Dovedale Dash, Derby 10 and the Shepshed 7

Busy day for Road Runners
Members were active at 3 locations on Sunday. What all had in common was the coldest day of the autumn so far with the cold conditions felt most by the 13 runners who tackled the 43/4 miles of the Dovedale Dash. Not hampered, in anyway, by crossing the icy River Dove was Chris Pearson who finished an outstanding 21^st out 1400 finishers in 30.03. Not included in official results was the excellent Shane Chapman who completed the course in 31.56. Ultra-distance runner, Andy Windle was next back in 115^th in 35.17 getting the better of one of the candidates for most improved runner of the year, Nigel Atkins, in 37.07.  There was then a really close battle between Chris Hanman and Tom Eyre, who were separated by two places in times of 38.10 and 38.12 respectively.   Event regular, Gary Price recorded a very respectable 40.24 with Matt Long, making his running debut for the Club, recording 41.47. Steve Fowler, Mark Murkin and James Cobb recording 43.13, 44.33 and 46.14 respectively. Mother and daughter, Emily and Becky Atkins, ran well to cross the line together in 50.37 and 50.38.
12 were in action at the inaugural Derby 10 miler with Rob Eaton leading the way home in an excellent 61.20 for 21^st place. Probably the performance of the day though was from Mark Harriott who gained his reward for a hard working season as he recorded a distance PB of 63.28 for a superb 36^th place out of 775 finishers. Phil Dawes ran well for 73.27 before Tracey and Paul Glover stopped the clock in 75.30 and 76.54 respectively. Andy Orme was next in 77.50 before the new MV70, Ray Udall, defied the years to finish in 80.34. Holly Holland and Nikki Reeves both ran well to finish in 81.20 and 83.30 respectively. The very busy David Lunn was next in 87.34 before Robin Thorne and Karen Wilks completed the Club’s finishers in 88.05 and 90.32 respectively.
The last presence was at the Shepshed 7 where again there was a really strong performance at the top of the race with Alun Thomas storming round in 41.43 for a brilliant 10^th place in a really competitive race. Glen Smith continued his season long improvement to record 49.17 before Chris Gunstone, and the returning Roger Matthews, were virtually inseparable as they finished in 49.27 and 49.41 respectively. Kat Smith ran excellently to record 59.43, a best for the course, before the battling Pauline Cooper completed the finishers in 78.21.