Harestock Handicap - March 2023

Perfect conditions for the March Handicap saw a raft of fast times with 9 athletes meeting or beating their handicap and 8 charging home together in the thrilling sweetspot of the blanket finish.We had a welcome newbie in Jo Blatherwick, well pitched to within 7secs of par but on a fast night also treated to the full handicap experience of being caught and passed in the final moments by that sweetspot crowd.
nOur winner on the night was James Day back from injury and taking his first handicap win with a fine (6'50 net) ahead of Paul Oxley steadily improving to (7'47) in 2nd with Ian Parker (8'06) in 3rd.
nFastest on the night was Bracken Dawson (6'36) and the fastest lady was Anna Bion (7'29).
nAs regards the overall standings it's still too early to say anything other than it's all still wide open and with all the discards even if you haven't yet run a handicap in 2023 you could still be the overall winner. That said Jess Milborne, Steve Oliver, Paul Oxley, Stephen Lowy and Anna Bion are all off the a good start scoring consistently through the first quarter. More importantly with a few regulars missing (although the Tokyo marathon is a decent excuse) we're now down to there now being only 12 people in the whole world who still have a chance of winning a coveted "12 out of 12" medal.
nThe April 2023 Handicap will be, as ever, on the first Thursday of the month...the 6th April 2023.....the first of the light nights and the beginning of a new tax year.
nMeet at the bus-stop warmed up and ready to go at 19.30 (the run/handicap/run combo) or join us up there from 19.00 for some threshold loops as your warmup with the handicap lap as a "fast rep" to finish (the thresh/handicap combo).