Hampshire Chronicle Winchester 10km
WELL, they did say it was hilly, reflected Stubbington's Rick Scott having completed the Hampshire Chronicle Winchester 10km road race.
Rick was among 286 runners who took part in the race which has previously been held in snowy conditions. Fortunately, the freezing weather held off for the race which started and finished at the River Park Leisure Centre, and took in an undulating course around the outskirts of the city.
"I got around in 51min 41sec (on my watch) nearly four minutes down on my target time," said Rick. "It was very tough going, despite the favourable weather conditions."
Rick's official time was 51.50 for 336th place and 11th in the Vet55 age group. Another Stubby who took part was Richard Roche who finished just ahead of Rick in 292nd place with 49.59 and 48th Vet40.
Unusually, Winchester & District's Toby Lambert was beaten into second place in the race by Aldershot, Farnham & District's Chris Bolt who won in a time of 31min 14sec, just four seconds ahead of Lambert.
Joanna Rodriguez from Woking AC in Surrey took the women's race in a time of 38min 14sec as a total of 815 runners took part.
"I'm looking for a flat race next time!" added Rick.