Brian's breakthrough

Last Saturday was the sixteenth running of the 'Carrera Vila D'Altea', an 8.6km race starting in Altea, heading towards Albir and then to the surprise of a few, finishing with a punishing climb up towards Altea's old town.

It was a hot and still day, so the conditions were tough but that didn't stop a few of the striders from putting in some great performances.

A great result for Louise put her on top of the podium in the women's vets C category, and second overall in the women's race with a superb time of 37:46. But I think the surprise of the day was Brian, showing that his recent triathlon style multisporting is paying off in a big way, by finishing ninth in his category in the fantastic time of 40:22.

Other performances were; Jon B 42:50, Don 46:10, Sole 49:22 (4th place,just narrowly missing out on the podium), Roger 50:39 and Des 54:20.

The first three places overall went to Juan Antonio Fernandez Cantos (28:54), Carlos Alegre Sanchez (29:07) and Ricardo Dura Cremades (29:13).

First to finish for the women was Leyre Gallardo Poveda in 37:25 then Louise (37:46) with Pilar Rodriguez Sedeno in third (37:59).

Sole steals the show

On Saturday a few of us were in La Xara for the town's 7km race. The course, which included two laps around the town was ideal for fast times and the striders didn't disappoint.

The big news was Sole's fantastic third place in the women's vets C category. After surgery on her meniscus in 2008 she has had to be very patient with her running, dilligently building the strength back up in her knee and running less than she would have liked at times, but Saturday was her reward and showed that she is beginning to find some of her old form again.

There were of course more good performances from several others. Amanda had a great race just edging out one of her newest rivals, Cachita by one second in 31:00. Paul finished in 4th place in the vets B category in a time of 25:45 which placed him 26th overall. Jon B finished well in 31:27.

Rob had another good run, finishing as the first Strider in 31:58, Don ran strongly to finish in 36:21, next was Sole in 36:54 followed by Ron in 38:01, Roger in 38:55 and Carol in 39:06.

The overall race was won convincingly by C.A Dianium's Vicent Mas Leyda in a time of 23:09 with Victor Manuel Fernandez Garcia in second (23:21) and Said Day Day third 23:50.

In the women's race Maxine Mckinnon finished first in the fantastic time of 25:51 followed by Mayca Sala Garcia in 26:49 and Laura Alabau Marti taking third in 28:41

A Fletcher Double

Last Saturday was the 'Volta a Peu Beniarbeig' and it was a very successful day for the Fletcher's as both Paul and Amanda went home with a trophy. Amanda convincingly won the women's Vets B category in 33:18 (almost a full minute clear of her next rival) and Paul placed second on the men's side in a rapid time of 26:58 (and 24th place overall)

Several other local runners put in noteworthy performances, but none more so than John B who having only been running a few short months managed to finish in a fantastic time of 35:21.

Other great performances from strider's were; Rob (33:40), Sole (39:44 and 5th place in her category), Ron (39:56), Roger (40:55), Carol (42:21) and Des (43:28).

Talented Franc Beneyto runner, Mounir Horma took the honours in the men's race in 23:17 followed by Sergi Soler Ginestar in 23:46 and Cristian Gaston Ferreyra Peralta in 24:26.

Monica Mahiques fornes won the women's race in 31:17 well clear of the next woman, Almudena Sanchez Fernandez (32:35) and Carme Vidal Moreno (32:56) taking third.

Born to Ron

On the 4th September the 'Volta a Peu L'Alqueria de la Comtessa' took place, and as ever there were several success stories.

Regulars on the racing circuit Louise and Amanda both ran very good races with Louise winning the women's Vets B category in a time of 39:33 and Amanda running 43:11.

Rob, taking advantage of a great run of form at the moment managed 45:38 for the 7.3 km and the ever improving John B completed the course in 49:30.

Ron and Carol both took part in the race clocking 52:19 and 54:33 respectively but best of all, Ron's time won him a free meal for two for being the oldest competitor in the race. Apparently one of the locals took exception to this and questioned wether Ron was in fact old enough to win the prize. You've got to take the compliments wherever they come from Ron!

The overall race was won by Juanra Pous Perez in 30:29, over a full minute clear of second place Mohamed Boufzouz (31:32) and David Ruiz Gomez in third (31:39)

The women's race was won by Olivia Peiro Sabater in 38:30 with second place going to Louise (39:33) and third was Encarna Cardona Gomez (41:56)