On a cold and very windy night in Leighton, surprisingly 19 people turned up in Parson's Close to run the fourth race in the 2011/12 Stag Trophy. With current leader Rod Lopez suffering a lack of sleep due to the birth of his daughter on Christmas Eve, he was unlikely to be on top form and a pack had been gathering behind.

Although the wind was blowing us all down Grovebury Road the general inclement nature of the time of year meant that fast times were unlikely and anyone getting near to their handicap was likely to pick up some good points. In just her second race of the season, new club treasurer Helen Crossland was first off, with everyone else following at regular intervals behind, all under the control of Dave and Pete who had braved the weather once again.

As the race unfolded it became clear that very few were going to beat their handicap on the evening, but one notable exception was Helen, whose lead was never challenged as she led everyone round the entire course to smash her PB by over 90 seconds. This was Helen's second good score of the season and is a potential contender, but she must score well in all the three remaining races.

Coming in second on the night was Richard Inchley to pick up 24 points in his first race of the season and he was chased home by Jo Breslin. In October we had Laurie Parr running the Stag for the first time in 18 years, but Jo left the club 22 years ago and returned to finish her first ever Stag in 17.13 and take 23 points. With only three races left, neither of these two can really challenge for the trophy, but fourth place saw Pete Mackrell come in and pick up 22 points, which has propelled him to the top of the table overall with his total now on 83.

After four races Pete has a five point lead over Andy Inchley who leads a close pack also containing Rod Lopez (76 points), Warren Rose (75) and Amy Inchley (73). These five have all done all four races so far but with three to go there is still 75 points to run for and there are a number of others who could get into contention with continued improvement.

All the current standings, personal bests, old results and even suggested tactics are available on the Stag Trophy page. The next race is Wednesday 1^st February and we hope to see everyone there.