Bradgate XC & Sneyd 10

Yellow’s to the fore
The 3^rd round of this year’s Derby Runner XC League took place at Bradgate Park on Sunday over a course that was the polar opposite of the bland, flat, dry course used for this weekend’s European Cross Country Championships in Sardinia. There was an excellent turnout of 32 runners from the Club with Chris Pearson continuing to do what he has done all season by leading the Club’s runner’s home in 16^th place in the men’s race in a time of 33:36. Pushing him all the way, in a superb cross country debut for the Club, was Alun-Lloyd Thomas in 22^nd place in 34:17. Next home was the consistent Shane Chapman in an excellent 39^th place before Mark Harriott, who has had a really hectic racing year, finished in 83^rd. Not far behind was a resurgent Chris Gunstone and Andy Windle as they finished in 86^th and 93^rd places respectively. The closest inter-Club battle though involved Christian Glover and Simon Reynolds as they were separated by only 2 seconds in 113^th & 115^th places. Nigel Atkins, Glenn Smith, Dave Eyre and Chris Hanman gave everything as they finished in 133^rd, 136^th, 139^th and 141^st places respectively. The improving Phil Daws finished in 146^th before Club stalwarts Steve Leafe and Andy Orme crossed the line in 156^th & 159^th places. Romain Chambard ran well for 162^nd place before Colin Mee who, because of work commitments, is racing without a great deal of training, finished in 178^th.  Tom Eyre finished in a creditable 187^th before Matt Long showed significant improvement from the last round as he finished here in 221^st. Paul Glover crossed the line next in 241^st before recent MV70 Ray Udall finished in 266^th. Robin Thorne ran well to finish in 291^st before Tony Richards, Mark Nixon, Richard Ward & Stuart Reeves completed the finishers in the men’s race in 295^th, 302^nd, 309^th & 319^th places respectively. For Ward it wasn’t the end of his day’s efforts as he cycled home with ironman bound Dave Eyre.
The Club’s women also performed brilliantly as a team with Jenny Laing running superbly to finish in 9^th place in the women’s race in a time 39:33. Performance of the day though was probably from Becky Atkins as she continued her recent improvement to finish in 55^th. Nikki Reeves and Kat Smith also scored valuable team points as they finished in 96^th & 141^st places respectively. Emily Atkins and Emma Sharp gave everything to finish in 173^rd & 185^th places to complete the Club’s finishers in the women’s race.
Also in action on Sunday were Kelly Knight, Gary Price and Carolynn Ife who competed with credit in the Sneyd 10 Christmas Pudding Run as finishing times of 70:31, 77:18 & 111:26 respectively confirm.