NWFPAC ‘Michael Page’ Championship 2025 – Season Review

Overall stats:

·         40 people ran at least one of the 8 set races and another 7 did a marathon

o   Excludes those marathons that people didn’t tell me about in advance.

·         Total points scored were 1,387

·         89 people in total ran in the set races

·         Notable runs included:

o   Alderley Park Parkrun

§  We took 5 of the top 10 places, with NWFPAC runners coming in the top 4 male positions, including Steven Henderson winning it.

§  The ladies had 2 of the top 6 places.

o   Tatton 10k

§  Stephen Grice got a 10k PB, despite running 10k beforehand

o   Yarrow River Bluebell 10k

§  Josh and I picked up some serious points in a race for once, 18 and 19 respectively.  It helps when only 3 of us raced it though – everyone missed out, it was a cracking route

o   Race the Train

§  Aisha came in 3^rd lady

§  Last time I beat Steve Hughes

o   Cheadle Hulme Parkrun

§  We took 5 of the top 10 places, with Charles leading us home in 2^nd overall

o   Tawd Valley

§  Our most popular race by number of entrants, with 18 of us running.

§  8 of the top 11 finishers, with Steven Henderson taking another win.

§  The ladies had 2 of the top 6 places, with Alex Tunstall claiming 2^nd place.

o   Marathons

§  A great 2:49 from Stephen Grice in Manchester.

§  In a non qualifying marathon, Claire Richardson did the LA marathon during her holiday over there, whilst on maternity leave.

·         Well done though to everyone who raced this year, it was great to see you all taking part.

Individual event

·         An exciting year that went down to the last race with Mike Ginn and Stephen Grice vying for the top spot and Aid and Steven battling for third.

·         Steven did all he could by winning the race and claiming the 20 points, but Adrian Rogers held off Ralph Walker-Moretti by 8 seconds to claim 9^th and 12 points.

·         This meant that they finished the season level on points not just on the best 5 scores, but also on total points – 80 points.  As a result they share 3^rd place.

·         Meanwhile, Stephen came in 4^th, which meant that Mike needed an 8^th place finish to claim the title.

·         Mike actually did one better, coming in 7^th and therefore pipping Stephen by a point.

·         Second place Stephen – 90 points

·         Winner Mike – 91 points

Team event

·         The battle for podium places went to the last race in this competition too, with A Run For Your Money, We Excel and the G&T Coffee Club all in the hunt which meant that each team member from all the 3 teams was there – including Ralph getting an Uber there when he found his car clamped that morning.

·         However, it was worth it from Ralph’s point of view (and mine!) as We Excel just pipped the G&T Coffee Club (Aid and Nicola) to third place with 120 points against 115 points.

·         Charles and Josh both running meant that A Run For Your Money secured 2^nd place with 134 points.

·         But Rantander (Mike and Stephen) were our runaway winners this year though with 181 points.

·         As ever, it was a case of getting the races in gave you a chance, with those 4 teams scoring in at least 8 of the races, with the top two teams being the only ones to scores in the maximum of 10 races.

Athlete of Steel event

·         A nod to Josh initially who took part in an impressive 7 races this year, despite carrying injuries for what seemed to be most of the year.  However, Josh picked up a trophy in the team event so was ineligible for the Athlete of Steel competition.

·         Once those who had won trophies in the individual and team events had been excluded, we were left with a clear winner and that was Sian Marsden who clocked in 5 races during the year.

A thank you and a round of applause to Gareth and Michael Page for sponsoring the championship again this year and for putting on tonight.  Thanks Gareth.

Finally, a thank you to everyone who supported us this year be it through attending races and/or attending the socials.  The group isn’t anything without you all investing your time, so thank you.