On a cold-ish day with brilliant
sunshine we had a new venue for a Wessex League race Ham Hill (on
National Trust land just west of Yeovil). Is this the most
beautiful setting we have seen for an XC league race? Quite possibly. Is
this the toughest course we have ever encountered in the Wessex League?
Quite probably.
The race programme started with the
under-11s. Adam Collins has been a WAC member for a month or two now and
this was to be his race debut. After a warm-up and a few words in his
ear, we wished him luck on the start line. Off they went. We could see
that Adam had found his way to the front of the pack before they
disappeared over the brow of the hill. When the runners emerged a few
minutes later Adam had built a comfortable lead as he continued to drive
home to the finish. Well done Adam what a great way to debut for your
club, and what a great way for your club to start an XC meeting.
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Adam on his way to victory |
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We then worked our way through the
race programme. The next runner out there was Alexandra, and her
comeback from that long injury lay-off continues well as she steadily
recovers her form the season is drawing to a close to early for her.
Callum was next (U13B) and he had a decent run too. Then in the U15G
race we had some unwanted drama for Laura. It wasnt clear where the
race start was unknown to us it had been moved from the point where
the earlier races went from. This meant that Kirsty (who it was great to
see back in action) and Maddy, were joined in the U17G race by Laura
once the U17s had completed their first lap. We had to run a separate
clock on Laura and then move her time into the U15Gs race. Far from
ideal but all credit to Laura for knuckling down and getting on with
it.
The Senior Womens race was up next.
Our ladies team is doing well in the overall standings but it was
essential if we want to finish in the medals at the end of the season
that we fielded a full team only two of our regulars Jill and Nicki
could be there (we needed 3 for a team). The way the team championship
works is that we have to have team scores in 5 out of 6 races. Prior to
Ham Hill we had recorded 3 out of 4 so this one had to count too.
Enter Veronica Harvey! As you will know, Veronica is a huge asset to
WACs XC team, giving unselfish support, a Level 1 coach who for some
years has been a regular at Saturday XC training sessions and races.
After some gentle persuasion from me during the week, and some rather
more aggressive coercion from Kirsty and Laura, Veronica agreed to pull
on a red shirt on race day. I believe this was only Veronicas second
competitive endurance race ever. Come race day, when she saw the course
her heart must have sunk. After we had all walked the course we agreed
it looked tougher than anything we had seen in the Wessex League for
years. Mandy Collins (Adams mum) who is a very recent arrival at WAC
also pulled on a red vest to give it a go. As our ladies made their way
to the start line Laura flashed the broadest grin (with a hint of
wickedness in it) as her mum went off to the start. Laura was under no
illusions about just how tough the challenge was going to be. Off they
went, Jill (in her natural habitat) ran impressively with the
fast-improving Nicki not far behind. We saw the Ladies complete lap 1
(all was going well). As Veronica had pulled well clear of Mandy at the
end of the first lap, Mandy pulled up so as to cheer home our Ladies
team at the finish. The Senior Mens race was set to start before the
Ladies finished, this denied the Senior Men the opportunity to cheer our
Ladies in. Well done to all four of our Ladies, gutsy performances from
all of you. Our reward for your commitment 1st team. I do
hope that Mandy and Veronica enjoyed the challenge and the experience
and we will see them compete in the final race of the season Avon
Heath which is a much easier course.
After all that drama in the Ladies
race we still had the final race of the day the Senior Men to occupy
us. The good news for WAC continued here too. Amongst our ranks for the
first time since the achilles injury sustained during Race 2 at
Salisbury in November was Stewart Little. The ideal race shoe for the
course was a studded one, but Stewart erred on the side of caution and
he went for a heavier shoe offering a bit more stability. Stewarts
return from injury was a triumphant one, finishing as first WACer
narrowly ahead of the steadily-improving Daryl Davies.
All in all a terrific day for WAC at a
fantastic new venue which we look forward to returning to next season.
Ian
Full results for
WACers were as follows:
Under
11 Boys
1st Adam Collins
5.45
Under
13 Girls
11th Alexandra
Vaughan-Johncey 12.14
Under 13 Boys
13th Callum
Kennedy 12.27
Under-15
Girls
7th
Laura Harvey 18.20
Under-17
Girls (4th team)
8th
Kirsty Harvey 23.14
10th
Maddy Vaughan-Johncey 24.26
Senior
Ladies (1st team)
6th Jill Harsent
36.54
8th
Nicki Roe 40.50
10th
Veronica Harvey 53.06
Senior Men
(3rd team)
10th Stewart
Little 40.03
11th
Daryl Davies 40.07
16th
Graham Whiffen 42.02
26th
Phil Burgess 47.43
29th
Ian Kennedy 48.42
