For the fourth and final race in the Leicester City 5k Winter series we finally had some good running conditions. The air was still but not muggy, no rain, snow or ice and it was cool without being cold (awful conditions seem to have gone hand in hand with this race, the same way that sunny too-hot conditions are associated with LRRL races)! Three Striders made up part of the 71-strong field having completed every race in the series.
Jason Barton was involved in a three-way sprint for the line and finished in third place – only two seconds behind the winner(!) in a time of 17.29. Shane Sharkey was next back in 17th place (21.12) after what felt like a strong sprint finish to see off an unattached runner, however this was nothing compared to the scrap that Ben Pickard had as he finished 20th in the field. Having spent the entire race on Conrad Webbe’s (West End) shoulder Ben made his move as he approached the 3 mile mark. Edging ahead he saw the end in site but Conrad was not done yet. What resulted was a 6 min/mile sprint which saw both runners crossing the line in (21.27).
Both runners finishing ahead of Jay in tonight’s race were from Beaumont Running Club meaning that we did not get the accolade of first team back (their third place runner finished in 19.44) and there was no series team prize (although with two firsts and two seconds I fancy our chances of it), however, Jay was crowned male series winner having had three podium finishes across the series where 3 from 4 count. [Shane]