The latest instalment of the club championship took in South East Cornwall, Saltash on Sunday 3 July. The Magnificent 7, organised by The Tamar Trotters started and finished at the rugby club with a nice friendly atmosphere amongst the competitors and marshals.
Weather conditions were perfect for a race which is well known for some notorious hills. Seven Trotters took their chances and all put in very creditable performances. Roger Easterbrook met his match as there were a huge contingent from the Cornish clubs including Hayle and Redruth runners. Roger still finished well up the order, finishing in 15th place in a cracking time of 00:44:15 and enjoyed a toe-to -toe race for the line with Luke Attwood of Tamar Trotters and was just edged out by a couple of seconds in the closing 20 metres.
Roger said: “It was decent running conditions at Saltash, a bit of breeze, cloud, and plenty of committed Cornish runners as race was part of their Grand Prix. Our trotters - me included - relished the countryside route with a couple of tasty hills.”
He had the consolation of taking home a bottle of wine while finishing 2nd in the 45-49 age category. James Saunders , fresh from his retirement bash, clocked a time of 00:50:12 to finish 39th. Ian Langler chased James home to finish 43rd, posting a time of 00:51:00. Susanna Goffe continued her fine form to finish 56th. Susanna finished 3rd female and 2nd female under 35 age category, clocking an impressive time of 00:53:28.
Derek Skinner fresh from his marathon last week, clocked a great time of 00:54:02 to finish in 60th spot. A 2nd place in the 60 -64 age category was his reward. Sarah Pike, took time out from her London Marathon training to test her stamina. This seems to be in order as she posted an impressive time of 01:00:58 to finish 109th. Dominique Harcourt gave her all while finishing 157th, crossing the line in 01:11:55. There were 227 finishers. The race was superbly organised and all the marshals were very supportive throughout.