Dick Smith [39] in the company of the great Harold Whitlock [1], 1936 Olympic 50k gold medallist, at the start of the Liverpool-Manchester race – date uncertain

Dick with Jim O’Neill [5] to his right followed by Harry Wheeler [?] of the Yorkshire RWC

DICK AND ZENA SMITH TROPHY RACES, JUNE 5th, BURY TRACK

A group photo of our assembled stalwarts

Dave Evans reports:

With temperatures hovering in the 22-24c range the prospect of circuiting a running track in the full glare of the sun for at least an hour would not have been too appealing. Despite the warm atmosphere all 11 hardy souls toed the starting lines prepared to do battle with the elements.

On the starting line

Dave Hoben(Surrey Walking club) and Andrea Lennon we’re off on their 5k as soon as they heard the air horn whilst the remaining aspirants charged off with 25 laps ahead of them. It became obvious that there was to be a bit of cat and mouse play as the laps unfolded with no one wanting to tow the field around for too far. It was clear to the handicapper that several of the walkers were showing a much greater level of fitness than before so make hay while the sun still shines !

The early leaders setting the pace

There were some great rivalries on show with Martin Payne, Tony Bell and Roy Gunnett testing each other and Joe Hardy and Pat Evans having a real ding dong throughout the race. Glyn Jones (Coventry Godiva)found the earlier part of the journey fairly comfortable but mid race was troubled by a leg problem. He soldiered on as he always does and will live to fight another day. Phil McCullagh continues to show a disciplined walking style but on this occasion was unable to accelerate in the second half which has become his trademark.

Roy Gunnett and Tony Bell getting stuck in

Adrian Edwards and Greg Smith assisted with the lap counting, with both swapping the race for a pre race training session so they could help with the officiating.  Very grateful thanks to both as without them we would have not been able to administer the event.  Circumstances prevented Eric Horwill from timekeeping at this track race but as always he send his apologies and best wishes for a good day.

The full results are as follows:-

Great to have Dave Hoben contesting the 5k

5 KILOMETRES
1. Dave Hoben.   39 mins 14
2. Andrea Lennon  43 mins 18

10 KILOMETRES
1. Tony Bell.    68 mins 38
2. Martin Payne. 68 mins 45
3. Roy Gunnett. 70 mins 15
4. Sailash Shah 72 mins 22
5. Pat Evans 72 mins 23
6. Joe Hardy 73 mins 35
7. Glyn Jones 74 mins 22
8. Steven Wilde(guest) 75 mins 38
9. John Crahan 78 mins 15

HANDICAP RESULT
1. Roy Gunnett 51 mins 45
2. Sailash Shah 54 mins 22
3. Steven Wilde(guest) 56 mins 08
4.  Pat Evans 56 mins 23
5.  Joe Hardy 57 mins 05
6. Tony  Bell 57 mins 08
7. Phil McCullagh 57 mins 38
8.  Glyn Jones 58 mins 22
9. John Crahan 61 mins 15

Grateful thanks to Greg Smith for the photos of the Bury race