It was great to be back on Cannock Chase for the Staffs Knot 5 Mile Race, organised by Stafford Harriers. It was a beautiful evening; fortunately the intense heat had died down, and there was a pleasant breeze, making the conditions significantly more pleasant for running than the previous couple of days!

17 LRC members took part – some for the first time, whilst others were course veterans – and strong performances were recorded.

John Doyle was the first male runner for the club to cross the finish line, taking 10th place in a time of 29.32. No fewer than seven runners finished within 5 minutes of John’s time, showing the strength in depth of the LRC team: Morgan Bradley (20th – 31.41), Konrad Wainaina, his first run on the Chase (28th – 32.27), Dave Sanders, improving his PB by over a minute (30th – 32.25), Tom Widdowson, his first run for the club (32nd – 32.41), Gareth Stubbs (35th – 32.54), James Coombes (36th – 32.55) and Owen Davis (37th – 33.00).

First female home was Hannah Stokes. Finishing in 36:37, Hannah took 65th place overall/10th female on her course debut. She was very quickly followed by Nick Parkes (66th – 36.42), Keith Lowther (76th – 37.49 PB) and Stephen Howard (102nd – 40.09). Then came Beckie Head – Stubbs, continuing her return to form (131st – 43.23), Jo Turrell (137th – 44.21), Helen King (148th – 45.26), Alan Miles, back from injury, (156th – 47.01) and Marian Lowther (161st – 48.36 PB).

Post-race ‘rewards’ this year were bacon and sausage baps; these went down well with competitors! Congratulations to all our runners, and thanks to chief supporter, Martin, for photography and looking after the bags!