Dave Evans reports:
Conditions for the Dick and Zena races were better than expected with no rain and fairly high humidity. Some late withdrawals through illness and clashing events left a small field to circumnavigate either 25 or 12 1/2 laps of this quiet Bury track which has in recent times seen quite a number of sub 4 minute miles.
With 5 aspirants tackling the longer race and 3 the lesser 5k distance, the opening 3 or 4 laps meant close observation by the lap counters. From the gun(make that a whistle!) it was clear that Tony Bell would have to make this a time trial and he showed some patience gradually reaching a point where he was beginning to lap colleagues. His opening 6 laps were timed at 2:46, 2:46, 2:40, 2:42, 2:44 and 2:45.
Roy Gunnett and Greg Smith were in tandem with each other with neither giving best to the other. Their respective opening salvos were 3:00, 2:50,2:53, 2:52, 2:48 and 2:46. This duo were locked together till about 6k when Greg had to leave the track for a domestic assignment leaving Roy to escape his clutches.
The 5k race was less dramatic with Pat Evans leading the cortège from the outset awaiting the arrival of the 10k field who were in hot pursuit.
I should mention that travelling to Bury on the motorway can be very stressful with delays waiting to happen. Joe Hardy and Andrea Lennon were in the thick of it and arrived at the track as the race was about to get underway. Neither had time to warm up but both walked extremely well . Tony dominated the 10k and recorded a very solid 67:01 with the nearest followers 4 minutes behind. Pat posted a very respectable 39:36 for her 5k a minute ahead of Phil McCullagh who is currently carrying a leg “injury”.
SCRATCH 10 KILOMETRES
1. Tony Bell 67:01
2. Roy Gunnett 71:43
3. Greg Smith 72:54
4. Steven Wilde 78:16
5. Joe Hardy 79:46
SCRATCH 5 KILOMETRES
1. Pat Evans 39:36
2. Phil McCullagh 40:36
3. Andrea Lennon 44:23
HANDICAP 10 KILOMETRES
1. Greg Smith 65:24
2. Roy Gunnett 65:43
3. Tony Bell 67:01
4. Joe Hardy 69:46
5. Steven Wilde 71:31
AGE-GRADED RESULTS
- Andrea Lennon 82.01%
- Roy Gunnett 81.45%
- Joe Hardy 76.95%
- Pat Evans 75.80%
- Greg Smith 73.41%
- Tony Bell 70.13%
- Steven Wilde 66.59%
- Phil McCullagh 60.22%
Thanks to Phil McCullagh and Greg Smith for the images.
Lancashire Walking Club : Health The First Wealth 