After a gentle warm-up round the sights of Cassiobury Park on Saturday four intrepid LBACers ventured all the way to the distant lands of Tring for their 33^rd annual Ridgeway Run. It is an approximate 15K (9.5 miles) starting from the edge of Tring and heading out onto the Ridgeway via the monument and completing a 6 mile loop before heading back for a couple of flat miles to the finish at the cricket club.

It was a lovely morning for running when Andy turned up at the club to grab one of the 60 late entries available on the day and was met by a whole bunch of people from other local clubs aho had decided to double up their weekend races.

It was not long after though, that first Pete Mack rolled up looking casual, Richard looking like he might have done something silly and Lynn looking chilly/nervous all collected their numbers. After the usual chat about the previous days races and how the weather was ideal – particularly compared to last year – we eventually started our pre-race routines, which for most was a few trips to the loo and a stroll to the start half a mile away.

The start is basically a straight track for a mile before you get to the woods and hills so tends to be a little rapid. As Glen Watts (Stu's colleague who is LB10 record holder) sped off never to be seen again, Andy and Pete settled in with Dan Webber in a little group of their own covering 7^th – 9^th positions. Andy hung on to Pete until about the time when Pete said his legs were feeling heavy and promptly flew off up the hill, but kept with Dan until they reached the plateau at the top of the ridge around halfway.

For the three of them, that was just about it, they remained in those places all the way and in fact there was such a big gap behind Andy that the chase group went wrong and did an extra half mile and caused chaos for the organisers with results! Pete finished in 58:14 with Andy six seconds over the hour and Dan splitting the two of them.

Both Lynn (79:04)and Richard (89:13) finished in good time too despite Lynn's excertions the previous day having been there from the very beginning to the very end with Dominic and Ian. Richard has taken to just doing long events now, having not really done a race all year he has now done a 10 miler and a 15K multi terrain in recent weeks despite entering a new age category next year.

Without a full team present, our reign as team champions has now ended but if anyone fancies a lovely run in the woods next October, usually the day after the CCCL then we would certainly recommend the Ridgeway Run.