Before we take a mid-summer Grand Prix break, there was still time for one more GP event with a trip down the A1 to Durham to hit the hilly trails, thanks to Elvet Striders.

Heading into the business end of the Grand Prix season, points are getting more and more precious; with Walton, Hewitson and Kirby fighting it out at the top of the male standings; Knox, Shotton, Powell and Hewitson all battling for the female title.

Wednesday night saw a typically large group of DVRC’ers representing the club – with Charlotte Bowes, Glen Cooper, Neil Frediani, Sally Ann Greenwell, Bex & Chris Hewitson, John Kirby, Claire Knox, Jane Parnaby, Kirsty Robson, Rachael Smith, Claire Thompson and Sue Urwin.

The Willow Miner veterans amongst the group knew what to expect with the elevation… Newbies were heard commenting about how unnecessary that amount of hill climbing was!

At the end of the race, it was Chris Hewitson who lead us home, one second outside of the 40 minute mark, in 40:01, closely followed by John Kirby in 41:16 and Glen Cooper in 42:33. For the ladies, Bex made it a Hewitson double delight with 43:07, with Claire Knox next in at 46:58 and Claire Thompson (in new matchy-matchy socks and trail shoes!) in 50:36.

Finish of the night was reserved for Neil Frediani; who outstripped at least half a dozen finishers with his Hollywood sprint, much to the delight of the waiting crowd!

Full results can be found here – with lots of high points to cheer, including Sue finishing 3rd in her category: https://www.elvet-striders.uk/2023/07/27/willow-miner-trail-race-results-2023/

These results coupled with the rescheduled Stanhope 10k – we’ll be publishing the latest GP standings very soon. In what will be a tense finale to the year – it’s still all to play for!