November 14: Danny Simmons wins the November Handicap Kanter

Twenty one athletes turned out for the November Kanter, a Handicap race around the redways at Heelands, close to Linford Woods.

Date of next Kanter: 12 December 2023

Danny Simmons won, followed by Richard Hill and Debra Brent.  Special mention goes to Danny, as he finished chemotherapy on 27 September – we all wish you a continued speedy recovery.

Racing was very exciting… Alison and Francesca were first to set off, 5 seconds apart, and Francesca managed to pip Alison by 3 seconds (next month will be fun to watch them duke it out).  Hannah and Peter took off at the same time, but it wasn’t Peter’s night.  Richard, Alex, Rob and Kevin all set off within 10 seconds of each other (Rob even started twice for good measure!) – Rich had a cracking run, and got the better of that trio.  Andy and Mike were supposed to start together but Mike misjudged his running start by around 100m, so we’ll have to see how that battle goes next month!

The top three male course times were James Lloyd Knibbs (14:55), Ed Williamson (16:04) and Darren Murphy (16:27).  The top three females were Alex Knowles (17:26), Debra Brent (18:16) and Hannah Lloyd-Knibbs (18:48).

Ten PBs were recorded (almost half the field!): Alex Knowles (35s improvement), Alison Ray (4s), Andy Sealey (6s), Debra Brent (massive 47s!), Francesca Fisher (new), Hannah Lloyd Knibbs (huge 40s!), Martin Brent (8s on his 17th Kanter!), Michael Morris (new), Richard Hill (remarkable 1m19s!!!) and Rob Norman (19s).

After two rounds, Rob Norman is flying the Shenley Striders flag proudly with a whopping 51 points. He is followed by Amy Inchley on 48, Alison Ray on 46, Martin Brent on 43 and Hannah Lloyd-Knibbs on 42 (very respectable for her first Kanter).

Only the top four results count – the more you race, the better your chances of winning. The table can change a lot, especially in the last two months. If you didn’t fare too well this month, hopefully we’ll see you smashing your handicap next month!