Ken Munro Memorial Trophy   –   Thornton-le-Clay (nr York)  –  10 Miles Road (Cat B) –  Saturday March 26th  [Thanks to Trevor McDermot for the report]

9 miles into the race and Tony Bell is pursued by Martin Fisher. They dead-heated for second place

This inaugural Trophy race, organised by the Northern Area RWA as a new Match between Lancashire, Yorkshire and Scotland walkers (M/F) took place on a quiet village one mile out and back circuit with very little traffic, including a hill towards the turn where competitors felt the effects of a strong crosswind.

Scotland’s Bill McFadden took control of the 12-strong field from the start and, walking with his usual tidy action that met with approval from the judges, passed halfway in 47:33 a couple of minutes ahead of the field to come home in just under 96 minutes. Behind him Tony Bell (Lancs) contended with Peter Ryan (Yorks), the latter struggling with lack of training due to planter faciitis troubles. Martin Fisher (Yorks) came through to have a real ding-dong with Bell –  no pun intended !  – over the final lap and neither could be separated by the finish recorders. Ryan held off consistent Dennis Jackson for 4th, followed by Roy Gunnett (Lancs).

Yorkshire on home ground were too strong for the Lancashire threesome, although positions may well be reversed in next year’s event at the other end of the M62 corridor. The Team race would certainly have been a lot closer had Lancashire WC featured one or two of their faster men turning out for the the County, while the prospects of Scotland, similarly likely to be members of a single club, will need to be watched out for in future. Hopefully they will also get their turn to host.

The new format for this event proved a success with better numbers than were seen for recent Northern 10 Miles Champs (now defunct). It is interesting that had there been a Club team race then winners would have been Redcar RWC, over Lancashire WC on 16 points each, by virtue of their 3rd scorer Mark Byrne, and for whom this year’s 100 Miles organiser, Centurion Dave Jones provided back up. At the meeting after the race Mark was appointed as new Northern President.

We were very grateful to those who travelled so far to support this new event, particularly the Fishers, Peter Ryan, RWA Chairman Glyn Jones, and of course Bill McFadden. It does seem fitting that the new silver Trophy should make its first journey to a part of the world where the late Ken enjoyed so much of his final years.

Thanks are also due for the team of officials, including some notable NARWA stalwarts, who all contributed to produce a pleasant and enjoyable event. Guests are most welcome to participate in future.

Individual Result  (also see attached with all lap splits)

Ken Munro Memorial Trophy  –  Bill McFadden (SCOTLAND)

Team Result 

1.  YORKSHIRE       (M. Fisher, P.Ryan, D.Jackson)  11 Pts
2.  LANCASHIRE     (T. Bell, R.Gunnett, S.Shah)       18 Pts
3.  YORKSHIRE ‘B’  (G.Jackson, M.Byrne, R.Cole)    24 Pts
4.  CLEVELAND      (T.Taylor, D.Jones)
5.  SCOTLAND        (B.McFadden)

Officials

Referee  –  John Eddershaw     Chief Judge  –  Russ Jackson     JUDGES  –  Roy Thorpe, Mick Hague, Moira Gallagher     TIMEKEEPER  –  Trevor McDermot     RECORDER  –  Mike Nicholson

CLERK OF COURSE  –  John Grayson     VENUE  –  Roy Thorpe     CATERING  –  Maureen Grayson     PROMOTION  –  Linda McDermot