Dave Evans reports:

Early notice of the impending arrival of more beasts from the east met the 9 hardy individuals and although there was the usual raw enthusiasm it met its match in the wind chill!

The course included a combination of roller coaster roads leaving the performers with insufficient time to recover from one ascent before being hit with another. Passing the first time keeping point at 1 mile it was clear that Martin Payne had put down his marker clocking a swift 11 minutes 01 almost 40 seconds clear of Tony Bell and Roy Gunnett. Having passed this first checkpoint the real work begins with a continuous climb of roughly half a mile but it feels further. The next section offers those tired legs a reprieve akin to a ski jump after which the terrain switches to more regular variations. While most would accept these testing surfaces with good grace the prospect of 3 circuits is mentally debilitating. As the leading performers at roughly 3 1/2 miles cruised past the voluble Eric Horwill the positions were changing and the demands of the cold weather and the tough climbs and descents had an effect. At 5.8 miles the times reflected an acceptable 10k clocking and there was still 5k to go. Pat Evans was “protecting” a recent knee problem so stood down at this point and Greg Smith, who provides most of the club action photos, did a short 4K walk and added more action sequences for current use and the future.

As the walkers crested the final hill a number of aspirants had picked up while others had lost a little ground. A hot cup of tea and light refreshments met the field back at the changing facility and the soon-to-be nonagenarian, Eric Horwill, provided some very well-received chocolate cake.

Club colleagues were very pleased to see John Payn attending today who is also attaining his 90th year soon. Following last month’s double booking with La Bamba at the changing rooms and have-a-go drummer Sailash, our erstwhile comedic commentator John Crahan has rechristened him as Ringo Shah.

Results(1 mile/3.4 miles/5.8 miles/Finish

1. Martin Payne(11:01,25:42,61:05) 97 mins 26
2. Tony Bell(11:38,40:25,68:20) 108 mins 38
3. Roy Gunnett(11:40,40:50,71:33) 114 mins 31
4. Joe Hardy(12:38,43:37,73:41) 114 mins 40
5. Ian Hilditch(12:02,41:24,71:46) 115 mins 15
6. Sailash Shah(11:56, 41:11, 71:25) 117 mins 29
7. Phil McCullagh(13:00,43:28,73:17) 118 mins 39
8. Pat Evans(13:00,43:44,74:36)
9. Greg Smith 4K in 33:04

 Handicap

1. Roy Gunnett 92 mins 31
2. Joe Hardy 94 mins 40
3. Martin Payne 94 mins 56
4. Sailash Shah 99mins 29
5. Tony Bell 102 mins 38
6. Phil McCullagh 102 mins 39
7. Ian Hilditch 103 mins 05
8. Pat Evans
9. Greg Smith

Grateful thanks to Greg Smith for some great images