2016 Championship - Race 6 - Gawsworth 10k

My husband (Jon) and I had heard that this race was a nice one and we weren’t disappointed. The setting in leafy Cheshire was lovely with the peace and quiet of Gawsworth Hall and its surrounding lanes and fields the perfect setting for a race. The sun made an appearance too with what was a cold start to the day warming up to maybe 17oc by race time.

The course was a nice mixture of narrow lanes and dry, non-technical trails, with a surprise railway bridge thrown in to catch out those who don’t like running up steep hills. The rest of the route was basically flat with the odd gradient here and there and a few single file sections. Unfortunately the last km was across a well ploughed field which basically left us running on what felt like a knife edge - not the sprint finish I had planned.

The event was excellently run with plenty of marshals spread around and, more importantly, lots of tasty cakes from the WI, bacon sandwiches and coffee to keep us happy!

I had a reasonable race but my lack of speed work this summer meant that I couldn’t get the legs moving quite as fast as I’d have liked; however I was pleased with my time on what was a relatively slow course – and I am pretty confident I retain the position at the top of the (women’s) table, with the question on everyone’s lips as to whether I can be caught…..I’ll leave that for a good accountant to work out! Steven, John and Jon all managed to post decent times with John and Jon separated by all of four seconds.

We managed not to spot any club members before the start but caught up with a few at the finish, however we missed the photo. Hopefully though there will be a good turnout for the final round at Heaton Park as it’s nice and accessible for most members.

Said photo attached – Rob, Dave, Alan and Steven with their medals.

Our results are set out below:

Ladies

1. Fran Whittle – 67th overall and 10th lady – 50:39 – 20 points

Men

1. Matt Smith – 9th – 39:46 – 20 points

2. Steven Henderson – 26th – 44:21 – 18 points

3. John Williams – 33rd – 45:25 – 16 points

4. Rob Dawes – 69th – 50:55 – 14 points

5. David James – 71st – 51:02 – 12 points

6. Alan Budenberg – 98th – 55:05 – 10 points