New course planners Alex and Chris were more pleased than most with the current dry spell - only 2/3 weeks beforehand much of the woodland was a quagmire and conditions would have been testing to say the least.Instead we witnessed excellent courses in a nettle and bramble free environment,with the odd daffodil (not as many as in Alex & Sally's front garden) which gave all the opportunity to run direct control to control. This shoot out resulted in the top 3 on the Long Course all within approximately a minute of each other - with the top 2 from last year Zac and Liam being seperated by urban master Brian W (is he after a performance related sponsorship deal from OKitLogo?).Also on the Long course Chris G had some good scalps (or should that be scalpels)and finished 5th and similarly Andrew R of NOC (who is a welcome supporter of our Saturday events) finished in the top 10. Already inter League rivalry between individuals has kicked off Dean v Neil, Sam v Dave,Paul v Rod v Mike,Helena v Peter,Mary v the hour mark.
On the Medium it was a first for a number of years (probably when Zac was still in short trousers) that a member of the Field family was not on the podium.Fair weather runner from the Met Office Dave J taking the victory.Good early season performances from Tracey and Mary V meant all the long winter Grimsby coaching sessions paid off.Also despite earlier reports good to see Pete K's return from semi- retirement, he won't give up his title easily.
On the Short Course - good to see some newcomers who will soon progress to the Medium Course - so early days to determine Championship contenders.
Next week sees a return to Middle Rasen where the runnability is a lot lot better than Osgoodby last year.
Due to increased demands for next week's Event (shortage of SI gurus, road crossings,parking,start etc. etc) the post race 'bit of a do' in Tealby has been postponed until perhaps after the Otby event. A suitable alternative pub venue will be posted in due course. Any other help welcolmed next week.
Peter