3rd best in the UK no less.

Midland Women’s Cross Country League

Division 1

Saturday 30th November

Report  – Sarah Gillard

Last Saturday saw the intrepid Stratford ladies head north for the second Midlands Cross Country race of the season.

Betley Court Farm is located between Stoke and Crewe so we were almost in the actual north! Luckily the M6 was behaving and the weather was kind.

The course was described as undulating and although it wasn’t too steep the long ups and downs made it feel quite challenging. It is a very picturesque place adjacent to Betley Mere and came complete with rural smells – although that may have been the sewage works which was adjacent to the farm!

Georgie Campbell finished first for Stratford in an impressive 25.02 taking seventeenth place overall. Next was Niamh Hillard in 26.20 followed by Emma Bexson in 29.27 and Abbi Cooper in 30.25.

Next came Emma Vickers in 33.15, Sarah Gillard in 34.29 and Suzi Graham in 34.44. Tilly Campbell came in at 36.42, Becks Parker at 37.27, Kath Pester at 39.40 and Sue Mothershaw at 42.16. 

Special mention to Sue who was thanked profusely by a runner from another club who was feeling very anxious about falling over. Sue stayed with the appreciative lady to complete the first lap whilst she regained confidence. 

Pip Bell was on timing duties and was looking very professional at the finish!  Thanks also to Nick Campbell for the photos and to the fabulous Stratford supporters who provided great encouragement on the way round. 

Overall race results:

https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16418&RId=3130&EId=4

Masters race results

https://www.racetecresults.com/results.aspx?CId=16418&RId=3130&EId=5

Birmingham & District Invitation Cross Country League.

Division 2
Race 2
30/11/2024
 Burbage Common, Hinkley

Report – Malcolm Bowyer

It was a warm overcast and dry day for Stratford men’s second cross country race of the season which took place at Burbage Common at Hinckley. 

The three lap course took place on the common and through heavy muddy woodland trails.

Stratford had an excellent turnout of 15 runners out of a field of 203. The winner for the second successive race was Spa Striders Steve Allen in a time of 36.48.

The first Stratford runner home was  Dean Mawby  a recent recruit from Leamington following his move to Stratford. Dean led the Stratford runners from the start, finishing in 36th place with a time of 41.38. Hot on his heels with a strong finish was Jamie Hall 43rd place in 41.56. Former junior Ned Campbell was 50th in 42.27. There was then a slight gap to Tom Southall in 60th place who sprinted to the finishing line in 43.30. James Lake  finished very strongly in 71st place in 44.00. Trying to close the gap over the three laps was Sam Mercer in 90th place in a time of 45.29. These six runners made up a strong A team.

The next six Stratford runners made up the  B team and were led home by Kieran Tursner, making a welcome return, with a strong 96th place in 46.05. Paul Faithfull in 100th place in 46.25 was working hard to close the gap on Kieran over the three laps. Adrian Mason in 108th place in 47.18 managed to keep Tim Hutchison at bay, who lost one of his shoes on the final lap and finished in 115th place in 47.40. 

Huw Crossweller, who finished in 116th place with a time of 47.42 couldn’t have tried any harder, finishing one place behind Tim. The ever reliable Mike Sheppard in 127th  place in 48.21 gave everything to get over the finish line. These six runners made up the B team.

Wayne Vickers also made a welcome return to the team, running consistently over the three laps to finish in 134th place in 49.09. The last two runners were Stuart Lawrence-George in 141st place in 49.40 who managed to pull ahead of Peter Sugden in 142nd. Both runners recording the same time.

After Race 2 Stratford A Team are 10th out of 14 teams on 350 points and the Stratford B team are 5th out of 9 teams on 662 points

“Our 2024 cohort set new standards in heights, speed and distance, including six world records and a host of Olympic and national records between them.

“I congratulate all our award winners, and all of the athletes nominated for these honours, and I thank them for inspiring us all with their performances this year.”

Here are the full list of winners:

Women’s world athlete of the year: Sifan Hassan
Men’s world athlete of the year: Letsile Tebogo

Women’s track: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Women’s field: Yaroslava Mahuchikh
Women’s out of stadium: Sifan Hassan
Men’s track: Letsile Tebogo
Men’s field: Mondo Duplantis
Men’s out of stadium: Tamirat Tola

Women’s Rising Star: Sembo Almayew
Men’s Rising Star: Mattia Furlani

British Masters 5k Road Championships

Battersea Park

Sunday 1st December

Report – David Jones.
 

On a thoroughly wet and grey Sunday morning, myself and Phil Brennan left Phil’s home at 7.30am to take part in the above race.

For me it was my first Masters race for sometime following a difficult year with various ailments.

Attending one of these Masters events with Phil is like walking round with royalty, so many hugs, kisses and handshakes .

For me this was all about testing my ruptured adducter tendon and to see if it would hold out in a competitive race and it did (shout out to Andrew at Tudor Physio).

Did I enjoy it ? Not really. Am I glad I did it ? 100%.

My time of 26:22 was nothing special and I was only 8th in my age category but as I’ve got just 4 weeks to go before I move up to the next age group I wasn’t too concerned.

In the finishing stages I was solely concerned on holding off the challenge of a W75 lady, which I managed by just 1 second!

Phil, on the other hand, was rightfully delighted with his thoroughly well deserved bronze medal.

His comments on the day were  

“Footnote on my day:

I’m still feeling slightly damp after a soggy morning racing round Battersea Park in the drizzle and showers. I’m also eternally grateful to David J for doing the driving down to London and back. The parkrun-type course was flat and fast. I didn’t expect to do well and it’s about time I stopped telling myself that, as I managed to creep into this year’s top twenty rankings with my time. 

I came third to my good friend and multi-world champion Peter Giles, who strolled up to collect his gold smoking a fat cigar, having just broken the 17 year old event record. Once a showman………

Peter’s winning and record breaking time was 22:28. He’s 80 years of age for goodness sake !