RACE REPORT - FOREMARK CROSS COUNTRY 20/11/2011
22/11/2011
O'Brien makes welcome return!
On a misty and cold morning at Foremark Reservoir, Gerry O'Brien made a very welcome return to South Derbyshire Road Runner's colours by leading the way home for the Club in the 3rd race in the Derby Runner Cross Country Series. His 40th place finish out of a field of over 300 starters was a terrific performance on a day when he was joined by 15 other Club members, one of the best ever turn outs for a race in this series.
In another terrific performance Jon Mayman finished next in 78th place and on the day he was too good for Chris Mason in 92nd place and the ever improving Simon Hackett, who edged out the evergreen Colin Mee in 96th and 97th place finishes respectively. After struggling with the greasy conditions underfoot Roger Matthews was slightly disappointed with his 112th place finish but there were signs that he'll be challenging those ahead of him on this occasion in future races. There was another hard fought battle between Paul McKay and Chris Gunstone, with the experienced McKay's 135th place just getting the better of Gunstone in 136th place. There was then a slight gap to the ever consistent Steve Leafe in 163rd and Mark Nixon in 183rd place with both doing well to achieve these positions in a very competitive race. There was then fairly tight packing of Club finishers with Malcolm Moore's 211th place leading the way from Daniel Towns in 220th place, Adrian Middleton in 224th, the returning Ray Udall in 240th place and Dave Renshaw in 251st place, which completed a good day of solid performances for the Club's men runners. Continuing to fly the flag for the women runners was the indefatigable Cath Johnston who turned in her usual battling performance to finish in 119th place in the women's race.
The next race in the series is at Allestree Park on 4th December 2011, meet on the GBLC car park at 09:45.