Club Champs this weekend
All roads lead to Bridge of Allan on Saturday (19th) as FVO hosts its Club Championships at Mine Woods. 2015 Open champions Fanni Gyurko and Graham Gristwood have taken on planning and organisational duties this time, and won't be competing, opening up the field for new champions this time around.
Four-time (2008, 2011, 2012,2014) Mens Open champion Will Hensman will be looking for a a fifth win in the category, but will face fierce competition from Interlopers' Jegor Kostylev, who has entered as a guest. Janine Inman, too, will be bidding for a fifth Womens Open title, while SCOTjOS athletes Clare Stansfield and Grace Molloy have foregone the junior competition and will race in the Open competition.
The Veteran Mens class looks to be amongst the most competitive of all, with no fewer than 19 entrants. Roger Goddard will bid for a hat-trick of titles, but the winner could come from anywhere in the field. Hazel Dean will aim for a successful defence of her Veteran Womens title, but with no fewer than three previous winners in the field, again there could be an epic race in prospect.
Club legend Gareth Bryan-Jones returns to the forest for his first race of 2016 in the SuperVeteran Mens class, but will face stiff competition from Geoffrey Hensman and David Nicol, while defending champion Lindsey Hensman must hold off the challenge of Jan Bryan-Jones and Chris Wood in SuperVeteran Women.
In the junior categories, the Senior Boys title is expected to be a battle between Benjamin Parkinson and Peter Molloy, while the Junior Boys championship brings together former champion Pierre Lardet and current title-holder Jamie Goddard. Eloise Lardet will start as clear favourite in the Senior Girls class and Lucy Hensman is tipped for success in the Junior Girls division. Finally, James Hammond will be out for back-to-back victories in a 10 runner Young Junior class.
The action gets underway at 11am on Saturday, and there are still places available in all classes for late entrants, with free entry for all current FVO members. Full details of the competition are available online at (http://fvo.org.uk/events/2016/nov/19/mine-woods-9/
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