Todays Runner XC, Staunton
It was a perfect spring day that greeted runners as they arrived for the 6th and final Today's Runner race of the season held at Staunton Country Park in Havant and although a number of Stubbies were concentrating on their marathon training there were still 18 club members with accompanying supporters who enjoyed the fine weather. The sun was shining and conditions were ideal for the cross country although the course still had its customary muddy sections despite the recent good weather.
Unfortunately Chris Hall had to pull out of the race after only 400 metres due to a bad back strain so our first runner home was Mike Harper in 51st place, somewhat down on his previous races but he had just run 15 miles immediately beforehand! The next three scorers finished within 6 places of each other with Andy Simpson leading the way to finish in 58th place showing that he is making good progress in his recovery from a knee operation and he was closely followed by Nick Crane (61st) and Mike Bell (64th). Paul Hammond was the fifth and final scorer for the men's team crossing the line in 76th place which resulted in the men achieving ninth place on the day. Other individual results: Phil May (86th), Neil Jarvis (88th), Andy Lee (106th), Chris Gallagher (125th) and Robert Spencer (130th).
With Susie MacGregor, Penny Forse and Tina Chantrey among the absentees for various reasons it was down to Sally McGrath to fly the flag for the ladies and a very strong run saw her cross the line in a season's best 7th place while the second scorer was Lucy May who had a fine run to finish in 26th place. Rachael Openshaw was just 4 places behind Lucy to become our third scorer. Our other lady runners all finished within 6 places of each other led by Sharon White (54th) in what proved to be her best run of the season, comfortably beating her close and regular rival Marilyn from Victory AC. Emily Hall was not far behind in 56th place closely followed by Sarah Martin (58th) and Tracie Jarvis (60th). The ladies were 6th team on the day which meant we were 6th overall, a result which left us hanging on to fourth place in the final league table behind the winners Basingstoke and Mid Hants, Farnham Runners and Hart Road Runners.
We had 46 members representing the club over the six races (29 men and 17 ladies) with Mike Harper, Mike Bell and Sarah Martin taking part in all six. The other appearances are as follows:
5 races: Nick Crane, Mike Clarke, Susie MacGregor and Tracie Jarvis
4 races: Chris Hall, Jon Leigh, Paul Hammond, Penny Forse and Sally McGrath
3 races: Mike White, Nigel Whitcher, Donna Mitchell and Rachael Openshaw
2 races: Dave Jeffery, Andy Lee, John Simister, Alan White, Caroline Street, Tina Chantrey and Sharon White
Tim Sullivan, Nick Kimber, Zippy Grice, Eric Beck, John Vose, Simon Carson-Jones, Phil Martin, Tony Smith, Paul Southon, Ashley Lovell, Julia Parks, Ann Blake, Rowena Dodds, Julie Ashman, Dave Eland, Georgie Wallis, Andy Simpson, Phil May, Neil Jarvis, Chris Gallagher, Robert Spencer, Lucy May and Emily Hall all took part in just the one race.
Many thanks to you all for your efforts throughout the season and hope to see you all again when the League resumes in October/November.
John Tussler
Photos here