Race Report: Arran Whitehouse
Photography Credit: Rob Mackay
Thursday 7th June saw the first race in the ‘Deestriders Off Road Grand Prix’ series of trail races take place at the Corus Club, Shotton. A great introduction to trail racing, this course takes runners almost 5 miles over a multitude of terrains with sections of grass, gravel, woodland and tarmac.
A field of 102 turned up in somewhat sweltering conditions. The race started at 7.30pm with a double lap of the playing field before heading out along the river bank’s gravel path. A short incline and then a drop down through a section of woodland saw us pop out onto Shotton Sports fields. A single lap of the field, encountering some long grass and a further section of woodland that then saw us back up onto the river bank for a short ‘out and back’. We then tackled another lap of the sports field and woodlands before the final stretch back and another final loop around the Corus Club playing field to the finishing funnel where the much-needed water station awaited.
A strong number of blue vests on the night with a total of 19 Buckley Runners in attendance. Buckley’s 1st runner home was Eddie Davies who was 10th overall in a time of 29:19. Steve Bellis and Dave Boothroyd followed retrospectively as 2nd and 3rd Buckley Runners through the finish.
Jen Adams took the top spot and was 1st lady overall for what was her debut race in the blue vest. Congratulations Jen! Tracy Rogers and Evelyn Aindow were 2nd and 3rd ladys home for Buckley.
A fantastic race, well organised and marshalled. Highly recommended for anyone wishing to ‘dip their toe in the water’ and try trail running.
A big thanks goes out to Deestriders Running Club for organising and hosting a great race. Congratulations to all who took part. Onto the next one of the series!!
Full Results can be found here
The next race of the series is Thursday 7th July at 7.30pm
Race entry form can be found here
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