The first race of the MK Tour is rarely a cagey affair. Everyone thinks they are going to take it easy and save themselves for later in the week, but as soon as the gun goes tactics go out of the window and it becomes like any other race. “I’ll worry about tomorrow’s race tomorrow” becomes the order of the day.

The first major surprise was to see Stu Blofeld with a pair of trainers on. He struggled to get his legs moving horizontally rather than in a circle, but did enough to get around the 11K course in 47:58 and intends on doing one or two more of the series. Others who were there on day one, but haven’t committed to the full tour yet were Graham Magill, whose 46:19 earned him 32nd place out of 111 finishers and Chris Norman whose crazy training schedule seems to be paying dividends as he powered round the second half to come home 7th in 39:01.

At the front end of the race, it was won by Tim Harris (Ampthill) and Tom Comerford (MK) who crossed the line together, knowing the races will get more intense as the week progresses. Our own Eliott Hind was with the two leaders for much of the race and managed to hold on to 4th in the end with a time on 38:04.

Taking inspiration from the Tim and Tom at the top, the LBAC version had a close race too, with Tim doing his very best to sneak up on his brother on the third lap, until some inconsiderate cheering alerted Tom to his presence and Tim eventually settled for a 12 second gap as they came in 14th and 15th. Andy was not too far ahead of them either, having started off too quickly and watched as Chris flew past at the start of lap three, 39:14 was not too bad and he’ll hope to improve when off the flat road surfaces.

LBAC had two ladies out on the night as well, with Fiona happy to not feel any injuries on the night and finish in 58:28. Jo Sharples was 4th lady home and is already in a battle for second place with 4 others and should be pleased with her 46:32 on the night.

Tomorrow’s race is a five mile cross-country round the fields of Potterspury, with numerous stream crossing, all are welcome to come and join in!