Roadhoggs Leicester AC
The finale of this season’s cross-country league was at
the Bosworth Battlefield site on a cool and calm morning. The sky was grey
but it didn’t rain. Our Roadhoggs arrived in their little groups at our
mobile preparation and recovery centre (tent). We welcomed back Igor, who
made us laugh by standing on a stool for a photo call with Sam J. We also
welcomed Dave Lod’s brand new bright new blue and yellow spikes and Sam C’s
brand new blue and black trail shoes ... they looked so outstanding though
they would soon be that dirty brown colour that all cross country shoes are
destined to become. Speaking of shoes, one of Helen’s was split and flapping
loose at the front so she set off with Bec to find something to bind it with
and returned with it taped together by the medics! Whilst we were all
gathered together, we presented dear Trudy with some flowers in appreciation
of the wonderful cakes she brings along to the xc league races.
Young Mya Bromwich ran in the junior race again, Mya has competed in most of
the races this season and learning and improving all the time ... she is a
future Roadhogg in the making. Both Sam C and Sam J had competed in the St
George’s ‘Tower Run’ in town just the day before, a leg busting race up 20
floors of stairs, so showed great Roadhoggs spirit by being there to race
through the mud on the next day! The Battlefield course was 6.5 miles of
field and woodland with plenty of mud everywhere after the recent snow and
rain, a real cross-country course to test strength and stamina once again.
The senior men gathered for the start, in which they were supposed to set
off a few minutes before the ladies, but the start was delayed by the junior
presentations and the men stood waiting for several minutes and then it was
decided to start everyone together as all were there and ready. We had 10
guys running but only 3 girls which meant that we had to use our one given
last place for the season but, as it was the last race anyway, that didn’t
really matter.
Gurmit ran an excellent race to be our first guy home ... though numbers
were less as it was the last race, he still chased the leaders all the way
and this was his best muddy run for us so far. Sam J, Richard and Chairman
Dave were next to finish in fairly close order, and then Sam C, Igor, Steve
W and Marcus completing the scoring positions with Baz and Brian following
them home. Julie led the way for the girls, followed round by Helen and
Trudy. Everyone worked so hard through miles of mud and soft ground; it was
tough just to keep going and our tent filled up afterwards with exhausted
runners who were made to enjoy coffee and cakes as a vital part of their
recovery.
As Bosworth was the final league race of the season, I would like to report
on Roadhoggs’ overall individual positions which are based on best 4 of the
first 5 races. We had 12 runners who ran the required 4; for the guys Sam
Crouchman was a fine 40th senior in his first xc season, whilst in the V40s
Harry Short also in his first season came in 18th and Marcus Shaikh 22nd. In
the V45s Steve Wheeler finished 23rd, and in the V55s Dale Jenkins came in
4th and Hitesh Pandya 6th, For the girls, in the V45s Helen Arthur finished
11th and Trudy Sharpe 13th. These are all brilliant performances and the
results of so much hard work throughout the season. However, I must
especially mention that Roadhoggs had 2 category winners and 2 runners-up!
Dave Pearce and Richard Garnett were runaway winners of the men’s V50 and
V60 categories, and Dave Lod and Julie Dutton bagged second places in both
of the V55s. In the overall team results (division 2), our men finished in
the same place as last season, a very creditable 5th, the ladies a bit down
in 9th and, in the combined results, we improved a place to 5th ... room for
further improvement next season!
Thanks to all who ran in the league and other cross country races this
season, you all do your club proud.
RESULTS:
MEN: 29th Gurmit Singh 41.11, 67th Sam Jolly 43.59, 77th Richard Garnett
(V60) 45.06, 84th Dave Lodwick (V55) 45.37, 102nd Sam Crouchman 46.47, 109th
Igor Burbela (V55) 47.17, 182nd Steve Wheeler (V45) 56.42, 189th Marcus
Shaikh (V40) 58.19, 216th Baz Barratt (V55) 72.23, 217th Brian Feldman (V70)
74.29, 222 finished.
