Four Go to Garstang

Had drafted most of the following prior to Matt's report, thought it would be a shame to waste it:-

In what was one of our biggest turnouts for a race, four of us toed the line at the Garstang 10k on Sunday 8th January. Or rather, Matt toed the line, whilst the rest of us (SN, YJ and Yours Truly) took our rightful places nearer the back of the 450 strong field.  Incidentally, does anyone know what our biggest turnout for a race has been?

The Swift bros had spent a considerable time (one more than the other) on Winter Hill the day before, so were both equipped with good excuses, in the event of any shortfall in performance. However, YJ did not need to avail himself of his, and after passing SN fairly early on (she had positioned herself slightly nearer the front) went on to hunt down Matt, passing him before the two mile mark. SN was easy to spot in her flamboyant headgear and I also passed her soonish.

After YJ had moved to his rightful place at the front of our well spaced group, there was no further changing of positions. Despite having turned in a rather lacklustre performance on Winter Hill, YJ finished first V70, 257th overall in a time of 51:05 (surely back under 50 minutes very soon). Then Matt, 3rd V70, 286th in 52:57, me 315th in 54:49 (not quite a PW) then SN, 325th in 55:43. Hadn't expected to be that far behind Matt, well done you old rogue! SN seemed pleased with her time, although I take some credit for that, as she didn't let me escape completely until the final mile, using me to drag out a little extra from her - another one I'm going to have to keep my eye on.

What will Chernobyl bring at the end of the month? Only another three weeks will tell.  And why was no. 505, potentially 3rd V70 disqualified?

The team prize was won by the Horwich men's team (interesting in that this was done with an all vets team) and Paul Muller was first V50, 7th overall in 35:43. Maria Lowe was second lady, 48th overall in 39:28.