Windgather - trophy wife

Occasionally, Mrs Noel does a race where all her Christmases come at once. Windgather was one of these. It was the final race in the Gritstone Series, the final race in the Goyt Valley Series, and had category prizes for the race as well.

Mrs Noel was pretty apprehensive about doing a long race, as she's never done one before. She's also been put off the idea by my abject performances in most of the long races I've ever done. This has made her think that she too will not be able to do long races unless she trains up to that distance.

Fortunately, the reality was nothing like her fears, as she romped through the field to finish second lady, some way behind the clearly very talented lady who finished 3rd overall (!!)

Among Mrs Noel's various prizes, the most notable was the excellent Goyt Valley Series first lady trophy (pictured here). Races and race series somehow seem to have more gravitas when the organisers go the extra mile with the trophies.