Week 1

A bumper group of members finished the year by completing the Huncote Hash, which featured a slightly shortened course, due to the grounds of the leisure centre still being out of bounds. The draft results look a bit dodgy, but well done to Neil, Marcus, Anna, Helen W, Mark Richards, Dave Brownlow, Valerie, Cath, Hilary, Hilary and Sarah Richards (who was making her XC debut).

Week 2

Congratulations to our four finishers in the Leicestershire & Rutland XC Championships at Rotherby on Saturday. Mo scored a brilliant 5th in the senior race (6th overall) which was won by GB Ultra runner Tom Evans. Neil was 26th senior. In the Masters race, Gurmit just missed out on a medal in 4th (the race was won by British age group record holder Alastair Watson) and Adrian finished 30th.

A contingent of Roadhoggs kept their powder (and feet) dry for the Oundle 10K on Sunday. Sam recorded an encouraging early season mark of 40.55 for 19th in testing conditions. Mike was 1st V50 in 41.58, Leah 44.40 was 10th lady, Dale did 45.32, and Jackie 48.38 was 1st V55.

Mary put in the parkrun performance of the day with her 7th consecutive PB. Well done Mary, those Tuesday sessions must be really working!

Week 3

It was certainly a busy weekend; no less than 30 members were out racing. The most popular venue was Martinshaw Woods for the latest Derby Runner League fixture (17 men and 10 ladies). We welcomed Steve K and Mary for their first XC race and it was also Sarah Richards’ league debut. For the ladies, Kathryn came 23rd and Leah, making a welcome return to XC, was one place behind. Our scoring 4 was completed by our regulars, Helen W (94th) and Helen A (109th). For the men, Mo (1st) put in his usual dominant performance and was well supported by Gurmit (14th), Sam (38th), Mike (91st), Dave L (109th), Dave W (112th), Steve K (135th) and John D (146th). Sam will do a full report once we get official results in a day or two.

Elsewhere, Charly, Adele and Anna were at Sherwood Pines, getting in some practice for the Equinox by taking part in a 6-hour race around a 5.7k forest loop. Charly did 6 laps, Adele 5 and Anna 4.

Week 4

I’m not aware of anyone having raced this weekend. With underfoot conditions being a bit tricky, many took their parkrun steady. However, Martin Crighton jumped back on the PB train and a special mention for Liz who recorded her fastest time for nearly a year.

Week 5

The Leicester 10k was the big event of the weekend. Dan C was first in, breaking 50 minutes (49.21) for his first race as a Hogg. Close behind were Martin Crighton (50.33) and Chris W (50.37); both showing some good early season form. Martin W produced a solid 1.00.19 and John D, who was on 1.05 pacing duties, judged it perfectly (1.04.22). Our final finisher, making a welcome return after illness, was Minisha (1.22.34).

At parkrun there was a sub-20 for Ashveer, a PB for Tim P and a return to form by Gurtej, who really seems to have got his mojo back (he followed up his PB on Saturday with a P1 at junior parkrun the next day).