Dave Dellar 5 and Winter Series Winner

The Dave Dellar 5 always signals the start of the Summer. The clocks are about to change, the evenings are getting lighter and we celebrate the end of the Winter series. 

Dave Dellar and his wife Iris were founding members of the Isle of Wight Road Runners back in 1988 when there was only a handful of members. He has sadly passed away, but would be beaming with pride if he could see how his tiny little running club has grown into the biggest club on the Island.

So as a nominated race, speed is not the essence to winning the coveted trophies for this race. Runners must accurately guess how long they think it will take them to complete the 5 mile course. This leaves the competition wide open to every single entrant and an exciting reveal during the presentation.

Runners started out from the Riverside Centre and made their way toward the College before ducking through the underpass and turning onto Forest Road. They then made their way into Gunville before turning off at Argos and down Fieldfare Road. They snaked their way through the estate before emerging At Sainsbury’s zipping past the petrol station, under the dual carriageway making their way back to the Riverside Centre via the “Bargemans Path” where the time keepers were frantically scribbling down everyone’s times. 

First over the line were…..

For the boys

1st Ross Wilkes

2nd Michael Douglas

3rd Simon Pilcher

And for the ladies….

1st Trish Train

2nd Jodie Wilmott 

3rd Polly Segar 

But as already mentioned, the bling winners were not those out in front, but those that paced themselves accurately.

Male 

1st – Simon Riley

2nd – Simon Weeks 

3rd – Pete Sexton

Female

1st Lisa Upstell

2nd Tanya Clifford

3rd Lou Howell

Well done to all the winners. 

Last but by no means least the winners of the Winter Series were announced. This is a calendar of 12 nominated races (again, runners guessing their times most accurately) spanning 4 to 7 miles. Each week, each nomination will score points correlating with the runners estimated time. 

This years winners are….

1st  Garry Sharp

2nd   Steve Bennett 

3rd  Richard Whittington 

Massive congratulations to Garry, who incidentally was also the winner of the Summer series trophy.

All that was left to do was devour the complimentary chip butties and enjoy a drink or two.