Cliffe Woods 5 mile – Race Report –
Race report by Phil Stevens –
The latest Club Championship Race took us all to Cliffe Woods on the very picturesque Hoo Peninsula.
Around 0845 traccies started to arrive at the Cliffe Woods primary school where there was ample parking. The weather conditions were a slight breeze, cloudy and about 16 degrees, so not too bad..
We collected our numbers from the Race HQ, attached our timing chips to our laces and then waited on the start line for the off at 1000.
There was a wave system as per normal and Wave 1 were off bang on time.
My plan was to stick to a steady pace throughout and this went to plan for the first 2 miles.
Despite the title there was no cliff and no woods. The route was not flat and I would describe it as gently going up and down. It was on all on country roads and the scenery was beautiful. Of particular note was Cooling Castle on the left. Did everyone spot that?
After 2 miles I could see Jay Bailey off in the distance and also a fair way in front a group made including Chris Brenchley and Matt McCarthy. As usual I could see Chris having a battle with Dave Sadler from Faversham Running Club.
Things started to get hard for me after mile 2, my pace dropped off, but I was enjoying watching the battle in front and the lovely scenery.
I was glad to cross the finish line and enjoyed afterwards finding out from the rest of the team how their races had gone.
A special well done to Robbie Weatherley-Day who smashed his 5k PB while running this 5 mile race!
Also to Asmaa Hatim who battled on after pulling up with a niggle.
Race results:
9th – Jay Bailey – 29:49
11th – Chris Brenchley – 30:00
13th – Matt McCarthy – 30:10
33rd – Phil Stevens – 32:14
37th – Mark Croucher – 33:06
57th – Steve Suttle – 35:05
61st – Georgia Hughes – 35:15
80th – Jo Kemp – 36:31
99th – Asmaa Hatim – 38:27
105th – Robbie Weatherley-Day – 39:06
163rd – Mark Hadden – 43:30
Well done everyone. A great day for Grand Prix points!