Birstall Runners’ Swithland 6 league race generated a near record breaking turnout from the Hinckley crew with 39 taking part with a special mention for our U20 Bethan Padbury, Ben Masser and Harry Langham who are not letting the busy GCSE/ AS level exams stopping them from racing! We wonder what it can be about these chip-timed, flat, picturesque, standard-distance, official-measured, goody-bag-offering, summer road races (with toilet facilities) that make them so much more popular than the winter cross-country series? Alas, this remains a mystery.
It was Simon Birch’s turn this week to lead the line for Hinckley’s men. He grabbed 11th place overall. Few saw him – he was so quick! Rumours persist that he arrives seconds before the race start and leaves his car engine running for when he gets back. Near the head of the field Rolf Hoelmer collected a silver time despite losing his pacer (Chris Limmer) to Nick Moore who benefited by running his best race yet.
Men’s runner of the day was awarded to Richard Guest who’s now regularly collecting bronze times by a good margin and showing the incredible change in form that he has achieved over the year. Well done Richard!
On the ladies’s side, we had 22 runners and for many, it was their first race of the summer league including Leanne Byard, Jane Wheeler, Erica Fisher, Liz Aspden-Mansfield, Elaine Wischhusen, Odette Foxall and Louise Berry. Also Sarah Chisnall (and her husband Phil) joined us for the very first time. There was a great atmosphere on the whole and lots of happy runners achieving PBs and standard times on the day. Penny Masser completed her fastest 6 mile race for 2 years.
The lady runner of the day was awarded to Rebecca Gould. Since joining us in road running in the summer league, Rebecca has performed consistently well. She powers through till the finish line and at Swithland 6 she was the first Hinckley lady to cross the line. Well done Rebecca!
