Chingford League Race Four: The Stags Can’t Get Enough of Lee Valley VeloPark

On Wednesday 10th December the Stags returned to the VeloPark for their second visit of the season and as ever the numbers were high; 40 Stags (22 women and 18 men competed). Fantastic! We love this venue which is fast, well lit and perfect under foot and the trackside atmosphere is second to none.

It is, however, a nightmare to reach and some Stags didn’t make it there while others such as Scott and Victoria Fraser had challenging journeys and arrived flustered but suitable warmed up; in Victoria’s case four minutes before the start of the race. They both had great races though so it was worth the considerable effort. Well done! It is also great to see so many Stags offering lifts to their club mates which is something we all appreciate.

The men were led home by Toby Harris on his Chingford League debut in a magnificent time of 17.04 and it would have been under 17 minutes but for the chaotic start. He was followed home by Nehal Lavey-Khan and Alex Shuker who had a terrific battle and finished one second apart!

Needless to say Richard McCormick, was first M60 on the night, and Dylan Hepworth had a great club debut finishing in 19.21 in his first competitive race in seven years. Brilliant!

Our women were led home by Kath March, who clearly loves this venue, in a great time of 20.39, followed by Jo Kent and the always improving Chloe Marshall. Well done!

There were great performances throughout the teams. In the men’s team Des Michael continued his run of great form and was under 24 minutes and Andy Welsh had a fine run too while in the women’s team Kathy Dominy and Anneli Sydenham both had exceptional runs and earned great PBs while Jana Jilkova’s great run secured a course PB. It was good to see the return of Sara Atkin and she had a fine run also.

It was Pear’s birthday too and she chose to celebrate by racing with the Stags which is testament to the great Team Spirit we have. Pear appreciated the birthday sausage roll with candles too!

Di Godin’s support with the numbers was once again invaluable.