Sally Houghton – BOFRA V50 Champion 2016
Ripon Runners has reasons to be celebrating today after Sally Houghton claimed the female V50 title in the 2016 BOFRA Championships.
There are 16 races in the season, with the best eight results counting towards an athletes total points tally. The winner of each race is awarded 60 points, and with Sally victorious in all 8 races she has competed in, she now has an unassailable lead with a maximum total of 480 points.
Sally has been dominant since the very start of the season in May, by winning the opening race at the Sedbergh Gala. She missed the next race at Coniston but then secured a hat trick of wins at Kettlewell, Hawkswick and Helm Hill, before missing the next two races.
However, the respite for her competitors was short lived, as Sally returned to claim the four remaining wins she needed in consecutive races at Cracoe, Ambleside, Farelton and finally Arncliffe at the weekend. This means with 5 races still left to go this season, her points tally cannot even be equalled, making her win in the group even more remarkable.
Ripon now has two BOFRA champions in recent years, as Sally follows in the footsteps of Ripon’s other V50 Category winner Gary Bastow, who also won his division with a maximum 480 points in 2014.