LADIES: 77th Julie Dutton (V55) 61.00, 102nd Helen Arthur (V45) 66.24, 103rd
Trudy Sharpe (V45) 66.58, 127 finished.
TEAMS (ALL DIVISION 2): Men 3rd, Ladies 9th, Combined 6th.
FINAL TEAM POSITIONS AFTER ALL 6 RACES: Men 5th, Ladies 9th, Combined 5th.
After the pouring rain at Holly Hayes and then the driving snow at Allestree, it was bright and sunny as the runners arrived at Grace Dieu Prep School for the 5th race (of the remaining 6), so the first conversation in our mobile hospitality centre was now nice the weather was for a change! Roadhoggs’ girls rallied to the call and we had 8 running, and 11 guys. We welcomed back Bec and Gurmit after missing a couple of races ... both are strong runners for us. Gurmit turned up looking like a Bollywood star in his stylish track suit. Mya Bromwich ran in the junior race again; she said that she worked hard and is strong on the uphills, but loses ground on the downs. There’s a good cross-country pedigree coming through there and I’m sure that Mya will keep trying and keep improving.
The senior course at Grace Dieu is 2 laps around grassland and woodland, with a long and slight uphill drag at the start of each lap and a couple of steams to splash through later on. It was shorter than the advertised 5.5 miles. There were a few muddy sections but the underfoot conditions were generally better than the previous races. The men set off first and the ladies gave chase 10 minutes later. Dave Pearce, our non-counting second-claimer, was first home for the men once again and it’s a pity that he doesn’t score for us but there you are. Gurmit was next (great running Gurmit), with Richard not far behind and running so well as a V60 that he’s a cert to win that category. Chairman Dave was next in, continuing his run of form and riding high in the V55s, and then Sam, Harry, young Max, Steve and Marcus completed the scoring positions. For the ladies, Leah is another Roadhogg in good form these days and led the team home, with Bec close behind and chasing all the way round. Julie and smiley Janet completed the scoring team. Our other runners were Hitesh, Baz, Helen, Trudy, Usha and Siobhan, who all gave their usual 101% for the team.
Back in the tent, the post race cakes and coffee were once again so appreciated and a vital part of the recovery process. In the results, both teams scored better than at Allestree and the men consolidated their overall 5th position and the ladies climbed a place to 9th. Thanks to all. The final race of this season’s league is at Bosworth Battlefield on 11th March ... looking forward to seeing you all there, let’s finish on a high.
RESULTS:
MEN: 50th Gurmit Singh 34.58, 67th Richard Garnett (V60) 35.49, 101st Dave
Lodwick (V55) 37.37, 125th Sam Crouchman 38.52, 146th Harry Short (V40)
39.48, 164th Max Barratt (U20) 41.55, 199th Steve Wheeler (V45) 43.30, 216th
Marcus Shaikh (V40) 45.03, 225th Hitesh Pandya (V55) 45.38, 239th Baz
Barratt (V55) 48.17, 269 finished. 2nd CLAIM: 24th Dave Pearce (V50) 32.37.
LADIES: 50th Leah Boatman 43.30, 52nd Bec Bromwich 43.59, 103rd Julie Dutton
(V55) 48.26, 115th Janet Hall (V40) 50.24, 124th Helen Arthur (V45) 52.18,
153rd Trudy Sharpe (V45) 57.59, 166th Usha Goyal (V45) 62.55, 167th Siobhan
Ridgeway (V40) 63.12, 174 finished.
TEAMS: Men 4th, Ladies 7th, Combined 5th.
TEAMS AFTER 5 RACES: Men 5th, Ladies 9th, Combined 5th.
It was still snowing at the start and it never stopped. At one point the tent collapsed under the weight of the snow. Amy and Jackie came along to support their teammates, neither being fit to run right now, and Amy set up her camera and did a brave job taking photos of our runners with freezing hands whilst Jackie shouted encouragement. The Allestree course is 6 miles around 2 laps of fields and parkland, each lap easier in the second half than the first, and with a wickedly steep climb half way round that it’s probably easier to walk up than try to keep running.
