Todays Runner, Manor Farm
The penultimate race of the Today's Runner cross-country series was our own fixture which, as usual took place at Manor Farm Country Park on the 13th February. And, thanks to the help of many club members the event, apart from an incident soon after the start when the runners encountered a couple of horseriders who had managed to find their way onto the course, went off without a hitch.
With the weather being depressingly wet, numbers were inevitably down on those of earlier races. However, 226 runners (138 men and 88 ladies) were hardy enough to take on the challenging conditions of the course which in some places resembled a mudbath.
The club's first male runner across the line was Dave Jeffery who ran well to finish in 14th place having been one of those runners who managed to grab hold of one of the horses to prevent any serious injuries. Mike Harper was our next runner home in 30th place whilst Paul Hammond's 65th place saw him into the scoring places for the first time. Closely following Paul home was Mike Bell in 68th place and Nigel Whitcher, another first time scorer was our fifth runner home when he crossed the line in 97th place to give the men's team 274 points and tenth place on the day. There then followed a procession of Stubbies when Ashley Lovell (98th), Mike Clarke (99th), John Simister (101st), Alan White (106th) and Dave Eland (108th) finished in close order.
For the ladies, Susie MacGregor was the club's first runner home following a strong run crossing the line in 5th place. Susie was closely followed by Tina Chantrey who also made the top 10 with an 8th place finish with Sally McGrath taking the third scoring place, coming home in 13th place. The ladies therefore accumulated 26 points giving them third place on the day with Basingstoke and Midhurst Milers just edging them out of their third first place finish in a row. Georgie Wallis (32nd) was next home and Sarah Martin and Tracie Jarvis finished 58th and 60th respectively.
Basingstoke an Mid Hants had a strong team out for both the men's and ladies' sections and they inevitably finished in first place and look to be battling it out with Farnham Runners for the shield at the final race with just two points between them. Overall SGRAC finished in sixth place at Manor Farm which has now put us down to fourth place in the league. However we are only one point behind Hart Road Runners in third place so a good turnout for the final race of the series at Staunton Country Park on Sunday 6th March could ensure that we can overtake them.
Finally, I must say a very big thank you to Jaz and Hannah Smith who gave up their Saturday afternoon to help in marking out the course, all the marshals and helpers who volunteered their services on the day and endured the appalling weather and Robert Spencer who acted as sweeper for the race. Also well done to Di McEwan and her catering team for an excellent job which prompted a few compliments from runners from other clubs. Without the help of the club's members the race would not have been the success that it was - so many thanks.