Rugby & Northampton AC’s annual 10 mile race took place on Sunday. With the course straddling the county border it also hosted the Northants Athletic Association 10 Mile Champs and both the Warks & Northants Road Race Leagues
Luckily the overnight rain cleared and nearly 300 runners had ideal racing conditions as they toed the start line in the Centre of Barby at 1030. After the downhill charge in the first mile Rob Michaelson-Yeates of Knowle and Ian Allen of Spa broke away from the remainder of the pack. As they passed the 5 mile mark they had opened up a clear lead on the rest of the field and were faced with the challenging climb up Cart Hill and through Barby after the 6 mile mark. The Knowle man le up the hill but couldn’t shake off Allen. On the long run into Kilsby the pursuit continued until Allen struck on the steep climb in the final mile to edge ahead, finally winning in a creditable time of 54.49 with Michealson-Yeates just 4 seconds behind in 54.43. The race for 3rd place was won by Dom Priest of Leamington in 57.18.
The first lady was Polly Keen of Nuneaton who has a fine run to finish 21st overall in a time of 62.30, with Rachel Doherty of Higham 2nd in 64.07. Third placed lady was Vicky Nealon of the host club in a time of 64.40 on what she described as a ‘Training Run’. She was also the first R&N athlete to cross the line and so became the first lady ever to win the Club Championship. She was followed by Sarah Davis (65th – 69.05), Richard Stevens (67th – 69.17) and Pete Thomas (68th – 69.18). Most impressive R&N performance on the day was Angi Copson who won the W65 prize as she finished 141st overall in 77.40 which equated to an age graded performance of 98% which was head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the field.
The mens team prize went to Wellingborough whilst the ladies award went to Kenilworth
Full results available at: https://randnac.org/results-of-our-events/
See the full gallery of Pics by Nick Wolstenhome here
