Meon Plod, 11th February 2007
CAN you recognise the Stubby who looks like Compo out of "Last of the Summer Wine". The scraggly fluff on his chin, the weary look and the funny hat?!
Yes, it's none other that Chris Hall, enjoying his first competitive run-out of 2007.
Chris decided to give himself an easy racing introduction to the new year by taking part in the gruelling Meon Valley Plod, which was organised by Portsmouth Joggers.
Chris finished 44th in a time of 2hrs 53min 3sec, for an average pace of 8min 49sec for the 20.3 mile course across hills and mud in the Meon Valley.
Several Stubbies decided to give the MVP a shot in the squally, showery rain, with Mike Bainbridge leading the greens home in 31st place with a time of 2:48.56, and Graham James, who turns out for the event year after year, was less than a minute behind in 38th with 2:49.44.
Nick Kimber got more than three hours of running in his shoes as he took another stride towards the London Marathon with 122nd place in 3:20.25 and Ian Street ducked inside four hours with a time of 3:51.47 for 217th position.
A total of 338 runners took part in the challenging race, which included 10 miles of new course as well as the infamous Butser Hill.
The winner was Greg Deacon from Basildon AC in a time of 2:22.12, which was an average pace of 7min 15sec a mile.
Top lady was Lucy Brooks from the Serpentine Running Club in London. She placed 10th overall with an impressive time of 2:38.28.
Photographs with kind permission of Alan Dunk. More Stubbie pics here. If you would like Hi-Res files, please email Alan.