Wootton Road Runners vets won both the men’s and ladies team prizes at the Weedon 10K on a warm evening over a tough, hilly course.
The men were bolstered by the return of Lazloe Boden, fitting in a race between his ironman preparation to lead the team home in an impressive time of 36.19, winning the M50 category in doing so.
Next was Richard Fowler clocking 37.41 to take second in the M45 race with Richard Lack (37.51) and Tony Baross (39.55) also scoring.
The ladies were again led by Imogen Norton in a time of 40.00, who also claimed first place in the F35 category, followed by the consistent pair of Barbara Willison (42.55) and Frances Hooper (45.58).
This trio were the fastest Wootton ladies on the night and claimed the points to secure second place for the senior team, too. Other solid runs came from Helen Van Uem (47.28), Antoinette Kiely (47.48) and Gabby Deere (48.26).
The senior men’s team finished fifth with James Armstrong (37.45) scoring along with good performances from Ian Honeyfield (37.58) and Lee Berrill (39.14).
The evergreen Martin Fowler claimed second in the M60 category in a time of 43.30. Wootton were represented by 46 runners and now head to the last race in the series at Milton Keynes still with a chance of winning three out of the four team titles.
It was a good event, too, for the senior men from Rugby & North ampton AC, who achieved their highest placing of this year’s East Midlands Grand Prix when they finished in second place.
Leading the way was the 2011 Club Road Race champion Luke Robinson, and the Nottingham University student covered the course in 34 mins 29 secs to come home in a superb fourth position in his first year as a senior.
Iain Botheroyd maintained his recent form to claim second spot in the M40 category and his time of 35.18 placed him seventh overall, while Vince Carroll broke 37 mins for the first time in five years when he recorded 36.57 for 20th place (M40 fifth ).
Alan Mould closed off the senior team for the third consecutive race with 40.26 for 62nd slot (M50 5th )
Just one place behind Pete Thomas completed the veteran team in a time of 40.38, which also placed them second for the third time in the series.
In the ladies section Angela Copson led home R&N for the sixth time and it was her seventh victory in the F65 section. Her time of 43.15 put her in 13th spot overall.
Nikki Turner has shown remarkable improvement this year and her time on the tough Weedon course was faster than she did at the Silverstone 10k when she dipped under 50 mins for 43rd place with 49.53 (F40 12th). Completing the team was Kirstan Boynton on 51.07 (52nd).
Accompanied by her father, 16-year-old Maya Ronchetti covered the course in 53.26 to place second in the F20 race.
Both senior and veteran ladies for R&N finished in sixth spot in the team race and closing off the veteran team was Heather Fiddament- Harris who was crowned champion of the F60 competition with her fifth straight victory in 55.28.
Lisa Johnson followed with 55.56 for 12th in the F45 race and Valerie Cross made it three runners-up spots in the over 60 category with 64.37.
Lazenby brothers enjoy 5,000m one-two
Sunny conditions greeted twin brothers Dave and Chris Lazenby at the Watford Harriers’ track for the Mencap National 5,000m championship on Saturday.
Chris, the reigning champion, was pushed all the way in a photo finish that kept the excited crowd guessing as to who would take the gold and silver medals.
Despite running a lifetime personal best by 27 seconds, Dave once again took silver, but by virtue of his excellent dip at the line Chris held on to his national title. Both were given 17:42 but 12/100ths of a second separated the Wootton Road Runners.
Dulal claims personal best in Ironman Austria
Last weekend saw eight Wootton Tri triathletes compete in Ironman Austria.
They had to do a 3.8km open water swim in Wothersee lake, 112 mile bike ride, followed by a marathon, 26.2 mile run.
Suresh Dulal had a storming race and smashed his personal best time coming home in 9hrs 44 mins. This was a fantastic result.
This then set the precedent for personal bests.
Dave Parkins finished in a personal best time of 11hrs 11 mins, Paul Matthews debuting in his first ever Ironman event finishing in a time of 11hrs 50mins.
Hot on their heels was Caroline Parkins, finishing in a PB of 11hrs 50 mins.
Brent Perkins and Bob Pardoe finished their first Ironman event in 12hrs 16 mins and 12hrs 44 mins respectively.
Mike Kendall and Jamie Plowman both finished their third Ironman event in 12hrs 48 mins and 13hrs 35 mins respectively.
After six gruelling months of training for the event, there has been big celebrations all round for the team in Austria.