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.
