Club Champion graces the Arena

Wednesday 18th March saw the Westgates at the last race in the Exeter Winter 3K series. Excellent organisation by Pete Ferlie of Ironbridge Runner brings together a junior one-mile race followed by the 3K which is split into five separate races graded to your predicted finish time. The event takes place on the floodlit track at Exeter Arena, the spiritual home of the mighty SWRR. Turning up to register can be a bit confusing for the uninitiated because Wednesday night is also SWRR club night and with over 100 of the aforementioned runners milling around before dispersing for their evening road-running sessions it can be a bit noisy.

Talking of the uninitiated, Lesley bravely decided to make her 3K debut. Terrified at getting the pace wrong and finishing last, she opted for group E, the slowest group. She couldn’t have picked a more perfect spring evening, no breeze and clear cool air. This race was considerably shorter than anything she had done before and she was worried that it would be over before she had even warmed up!

During the junior mile race we did many warm up laps together and she insisted that she always raced carrying a drinks bottle. I think this was pushing eccentricity to an extreme with a real possibility of bringing Maiden Newton into disrepute so I confiscated her bottle. The call went out for the group to make their way over to the start. I went one way and Lesley the other. She insisted the start was where the lap counter and timekeepers were and dug her stubborn heels in. However the irrefutable logic that a 3K race over 7.5 laps couldn’t possibly start and finish on the same line eventually persuaded her to follow me to the far side of the track. It was getting a bit cooler now and I had to really insist she keep moving to keep warm; unfortunately she knew three of the runners in the group and wanted to stand chatting.

The runners lined up and on a signal were off. A sharp cry of “wait for me” broke the night air and the race was stopped. No, it wasn’t Lesley but another lady, a bit slow getting her jacket off. (Lucky for her the race was restarted and she won the series over-60 prize). I suppose technically it wasn’t a false start – a real rarity for a 3K – rather a restart. Lesley set off near the rear of the group of 14. There were seven youngsters under 15, two ladies over 60, two men over 50, 2 ladies over 50 and the winner – a lady over 45.

Lesley soon started moving through the field and was looking quite comfortable. She probably ran further than the rest, as for a couple of laps she seemed to be in lanes 2, 3 or even 4 as she went wide overtaking runners. With a lap to go she was still in second position but the lady ahead kept a clear lead. In fact Lesley needed some encouragement to push on, as a young Honiton lad wasn’t far behind. With some effort she held on to second place in 13:46.

I was seeded in race C – predicted time of 12.00. Things went to plan; I started at the back, nice and steady for a lap then moving up a bit. I finished in 11:58, ninth out of 22, very happy. Mike will be interested to note that John Perratt did 12:25 and won the first male over 70 for the series. Full results are on the Ironbridge Runner website. Lesley says never again but I bet she will.