On a sweltering night we turned up at Fairlands Valley in Stevenage for the 3rd Midweek League race. The pressure was on us with us sitting in the bottom 2 and in real danger of relegation. The men’s team looked pretty strong, but I had thought that for the previous race at Royston and we weren’t able to turn it into a strong result. The ladies sadly had a few drop outs on the day and were a little under strength. The important thing to recognise is that this is a team effort and we are all in this together and we must all pull in one direction to achieve success. I am absolutely sure we can avoid the drop and it is also possible the men can nick the men’s competition.

With 12 to score the men are always under pressure to get a top scoring team out but this time we did that and beyond the 12 this time we had more than that and those additional runners had a big impact pushing other club’s scorers down the list. Our scoring team were Dougal Burrowes, Adam Bowman, Raul Simmons-Perez, Andy Naylor, Ed Rios, Dave Weir, Matt Littleford, Joseph Kallow, Ben Allen, Matt Petch Cooper, Jim Arrowsmith and Charlie Bruce. They did a great job and although not right at the front we packed really well and our 12th scorer was well ahead of the other teams. This meant that we came out as top men’s team on the night. One of the good features of the team is that we have a decent number of younger runners and that means that we are no longer dependent on the older contingent. Our Vets team finished 3rd on the night but are still 2nd overall for the season with a shot at getting to top spot. Our team on the night was Andy, Ed, Dave Weir, Matt Littleford, Jim and Charlie.

The ladies, with a depleted team, did a fantastic job and got much closer to the other clubs above them. It would have only taken a couple of more scorers to see them zoom up the table. Our scoring team was Mahdiyyah Banoo, Emily Targett, Beata Falkowska, Siobhan Weir, Melissa O’Hare, Carolyn Watson, Sue Thomas and Eva Jones. On top of this scoring team there were another 10 super ladies who finished the race. Sadly they did finish bottom but not by very much. The vets team also finished bottom but by just 2 points with a team consisting of Beata, Siobhan, Melissa and Carolyn. I’m sure that next time they will push up the table.

The final race in a couple of weeks at trent Park is really important for our fiinal results and if we can get out in numbers we will have a big celebration. Thanks to all the help and support at Stevenage and previous races this season especially Ian Kenwell and wife Margaret. Ian took the camera again and took some great photos which can be seen on the Club’s Photo Gallery. Christine Prescott is always a great support and also it is always nice to see Jan and Neil Bowman at our races. Ian os now working very hard on pulling together things for the trent Park race as Race Director and is very appreciative of all those who have come forward to volunteer. We are unable to host these races without all the volunteers. Let’s have a great race and successful finish to the season.

Chas