Tasty battle at the front!!
In the first Derby Runner Cross Country fixture of the year at Martin Shaw Woods near Groby, Leicestershire entrants from the Club were back to pre-pandemic levels, which was also reflected in formidable team performances and some great inter-club competition. Leading the way was the battle between Chris Pearson and Steve Bullock with the former having the edge on this occasion as they finished in excellent 11th and 14th positions, respectively. Andy Hawtin and Dan Bower also made welcome returns to cross country action as they finished in 42nd and 51st places with Steve Green and Rich Miller also scoring valuable team points as they collected the 65th and 74th place finishing tokens. Chris Hanman in 82nd and Robbie Cresswell in 88th place completed the club’s team finishers in a strong men’s team showing. Micheal Walters ran strongly to finish in 98th place followed closely by the resurgent MV60 Colin Mee in 102nd place. Mee is having a purple patch now and his sure-footed technique seems to be well suited to the challenges of cross country running. Breathing down his neck for most of the race was Nathan Fagan, who finished one place further back in 103rd. Men’s Club Captain, Andy Orme and David Green finished in 116th and 121st positions before the improving Ross Ballinger and Steve Leafe fought another close battle as they finished in 147th and 148th positions, respectively. Relative newcomer Martin Bullock ran well for 164th place before Andy Meadows, Nigel Atkins, Kevin Clarke, and David Walters gave everything as they completed the Club’s finishers in the men’s race in 180th, 199th, 202nd and 207th places, respectively.
Fittingly, women’s club captain Lisa Wright led the Club’s women home in a hard running 36th place finish with Emma Sharpe, Sarah Walters, and Julianne Walters giving great support as they completed the team’s finishers in 76th, 98th, and 130th places, respectively. Giving their usual maximum effort little separated Sarah Green, Helen Clarke, and Theresa Swift as they collected the 138th, 141st, and 142nd place tokens, respectively.
