L a t e s t  n e w s ..... Rachel Adcock and Gerard Flahive win both races at Scottish Dry Slope Championships ...

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams' (Eleanor Roosevelt).

Roose retains the Title from the front! Adcock adds to her growing number of wins!

In 2006 Andy Roose won the British Title in Silksworth after many of the racers failed to make the course, this year Roose proved that it was no fluke and won convincingly from the front! With the eyes of the spectators searing up the course for the second run and with the knowledge that he had choked the day before when leading the English Open, Roose made it back to back wins with fastest runs on both courses! Many questioned whether he had the stamina to with hold the pressure he was under after Marc Telling had challenged his times with a great second run but Roose went down the course the only way he knows: fast! Just faster than Telling was able to manage, Roose made it back to back British titles before his 17th birthday! A great feat! With Marc Telling taking second, third place was secured by Jai Geyer who had spent the majority of the summer recovering from injuries sustained at the end of last winter season.  The men's top five was completed by Dan Wyatt and Mikey Thelwell.

In the women's race, Rachel Adcock was a class apart of the rest of the field as she finished over a second ahead of the rest of the field.  The Newcastle student put two runs down that the rest were just clutching at to try and stay within striking distance. Leading the rest of the field was a rejuvenated Alice Thelwell.  Thelwell has suffered from knee injuries in the past few years and this was a great result for her. One of the surprises this summer to all but those that know her has been the rise of Kathryn Barber. With wins and podium places this summer, the Wycombe racer has demonstrated that she is a talent that will give the older more experienced racers a run for their money next season. Barber took third ahead of an out of sorts Charlotte Evans and Laura Garden in fourth and fifth overall.

Norfolk provides great viewing from the bottom and the two courses, set by Robin Kellen and Phil Brown, two past masters of the plastic slopes and now coaches, gave the racers plenty to think about.  While the racers had distractions that were inappropriate and ill advised to contend with at the start, the quality of the racing was of a high standard.  With a number of ex British Team racers taking part "just for the fun," the seriousness and competitiveness of the event had lured many to the event. While Stuart Riches, the winner of the English Open the previous day was looking for back to back wins, he was off the pace and unable to achieve this.  Roose won three of the four runs over the course of the weekend and despite club colleague David Ryding not being able to attend, this was a superb way to answer critics from last year! The Pendle racer harnessed his strength and determination to put to rest and answer those that questioned his ability to win when others finished: To those he answered "To finish first, first you have to finish!"

Jake Morgan took the closely fought Children 1 age group with Max Moss second and Ashley Breese third.  This age group has been very tough all year and bodes well for the future for British racing! Ashley Hill took the older age group with Dan Evans in second and Max Wheatman third. Simon Lyons from Ireland took fourth and also the prize for the most improved result in the the men's races coming from a start of 110 to end up29th! Katie Lamb won the corresponding prize in the females. In the Juniors, Mikey Thelwell took the spoils ahead of Dan Curtis with Adam Hutchings taking third in the Junior 1 age group.  Junior 2 saw Roose win ahead of Geyer with Stuart Riches in third, all three in the top seven overall! Senior age group bettered that with the podium places all finishing in the top six overall: Telling won from Dan Wyatt and Pete Walters taking third. Shane O'Connor comfortably won the Masters age group, despite not skiing to his "World Championship form" (his own admission!).

The women's race may not have the same attraction and attention as the men's race but Rachel Adcock was every bit as dominant as Roose was in the men's race. Adcock made mistakes in the English Open and rectified them for the main race to win by a large margin! In the age groups categories for the women's race, victory in the Children 1 went to Sarah Lamden ahead of Nia Jenkins who just edged out Stephanie Davies. After challenging for the top five overall in the first run, Alessia Thomas Jackson was out of sorts and sloppy with her second run and was lucky to take the children two age group ahead of the fast improving Jeni Thomas. Emily Evans took third place in the age group and 9th place overall. In the Junior 1 age group Charlotte Evans took the victory ahead of Laura Garden and Charlotte Davies from Somerset taking third. In the older age group it was victory for Barber with Hannah Parker taking second and Charlotte Garden third. With Adcock and Thelwell taking the top two spots overall they were joined on the age group podium by Vivienne Watson! Mary Ondrusz secured the Masters win (in a group of 1!).

Congratulations to all the winners and racers in what was one of the highlights of the summer. It was just a shame that more emphasis was placed on the time taken by a minority of racers in the start when the ongoing problem of racers skiing out, rejoining the course and then skiing out before the finish was not looked at.  Coaches MUST educate their trainees that this will incur the wrath of the TD if done on snow with financial penalties and suspensions being handed out to the racer an option to the TD!

Many thanks to the hospitality granted by Norfolk Ski Club!

For the full results click here

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