Runners beat the clock in Calne
Young athletes impress in 5K as Simon Nott and Heather Fell take the main event
Q. What happens twice a year in Spring and Autumn? A. The Clock Change Challenge, organised by Calne Leisure Centre with race management by Rider HQ, that's what.
This year's Clock Change Challenge was on Sunday 30th October and was the more leisurely of the biannual events, coming after most people had enjoyed some extra sleep as the clocks had gone back an hour at 02:00am – remember 'Spring forward; Fall back' – so no excuses for not setting a PB in either the 5K or 10K races!
First off, at 10:00am, was the 5K on a fast, flat course from Calne Community Campus, White Horse Way in the historic Wiltshire market town of Calne, situated on the edge of the North Wessex Downs hill range, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Calne is the only town situated on the River Marden.
The top three finishers in the 5K were all under-17 young athletes. Akira Bees (Westbury Harriers, 16:51) was buzzing along nicely in front of Josh Burns (Swindon Harriers, 17:08) and Connor Morgan (Abingdon AC, 17:32). The women's race was won by under-20 junior Amy Nicholls (Bristol & West AC, 19:36) from local W45 Denise Nott (Calne Running Club, 20:36) and W35 Rebekah Carrivick (Avon Valley Runners, 23:26).
Next off, at 10:30am, was the 1.5K for youngsters under 17 years, with 59 finishers led by U15W Holly Sanigar (Bristol & West AC, 5:41) and U15M Ryan Johnstone Chippenham Harriers, 6:01).
Finally, the 10K race started at 11:00am, with 208 finishers in 1:25:21 chasing points in the Wiltshire Road Race League. This was the 14th Autumn Clock Change Challenge 10K and the course records are 30:27 by Patrick Martin, of Stockport Harriers (October 2014) and 37:15 by Amy Chalk, of Bristol & West AC (October 2011).
No new records were set this year but there was a big cheer for the home town winner Simon Nott (Calne Running Club, 32:29) who was well clear of Courtenay Chessell (Swindon Harriers, 34:33) and Lee Gawler (Bristol & West AC, 35:10).
The top three women were among the 18 athletes who beat the 40-minute clock. W35 Heather Fell (Team Bath AC, 39:30) took the top prize from Agnieszka Wilk (Konrad Nozarzewski Team, 39:44) and Lucy Wallace (Bitton Road Runners, 39:55).
The next Clock Change Challenge is the Spring event on Sunday 26th March 2023 – the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar and the day we all feel a little more jaded than usual!
Results are available via runABC race listing here
Image by Tumisu on Pixabay
