Handicap Run May (Cotleigh)

I could scarcely get in the Cotleigh Village Hall carpark when I turned up for this inaugural running of the Cotleigh loop in the handicap series. There were the usual handicap runners and some first-timers and also some club runners who had come to do a run and give their support. When everything had been sorted out and we were ready to go we had the welcome addition of Gerry & Maggie who drove leisurely into the carpark - Gerry never likes to rush his tea. We had the short walk to the start in Cleverhayes Lane where we sorted out starting times for the five new runners. These included the surprising addition of club captain Warren who normally sends Ceri out to do the handicap while he watches the tele. Several times we had to flatten ourselves against the hedge while the locals drove past in their battered 4x4's They probably thought we were an Olympic training camp - or perhaps not! Wendy (W) and Maggie were first away and then we slowly worked our way through the list, listening to the usual moans and excuses - "I don't know why I'm doing this", "I've got this peculiar problem in my little toe", etc etc. One runner kept disappearing up the road then shooting off down the road. Eventually I realised this was Kevin who was desperately trying to keep warm while he waited at the back of the queue. A wait of 17:29 minutes and nearly 2 minutes after the next fastest runner, Graham. After they had all gone Nick (starter's assistant) and I set off back  to the village hall only to hear the patter of feet behind us. Had someone had a lift or taken a short cut? It was the club runners returning  after doing the loop. I pointed out they could add another 3K by running round the Holmsleigh Green loop but apart from the lean mean running machine, Pete Lyus, they were happy to stay and cheer. We chatted to a car driver who told us the runners were on the way and had all asked her for a lift. The finish is 30m from a sharp bend - who would round it first? To the delight of the cheering spectators and sprinting like a proper athlete came Wendy (W) who collapsed over the line having knocked a huge 3:18 off last month's qualifying time. Then came April's winner Dan who also put in a great PB performance (1:43) that would normally have taken 1st place. He had just overtaken Wendy (Le M) who was hard on his heels also with a race-winning PB (2:29). Yet another of our ladies who just keeps on improving her distance and speed. Now I was kept busy logging the times while Nick was busy scribbling down names. A life-time spent trying to decipher kid's homework stood me in good stead when I had to read these later - who are Jovvy and Kovis? 4th home was young Jake Harvey, also with a whopping PB and well ahead of his old man, then good PB runs from Tracey & Rod before Steve D came in (wot no Bruce?). Then more PB's from Richard, Graham and Jennie (Jovvy?). Kovis only managed to overtake 2 handicap runners but  nevertheless he made up about 3 minutes on Tom and 3:30 on Bruce, and ran the course only 16 secs outside his PB at an astonishing 5:38 pace! It was good to have Tom back from uni. where he hasn't been doing much running and also good that Sascha could get away from his studies to have a run. 
 
Handicap newcomers, Sarah (S), Warren, Steve (Briggs), Gerry, Maggie & Lesley all laid down their marks but I had sadly over-estimated Gerry's fitness and sent him off with Dan who promptly opened up a lead of 30m by the first bend and that was the last Gerry saw of him.

Many thanks to Ian who set off running with Maggie and ended up encouraging Josh (Kevin's son) round the course.

Is there more climb on the Cotleigh course? Do all the PB's mean it's faster? Actually the climb is almost identical at about 225ft. Also the course was about 20m short as we should have finished on the grass through the carpark. Next month we will move the start up to the bend in Cleverhayes lane, to keep out of the way of the traffic and also to make up the missing 20m.