The final event in the 2014 Race Series took place on Saturday 1st of November when 288 enthusiastic participants lined up for the Langley 7 road race.
Weather had been relatively mild all week and it was no different in the pretty Cheshire village of Langley as runners were preparing themselves to run three miles up hill!
Talk around the registration area in the local church consisted of two things…what was 'the hill' really like…and was the pub open for after race celebrations? Numerous sorties were undertaken to answer these questions…well ok, just the last one!
It was a fairly tight start but as usual the runners soon spread out and race tactics could begin. People had suggested taking it easy for the first two miles so that you could attack 'the hill' with something left in the tank…but personally the only thing 'tank like' was my legs trying to get up the bloody thing.
Nevertheless it was a quick first couple of miles before the tortuous climb began. Seasoned pro's like Kerrie Wooddoyle , Rachael Blight and Andy Fowler bided their time and picked people off going up, and were able to maintain their lead going down the other side. Others like Andy Mainwaring, made his move too early and was caught on the flat when we reached the summit…a real schoolboy error!
Even though most felt pain in their 'lactose laden legs' the thought of a pint at the end spurred everyone on and the three mile decent (through some quite beautiful countryside), was a real tonic for all those after a PB.
As I was descending and heading for home, I couldn't quite reach the 2/3 yellow vested warriors ahead of me and was waiting for David Mellor to catch me on the last push to the finish. However, his 'coiled cobra waiting to strike' was probably still in it's box and luckily for me I finished ahead of him for the first time in the Series.
As the runners reached the finish line to collect their bottle of beer (the things that motivate you hey!), it was a fairly unanimous agreement that most Harriers had excelled once again with some cracking times and that Langley 7 was a big hit!
And so it was that we proceeded to the Dunstan Inn to celebrate the conclusion of the Race Series that had seen 58 different runners take part in the 27 events that started last March with the Trafford 10k.
There were 11 different race winners but our congratulations go to James Corden and Kerrie Wooddoyle who finished overall winner and first lady respectively.
In the mens section Stephen Crook was second overall with Phil Burns in third. For the ladies, Jill Tavini and Samantha Thomas finished second and third respectively.
There were some great performances throughout the Race Series with the likes of Stephen Crook, Dave Chadderton, Rob Cawley, Paul Corner, Mike Dixon, Max Thickett and others making great improvements throughout the season.
A big thank-you to Claire MacNeill for helping out with the results throughout the season…thus an admin nightmare was avoided.
Thanks also to our coaches...Maureen, Julie, Jill, Nick, Kerrie, Dave, Helen and others…who have helped us with all their sessions throughout the season. Your support is much appreciated.
Thanks to all the participants in the Race Series and all those whip helped out in some way. We will be organising next year's calendar in due course and I will be asking everyone for races that they would like to see added or kept.
The full results are attached and the final results for the Langley 7 were as follows:
100 - Stephen Crook (41:10)
99 - Phil Burns (43:59)
98 - Mike Dixon (44:19)
97 - Karl Tavini (44:36)
96 - Lee Barratt (46:38)
95 - Rob Cawley (46:39)
94 - Robert Goulsbra (46:55)
93 - Max Thickett (47:31)
92 - Paul Corner (48:10)
91 - Simon Hilton (48:23)
90 - Dave Chadderton (48:54)
89 - Rachael Blight (49:30)
88 - Kerrie Wooddoyle (49:31)
87 - Tony Park (50:02)
86 - Steve Sharrocks (50:25)
85 - Andy Mainwaring (50:40)
84 - David Chrystie-Lowe (51:16)
83 - David Mellor (51:39)
82 - Jill Tavini (52:58)
81 - Claire MacNeill (53:44)
80 - Nigel Harrison (55:44)
79 - Louise Harrison (57:20)
78 - Amy Barter (57:34)
77 - Jeremy Woodham (57:45)
Well done everyone!