Summer hill handicap june 2011

Many thanks to Phil for having the vision to get this thing going, thanks also to Richard and Bev for the feast afterwards. And also to everyone else who helped out marshalling, taking pics, etc.

Congratulations to Lesley for a triumphal run!

Report from Phil below

Generally we all know our position in a race, we line up with the people of the same pace and end up having a few battles but those of us at the back never see what’s going on at the front and vice-versa.Handicaps are different

The fast ones who start last are not used to going through the field like butter (unless of course they turn up late) and the less fast of us who start off first are not used to the special feeling of finding the route and being chased…………and so it turned out on Wednesday 29th June, the date of the Helsby Running club summer handicap.

The event started off with Jackie marking out the course in the afternoon, Helen and her team of marshals meeting in the quarry car park and walking to their positions and, of course, all the runners meeting at the club at 18:30. The race starts off with a steep climb so the short run from the club to the quarry acts as a good opportunity to warm up, especially those calf muscles which can go twang and mean the end of your summer running.

Instructions were given and the first two runners; Betty and Lesley set off to thunderous applause, isn’t it funny how long a minute can seem when you see your fellow competitors sprint off into the distance, you want to chase them down but are held back by the seconds slowly slowly ticking away. Despite much creeping over the start line, all the runners set off safely.

As a spectator one of the advantages of a 2 lap course is the ability to see the race develop, after the first lap it was clear that Lesley and Betty had spent most of the year running well within themselves in order to get an advantageous handicap – they were streets ahead of the rest. However there were a few middle packers and faster runners who were looking useful.

The finishing straight along Middle Walk is thick with foliage and the first sign of our winner was a flash of fluorescent orange shirt streaming through the leaves like the first ray of sunshine of a summer’s dawn, followed by Betty’s beaming smile with Ivan rushing home next with the urgency of an expectant father.

A quick jog back to the club and showers were followed by a feast prepared by Bev and Richard and the summer handicap was over for another year

		Handicap time		Actual time
Name	Position	Minutes	Seconds	Minutes	Seconds
Lesley Feakes	1	25	53	25	53
Betty	2	27	24	27	24
Ivan Davies	3	27	32	20	32
Gareth Boyd	4	27	48	20	48
Dave Feakes	5	28	12	23	12
Colin	6	28	19	21	19
Jane Ashbrook	7	28	21	21	21
Mike Searle	8	28	27	22	27
Nester	9	28	35	26	35
Paul Potts	10	28	48	21	48
Steve Riley	11	29	1	22	1
Roy Gaskill	12	29	8	22	8
Albert Berry	13	29	25	23	25
Fran Wood	14	29	31	27	31
Mike Hallsworth	15	29	45	27	45
Ian Landucci	16	29	48	20	48
Adrian Jackson	17	29	57	24	57
Andy Smith	18	30	5	24	5
Vanessa Griffiths	19	30	12	24	12
Janet Robertson	20	30	21	24	21
Chris Igoe	21	30	41	25	41
Jackie	22	31	20	27	20
Graham Lloyd	23	32	58	27	58
John Thompson	24	33	50	28	50
Kevin Bell	25	38	30	36	30