The annual Alsager 5 mile road race took place on Sunday 4th February. Due to the fast, flat course the Alsager 5 attracts a high class field from all over the country. This year was no exception and the excellent weather conditions contributed to some fast times. A small number of City of Stoke athletes were led by the inform Kate Holt. Hot on the heels of a grueling Midland Cross Country Championships a week ago Kate was again our top performer at this race. Kate ran a well judged race to finish 3rd woman (37th in the 950 strong field) just 20 seconds behind to Lauren Howarth and Sonia Samuels, who were separated by 1 second at the line, and 16 seconds ahead of Juliet Potter. Crossing the line in a new personal best of 27:46 Kate was delighted with her performance particular after such a demanding cross country race last weekend. After the race Kate said ” as usual the start was so fast, but I held back slightly. At 3.5 miles I got back onto Jane’s shoulder and a quarter of a mile later pushed on to secure 3rd place.”
These good performances have attracted attention of the selectors and Kate will travel to Spain next weekend to represent England in an international cross country event, a fitting reward for her efforts.
Nicola Quinlan 400th in 38:38 and Angela Ellen 682nd in 46:15 were our only other women competing in this event.
In the men’s race Steve Bazell finished 50th in 28:33 and David Barker 66th in 29:06.