Now that’s what I call plucky!

The Hooky Christmas Canter

Report – Susan Hunt

This race is organised by Hook Norton Harriers and  is one of the highlights of my running calendar.  

This year, I decided to dress up as a turkey, accessorising my outfit with a box of stuffing.   

Luckily, the weather wasn’t fowl (no one likes soggy stuffing) and the sun was shining as we gathered at the start.

Hooky-regulars Kate Sergent, Sarah Odell and Katy Liddell had also donned festive outfits to run the multi terrain 7+ miles.  They decided to run together, and started sensibly towards the back of the pack.

I was unsure of my place in the pecking order so decided to wing it and started mid-pack.  But the hills and mud soon took their toll and I wasn’t exactly flying over the terrain. 

Although I had given thought to my outfit and made my turkey ‘onesie’ more practical to run in (by butchering it and removing the legs), I was still roasting in it and by mile 3 I was cooked.

I had nothing left-over in the final mile and was ashamed to be overtaken by 3 Christmas puddings (everyone knows that turkey should come before dessert).  

It wasn’t long before Kate, Sarah and Katy had finished too and we headed back into Race HQ to gobble mince pies, neck down mulled wine and agree that we absolutely love this race.

I was excited to be awarded the individual fancy dress prize and accepted it graciously (resisting the temptation to shout “winner, winner, turkey dinner!”)

Warwickshire and Worcestershire County Cross Country Championships.

Warley Woods. Smethwick. 

Report – David Jones

Worcestershire County AA were the hosts for this year’s Championships held at Warley Woods Park in Smethwick. 

This was a great venue, with challenging courses and excellent viewing for spectators.

The Championships are the principal criteria for selection to the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships to be held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on 7th March 2026.

For Warwickshire, the first three eligible athletes to finish in each race will automatically be selected and the remainder of the team will be chosen by the team managers.

We had 49 athletes competing on the day, consisting of 36 juniors and 13 seniors.

The day got off to a flying start for our  junior endurance runners, with both our U11 boys and girls teams finishing in 1st place. The boys finishing just 1 point ahead of BRAT with the girls finishing a comfortable 10 points ahead of the same team.

The individual performances of our 16 strong U11s was hugely impressive, with the in-form Rafe White finishing in 6th place for the boys with a time of 5:17. Rafe  was just 11 seconds behind the race winner. Lucas Shephard was close on Rafe’s heels in 8th place in 5:25. Ollie Hollis (13th – 5:30) was our final scorer for the team. Ollie was followed by Simon Zawada (16th  – 5:33), Henry Cotton (31st – 5:58) and Jamie Cassells (33rd – 6:00), this despite Jamie having stitch for half of the race.

In the U11 girls race, our all conquering team claimed 3 of the top 6 places, with Saskia Atkins leading them home by claiming 3rd place in 8:35, just 5 seconds behind the 1st placed runner and 5 seconds ahead of Nell Wheeler (4th – 8:40). Nell was closely followed by Olivia Hunt (6th – 8:43). Florence Andrews was in 13th place overall and 2nd place for Worcestershire with a time of 9:06. Florence was followed by Lydia McLeod (18th – 9:10), Indigo Storm Ogilvie-Putt (22nd – 9:13), Quinn Lancaster (25th – 9:27) and Imogen Jolly (36th – 9:59). Isla Gould, who was making her cross country debut for the club, was 37th in 10:43.

Charlie Cassells finished in a superb 3rd place in the U13 boys race with a time of 10:43. Our only other member in the race was Henry Pike (24th – 11:55). 

Our 6 girl contingent in the U13 girls race secured a 3rd place finish with Eliza Mcleod (8th – 11:25) leading them home, followed by Amelia Marshall (15th – 11:45), Emily Lambert (22nd – 11:59), Poppy West (24th – 12:20), Sara Clewer (36th – 13:22) and Annabel Ryan-Gill (41st – 13:36).

