Derby Runner XC Series, Race 3 – Bradgate Park

‘Man for All Seasons’ leads the way!
Bradgate Park was the venue for the third race in this year’s Derby Runner XC series with another excellent turnout of 30 from the Club. Showing again that he’s a man for ‘all seasons’ & all surfaces, Chris Pearson led the group home in the men’s race with an excellent 30^th place finish in relatively dry, but very windy conditions. Training partner, Shane Chapman, ran brilliantly to finish in 37th before Andy Hawtin scored valuable team points as he crossed the line in 67^th. There were then three excellent performances from Andy Windle, Simon Reynolds & Mark Harriott as they finished in 83^rd, 94^th & 101^st respectively. For Simon it was probably his best performance in a yellow vest as he still awaits ‘first claim’ clearance for the Club while Mark was making his debut as a ‘first claimer’. Jon Mayman is improving with every race as he finished here in 113^th before good packing from Tom Eyre, Steve Leafe & Andy Orme saw them cross the line in 126^th, 134^th & 142^nd places. Adrian Middleton (166^th), Christian Glover (180^th) & Glenn Smith (196^th) all had the satisfaction of finishing in the top 200 of a really competitive field before James Cobb and Stewart Laing had a really tight battle as they finished in 201^st &203^rd places respectively.  Romain Chambard ran well for 217^th before yet more tight inter-club racing involving Malcolm Moore, Richard Ward, Paul Glover & cross country debutant, Barry Saunders, as they finished in 265^th, 270^th, 272^nd & 282^nd places respectively. Stuart Reeves ran well for 297^th before Mark Nixon (304^th), Steve Tempest (328^th) and, the injury hampered, Steve Fowler (333^rd) gave everything in completing the finishers for the Club in the men’s race.
The Club’s women were significantly strengthened by the return of Christina Hawtin who, despite having her training restricted by injury, performed superbly for 10^th place in the women’s race. Cross country debutant, Kelly Knight, ran well for 45^th place with Tracey Glover, despite another fall, close behind in 47^th. Lisa Wright in 60^th gained valuable team points before another cross country debutant, Kat Smith in 188^th and Inge Moore in 198^th battled well to complete the Club’s finishers in the women’s race.