A Christmas Hangover and Trotters in Four Counties

Last weekend saw only a smattering of Trotters on the race scene but there was some good racing across four different counties with some notable results and personal triumphs along the way. This included the Stoke Stampede in Somerset, originally scheduled for Boxing Day 2010 but rescheduled due to the extremely inclement Christmas weather.

Under the stewardship of new cross country captain Debbie Clark, 3 men and one lady made the trip to Redruth in Cornwall for the latest round of the Brookes Western Cross Country League. On a fine, sunny morning and with good conditions underfoot, in the ladies' race Julie Crocker, making a rare appearance in the Royal Blue colours ran well to finish 34th in 27.44. In the men's race Daryl Milford, following a 21 mile training run on Saturday, led the team home 26th in 32.19 closely followed by Steve Barker 34th in 34.27 and John Crocker 42nd in 35.51.

Meanwhile the Plymouth Speedway Stadium was home for the day to the Plymouth Round Table's Mad March Hare 10k. This is a new venue for the race and it attracted a record entry of over 400 competitors. The race is run mainly on tracks and follows an undulating out and back course to Saltram House. Three men represented the Trotters here with Dave Tomlin, back to sparkling form, finishing 4th in a fine time of 37.17 and in the process beating his arch nemesis Pete Monaghan. Ian Langler, 26th in 40.57 and Gary Watson 47.30 also had good runs clearly enjoying the spring sunshine.

Moving East into Somerset the village of Stoke St Gregory staged the Stoke Stampede 10k. The race postponed from Boxing Day due to poor weather attracted another trio of Trotters who took on the picturesque route through country lanes. Enjoying the good local support Gary Clark took a stunning 2 minutes and 9 seconds off his PB to finish 18th out of 219 finishers in 40.13. Caroline Clark was a rose between 2 thorns and she also recorded a PB to finish 84th in 50.27. Kevin Besford, enjoying a well earned rich vein of form, continues to slice minutes of his race times finishing 98th in 51.54. Kevin has maintained a stringent training regime over several months now and is now approaching the times he achieved as an aspiring young runner.

Rod Payne made the long trip to Cranleigh in Surrey in a quest for miles ahead of this year's London Marathon. Surrey exile Rod, back on his old stamping ground, took on the 21.2 mile option in the MABAC Cranleigh 15/21 and ran a controlled race around the gently undulating countryside course to finish 228th in a field of 543 runners in a time of 2.58.19.

Report compiled by Rod Payne (thanks to contributors Fizz, Pocket Rocket, Tarquin, Gary Clark and Kev Besford)

Pictures: Top - Ian Langler, Dave Tomlin & Gary Watson after the Mad March Hare 10k (Thanks to Fizz) Middle - Julie Crocker at Redruth, Bottom - Men's Club Captain 'Tarquin at Redruth (Thanks to Debbie Clark)