by the time I'd had a natter with the painter over beside the poppy field, and then got back to Race HQ, many runners had finished, and it was great to see and hear them on the green cheering the remaining runners home . .

whilst on the other side of the finish line, the barbecue was smoking away, runners and families were sitting around enjoying the sunshine, and of course there were medals to be handed out . .

legs needed stretching, of course . . blisters needed attention . . and there were still plenty of runners crossing the finish line . .

it's a bit mean, this finish line, because as you can see in some of the photos below . . you run round the bend, down the hill past the Church and you know the finish is there on the right somewhere  . . but you can't quite see it . .

whilst back across the finish line, everyone's having a great time in the sunshine . .

the final few finishers quite rightly get preferential treatment . .

and everyone's busy either working or enjoying themselves, or better still, both!!!

and then the results are ready and the winners can be presented with their well earned prizes . .

many thanks to Steve and Alexia for letting me come along to make this record of the Staveley Stampede - I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and I hope you did too ☺