We had the lot at this one – snow, ice, slush, mud and worst of the lot, ice-covered puddles of freezing water. We were warned about the slippiness of the course at the start, and so didn’t expect any fast times. Nonetheless, Mike had a good run, and was first Strider home. I kept up a steady pace all the way round, but Keith went past on the third lap, saying “tuck in”, or similar – so I did, got a second wind, and went past again to finish a couple of seconds ahead at the line. Dave and Phil Owen also had a bit of a battle at the finish – Phil kept just ahead into the funnel. Gary was sixth counter finishing strongly, and Alan brought up the rear, doing well to keep under the hour on a very demanding course indeed. We were short of numbers for various reasons, so it was good to see Phil Todd and Andy Glass also having a go here, though both had to pull out early.
Only three ladies, just enough for a team, did this one – “small but beautiful”, some wit said. Debs was just ahead of Nina at half-way, but pulled out a bigger lead by the finish. Nina finished strongly, as usual, and Jan had a very good run, looking very relaxed all the way round.
Geoff Watson provided a strong candidate for “Cake of the Season”, adding lemon to a winning cheesecake formula – excellent! Also worth a mention was Mike’s banana cake with chocolate bits in it – I made sure none of that was left by the end.
Results
Men
Pos | Name | Club | Cat | Pack | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | HURST, Phil | Elswick Harriers | M | 34:02 | |
122 | BENNETT, Michael | V | S | 40:32 | |
188 | ROBERTS, Shaun | V | S | 43:06 | |
190 | WESSON, Keith | V | S | 43:08 | |
270 | OWEN, Phil | V | S | 48:58 | |
271 | ROBSON, Dave | V | S | 48:59 | |
277 | DAVIES, Gary | S | 49:42 | ||
297 | PURVIS, Alan | V | S | 59:04 |
298 finishers. Elvet Striders: 9th Men’s Team, Division Two.
Women
Pos | Name | Club | Cat | Pack | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | WATERHOUSE, Emma | Chester-le-Street | S | 24:21 | |
45 | GODDARD, Debs | V | S | 31:34 | |
52 | MASON, Nina | S | 32:14 | ||
61 | YOUNG, Jan | V | S | 33:01 |
80 finishers. Elvet Striders: 13th Women’s Team.