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LEIGHTON FUN RUNNERS |
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CROSS COUNTRY EVENTS Last
Updated:
12 February 2007 This page provides the reports of the Cross Country Championship (see Rules and Scoring). Wootton 29th November 2006 The first race of the season at the familiar two lap course around the golf course in Northampton saw over 350 runners taking part. A nice course with a slide through the trees and some interesting twists and turns, though generally a flat run (if you ignore the hills in the woods!). Just like last year, and although 3 weeks later, the weather was very warm - 13 degrees with glorious sunshine. A great turn out for this run with a fantastic 31 runners ( a record!) and really good efforts by everyone. No comments on individual performances, as this is a team event, but ... our guest England team member Gail Duckworth finished in 10th, and some great runs from newcomers Simon Warner, Martin Addrison, Daniel Hully, Hazel Stiles and John Kirwan. But a special mention for Doug Lamont who ran the Beachy head marathon the day before - stunning performance. One other point, two candidates for Golden boot with Donna Savic and Gary Reid turning up an hour early on the day the clocks went back an hour!! Thanks to Nikki for all the photos - check here Biggleswade 12th November 2006 The second race of the season was held at a new venue, namely the grounds of Shuttleworth college. Hundreds of runners turned out for the event, over a course which was relatively clean with few mud spots and no water hazards. Instead, lots of grasslands with some nasty hills and drops, culminating with a gruelling drag up the final hill 400 metres from the end. Eager to beat the last event's record turnout, a fantastic 39 club runners took part, with some marvellous team performances - the first ten men were placed below 100th and the first 3 women were within seven positions of each other. Whilst everyone produced great results, special mentions go to Daniel Hully who improved 37 places, plus Jason Stuart, Doug Lamont and John Kirwan who all improved significantly. Final congratulations to all 13 newcomers to the team, especially Verity Allsopp and Lisa Dethick who led home the ladies side. Thanks to Master Kerr for all the photos - check here North Herts. 17th December 2006 A return to a favourite (and hilly) course in North Herts greeted the 28 club runners for the third race in the cross country championship. A nice bright sunshine with just a slight breeze bathed the course; the temperature at 7 degrees ensured there was plenty of mud to slip and slide in, and the occasional puddle helped to wash some of it away. So close to Christmas, there were a few runners missing and yet a fantastic 28 runners turned out for Leighton Funrunners. A great team performance with some special mentions for newcomers Gill, Emma, Hilary and Karrie, heroic efforts from Andy Hully, Clive Daniels and Gary Reid plus some superb improvements for Donna Savic and Karen Kirwan. Well done to all for a great team turn-out and effort. East Haddon 14th January 2007 A brand new course, billed as fairly flat as it went over a point to point race course but in reality it had big hills and a very slippy surface for most of the 4.5 miles. perhaps the course had an impact as two runners failed to get to the end - Andy Hully with a knee injury and Lisa Dethick with a calf problem. A fantastic turn out again with 35 runners heading the 50 miles to the course. A solid team performance saw our top seven men record finishes inside the first 100 and our top three women inside the first 50 women. Of the many good performances, stars this time were Clive Daniels, Simon Warner and Michael Champion, who in his first run for the club came home first for the team. Dunstable 11th February 2007
The final race of the season saw a return to the hills of
Dunstable, with fresh pools of water and mud following the week's snow
and the overnight downpour. Heartbreak hill after 2 miles was relatively
easy with less mud and more grass to offer underfoot purchase but the
last hill seemed to claim several exhausted souls. A superb turn out of
32 runners saw some excellent performances despite loss of shoes,
several falls in the mud and scratches from the vicious bushes. No
results yet but memorable performances from Simon Warner (despite a shoe
stop!), Chris Taylor showing his old (fast) form, and great efforts from
Anne Hully and Barbara Hills. Well done to all and especially those who
turned out for all 5 events and have won the Paul Dimmock cross country
medal. |