Stubbington Green Runners

MARK LE GASSICK'S brave bid to win the RR10 title faltered at the Hursley Park finale when he was out-muscled by a Winchester double whammy.

The absence of favourite Andy Morgan-Lee (Southampton RC) through injury left the road open for either Mark or rival Julian Mann (Winchester & District RC) to take the title.

Morgan-Lee, with five wins to his name, needed only to turn up to the IBM headquarters and finish no higher than eighth to capture the 10-race series. But he has picked up a nasty injury earlier this month which, according to Southampton Running Club, is likely to force him out of next month's Test Way and Southern Road relays.

Come race day, Mark and Julian went head to head for the three-lap 4.2-mile race around the twisting paths of the IBM grounds. But what Mark had not gambled on was the presence of the lightning fast Alex Pilcher, also from Winchester, who set a good early pace and guided Julian through the field.

The race was won by Alex Pilcher, with Julian second and Mark fourth. That gave the Winchester runner his second successive RR10 title by just one point from the six counting races. Olden finished a further two points adrift in the overall standings.

This was Stubbington's first season in RR10, and it has proved to be a successful campaign. Despite the club being limited to fielding just 20 runners in each race - other clubs have unlimited entry - Stubbington has managed to field near full teams. A total of 45 Stubbies have taken part in one or more of the races where no times are taken, just tickets accepted at the event, and where the atmosphere is always fun and friendly.

It is hoped next summer after this probation season that the club will be allowed unlimited entry.

Mike Harper is getting back to his best and was Stubbington's second scorer in 27th place. Ray Gunner had injured himself in training the night before, so was resigned to marshalling at Hursley Park instead. Fully fit, Ray would have finished highly in this last race, having competed in all previous nine events.

A sun-tanned Tim Crumpton, fresh from his holiday in France, ran well for 40th, and Ben Whittaker took the ticket for 64th. Paul Hammond completed the scoring for Stubbington's A team in 84th giving the team ninth on the day. Overall, the club finished a very creditable sixth with Southampton Running Club wrapping team honours.

For the B team, Dave King and Marcus Lee finished well over the final sprint in to the funnel with Dave taking 102nd and Marcus 103rd .

Andy Lee was next in 117th and Gordon Westley, in his first RR10 outing of the summer placed 122nd. Ryan Gunner, after starting strongly, was struggling a little with stamina at the end, and he completed the scoring in 131st as the men's B team took 22nd on the day and 21st overall.

One of the most pleasing aspects of the RR10 series has been the number of Stubbington ladies who have taken part - 20 in total during the summer.

On Wednesday, the club managed to field two teams. Lucy Simmons remains a model of consistency and has scored regularly in races in the 20s. At Hursley, she claimed 22nd place for a season's finish of 24th. She is now hoping to run regularly for the club, and is targeting cross country.

The two Rachels - Openshaw and Whittaker - ran together and finished in 59th and 60th giving the ladies' A team 16th on the day for 12th overall after the 10 races.

The B team consisted of Chris Haskell (63rd ), Donna Shaw (98th ) and Liz Hall (99th ) for 31st on the evening, and 25th in the series.

Here are the final rankings from the RR10 series (six races to count)

2nd Mark Le Gassick
13th Ray Gunner
46th Tim Crumpton
86th Dave King
89th Ryan Gunner
93rd Simon Holford
94th Marcus Lee
131st Gary Littlecott
24th Lucy Simmons
28th Lesley Harding
70th Donna Shaw
73rd Liz Hall