Whitley 10k
Sunday morning saw the third event in our ‘Race Series’ with fifteen Harriers runners taking part, eleven of whom were out to collect points.
While many Harriers runners were either recovering from the Greater Manchester Marathon the week previously, or participating in the London Marathon it was left to a small band of athletes to fly the Stockport Harriers flag in a race dominated by Wilmslow RC representatives.
If the weather in London were described as ‘warm and sunny’, perhaps not the best to run 26.2 miles in, then the cool, overcast conditions in the small Warrington hamlet of Whitley was perfect.
The race started from the Whitley Village Hall and all together 358 entrants navigated what can only be described as a lovely picturesque run around Cheshire laneways and minor roads. There was virtually no traffic to speak of, the marshalling was efficient and non-intrusive, and apart from a ‘bit of a hill’ around the 6-7k mark it was a course that allowed for some excellent times.
The only downside, after running 6 miles on roads, was the last few hundred yards around the Village Green on a grass surface which took a few people by surprise. Nevertheless, it was an extremely well organised event, with plenty of access to facilities (few queues), good catering and some excellent prizes for the winners in the shape of silver plates/shields and a bottle of bubbly.
In terms of results, points were awarded as follows:
Karl Tavini - 37:30 - 100 points
Paul Plummer - 40:59 - 99 points SB
Mike Slater - 41:25 - 98 points
David Chrystie-Lowe - 42:53 - 97 points
David Chadderton – 42:58 – 96 points PB
David Mellor – 43:32 – 95 points
Tony Park – 43:35 - 94 points PB
Jill Tavini - 43:49 - 93 points
Claire MacNeill - 45:52 - 92 points SB
John Hughes – 46:42 - 91 points
Sara Taylor – 49:13 - 90 points PB
Congratulation to Karl Tavini who was the first Stockport Harriers runner home and also 11th overall. Dave Chadderton, Tony Park and Sara Taylor achieved PB’s while Jill Tavini won 1st Prize in the women’s V35 category.
Overall, the feedback from everyone was very positive, and while the timing clashes a little with the Marathon season, I think this race will become a favourite for many and as such we will do our best to keep it in our ‘Race Series’ next year.
After 3 races the leaders who have done all three events so far are as follows;
Karl Tavini - 291 points
David Mellor – 279 points
Jill Tavini - 277 points
Well done to everyone and we now move on to our next event which is the ‘Round the Runway’ on Thursday 24th of April with a 7:30pm start.
For those still wishing to enter this race details can be found here on the Wilmslow Running Club website.
If you have any questions about the ‘Race Series’ then please get in touch at tonypark [at] park-consulting [dot] co [dot] uk