Heneghan survives best… Written on June 1, 2009, by matt.
It was hot, dry, wet and muddy. Yep, all types of conditions were endured at Swinley Forest for the series opener of the Saab Salomon Turbo X race series. Neck-deep bogs meant that it was, at times, a survival of the fittest, however, the popularity of this type of racing must be gauged by a field of almost 900 runners.
A one-two in any event is not to be scoffed at, even more so if it is an event of your headline sponsors.
The crack Saab Salomon Outdoor Team of John Heneghan, Tom Owens, Nick Sharp and Nicky Swinburn all made the long trip south to Bracknell for the opening race in the four-race series, part of the 2009 Saab Salomon Trail Running Series.
PhD student Heneghan triumphed on the tough mixture of wide trail, singletrack, mud and bog conditions to record a comfortable win over Tom Owens. Nick Swinburn finished an accomplished fourth after his great run at the opening round of the WMRA Grand Prix last week, and course-record run in the Rhyl 5k last Wednesday evening. However, it wasn’t such a happy occasion for Nick Sharp, who had made the trip from the Lakes.
A detour off course mid-way through the event meant that Nick had lost considerable time and came in well below where he would have been expecting to finish.
Speaking after the race John Heneghan said:
“The course was a challenging one. I went fully submerged in one of the water zones, and there were one or two navigational challenges along the way, but otherwise it went very well”.
Tom Owens reiterated Heneghan’s observations, stating:
“It was fast course, very hot, really pleased with my run. There were boggy bits which really took the sting out of you, but the water was refreshing on such a hot day. It was a really good workout and lot of fun!”
The author also managed to get round and will fill in the gaps later this week, in his tale of fun in the sun!
Full results now online
