Amanda Alldridge continued her stranglehold on the Indoor race scene with a strong performance to win the Anglo Welsh Championship race in Manchester. Alldridge did not have it all her own way as Ellie Jackson raised her game to finish in second place just nine hundredths behind her older rival, helped by posting the second fastest second run time. Shannon Potter took third overall with Holly McKey taking fourth and Olivia Ward recovering on the second run to jump back up to fifth with the fastest time on the run.
With many of the leading snow racers out in Australia, New Zealand and Chile, this was an opportunity for many of those on more modest budgets to put their name in the frame on the national scene. Alldridge is one of the older racers on the Indoor scene but is still demonstrating the level of performance that the younger racers need to attain before they can be considered to be at the same level.
Alldridge lead by fifteen hundredths after the first run with Jackson just ahead of Potter. McKey was two tenths further back with Maisie Jefferson leading the rest of the field. Lucking down in eleventh place was Ward after a poor first run, over a second off the pace.
For Ward, one of the aspiring and talented young female racers, the second run was an opportunity to show what she is capable of. Ward should have been challenging for the race win rather than scrabbling for a place in the top ten. What a difference her second run made. Faster than rising Under 14 racer, Charlotte Holmes, quicker than leading dry mat racer Nicole Shering, it was only when Holly McKey took the aggregate lead that Ward was knocked off the top spot. Her point had been made as to what she was capable of. Unfortunately the overall result was decided over two runs not just the one run. A confidence booster none the less!
Despite Jackson going faster, Alldridge held on to the lead to win the Anglo Welsh Title for the third time. Impressive stuff. Indoor racing would be well served if some of the better Under 14, 16 and 18 racers came to battle it out as well. Training programmes and other commitments may hinder this utopian idea but it could be looked into.
The age groups were won by Charlotte Holmes (Under 14, 6th Overall), Holly McKey (Under 16, 4th Overall), Ellie Jackson (Under 18, 2nd Overall), Olivia Ward (Under 21, 5th Overall), Amanda Alldridge (Senior, Race Winner), Anna Dedecjus (Masters, 13th Overall).
Amber Fennell took the Under 12 win with Alice Bond taking the Under 10 race win.
Pictures from the racing are available here
Full results