Muddy tracks made for some hard going in MetrO League round 2 at Allambie Heights on Sunday.
Setter Marina Iskhakova used the northern section of the Manly Dam map to full effect, setting some legs that required careful route choice by track due to the bush being fairly impenetrable in most places.
Division 1 found the going tough around the hilly 5.5km course, with the fastest time going to Andrew Hill (WHO) in 45m30s - a good 10 minutes outside the expected best. Big Foot and Garingal had comfortable wins and meet next round to see who remains undefeated.
There were two ties: Go Frill Necks ruing a mispunch against WHO in Division 2, and SHOO-IKO wishing they had a fifth runner against the GO Geckos in Division 5.
Hosts Bennelong Northside racked up double wins in Divisions 4 and 5 and look the teams to beat in those grades, with Tshinta Hopper blitzing the field by six minutes in Div 5.
Newly promoted KNOX continued their unbeaten run in Division 3 and had the three fastest times, headed by Thomas Gordon's 28-minute trailblaze.
Overnight and morning rain made for some mushy running but that didn't deter the almost 200 participants, including a group from Brigidine College. Thanks to Bennelong for another lovely day out on the northern beaches.
The ML web page has been updated with Sunday's results. Round 3 is at Sir Joseph Banks Park in Botany on May 29. Entries are already open.