Dave Pearce was first home for us in a brilliant 15th place, but as usual cannot count towards the team score as he is second-claim. Our first scoring runner was Mark Ramsden (welcome back Mark), followed in by Richard Garnett and then Dave Lodwick, both ‘more mature’ runners who can still show most youngsters a thing or two. Then James T and then Dale (another ‘mature’ runner) before Sam C and Max and George Barratt completed the team scores, with the Barratt boys having their own race. Leah led the girls home with a terrific run, followed by Julie and then Janet and Stevie in close order ... well done Stevie for scoring club points on your debut run! As for Prabjot, well he struggled round but I am sure he will come back for more. I must also recognise our other runners, as everyone worked so hard in the snow and cold, so a big thank you also to Hitesh and Steve W for the guys and to Aruna and Valerie for the girls. Overall numbers were down because of the weather, but not as much as you might think, and anyway our hardy Roadhoggs scored well and climbed 2 places in the division.
Back in the tent there was some post-race cake and coffee to help the recovery, but most of the runners from Roadhoggs and the other clubs just wanted to get home and thaw out. But there was one last challenge ... the car parks had iced over so getting your car out was tricky and you had to wait for your turn to manoeuvre carefully out to road. Well done to all who ran on this toughest of days.
The next xc league race is at Grace Dieu school, near Shepshed, on Sunday 18th February. PS thanks to Dale and the girls for helping me get the tent down!
RESULTS:
MEN: 49th Mark Ramsden 46.02, 58th Richard Garnett (V60) 46.19 , 93rd Dave
Lodwick (V55) 49.34, 104th James Thurman 50.29, 135th Dale Jenkins (V55)
53.16, 146th Sam Crouchman 53.44, 172nd Max Barratt (U20) 56.31, 181st
George Barratt 57.26, 193rd Hitesh Pandya (V55) 58.59, 210th Steve Wheeler
(V45) 61.39, 243rd Prabjot Bhella 69.47, 260 finished. 2nd CLAIM: 15th Dave
Pearce (V50) 43.17.
LADIES: 54th Leah Boatman 58.24, 76th Julie Dutton (V55) 62.48, 91st Janet
Hall (V40) 64.27, 93rd Stevie Beeby 64.44, 116th Aruna Bhagwan (V55) 69.25,
121st Valerie Spezi (V40) 70.08, 142 finished.
TEAMS: Men 5th, Ladies 8h, Combined 5th.
TEAMS AFTER 4 RACES: Men 5th, Ladies 10th, combined 5th.
Race 3 was at the crowded venue at Holly Hayes in Whitwick. It was cold and wet, and the rain kept coming back throughout the morning, making it colder and wetter. We welcomed debutant George Barrett, yet another runner from the Barrett dynasty. Our guys and girls huddled in and around the tent, trying to get some shelter, as the tent village soon became a quagmire. Usha and Sam came back for more so were not put off at the last race and have now joined our muddy runners.
The Holly Hayes course is 2-and-a-bit laps through woodland tracks, with tight turns, short climbs and some difficult stream crossings. There are not many opportunities to overtake and you have to watch where you are going as there are plenty of tree roots to trip over. Fortunately none of our team fell, but one or two others did and one runner suffered a leg injury which required treatment out on the course. The rain showers just made underfoot conditions even worse, so all of our runners deserve respect for keeping going on a very tough day.
Dave Pearce was our first guy home but doesn’t count in the team scores (he is 2nd claim). Our first scoring runner was Richard Garnett, followed by Dave Lod, Dale, Steve Wheeler, Hitesh and Harry … old guys rule !! Steve and Hitesh both had much improved runs. George and Sam followed, so we did have some youngsters in the team scores, but we could do with some more of you younger runners out there in the next races so we don’t have to leave it to the old guys. Marcus had a bad day and trailed in at the back; I hope you have recovered from that Marcus and will bounce back to form in the next race. Sam reported that a Badger runner barged past him at a pinch point, knocking him out of the way … which was not very sporting!
