MAC XMAS HANDICAP RACE
14th December 2008 at Wells.

Sunday saw seventy members of Mendip Athletics Club turn out for the annual
Christmas Social. The day kicked off at 11am in the morning as twenty five
members, cheered on by family and friends, took part in two handicap races -
over distances of 5km and 2km. Many of the runners got into the festive
spirit by running in fancy dress - with the winner, Shane Williams,
recieving most of the votes cast in the spectator ballot.

The Junior 2km event, run from Dulcot Fountain and along the old railway
line, was a very closely fought affair. Simone Young just managed to hold
off a spirited finish by Ella-Rose Bazley-Jackson who got within two seconds
at the end, with Hayley Carver another 12 seconds back in third. Hayley
shared the days third fastest time with Jason Bateman who crossed the line
in fourth. Second fastest was Shane Williams, while the quickest run of the
day came from Mark Bailey with a very fast 7:34. Ellie Norris and Ella
Felton gave themselves an even bigger handicap by competing tied together as
a three-legged entry!

The 5km event was won by Ben Millar, who had started as the second to last
runner, and produced a great 18:44 to clock the second fastest time of the
day. Second over the line was Trudy Gardiner, with the races youngest
competitor James Williams in third. Last years winner, Rebecca Carver, could
only finish 4th despite carving a huge 40 seconds off last years time.
Nathan Young gave everyone a huge head start, and must have turned a few
heads on his run out to the Palace Fields as he was one of the better gfancy
dress entries. His 15:56 clocking was easily the fastest.

RESULTS: 2k - 1 Simone Young 11:07 (actual time 9:07), 2 Ella-Rose Bazley
Jackson 11:09 (8:49), 3 Hayley Carver 11:17 (8:27), 4 Jason Bateman 11:27
(8:27), 5 Mar-lou Poore 11:34 (9:59), 6 Tyron Williams 11:47 (10:32), 7 Alex
Williams 11:48 (8:48), 8 Amy Reakes 11:48 (9:03), 9 Mark Bailey 11:49
(7:34), 10 Shaun Bateman 11:53 (8:33), 11 Shane Williams 12:16 (8:16), 12
Minty Martin 12:17 (12:17), 13 Harriet Gardiner 12:18 (12:18), 14 Ellie
Norris/Ella Felton 21:18.

5k - 1 Ben Millar 29:19 (actual time 18:44), 2 Trudy Gardiner 29:34 (27:04),
3 James Williams 29:35 (21:35), 4 Rebecca Carver 29:56 (20:31), 5 Nathan
Young 30:11 (15:56), 6 Aoife Thorogood 30:15 (19:40), 7 Louise Williams
30:19 (25:34), 8 Peter Grosjean 30:34 (25:54), 9 Marcus Williams 30:52
(21:12), 10 Tony Williams 31:07 (26:07), 11 Ian Humphreys 31:31 (21:41).

In the festivities that followed at the EMI club a keenly contested quiz
produced a tied winner, with "Willpower" and the "Late Arrivals" both
scoring 33 points. Nathan and older brother Haydn Young won the skittles
competition. Ian Humphreys was awarded one of the club's two London Marathon
entries - can any club member who would like to be considered for the second
place please contact either Kathy Williams or Ian Humphreys as soon as
possible.