Full Results from Race 5 - University Challenge

Downpours of rain during the afternoon in the Coventry area made the race organiser wonder just how many would turn up for the University Challenge, known as one of the tougher of the club races due to several climbs along the 5mile course. As always, Kenilworth Runners' members did not disappoint, with 33 club members runnin, another 5 marshalling, and 2 guests also attending.

Light rain persisted in the buildup to the race but generally held off as runners made their way round the course. The slow upward slope in the first mile was followed by a fast, virtually all downward sloping second mile. Mile 3 was a tough climb following by a strong descent before hitting the biggest climb of the course which frustratingly continued to climb once runners reached the main road. The final mile being predominantly downhill was welcomed by runners, though the cheeky climb at the bottom of gibbet hill sapped any remaining energy.

Sonia Birch was runner of the evening, knocking over 2minutes off her predicted time on an evening where very few were able to avoid falling short of their time prediction. 'Jokers' were wisely played by Colin Uunderhill and Joan Mason giving them 98 & 96 points respectively on the evening. A special mention to the fast improving Laura Gould who would've also scored highly if last night's race hadn't been a 'qualifying race' for her. Rich Simkiss fell foul of his predicted time but was able to edge out another course record in a time of 27:16 (previous Men's course record 27:40).

Joan Mason leads the overall series on 265 points having wisely played her Joker.

Martin Broomfield continues to lead the A group with  234 points
Colin Underhill edges ahead of Ros Mathhews to lead the B group on 231 points
Pete Matthews loses his overall series lead to now lead the C group with 259 points only marginally (6 points) behind Joan

With 5 races now out of the way and only 3 remaining, it will be interesting to see how the scores pan out over the final few rounds, with Jokers still to be played, and each runners top 5 race scores counting towards the league total. See you all in 2 weeks time for the 'Not The Chesterton Chafer''.