DANDO DOUBLE SUCCESS AT PEMBREY

The third fixture of the Gwent League Cross Country League took place on Saturday 4th December 2021 at Pembrey Country Park.  The weather was probably best described as being fresh with a bit of rain during the men’s race and by the end it was pretty icy! Not for the first time Pembrey’s temperatures have been close to zero!

The conditions were great. Nice and firm underfoot and pretty fast with very little mud. A mixture of XC spikes or trail shoes were the order of the day.

The senior ladies 7.3km race kicked off at 1pm and for the 3rd time this season Georgie Dando was the first Bridgend AC runner across the line in 43rd and a time of 30:27. Georgie now lies in 12th V35 place overall after 3 fixtures. Leigh James followed in position 61 (31:13) and is the 2nd of 4 ladies who have featured in all 3 fixtures so far. The other two being Sophie Moore (Pos. 81, 32:17) and Gina Hardman (98, 33:02). Completing the impressive line-up of 9 women who turned out for BAC was Catherine Stephens (116, 33:47), Ruth Davies (119, 33:55), Laura Gush (175, 36:23), Helen Andrews (180, 36:57) and Krista Humphrey (187, 37:47). There were 278 starters. Bridgend’s ladies finished a very impressive 12th on the day out 75+ teams and have cemented their position at the top of division 2, 459 points ahead of San Dom in 2nd.

The senior men’s race was at 2.35pm was 9.8km and saw 363 runners start the race. This time it was Richard Dando’s turn to take first finisher’s spot for BAC in 94th place and a time of 35:14. He lies in 20th place for V35s after 3 fixtures. Next BAC member was Nick Grinnell (131, 36:34) followed by Andrew Hodgson (73, 37:10), Daniel Nicholas (84, 38:04), Simon Osbourne (123, 40:19), Dan Morgan (140, 41:20), Greg Newhams (168, 43:08), Stephen Summers (177, 43:59) and Steve Brace (217, 47:44). The men’s team remains in 6th place in division 2, almost 1000 off 3rd spot. With a few more runners being able to make the next fixture, we may be able to climb further up the table.

 Well done and thanks to all those who ran and supported on Saturday.

 Next Fixture: Blaise Castle, Bristol 19th February.

Source for most of the stats: https://www.gwent-league.org.uk/res3.html

Write-up & Photos: Nick Stocker