Final Met League fixture at Trent Park – Ladies Team
Saturday 10th February saw the final Met League fixture of the 2017/2018 season at Trent Park.
All week the weather forecast said it was going to be sunny all morning until 2pm, when of course the rain would come down just as the ladies race started at “not before 1.55pm”.
However, the morning bought wind, rain and hail and it didn’t subside all day. As we congregated coldly but proudly at the HAC flag (which was already at a 45 degree angle thanks to the wind) Vicky asked if this was “some kind of community service” and Nikki was very angry that the temperature was obviously well below the 7 degrees that her weather app said it was going to be.
After 30 mins of slowly removing various layers of clothing and then putting them back on again, 26 HAC Ladies made our way to the start line. Mel and Lucy were adamant it was “still crop top weather”, Rebecca was in Bryony’s jacket and Heather forgot she still had her scarf on, again. That scarf is destined to finish a race Heather.
Thankfully the officials got us off to a start quickly but not before our traditional Trent Park group hug to try and keep warm. It does work, we think the men should try it!
The HAC ladies love the mud, which is a good job really as there was 6km of it.
The course was challenging with plenty of upward flat bits and slippy twists and turns, not helped by the blustery winds.
Up at the front Gemma Barry finished her impressive Met League season in 3rd position. Gemma also took 2nd in the overall individual rankings. Congratulations Gemma, you are an inspiration to the rest of the team.
Joining Gemma in HAC’s top 4 finishers were Hannah Wells in 37th, Emma Danby in 56th and Ciara Williams (running on a skiing injury) in 83rd. Well done ladies.
Further down the muddy field Zoe, Freya and Karen stuck together along the course (with team spirit and a bit of mud), Taj really didn’t like the climb up to the monument having thought she’d done the big hill already (I can’t quote her as the words aren’t suitable for the HAC website) and Heidi loved the mud so much she thought she’d roll around in a bit.
Our Senior Women’s A team finished the season in 7th in Division 1. Our B and C teams finished the season in 2nd and 10th positions in Division 3.
The season has bought notable results in the Vets age groups which culminated in our Vets A team winning Division 2 and gaining promotion. To quote Zoe “big up the golden girls”. Our Vets B team finished 5th also in Division 2 and the C team were also 5th in Division 3.
Well done also to Lucy Duncan who finished 3rd in the V40 category, Kathy Carruthers and Karen O’Rourke who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the V50 category, Pauline Fischer who was 3rd in the V60’s and of course the amazing Angela Duncan with her own V75 category.
Full results from the Trent Park fixture and individual overall results can be found here. https://t.co/X2GLyVPphn
The season has seen record numbers of competitors in our ladies team. Well done to all who pulled on their vests and crop tops.
A special thank you to our Team Manager Mel Spencer who somehow organises us all as well as the tea and biscuits (one last mention of “milk gate” seems appropriate here). Thank you for your efforts Mel and so good to have you back out there racing with us.
