BSHRA Sherwood Forest (14-15th November, 2015)
The start to the 2015/16 season opener was Sherwood Forest the woodland home of Robin Hood and his band of merry xmas men, (sorry I know its only November). The merry men of Robbo (as he was known to his close friends) have long since gone but in their place come a new band of merry men and women to enjoy the forest of ancient myth, gone are the green garments of centuries past and in are the bright out door clothing of today, to which Steve Rooke can supply you with, some say’th “He be like Millets of the forest”. So if your wanting a change of warm winter clothing with the BSHRA and Alpha Feeds logo on then place your orders and Steve and Nicky will turn you into the well-dressed forest dweller you’ve always wanted to be.
Firstly I really need to thank all the people who assisted us in putting on this event, the Forestry Commission for the use of their land and talking to Stephen Jenkinson of the Kennel Club who liaised with everybody on our behalf and enabled them all to say yes, the land agent who gave permission for the Forestry Commission to say yes, Nottingham County Council for talking to everybody and giving permission to all to say yes, the man from Del-Monte now he always says yes and all the people who gave up their time on Friday to assist in setting out the start, finish and all the muddy, bendy, and the up and downy bits in between. I almost forgot to mention our season’s sponsor’s, Alpha Feeds, who are supporting the main race series with prizes for the top 3 in each class and some sample goodies for everyone else. Also Tadita dog booties, who are supporting after the junior classes this season.
The original trails we’ve used in the past were in very good condition and thanks to Kev, Mel, Richard and Sharon’s summer time gardening duties a new section of fast down hill followed by a narrow twisty copse section were added, OH! And a good old up hill, to get some burn into those lazy summer legs. Shame we were only able to use it on the Saturday due to the high temperatures on Sunday, still there is always next year if we are given the ok to run another (dare I tell Pauline I sais that).
Back for its second year is the A-class 8 dog and for the peddlers among you the bikejor. We had quite a few new faces to BSHRA for this the first race weekend of the season and I hope they will continue to come to many more weekends and enjoy running their dogs with us, we also had a few familiar faces I haven’t seen for a few years, its always good to catch up with old friends. Shame the weather didn’t want to play ball on Sunday, but you can’t have it all as Robbo would say. I have never known a November this warm and I’m from North Wales; it was almost t-shirt and shorts at dawn. The Saturday trails were short but the Sunday trails were even shorter, but you do what you can with what you’ve got and good dog care always comes first, not the miles.
Saturdays trail distance for the following classes were 3.3 miles as the arrow flies, certain names have been altered to protect them from persecution by the Sheriff of Nottingham’s tax grabbing hired on Goons and Thugs.
Saturdays results:
A (8 dog)
1st Andrew (Scarlet) Grisbrooke.
2nd Hugh (longbow) Sym.
B (6 dog)
1st Steve (Bowman) Biddlecombe
2nd Jay (the Cleaver) Glover
3rd Kevin (Crossbow) Spooner
C4 (4 dog)
1st Sharon (the Stave) Sergeant
2nd Mel (Marian)Hannam
3rd Ali (Arrow) Gee
Bikejor (1 dog)
1st Helen Homer
2nd Tom (Tuck) Quinton
3rd Paul (the Staff) Regan
Saturdays trail distance for the following classes were 2.5 miles.
C3 (3 dog)
1st Kevin (Crossbow) Spooner
2nd Kirk Robinson (Hood)
3rd Ian (the Mace) Muncaster
D (2 dog)
1st Dorit (Fletcthing) Fellner
2nd Paul (Little) Pateman
3rd Graham Pickavance
DM
1st Ryan Reader
Saturdays trail distance for the following classes were 1.7 miles.
Scooter (1 dog)
1st Alexandria Taylor
2nd Paul (Little) Pateman
3rd Tim Purser
J1 (1 dog)
1st Ben Platt
2nd Maisie Glover
J2 (2 dog)
1st Paige Glover
2nd Cameron Ankers
We knew Sunday was going to be a different day (clue in the name) to Saturday and we knew the weather was going to be against. Dry and warm, it hit 16 deg at one stage, so trails were chopped to compensate for this in all classes, we did minute starts as opposed to two minute starts to close up the time between classes to finish the day quicker. A few teams chose not to run and I can’t blame them, but thankfully most took on the challenge and there were no dog issues thankfully.
Sundays results and trail distance 2.7 mile.
A (8 dog)
1st Andrew Grisbrooke
2nd Hugh Sym
B (6 dog)
1st Steve Biddlecombe
2nd Steve Rooke
3rd Jay Glover
C4 (4 dog)
1st Mel Hannam
2nd Sharon Sargent
3rd Jack Dixon
Bikejor (1 dog)
1st Tom Quinton
2nd Jay Glover
3rd Helen Homer
Sunday’s trail distance 1.1 mile.
C3 (3 dog)
1st Kevin Spooner
2nd Paul Patestman
3rd Jane Wellstead
D (2 dog)
1st Paul Pateman
2nd Rachel Skeath
3rd Dorit Fellner
DM
1st Ryan Reader
Sunday’s trail distance 0.9 mile.
Scooter (1 dog)
1st Alexandria Taylor
2nd Paul Pateman
3rd Tim Purser
J1 (1 dog)
1st Ben Platt
2nd Maisie Glover
J2 (8 dog) that got a few parents worried actually it’s 2 dog.
1st Paige Glover
2nd Cameron Ankers
Thank you to all who came to the first event of the series. I hope you all enjoyed the time you spend with your dogs for without them you’d be lost, and without you they’d be lost, so just remember where ever you go, they go ok.
Stay safe until next time and happy trails,
Pauline and Hugh :)