Dave Evans reports:

The first live race of the new year at our most regular venue brought together 12 stalwarts in what could be described as cool conditions, thankfully not accompanied by snow or rain. A welcome back to Adrian Edwards who is returning to training after a short break and it was he who lead the field of 9 aspirants across the first stretch of 5k. Heaton Park , where we have our “out” post , was very busy with the Manchester cross country league plying their trade and over running the paths and park roads.

Despite this our flag bearers managed to avoid any collisions and as they passed the timekeeper 15 minutes later it was Adrian in first place(31 01), Tony Bell a close second(31 02)and Nigel Shaw only 6 seconds adrift. This is where Adrian finished his day’s racing leaving Tony and Nigel to fight out the winner’s spot. The remaining 6 competitors were not too far adrift from each other with Roy Gunnett setting sail for home tailed by Phil McCullagh. In their wake Greg, Pat and Steve were securing their positions with Joe Hardy valiantly hanging on despite a muscle injury.

With the new start giving the officials a long sight of the finishers it was going to be a bit nip and tuck but Tony seized the initiative and used his inate speed to draw the sting out of Nigel’s challenge. At the finish there was only 14 seconds in it for the top two with Roy seizing a solid third . On a cold day the gaps are usually quite large but all survived with no safety issues.

RESULTS
10k

1. Tony Bell 62:30(31 02)
2. Nigel Shaw 62:44(31 08)
3. Roy Gunnett 74:28(36:41)
4. Phil McCullagh 74:49(37:30)
5. Greg Smith 77:53(37:34) After a 6k warm up !
6. Joe Hardy 83:20(40:28)

5k

1. Adrian Edwards 31:01
2. Pat Evans 37:48
3. Steve Wilde 38:18

Handicap

1.Tony Bell 62:15
2. Phil McCullagh 62:34
3. Nigel Shaw 62:44
4. Greg Smith 64:38
5. Roy Gunnett 66:13
6. Joe Hardy 69:35
7. Adrian Edwards
8. Pat Evans
9. Steve WildeAngel

Age-graded

Pat Evans 78:09%

Roy Gunnett 76:07%

Tony Bell 74.43%

Nigel Shaw 74:19%

Adrian Edwards 73:38%

Joe Hardy 72:42%

Greg Smith 67:79%

Phil McCullagh 66:34

Steven Wilde 64:00%

My thanks to Sailash for manning the park turnaround and Chris Harvey for photos and deputy timekeeping . Andrea Lennon provided verbal support having had to withdraw from the race whilst recovering from a medical procedure. Thanks to Pat for the refreshments

The next race at Chorley in March should see an improvement in the race numbers.