Hayling Billy 5
NEIL Jarvis chose to take on the Hayling Billy 5 and finished 72nd. Unfortunately, organisers Victory AC had all sorts of problems with their timing system.
One club stopwatch failed to start and another packed up part way through the midweek race. Victory AC had a third back-up timepiece, but that meant it was unable to record all runners who finished close to each other.
So Neil’s official time is somewhere around the mid 36 minute mark and 20th in the Vet 40 age group. John Simister was able to get an official time of 38min 54sec for 107th place (Vet 40, 34th), and Steve Wylie followed in 116th spot in around 39 minutes (Vet 40, 37th).
Peter Adams clocked 42.45 for 142nd which gave him fourth place in the Vet 70 age group, followed by Tracie Jarvis in 165th with a time of 46.06 and 42nd female runner.
Jane Heywood and Jasmine Smith ran in sight of each other, with Jane crossing the finishing line in 47.49 for 177th (Vet 40, 22nd) and Jasmine placing 181st in 48.10.
A total of 224 runners took part in this popular race on Hayling Island which was won by Chichester Runners’ James Baker in 25.50. Sue Gardener from Victory AC won the women’s race in a time in the late 33 minutes for 45th overall.
This was the 11th running of the race which is a short and sharp blast on a summer’s evening along some of the old Hayling Billy rail line - now Leisure Trail – out and back from the HIADS Theatre, which was the old station terminus.