Rejoice – an actual race!
Apt, that on a beautiful, still, spring morning competitive road racing returned to the area in the form of the Leicestershire Half Marathon. With a lot of the race within the confines of Prestwold Hall, 726 socially distanced runners, including 7 from South Derbyshire were started in waves. The course they tackled was largely flat but over a variety of surfaces, including sections of loose gravel at the start and finish. Abbey Van Dijk showed that she has used lockdown to excellent effect as she stormed around the course to win the women’s race in a superb chip time of 01.21:07 with her nearest competitor some 6 minutes back. Second claimer Rich Miller ran strongly to finish 2nd MV55 in 01.27:02 with Mark Slade not far behind in a well run 01.27:23. In form Andy Orme was agonisingly close to ducking under 01.30 with 01.30:45 with Chris Mason taking the honours in the early vaccination stakes with 01.35:45 and 1st MV70 spot, just edging out Colin Mee in 01.35:52 and Steve Leafe in 01.38:12. Special thanks on this special day should also go to the organisers and marshals, including many with South Derbyshire connections, who ensured the event was delivered safely and securely.
