MWCCL & BCCL Baggeridge Park - 14th January 2012
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Both the men’s and the women’s teams travelled to Baggeridge Park in Dudley to compete in the 3rd fixture of the season in their respective leagues. Despite the cold winter’s air, the bright sun made conditions perfect for the day of racing ahead. The course featured varying terrain, ranging from grassy parkland, stony tracks, sections of paths and red sand!
The girls started by climbing a steep bank. As they came charging down the other side they were lead straight into an uphill section which soon found out those who had gone off too hard. Jo Wilkie and Trish Woods got into an early lead whilst Rachel and Amanda attempted to work their way through the field. After a short downhill section there was yet another short climb where Steer and Vines battled their way through. This was followed by a section of flat path, Steer used this section of tarmac to open up the gap on Vines. The extended 6.5km course featured a section of out and back. By this point Wilkie had opened up a good lead on the rest of the Striders. The final mile was a incline which got steeper and steeper as the ladies approached the final turn to the finish where the boys were there to give shouts of encouragement in the final stretch.
Wilkie was the first to finish in an excellent 39th place. She was followed by Trish Woods in 56th place. Steer completed the team finishing in 64th place.
Vines followed in 83rd place whilst Becky Boulton found a sprint finish for 193
The men kept up their promotion challenge with another strong performance, their miserly total of 124 points easily putting them into 3rd place.
Leading the men home was Captain Rich Dare who continued his return to form to finish in an excellent 4th place. Finishing soon after Dare and making a welcome return to Birmingham League action was Rich Evershed who ran a well-paced race to finish 12th.
The men’s team packed well, and other highlights included an impressive Birmingham League debut for Jon Gould in 26th place; a return to Birmingham League action for Tom Stone who finished in 29th place and an excellent run from Jon Bird who took 31st place.
With their strongest turnout to date, the men were also able to field a B Team. Jamie Paterson led the team home in 38th place and was followed by Dave Billingham in 57th; Birmingham League debutants, Jon Howes and Jo Maddocks in 71st and 75th respectively and Joel Freeland in 90th. Also making his club debut after joining only 5 days previously was Ben Anderson in 149th place. Duncan Kay was another Strider running in his first Birmingham League race and ran well to take 213th place.
The result leaves Striders in 3rd place in the league overall, 410 points clear of 4th placed Black Country Triathletes with one race to go.
Men’s Results:
1) Matt Amos (Nuneaton Harriers) – 36:26
4) Rich Dare – 38:05
12) Rich Evershed – 39:23
22) Chris Driskell – 40:56
26) Jon Gould – 41:24
29) Tom Stone – 41:48
31) Jon Bird – 42:01
38) Jamie Paterson – 42:24
57) Dave Billingham – 43:36
71) Jon Howes -44:14
75) Jo Maddocks – 44:20
90) Joel Freeland – 45:31
149) Ben Anderson – 49:24
213) Duncan Kay – 1:06:34
Teams:
3) CLC ‘A’ – 124 points (4, 12, 22, 26, 29, 31)
2) CLC ‘B’ – 480 points (38, 57, 71, 75, 90, 149)
MWCCL ResultsBirmingham League Results