The Mob Match is always an interesting event when all clubs from across the 3 divisions of the Midweek League for a race that doesn’t count towards results for the season. It is a great opportunity to see how we match against runners we don’t normally see in the main season. It is also a chance when the pressure is not on to score points for people to rest and recover and not have to run. That was certainly the case for us with low numbers but those that were there did very well with some very strong performances. Because of the heat and the fact that it didn’t contribute to league places it was decided to shorten the race to just 5.7k – a godsend to many of us.

We had 18 men and 6 women take part. Results were mixed. I did quite excited when I signed in on Friday morning to find the women had some fantastic results including a joint win in the Vets cetegory but I quickly spotted that through a wringly recored number Christine Hawker had been given 2nd place and she wasn’t even there. The guys finished 7th in both the Senior race and the Vets with Adam Bowman our leading runner in 7th place. It seems that 7th is the magic place. The women were 10th in the Senior race and 5th in the Vets. As the women only had 6 taking part and need 8 for a full team they were dragged down by having maximum points for the 2 missing runners.

For us the most important part of the evening was the end of season presentations for the season overall. It took me a little while to realise that of the men’s awards for division 1 we won 6 of the 12 awarded. including at least 1 in each of the 5 age categories. In addition to that, in a disappointing season, we had 2 trophies for the women. Our trophy winners were Adam Bowman (3rd Senior), Andy Naylor (1st V40), Dave Weir (3rd V40), Ed Rios (2nd V50), Paul Ward (1st V60), Ray Clarabut (1st V70), Beata Falkowska (3rd V45) and Linda Grindall (1st V65). Something to be very proud of in spite of the fact that we will be racing in Division 2 next year.

Well done everyone who took part this year. You worked so hard to avoid the drop, you couldn’t have done any more. I am so proud to part of a great team and Club. Also massive gratitude to everyone who helped and supported us over the season especially Ian and Margaret and all their volunteers for a fantastic home race in Trent Park. I’m sure 2027 will be our year.

Chas