South Derbyshire women turn up the heat!
Come race time it was 27 degrees but this did not deter the Club’s women from clinching the Burton and District Summer League (BDSL) in the penultimate race and also claiming a great deal of the prize money on offer in Sunday’s Burton 10k. Leading the way was Kelly Knight’s superb 41.51, which secured first place in the women’s race, with women’s captain Katie Dennis third overall in 44.54. Completing the successful women’s team was Andrea Beaty with 47.52, which deservedly secured first place in the VW45 category. Linda Dakin completed the women’s prize winning by securing the VW55 prize with an excellent 61.41. There were also great performances from Becky Moult, Emily Atkins, Amy Dakin, and Sarah Walters, who overcame the heat and a challenging course to record 50.52, 54.19, 56.18 and 57.50, respectively. Lucy Cartwright recorded 63.33 with Sara Sneath and Elle Dickson finishing virtually together in 69.25 and 69.26 before Sarah Green completed the Club’s finishers, in the women’s race, with a very respectable 69.59
There were also terrific performances from the Club’s men with Ashley Hurdman recording an excellent 34.31 to finish second overall and Chris Pearson, continuing his season of excellence with 35.15 and first place in the highly competitive MV40 category. The men’s situation in the BDSL is more complicated as they are locked in a battle with Tamworth AC, which will go to the final league race of the season, the Tamworth 5 on 18th September. On this occasion it was second place to Tamworth in the contest for the team prize with the other team scorers being Danial Bower and Jacob Edmunds, who recorded condition defying times of 39.11 and 39.35, respectively. Also running superbly were Sam Bassett who also ducked below the 10k benchmark of forty minutes as he recorded 39.50 and Steve Green and Mark Slade who recorded 40.01 and 40.16, respectively. The Club’s strength in depth was reaffirmed by the performances of Mark Farrar, Dave Green, the competitive Mikey Walters, Nathan Fagan, and Stuart Halsey, who all recorded top fifty finishes with times of 42.55, 43.00,43.37,44.36 and 44.41, respectively. Neil Swift is improving with every race and his 45.32 saw him edge out the resurgent Colin Mee’s 46.44 and Ross Ballinger’s 47.28. Clive Lamb, Steve Leafe, Paul Hudson, and Tony Richards battled against the challenging course and the heat to record 50.26, 51.23, 52.08 and 53.21 while Jay Darnley continued gaining racing experience with a hardworking 57.17. John Pegg ducked beneath the hour with 59.21, while Danny Scott stopped the clock in 64.40 before the redoubtable Tony Phillips secured a well-deserved MV70 prize with 65.22. Gareth Simpson was breathing down his neck with 65.35 before the excellent Graham Blackshaw completed the Club’s finishers in the men’s race with 70.12.
