Bourton Mile
Speed was the order of the day as 7 Tewkesbury Running Club members eagerly awaited the start of the fast and furious Bourton-on-the-Water 1 Mile Challenge organised by Norman and Ali Lane and this year sponsored by Shackleton & Wintle Limited.
All 7 TRC runners successfully managed to avoid a melee at the start of the race where several runners tumbled, and all that was left was the battle of body and mind as the classic 1 mile distance stretched all runners to their limit.
Jon Mansfield was an unlikely runner at the start line, as he had began the Upton-on-Severn Triathlon earlier in day. But, after Jon’s swim, his race was over due to a puncture on his bike. Upton’s loss was Bourton’s gain as Jon again showed his return to form with a 5min 22secs clocking; a result that gained Jon a Gold V50 Medal as the race doubled up as the County 1 Mile Championship.
Shona Crombie-Hicks was the next runner to closely follow Jon as Shona stylishly crossed the line with an excellent 5mins 29secs to come home as 2nd Lady and 1st V45. Shona’s time looks even more impressive as this now puts her as leading V45 Lady in the country over a road mile.
The shorter the distance, the bigger the battle it is with Tewkesbury’s 3rd runner home, James Head. James ran a steady race with Shona in his sight the whole way and came in with 5mins 30secs. One second is a considerable gap over the mile and James took a solid beating from Shona!
Kim Boskett not only had the pressure cooker atmosphere of a 1 mile race to deal with, but Kim was also a representative of the race’s sponsor Shackleton & Wintle. Kim charged down the straight 1 mile road and with the clock well within sight at the finish line, Kim pushed hard to successful dip under the 8 minute mark with 7mins 59secs.
Kim’s performance was even more noteworthy as she was visibly struggling with a foot injury as she came into the last 400 metres.
Vicky Earls was coming back to the distance that she ran successfully at Westminster earlier in the year. Vicky again tackled the distance with full force and produced a very similar performance with a time of 8mins 4secs, a 22 second improvement on this time last year.
It was a very pleasant surprise to see Mick Morris at the start in his Tewkesbury racing vest for the first time in 4 years. Mick ran in as 4th V70 with a time of 9mins 32secs.
Rounding up a successful evening of running for Tewkesbury, Mike Ward had stern competition in his V80 category, as he ran in 2nd V80 with a time of 10mins 56secs; a great performance as Mike works his way back to form after a spell on the sidelines.
