Titterstone Clee (Strider wins) & Long Mynd Fell Races
With the wind howling across the fell, the first of the snow flurries arriving & the ground frozen, icy in places, conditions were not encouraging for the first of the weekend races - 2k & 229m of climb up to the trig point at Tiiterstone Clee, 2k down. Sarah Colbert was 1st Strider home, 14th out of 73 runners overall and winning the Ladies race in 23'44", another fine fell run. Jamie Woodyard was just 9" behind, before Nikki Brockbank led in a closely packed formation of Striders, Julian Catmull, Gary Wright, Andy Stroud, Andy Kettles & John Williams; despite the different route choices there was just 3' & 15 places separating the pack. Malcolm Savage also ran well to pick up the prize for 1st MV60. There should be some photos later in the week on the link below, it could be interesting to play spot the Strider (not one of Sarah's dogs), below the many layers of protective clothing.
With the thaw setting in conditions had eased a little for the race on Sunday, 18.5k and 1372m of climb up and down the valleys of the Long Mynd; a classic and tough fell race. Paul Jeggo, Jon Legge & Janet Hill joined the Titterstone 9 for this race, and all acquitted themselves well; Paul being 1st Strider home, 46th in 2h12m47s, followed by Sarah, 85th in 2h27m21s and Nikki 102nd in 2h32m27s. The packing was perhaps a little less impressive than for the Saturday race, with some enjoying the stiff climbs at the end of the race more than others. The conditions lent themselves to the sliding descent, as demonstrated in the accompanying photo.There are more on the link below, with results for both races at www.merciafellrunners.org.uk
www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/lmv2012.html
Striders win at Box Hill
Conditions were good for this 12k fell race on the North Downs. Harold Wyber had a particularly good day, his only disappointment being his failure to break the 50' mark, as he came home 2nd in 50'13". Neil Mcgouan was next home, 13th in 56'35", followed by Paul Jeggo, 24th in 58'57". Eleven other Striders ran, with notable efforts from Jo Gemmill, 177th in 77'41" and Darren Hull, 217th in 84'17", having arrived at the start a little late. Watching fellow Striders enjoying the last few hundred metre downhill run in, it seemed that the 2nd place for Harold and a possible age prize for Paul would be the height of our success. At the Prizegiving Harold received his prize, Paul a deserved 2nd V50; then the team prize, 1st place, Springfield Striders; well done Harold, Neil, Paul and 4th team member Jon Legge, 83rd in 67'02". Other results will be at www.Sloweb.org.uk There will be a number of trips to the fells in the coming months; details will be in the Fell section and on the chatboard.
