Ken Seals Championship at Derwentwater 10

Paula Plowman, Ken Addison, Stuart Cann and Joe Swarbrick at the Derwentwater 10 mile

On a glorious crisp November day Red Rose travelled to the Derwentwater 10 miler for the final race of the Club Championship. A slightly undulating first four miles out of Keswick town centre towards Grange on the Borrowdale road was followed by a testing series of ascents and descents giving stunning views over the lake with Skiddaw in the background. Joe Swarbrick and Ken Addison set out stride for stride in the first four miles before cramp threatened Ken’s race. Joe opened up a gap to finish 2^nd V55 in 65.15 with Ken holding on well to finish in 65.53 to take 3^rd V55 and the club championship prize for 2012. Jose Pinon Shaw was less than a minute behind with a well paced race in 66.44 with Shane Cliffe finishing very strongly in 67.43. An excellent effort from Stuart Cann a week after the Preston marathon saw him finish in 74 minutes. Tony Thorley had a great run with a 77 minute finish. Paula Plowman also ran the marathon and managed a cracking time of 85 minutes just beaten by John Wiseman in 84 minutes. Gavin Beetham showed no ill effects from his marathon to finish just ahead of George Fletcher in 91.47; George’s time was 91.56. Sally Cape was inspired by the scenery to declare it ‘better than Coniston’ and ran an excellent race in 93.49. Allan Howard  continued his years of consistent attendance at club runs with a time of 99 minutes and Adela Nuttall ran this distance for the first time with an encouraging run of 1hour 45 minutes.

At the Through the Villages race over 8.3 miles, runners tackled the hilly course around Wheelton, Abbey Village and Brinscall. The first mile is a shock to the first timers and most of the Red Rose runners had not done it before. Steve Whitney was the first man home for the club finishing under the hour in 58.36. Our runners found themselves racing other clubs but with significant gaps between each other. Mark Billington ran hard for 62.49 with Simon Houghton next in 65.26. Jamie Jardine completed the race for the sixth time with a time of 66.30. Julie Coupe was 26^th lady home in 70.07 and Lee Brown 76.09 completed the Red Rose effort.