January 2010 Club Championship – The Riverbank Rollick
Report by Vanessa.
The day dawned sunny and relatively balmy compared to the recent snow and ice. I looked out of a window and thought ‘it’s going to be a good day’. I went to the Leisure Centre with Esther, Steve and James to find lots of Harriers waiting, and I was really pleased with the turnout. We set off at 9.45am towards Thornbury which was reached in about 15 minutes. Once there I saw lots more Harriers, the numbers were swelling. Fab!!!
There were lovely heaters in the changing rooms so you could keep warm indoors, although the sunshine was warming outside. The weather conditions definitely helped to keep everyone looking happy beforehand.
The race was good fun. Muddy. More mud and then some muddy water and lots of muddy streams. Kath said she’d never seen so much mud. Lou commented that in the middle there was a clean stream but by the time I got there that must have been muddy too, because I don’t remember seeing clean water anywhere. Then the riverbank. I had been warned about the terrible headwind, but it was still and lovely in the sunshine, you could see for miles. I even had time for a (brief) chat with Robyn of Team Bath AC, she too was enjoying the run.
Great marshalling all round, they were very friendly and smiley.
My own race went something like: try to keep up with Niki and Es - not manage it. Try and stay with Rob S - manage to stay ahead. I could see Gerry all the way round not too far ahead, but just couldn’t get close to him. At the 6 mile point I could see Es just ahead of Gerry, and Niki just ahead of Es. Becky was there too.
The finish. Well, the stream at the end was just what I needed to get my muddy shoes slightly cleaner. I remember watching this race 3 years ago thinking ‘they are mad’, but actually it was good fun throwing yourself in a stream and desperately trying to overtake someone.
At the end lots of relieved faces, a quick change and then the prize-giving. Kath was first lady, Marianne second. Mark was 5th overall (and very chuffed he was too), Lou first LV40, Niki second LV40, Laurie 2nd MV50. Chepstow Harriers did well with both men and women’s teams taking first prize – which was a lovely cake decorated with a Severn Bridge and a course route - a really original idea.
Afterwards we adjourned to a local pub for a bit of socialising and cake eating before heading off home. We all had a bit of the men’s cake in the pub afterwards. Not sure what happened to the women’s cake, I think Kath took it away. Did she eat it all? I can’t imagine that for one minute.
Thank you to Thornbury Running Club for organising this, and also thank you to the 36 Harriers who ran and supported the first event in the 2010 Club Championship. I hope you enjoyed it.
Next event: Chepstow cross-country on 21 February. More details to follow.
Also don’t forget the Forest Of Dean half marathon on 28 March – there are almost 1400 people entered so get your online entry in soon. 30 Harriers signed up so far!
Club champs results can be found on the ‘champs’ page http://www.chepstowharriers.org.uk/champs.htm
Photos of the event by the commercial photographers can be found at http://www.clickred.co.uk/p765791294
This entry was posted on 21/01/2010 at 08:36 am and is filed under Championship. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
