Hants XC, Goodwood - 11th November 2006
STUBBIES were out in force for the second race in the Hampshire Cross Country League with good conditions under foot at Goodwood in West Sussex, and only a slight breeze to contend with.
We had a good turn-out of men and women, which allowed us to get out the required four teams. It was fabulous to see some new ladies faces at the XC and great to have the support of Penny Forse and Janet Marshall, writes Andy Simpson.
The senior ladies team were led home by Penny Forse in 53rd, followed by Lucy Simmons 73rd and Janet Marshall 83rd. The ladies' team improved on the previous fixture to finish 14th on the day and they now lie 13th overall.
The vet ladies had an even better outing, finishing fifth on the day and fifth overall with the team comprising of Penny, Janet and Annie Tomlinson, who was 97th . It was also good to see Annie and Jackie Sherman in 108th competing in their first cross country race for the club. Also we welcomed back to the club Nicola Wedick, who was 95th. Nicola has just arrived back from the United States, where she has been living the year.
Division 1 is proving a tough league to be in and the senior men had their work cut out to improve on the last meeting.
In true Stubbie style, everyone got stuck in and pulled the result out of the hat with 7th position. They were led home by Mr Consistent (Mark Le Gassick) for a well deserved 14th place. The next three men all packed well, with Gordon Reid in 56th, Barry Hards in 61st and Ray Gunner 63rd.
The final scoring place was disputed by Mike Harper and Andy Simpson with it going to a sprint finish in last 75 metres. Mike narrowly outsprinted the heavyweight Andy, although if it been over the first 75 metres of any race it would have been a different story!! The seniors currently sit in 8th position.
Just as in the ladies race it was down to the vets who shone. They finished third on the day and are now tied with Aldershot for 2nd position, but losing out on positional countback, are 3rd overall. The vet team consisted of Barry, Ray and Mike.
The remaining Stubbie men all improved on their previous Hants XC outing with Tim Crumpton 134th, Nick Crane in 192nd, Richard Simms in 206th and Gordon Westley in 210th.
Next Hampshire Cross Country League outing is on December 2nd at Ashe Meadows, Overton, which is the same weekend as the Victory 5, which takes place on December 3rd. Could you please let Andy Simpson know if you are running at Overton.