Nigel Barge

Big Changes in the Westies League are appearing after the Nigel Barge Road Race at Gaescube yesterday. Mark McColl, who looked like a cert. for the Men's League at the start of the season is now looking like an also-ran, whilst old troupers like Archie, Dave and Brian Edridge are lining up waiting for Gibson to falter in the final three races.

Yesterday the race belonged to John Donnelly. After surviving a serious lambasting for failing to compete at Aonach Mor, it became clear that he was saving himself for this 5-mile romp around the west end. Steffen Gorgas, obviously out to prove a point that you can compete in both events, hared off at the start quickly catching up with the nimble JD and stayed ahead for the first mile. However, John quickly opened his legs and showed his class, shuffling effortlessly through the ice-avoiding detour at Dawsholm before stretching out along Dorchester Avenue. The challenge then fell to Dave, who had spent the previous mile catching first Archie, then Steffen before getting to within a few metres of John by Cleveden Road. Dave's lack of fitness then became painfully apparent as soon as John realised how close he was, the latter proceeding to extend the gap to over 20 seconds by the finish.

Behind John, Dave & Steffen, Archie struggled in without incident, a mere shadow of his pre-Christmas self(too much time with the shhep in Skye?)just ahead of Brian Edridge. Sandy McNeil came in a minute or so afterwards. Next came Liz, finishing 40 seconds ahead of Helen, with Ian and Drew following on behind. Drew was so disgusted by his performance that he is thinking of taking a break for a few weeks. When was the last one, Drew?

In the Women's League, Helen has extended her lead, helped on by triggering double appearance points. Liz isn't too far behind, though and it's starting to look like a two-filly race for the women's title.

In the Men's League there has also been a flurry of activity, again helped by several guys triggering double points. Gibson remains at the top, but Mark McColl has now dropped to 5th place. Archie lies in second place, 2 points ahead of Dave, whilst Brian Edridge has edged 1 point ahead of Mark. Ian, Drew and John have made significant moves up the table, the latter boasting about his 100% record, ie 2 appearances and top Westie both times. The only other Westies with a 100% record this season is Baldy Brian, and I know where I would put my money in a head-to-head!

And where were the elusive Don, Blair and Cap'n Charlie? All were touted at the start of the season as potential league winners, but all are languishing mid-table, with as much hope of beating the big boys as Partick Thistle. The excitement which once accompanied a head-to-head between Don and Brian now seems like a distant and hazy memory, whilst Charlie's excuses have become increasingly lame. Liz looked almost embarrassed when she said that our Captain couldn't race because he had an assignment to complete for Monday! Well, at least it's the first time he's used that one!

Thanks to Margaret for hanging about in the near-freezing temperatures( it must have been worth at least a minute on the times) and also to Drew for hanging about at the end to get the results.

Results

1 S Wylie Cambuslang 25:17

34 John D 30:42

40 Dave 31:05

49 Steffen 32:11

56 Archie 33:22

58 Brian 33:32

65 Sandy 34:57

80 Liz 37:35

85 Helen 38:17

86 Ian 38:26

94 Drew 42:07

99 Finished

Next week it's back to real racing at the West District's in Ayr. Will Gibbie return to strengthen his position at the top? Can Liz close in on Helen? Will Mark continue to free fall down the league? Will Charlie have his assignment finished in time? Will Big Al turn out to make it 3 races in 2 weeks? Who'll get lost trying to find the course? Watch this space.

Posted by Dave Calder on Wed 30 Nov -0001 | comments are closed

Category races