This is the first serious race that Andy Collins has undertaken since making his comeback. He had not really planned to do it, but Raymond Banks surrendered his entry and in a moment of wild optimism, he took it. Andy has not done any serious racing, but he has been training, although not for a 31 mile race. Before the race, his realistic objective was to finish.
On race day, he went quite well for twenty miles and and then the wheels came off which was a shame as all the big hills are in the second half. That is when the lack of proper training and preparation hit hard. During the last ten miles, runners he had overtaken earlier went passed him and at one point, he wondered if he would ever make it to the finish. But finish, he did which given his inadequate preparation was a result.
In the ladies race, Lucy Brown had a good race to finish 2th woman. Katy Potts also took part. She ran in the pairs race, but ran on her own. They finished as follows:
48 Andy Collins 5:14:20
191 Lucy Borwn 6:17:53 (24th woman)
433 Katy Potts 7:41:02