EVENT ORGANISER’S REPORT
2003 was another year that will be remembered for the glorious weather. We have been very lucky with this for the last few years, and long may it continue! This year’s red course race was one of the most closely fought battles for victory that I can remember with Daniel Yates (Matlock) just holding Lloyd Taggert (Buxton) off in the closing stages. I hope that they will both come back to battle it out again next year. Phil Winskill (Dark Peak) was in third place. In the women’s race the winner was again Liz Lilley (Mansfield) with Cecelia Greasley (Macclesfield) a close second. Our 3rd lady is most probably now nursing a new baby for, at 8 months pregnant, she has to be a firm favourite for holding the record forever of being the most heavily pregnant competitor in the race!
Once again a large number of competitors fall into the category of being called "veterans" and the fastest of these men and women were Tony Greenwood and Cecelia Greasley respectively. Tony’s overall finishing position of 6th was most impressive. We continue to try and encourage a large entry from runners based in Bakewell and this year we had more runners in this field than ever before. Geoff Andrews has been the first local finisher several times before but this year’s time was the fastest that he has achieved in recent years. In the women’s competition Jane Sutton set a new course record for the first local lady knocking well over a minute off the previous best time. Well done to Jane who was the only record breaker this year on the red course.
Overall the entry into the red course was higher than we have ever had before and I am beginning to recognise a few loyal names that keep coming back year after year. Thank you to those people but, from comparing the top 20 this year, with last, there are few names that match. We would like to know why you top runners don’t come back and in this respect, or if you have any other comments about the race, good or constructive, then please ring me (01629 812435, or send an e-mail to davidgraay@lineone.net . Finally, with regard to the red course we did have a very large number of team entries this year, and that doesn’t include the "fat boys" of Grindleford who would have probably beaten both Matlock and High Peak if they had filled in a team sheet. It is very good to see that so many Clubs are sending big teams along. Sorry to the ladies of High Peak who had no one to compete against.
Turning now to the blue fun run course, this too had many more runners than last year and records were broken in the women’s race where Rosa Bercero of Sale Harriers knocked 13 seconds off the previous best time . Robert Green of Great Longstone bettered the previous junior boy record by 17 seconds to win his race in 20 minutes 23 seconds. Well done to both of them. The overall winner of the blue course was Ben Everitt in 19 minutes 28 seconds, with Sam Smith and Adam Gilbert (or is it Gilbert Adam?) not far behind. We had a very strong entry this year from Intermediate "girls", mainly from Buxton and the first three placings were Amy Wadsworth (21 mins 10 secs), Amy Whelan and Sophie Wharton. We will have to think about a team prize in this category again! Daniel Billinge and Joshua Wain were the runners up in the Junior Boys whilst Hannah Brennan once again led the Junior Girls home and was 7th overall. Katie Gregory was 2nd and Haley Cameron 3rd.
So, as we cleared up afterwards it is normal to reflect on what was good and what went wrong this year. Certainly it didn’t help that we had no power in the caravan at the start. It made our commentator and "Master of Ceremonies", Norman Taylor, job very difficult. Sorry to everyone who did not get a Bakewell Pudding – we had ordered enough even though the entries were higher than previously and we are currently investigating what went wrong, and what we can do about it. If you left your name and number we hope to be able to do something about it. Finally, sorry too to those of you who wanted a shower but found the door locked. Even when we did get it open I understand that they were cold. This is unacceptable and we will try to ensure that it doesn’t happen next year.
Otherwise, the event seems to have gone quite smoothly and thanks to everyone who helped with the organisation and marshalling. Bakewell community projects will benefit directly as a result of what was a good day. Hope to see you all again next year.
David Gray/ Joe Oldfield/ John Scott - Joint Race Organisers
C/- Coromandel, Hassop road, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1AP