All Rounder Championship

ALL ROUNDER CHAMPIONSHIP – Report courtesy of Phil Smithard The final results are now available for the 2009 All Rounder Competition with the remaining class of M60 being decided at the Festive Forest Run and Ken Daniels coming out the winner.  This is the first year that there has been a tie in any class, the honour going to the very competitive F50 class. Well done to all the winners, indeed well done to all those who took part this year.  The final results are attached and on the final page are the participation details for each year from 2006, the first year of this competition.  Last year was a decidedly poor ‘take part’ year in spite of the 25% rise in club membership.  Although there is only a slight rise of 6 in the numbers able to take part in 2009, the participation level in the Cross-Country and Hill Running elements has increased dramatically.  The shorter Road Running classification shows a rise, but the longer distance Road Running of 10 miles & over shows a consistent downward trend over the four years.  Perhaps the long weekend runs this winter will encourage more to take part in the longer event next year, or maybe people need more longer distance events in the Grand Prix to choose from. It might be better to compare this years figures with those of 2007, where there is a greater similarity in numbers taking part in each of the six qualifying categories,  but since membership is up 40% between the two, ……??  The number of counters for the ARC this year is 43, the highest yet by a good chalk, so there are more people taking part in all three disciplines, which is the whole idea of the competition. Well done to all those who took part and hopefully more folk will look to be involved in all three disciplines next year, making competition towards the end of the year all that more exciting and competitive.  Get off to a good start with the first competiton of the 2010 series at the Broxburn East District Cross-Country League event on Saturday 16 January, this date of course giving you your age for the 2010 Competition. Congratulations to the following club members who took to the roads, hills and cross country throughout the year and are the overall winners of their respective categories; Male senior – Tommy LawrenceM40 – Peter HumphreysM50 – Ian JohnstonM60 – Ken Daniels Female senior – Judith TurnerF40 – Fabienne ThompsonF50 – Morna Fleming / Isobel Burnett Many thanks to Phil Smithard for calculating the results which are based on members taking part on the roads, hills and cross country.  The complete set of results are attached and can also be found on the Grand Prix section of our club website at www.carnegie-harriers.co.uk