January 2010 – Willett Arms 4 mile Time Trial
David Long records
his first win in the time trial.
Finally, the ice thawed and we got to
hold January’s time trial a week late. What was unusual about this
month’s trial was that all four of those on the largest calculated
handicaps finished in the top 10. Our time trial winners more usually
come from further down the field as the event rewards those who make the
biggest time gains. David Long was awarded the trophy as he was the
first finisher to cross the line based on a real handicap time rather
than a guessed one. We seriously underestimated the performances of
guest Simon Hayter, Robbie Burgess and Paul Waite who were the first
three in – we have your times now so next time out you are going to
have to really go for it. Apart from that trio we also saw excellent
time trial debuts from Debbie King and Andy Hobson. Apologies are due to
Michele Whitehurst, in the rush to calculate the handicaps she went in a
later slot than she should have and her fine run was worthy of a higher
finish. Callum Kennedy recorded the fastest time on the night overall,
although this was slightly down on his time set in December.
Two time trial heroes on the night were
Bob Caines and Kelly Williams. Bob gave up his own run to pilot debutant
Debbie King around the course. For Debbie this was her first Thursday
with us and she was immediately in at the deep end. As the results show
Debbie had no problems at all. Kelly Williams was last month’s time
trial winner and she went off on the same handicap as Tom Wilson-Croome,
who was making a return after a long time away. Tom misjudged his pace,
went off far too quickly and paid the penalty later. Kelly aborted her
own push for a good time and selflessly guided, coaxed and cajoled Tom
to the finish.
The biggest hard luck story though is
Maddy Vaughan-Johncey’s. Maddy has had tendonitis in her feet for
something like three months now. She ran on New Year’s Day in the
Broadstone Quarter Marathon, recorded a massive time improvement on last
year and won her age-group category. She must have thought she was in
the clear on the injury front after that fine effort. Unfortunately the
tendonitis came back to haunt her in the time trial and it was as much
as she could do to hobble that last mile. We didn’t record Maddy’s
finish time as it in no way reflects what she is capable of. One of the
hardest things of all for anyone who love’s running is not getting too
impatient when returning from injury. Good luck with your recovery Maddy.
Timekeeping/recording was a little
chaotic as it is most definitely a three man job and there were only two
available to do it on the night – Ian and Wendy Kennedy. Full results
for the time trial were:
January 2010 – 4 miles – Willett
Arms route
