| The religious tone of the week was continued at Mausoleum Woods as the conclave of organisers ( i.e. Mike and Dorothy Smith ) gathered in the Temple of Arabella. Even white smoke emanated nearby from a forester's bonfire. After heavy overnight rain the runnable wood was a better option than the muddy tracks. ( For the second week running a vehicle had to be towed out of the carpark ) The long course had some tricky pits and, of course, the infamous Lebanese Cedars- the original arboreal oddities, but this did not affect Neil Harvatt who produced a blistering run 28 seconds ahead of Dean Field with the Flying Flreman Steve Marin in third- his best ever Poacher performance. Ultra Vet Mark Tyszka, the man responsible for those tricky pits, showed a clean (?) pair of heels to some younger guns. A big entry for the short course saw a repeat win for Keelby's Dave Offler just over a minute ahead of Swansea Bay's John Butler with Grimsby's Lee Smith third. Caistor Grammar figured prominently with Eleanor Humphrey sixth and Holly Robinson ninth. Next week's event is at Willingham Woods but not at the usual picnic place- assembly is near the Forestry buildings in the centre of the wood. Post race analysis also sees a change from the advertised- with the series co-ordinator testing out the likely venue one lunchtime. |