Another very good race in excellent conditions once
again with numbers in the high thirties for the third time. Paul Clarke is in
exceptional form at the moment and he really blasted it from the start opening a
handy lead by the top of the two climbs. Ian Gale was in second place at this
stage closely followed by Tony Okell. Tony produced his customary fast descent
but it was not enough to catch Paul as he was also descending at speed, a aspect
of the run that he was particularly pleased with at the finish. The winning
margin was 17 seconds with Tony having just 7 seconds in hand on Ian who is
still improving all the time.
The overall standard was excellent, illustrated by
runners of the calibre of Simon Skillicorn and Wayne Smith just getting into the
top ten. Rose Hooton was pushed very hard in the ladies class by Diane Lawrence,
the debutant leading to the top of the climb only to drop back on the descent
where Rose`s experience really told.
The two juniors also ran especially well led by
the talented Ryan Fairclough and Ben Brand who became junior league winner.Tony
Okell confirmed his defence of the overall title with Peter Cooper having a fine
series to finish best over 50. Rose also defended her ladies title successfully,
although full marks to Kerry Clarke and Anne Cain for taking on all three of the
tough courses. Robbie Callister also had a great league taking his
first ever over/60 title.
After the race everyone enjoyed some excellent
refreshments supplied by MMMO President Margaret Quirk, many thanks
Margaret.
It only seems like a short time ago I was
previewing the first race at Glen Ruy and now the league is over for another
year. I hope everyone has enjoyed the series. We have tried to make the courses
as varied as possible and tough but not over difficult. If anyone has any ideas
of courses we could use next year by all means contact myself or any committee
member and we will have a look to see if they are suitable.
Finally there is a lot of people to thank for a
successful series like this. Firstly to all the runners for turning up and
supporting the race and to Bruce and Brenda for the continued sponsorship
through Walker Brothers of Colby.Club, stalwarts Walter, Doug and Margaret kept
the organisational side of the race running smoothly and also a big thank you to
all the people who helped mark the courses and who helped in any way on the
day. Finally thanks to Murray for all the support on the manxathletics web site.
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