Steve Hits New Highs – Snowdonia Marathon

Sunday 7th October, saw seven-club members go-off road for the running of the Sandstone Trail Race.  This picturesque race or more accurately races, as in reality there are two, race A (17.1 miles) which starts in  Duckington and race B (10.6miles) which starts at Beeston Castle.  Both of these then follow the challenging route of the sandstone trail, before reaching their conclusion in Delamere Forest.

With little rain in the preceding days and a beautiful autumn day made for some excellent running times.  Honors, for the club belong to Madeleine Bird & Alison Macdonald, both of whom finished in podium positions within their respective categories.  Madeleine, who has only recently made a return from injury, secured 2nd place in the B race on her debut in this event, in the Lady 50-60 category, with a time of 1:43:58.  While Alison secured 3rd in the A race in the 40-50 category, with a time of 2:33:27.  I am sure next year both will be aiming to finish one or two places higher to claim that converted first place.

First home in the A race for the club in 12th place, was Stephen Laker in a time of 2:06:39, closely followed by Chris Marshall (2:09:09) & Michael Burns (2:15:36).      
Matthew Whitfield was sadly forced to retire with a Knee injury.  The winner of the A race was Glen Groves from Liverpool Harriers & AC, in a new course record time of 1:55:19. 

In the B race, Nigel Crierie was first home for the club, in the time of 1:41:00.  The Sunday 14th October, was the first race of the 2007/08 borders league series.  14 club members made the journey to Prestatyn, to race the 5.1 mile (appox.) course on the sea front and gained some impressive results. In near perfect conditions, four runners finished in the top 15 and many are in the top 3 positions for their particular categories. 

Highest in the Vet rankings was Ian Cooper who finished in 2nd in the V45, with a time of 28:34.  Last years overall winner Steve Crowe is 3rd senior male and 4th overall with a time of 27:16,  as are Matthew Whitfield 3rd V50 (32:22), Madeline Bird 3rd LV50 (39:07).  Also in contention with top ten finishes within their age groups are Dave Nalder 4th V50 (33:33), Phil Langan 7th SM (28:26), Denis Duret 7th V40 (29:34), Alison Hughes 8th SL (35:50) and Simon Jeffs 9th SM (28:47). 

Completing the team and all helping to score vital points for the club was Gary Bird 30:21, Keith Jones 30:44, Danny Legg  32:48, John Hawker 34:42 & Nigel Crierie 42:33.  The winner of the men’s event was Gwyn Owen from Eryri Harriers in a time of 26:17, with Emma Parry from Wrexham AC winning the ladies race with a time of 30:03.  The ladies are in 3rd place in division 2, just off promotion position.  This is more impressive considering they were a member short.  The men are currently in 4th place in division 1.

With six more races over the next 6 months, there will be plenty of twists and turns.  Moreover, with the worst result not counting, their is everything to play for.