Phil's Running Report 18th February 2012

Phil's Running Report

Last Saturday finally saw the men of Trentham Running club achieve promotion to division 2 of the Birmingham cross country league, they had topped the group for some time now and looked assured of winning the group but they would need a strong team showing in the final fixture which was held on Stafford Common, so almost a home fixture for Trentham; and they claimed the top spot in fine style with Stephan Walley wining the race and his team mate Carl Platt finishing a close 2nd to cement the promotion. And with Ian Yates in 8th place and the other 3 scorers in the top 20 it was a powerful display by a team that new it was on the brink of victory.

Mans team captain Dale Colclough had this to say about the race.

Buoyed by the fact that our men’s team were topping the division, they were in confident mood. Our strongest team turned out with no less than 17 Trentham vests.

After the first of 3 laps Simon Bentley of Dorrige AC lead the way with Stephan on his shoulder and Ian in third. Carl was about 20 yards back in Fifth. Another Lap saw Carl make his move and bridge the gap to the leading two so as they went in to the last lap in a three way battle. Further back Ian 8^th, Roger 15th, Adam 20th and Saul made up the count, with great support from Andy Cotton, Phil Mainwearing, Sam Newton in the top 30 and Martin Hull, Paul Clinton and Paul Burslem in the top 40. Further down the field Rob Tabinor, Callum Dillon (Our newest member), Dave Pickstock, Gary Payne and Greg Jullian were all battling hard and ensuring a great team result.

The leading trio were neck and neck until Carl decided it was time to make his break for glory. He soon gained 10 yards on the Dorridge runner, but Stephan was not to be out done and went with Carl before making his own decisive break with ¼ mile to go. A great effort from both Stephan and Carl brought them home in 1st and 2^nd.

The last lap saw Ian hold on to 8th with Saul storming through the field to finish 11^th. Adam and Roger battled on and picked up places to finish in 17th and 18th

A fantastic all round team performance and easily enough for us to win on the day and be crowned division champions for the season. An added bonus for Stephan was by winning on the day he was elevated to 2nd overall for the 4 fixtures so picked up the silver medal.

So what does promotion mean for the team, well unlike in Football and other sports they are no financial rewards but the team will now be racing on better courses in the 2^nd division. Looking ahead to next winters cross country season will see Trentham race against local rivals Newcastle AC and the danger team to watch in the 2^nd division is Cannock and Stafford who have dropped from the top division and have some great runners in their team including Tom Humphries who ran 23 mins regular for England in Bupa Edinburgh Cross Country last month. So Trentham will have a tough year to come but congratulations on finishing a winning season with promotion.

And just when you all thought the cross country season was at an end we have a charity event taking place next Sunday the 26^th over at knypersley reservoir.

This is a 5 mile multi terrain race with 1 mile fun run and is well worth

The annual Knype Pool charity Race is in association with Biddulph Running Club

and is in aid of the Biddulph Mayor’s charities which this year are Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion.

It all starts at10.30 for the fun run and 11am for the main race.

Entry fee for the main race is £6 affiliated £8 unaffiliated £1 extra for on the day entries

On Line Entry available via www.biddulphrunningclub.co.uk which is where you can get more info too.