On Sunday morning a handful of WRC members were part of the 1363 runners who tackled the 4 and 3/4 miles of the 62nd Dovedale Dash. The famously hectic start sees the huge crowd of participants charge down the hill from Thorpe Pasture like a cotton and lycra clad re-imagining of a scene from Braveheart before wading at speed through the chilly waters of the River Dove at the bottom. (The stepping stones are an option but generally frowned upon by the masses…) The course then undulates it’s way around the local scenery before a stiff climb to the finish back up the hill you originally started from.
The unusually mild and dry weather resulted in a low water level in the river and a noticeable absence of the usual Dovedale mud.
These favourable conditions saw fast times all round and course PBs for Mark (who also finished well within the first 100) and Bob.
Wirksworth finishers were:
81st – Mark Crawshaw – 33:53
113th – Bob King – 34:52
170th – Simon Edwards – 36:31
251st – Russ Morgan – 38:24
308th – James Watson – 39.27
911th – Kate Watson – 51:10
The fun start can be seen in all its glory here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSWU_DyP09k
This followed on from a day of speedy parkrun activity. Bob, taking a quick break to York, turned in a lifetime PB and finished in 25th place overall with 19:24. More importantly, he ran back to his hotel in time for his breakfast.
Tanya Rountree put in yet another solid performance at Markeaton, with 29:27.
At Bakewell, the PBs continued. John Potter brushed some minor man flu aside and took his Bakewell PB out another 9 seconds to 18:34. Mark Crawshaw equalled his Bakewell PB of 19:53, whilst Dave Spencer sliced a massive 30 seconds off his PB, clocking 20:42. The Hobson family stuck together, led steadily home by dad, John, in a time of 34:33.