Race Report Swinton 10
23 A&T members competed in the inaugural Swinton 10 on Sunday in just about perfect running conditions. Whilst several of the well-established runners were missing either through injury or non-availability, those that did turn out did the club proud and enabled us to close the gap at the top of the Central Lancs Grand Prix.
The course was a 2 loop affair, with some undulations in part and a devil of a finish. I particularly enjoyed the route and found the race to be well organised and well marshalled.
For A&T, Simon Ford continued his winning streak and was first home with 59:25 on the clock, finishing 8th overall. Not far behind Pete Chan and Shaun Moran fought out a battle royale with Pete just winning the final sprint, crossing in a time of 59:46, 2 seconds ahead of Shaun.
Making his debut for the club was Gary Cassidy and he finished as our 4th runner, coming home in 63:39 and showing what a valuable asset he will be in competitions. One week before his marathon, Alan Hilton ran hard to record 67:14 just pipping Terry Gardiner by 13 seconds. Another recent recruit, Stuart Adamson, proved his ability at the longer distances with a competitive 69:16.
I enjoyed the race and had various tussles along the course with Brenda and Terry Hughes. I managed to hold them off just in the end and slightly improved my PB with 71:30. Brenda is in top form and is surely on for a good time in the Isle of Wight Marathon next weekend. She chopped over 4 minutes off her PB with 71:47. Given Terry’s Hughes recent exploits, 10 mile was like a stroll in the park and he pushed hard for his time of 73:24. Ian “Bacon Mon” Hamilton is another member who is running strongly and he didn’t disappoint with 74:40. Another PB-er was Carole Baines, who prefers the longer distances, and who crossed the line in a creditable 76:23.
Glyn Thomson came in next in 79:36, followed by another debutant, Anthony Hart with 79:45.Suzanne Gregory proved that the effort training pays off and she dipped under the 80 minute mark with 79:48, as did Michaela Shaw, who’s coming back to form, with 79:59. Vanessa Thomson, looking lithe, was not that far behind hubby with 82:23 –could be one or two deaf and dumb meals on the horizon for the Thomson household!
Dave Crowe, who has had all sorts of fitness problems recently, finished in 85:53 in ample time to take off for a certain match at the Reebok Stadium. Michelle Fuller ran through the pain for 88:18 but looks good for her Half marathon in October. Wayne and Laura Babynec finished within 1 second of each other with dad taking the honours with 89:07. Laura is getting faster and faster though and with youth on her side, has plenty of time to improve, aided by Jacques!
Paul Basnett finished shortly behind in 89:35, just before our 3rd debutant Elliot Hughes, Terry’s son, who stuck to the task well for his 89:55. Finally Fiona Saunders had a target of sub 100minutes and was delighted to finish well within that time with 93:56 with a great run.
There are some important races in the next few weeks.
Firstly we need all our top runners out at Gin Pit on 10th October to try and make up further ground on the CLGP leaders. This race will decide who wins the Club Championship for 2010.
The week after on 17th October sees our final Club Road Race of the season with the Green Drive 5 at Lytham. Again it would be great for as many runners as possible to compete in this final race but I would recommend early entry either online or by post as this is a Lancashire A.A. event and the field may fill up quickly.
And a final good luck to all our runners taking part in marathons next weekend.
0 comments:
Post a Comment