Having learnt a lot more lessons last year about the pit falls of organizing a Rally, we got into gear early this year, with all the relevant permissions & services arranged by July. BUT, the date anticipated, clashed with another event, & it was back to the drawing board, to rearrange it all, Ho Hum.

However, my friend Paul Mas, from ISS Services providing generous sponsorship, made this task easier. As a world-class support services organisation, they recognized the synergies between running dog teams, & providing seamless services to their clients, both require dedicated teamwork, training & vision.

Having the Rally date so close to Christmas, we were obviously compelled to develop a Xmas theme for the event. That's the excuse for all the Santa Hats being made compulsory for the Starters, Snubbers, finishing & Marshals.

The weather had been extremely wet, as we all knew from previous weekends Rallies, but the course is well drained, & surprisingly was in good condition. With a single course for all classes the trail distance was 3.4 miles, the weather on Saturday was foggy & 4 degrees.

Sunday was warm at 10 degree, but perversely damp with a threat of rain hanging about all day, making it feel uncomfortable, the trails however had stood up very well, despite a torrential downpour overnight.

Initially we received over 90 entries, some taking up to 14 days in the post, but with the dates being so close to Xmas, a lot of cancellations occurred, & we eventually had 70 teams taking part.

Generally the teams had slower times on this second day, probably due to the rise in temperature, & the last mile getting a bit "sticky". The "hairpin bend" provided its usual "moments" for some teams, but was generally well taken. Particular thanks go to the marshals leading to this & at this section.

I did have a questionable issue in the D class, of how a Gloucester RFC Supporter, Kevin Hale, managed to come second, but then I remembered he was used to this position from his team. But Kevin's day was made, when I was able to present him with a team photo of the Champions, Leicester Tigers.

Our thanks go to all the helpers over the Rally days, & particularly to Richard & Lorraine Morgan for their help setting the course up & producing for me an "idiots copy" of the results, which I some how still got in a mess with.

Once again this year we were able to get the use of the caravan club site for car parking, & it proved popular for quite a few competitors to stay over night on.
Without any reminders from ourselves, (I forgot to mention it) the warden from the caravan club commented that the Rally site was probably left in a cleaner state than it started the weekend in, which is a complement to the club members who attended the Rally & took ownership of their "litter & things".

It was nice to see a good mixture of club members attend the Rally. I hope all competitors enjoyed the Rally, and once again it was a privilege to put something back into the Club by keeping this long established Rally running, despite the hiccup with the dates.

Click here for results

Author: Rob & Sue Pinsent