Winter Handicap – Quayside, 27th Jan 2014
By Dave Kear
The weather was kind for the runners on the evening of the Winter Handicap – although damp underfoot, there was no rain, and virtually no wind.
Ivonne Campos Luna, who has improved just about every week in the short period of time she has been with the club, stormed home to lift the ‘Cup’ in very positive fashion. Second place went to Marie Slack, another significant improver, who finished just ahead of a surging Jamie Harding.
Lisa Bunclark, Michelle Nesbitt-Burrell and Laura Beecroft then ensured that the ladies had almost total domination of the leading positions by finishing 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
Luke Bryant recorded the evening’s fastest time with an excellent run in 23:39. Jonathan Gilroy (24:11), Luke Jones (24:30) and Paul Robinson (24:36) were the next best. Heather Steel (26:48) registered the fastest time for the ladies, ahead of Mandy Herworth (28:50) and Nina Jensen (29:10).
Ben Hull, the holder of the ‘Shield’ after October’s Autumn Handicap, discovered that his updated aggregate points score over the last 4 handicaps was identical to that accumulated by Tom Tinsley. A quick decision was reached to award the ‘Shield’ to the best placed runner in the evening’s race, rather than split the trophy into two pieces – so Tom becomes our current holder.
Once again, all the runners were grateful to those who helped out on the evening, and in particular to Jonathan, who made all the arrangements for another very enjoyable post-run get together at the ‘Old George’.
The next club handicap will be held towards the end of April, this time on the Town Moor course. Let’s hope it will have dried out a little before then.
That leaves plenty of time for more regular training and further improvement…to stay one step ahead of the ‘handicapper’!
Full results and aggregate points table here.
