Kenilworth land the old one-two

The undulating profile of the course and chilly conditions did not appear to slow the runners as several fast times were posted, helped greatly by a downhill last 2k.

Rich Simkiss took an easy victory after pulling away from the pack while Phil Gould had to work a little harder for his second place (and a personal best), timing his dip to perfection to edge out Centurion’s Ian Mansell.

Clive Pearce claimed his third personal best in three weeks, finally breaking the 40-minute barrier with a time of 39min 54sec.

Dave Ashworth was the first Leamington C&AC runner home in 14th place (37:21). Nick Tawney ran well to finish 20th in 38:45, while Graeme Garlick was 43rd in 41:22.

Zara Blower followed closely behind in 45th (6th lady) in 41:36.

Adrian Mawby (54th, 42:24), Jenny Jeeves (97th, 45.57), Chris Donovan 129th, 47:45), Dave Blower (167th, 50:14) and Carol Blower (170th, 50:17) completed the Leamington contingent.

Spa Striders’ Vicki Smith was the second V45 lady after coming home 68th in 43:37.

Trevor Wilkinson led Striders home in 23rd (38:52), with Nadine Fleckenstein (44.25) in 77th and Kate Evans (50.46) 175th.

Kenilworth Runners finishers: 1, Richard Simkiss (32:52); 2, Phil Gould (33:50, pb); 21, Pete Matthews (38:46); 22, Andrew Holbrook (38:51); 29, Clive Pearce (39:54, pb); 32, Richard Steel (40:16); 34, Mick Williams (40:27); 89, John McKenna (45:18); 92, Rod Goodwin (45:34); 118, Sarah Stein (47:17); 120, Rebecca Smith (47:22); 132, Tom Dable (48:06); 171, Denise Cheetham (50:25); 225, Pauline Dable (54:55).

The second road race in the East Midlands Grand Prix series was held at Rugby, with a near-record field of 320 setting off on a demanding 10k course which includes the notorious Carthorse Hill.

Five Leamington C&AC athletes contested the race, with Sue Harrison returning to the scene of her 2001 success to lead home the ladies.

A battle with Coventry’s Jo Emery and Charnwood’s Laura Wilkinson saw each have turns at the front before Harrison made her big effort shortly after the four-mile mark to secure a 12-second gap over Emery and win in 36:06. Wilkinson faded badly to end up more than a minute behind.

Nick Tawney finished 41st in 37:38 to take second in the M50 age group.

Monica Williamson again proved her status as one of the best in the country in her age group with victory in the W50 category in 38:02.

Good runs from Graham Garlick in 80th (40:05) and Jonathan Wilkinson (43.27) completed the C&AC squad.

Kenilworth Runners’ Pete Bryan (36.09) was the first over-45, with teammates Tom Dable and Pauline Dable coming home in 48:30 and 54:53 respectively.

Kenilworth Runners attracted 300 runners for their annual races staged in conjunction with the Kenilworth Festival. First off was the Festival 10k, which comprised three testing laps of Abbey Fields.

Warwick University took top honours, with Nick Houghton a convincing winner of the men’s race in 36:44 and Rachel Wood taking the honours in the ladies’ in 43:21.

Graham Birch and Emma Litterick won the veteran categories, with the hosts club taking the team prize.

The race also included the inaugural relay, with three runners each completing one lap.

Nine teams entered, with Speed Kills picking up the first prize with a combined time of 49:26.

The one mile fun run attracted 100 runners and they were led home by Thomas Howkins in 7min 16.27sec.