2016 Championship Race 2 - Trotters 5
I woke up this morning thinking that at least it won’t be as wet as the first race at Platt Fields, only to be confronted by a flurry of snow when I opened the curtains. Fortunately it didn’t last and by the time I arrived in Bolton it had all disappeared and the sun was shining. It was still pretty cold however and I was soon regretting my sartorial choice of wearing only my club vest without a base layer. Needless to say, I soon warmed up once the race started.
Steven Henderson went off fast as always, and I soon lost sight of him as he disappeared into the distance to take a very creditable top 10 finish. Remarkably, Dave Simmons didn’t appear to set off like it was a 100 metre race, so maybe he’s changed his ways?
Alex Mackenzie went past me at about the half mile mark before we entered a housing estate for the first time. We then negotiated sharp turn and a narrow gate to be confronted by what I will call – for the purposes of not triggering company firewalls – an overpowering “farmyard” smell.
After passing through the farm – inevitably the muddiest part of the course - we were faced with a long slow climb, at which point Tim Shaw overtook me looking strong on the hill. At about the 2 mile mark, we turned off the trails and onto a long downhill road. Tim had told me as we chatted at the start that he didn’t like downhills so I took my chance and managed to pass him before we turned back off the road and towards the start to commence the second lap.
Tim and I pretty much battled it out for the whole of the second lap; I managed to keep him at bay until we hit the downhill once more and then accelerated to get a few metres ahead on the downhill. At this point Alex also came back into view and I briefly entertained ideas of catching him, but these were scuppered by a sharp turn onto some slippery cobbles for the last 100 metres, which totally negated any attempt at a sprint finish. Meanwhile Tim was catching me but I just managed to hold him off as I crossed the line. The three of us crossed the line just a few seconds apart.
These races are always much more fun with an element of immediate competition, which added to my overall impression of a nice varied course – about half road, half trail – as part of a very well organised event. There was also a curly wurly in the goodie bag which was a treat. It’s probably 10 years since I last had one, and it lasted about 4 seconds as I inhaled it. There was also a fine selection of cakes and pasties afterwards at race HQ but I had to resist these as I’m marathon training and had a 12.5 mile run home – which was horrible, by the way.
Results – Men
Steven Henderson (EY Transaction Advisory Services) – 10th overall – 30:46 – 20 points
Alex Mackenzie (Michael Page) – 19th overall – 32:32 – 18 points
Byron Edwards (Lombard) – 21st overall – 32:38 – 16 points
Tim Shaw (Deloitte) – 23rd overall – 32:43 – 14 points
David Simmons (Ascent CF) – 56th overall – 35:49 – 12 points
Ian Riggs (Hill Dickinson) – 78th overall – 36:51 – 10 points
Tim Hayle (Deloitte) – 89th overall – 37:52 – 9 points
Results – Ladies
Dayna Currie (Primary Capital) – 115th overall – 39:38 – 20 points
Charlotte Haworth (Michael Page) – 130th overall – 40:36 – 18 points
Helen Charlesworth (BDO) – 182nd overall – 43:36 – 16 points
Nicola Deeran (Deloitte) – 247th overall – 48:52 – 14 points
Hannah Grant (Deloitte) – 274th overall – 53:03 – 12 points
