Gin Pit 5 Report by Mark Riches

Gin Pit 5 10th April 2011 – by Mark Riches
After posing for the 10th Anniversary group photo, it was a mad dash to set up the course & signage as well as manning the very busy registration
Mark Lysycia & the car park team dealt with the steady flow of eager competitors & the fun run went without a hitch then it was time for the main event
On a very hot & sunny day 25 A&T runners lined up with the other 150 runners
The race was won by former A&T athlete Tony Battersby in a fantastic 26.52 (well done Tony.) For once Peter Chan was not the first A&T runner home as Colin Rigby (great to see him in a royal blue vest) finished a very respectable 3rd to Pete’s 5th although Pete did pick up the 1st M45 prize.  Alex Foster finished less than a minute later followed by another great run by Coach Shaun Moran (1st V50.) Next was Rufus Bennett, minus his top, with a fantastic 30.07 (1st V40) – we are expecting great things when he races the VLM next weekend. Race Organiser, Gary Stevens also had a great run having manned the registration desk from 09:30 am. He was followed home by Alan Hilton, Troy Topping & Arnold Melling (1st V60.) Next A&T finisher at the other end of the age scale (sorry Arnold) was Robin Chan, who just beat Josie Maley (2nd lady) by 2 seconds! Another strong run by Jean Mann put A&T ladies in pole position for the team prize.

Nasser Isman-Egal had the most dramatic finish of the day almost taking out not only the Belle Vue athlete he was racing to the line, but half of the timekeeping team! Ray Taylor, Ian Hamilton & Mark Crowley finished next with their usual strong runs. Paul Basnett had another gun run following lots of that ‘T’ word. Next A&T lady was Suzanne Gregory, which gave A&T the ladies team price (again) – well done Josie Jean & Suzanne. Dave Crowe continues his comeback with another good run. Behind Dave there were one or two A&T battles going on; Bev Tickle & Emma Gibbon finished within 16 seconds of each other. They were followed home by Cath Hodgetts,  Joan Cooke & Christine Farnworth (all within 1 minute of each other) & completing the line-up was Jane Eccleston with a great run finishing well  inside 51 minutes.
Another successful GP5 was rounded of in the traditional way with a well earned pastie & this year we had the Dr Ron Hill as our guest of honour to assist with the presentation