Junior XC and lots more

West Midlands Junior Cross Country League.

Report – Dave Parkin.

A foot of overnight snow saw this fixture cancelled last year. Considerably more benign conditions in Perry Park greeted the athletes on Sunday but recent heavy rain had been enough to make some sections of the course quite tricky.

On a relatively short, flat course and despite many member of the team having raced at the Schools Inter Counties just 24 hours prior – Stratford AC had their best result of the season so far, placing third out of 20 clubs on the day and strengthening their hold on third place in the league.

The U17 women had another strong team performance, with Georgie Campbell again battling at the front before being pipped at the post in a hard fought sprint finish (2nd, 16:38).

Imogen Sheppard had another fine performance (11th, 18:05) in a consistent season. Unfortunately, Daisy Musk had to withdraw while in a promising position, which on another day would have posed problems for the team but Abi Wootton, in her first outing of the season, ran a strong race to take the third scoring position (13th, 18:18). Daisy Nicolle (30th, 20:04) and Charlotte Gravelsons (36th, 21:12) made up the team.

The U11 boys had a tougher outing, with rapidly improving Maxime Verstraeten (22nd, 6:42) first finisher for the team, closely followed by James Day (27th, 6:46). The next three finishers for the club all finished within two seconds of each other, scrapping hard even up the sharp climb to the finish.

Flynn Dathan (32nd, 6:51) just edged out Seb Hillard (33rd, 6:51) and Joe Lewis (34th, 6:52). Oliver Hemming (44th, 7:00) and Alex McMillan (73rd, 7:19) both improved on their previous outing, and the remaining team members were Harry Francioni (96th, 7:47) and Ewan Lindsey (100th, 7:53).

In the U17 men’s race, Owain Jones (30th, 18:47), Will Crowfoot (40th, 19:25) and Tom Crowfoot (42nd, 19:34) worked hard and took the scoring positions. Owain had made a last-minute decision to compete, having been suffering from a bronchial virus leading up to the race. Completing the team were Josh Angus (52nd, 21:00) who ran with obvious commitment and Oliver Adams (56th, 21:47) who looked like he was feeling fitter than in his previous race.

A fast start in the U11 girls’ race saw the Stratford team having to make up ground throughout the race.

Tessa Parkin and Annie Silvers pushed each other on as they made their way through the field, with Parkin (2nd, 6:47) outsprinting several rivals on the final climb. Silvers (8th, 6:53) ran a great race and was delighted to secure her first top-10 finish.

Ruby Edwards (30th, 7:29) made a huge improvement to achieve her best-ever result and was chased all the way by Martha Peters (33rd, 7:35) and Harriet Black (36th, 7:38).

An excellent team performance saw them joined in the top 50 by Olivia Hawkyard (43rd, 7:44), Ella Peeke (45th, 7:48) and Marijke Tear-Verweij (48th, 7:51), all of which were solid improvements on previous performances. Martha Bullock (86th, 8:27) and Eleanor McElvogue (104th, 8:47), in her first race, both competed hard for the team.

The U15 boys were down on numbers due to the schools’ county match the previous day but were led home by a great run from Cameron Thomas (25th, 12:41) to achieve his highest place finish.

Louis Kendrick (31st, 12:57) was back on form and was followed by Caleb Spriggs (41st, 13:15), who appears to like having a finish-line tussle with teammates, Tom Francioni (42nd, 13:19) and Joel Watson (43rd, 13:21). Harry Gravelsons (53rd, 14:18) was just outside the scoring positions, but ran well to achieve his best finish of the season.

The U13 girls deserve the accolade of team performance of the day, with great improvements from many of the athletes.

Maddie Linfoot (11th, 10:46) was back on top form and achieved her best finish in this age group, up from 27th in the previous race. Leah Bowen (15th, 10:54) also brought her A-game with her and Niamh Hillard (26th, 11:11) was pleased with her race which involved a hard-fought battle with Molly Bullock (31st, 11:19).

Abbi Cooper (54th, 11:51) and Caitlin Boyle (58th, 11:56) demonstrated ultimate consistency with the same finishing positions as the previous race.

Lucy Thomas (64th, 12:08), Maisie-Joy Spriggs (68th, 12:13), Tilly Campbell (91st, 13:02) and Katie Pridham (103rd, 13:45) all improved their placings from the last race, and Emma Francioni (85th, 12:49) can be pleased with her first race of the season.

Alex Adams (1st, 9:06) stretched out an early lead in the U13 boys’ race to eventually win by a comfortable 20-second margin, his mum’s cheering from Malaga clearly helping him set the pace.

Adam Taylor (14th, 10:04) is having a great season and improved again and Oscar Fines-Allin (23rd, 10:23) had another consistently strong performance.

Theo Skirvin (63rd, 11:27) had a tough outing, dropping down the field a little from his previous race, he was closely followed by Angus Lindsay (72nd, 11:51) and Ed Twyman (87th, 12:51)who was recovering from a recent bout of ill health

The last race of the day was, as ever, the U15 girls and was a fabulous spectacle of racing, with Stratford’s first two runners, Ellie Deaner and Ellen Taylor, exchanging places half a dozen times over the two-lap course. At the end, it was Taylor (27th, 13:59) who held on to outsprint Deaner (28th, 14:00), but credit should go to both for pushing each other so hard.

Gigi Thomas (41st, 14:49) and Charlotte Marshall (54th, 15:54) both ran well, but the final words should be reserved for Aimee Harridge (77th, 19:38). Harridge, who looked like she would rather have been anywhere else than a cross-country race, stuck at it, and despite finishing well down the field, earned an incredibly valuable 124 points for the team, without which Stratford wouldn’t have achieved their third-place finish overall.

As ever, thanks go to the coaches, parents and supporters who made the participation of more than 60 junior athletes from Stratford possible.

The next race in the league is at Abington Park, Northampton, on 13 January.

Malaga Marathon.

Report – David Jones

Three of the club’s most experienced distance runners – Emma Bexson, Emily Adams and Rebecca Wass – competed in the Malaga Marathon on 9 December.

Considered by many to be one of the best marathons in Spain, the route is relatively flat and straight and passes through the historic city centre as well as the port and promenade.

Emma, an international triathlete, was the first club member to finish, clocking 3:32:09 to place 731st overall and a laudable 15th in her age category. She commented that the wheels came off for her between miles 10 and 15 due to a severe pain in her leg, which seriously distracted her and caused her to struggle in the second half of the race.

Emily, holder of a prestigious Six Star Finishers Medal for having competed in all six of the World Marathon Majors series, completed the course in 3:37:35, just two minutes and 45 seconds shy of the PB she set in Manchester last year but 37 minutes quicker than her time at the Boston Marathon earlier this year.

“It was a nice flattish course,” said Emily, who placed 842nd overall and 24th in her age category. “I got into a good rhythm until 20 miles when the wheels started to come off but support from club member Karl Harris, together with numerous gels, got me over the finishing line. I was really chuffed with my time, which was my second best marathon time and it was a lovely route.”

Rebecca, who ran in a Wonder Woman costume, finished in a PB of 4:41:19, placing 2116th overall.

The race was won by Ethiopia’s Lemi Dumecha Beyi in 2:11:05 and the first woman to finish was Alemu Meseret Abebayehu in 2:32:17. 2407 runners completed the race.

Owain Jones sprints for the line despite a bronchial virus that almost prevented him from running.