Cobra Classic 14km race
Sunday 22 nd May 2005
Three B&R runners turned out for the Cobra Running Club’s Classic that was run mainly on road but had an off-road sting in the tail. The weather was warm but not as hot as previous years as the field set off from Halesowen Rugby Club’s ground at Wassell Grove (which, trivia fans, used to have the tallest rugby posts in England). The early part of the race was fast but fairly cramped on the pavement alongside the dual carriageway heading towards Halesowen. The course took the left fork at the island at Hayley Green into residential areas and started to get a bit hillier. There were a couple of testing uphill stretches at about 6 km which gave much pleasure to the Sunday morning car washers who watched our exertions. The second half of the race was more rural, taking in the lanes heading back towards the Grove. But cruelly, at just over 10 km and within sight of the rugby club, the course veered off to the right towards Pedmore. At least by then there was some cooling drizzle and Pedmore Lane is a great downhill stretch. Of course what goes down must come up and the pay back was the off-road climb to the top of Wychbury Hill. At last the obelisk was reached and with barely a pause to take in the view over to the Clent Hills everyone charged downhill through the grassy field. The last few hundred metres were back on the lane and into the rugby club car park. Ian Keyte (13th) was first B&R finisher home followed five minutes later by Phil Anderson (27th) who’d lost time on the uphill sections. B&R’s Rowena Bales ran well to finish 3rd in the women’s race and 39th overall. There were 145 finishers in all.
The B&R men’s 'team' warmed down in the Golden Cross at Bromsgrove where most definitely non-isotonic drinks were available for re-hydration (Durdle Door Bitter from the Weymouth Brewery was particularly effective).
Leading men’s finishers and B&R men
1. Tom Kenderdine (Kidderminster & Stourport) 49 min 29 sec
2. Mark Garratt (Road Runners Club) 49:39
3. Paul Rogers (V40) (Tipton Harriers) 50:02
13. Ian Keyte (V40) (B&RAC) 56:22
27. Phil Anderson (V40) (B&RAC) 60:37
Leading women’s finishers
1. Hayley Jennings (Tipton Harriers) 56:43
2. Patricia Matheson (V50) (Stourbridge R.C.) 62:29
3. Rowena Bales (V40) (B&RAC) 63:10
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