A&T/Swinton/Burnden Challenge

A stunning turnout of over 80 runners competed in the first leg of this year’s challenge match with Burnden (not Bolton) making a welcome debut. This level of participation is much higher than many mid-week races which are held at this time of year and shows how all 3 clubs are continuing to develop but also how much they like each other’s company.

Once again we were blessed with the weather as the Gin Pit course was bathed in bright evening sunshine. The 2-loop relay course added to the atmosphere of the event and gave everyone the opportunity to cheer on their colleagues as they passed the start/finish area after the first loop.

There were some great tussles at the head of the field. A &T were the first team home in 28:56 after Burnden had taken an early lead through Steve Nolan with Pete Chan, eyeballs out, desperately trying to catch him. 18-year old Lewis Eccleston’s final leg proved decisive in the end for A&T after Shaun Moran had put them in the lead.

The next 3 teams home were involved in a photo-finish with Burnden (29:34), Swinton (29:36) and Burnden again (29:38) all crossing the line within yards of each other. With A&T teams 2 & 3 finishing 5^th and 7^th respectively, Swinton kept up the pressure with 6^th and 9^th placed finishes after Burnden had come in 8^th.

Perhaps the race of the night involved A&T and Burnden’s Ladies teams, who proved to be very well matched. With Josie Maley and Jean Mann producing strong runs, A&T’s Carole Baines just sneaked over the line ahead of Burnden’s excellent Izzy Hughes on this occasion but on another night it could easily have gone the other way. For future challenges we should ensure that the Ladies are always grouped together in the same team where possible and award separate prizes for them, such was the intensity in this event.

The newer runners from all three clubs really benefited from the spirit and encouragement given to them by the more experienced competitors and hopefully they will look forward to entering races on a regular basis in future.

On the night, as host club, A&T probably had too much strength in depth and came away with the trophy with Swinton 2^nd and Burnden a close 3^rd. The result is almost irrelevant and in this case it is the participation in the event which is more important.

Burnden will host the 2^nd leg this year on 31^st August and we look forward to seeing what their creative course designers have in store for us.

Thank you to Mark Lysycia for providing the pictures on this report.