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Wadenhoe Winter Challenge 2008 / 2009 race series

Richard Piron / 02.12.2008

Sunday 30th November dawned cold and grey but at least it was dry and their was little wind (normally a key feature at our races !). The course itself could be described as \'damp\' not particularly wet, well \'fertilised\' by the sheep, and the streams on the main field were not flowing as they have in previous races. The \'swamp\' by the river was mainly glutenous mud rather than knee deep water. Many competitors compared it to treacle (but I dont think they thought it was sweet !).

Competitor numbers were well up especially for the Quad, although the Run/Bike/Run numbers were down slightly. There was an international flavour as well as we were joined by several expat Kiwis. The front end of both races were hotly contested and it\'s always good to see good cyclists catching the better runners and vice versa during the race. Most cyclists coped with the \'technical section\' in the woods admirably although few were able to negotiate the climb without dismounting. There was good support for all competitors at this point and at the end of each lap (I’m sure all riders and runners enjoyed the encouragement).

For the Quad, the river, although fairly high, was behaving itself, and there was only a weak flow. From where I was standing there were no capsizes and all returned safely from their 2 mile trip up river.

We are always trying to encourage juniors to our races despite it being a such a demanding course. For race 1 we had 11 year Barny Carr doing a shortened version of the run/bike/run and returning again 14 year old Ryan Hunt in the Quad.

The run/bike/run was won by Ryan Henry in a staggering time of 54 minutes 48 seconds Ryan was one of the few who negotiated the \'technical section\' without the need to dismount – some achievement. He was followed by Wadenhoe Stalwarts Patrick Schalbetter (1st V40) and Steve Giles who had a real ding-dong battle throughout the race, Patrick just pipping Steve by a second on the finish line. Paul Hannah was 1st V50 in 1.13.12 and Roz Giles first lady in 1.24.10

The Quadrathlon was won by Tim McDowell 1.17.38 (very) closely followed by Joe Andrews. 1.17.40 Keith Longney was 1st V40 in 1.23.43 and 1st V50 (and 60) was Charles King. Jean Ashley was 1st lady.

Unfortunately the dry weather at the start of the race wasnt to last and rain soon moved in getting heavier by the end of the race and in time for stripping the course. Wadenhoe wouldnt be Wadenhoe without bad weather or soggy course (or both) so we look forward to more of the same or worse on 21st January and Race 2. Be there... or be sane....??

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