Bec and Aruna led home the girls, with Helen and smiley Janet completing the team. Barbara and Trudy were close behind with their usual solid runs, and Usha got round with a determined run. Unfortunately, it seems that some of the ladies further back (no Roadhoggs) were misdirected by a marshal, and so the results below may yet change if the league decides that team places were affected, but I do not believe that this will make much difference to Roadhoggs. Our teams each dropped a place, but we can improve from that in the next races, starting at Bradgate Park on 10th December.
RESULTS: MEN: 100th Richard Garnet (V60) 43.07, 131st Dave
Lodwick (V55) 44.50, 171st Dale Jenkins (V55) 46.52, 201st Steve Wheeler
(V45) 48.41, 225th Hitesh Pandya (V55) 49.58, 237th Harry Short (V40) 51.03,
249th George Barrett 56.03, 254th Sam Crouchman 51.48, 344th Shaun Heaphy
(V60) 63.57, 355th Brian Feldman (V70) 70.17, 359th Marcus Shaikh (V40).
2nd CLAIM: 26th Dave Pearce (V50) 38.25. 359 finished.
LADIES: 52nd Bec Bromwich 51.31, 142nd Aruna Bhagwan (V55) 60.08, 149th
Helen Arthur (V45) 60.58, 154th Janet Hall, (V40) 61.36, 165th Barbara
Hermann 62.43, 190th Trudy Sharpe (V45) 65.50, 212th Usha Goyal (V45) 73.19.
218 finished.
TEAMS: Men 11th, Ladies 13h, Combined 12th.
TEAMS AFTER 3 RACES: Men 8th, Ladies 12th, combined 7th.
The second race in this season’s XC league was moved to Prestwold Hall from the original venue at Markfield to avoid some trouble with a local farmer. But anyway Prestwold Hall is a fine venue for cross-country running; the primary schools league races are regularly run there so it can cope with the numbers, and it has unlimited parking on the disused runway!
On a cold but bright day we welcomed more debutants to the Roadhoggs muddy runners team: Usha Goyal and Siobhan Ridgeway tried out for the girls, and Richard Garnet and Sam Crouchman joined the men. The Prestwold course was 6.7 miles of grassland with a few ditches to cross, a puddle the size of Lake Michigan, and a brand new travellator (remember the old finish at Grace Dieu?) up to an earth bank.
Our speedy couple Dave Pearce and Jackie Brown led in Roadhoggs guys and girls, though unfortunately Dave is second-claim so doesn’t count in the team scores. For the men it was good to see Mark Ramsden back, and with Gurmit, Richard (a V60!), James T, Dave Lod, Sam, Dale and Ben we achieved our best score in the men’s race for some time. Julie, Helen and Trudy followed Jackie in the ladies race, though Julie is currently transferring first-claim to Roadhoggs and so Valerie scores for us. Ben and Marc Draycott have both been injured recently, and Dave Pearce and Julie ran in the North Mids league and Sam Seagrave the day before, and everyone gave their best on the day so thank you all for going the extra mile for Roadhoggs!
Thanks also to Dave for being men’s captain for the day, and to our ladies captain Amy who is heavily pregnant but still came along to collect the discs.
RESULTS:
MEN: 41st Mark Ramsden 43.45, 49th Gurmit Singh 44.07, 87th Richard Garnet
(V60) 47.01, 103rd James Thurman 47.37, 134th Dave Lodwick (V55) 49.29,
163rd Sam Jolly 50.40, 175th Dale Jenkins (V55) 51.27, 182nd Ben Milsom
51.48, 211th Terry Woodhouse (V40) 53.56, 213th Marcus Shaikh (V40) 54.06,
234th Marc Draycott (V45) 55.08, 243rd Harry Short (V40) 56.17, 244th Sam
Crouchman 56.18, 251st Steve Wheeler (V45) 57.13, 2545th Hitesh Pandya (V55)
57.16, 355th Brian Feldman (V70) 80.02. 2nd CLAIM: 17th Dave Pearce (V50)
42.21. 357 finished.
