Results for Race 1:
The first Neiley Junior School X-Country race went ahead on Wednesday the 15th of May despite the rain, traffic congestion, road closure and email glitches.
On Wednesday lunchtime the weather seemed to be brightening up as John, Ian, Roger and Bill started to assemble the course. This was however an illusion as by 2:30 the rain was falling steadily as they were joined by Ann, Johnny, Phil and Neil to complete the construction of the course and finish funnel.
The decision had been made to go ahead as there would be no chance of contacting all the schools to postpone the race, so soldiered on and completed the course.
Fortunately by the time of the first race, the rain had relented and the conditions for running although a bit slippery underfoot were good.
As race time approached numbers attending seemed to be well down but a message was received that there was major traffic congestion in Honey and by the high school which was delaying many of the young runners and their families so it was decided to put the races back and by the time the year 3 & 4 girls race started the numbers had swelled and there was in excess of a hundred taking part in the race.
By this time it had become apparent to Paul that a number of emails from schools submitting their declarations had not been received and he had to register a number of schools and athletes on the day. This was no mean feat but Paul did it without complaint and with his usual cheerful can-do attitude.
By the end of the afternoon almost 500 children had taken part and the feedback from children, teachers, parents and others was that they were glad it had gone ahead and that it was a very enjoyable event.
The rest of the races went off without a hitch but by the time the event was coming to an end the workmen on New Mill Road wanted to close the road. After an amicable discussion the man in charge agreed to a 30 minute delay to allow the majority of the cars to exit.
A big thank you to all those who helped especially Roger, Bill and Ian who went from setting the course up in t-shirts to wearing wet weather clothing as the rain arrived
The next race is on Wednesday 22nd of May when some of the helpers are unable to assist so any additional help would be appreciated.
The full results will be on the website when Paul has finishing inputting the athletes and schools who registered on the day and then the times and positions.
John McFadzean