This is one of 2 recent posts, be sure not miss the one about Joseph’s Yoga Classes!
Now in it’s third successive year muddy hell is one of the countries biggest cross races. A total of 31 VCL riders took part, and we were the only club to have at least 1 rider in every single category. All involved did their club proud with some great performance’s throughout the evening, from solid results in the youth races, to Phil Glowinski’s flair and eventual 8th place in the last race of the night, not forgetting Conor’s amazing entertainment value.
The evening started with all the youth races. First up was the Under 12′s, where Ivor Patterson rode to an impressive 8th place in a field of over 30 riders. Next it was the Under 14′s turn, Fred Wright managed to go one better and take 7th place in one of the best costumes of the whole night (picture below). In the same race Georgie Hopkins finished as 1st girl, despite being one of the youngest riders in the age category. In the Under 16′s George Jary finished 6th, closely followed by VCL Team mates Noah Phillips (7th) and Hisham Al-Ramah (8th), making VCL the only club to have more than 1 rider in the top ten. In their first year as Junior’s Kieran Laurie (6th) and Josh Cole-Hossain (9th) both put it respectable performances
As it started to get dark the first of the senior races got going, with the novice race quickly followed by the women/vets race. More VCL riders were in action and really getting into the spirit of the event, with fast riding and outlandish costumes. Phil Wright’s (pictured above) had clearly put a lot of effort into his werewolf costume.
The final race of the night saw 9 VCL riders take to the start line. Unfortunately for us, other than the seeded riders we all decided to start next to one another, and were consequently all held up by the same crash in the start straight. Out front Phil Glowinski and Jules Birks were just about keeping up with the race leaders. Phil finished in 8th place, a great result considering the high calibre of the field. Jules was hot on his heels in the closing stages of the race, but suffered a major setback when his light stopped working. Undeterred he ploughed on and luckily caught up with a lapped team-mate to lead him round the final lap. Unluckily for him the team-mate was me, and after upping my pace to keep him in a high position i lost control and ended up in the bushes!
Fancy Dress Winner - VCL's own Mr Blobby
Far behind the eventual race winners was crowd favourite and star of the night Mr Blobby (VCL’s Conor Bunn). Who dazzled the crowds by taking the track centre obstacles in his stride despite a rather unwieldy costume. The now 7ft + frame of Mr Blobby bouncing up and down over the whoops, hopping the hurdle and getting air off of the table top was truely a sight to behold. Conor was a very worthy winner of the fancy dress prize for the night, though riding as Mr Blobby did have it’s down sides – I’m not sure he enjoyed the big hill every lap:
Full results available here
