May Handicap Run Report

 Yours truly was offered the poison chalice of an opportunity to run The Handicap by Roger, so obviously it would have been churlish to refuse. The last time I ran this was about a year ago and I had a poor run, so my handicap was a bit generous to say the least. I slogged round the three laps and moved into pole position with the finish beckoning. A few more yards remained and my moment of glory beckoned, but then a blur of pumping arms and long legs shot past and over the line – STEVE DAVEY! With a new PB and such consistent support for the run he certainly deserved it. Olivia set her 4th PB in a row, this time by 21 seconds so another excellent achievement. Nick BC, Judy, Brent and Bruce are also regular Handicap runners and set new best times for 2011. It was good to see Jo Jo back out on the course and with her marathon fitness she was expecting a good run but was slowed down by leg trouble, as was Nick T who had to pull out. Clare is another lady who is running better and better this year and she can be very pleased at her 8:39 pace. She actually had one run round the course last year but is running so much quicker now that it is fairer to treat this run as a new qualifying time. It was good to welcome Graham and Ben to the course. Graham is a young developing runner and set a very good time. As you can see Ben is an even speedier performer and it was good that Tim was there so he had someone with similar pace to race against. Many thanks to Roger and Vanessa who did the recording and cheered us on.