Alton 10
IT was hot, hot, hot for the Alton 10 as Stubbington’s ladies took a step closer to promotion from the Hampshire Road Race League.
With temperatures soaring into the eighties, the hills around Alton felt ever more steeper for this popular race which started and finished from the Lord Treloar College.
Organisers, Alton Runners, were caught out when the first water station after three miles ran out of water for some of the runners.
The tough, energy-sapping hills, and unrelenting course, combined with the hot weather forced many runners to walk parts of the course.
Definitely not walking were the Stubbettes who stand on the brink of promotion from Division 2 of the HRRL. They are embroiled in a tough battle with Eastleigh Running Club for the second slot – City of Salisbury AC have all but secured the title – with just two points separating the Greens from the Oranges before the Alton race.
In the race itself, the Stubbettes were seventh in the team rankings, one place ahead of Eastleigh, although third-placed Alton Runners who could still catch both Stubbington and Eastleigh, did well in their own race and were the fourth top women’s team on the day. Predictably, Winchester & District AC won the ladies’ event.
The Stubby girls were led home by Susie MacGregor, who despite suffering from a cold and promising to go easy, still pulled off a superb time of 1hr 13min 52sec for 15th overall. Lou James was 31st in 1:19.37, and Gill Rose had a terrific run for 45th in 1:25.37.
It means that with one race to go in the HRRL, the Winchester 10km on June 8th, there is all to play for. Winchester’s Karen Hazlitt won the women’s race in a time of 1:02.20.
Stubbington’s men were without many of their top runners in a race won by Winchester’s Toby Lambert in 54min 7sec for a city 1-2-3. Marcus Lee was the first Stubby home in 1:14.50, followed by Tim Crumpton who was struggling with his asthma in the heart and clocked 1:21.30 for 186th. Also struggling to finish, this time with hayfever, was Dave King who counted as the third scorer in 1:22.33 for 195th. A total of 533 runners finished the race.
Other results:
Men:
210th Richard Snell 1:24.02
302nd Paul Hailwood 1:36.30
Women:
65th Margie Pritchard 1:29.45
109th Amanda Jones 1:37.48
138th Liz Hall 1:46.01
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