BITE'08
THE WET ONE!
And when we say wet -
we mean WET!
A night of torrential rain
followed by more in the morning meant that conditions were pretty difficult for the 216 brave souls that took part in the 5th Badger Bite 6k cross-country.
Wolves & Bilston's David Evans made his intentions clear from the start and established an early lead which he didn't intend to give up. With almost a minutes lead at the half-way point, he stormed to victory in 21:25 only 5 seconds adrift of the course record. A gritty and determined performance by DK's Ian Mansell saw him finish in 2nd place in 23:06 - just managing to fend off 3rd placed John Sanders of Telford AC in 23:13.
Last year's winner and course record holder Dave Mansbridge took a fall with a mile to go whilst lying in 4th place.
First Lady (and a commendable 19th overall) was Telford AC's Denise (Nellie) Sanders in a time of 27:00 but she was chased hard by DK's Helen Tromans and Catherine Liver.
There were some terrific performances in the veterans categories with Kevin Duckworth (DK), Alan McDonald (Telford AC) and Andy Parker (DK) taking the mens V40, V50 and V60 prizes respectively. In the corresponding ladies' vet categories Amanda Purves (Newport), Carries Creamer (W&B) and Christine Sedman-Smith took the honours.
The newly incorporated Six Parishes Championship for runners local to Badger waswon for the first time by Chris Wood of Beckbury who finished the race in 21st place overall in 27:10.
The Badger Bite
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Main pic: A delighted David Evans (W&B) crosses the line. Insets: DK's Ian Mansell comes in 2nd, followed by John Sanders of Telford AC. 1st Lady Denise Sanders looks exhausted. Left: Last years winner Dave Mansbridge takes a tumble with a mile to go while in 4th spot.
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The Badger Bite
6k multi-terrain race at Badger, Shropshire
Sunday 3rd October 2010 at 11.00 am
