Worthington 5

Hawtin’s make it a double!!
Last Tuesday evening saw the latest round in the Burton & District Summer League (BDSL), the Worthington 5, and the Club were again out in force with 44 competitors in a field of 211. The race was also the latest race in the Club’s 2015 Championship & Andy Hawtin’s superb 4^th place in a PB of 28.39 made it clear he hasn’t given up on winning the men’s championship. In benign running conditions it was great to see Dominic Sharman back in racing action & he should be pleased with his 29.15 for 7^th place. Chris Pearson has committed wholeheartedly & successfully to this season but on this occasion he had to settle for 15^th in 29.44 with James Cassidy not far behind in 17^th in 29.58. Shane Chapman ran well for 30.09 & 20^th place while club debutant, Daniel Dawe, showed what a welcome addition he’ll be to the men’s squad, stopping the clock in 32.07 for 29^th place. Probably though, the performances of the night in the men’s race, came from the quickly improving Tom Eyre who just had the edge on Stuart Halsey as times of 32.25 & 32.32 indicate. The Club’s finishers came over the line at increasingly regular intervals at this stage with stalwarts Andy Orme, Steve Leafe & Chris Gunstone finishing in 32.42, 32.54 & 33.02 respectively.
Amongst this group of men was Christina Hawtin who took another significant step to retaining the BDSL senior women’s title by winning the women’s race in an excellent 32.46.  Glenn Smith & Colin Mee both ran solidly for 33.28 & 33.50 respectively before only a second separated Andrew Windle & Adrian Middleton as they battled right to the line in finishing in 34.57 & 34.58. There was then a slight lull in SDRR finishers before very little separated Rob Lower (36.21), Nikki Reeves (36.25) & Mitch Timms (36.29). Kelly Knight looks like she is getting some form back to stop the clock in 37.18, while Paul Glover continued his season long improvement by finishing in 37.29. Daniel Towns, making a really welcome racing appearance, finished in 38.27 before Tracy Glover gave her usual maximum effort in finishing in 38.35 followed by Malcolm Moore, Steve Fowler & Laura Harper in 38.51, 39.04 & 39.11 respectively. Tim Argent, who has had a good, steady season, was next in 40.32 with Mark Nixon breathing down his neck in 40.35 before Lisa Wright & Dave Lunn had an equally close battle in 40.48 & 40.52 respectively. Although not in tight inter-club battles Stuart Reeves (41.34), Richard Ward (42.28) & Becky Atkins (43.14) gave everything to the cause. Steve Tempest, Maria Allen, Karen Wilkes & Alison Shearer then followed one another home in times of 44.17, 44.28, 44.40 & 44.44.
The races within the main race continued with Kerry Ward (46.16) leading home Kat Smith (46.56) with the battling Suki Kaur just 3 seconds back in 46.59. WV65, Linda Mason, probably had her best run of the season, in finishing in 48.45 with Linda Tempest (53.25), Pauline Cooper (58.10) & Club Secretary, Roger Barraclough (66.27) completing the finishers for the Club in a very positive night.