Muttersmoor was a hive of activity last Wednesday evening. There were 30 plus doing the last of this year’s Time Trials, a couple of dozen on an alternative run across the moor and a 14 strong bunch who have settled down well in the current beginners’ course, writes John Perratt.

Everyone disappeared in different directions but first back on the scene was Toby Garrick who was determined to win the Short Course Series and did so with great aplomb. There are five races over the course of the summer with four of them to count. Toby in fact picked up three first places and a third so was virtually unbeatable. Jo and Will Ashby were not far off him but both have shown good progress over the series although on the night Will was the only one who came in with a PB.

The Long Course series, on the other hand, was very competitive. First home on the night was Sandra Kirley, who led from the start and no one could catch her but the calculations for the series got more complicated as the runners came in. Ultimately the well deserved winner of the series and the Bill Valentine Shield was Becky Robson who got quicker with each run and over the five races knocked more than three minutes off her original time. That is what the Handicap series is all about.

Sarah Brown was leading the standings before the start but, like Gareth Horrocks, found that a minute adjustment to their handicaps cost them too many places. Becky capitalised, as did Guy Bennett who laid down an early marker that eventually moved him from eighth place up to second. Other winners on the night were Milan Goc and Phil Smith who both moved up the rankings to take fifth and sixth places respectively.

Not liked by some, the Time Trials do provide a good measure of one’s progress and, because the handicapped start means that everyone finishes more or less together, it certainly gets very competitive in the final mad dash to the finish. It can get quite intimidating as the quicker runners come through in a big heap. Next year the Time Trials will follow the same format although maybe with a change of course - adding in perhaps a small hill?