A step back in time

In the good old days, summer lasted from May to September with endless hot, sunny days; village greens sporting cricketers clad in all white gently playing forward defensive shots for hours on end; village fêtes with maypoles, strawberries and cream and WI home made cakes, and running races always starting at 3pm on Saturday afternoons. Well, on Saturday I was able to witness three of these things - cricket being the exception as it has changed somewhat; the commentators were bemoaning the WI run rate falling below nine an over for example, what on earth would Geoff Boycott make of that?
The Broad Town 5 is a lovely little race and has been going 26 years. Start & finish is in a tiny school playing field where the annual fête attracts a lot of interest for what is only a small village (not sure why it's called a town). We parked in an adjoining field where the grass grew higher than my little MG, which as a consequence was camouflaged and thus difficult to find after the race. I was surprised to find four female teammates at the race, mother & daughter Thomas plus itinerant travellers "if there is an obscure race we'll find it" Jane Stevens & Christina See. In fact the overall turnout was excellent with over 200 finishers swelling the coffers of whatever school fund / good cause the fête was raising money for.
I enjoyed most of the race if only for the fact that I was leading for 3½ miles - it's a long time since I've been that close to the lead vehicle. Aim was for a good tempo run to supplement my current heavy marathon training so I wanted to ensure a good pace. By two miles (10:35) I only had Gary O'Brien for company and he allowed me to do all the work which I didn't mind. I maintained a good pace and felt strong despite the hot conditions (3m in 15:59) ... until the big hill just before four miles. In the foothills of this mountain (which ultimately led onto the Ridgeway way above us, although we turned off before reaching the top), O'Brien eased alongside me and then as it became steeper he edged ahead. I was a beaten man and fell away like a Rich Tea biscuit in a freshly made cup of tea. I "ran" the fourth mile in 5:51 before thankfully regaining some composure on the flat and ultimately downhill finish with a final 5:35 and an excellent second overall which Claudie missed as she was watching the dog show!
My day was made when I met up with a couple of acquaintances from many, many years ago, Dennis Williams & Ian Isherwood from Hercules Wimbledon running club. They'd done this race once a long time ago and fancied a weekend away with a Saturday afternoon race, no doubt to be followed by a few glasses in a local hostelry. We spent quite some time reminiscing about old times and mutual friends. Great fun.
A couple of drinks Saturday evening then a long run (2h 15m) Sunday morning completed a really good old fashioned running weekend.

PS For ease of reference, the first WI referred to in the narrative is Womens Institute, the second West Indies. Hope that sorts out any confusion.