Club Road Championships 2009

A field of 28 hardy Harriers turned out
in blustery conditions for the 24th running of the Club Road
Championships on the 5.5 mile Hawkenbury circuit.

The start of the race was marked by a heavy squally shower, with the
field having to contend with a sidewind gusting to 30 mph as they
headed down the Bayham Road towards Bells Yew Green. The previous
year's freezing conditions with slushy snow underfoot were replaced by
large puddles of standing water to negotiate.

Nick Leech led the race from start to finish, retaining the senior
men's title that he had won for the first time in 2008 with a time of
31:36. New member Chris Wolton - a late and useful addition to the
club's Kent Grand Prix winning team - was second in an excellent
début time of 33:03.

The over 40 men's title was keenly contested, with Matt Clark and
Simon Whitaker heading up the final hill towards Hawkenbury together.
Matt pulled away from Simon in the headwind on the final long run-in on
Forest Road to take the shield for the first time in 35:07, an
improvement of over 3 minutes on his time of last year.

In the women's race, Tara Taylor took the senior title for the sixth
year in a row, and with it the over 45 title for the first time, so
ending Lucille Joannes six year winning streak. In the over 35
category, new member Alison Fleming took the title at her first attempt
in a time of 41:26 - an impressive performance considering that this
was her first race.

In the over 50 men's category, Club President Allan Cheek finished
in 40:21 to regain the title that he last won in 2001. Matching this in
the over 60's race, Peter Burns also took the title for the second time
after his win last year.

Finally, Bryon 'Spud' Taylor was cheered home by the field as he won
the over 70's category at his first attempt in a time of 1:03:22.