4th Derby Runner XC Fixture, Grace Dieu, Thringstone

Dominic is top man
Showing the increasing strength of the Club, 22 members made the relatively short trip to Grace Dieu School, Thringstone for the 4^th leg in this year’s Derby Runner Cross Country League. On a clear, frosty morning, 500 runners showed their determination to run off Christmas excesses when they lined up to tackle deep mud, streams, sharp hills, boulders & tree roots over what is, for many, their favourite course on the circuit. Such was the numbers it was necessary to separate the starts of the men’s & women’s races by 10 minutes. For the first time, for some time, the Club had 5 finishers in the top 100 in the men’s race with Dominic Sharman leading the way with a superb 26^th place finish in 33.50 over this course of approximately 5 miles. The much improved Simon Hackett was next with probably his best cross country performance for 41^st place in 34.33 followed closely by Club debutant, Chris Pearson in a superb 49^th in 34.53.  There was then a tight finish between Paul Chapman & Stuart Halsey with Paul just edging it from training partner Stuart in 80^th & 84^th places respectively. Also showing the improving quality of the squad Colin Mee & Chris Mason only made the lower reaches of the counting team with 109^th & 114^th places with second claimer Simon Reynolds in 141^st, Steve Leafe in 196^th completed the scoring team.
The determined Adrian Middleton, & a supplier of excellent coffee, was next to finish in 211^th followed by the evergreen Steve Fowler in 237^th, another Club debutant Ray Mortlock in 246^th with fellow MV60, Malcolm Moore, just 2 places behind in 248^th.  Gary Price was next across the line in 276^th, after witnessing a stand off between a rabbit & a squirrel, followed by Tony Phillips in 280th, Dave Renshaw in 297^th with Steve Tempest in 307th completing the Club’s finishers in the men’s race.
In the women’s race it was Tracey Glover, who continues to show her aptitude for leaping over fallen trees, who led the Club’s women home with a superb 51st place out of 170 finishers in 45.00. Sam Skidmore continues to improve as emphasized by her 95^th place finish with Inge Moore & WV60s  Linda Tempest & Cath Johnston battling brilliantly for 145th, 162nd & 166^th place finishes respectively.
Team wise the men finished a superb 2nd in Division 2 behind runaway leaders Shelton Striders. A repeat performance in the last 2 races of the series may just be good enough to edge us into a promotion spot. For the Club’s women, despite missing Jenny, it was great to see us getting a full counting team out again & some really battling performances. Finally, thanks to Gavin for doing an excellent job of managing the paperwork.