Autumn Handicap, 30th October 2023
Thankfully the rain held off for the duration of the race, but the downpours of previous days and nights had certainly left their mark on the course! The area at the western end of the Copthorne Hotel and just beyond it was completely flooded, with the only way of avoiding it being to go up and down the steps on the hotel side of the path. The situation was made worse by the street lighting being out along the same stretch, making it very dark as well as wet. So a big well done to the 30 runners who persevered and probably had to spend most of the night with wet feet!
In the race, Yue Zhao (Joyce) led from start to finish, helped by some very kind handicapping! Joyce was lucky that the handicaps had been fixed before I saw her parkrun performance this weekend, or she would have had a much tougher time! Having said that, Joyce ran well in her first outing on the Quayside course, and is not only a deserving winner, but a happy and popular one too.
Second place went to another Quayside first-timer, the fast-improving Aoife Monaghan who just pipped Sonja Fenske on the line. As Sonja was running as a guest (though she has just applied to join the club – welcome, Sonja!), third Claremonter home was Alex Harding.
The final of the Autumn Cup was won by Rachel Hurdman – by virtue of being the only finalist to run! But you have to be in it to win it, and the Cup is a reward for performance across 4 consecutive handicaps not just the final. In January, the Winter Cup will be contested by Joyce, Anton Mirafsari, Lucy Keating and Alex Harding – hopefully the final will be more hotly contested.
Fastest on the night was Jack Shawcross, followed by Anton Mirafsari and Mark Anderson. For the ladies, it was Sarah Kerr with Lucy Keating and Aoife completing the podium.
The social, presentation and pizzas took place in The Carriage, and for this we have to thank not only Anna Round but her husband Richard. As Anna couldn’t make it, Richard came to make sure everything went smoothly and everybody got some pizza to eat.
As ever, thanks to all the marshals, the start/finish team, Dave Roberts for overall organisation and Alex for processing the results.
Full results can be found here.
