Saturday morning saw the running of the Fulton Five, the first race in the club’s Hastings Financial Services sponsored 2023/24 Handicap Series. The weather, while not quite as kind to us as it was last year, could have been a lot worse had the forecast heavy showers materialised so we all survived unscathed.
As usual, the runners’ starting times were based on the handicapper’s assessment (the technical term for this is ‘guesswork’) of how quickly each would take to complete the five-mile course, which started and finished on the Promenade beside the Leisure Centre. Accordingly, the first runner to get underway was John Agnew, who had twenty-three minutes to spare over Jordan Heron who, no surprise here, was the last to be given the off, though he did manage to miss his scheduled start by four minutes.
Once all the runners were underway the timers and assembled supporters (all five of us) loafed around at the start where Jackie regaled us with tales of how he had once again been abandoned by Rhonda who, apparently, was gallivanting around Derry/Londonderry, thus leaving him to find out where she kept the kettle, discover how it worked and then fill some flasks with boiling water all without scalding himself (I suspect Kim might have given him a hand). Doubtless Jackie would rather this information wasn’t put into the public domain given the possibility that Rhonda might now expect him to make her an occasional cup of coffee or, God forbid, take her tea in bed of a morning. Leah, perhaps taking a leaf from Jackie’s decision to open his heart to us, also took the opportunity to share some of the sordid secrets that John would probably have preferred her to keep stum about.
Eventually, some forty-five minutes after John left the starting gate, the first of the returning runners was spotted at the top of the hill at the end of the Promenade, though it wasn’t until he reached the bottom of the Snake that the timers were able to say with any certainty that it was Thompson Crawford and such was his lead that they were able fill in his name at the top of the results sheet while he still had 300 metres to run. Nevertheless, Billy Thompson, who by this stage was secure in second place, still worked hard all the way to the line in what was ultimately a vain attempt to chase him down. In the end Thompson’s corrected time of 35:14 was good enough to see him home by fifteen seconds. Billy’s corrected time of 32:24, the third fastest of the day, should give him some encouragement that a sub-40:00 time in the Seeley Cup is not an unrealistic ambition. Well, certainly not for Jordan anyway. The third runner across the line in a corrected time of 45:53 was Diane Hawthorne, continuing her run of excellent placings in handicaps over the past year or two.
The full results are set out in the table below but it’s worth pointing out that the first and second fastest times of the day were set by Jordan (28:01) and Thomas Craig (32:40) while the three fastest ladies’ times were set by Ashlynn Rodgers (37:59), Emma McKeen (39:55) and Beverley Gaston (40:05). It’s also worth taking this opportunity to welcome Colin McVicker to handicap racing. Hopefully the Boxing Day race will prove to be a more enjoyable experience for him. Welcome back, too, after a long absence from handicap racing to John (Hopalong Cassidy) Agnew. Don’t worry if you don’t know who Hopalong Cassidy is, you probably have to be at least John’s age to have heard of him. Before moving on, a word or two as well about Paul Tilson. Paul didn’t have the best of runs, something Carrick Rangers, the local football team he supports, know all about. Paul had hoped he would get better as he matured like a fine wine but today his performance bore more resemblance to a corked wine. Still, he lives in hope.
Finally, thanks to Jackie and Kirsty for help with the timing; to Diane for organising the the prizes, to Jackie again for the tea and refreshments; to Leah for giving us a laugh (see paragraph three above) – now John’s wondering exactly what she said; and, last but most assuredly not least, thanks to Hastings Financial Services for their sponsorship of the handicap series.
FULTON FIVE HANDICAP – 18 NOVEMBER 2023
| Place | Name | H’cap | Time | Corrected Time |
| 1 | Thompson Crawford | 13:25 | 48:39 | 35:14 |
| 2 | Billy Thompson | 16:30 | 48:54 | 32:24 |
| 3 | Diane Hawthorne | 03:30 | 49:23 | 45:53 |
| 4 | Laura Brennan | 07:30 | 49:37 | 42:07 |
| 5 | Emma McKeen | 10:00 | 49:55 | 39:55 |
| 6 | Dale Smith | 14:40 | 50:15 | 35:35 |
| 7 | Nigel Kane | 13:35 | 50:18 | 36:43 |
| 8 | Thomas Craig | 17:40 | 50:20 | 32:40 |
| 9 | Andrew Davidson | 03:50 | 50:36 | 46:46 |
| 10 | Ashlynn Rodgers | 12:40 | 50:39 | 37:59 |
| 11 | John Agnew | 03:00 | 50:40 | 47:40 |
| 12 | Beverley Gaston | 10:40 | 50:45 | 40:05 |
| 13 | Ian Brennan | 06:40 | 50:53 | 44:13 |
| 14 | John Steele | 15:45 | 51:06 | 35:21 |
| 15 | David Johnston | 14:15 | 51:18 | 37:03 |
| 16 | Paul Magill | 06:00 | 51:50 | 45:50 |
| 16 | Paul Tilson | 15:20 | 52:16 | 36:56 |
| 18 | Laura Smith | 07:00 | 52:24 | 45:24 |
| 19 | Jordan Heron* | 26:00 | 54:01 | 28:01 |
| 20 | Colin McVicker | 14:00 | – | DNF |
| 21 | Alison Magill | 11:20 | – | DNF |
*Jordan arrived late and missed his starting time by 4:00.