The January Stag trophy race was exactly what it should be about, with 31 runners all coming home in very close succession. 31 is one of the highest attendances ever, so was great to see after just 14 in December.

The first four finishers all got PB’s and gave a great example of the diversity that the event brings with Alison Bell continuing her improvement from the Tuesday beginners group; Chris Large getting a PB for the first time since he won it in 2013; Jordan Clay going into 4^th place in the all-time list with a fantastic 12:42 and Joe Bidlake-Hull representing the juniors with his third PB of the year. PB’s were also earned Huw Morgan-Jones and Matthew Brooks, while we welcomed Caitrina Oakes for a baptism of fire on her first run with the club.

Conditions were not ideal, with a strong wind on the night. The good thing was that it was blowing the runners down Grovebury Road, even if you did have to run into it in Grove Road.

Alison’s large improvement on her previous PB meant that she won by over 20 seconds, while Chris just managed to hold off a storming Jordan by 2 seconds. Twelve seconds later was the main flurry of runners with Joe leading home ten runners in ten seconds as vital points were battled for.

The standings after the race leave Joe Bidlake-Hull on 88 points with a ten point lead over Alison Bell who is nine points ahead of Liz Peters. There are still 75 points available over the next three races and the more people that run the more interesting it is so let’s have another night like yesterday.