Wilne, John Fraser, Carlisle, Cosford and Andover

Nathan shines!!!
The 17 members who tackled the Wilne 10k on Sunday were greeted by conditions they are starting to get use to in our glorious summer………..very hot and sweaty ones and a cloudless sky. In some ways this negated the flat nature of the 2 lap course and in the absence of some of the Club’s quickest runners it was left to Nathan Fagan to brilliantly lead the contingent home in an excellent chip time of 41:25.  This, a couple of weeks after a challenging marathon debut in Iceland. Running in the colours of her 1^st claim club Derby AC, Louise Insley was next home in 41:31 a performance which also clinched her the WV45 prize. Chris Mason was also amongst the prizes as his 42:48 was good enough to win the MV60 award. Andy Orme, nursing a niggle, had Mason in his sites at the end, with 42:56 before a tight inter-club battle involving Romain Chambard and Chris Hanman saw them stop the clock in 44:10 and 44:14 respectively. Katie Dennis and Nikki Reeves were also virtually inseparable as they finished in 46:10 and 46:16 with Kevin Clarke not far behind in 47:59. Injury free Malcolm Moore made light of the conditions to finish in 50:32 with Karen Wilks, Graham Blackshaw and John Pegg giving everything to finish in 54:32, 55:11 and 56:51 respectively. Mary Sharp’s 62:14 on this occasion edged out Emma Sharp in 71:00 before Pauline Cooper, Cath Johnston and Helen Clarke gave their usual maximum effort to complete the Club’s finishers in 72:19, 75:01 and 78:36.
The Club’s runners were also well to the fore and faced with the same hot conditions, all be it over typically undulating Leicestershire road conditions, in the John Fraser 10 miler. Here Ellie Evans continued her upwards trajectory and strengthened her claim for consideration as one of the area’s most improved runners as she romped home in a chip time of 68:25. Tim Rhodes, Paul Glover and Steve Leafe, returning after a niggling injury, also performed well as they stopped the clock in 73:17, 75:46 and 79:27 respectively. Laura Harper and Tracey Glover ran strongly to finish in 82:08 and 83:17 with James Cobb, Becky Moult and Chris Elsegood also in close order as they completed the challenging course in 86:51, 87:19 and 89:07.
Dave Clarke, Rob Eaton and Jenny Laing also ensured that the yellow vest was also well in evidence in prize giving ceremonies at other races on Sunday. Dave Clarke performed superbly for 01:20:09 and 3^rd place in the Carlisle Half Marathon, Rob Eaton, warmed up for the Berlin Marathon with 2^nd place in 35:22 in the Cosford Spitfire 10k and last but not least Jenny Laing secured a brilliant 1^st in the women’s race in the Andover Trail Marathon.