Mid Summer 10k

Andy’s looking good!
In hot, but dry conditions underfoot, Andy Hawtin continued his season long form as the Club’s premier runner as he led 14 of the Club’s runner’s home in the 4^th race in the Burton & District Summer Road Racing League, the Burton Mid Summer 10k. Andy’s time of 38.15 over the relatively flat, multi terrain course was good enough for an excellent 21^st place out 230 finishers. Not far behind was Chris Mason, whose 39.06 and 28^thplace secured the MV60 prize on the night. Andy Orme, making an early bid for the Club’s most improved runner award, finished next in 40.47 in 45^th place followed by Dave Littlewood, who ran very impressively, for 41.30 and 53^rd place.
The closest racing of the night was amongst the next group of finishers with Gavin Horton, Shane Chapman, Paul Chapman & Chris Gunstone separated by only 8 places with times of 41.35, 41.59, 42.00 & 42.13 respectively. For Gavin it was probably his best performance for a couple of seasons and an indication that the rivalry between this group of runners could push all of them to even better performances as the season progresses.  It was also surprising that Gavin’s performance occurred a few days after he’d had to attend A & E with concussion following an accident while he was watching a local football match. There is absolutely no truth in the rumour that he could repeat this unusual race preparation to enhance further performance improvement.
The theme of close inter Club finishes continued with Club stalwart Rob Lower’s 43.45 getting the better of Steve Leafe, ultra distance man Robert Belcher and the Club’s only female entrant in the race, Christina Cooper in times of 43.58, 44.19 & 44.23 respectively. It was also really pleasing that this group of runners all finished well within the top 100 finishers in a very competitive race. For Christina it’s been an excellent first full season and she’s probably a couple of races away from securing a very well deserved Club Championship victory. Continuing his steady improvement across the season was Steve Fowler in 43.58 with the evergreen Roger Barraclough completing the finishers with a hard run 69.09. Joining the ranks of the recently retired may provide Roger with a well earned opportunity to concentrate a bit more on improving his running following his unfortunate health set backs over recent years.