[Picture credit: Nigel Pepper]
From Dan McKeown…
16 Harriers braved the Baildon Boundary Way on Sunday, the varied 13.5-mile course rendered even more testing by heavy going on the off-road sections.
(When I say ‘varied’, they varied everything – terrain, gradient, and even width, with narrow snickets and a couple of inopportune bollards providing a unique challenge to anyone in an ‘M’ sized vest or over.)
Last year’s winner Jack Cummings screeched into the first right-hand turn about 20 metres clear of the field and it was immediately clear that the greatest danger to Jack retaining his title was likely to be a navigational mishap or a badly overcooked corner.
In typical fashion Jack kept his foot to the floor for the remainder of the course, squelching home inside 85 minutes, nearly six minutes clear of second place.
If, like most of the runners, Jack was considering investing in a new pair of socks post-race, the good news was that his haul of Yorkshire Runner vouchers was supplemented with a share of the team prize (our team of three comprised Jack, me, and Andrew Overend, who beat Martin Hartley to the final team berth by the thickness of a pair of shoelaces).
Elsewhere, let the record state that there were age-group podiums for me, Pete Shelley, Kate Archer and Mike Baldwin.
Not all of these, alas, were deemed voucher-worthy by the race organisers, but EVERYONE, podium or otherwise, can celebrate a haul of race league points towards this year’s club competition. Jack Cummings is stretching his lead in this year’s competition, as befits a man who always runs as if he’s got three dogs after him. Our next fixture is the Jack Bloor race on 14th May.
The rest of us can take heart from the memory of Jack getting lost last time he had a crack at that one.
More info on Harriers Race League and latest standings
Baildon Boundary Way Results
1 Jack Cummings 01:24:49
7 Daniel Mckeown 01:36:26
33 Andrew Overend 01:48:01
34 Martin Hartley 01:48:09
51 Peter Shelley 01:53:31
61 Kate Archer 01:56:03
65 Adam Gerrish 01:57:33
77 Owen Parker 01:59:14
107 Emma Sheppard 02:05:09
139 Mark Judkowski 02:12:52
177 Alan Travis 02:20:05
207 Mike Baldwin 02:29:45
232 Andrew Smith 02:37:24
265 Rumana Chowdhury 02:52:10
279 Nigel Illingworth 02:58:25
283 Sarah Lambert 03:01:29
(302 ran)