured sprint and I was home.
Clare, like Sarah in front of her, is still below par. If Sue's season is getting going, Zoe's has barely started. Angela, who was so far ahead I didn't even see her at Forest 5, does not seem to be able to transfer her Tuesday repetition pace to short flat races, Meerbrook, of course, will be a different matter.
For Chris it was win number 9 in League 5. For Simon, justifying again his popular runner of the month win in June, a third second place. Peter smoothed his way to third with a style that belies his years, starting slowly and working his way through the field. Sharon and Carolyn again ran strongly. Cat is running better than she likes to admit. This is the sort of race at which Roy can excel, but he is downbeat over his struggle to regain fitness. Gail came in ahead of Sarah Miles, whilst saving enough to be at the front of the queue for the pies . Elspeth condemned Martin to laterne rouge, he is carefully picking his races for one of the XXL T-shirts. We missed Rod , a bit of a specialist here, three pies one year, he part-trained Tuesday, maybe back for Birchwood.
48 runners is not a record but eight of them completed their seventh qualifying race, so the tables are much changed.
Additional names on the 2011 T-shirt and mug; Steve Russell, Jon Bale, Andy Watts, Rob Gilbert, Mike Hill, Tom McGaff, Graham MacNeil and Jim Pendrill.
Congratulations to Damian; he has ten wins, Malcolm has three, six races to go. He is the 2011 champion and there are nearly three months of the competition still to go.
Jim, in at 3rd.,pushes Trevor to 4th. Graham MacNeil in at 5th. drops Andrew to 6th. Tom and Mike in at 7th. and 8th. ease out Tony and Graham Screawn. Rob Gilbert in at 11th. pushes down Paul Garnett. Andy's in at 13th.ahead of Paul Norris. Aron overtakes Gareth and Patrick. Jon comes in at 19th. behind Geoff. Andrew, Janine, Kate, John, Chris and Ian hold their order but Steve Russell comes in at 26th. above Owen, Peter Bream, Angela, Alan, Carolyn, James and Don. Simon moves to 34th. above Gail and Roy. No change for Nina, Trevor, Julie, Peter Watson or Sarah Miles.
In contrast there was no change in the leading position in the Ladies. Janine edged another point ahead of Kate but her lead does not look decisive. Angela, Carolyn, Nina, Julie, Gail and Sarah Miles follow. Hot favourite is last year's champion, Louise, five races, five wins. The impact of Diane McVey is potentially fascinating, with only six races left it will depend upon how many of them she is able to run.
Tony and Paul Gannett retain the top two places in League 3. Andy moves above Paul Norris, Aron and Gareth to 3rd.but has a lot of ground to make-up. Jon pushes Gareth down a further place. The Tony/Mick rivalry goes back years if not decades. He and James Eyre, four races three wins, pose the greatest threat.
Top 5 in League 4 are unchanged; Geoff, Patrick, Andy, Janine and Kate. Steve comes in at 6th. followed by John and Peter Bream. Ian moves ahead of both Owen and Angela. James moves ahead of Don.
Chris is making it more difficult for Alan race by race. Simon and Peter Watson move above Carolyn for 3rd. and 4th. The other lead positions are unchanged; Roy, Nina, Gail, Trevor, Julie and Sarah.
Ian
I’m just praying xxl will be big enough……
A suggestion next year is that the pie, peas and pint come first and then the 5 miles……
A gorgeous evening but went off far too quick. Mick may be a Grandad but he was soon past and cruising. On my own for a while but as we all know it is always dangerous to look behind and not expect trouble. It was trouble x2. Aaron was like a man possessed and followed with super stealth between miles 2 and 4. It sounded like he was struggling but I was struggling more and he was away. And then Diane… Toe to toe for the last mile and gaining on Aaron. I even caught sight of Mick on the horizon at one point. And then to the field which was not enjoyable. Gaining on Aaron but it wasn’t going to happen. Diane very close and this is before she trains…… During the race I hated it. Afterwards I loved it. Let’s do more races with beer and pastry products.
James