Jon M reports...
Tewkesbury AC's 13th Club Championship race was unlucky for some as a plethora of below par performances threatened to wipe the shine off Tewkesbury taking the Ladies first team price. Included in the winning team were two of Great Britain's Ultra distance stars. Sue Bruce coasted in just30 seconds ahead of her newly selected National team mate Angie Sadler. The super smooth running pair came in 54th and 59th overall respectively and claimed category wins. Bruce, despite a stomach upset, collect the V40 prize. Sadler, who had a more pleasing experience, collect 1st V45. Thirdlady to complete the team was Cathy Dudfield. Dudfield, the club captain,ran well for the first few miles only to find the final 30 minutes demanding. All three ladies shared a substantial cash prize. With a record entry field, of which only 407 completed the course, Andy Hawkins finished inside the top ten. Hawkins is currently the club's top runner and in great form however, after failing to break the hour mark, he was baffled why he ran poorly. Jon Mansfield and Jason Draper finished
inside the top 50, with Mansfield recording 7 minutes and Draper 4 minutes slower than their best times from last years race. The wind was strong through parts of the South Gloucestershire course. Stuart Buchan coped well to record a pleasing time. Stuart Dudfield was feeling below par and ran off his best. Close behind Dudfield finishing was Phillip Howells who, claimed a top ten spot in the V55 category. Barry
O'Driscoll was hit with muscular discomfort and needed to reduce pace. While V55 talent Carol Cowley came second in category. The Bredon athlete also suffering an off day.
9th Andrew Hawkins 1:00:28
38th Jon Mansfield 1:04:52
40th Jason Draper 1:05:10
54th Susan Bruce 1:07:07
59th Angie Sadler 1:07:40
100th Stuart Buchan 1:11:49
121st Stuart Dudfield 1:14:13
130th Phil Howells 1:15:04
187th Cathy Dudfield 1:19:54
188th Bas O'Driscoll 1:19:58
222nd Carol Cowley 1:22:28