Roman Road Run - Race Report
Conditions were unusually clement for the Run. There was very little mud and even less wind. OK, the sun wasn't exactly blinding, but you can't have everything.
After some debate about the exact start position - solved by Andy Barber and his handy pair of Vernier calipers - the race got underway. The directions ("straight on"?) proved just too much for some, even those who have run the course before, but eventually we had the same number of people at the finish line as we had at the start. Whether they were the same people...
In the men's race, Andy Barber led from Dave to... well Dave, actually, assisted by some exemplary pace judgement from Nathan Holmes, who blew up after a mile. Chopper cut through the field (ouch! - Ed.) in the second quarter of the race, and from then second place never looked in doubt. Mikey, who appeared to have forgotten his pyjamas, took third place from Nathan in fourth and Olly in fifth.
At the back of the field, Jon Holt was nursing a dodgy hip, Huw Davies was suffering from a dodgy hair-cut, and Arvind kindly agreed to make sure no-one got lost. Not far in front, the elite Oxford contingent were struggling to find some water to fall in, while Thames and Cheshire again showed that tradition is more important than common sense, acheiving another good turn out.
In the women's race... I haven't the faintest idea what happened in the women's race, except that Hsu-Min got lost. Would someone please tell me?
Anyhow, to lapse into Jon Holt-speak, it would appear that Hsu-Min was the fittest bird, closely followed by Mel, with Max Full-Pint in third place.