XCR ROUND 3

Doncaster Newsletter

Round 3 – 02/06/2024

A big contingent of 35 athletes took on the XCR Round 3 Lakeside Road Race.  The event is much anticipated by runners keen to post a 10km PB time, especially if weather conditions are favorable.   Compared with the ‘crappy’ conditions of 2023, this year we were very lucky.  No rain, very light winds, and cloud cover which kept the temperature relatively ‘comfortable’, made for excellent road-racing conditions.

The morning started early for those racing the 3km event.  The gun sounded at 8.20am, and it proved to be quite a crush with several junior age groups, and short course Open and 40+ athletes contributing to a large 190-strong field.  Lewis McLennan, among others, tumbled over 100m from the start line, whilst teammate Zander Botha graciously stopped to check on him.  Campbell McLennan hurdled Lewis to avoid crashing.  All three then both worked themselves back into the race.  Lewis just outside of the top 10 in the U14 age group and achieved an excellent PB of 10:47!   Campbell finished in 1st placing in the Men’s 50+ age group.  Luca Scholes-Robertson stamped his authority on the entire short-course field, winning in a very slick 9:01.  Other notable performances were by Harry Maddocks (4th in U16 boys) and Sophie Brooks (U14 with a very commendable 11:56).  Christal Xie (Open) was another standout, competing in her first XCR event!  XCR Rounds 1 and 2 saw Christal assisting with Club helper duties, for which we are very grateful.  For the last couple of summers, she has been a big part of the AVSL season, competing in sprints and walks, but shying away from distance events.  Today was her debut over 3km, and she should be super proud!

The 10km event featured several DAC newcomers in Samual Rattray (Open) and Sean Churchward (M55, from Ruffey Runners); a huge welcome to them!   Bella Davey (U20), a quality middle-distance athlete during the track season, made her XCR debut.  Alex Jones has been a valued member of AVSL and relay teams and made his 10km debut.  We welcomed Lincoln Peh (M45), also from the Ruffey Runners group, and hope that he may be able to join us in future rounds.   There were also appearances from our President, Nathan Down, David Mitchell (usually busy with football umpiring on Saturdays in winter), and Anthony Paige, who carves out a very decent 10km.  John Portwood was the quickest over the 10km course, a very respectable 30:53 and 24th among a very large men’s field.   Ben Ashkettle hasn’t been seen in XCR for a few seasons and had an excellent hit-out.  Great to see you back Ben!

Georgia Chalmers (Open) was joined by a hardy group of 40+ women to steer the Division 3 team into 7th place for Round 3.  Over the short course event, Men’s Open, 40+ and 50+ teams all finished on top of the competition.  It seems that the 40+/50+ Men’s tactic to all run the short course event is paying big dividends.  Over the 10km event, the DAC Division 2 Open men finished 10th within very strong opposition.  With determined combined efforts by Zander Botha, Hamish McLennan and Harry Maddocks, the Under 16 boys finished 4th and have been near the top in every round so far this season.  Keep up the great efforts, lads!

Thanks to our club helpers for this round; Hamish & Lewis McLennan, who stepped up to assist after running their own races, Laurie Scholes-Robertson, Erick Niyiragira, Damian Maddocks, Campbell McLennan, and our Winter Coordinator, Matt Christy.  Make sure you check out the photos of DAC athletes in action on our Facebook page!  Matt was a Godsend with his table full of post-run snacks, and a welcome. However, Brendan Cullen’s lamingtons from season 2023 are still being talked about!

All summary results are provided below.  Please be sure to check Resultshub for further details.  Results Hub