Stubbington Green Runners & AC

The 2010 RR10 Series got underway on a glorious sunny, if slightly chilly, evening down by Southampton Water. The summer mid-week cross country series opened as usual within the picturesque grounds of The Royal Victoria Country Park, near Netley.  A slight amendment to the 4.5 mile course provided a fast a furious start to the race and 2010 series.

The opportunity to stretch the legs in the spring sun tempted no less than 49 runners from SGRAC out of hibernation, which is up from 38 last year, but slightly down on the 2008 record of 52!. It really was a sea of green as we made our way to the start, with many of our runners making there way to the back of the field as they either had a post marathon recovery run, or a last shake out before marathons this weekend.

After a few words to the 330 runners from our chairman, and paying our respects to Bev Lavery with a minutes silence, there was a  rush to the first corner of the short lap around the Chapel. Lewis and Wayne kept each other company at the head of the field, finishing 5th and 6th respectively. A great effort especially with Lewis easing his way back from injury, just in case you haven't been getting the text updates on the state of his hamstrings. I understand that he would like to say a big thank you to Lucy May, who is fast becoming his personal trainer and masseuse!

Closely following these two was Chris Hall (10), who gave up a week in Majorca to run thanks to volcanic ash, Dave Jeffrey (15) and the fast improving Kevin Wheeler (18). These 5 made up the "A" team who finished 1st overall in the team competition on the night. It makes a change for Chris and Kev to looking at the top of any league this year.

In the ladies race Sally McGrath finished a fantastic 6th, leading the team home to a 3rd place overall. Joining Sally in the ladies A team were the improving Rachel Openshaw (12) and, back from her travels, Penny Forse (13), who both also had great runs.

It was great to see so many Stubbington Green Runners, too many to mention, which slightly caught Jaz out, as she only had one packet of shortbread and brownies to go round 49!! If you didn't get one, good luck next time when I am sure that she will be better prepared :-)

The next race in he series is at  Longdown Inclosure, Ashurst in two weeks time on May 5th (7:15pm), before when the debrief, cheesy chip, and orange squash (Lewis) location will be confirmed by Tim.

Full results are available on the RR10 website http://www.rr10.hampshire.org.uk/

Stubbington Results

Sally	McGrath	6		Lewis	Chalk	5
Rachel	Openshaw	12		Wayne	Ewans	6
Penny	Forse	13		Chris	Hall	10
Lucy	May	22		Dave	Jeffrey	15
Margie	Pritchard	31		Kevin	Wheeler	18
Lucy	Simmons	36		Graham	Bell	21
Jane	Butler	51		Graham	James	31
Megan	Hall	52		Tim	Sullivan	38
Naomi	Crane	53		Mike	Harper	55
Katherine	Briggs	59		Mark	Urbanowski	72
Julia	Haskell	68		Paul	Hammond	79
Donna	Mitchell	73		Nick	Crane	85
Susie	Macgregor	74		Euan	Mcgrath	100
Ann	Blake	76		Phil	May	101
Eunice	Hoare	82		Jon	Leigh	105
Katrina	Gunner	96		Neil	Jarvis	108
Jaz	Smith	104		Jamie	Boller	109
Liz	Hall	106		John	Simister	129
Sarah	Martin	108		Jeremy	Meadows	130
Sue	Simister	134		Alan	White	132
				Paul	Hailwood	136
				Richard	Simms	141
				David	Elland	150
				Nigel	Witcher	159
				Martin	Banner	170
				Peter	Hutchison	179
				Chris	Gallagher	181
				Gordon	Westley	182
				Ray	Gunner	184

Report by Graham Bell.