She's a winner!

Fame at Last

A big smile on her face and an unexpected win. But Vicky deserved the victory winning the Denbigh Harriers Johnson's Handicap shield for 2016. The seven mile race follows the lovely Afon Ystrad for much of it's course and passes the ruins of a cottage once lived in by Dr Samuel Johnson hence the name of the trophy. The route also passes the Johnson's Monument, an interesting piece of sculpture in the middle of nowhere, plus Gwaenygog Hall where Beatrix Potter did some of her writing - so a literary gallop through the woods and vales, Johnson was apparently not too impressed with Wales but the scenery, even in the depths of winter is delightful and Conde Nast traveller magazine recently described Gwaenygog Hall as having one of the top ten gardens in the UK. Vicky's win was slightly assisted by an energetic Skip on a lead - sadly Martin failed by 10 seconds to make it a first and second family victory!

The Johnson's race was a muddy one but the previous weekend Mortimers Forest Trail Race in Shropshire had been a lot muddier! I'd worn trail shoes basing my clever decision on my spotting the word 'trail' in the race title. 24 hours of constant rain prior to the event had turned the narrow forest tracks into an endless quagmire - when we finally found a bit of road (see the pic!) my inner racing demon was unleashed and I managed to pick up a few places on the run in.