Gloucester 10 mile, 6th January 2008

The first race of the new 2008 club championship saw Derek playing an early Joker. Race report from Joan below.

The email from Graham entitled "Good News" sounded promising - I'd won the wine but it meant I wrote the race report - he did suggest that I drink the wine first then write the report, but 9am is a little early even for me.
Sunday morning was cold and frosty as I headed for Gloucester - I slewed across the road a couple of times near Burford but arrived in one piece in time to join the ladies toilet queue which tends to be quite a social gathering. Emerged just in time to get to the start and off we set. I'm used to that sound of thundering footsteps which quickly disappear into the distant horizon, in fact I feel I have an affinity with the race leader (i.e. no-one else around).
The course was undulating through some lovely countryside - we passed "Madam's End" farm which I thought Derek might approve of (more interesting than "Wood End" wouldn't you think?). As you can see the race itself was rather uneventful although overheard conversations at the back are always wellworth listening to. There was a heart rending story of one woman's son sent to prison just before Christmas, then a foolproof recipe for Christmas cake. There was a cheery greeting from a farmer taking his decorations down and a high-five from a small boy on a bike.
Eventually up came the 9 mile marker and within minutes (it's not necessary for you to know how many) the finish. I was greeted by three very cold, shivering Eynsham roadrunners - Pat, Graham and Tony.
Pat and I walked (the other 2 ran) the mile (yes! another blimmin mile) back to the start and I headed off home to see my personal chef who was cooking a rather delicious shoulder of lamb for lunch.
All in all it was a pretty tough morning.