For the second race in this year’s Midweek League we had the joy of a new course at Royston, in fact the address was Buntingford but very close to both towns. It certainly was undulating, as advertised, but I think was enjoyed by most. Conditions were fairly bleak especially just before the start when the rain lashed down and the wind blew a gale. Thankfully it cleared by the time of the start and held off for the duration of the race.

The six teams in Division 1 of this league are all very strong and are making it very tough for us to make real headway. The men’s team was pretty strong even with a number of long term injuries and some unavailability and a;; of our guys looked to run well but we still only finished in 4th place. We do need to see what we can do about strengthening the team for the last 2 scoring races. The 12 who scored for us were Dougal Burrowes, Adam Bowman, Andy Naylor, Ed De Los Rios, Raul Simmons-Perez, Joseph Kellow, Ben Allen, Dave Weir, Jim Arrowsmith, Charlie Bruce, Dan Greenwood and Paul Ward. I can’t believe with this team we didn’t do better. When it comes to the Vets team we finished 3rd. The Vet team consisted of Andy, Ed, Dave, Jim, Charlie and Paul.

The women again showed real grit and did a great job but the limited resources meant that they finished at the bottom of the six teams in Division 1. The scoring 8 were Mahdiyyah Banoo, Beata Falkowska, Siobhan Weir, Emily Targett, Carolyn Watson, Melissa O’Hare, Sue Thomas and Linda Grindall. The majority of this scoring team were Vets and so I thought our Vets team might score well with Beata, Siobhan, Carolyn and Melissa our scorers but sadly they were sixth. If anyone has any great ideas about how we strengthen the team or better still turn out and do your bit please come forward.

We obviously have work to do in the final races still to come and I am sure we will do what is required to maintain our position in the top divison. Running in this competition is not solely about points and league position it is also about getting as many runners from all parts of the Club out running together and enjoying the experience. We had the lowest number of runners (34 men and 17 women) of all the clubs in the race. It would be great if we could get a much larger number to demonstrate what a top club we are, build an outstanding team spirit and even if you’re not scoring you can be a real benefit to the Club.

In spite of the foul weather we did have some support from Jan and Neil Bowman with their dogs and Margaret O’Donnell and Ian Kenwell, Ian checking the action before Race Directing our home race. I took photos having decided I wasn’t up to running a few minutes before the start. I wasn’t totally popular with some of the ladies taking pictures of them at the top of the long hill up to the finish. I look forward to writing a much more positive report for the upcoming races. Let’s make it happen.

Chas