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In the Dark Handicap 2007

A great turnout of 24 runners for our annual little 'In the Dark' handicap race, numbers bolstered by four brave Hunters Bog Trotters who made the journey west into the badlands of Westerlands. Cool, crisp and near perfect running conditions meant several pb's for a few folk, but apparently the slope to and from the concrete hut was a bit slippy, hence the brown ones returned a bit more brown, never mind the not so golden fleeces of Westies.

Our non-stop running Captain just keeps going from strength to strength, for despite a big 14 minute time deficit thanks to yours truly, he still managed to overtake all the others and come in first, overhauling Dave R by five seconds in the final hundred metres. A great run by the club sec. for his 2nd place, wearing a nice mini-skirt (fancy dress points), and then Katherine only another 10 seconds behind to claim 3rd and first lady. First Comrade Trotter was a certain Mr M Strain in 5th position, who certainly didn't live up to his surname as he clocked the fastest time of the night, and must surely be one of thee fastest debutant times ever. Well done to the other brown ones of Ian, Jess, and Tom for making the journey through, and for the other race virgins who partook.

Thanks to Shona for a welcome helping hand with timing the troops, but maybe she should have substituted me with our much more able and experienced Isabel who gets the results down to a 'T' every time. This was more than evidenced in the results sheet being 'all over the place', and resulted in myself missing two of the 24 runners during the prize-giving. Sorry Fiona and Cat, please forgive me, because I know how much you wanted one of JD's 'classic' prizes.

A grand night out, with many folk trottering off for some sustenance in the form of a Westies currynight. Hope it was good. Till next year.

charlie

Ps Highlight of the evening for Shona and myself was watching Graham K come over the line and then promptly spew what little stomach contents he had over the line also - the poor guy did literally run his guts out!

Position, Finish Time, Actual Time, Runner

1) 38 48, 24 48, Chris

2) 38 53, 25 38, David

3) 39 03, 35 33, Katherine

4) 39 27, 30 42, Johannes

5) 39 28, 23 58, Murray (HBT)

6) 39 46, 40 16, Dave

7) 40 03, 29 33, Tom (HBT)

8) 40 18, 37 48, Helen

9) 40 34, 29 34, Graham K

10) 40 41, 28 36, JD

11) 40 59, 29 29, Simon

12) 41 13, 40 43, Fiona

13) 41 32, 35 47, Muffy

14=) 42 02, 41 47, Ian

14=) 42 02, 42 02, Pat

16) 42 27, 35 27, John H

17) 42 29, 30 44, Rob

18=) 42 37, 35 07, Jess & Ian (HBT)

20) 42 40, 33 40, Ellie

21) 43 04, 39 04, Drew

22) 43 15, 33 15, Cat

23) 43 29, 40 29, Ana

24) 46 02, 37 32, Mat (Kirki)

Posted by Charlie Campbell on Wed 7 Mar 2007 | 5 comments

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  1. Graham K said...

    The ironic thing was it was actually JD who expected to spew !

    John had been close on my heels since I passed him high up on the road section and in the last couple of 100m he got passed me ...having put an effort in to keep him at my heels, I thought I would respond by overtaking again - as I passed, he commented "think I am goan tae spew". Suppose that is what made my stomach think it was a good idea.

    Cheers to Charlie and Shona for the timing and sympathy ...and to Donald for keeping the route clear !

    Wednesday 7th March 2007 11.45pm

  2. JD said...

    Great evening, only spoiled by Celtic getting beaten by the Italians! I enjoyed a really good battle with Graham and Simon. Setting off a minute or so behind them I caught a few bodies near the turnaround point of the L.E.D. enhanced concrete bunker. All sorts of Westies were floundering around in the dark in all sorts of directions, but having reccied the route earlier and aided by the dreaded headtorch I found a good direct route to the road. I appeared ahead of Graham and just behind Simon and then we all enjoyed a frantic race back, with Graham leading the way and Simon just behind me. A 100 metres before the end I gave it my final effort and edged past Graham, just managing to hold down my lunch. Graham responded likewise and I blew up, barely managing to make it to the line. I did, however, have the energy and decency to not barf up, unlike poor Graham. Cheers to all fellow Westies for a great turnout and to the helpers.Some photos here

    Thursday 8th March 2007 12.44am

  3. Chris said...

    Thanks to Charlie, Shona and Donald for the excellent handicapping, time-keeping and marshalling. Also thanks to the magnificent 4 Boggies for making the trek across from Edinburgh. And finally thanks to all the regular Westies runners for turning out in such good numbers.

    Time-ordered results here

    Thursday 8th March 2007 9.37am

  4. Rob said...

    First outing on this course for me and the big turn out made it a really enjoyable evening. Following Chris down the direct route from the bunker (without the benefit of a headtorch!) was probably the highlight.

    I managed to drop Ellen and 2 Boggies (Ian and Jess) just before the finish. My sprint(?) to try and catch John H on the line nearly resulted in me doing a Graham, but my lunch stayed down. I guess he's just more committed than me!

    Friday 9th March 2007 9.59am

  5. Dave said...

    If the actual time Charlie has quoted for me is to be used for next year's handicap, then I'm perfectly happy. However, I reckon Chris is much more accurate with my time of just over 30 minutes!

    T get onto much more important matters though, the reports so far have missed out by far and away the most significant news of the evening. First, we haven't tallied up the total points yet, but I suspect that David 'FancyDress, PB, Race-every-month-this-winter,6th-counting-race-this-year, I'm-playing-my-joker' Riach has set an individual rrecord for the most winter league points achieved in a single event. My provisional estimate is 24 points, although David may well pull a rabbit out the hat and claim a few more!!! Well done David.

    Of course, of equal significance, was the sight of Fiona Hutch racing round the trail wearing my silver knickers on her head. This was the outcome of a bet which Fiona lost some months ago. I'll let Fiona explain how she managed to get herself into that predicament, should she so desire. As you know, I'm not one to make a big deal about such matters and I therefore feel I must maintain a sense of decorum to protect Fi's sensibilities!!!

    Well done to Fiona for being a great sport!

    Friday 9th March 2007 6.10pm

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