Bang on cue, the first day of spring at Brough Law saw some superb running conditions as glorious sunshine began to dissolve away the cool morning mist. Whether it was the firmer ground or just the spring-in-the-step confidence that a sunny spring day brings, times were drastically reduced for many.
Leading from the start, Will Horsley won by a good stretch, knocking nearly 1.5 mins off last year's win! Now, I might add here that Will not only missed a turning and headed off downhill to Ingram farm before realising his mistake (how many times have you done this race Will?), but he also found time mid-race to stop and chat to Pat about how far back everybody else was! What's more, having run in the appalling conditions at Edale Skyline last week, Will has no right to be fit enough to run this race too!
Gary Jones came in 3rd and Mike Jeffrey 4th (2nd was Paul Brittleton of Helm Hill).
For the girls, Veronique Oldham (Norham RC) shattered her own record set last year, also by nearly 1.5 mins! But Steph Scott took centre-stage for first NFR lady, knocking a staggering 2 mins off last year's race (Claire Bagness of Wooler came in 3rd lady). 45 runners raced compared to 56 last year.
It's only when I browsed through the photos (see link below) that I realised I had run the race with my NFR vest on back to front: this may explain why I encountered some difficulty going forwards during parts of the race!
Thanks to Ray Hayes and all the marshals and helpers for another great race and Easter eggs galore!
 Winner Will Horsley opens the gap up right away |
 Veronique Oldham, first lady, leads this group |
 ... and Steph, second lady, leads this group |
 Tim McCall and Veronique Oldham (both of Norham RC) head back over Brough Law Fort |
 Joe Garbarino (V70) enjoying the grassy slopes back to the finish |
 Organiser Ray Hayes dishes out the Easter eggs |
all photos above courtesy of Pat Dunn |
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Rob Stephens
