A&T x-country – Hyndburn 13 February 2010 - By Mark Riches

This was the penultimate race of the Club Champs but we still had 5 new registrations (including a welcome return by Gary Stevens) making it 16 A&T runners in total

It was 1 small & 1 large lap (6k) for the ladies & 1 small & 2 large laps (10k) for the men. Overall a very enjoyable course although you have to watch out for the tree roots!

Our 7 ladies were first off as usual; Mary-Anne had another great run finishing 7th overall. Next was Brenda Wane with another good run followed just under a minute later by Suzanne Gregory (debut.) Lyndsey Carter, making a welcome return to racing following her unfortunate accident at Marl Pits earlier in the season, was next A&T finisher. The next two A&T finishers were both called Michelle & both ran well (that rhymes!); Michelle Fuller (debut) & Michelle Fairclough (see photo above.) Helen Minshall, who came back for more after her debut at Blackpool, completed the line-up

Next it was the turn of the men; first A&T finisher (in the absence of Simon) was yours truly Mark Riches. Mark Ruscoe had a great run setting the pace on the first lap & stuck to the task when I pulled away. He finished 30 seconds after me despite “taking it easy” because he was racing Winter Hill the following day. Next was another A&T runner who was also racing Winter Hill, Peter Mulleady, who took it steady, which was a little unusual as I am used to seeing him set off very fast. Gary Stevens & Steve Foster had a great battle with Gary just getting the nod by 2 seconds. Craig Bradbury finished just over a minute later followed by two runners making their x-country debuts, Dave Crowe & Cliff Stanley, both running really well. It was up to Paul Basnett to complete the line-up & he was still smiling when he crossed the finish line (as usual!)

After Saturday’s race the Ladies are now joint top of Division 3 with Barrow; the men remain 3rd & are probably out of the promotion race. However they have extended their lead at the top of the vets Division 3

Last race is at Barrow on Saturday 6th March 2010 – see you all there