[Photo courtesy of Jonathan Moon]

From Will Worboys…

Before the start when chatting to other Harriers there was an unofficial competition to find out who had gone longest since last running the gallop. I think I was winning with 10 years last I heard!

In between these discussions before the race, I changed my road shoes to trail and then back to road… twice (nervous energy). Then put an extra layer on as it seemed colder than expected. After the 10 minute walk into the woods to the start, the sun suddenly made an appearance and we were in glorious warmth for the rest of the morning. The woods were looking stunning with the bluebells out as we set off on the 6 mile undulating woodland race.

The route is slightly different from last time I did it, with 2 laps of the woods rather than the longer loop of olden times.

The first lap was fairly pleasant as I was taking it quite steady with my lack of running and a persistent hip injury. Plenty of downhill and flat in the first mile, lulling into a false sense of security. Then came the uphill sections, tough in places.

On the second lap, my legs were shot after the first round of hills and it was really hard work. I was glad to see reach the downhill on the second lap with just the sting in the tail to come. The last section is a nasty climb to the finish and I had pretty much ground to a standstill. I managed to crawl to the top and stumble over the line just inside the hour, which I was happy with in my present state.

Some great runs from other Harriers, not least Tony Pye who smashed out a brilliant time and was first Harrier home and was 3rd M50.

Results:

(1 Andrew Humphries, Aire Centre Pacers, 35:24)

17th Tony Pye 43:24

25th Rob Budding 47:21

32nd David Singleton 48:21

49th Matthew Snow 51:25

107th Will Worboys 59:38

126th John Marshall 1:02:09

133rd Adela Reperecki 1:02:55

167th Sue Williamson 1:10:27