Well what a day! I'm sure we've all heard enough about the unexpectedly extended mileage on race day, so I won't be trawling through that again. Suffice to say that, to your credit 99% of you buckled down and dealt with a little bit of adversity on the day, and in extremely good humour. Thats what running is all about, A bit of pain here, some discomfort there, the odd extra 1.4 miles or so....if you were quitters you wouldn,t be running in the first place, would you? Anyway I said I wouldn't mention that, didn't I!
The day itself was a big success, helped along by all the extremely nice cakes on offer at the finish of course! The weather was almost perfect for running, and the course had stood up remarkably well to the incessant rain we've had this 'Summer'. The race set off at 11am prompt and despite the wrong turn, the runners were all back on course before the 1st mile marker. The leading duo of Nigel Thompson and Tony Lambert were pulling out an early advantage over the tenacious Martin Hall by mile 2. From there Thompson ( Lytham St Annes ) was able to stretch out a slender advantage to finish 1st on the day in 1h 6mins 11seconds with 49 seconds in hand over Swaledales fast finishing ( and extremely likeable ) Lambert, Martin Hall held his hard charging pace right to the end to complete the top 3 on the day, just 37 seconds adrift of Lambert.
In the female section it was even tighter. Holmfirth Harriers' Jacqui Dews, used a bit of frustration brought on by the extra mileage to spur her on, and took 1st place in 1h 21 minutes 41 seconds. A race long battle for 2nd place was fought by unattached racer Caroline Turner and Newton Aycliffes' Julia Atkinson-Tait, Turner eventually eked out a 5 second advantage to finish a fine, and hard earned 2nd, with Tait claiming 3rd.
Other prize winners on the day were Nidd Valleys' Andy todd ( m40 ), Helen Mcleary ( f40 ), Valley Striders' Eric Green ( m50 ), Gillian Garthwaite ( f50 ), Thirsk and Sowerbys' Ernest Huck ( m60 ), Markingtons' Dot Carr ( f60 ) and the amazing Alan Purvis racing for the Elvet Striders ( m70 ).
The winner of the Combativity Award, voted for by the marshals on race day, and awarded to the person deemed to be showing the most determination, regardless of position, was Nidd Valleys' 53 year old, race long battler, Nick Burton.
On the day though, perhaps the real winners were all those 10 mile first timers that completed the course, despite the extra mileage, and now know that they are more than capable of moving up to half marathon distance. So well done to everyone. Great North Run anybody?
Look forward to seeing you all next year...Steve and gang.
