Mick Williams took the first race of the Summer League in classic Mick Williams style - playing cat and mouse with Martin Dorrill all the way until the last 100 yards!
The theme of this summer league is to start with the longest race first. Certainly at 6.75 miles is is not easy, there are plenty of undulations along the way. Nevertheless,
Mick was the only one ot beat his handicap and not only walk off with the 50 points but also a further 5 for breaking Mike Cruickshanks' 5 year old vets record. The new record is now
39:07 and will probably be around for another 5 years! Terry Dyer was running in his first race since London and was closely shadowed by
Roland Smythe for the first mile, before Terry managed to dump him, eventually finishing some 15 seconds in front.
Mick Morris was first back for the A group in 54 minutes, although the quicker ones amongst you will notice that the marshals did rather well
on the night, grabbing 49 points each. It won't be so easy as the races get shorter. Mike Cahill appears to have found a new lease of life and
is leading the B group, his time of 47:03 was good enough for 46 points. Martin Dorrill leads the group, having finshed only 3 seconds behind
Mick - will he get his revenge on Sunday? The next race is Shillington's Shally on the 17th May at the New Inn in Norton Lindsey. 7:30 start.
03/05/01
- Buxton Half - Mick Morris takes 2nd place in V65 category.
On Saturday evening last I represented Kenilworth Runners in the Buxton Half Marathon together with my son David. The race has quite a reputation
in the running world and is claimed to be "reputedly one of the toughest half marathons in the country". Certainly it is not an easy run and large sections
of it involve strenuous hill climbing. In fact in the 13.1 miles it climbs a total of about 1200 feet, that is if some of the minor climbs are ignored!
However the toughness of the race is offset by the beauty of the scenery through which it passes. (if you have the strength left to look at it).
The race starts outside the picturesque Opera House at Buxton with a steady 3 mile climb up to Axe Edge. The next 2 miles are over superb moor land with 3 short climbs
to High Edge when it then passes into an exquisite limestone gorge at Dowell. This brings a long downhill, which is not only a relief after the
first climbs but also a warning that there is hard running ahead and so to the steep 2 mile climb at Glutton to Earl Sterndale past Jerrico Cottages. The remainder of the run back to the
Botanical Gardens in Buxton is easy with the exception of yet another vicious climb at Harpur Hill with 11 miles completed.
David finished in 92 minutes and I followed him in in 115 minutes being one of a small handful of over 65's and
have been advised by the organisers that I won the 2nd over 65 prize.
13/05/01:
Walk the Walk- London
Meanwhile in London some eleven hours earlier two of Kenilworth Runners lady members took part in the prestigious Marathon 26 mile walk called “Walk the Walk”.
This race attracted 8000 Ladies and is sponsored by Playtex to raise funds for cancer research. Helen and Pamela Wilkes started walking in Battersea
Park at Mid-night and our intrepid duo completed the daunting challenge in the remarkable time of 7 hours 10 minutes.
17/05/01
- Race Summer League Shillington's Shally
The second race of the Kenilworth Runners summer season took place at Norton Lindsey last Thursday with 22 club members taking part.
The weather conditions were perfect for running and for the second time in this series a course record was broken. This time it was Martin Dorrill
who set a blistering pace and finished in 34.42 setting a new senior men's course record.
However, Mick Williams was the fastest runner to finish in a remarkable 34.38 and just beat Martin to the post by 4 seconds in a very tight finish.
The 6 mile course starts at Norton Lindsey and proceeds downhill to Snitterfield where it turns sharp left to go through Wolverton and so return
to the start at Norton Lindsey. This is not an easy run as the second half is mainly uphill.
The overall situation in The Summer League after two races is as follows:- Mick Williams Overall Leader 105 points. Tim Payne A group leader
90 points. Peter Warren B group leader 94 points. Martin Dorrill C group leader 100 points. After only two races the situation is tight at the
top but will anybody have the staying power to catch Mick Williams? Any of your readers who might fancy having a run with the club should
note that the third race will be held on Thursday 7th June 2001. It starts outside the Peeping Tom Public House on Cromwell Lane at 7.30 pm.
20/05/01
- Swithland 7 mile
Mick Morris went to Leicestershire on Sunday last to run in the Swithland road race. Originally billed as
a 6 kilometre race the route was changed to 7 miles as a result of the foot and mouth problem.
This also meant that a long stiff climb was included. Mick finished in 57.36 minutes after a steady uneventful run.
Thursday 3rd May