Crown Classic – Telford AKA The Noah’s Ark Float

Jacky Fellows writes:-

Kay and Marion invited me to this 10K a couple of weeks beforehand. We’d had such good fun at the Stratford 6 that I decided to give it a go and I in turn invited Jayne Morley.

I was disappointed to receive a text from Kay a couple of days before the race saying that she’d been running and had felt some pain in her knee and ankle and as a result was thinking about pulling out of Friday’s race. It was a shame to let her number go to waste so during Thursday’s training run Marion and myself set about recruiting some unsuspecting fool brave soul to take Kay’s place.

We made a beeline for newcomer Leeann because she’s proved to be quite useful at this running malarkey as well as being relatively new and a bit keen as a result! 

Friday’s forecast was awful and I wasn’t surprised when Kay texted me to say the race had been postponed due to flooding. I was a little disappointed but was consoled by the fact that at least it would give Kay time to recover from her injuries...that was until Kay sent another text saying that she’d been misinformed and that actually the race was going ahead.

I think all of us had second thoughts about doing the race due to the weather but after a little debating we all met up at the club. Kay and Julie turned up to support us (after the promise of a pint and a good laugh at our expense!

I introduced my new gentleman friend Tom Tom to Kay who set about confusing him by turning him upside down...despite which he still managed to get us to Dawley!!!

We arrived at the Crown pub and were directed to a little room upstairs where I collected my number and made sure we were entered as a team. Numbers were depleted no doubt because of the weather and it made me feel quite proud of the fact that we’d turned out proving really that we can all still  be serious runners despite not being  what the racing world would consider to be ‘serious contenders’....

We were called to the start and were soon on our way. The weather didn’t improve and the course was extremely waterlogged. I soon gave up trying to dodge the puddles, especially when they turned into lakes! The marshals were friendly though and the course pleasant enough. Jayne and Leeann shot off leaving me and Marion to bring up the rear.

The course was relatively flat except for a final hill near the end which I struggled up! It was lovely to be cheered home by the other girls and their shouts gave me the incentive for a final burst towards the finish. We all received a can of lager and an engraved shot glass for our efforts.

After getting ourselves dry and into some dry clothes, we partook of a drop and a bite to eat whilst we waited for the results and presentations. Marion won the Lady veteran class and because four of us finished, Dudley Ladies took the team prize which just happened to be another couple of cans of lager each...

Special mention has to go to Leeann who finished well under the hour which is brilliant for her first ever 10K distance (let alone race!!!) And thanks to Kay and Julie for being our groupies for the event .