LADIES: 35th Jackie Brown (V50) 54.07, 155th Helen Arthur (V45) 68.33, 174th
Trudy Sharpe (V45) 72.07, 177th Valerie Spezi (V40) 72.43, 202nd Usha Goyal
(V45) 84.56, 203rd Siobhan Ridgeway (V40) 85.02. 2nd CLAIM: 111th, Julie
Dutton (V55) 62.19. 205 finished.
TEAMS: Men 5th, Ladies 14th, Combined 5th.
TEAMS AFTER 2 RACES: Men 7th, Ladies 11th, combined 6th.
We started the new season with some new runners, making their Roadhoggs xc debuts alongside our regular cross country runners. Aruna Bhagwan, Julie Dutton, Harry Short, Igor Burbela and John Noble all completed their first muddy runs for us, though Julie and John are second-claim for Roadhoggs and so sadly did not count towards our team scores. The day was cold and grey and the wind whipped around the tents and banners in the refugee village. Our 10 girls and 14 guys all tried to stay warm with some huddling and jolly banter.
In the junior race Mya Bromwich continued where she left off last season, and she was joined by young Katie Short around the junior course, proud parents cheering them to the finish. Then the seniors race got under way up the long drag from the start. It was wet and muddy all the way round so it was tough work just to keep running. The course should have been a shorter lap followed by two longer laps, but a marshalling error sent runners around the short loop twice before completing a single long lap. This meant that the run was shorter than the advertised 6.5 miles, but it still included three times up that damn hill at the start of each lap, plus once up onto the ridge. Only one or two runners (not Roadhoggs) did not complete the same distance as they were misdirected, but they have now been taken out of the results.
Dave Pearce led our guys home, but he’s another non-scoring second-claimer. Next in was big Sam, with Dave Lod getting past Dale and Ben as he continues his great form. Jackie and Bec led the girls. Aruna, Igor and Harry all scored team points on their XC debuts. Our other scorers were Barbara, Terry and Marcus, but all of the Roadhoggs gave 110% on what was a very challenging course. Hats off to Terry, Igor, Brian and Baz who all ran marathons just a week ago!
Afterwards we all enjoyed the usual cake-fest from Trudy, so very appreciated after a hard run.
RESULTS:
MEN: 110th Sam Jolly 40.17, 144th Dave Lodwick (V55) 41.34, 145th Dale
Jenkins (V55) 41.35, 154th Ben Milson 42.02, 175th Igor Burbela (V55) 42.58,
195th Terry Woodhouse (V40) 44.22, 218th Marcus Shaikh (V40) 45.37, 261st
Harry Short (V40) 47.44, 280th Steve Robinson (V40) 48.40, 316th Baz Barrett
(V55) 51.53, 366th Shaun Heaphy (V60) 57.33, 384th Brian Feldman (V60)
64.30. 2nd claim: 29th Dave Pearce (V50) 35.47, 207th John Noble (V55)
45.09. 389 finished.
LADIES: 31st Jackie Brown (V50) 45.39, 60th Bec Bromwich 48.24, 132nd Aruna
Bhagwan (V55) 56.22, 153rd Barbara Hermann 57.43, 155th Jeanette Franklin
(V60) 58.06, 168th Natasha Eastwood 59.12, 173rd Helen Arthur (V45) 59.37,
182nd Valerie Spezi (V40) 60.26, 195th Trudy Sharpe (V45) 62.39. 2nd
claim: 94th Julie Dutton (V55) 52.36, 224 finished.
TEAMS AFTER 1 RACE (all division 2): Men 9th, Ladies 9th, Team 8th.
Reports from previous seasons:
2018-19, 2017-18,
2016-17,
2015-16,
2014-15,
2013-14,
2012-13,
2011-12,
2010-11,
2009-10, 2008-9,
2007-8, 2006-7