JANUARY 2006 

Compared to last month’s excursion into the North York Moors, the North Dalton leg of the East Yorkshire Cross Country League is as flat as a pancake, and the underfoot conditions are about as treacherous as a tartan track.  That isn’t to say it’s not a hard race, because it is, but at least you don’t finish it feeling as though you’ve just been put through an assault course.
Despite the attraction of a low degree of difficulty, the Viking Striders’ men’s team had a depleted look to it, and although Martin Midgley ran an excellent race to finish 12^th, nobody else managed to get into the top 20, which happily is unusual for the men these days.  The team finished a relatively poor 4^th on the day but have held on to 3^rd place in the overall table.
In contrast the ladies had a good turn out, actually out numbering the men, but with Karen Bexon running only her first race back from injury, the team slipped to 5^th place on the day, although that was good enough to cling on to overall 3^rd.
Making encouraging debuts at North Dalton were Danny Best on the men’s team, and Alison Hoggarth, Debbie Andrew, Marina Booth and Jo Mouncey for the ladies. All seemed to have enjoyed the experience, but whether they will care to repeat it next month at Welton remains to be seen.

Striders’ positions and times:
12^th Martin Midgley 35.02, 23^rd Alan Bexon 36.21, 25^th Dave Hanney 36.26, 33^rd Neil Bentley 37.16, 43^rd Nigel Warner 38.39, 45^th Mark Thompson 38.52, 74^th Dave Ryan 41.43, 83^rd Richard Anness 44.28, 84^th Danny Best 44.32.

Ladies:  6^th Karen Bexon 39.34, 13^th Julie Masterman 41.51, 21^st Kay Ryan 44.14, 22^nd Patsy Fenelon 45.17, 26^th Alison Hoggarth 48.42, 30^th Sandy Clark 49.25, 34^th Nina Hanney 50.29, 35^th Debbie Andrew 52.30, 36^th Marina Booth 53.33, 38^th Michaela Shepherd 54.30, 41^st Jo Mouncey 59.41.

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