We are grateful to Dave Evans for this prompt and informative report, not forgetting to thank Greg Smith for the atmospheric images.
Dave Crompton Memorial Trophy 7 Miles – Chorley, May 5, 2021
The first “live” race of 2021 for the club was accompanied by inclement weather which initially affected the walkers but by the time the race was over it was warm and beginning to brighten.
A field of 10 aspirants and at least half a dozen of Dave’s relatives toed the starting line with the lesser mortals allowed to set off in advance of the cavalry charge. To ensure the safety of the individual walkers the yacht handicap principle was applied although the handicapper decided to tailor the “starts” to keep the actual adjustments a secret.
The course is undulating with 7 distinctive “pulls” and most protagonists seem to prefer this to the usual circuit where there are 3 really long climbs. At the halfway point the first face to show was Ian Hilditch(40 mins 38) with Pat Evans on his tail(40 mins 30). The remaining halfway times were:- Stephen Wilde(44 mins 20), Joe Hardy(42 mins 05), Roy Gunnett(42 mins 30), Sailash Shah(41 mins 40), Phil McCullagh(41 mins 35), Glyn Jones(40 mins 30), Martin Payne(38 mins 05) and Andrea Lennon(52 mins 50).
The return trip on the road was kinder to the walkers hence the improvement in times for the second half. The rain eased off as the race progressed and as Andrea crossed the finishing line it was pretty warm.
The final SCRATCH times were as follows:
- Martin Payne 75:58
- Ian Hilditch 79:07
- Glyn Jones 79:50
- Pat Evans 80:13
- Phil McCullagh 81:47
- Joe Hardy 83:11
- Sailash Shah 84:41
- Roy Gunnett 86:55
- Stephen Wilde 87:22 [Guest]
- Andrea Lennon 104:46.
The HANDICAP produced no surprises and read as follows:
- Ian Hilditch 71:52
- Pat Evans 72:33
- Martin Payne 74:43
- Glyn Jones 76:35
- Joe Hardy 77:56,
- Phil McCullagh 78:02
- Andrea Lennon 79:26
- Sailash Shah 80:26
- Roy Gunnett 81:45.
Post race with all sporting masks a brief get together was held in the St Peter’s club . A minutes silence was held to remember Dave and his contribution to the club. Thanks were paid to Roy Gunnett and Tony Taylor for their tremendous support for the club and its members during the lockdown . Eric Crompton, himself a very fine walker in the 70’s, and Louise were thanked for making the venue available and safe. Greg Smith had initially planned to complete the full race but having to do his late morning at Chorley on his own meant he was battling some incessant rain and he decided to complete a slightly lesser distance before helping with the course marshalling. John Crahan, Dan Maskell and Chris Pearce sent their good wishes before the race and it was nice to see John Payn, Alf Short, Chris Harvey and Irene Pike supporting the event.
The new facility at Chorley will be the St Peters church hall on Harper’s lane, not very far from the club itself.. As a final comment our next fixture was mentioned and this will be the Dick and Zena 10/5k at the Bury track on June 5th and the audience were asked to support the event either as competitors or lap scorers.