We had just 2 in the U15 boys race, with Harry Coulson finishing in 18th place in 15:28, followed by Max Rossney (29th – 19:06).

Our 4 U15 girls secured a 4th place finish, being led home by Lucia Ogilvie-Putt in  4th place (16:10). Lucia was followed by Jasmine Mothershaw (18th – 17:45), Rachel Sparrow (22nd – 18:01) and Rosa Pipitone (27th – 19:27).

First home for our U17 ladies was the in-form Marijke Tear-Verweij (5th – 19:52). She was followed by Annie Silvers (9th – 19:52). 

The U17men’s team finished in 2nd place overall with Sam Lambert (2nd-18:36) being our highest placed individual of the day. Sam was followed by Will Hovell (8th – 20:22), Joel Ledgard (11th – 20:41). Finally for the U17M, Sebastian Hughes-Webb, who bravely opted to make his XC debut for the club on this most challenging of courses, however his dogged determination ensured that he finished the course.

13 of our senior members competed. First of our U20 ladies was Georgie Campbell (5th-27:08), followed by Niamh Hillard (17th – 28:52) and Abbi Cooper (57th – 34:41). Our 3 female masters runners were Emma Bexson (36th – 31:33), Ceri Shephard (38th – 31:50) and Sue Mothershaw (91st – 40:34). They finished on equal points with 3rd placed Kenilworth.

Finally it was the turn of our U20, Seniors and Masters men. 

Our U20 men finished in 2nd place overall, just 4 points behind 1st placed Birchfield Harriers, with Zak Lambert finishing 3rd in 30:29, followed by Will and James Mayes (19th – 32:42 and 44th – 34:44) and James Day (96th – 38:04). We had just one Senior male, Ned Campbell (34th – 34:00). Our 2 Masters athletes were Bogden Ede (111th – 39:24) and Stuart George (136th – 41:45).

Winter Series Race 3

The Mystery Route!

Report – Becks Parker

It has now become tradition for the 3rd Winter Series race to be the ‘mystery route’. This was promised to be a tour of Hidcote Boyce, a tiny village perched on the other side of Ebrington Hill (aka The Big Hill). 

The route started with a familiar run/walk/crawl up Larkstoke Hill, then instead of taking the turn left back into Ilmington, the runners were directed over the hill and through a downhill into Hidcote Boyce.

The challenge was then having another hill climb out of the village, retracing our steps and then back down into the familiar downhill of Campden Road. 

Thankfully, the ‘village loop’ was omitted, leaving tired runners’ legs to make the stagger back to the finish line at the sports club.

There were mixed feelings amongst competitors about this mystery route, although many of the people I spoke to found it to be fabulous, with the omission of the village loop pleasing many!

I really enjoyed it and would gladly have that as the permanent route, even if it was seven miles !

We had a strong turnout of 33 competitors out of a total of 303, who completed the course. 

The winner, once again was Harry Jolly in a time of 41:25 just  9 seconds ahead of the 2nd placed runner, Kieran Halsey form Leamington C&AC.

Harry you really should join the club along with your lovely daughter Imogen. Please !

Our 1st placed runner, in 3rd place, was Sebastian Wolsoncroft Dodds in 44:31.

First placed lady was our very own U17 Marijke Tear-Verweij in a time of 50:18, 65 seconds ahead of the next placed lady. This was despite Marijke having competed in the County XC Championships less than 24 hours earlier.

Our other top 5 male finishers were David Teasdale (10th    – 46:31), Huw Crosweller (12th – 47:02), Max Ross (23rd – 51:26) and Ade Mason (27th – 52:36).

Our other top 5  female finishers were Kim Lee (88th – 1:00.24), Rachel Fielden (124th – 1:04.19), Becks Parker (156th – 1:08.37) and Lisa Stevens (170th – 1:10.10)

For the full results please follow:

https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16418&RId=991&EId=1&dt=0&PageNo=1&adv=1

For the full list of those shown as SAC members, please follow:

https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16418&RId=991&EId=1&dt=0&PageNo=1&adv=1