Inter-County Match within the Farndon 10km Race 23/09/2023

Inter-County Match

Within Farndon 10km Race 23-09-2023

This event, the penultimate race in the 2023 Inter County series, had its race h.q. and toilet facilities in a large field about 800 metres from the start/finish line. However, bizarrely, when event organisers Helen and Michael Harrington arrived on the morning of the race, they found that the 10 “Portaloos” that had been delivered the previous day had been stolen, and athletes faced a walk into the village to use the toilets in the Community Centre. Fortunately, the suppliers were able to deliver 4 replacements before the end of the event.
The photo above Front (l to r): Ricky Challinor, Tomos Roberts, Gwion Roberts, Scott Nixon and Daniel Kashi. Back (l to r): Amie Smith, Rachel Shipley, Jane Doughton, Tracy Rogers, Lucinda Truett and Ryan Davis.

Men’s Race: I have been looking back in the archives to see when the last time was that two brothers ran in the same representative match on the roads. It was on 14th March 1999 at the UK CAU Inter Counties 20 miles race at the University of Salford, where Andrew Norgrove ran 2:01:17 and brother Gary recorded 2:02:28. That long gap finally came to an end as Tomos and Gwion Roberts took to the line in their green and orange vests. Tomos is in the middle of a very good run of form this year that has seen him set p.b.’s at 5km (14:56, Kingsley), 10km (30:21, Trafford) and marathon (2:26:13, Lon-don). He and Daniel Kashi – who is again running in this year’s Marathon Eryri, a race he won last year in 2:39:51 – soon established a leading group with Shropshire’s Jim Hickinbottom. In the final mile, Tomos pulled away to win both Inter County and Open races in 32:25, with Daniel just 5 seconds behind in second in 32:30 and Hickinbottom third in 32:33. So, having got off to a good start, it needed good performances from the rest of the team to secure the team win, and we got it! Ricky Challinor – who ran his first-ever marathon in London in April, 2:37:51 – came fourth in the match in 32:45 and team captain Ryan Davis, who led our relay team to victory at the Knighton 20 miles last March – placed 6th in 33:30. That gave us an unbeatable total of 13 points and secured the win. Non-scorers were debutant Gwion Roberts in 33:42 and Scott Nixon in 34:27. Result: 1. N. Wales 13 (1+2+4+6); 2. Shropshire 23 (3+5+7+8); 3. Staffordshire 57 (11+13+16+17); 4. Cheshire 60 (12+14+15+19).
Photos

Photos above: Left, Tomos Roberts takes the tape. Right, Tracy Rogers places second.

The women’s race was much closer in terms of points, but Cheshire’s Claire Clancy went straight to the front and was never headed winning both the Open and I.C. match in 37:30. Tracy Rogers has been setting p.b.’s for most of this year: 5km (17:31, Kingsley), 5 miles (30:02, Chester) and 10km (36:24, Wilmslow). She finished in 38:03, second in both events. Team captain Amie Smith is looking back to her best, having set p.b.’s at 5km (17:46, Christleton) and 5 miles (30:11, Chester), and finished third in both events in 38:41; Regional half marathon champion Rachel Shipley ran 40:35 for

ninth and Jane Doughton finished in 14th with 42:15 to complete the scoring. Our non-scorers were Lucinda Truett at 42:28 and Claire Purdie at 43:26. Result: 1. Cheshire 23 (1+4+6+12); 2. N. Wales 28 (2+3+9+14); 3. Staffordshire 33 (5+7+10+11). The final match of 2023 will be at the Oswestry 10km, Shropshire’s home match on Sunday 15th October.
Paul Brooks