SHAFTESBURY TROPHY - 50M - Newmarket - 19th July 2020

At last, 2020 starts!! 🎉🥳🍾

Covid-19 could not destroy the rather prestigious Shaftesbury ‘50’m TT in Cambridgeshire / Suffolk, but the bloody British weather tried its best, a window of torrential rain was forecast and at just the wrong time on Sunday very early morning, however fortunately those wonderful Shaftesbury CC boys declared it fit to race, and although it was very wet, it was never hazardous. ☔️

So, the first race of 2020, so good to have that ‘number on your back’, it’s not just the race it’s the build up, prep, how the training has gone?, of course the race itself, and then mulling over the result sheets, and where could it have gone better!

For starters it will do, a 1-44-27, my 3rd quickest ever, just under 29mph average - with a tidy 51 mins for the 2nd 25m...was looking for slightly quicker, but for the first rusty race, I shouldn’t complain, much 😉....good enough for 20th overall, 6th vet (O40) but pipped by 1 second to the vets ‘standard’ top podium prize (age and gender adjusted) by the impressive Anna Turvey...also improved the N Mids Vets record, but missed the National Age record by 52 seconds...

Amazing time btw by Adam Wild, especially in those conditions....possibly 2nd fastest UK time ever I believe? A name for the future at that rate 🥇

Bigger fish though next week, the rescheduled National Vets 50m TT Champs at Newark - all being well, I’m certainly in the mix with just the ‘oldies’ (O40s)  👴

Must thank the Shaftesbury club for endeavouring to persevere with the event, fighting not just the Covid constraints  but as mentioned the weather....their social distancing strategy was perfect but illustrated how simple yet affective it can be....adhering to all the rules, as did the competitors... So well done guys 👏